Ulrich Model of Human Resource Management in Annex - Case Study Example

 HRM Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Literature review 3 Ulrich model in Annex 5 Conclusion 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction ‘Human Resource Management’, is one of the most important terms used in management science. There are several activities involved in human resource management. Some of which include deciding staffing needs of the organization, recruiting and training, managing performance issues etc. Moreover determining employee compensation and benefits, keeping a record of the employees are also included in this list (McNamara, n.d.). There are several definitions of human resource management that are provided by different experts at different point of times. According to John Storey “Human Resource Management is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques” (Storey, 1995). In today’s competitive business scenario human resource constitutes one of the most important departments in any organization irrespective of its size or the industry in which it is operating. The trend is primarily because over the time, organizations have realized that people are the key resource of any company. It is the people who generate new ideas; it is the people who implement those ideas to produce commodities and services and finally it is the people who sell these commodities and services. In simple words it is the people or more specifically the employees who make the organization and run the organization. As a result organizations have understood that people are the key resource for any organization and this resource needs to be properly managed so that organizational performance reaches the desired level. This report includes an evaluation of the effectiveness of the current configuration of roles and responsibilities of HRM within the chosen organization. The entire evaluation is based on the HR model proposed by Dave Ulrich. Literature review Over the past few years various changes in management science has altered the nature of human resources management. In today’s global business scenario value is created by proper utilization of human resources. The core roles and responsibilities of H.R are thus redefined to suit the changed perspective. Dave Ulrich, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Business, analyzed these changed aspects of human resource management in his book named ‘Human resource champions: the next agenda for adding value and delivering ...’ According to Ulrich the last few years saw a transition in the roles and responsibilities of HR professionals. Transitions were mainly from qualitative to quantitative, operational to strategic, policing to partnering, reactive to proactive etc. Ulrich also stated that in today’s competitive business environment the roles and responsibilities human resource department must be aligned with the practice of achieving organizational excellence. Actually senior management of the organization has two choices, one is to operate without HR and the other one is to work with HR in the process of attaining organization’s strategic objectives. As a solution to this Ulrich said that HR should be chosen as a partner in the process of strategy execution and role of HR should be developed on the basis of its outcomes. He said that HR should be defined by what is delivered by it not by what is being done by it. HR today, in most of the organizations, is only involved in the paperwork regarding hiring and firing, compensation decisions that are made by others. Senior HR managers are involved in recruiting and managing the training and development programs. However this doesn’t contribute to better service to customers or increase of shareholders value. According to Ulrich there are four ways by which HR can play a crucial role in delivering organizational excellence (Ulrich, 1997). Firstly HR should work as a partner with the line managers as well as the senior managers during the execution process of the strategies. It would help the organization to take the planning from the meeting room to the market. Secondly HR should strive to become an administrative expert. He should help the organization in gaining administrative efficiency by reducing the cost without affecting the quality. The main argument behind this suggestion is the changing concept of quality. Previously organizations’ main objective was to provide products and services with highest possible quality but today business environment has become more critical. As a result nowadays organizations are focused on providing best quality at the minimum cost. Thirdly HR must be an ‘Employee Champion’ which means it should continuously represent employees’ concerns to the senior management. In today’s challenging environment, organizations always ask their employees to give more with less. As a result it is very important to protect employees’ interest and accordingly HR should play an important role in it. However HR should also ensure that employees are making significant contribution which should match the desired level (HRM Advice, n.d.). Finally HR should work as a change agent. He should support the various transition and modification in the organization so that its capability of undergoing change is improved. All these new agenda for HR are in support of the concept that role of HR goes beyond being a regulatory watchdog and policy police (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, n.d.). This Ulrich model can be applied in the organization where I am employed with the intention of evaluating the effectiveness of the present configuration of roles and responsibilities of HR department. Ulrich model in Annex Name of this organization is Annex consulting private limited. It is a three years old company with an employee strength of 110 people. Since it is a medium sized organization HR department is a small one. There are only five people in the entire HR department. The department is headed by the VP HR. Apart from him there is one senior HR manager and three HR executives. The effectiveness of the configuration of roles and responsibilities could be measured by describing the roles of each of the team members and analyzing them by the Ulrich model. Vice President HR is an important element of senior management team of the organization. He is involved in developing company’s overall long term strategy, human resource policy, managing performance appraisal program, managing training and development programs, recruiting top and middle level managers, coordinating with other departments and finally managing the team of HR. According to Dave Ulrich, HR should work as strategic partner. This means that the role of HR should not be limited to strategy making only, rather HR should be actively involved in the execution process of all the strategies. In the stated organization it has been found that VP of HR is actively involved in both strategy development as well as strategy execution. Furthermore he also ensures the coordination of the HR department with that of the other ones. This coordination is crucial in order to implement the strategies throughout the organization in the best possible way According to Ulrich, HR in today’s organization should act as administrative expert. HR should be involved in increasing the efficiency of the administration so that the cost of operation is reduced. In Annex, vice president of HR is not directly involved in increasing the efficiency of the administration, but he is responsible for setting up of the strategies or systems that would enhance the efficiency. In Ulrich’s model it is stated that HR should represent employees’ concern to the top management. In the chosen organization VP of HR does this task effectively and efficiently. He is very much concerned about the needs and wants of the employees in the organization. He also supports the fact that the organization needs to undergo some transformation or change after a certain period of time so that it can stay ahead in the competition in the long run. Finally it can be said that the vice president of HR is working as a strategic partner, change agent, employee champion as well as administrative expert. Apart from the vice president there is one senior HR manager who assists the vice president, he is responsible in ensuring coordination between HR executives and the top management of HR, establishing HR strategies, implementing those strategies, making administrative strategies, implementing the same, recruiting middle and lower level employees, implementing training and development programs and finally managing two HR executives in the organization. If her role is analyzed by using Ulrich’s HR model, it will be found that she is more involved in strategy execution rather than strategy formulation. Furthermore she plays an important role in enhancing the efficiency of the administration and forwarding various employee related issues to the top management. Her role in the organization becomes all the more crucial when the organization is likely to undergo any transformation or change, as she would be the key person to properly communicate with the employees explaining them the cause and effect of the change. Another important task that she performs in the organization is managing the administration and enhancing its efficiency so that cost of operation could be minimized without hampering the quality of the services. She is directly involved in the process of developing administrative strategies and implementing the same. There are two HR executives, who are responsible for carrying out all the paper works, meeting all the instructions given by the upper level management, helping the senior management so that objectives of the HR department could be met successfully. If their roles and responsibilities are analyzed with the help of Ulrich HR model, it would be clear that they are not actively involved in strategy development or strategy implementation. They are concerned with various administrative works but do not make any significant contribution in increasing the administrative efficiency. So, it can be inferred that these two HR executives are neither working as strategic partner nor as administrative expert in the organization. As far as any change or transformation in the organization is concerned, they are not directly involved in the decision making processes. However HR executives can communicate to their senior level various issues they are dealing with in the organization. Hence it can be inferred that the configuration of roles and responsibilities of the HR executives are not effective enough. Conclusion Human resource management constitutes an important facet in the management science. With the increasing realization that human resource is instrumental in attaining any desired objective, human resource department has become one of the key departments in any organization. Roles and responsibilities of HR have gone through a significant change over the past few years as the nature of competition as well as total business scenario has changed. Dave Ulrich, one of renowned management expert today, has argued that there should be four crucial roles that should be performed by HR in order to gain the competitive advantage. According to him HR should be working as strategic partner, change agent, employee champion as well as administrative expert. This model of Ulrich is used here in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the role and responsibilities of HR in the chosen organization. It is found that the configuration of role of vice president of HR and that of the senior HR manager are quite effective in the sense that they are working as strategic partner, change agent, employee champion and administrative expert. However roles of two HR executives are not that effectively designed in this organization. References Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, No Date, What is HR business partnering?, HR business partnering, [Online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/corpstrtgy/general/hrbusprtnr.htm [Accessed on February 03, 2010]. HRM Advice, No Date, Ulrich’s HR Roles Model, [Online] Available at: http://hrmadvice.com/hrmadvice/hr-role/ulrichs-hr-roles-model.html [Accessed on February 03, 2010]. McNamara, C. No Date, Introduction, Human Resource Management (and Talent Management) [Online] Available at: http://managementhelp.org/hr_mgmnt/hr_mgmnt.htm [Accessed on February 03, 2010] Storey, J. 1995, Human resource management: a critical text, Routledge Ulrich, D. 1997, Human resource champions: the next agenda for adding value and delivering ..., Harvard Business Press Bibliography Arbor, A. June 15, 2010. Dave Ulrich Tops List of Most Influential Leaders in Human Resources, [Online] Available at: http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/ArticleDisplay.asp?news_id=8310 Snell, S. Bohlander, G. W. 2009, Managing Human Resources, Cengage Learning Ulrich, D. Brockbank, W. June 20, 2005. HR's New Mandate: Be a Strategic Player, Harvard Business School [Online] Available at: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4861.html Read More