Human Resource Management Transformation from Primarily Administrative and Operational To Strategic - Research Paper Example

Primarily the focus was how to utilize employees in an effective way so that the profitability of the firm would increase. By the time, essential developmental reforms came into this sector which addressed motivation of employees, rewards, training & development, etc. In the 1980s notably the term “Human Resource Management” was introduced from the USA. It indicated that employees are assets for the firm and vital steps should be taken to sustain & retain them. The main transformational period of Human Resource Management started in 1945 when “Personal Management” was given immense importance due to the post-world war II scenario. Employment management & welfare work were categorized in Personal Management. Regarding Personal management, Bill Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett Packard HP said: “the role of personnel is to enhance the quality of management”.

The core reasons for the transformation of HRM are globalization, market competition, technological advancements, and continuous change. The firms realized that the productivity of employees depends upon the formulation of policies, if the policies are employee friendly then eventually working motivational level will increase. Significantly numerous imperative developments were brought in the firms like selection & testing mechanism, negotiation techniques, expansion of management training, reward system, etc.

Adopting and presenting policies that would benefit both employers and employees is a major concern of Human Resource Management. The success of a business depends upon organizational behavior. This was one of the core issues raised in the transactional period. CEO of Scandinavian Airline, Jan Carlzon openly presented his viewpoint on strong organizational behavior, which is a fundamental element of a company’s triumph. Adaptations of performance appraisal and compensation packages were highly appreciated by the CEO of General Electric, Jack Welsch.

Technical terminologies were implied in the Human Resource Management in the late 1990’s such as Job Description, Job analysis, Competencies, Recruitment & Selection, Reward Systems, Performance Management Systems, Training & Development, etc. which made Human Resource Management a separate course of study. These changes escorted to the emergence of a well-defined department in the firms which would enhance the business operational activities. Now the activities of HRM have a new horizon and they are transformed from operational and administrative into Strategic decision making.  

The transformational phase was not that easy; many obstacles came as regulatory agencies played a crucial role in the reformation of systems. CEOs were not comfortable with this phase as they expected that HR managers would act as their agents while the Managers were trying to bring employer-employee mutual beneficial policies. Profiling of employees was also not appreciated so was the implementation of performance management systems.

Strategic Human Resource Management:

The concept of Strategic Human resources came out in the early 1990s and was fully endorsed in the 20th Century.  It focuses on the formulation of strategies to carry out everyday business transactions of the company in a professional way. It is a set of well-defined models which provides solutions to all hindrances which could occur in a company. Compliance with issues by a set of strategies is the name of the game. It also plays a role of a bridge between different departments of the firm so that their activities would be inter-related and the processing would be effective and efficient.

The main purpose of integration between the departments is to achieve strategic goals, after the cohesion of HR policies and practices. Through this system connection and bonding between the departments in strengthened- a positive indicator for the firm.  Human Resource strategy is thus formulated after having a hawk-eye view on business strategy and environmental influences. It involves workers too so that their commitment to the firm would enhance. 

The working methodology of Strategic Human Resource Management can be implicitly elucidated that firm’s mission and strategy along with organizational structures are well interrelated with human resource management, eventually making a triangular shape which makes strategies to deal with economic, cultural, and political forces.

The success of Strategic human resource management can be seen all around the globe. Almost every MNC has implied this new system and has got very positive results. Johnson & Johnson as one of the active strategic planning process company gained an enormous boom by the implementation of systems.

Conclusion:

The classical Human Resource management and the reformed version; Strategic Human resource management both provided operations and administrative measures of the firm easy and practical. These systems cannot be neglected in a business environment. The revolutionary changes brought in the Strategic Human Resource Management are commendable as they actually focus on the strong bonding of departments.

It also focuses to watch out for all the external barriers which would affect the business activities, so in order to cope up with them, a contingency plan or strategies are to be formalized in advance. In the past, the focal point was just to manage the administrative and operational issues of the firm which was basically allocating labor effectively in the company. The developments which came throughout the tenure led to the basis of this whole system dominance and thus it evolved as a separate working unit in the firm.

Strategic Human Resource Management has taken this division to a next level as it spotlight to outsmart the radical changes which would influence operations. The grip on organizational processes also became stronger and now the working relationship between employees of different departments has also increased. Human Resource Management has been automatically evolved due to the massive outrageous changes in the corporate world and the implementation of practices and policies of Strategic Human Resource management can lead the company to achieve successful business operations.