Human Resource Management Practices - Literature review Example

Human Resource Management Human Resource Management has become an important factor that contributes to the success of any organization. There have been several studies conducted by several researchers to understand the main role of the Human Resource Management (HR). HR plays a major role in talent management. But before getting into the discussion of the scholarly works, there is a need to establish a definition of talent management and how it is related to HR. Talent management is basically the skills of the organization’s management to attract skilled employees, to work for their development and also to retain the current employees of the organization. An organization manages its talent through the HR and this is how both HR and talent management are linked. HR has a responsibility of ensuring that the employees work for the achievement of the organizational goals. In order to manage the organizations talent, HR needs to come up with effective employee policies, etc (BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. 2000; CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008) There are different scholarly studies that discuss about the role of HR in the talent management and the organizational performance. One of the studies discusses about the different phases that occurred during the development of the theory of HR and performance. There are basically five phases that took place during the development of the theory of HR. The beginning phase was when the HR was actually associated with the performance of the company. There was a link made between the HR practices and the strategies of the businesses. The second phase was empiricism, when statistical surveys were used to support the development of the theory of HR. The phase was successful in establishing a positive relation between the HR and the organizations performance. The third phase provided with the concept that new ways need to be found in order to exploit the talent of the workers and there should be more conceptual clarity about the whole HR practices. Then came the ending stages of the evolution of the theory of HR. The last few phases emphasized on the increasing sophistication of the HR theory and suggested that use of many organizational models and also models from social psychology should be incorporated with the practice of the HR theory. The study links this theory to the current role of the HR. It also discusses about the challenges faced by the HR theory. The scope of the theory is too narrow. It argues that the workforce motivation and commitment are an important aspect of the increasing sophistication. It states that keeping in mind the respective workforce HR managers need to come up with the best practices to have the most positive outcomes and to have the greatest impact on performance. The study has some loopholes. It does not suggest how the HR managers can come up with good practices. It does not suggest exactly what models and research methods should be used to understand the impact of HR theory on the performance. It also does not suggest ways of talent management to bring out the best out of employees (GUEST.D 2010) Another study was conducted which focused on the Human Resource Management and the Corporate Performance in the UK. The study basically focused on that how human resource management can help the corporations to achieve competitive advantage through its workforce. It shows a clear relationship between the human resource management and performance but the study fails to establish the level of extent to which the HRM results in a higher performance of the corporations. During the course of this study it was found out that greater use of HR practices results in lower labor turnover higher profit contribution per employee but it does not ensure a greater productivity of the employees. There were 366 UK based companies that were studied by the researchers to establish the above results (GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M 2003) Talent management is the most important aspect of the HR practices. If HR fails to manage the workforce of an organization, it is more likely to result in poor performance. There is a strategic impact of the HRM practices on the most important organizational outcomes. Another study talks about the employee empowerment. It is the most recent and a very important HR practice that is being used by HR managers to improve the efficiency and productivity of the workforce. The concept of empowerment is not new unlike its practice. Employee empowerment means that the employees of an organization have a say in the decision making process in their respective operational levels. This is a great way of talent management because this provides the employees with job satisfaction and motivates them which in turn improve their productivity and efficiency. The Japanese recognize the importance of their workforce and this is the reason behind their success in the world markets. The Japanese pay a tremendous emphasis on the integration of employees with the organizational objectives, the strategic outlay, the equipment and the processes. The Japanese car manufacturing industry is a huge success story in the world market and employee empowerment is one of the many reasons behind its success. The workforce feels more committed to their jobs and to the success of the organization (VAIMAN, V., & VANCE, C. 2008; APOSTOLOU.A 2000; BLANCHARD, K. H., CARLOS, J. P., & RANDOLPH, W. A. 1999) Talent management is not restricted to motivating the workforce or taking measures to improve their productivity and efficiency. It is also concerned with recruiting and retaining the best. There are several strategies that are instated in order for a better talent management. This is necessary because HR managers are compelled to provide value-added services and to come up with plans for the talent management which are in line with the organizational strategy and goals. HR has a role in talent management as it devise investment plans to invest in the employees of the organization and also calculate the return of investment to the organization. HR has taken initiatives to contribute to the talent management of the organizations by following dynamic and flexible strategies. These initiatives include the retention strategy, succession planning, knowledge transfer between and to the employees, high performance teams and transition support etc. These initiatives are important because they together contribute to effective talent management. The study gave an important insight to the strategies used by the HR managers in order for improved talent management (BUTTERFIELD.B 2008) As discussed earlier, there is relation between the HR practices and the organizational strategies. Another study focuses on the integrated talent management which extends the value of the strategic framework of any organization. The study talks about the problems faced by the organizations in exploiting their workforce talent. It uses a holistic approach to integrate the talent management framework with the core business objectives. They both are integrated in order to solve several strategic problems related to the HR practices. When coming up with talent management techniques, HR managers need to have a contingency plan. With the changing environment and business practices there is also a change in the workforce attitudes, knowledge, commitment, and motivation and satisfaction level. To cope with these changes and to retain the best of the employees, HR practices need to have a back-up plan (CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008; DELERY. J.E & DOTY.D 1996; WRIGHT.P, SNELL.S & DYER.L 2005; AN ORACLE WHITE PAPER 2008) The current study focuses on the role of HR in talent management of the car manufacturing industry of UK and Japan. Role of HR have been a huge factor in the success of the car manufacturing industry in both the regions. The reason that UK and Japan have been chosen as the main regions of study is because their car manufacturing industry is huge and successful to such an extent that both the industries have managed to build a global image. People from all around the world not only recognize these industries but also trust them with the quality and performance. This trusted global image is the result of the employee performance of both the geographical regions. UK and Japan are two diverse car manufacturing industries but both are equally successful. The study will help to explain the role and nature of HR in both diverse cultures and the workforce that is present. It will also help to establish research findings as to how and to what extent has the talent management contributed to the success of the car manufacturing industry in both UK and Japan. The study will help to find in detail about how exactly the HR managers work for talent management in both the regions to. There is a gap in the study because United States has an equally important and successful car manufacturing industry. Another gap is that there are many other factors other than the talent management that contribute to the success of the organization. Influence of HR and talent management of the success of the industries will not be ample to lay a solid ground. References CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. (2008). The talent powered organization strategies for globalization, talent management, and high performance. London, Kogan Page. http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=209122. VAIMAN, V., & VANCE, C. (2008). Smart talent management building knowledge assets for competitive advantage. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=233056. ARMSTRONG, M. (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice. London, Kogan Page. DELERY. J.E & DOTY.D (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance. Academy of Management Journal. GUEST.D (2010). Human Resource Management and performance: still searching for some answers. Human Resource Management Journal. GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M (2003). Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations. < http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8543.00273/pdf> WRIGHT.P, SNELL.S & DYER.L (2005). New Models of strategic HRM in a global context. International Journal of Human Resource Management. < http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585190500120814#preview> BUTTERFIELD.B (2008). Talent Management: Emphasis on Action. AN ORACLE WHITE PAPER (2008). Integrated Talent Management: Extending the Value of a Strategic Framework. < http://www.oracle.com/es/solutions/hcm/018842.pdf> APOSTOLOU.A (2000). Employee Involvement (INNOREGIO: dissemination of innovation and knowledge management techniques) BLANCHARD, K. H., CARLOS, J. P., & RANDOLPH, W. A. (1999). The 3 keys to empowerment: release the power within people for astonishing results. San Fransico, Berrett-Koehler Publishers. BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. (2000). Human resource management theory and practice. Mahwah, N.J., Lawrence Erlbaum. http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=56637. Read More