Transforming the Organization - Research Paper Example

 Transforming the Organization Contents Contents 1 HR Transformation 3 HR Strategy 4 Mission Statement for the HR Function 4 Focus Areas 5 Planning 5 Staffing 5 Training and Development 6 Performance Management 6 Total Rewards 7 Work-life 7 Health and Safety 8 Employee Relations, Policies and Procedures 8 Realignment or Restructuring of the Function 9 Outsourcing 9 Additional Roles for HR 9 Phases of HR transformation 10 Business context 11 Outcomes 11 HR Redesign 12 Accountability 12 Timeline 12 Evaluation Metrics 13 Challenges 13 Recommendations 14 Conclusion 15 References 16 List of Figures Figure 1: Representation of the four phases of HR transformation in chart form……………….11 HR Transformation Transformed HR improves the effectiveness of an organization through engaging employees, simplifying processes and optimizing costs. In order to compete with the current competitive market, corporations should devise strategies aimed at enhancing productivity through focus on human resource (HR) transformation. Employee efficiency and function is maintained by the human resource function in an organization. Transformation strategies enable HR departments to function beyond the delivery of cost-effective employee management services that deliver the necessary insight required by the business fraternity. Currently, human resource transformation consists of more responsibilities than before. The focus is not only to set and administrate employees, but also assisting the organization to be more successful through suggesting strategies that would reduce the operating costs and achievement of the organization’s goals. However, most human resource departments in effective organizations transform themselves in response to the day to day changes in operation needs without focusing on the bigger picture. This paper addresses the strategies necessary for the achievement of an effective HR transformation strategy through focus on key areas such as planning, staffing, training and development, performance management, total rewards and outsourcing among others. Recommendations on curbing the challenges that affect the process will also be provided. To ensure effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery, HR needs to align its improvement strategies with the business strategy of the organization. The strategy should be realistic and executable with accurate plans, resources, well arranged schedules and estimated reasonable benefits that the organization can depend on. To help the organization achieve its goals, the first step that HR should undertake is working with the business close enough to understand its most crucial strategic priorities for developing a HR transformational plan and vision that is in tandem with those priorities. The HR should then identify the detailed actions, timing, budget and resources necessary to progress the action. HR Strategy This is the pattern of planned human resource management that is intended to help the organization achieve is goals. This provides the organization with a sustained competitive advantage through development, induction, and recruitment of people, skills and HR policies among other factors. Rothwell (2008) contends that the HR department is a crucial aspect of an organization that identifies talent and capitalizes on employee improvement (p. 15). This enables the HR to discover things about the organization through the lens of people. Mission Statement for the HR Function To transform HR function as a valuable resource to the organization fraternity through ensuring that employee services efficiently delivers the expected outcomes. This will also include modifying innovative systems to effectively address strategic, organizational needs that promote business. Focus Areas Planning The HR professionals should develop implementation plans for the organizational management to enable them make informed decisions on the recommendations arising from the transformation process. Planning should also entail detailed analysis of the resources, cost and timelines required for implementation of the expected recommendation of the process. A list of sequenced and prioritized strategies should be prepared to enable implementation of each of the recommendations. The plan should also have an illustration of existing HR processes with a detailed draft of the new organizational structures with the recommendations related to integration of new and enhanced technologies. Staffing Efficient staffing calls for talent management to ensure maximum productivity through emphasis on motivation. Staffing should encompass talent management. Talent management is the process of creating and utilizing individual competencies for the achievement of business strategy. The staff should be made to understand that talent is a product of competence, commitment and contribution. The operational staff should not be seen as mere pairs of hands necessary to implement functions, but their role should be utilized in the early development of solutions. Organizations with talented staff are more successful. Training and Development Training and development of the existing employees is necessary to fill the gap between the traditional and strategic skills. Project and implementation skills are crucial for the efficient operation of the HR professionals. They should be able to link the business and qualified HR professionals to clarify goals, actions, measures and roles. They should be in a capacity to conform to the changes taking place in the business environment, as well as cause. According to Withers, et al (2010), the workers should be equipped with diagnostic skills that would enable them improve the construction of a project. It also enables them encompass situational dynamics into account, in addition to other competing activities (p.40). Performance Management To ensure performance and increased productivity, the HR professionals should: put the right transition team in place; build rapport and collaboration from the top management; make sure that they have efficient manpower and financial resources at their disposal; provide new training to employees, and identify the internal change facilitators for recognition. Hindle (2008) alludes that performance of the structures should be ensured through extensive planning to prepare for transformation or change initiative, revision of procedures and policies and establishment of a system to recognize progress against the system’s change or transformative strategy (p.40). The professionals should adopt a concerted effort to address the need and the rationale of the transformative strategy. The rationale should be clear on the impact and value the strategies are expected to bring in the organization to provide a direct line of sight between the HR transformational strategy and business proliferation. The strategy should provide the required feedback that details each employee’s obligation and how it affects them. Total Rewards The key area that the HR transformers should focus on when integrating the worth of total rewards in the promotion of the success of transformational strategy includes compensation, benefits, performance and recognition, and enhancing career opportunities (Withers, Williamson and Reddington, 2010: p. 39). Compensation entails honoring the fixed and variable pay rates for all employees. However, total rewards should only form part of the general HR transformation. Work-life Work-life should entail any program that will assist employees in effective performance of their jobs. Such programs include telecommuting and flexible scheduling. Highly performing employees can be motivated more if the management adopts strategies meant to reward their efforts. Performance aligns the individual goals towards business success. On the other hand, recognition reinforces the value of performance improvement and enhances positive communication and feedback between the employees and management. Developing career opportunities involves planning for the advancement or changes in employee responsibilities to best suit their individual skills. This increases the individual output and the overall business productivity. Health and Safety Most of the benefits programs will provide immunity to employees against health and safety risks. Such measures include integrating employees in insurance schemes and medical schemes. Assurance on safety and well being motivates employees leading to increased productivity and business success. Employee Relations, Policies and Procedures The HR should enhance social interaction within the organization. This facilitates information capture and sharing and promotes team work through the establishment of work groups that are more cohesive and effective for solving problems. Social interaction also enables the HR to gather the inputs and ideas required for the formulation of organizational policies. The policies and procedures being formulated should create an enabled workforce. For instance, mobile workforce can access functionalities through multiple communication channels such as mobile phones and smart devices. Employee management can also be enhanced through self service functionalities whereby they are encouraged to establish personal user interfaces for relaying their feelings on the policies affecting their jurisdictions. The HR can also involve the assistance of analytics that provide detailed insights on the employee and management feelings to enable them make timely decisions. In the implementation of the strategy, employee communications should be proactive, open and inclusive (Withers, et al, 2010: pp. 20-57). Any changes related to individual work units should be undertaken through extensive consultations. This equips the employees with the knowledge on what is expected of them and how their contribution impacts on achievement organization’s goals. Realignment or Restructuring of the Function HR function is poised to add value to the organization’s success through transforming and restructuring itself by aligning processes, strategy and transactional services required by the organization. Such transformation requires redefining of the leadership perspective. Restructuring and realignment should create sustainability to position the HR function in a more strategic and less transactional oriented, compliance, risk averse and bureaucratic context (Boroughs, Palmer and Hunter, 2008: pp. 121-125). Outsourcing The sourcing strategy includes in sourcing, co-sourcing and outsourcing. Determination of the most efficient optimal sourcing mix requires the organization to apply extensive business analysis and decision protocols to maximize the return on internal resources. Outsourcing is making a deal with suppliers to provide all technological, operational and human capital resources and functions. Additional Roles for HR Other transformational strategies include implementation of the electronic HR and designing improved HR practices and functions. They can also undertake an exchange program to share transformation ideas with the HR departments from other organizations (Rickard, Baker and Crew, 2009: p. 90). Phases of HR transformation The four phase model is necessary to help practitioners achieve the transformational goal of building the business success and avoid mistakes that undermine transformational efforts (Ulrich, 2009: pp. 105-109). The phases include building the business context for transformation, defining the outcomes, redesigning the HR and ensuring accountability in defining and delivering the transformation. Figure 1: Representation of the four phases of HR transformation in chart form. Business context When the HR professionals focus their attention on the outcomes outlined by the business context, they team up with the managers in an effort to build a business context for transformation. Involvement of managers ensures that HR functions do not only focus on the internal HR transformations that are not beneficial to the improvement of the business case. The HR professionals spearheading the transformation initiative should organize an all-hand meeting; for collective discussion of the business and the current challenges it faces as well as set the agenda for a comprehensive HR transformation (Withers, et al, 2010: pp. 20-57). Outcomes This should involve the selection of the stakeholders who will be most affected by the changes and discuss and define their most favored outcomes. For instance, investors’ relevant outcomes are related to the intangible value of the earning ratios of the organization while the community relevant aspect is the reputation of the organization. The outcomes of the featured stakeholders should be monitored regularly to ensure that they measure up to the transformational strategies. While focusing on the stakeholder outcomes, the transformation should also be geared towards changing the fundamental identity, culture, and image of the organization that is, defining and building capability (Hindle, 2008: p.40). The capabilities become the organization’s identity, vehicles for the implementation of the business strategy and drivers of HR practices. The established capabilities are significant for the development of leaders who can steer the organization to future successes and prosperity. HR Redesign This ensures that the HR function is aligned with the business strategy. The transformation should structure the HR function to reflect that of the organization. This implies that if the business is decentralized, the HR function should reflect the same. The HR function should recognize the role of any professional input and the transformation should feature the motivational strategies aimed at rewarding professionals and situating them in strategic positions suitable for turning their knowledge into productivity. The HR function should have the capacity to differentiate between transformational and transactional strategies. Accountability Any HR transformational strategy should involve the HR, customers, line managers, investors, and external consultants. Ulrich posits that the HR’s role is to design and facilitate the implementation of the transformation process (p.108). The line managers are responsible for ensuring that the organization has the right structures, as well as the right talent required for delivery of the customer’s and shareholders expectations. Investors have an obligation of partnering with the organization’s internal systems to ensure the success of the transformation strategy. Transformational process should thus entail clear role definition to enable all parties play their part for success of the process. Timeline The timeline that is efficient for effective HR transformation is baseline assessment (approximately 7 weeks), visioning (approximately 3 weeks), gap analysis (approximately 3 weeks), prioritized quantification (approximately 2 weeks) and implementation planning (approximately 2 weeks). Evaluation Metrics According to Vilalta (2000), transforming HR to a more effective business-driven function requires metrics that should be aligned with the specific business strategies that guides and controls decision making (pp. 16-20). The three fundamental metrics that measure the efficiency of the HR function are efficiency and effectiveness of the HR departments, and advancing the organization’s core competency. Some examples of efficiency measures include cost per hire and HR expense factor. The gathered efficiency data is used to compare the department’s performance with that of other organizations. Assessing effectiveness is geared towards showing whether the applied tool or employee has a positive effect to the organization, for instance, assessing the absent rate. Some strategies involved in developing the organization’s core competency are analysis of revenue factor and defects. Effective analysis of metrics leads to recommendation of terms that are comprehensible to business leaders. This enables them to support any transformational strategies being undertaken within the organization. In return, the HR professionals translate employee issues that were initially deemed as foreign into terms liable to decision making by the senior management. Challenges The biggest challenge that the HR professionals currently face is helping organizations to succeed. Some of the business demands placed on human resource professionals are the expectation to produce more with less number of employees and deliver efficient services with minimal budgets. Moreover, they purpose to cultivate strategic influence and nurture a successful organization through sustainable business environment and working with all the stakeholders to enhance productivity, performance, and innovation and employee retention. They are expected to promote employee access and services through application of innovative human resource technology and processes; establish a strategic human resource environment that enables efficient workforce transformation and enterprise change; and implementation of a flexible and cost efficient service delivery structure. However, barriers to the attainment of the above strategies include heavy competition for a skilled workforce, pressure associated with compliance with the legal and regulatory framework, under equipping, and administration control. Recommendations Most of the failure cases associated with HR transformation emanate from the mistakes made, when starting the process. 1. The HR transformation strategy should not be isolated from the business transformation. The process should be carried out in a manner that adds value to the organization rather than improving its function. 2. Most of the transformational strategies are enacted before ensuring that they are tied to the business rationale and rooted in the business context. This makes them lack sustenance leading to failure. HR transformation needs should thus be addressed in the context of business demands. 3. HR transformations should not entail only piecemeal efforts that only focus on increments. They should be part of a wider integrated process that is grounded around key business results to ensure a long lasting value. 4. The process should not be based on individual fiat but rather should be interconnected to the overall success of the organization. Individually sponsored initiatives are not transformational. 5. Efficient improvements are key elements of transformational process. It is eminent to note that efficiency alone is not transformational. 6. The business structure should always be considered as the first priority if the transformers are success oriented. Conclusion The biggest challenge that HR professionals face today is helping their respective organizations to succeed. A successful HR transformational process increases the value of the human resources on the business success. Promoting business success of an organization involves reducing operational costs, increasing market share for its goods and services, exploring global markets, and innovating new products and services. If the HR functions are to deliver, their goals should be related to that of the organization. References Boroughs, A., Palmer, L., & Hunter, I. (2008). HR transformation technology: Delivering Systems to support the new HR model. Aldershot, England: Gower. Hindle, T. (2008). Guide to management ideas and gurus. Management ideas and gurus, London: Profile. Rickard, C., Baker, J., & Crew, Y. (2009). Going global managing the HR function across countries and cultures. Farnham, England: Gower. Rothwell, W. J., Prescott, R. K., & Taylor, M. W. (2008). Human resource transformation: Demonstrating strategic leadership in the face of future trends. Mountain View, Calif.: Davies-Black Pub. Ulrich, D. (2009). HR transformation: Building human resources from the outside in. Chicago: McGraw-Hill. Vilalta, R. (2000) Evaluation metrics in classification. A quantification of distance-bias. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Withers, M., Williamson, M., & Reddington, M. (2010). Transforming HR creating value through people. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More