Designing Strategic Human Resource Management - Literature review Example

Running Head: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE Strategic Human Resource Name Institution Date Introduction Strategic human resource management refers to a person’s practical administration. Strategic HRM requires planning ahead and organizing avenues for a business entity to efficiently and effectively meet the requirements of its workers. The strategy also ensures that workers effectively meet both the expectation and the targets of the company. This, in most cases has an effect on the way issues are carried out within a business site. As a result there is improved level of performance ranging from hiring activities as well as manpower training plan that provide the needed techniques and discipline. According to Deb (2006), strategic HRM refers to the connecting of human resources with strategic aims and objectives so as to enhance the level of performance of the business entity and enlarge organizational culture which is specifically aimed at promoting innovation, competitive advantage and flexibility. In an organization, strategic HRM implies accommodating and involving the human resources duties as a deliberate partner in the planning as well as the execution of strategies of the entire company through activities of human resources such as recruiting, choosing, training and giving different forms of rewards to the personnel. Business entities that work hard to achieve the requirements of their manpower can cultivate a work atmosphere that is conducive to the level productivity. Effective HRM is the best way of achieving this. The capability of planning the requirements of employees by thinking ahead can assist an organization in improving the rate of skilled manpower that opt to stay on working. Enhancement of the employee retention rate usually reduces the amount of money the organizations use in hiring and providing the necessary skills to the new employees (Deb, 2006). Andersson & Bateman (2000) note that strategic HR are a compilation of skilled human resources practitioners who offers a varied industrial relations, employee relations and human resources services to clients. Management of strategic HR is normally intended to help business entities to efficiently meet the requirements of their workers as it promotes the goals of the company. HR may also offer the required work motivations, safety systems and sick or vacation periods. Designing strategic human resource management Designing strategic human resources lacks coherence and consistency because managers and other stakeholders have little knowledge on the subject. Managers therefore choose different approaches in management of human resources. There exist a number of approaches that can be employed in designing human resources strategy. The precise ways of designing them vary from one company to another simply because these companies have little understanding about strategic human resources management. Gerhart et al (2000) argue that there is usually an excellent approach in designing an effective strategic human resource management. Many managers have little understanding regarding the approach of designing an effective strategy, thus making the designing of sets of strategic HRM to lack consistency as well the expected coherence. Human resources management policies and activities range from outsourcing certain non-core roles, adopting flexible work activities and the enhanced use of information technology. It is very important that a cost benefit analysis of executing new strategic policies and practices be carried out. For instance, the cost of executing a new work grading system is likely to overshadow the merits of those kinds of undertaking. There are likely to be cost-effective choices that might be available to the organizations though they vary among organizations. Managers therefore need to perform a cost benefit analysis that will easily improve their firm’s performance. To achieve this, they need to have more understanding about the best analysis to adopt so that their practices can be consistent and coherent. Certain human resources management practices and policies might be necessary to promote the objectives of the company. The guiding principle as well as practices might develop the maintenance of women or promote the level of diversity, mainly in the representation of chosen groups amongst high level personnel in the company. A desirable approach in selecting the needed HRM policies, procedures as well as activities is to clearly classify the needed HRM practices that promote the organizations strategic will as it correlates to enrollment, career-planning, provision training to the recruited staff and reward management. Therefore with better understanding of the management policies and practices, managers can easily come up with a strategy that is coherent and consistence (Andersson & Bateman, 2000). Strategic HRM focuses on human resource programs that have long-term goals. Instead of dwelling on internal human resources matters, the main focus is mainly on attend to and sorting out problems that affect people management programs in the long run and always internationally. Consequently, the primary goal of strategic HR is to enhance the efficiency of employee by concentrating on business obstacles that take place outside human resources. According to Bowen & Ostroff (2004), the major measures of strategic HR managers is mainly to identify crucial HR areas where strategies can easily be implemented within a specified period of time to develop the general enthusiasm as well as productivity of the workers. The level of communication among the workers and the top management of the organization is vital because without active involvement no cooperation is possible. Characteristics of strategic HRM are: The strategy has a clear linkage with HR practices and rules as well as the general organizational of strategic aims of the business environment. The strategic human resources management has also some organizing schema that links the individual HR interventions to make them equally supportive. A number of responsibilities for the management of HR in most cases devolve down the line. According to Collins & Clark (2003), aging employee population in many western nations and the rising demands for qualified employees in developing economies have underscored the significance of effective human resource designing. Human resource designing are processes that recognize both the future HR fundamentals for a union or organization to meet its objectives. Designing Human resource need to act as link between HRM and the general strategic design of an organization. Mangers therefore should have enough knowledge on how to recognize the current and future human resources needs. This will enable their human resources management practices to be consistent and coherent (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler, 1997). Designing and building HR practices involves the use of a varied range of both efficient and effective methods and tactics which are geared towards fitting into the strategic needs of the business entity. It is crucial to put into consideration that the benefits of innovative human dynamics can always be employed to help in the course of action (Boselie et al 2005). Conventional methods to career designing, performance assessment, incentive management as well as employee motivation need to be fully re-evaluated based on the mission, vision together with the characteristic outcomes as indicated in HRM plans, guidelines as well as practices. Advancement responses in most cases are geared towards increasing the level of skills (business skills) together with the behavioral elements within the organization. The aim is to improve the magnitude of efficiency in the entire organization. In most instances, the laws and regulation that govern require that the organizations re-engineer their ways and modes of development. New ideas, for instance lifetime learning as well organization prior learning are supposed to create a formidable constituent of the process of empowering human resource provision (Millmore, 2007). Implementation of strategic human resources According to Hernandez (2009), human resource can be observed as having six menus of human resource practices from which organizations can select the ones that are most suitable in the implementation of the strategy. Though all the strategy types require competent individuals in a generic sense, they not only depend on this, but also they need various types of workers with different types of behavior and attitudes. Therefore with little understanding on how to implement the strategy, managers might not be competent enough to ensure that their practices are coherent and consistency. The upcoming strategic role of HR duties stipulates that HR professionals in the days to come enhance the level of business among individuals and groups. This can be through providing the required technicalities in the field and enhancing integration competencies. Strategic HRM is essential in both small and large business entities. In small businesses it can be like manager taking some little time on a daily to view, help and analyze employees so that they can present frequent reviews. Consequently, large organizations in most case can have an entire department that can be assigned the duty of HR and development. The level of competency of staff members in large companies can be enhanced through fulfilling the requirements of the workers in a way that fulfills the company’s objectives. Implementation of the efforts that provides the workers with the tools that they need to perform their duties efficiently is worth the investment (Pynes 2008). Balogun & Johnson (2005) argues that when developing human resource plan, it is vital to put into consideration what human resource may require as well as what the company can comfortably provide. Large organizations, in most cases are usually well placed to provide training programs compared to small organizations. Large companies therefore always find it easy to implement the effective programs that are beneficial to them. This however, does not imply that the small organizations should not take part in the execution of strategic HRM processes. Providing specialized training such as on-site training and coaching, regardless of company’s size, can assist workers to reach peak performance rates. Both big and small size companies need to have a good knowledge regarding the implementation of effective strategic management that suits both companies. An important component of strategic HRM is the development of the workers. The procedure involved in the execution of strategic HR management in most cases commences when an organization is recruiting and interviewing potential workers. Improved interviewing styles can assist to weed out applicants that might no be a good match for the organization. Datta et al (2005) observe that after the applicants have been hired, they need to go through a formidable training coupled with mentoring plan which can help them to catch up with the organization rules as well as the present and ongoing projects which are likely to attract their contribution. Training, coaching and frequent appraisals can assist workers to perform at their level best. Organized investment in the improvement of the workers’ level of performance can help a company produce quality outputs (Becker& Gerhart, 1996). A comprehensive workplace plan can help in identifying the expected training prerequisites that are based on the organization’s workplace requirements. Vibrant recruitment practices might require implementation of strategic human resource management to enhance the representation of a selected grouping, or acquiring crucial knowhow within the organization. A detailed plan of learning can help in the development of the intended workplace necessities which are recognized in terms of workforce plan of the organization. Investment plans for a company, a group of people or an individual are all geared towards attaining increased levels of the company’s performance. It is crucial at individual level, mainly for the senior most staff members be provided with the skills that they need in their professions. At team level, individuals are able to work with their colleagues to ensure that the business objectives are achieved. According to Millmore (2007), reward strategies aims at aligning the level of production of a company or organization with the manner in which the workers are rewarded, hence giving the necessary incentives as well as inspiration to the workers. Its components can be composed of base pay, sharing of profits, share options as well as a range of appropriate remunerations that are normally based on competitor or market norms and organization’s capability to pay. Conclusion From our discussion it is quit clear that the designing and implementation of sets of strategic human resource practices lacks coherence and consistency, simply because the companies are not using uniform strategy in executing their activities. The specific approach differs among companies simply because these organizations have little understanding regarding strategic human resources management. Inconsistency in designing and implementation of strategic human resources is due to the fact that managers have little understanding about the excellent approach of designing an effective strategic management of human resources. It is also evident from our discussion that the process of designing strategic HRM not only explains what the company might achieve within a given period, but also the number and types of human resources that might be needed in achieving the business objectives. Mangers need to be knowledgeable enough on the type and number of human resources that are required to achieve a particular objective. Their knowledge will enable them to implement and design a strategic human resources management that is consistent and coherent. Managers need to understand all the practices in strategic HRM for them to be in position to classify the best practice that can support the execution of strategic HRM processes. With their great knowledge, they will be in position to understand the best strategies that suits different behaviors and attitudes of their employees, thus coming up with different human resources management strategies that are inline with employee’s characters and can be employed across various organizations. Reference Collins, C. J. & K. D. Clark. (2003). Strategic human resource practices, top management team social networks, and firm performance: The role of human resource practices in creating organizational competitive advantage. The Academy of Management Journal 46(6): 740- 751. Becker, B. & Gerhart, B. (1996). ‘The impact of human resource management on organizational performance: progress and prospects’. Academy of Management Journal, 39: 4, 779–801. Andersson, L. M. and T. S. Bateman. (2000). Individual environmental initiative: Championing natural environmental issues in U.S. business organizations. The Academy of Management Journal 43(4): 548-570. Datta, D. K., J. P. 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