The Human Resource Business Partners - Assignment Example

?PESTLE, SWOT and Human Resource Business Partners (HRBP) Introduction The Human Resource Business Partners (HRBP) or simply human resources strategyis the innovation of modern business world. It is considered as one of the best ways to utilise employees’ maximum productivity and thereby attain business success. HR strategy is still subject to modifications as it is a powerful tactic for business managers to deal with complex process of employee relations. Employee recruitment, retention, and termination are the major elements of a HR strategy. This paper will critically evaluate both PESTLE and SWOT tools and discusses when it would be appropriate for a strategic HRBP to use them. It will also discuss another relevant theory with regard to its application in HR field. PESTLE/PEST PESTLE/PEST analysis explores different external macro-environmental situations such as political, economical, social, and technological factors in which the firm operates (PEST analysis). In other words, the PEST analysis is an overall environmental scan so as to assess opportunities and threats in the external environment. PEST analysis is a widely adopted concept and it has large number of applications as listed below; Business planning: this tool gives accurate information to management regarding targets toward the development of new products. Marketing planning: it also improves marketing planning process by providing valuable elements in a situation analysis phase. SWOT is the acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a globally accepted concept that explores internal organizational factors such as strengths and weaknesses and external environmental factors such as opportunities and threats of a project. The SWOT analysis provides beneficial information whether a firm’s resources and potentials fit with the competitive environment in which it operates (SWOT analysis). Main applications of this concept are discussed below Strengths such as patents, reputation, and strong brand name; and weaknesses like poor brand name and high cost structure can be identified. Arrival of new technologies and withdrawal of regulations are some of the opportunities to a business whereas trade barriers and introduction of substitute products are threats. SWOT analysis focuses on these issues also. In addition, there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to both techniques. Firstly, both these methods are easy to understand and simple to operate. PEST tool is very effective for assessing external changes in the case of multinational companies. The SWOT analysis is suggestible to achieve organizational mission while PEST analysis brings a clear picture of business’ external environment. A SWOT analysis can be performed by anyone who has adequate information regarding the day to day operation of the business and the market; hence it is a cost effective method. At the same time, a PEST analysis develops strategic thinking and clearly points out the threats to a business. Similarly, PEST tool would assist the organization to avert future difficulties. Although the simplicity of SWOT analysis is beneficial for a firm to reduce related expenses, it also eliminates the possibility of a critical presentation. Since the SWOT analysis does not assess the degree of threats and opportunities, the results obtained from this method require further research in order to get a comprehensive picture. The rapid changing nature of society raises many difficulties to PEST analysis in anticipating future developments. According to Haughey, PEST analysis tends to rely on assumption and therefore, it would minimise the accuracy of outcomes. In the opinion of Rabin (1999), Organisational downsizing is a management strategy that aims to focus more on the business activities by reshaping the firm’s structure into a smaller size. By downsizing the organisation, the management can terminate employees with poor performance; and it is possible to maintain a group of potential workers. The SWOT and PEST analyses greatly contribute to this process of downsizing. These models would be helpful to find out current position of the organisation, areas of improvement, degree of changes required, and employees’ performance. Generally, firms bring necessary changes in their product lines at the time of downsizing. Under such circumstances, SWOT and PEST models give adequate market information to company management so that the firm can develop suitable products that would keep the firm ahead of rivals. When an organisation looks at specific functional changes or departmental changes, PEST analysis is the best fitted tool for assessing the context in which the changes have to occur. The effective application of PEST method in co-operation with SWOT analysis would increase the effectiveness of firm’s downsizing. For instance, these methods are recommendable to identify the prevailing socio-economic conditions such as cultural acceptance factors, productivity, and financial implications. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate political powers and legal regulations on employment law in order to make the downsizing process effective. In short, SWOT and PESTLE tools are used hand in hand since they have almost similar effects. Ulrich model The Ulrich model was proposed by David Ulrich in 1997. Ulrich suggests that “business partnering is not possible to implement without a major shift in the HR organisation” (as cited in Ulrich’s HR Roles Model, 2008). Ulrich has framed four criteria as the key elements of HR roles. They are; Strategic partner: it is about alignment of HR activities and is indicated as the function of HR Business Partners Change agent: this criterion points the management of organizational transition process Employee champion: it reflects the mode of employee caring. Administrative export: it deals with restructuring of organisational processes. (Source: Ulrich’s HR Roles Model, 2008) It is obvious that this model assists the HRBP to formulate efficient HR strategies. Under this model, the top management of the firm designs their strategy and passes it to lower levels of the company for implementation. The strategic planning of this model would include a number of steps which necessitate the application of SWOT and PESTLE analyses. Conclusion SWOT and PEST analyses are two business planning tools which are beneficial for the structuring of HR strategy. An organisation can effectively employ these models at the time of its downsizing. Both these models have almost similar advantages and disadvantages. Finally, Ulrich model is a relevant example to HR strategy planning which also makes use of SWOT and PEST models. Reference Haughey, D (n.d), ‘PEST analysis’, Project Smart, viewed 17 March 2011, ‘PEST analysis’, n.d, Quick MBA: Knowledge to Power Your Business, viewed 17 March 2011, Rabin, J 1999, ‘Organizational downsizing: an introduction’, Special Issue: Organizational Downsizing, vol.2, no.3, pp.39-43, viewed 17 March 2011, ‘SWOT analysis’, n.d, Quick MBA: Knowledge to Power Your Business, viewed 17 March 2011, ‘Ulrich’s HR Roles model’, n.d, HRM Advice, viewed 17 March 2011, Read More