The HR Professionals Role - Coursework Example

The HR professionals’ Role (Name) (Institution Affiliation) (Date) Introduction The traditional function of human resource professionals has always revolved around employee welfare and ethics, appraisals and promotions. However, the business world has changed, such that the competitive environment demands that HR practitioners focus more on the organization’s business strategy. Therefore, business should employ new methods that would deal with the employee ethics and well-being. Accordingly, organizations should let the HR professionals to deal with the firm’s business strategy as it would help companies to stay competitive as well as realize their objectives. Importantly, HR practitioners are often charged with developing strategies and designing performance management systems in order accommodate the changing business goals and priorities. As puts (Hendricks, 2012) observes, this high-level business activities require much concentration, as well as time and as such, HR professionals are not in a position to deal with other issues related to employee well-being. In effect, this paper aims to argue that HR professionals cannot juggle between designing organization’s business strategy and managing the welfare of workers. Role theory in relation to HR practitioners’ roles According to Rothwell and Sredl (2000), the traditional roles of HR professionals should be devolved in order to match up with the ever-changing business world. Moreover, Rothwell and Sredl (2000) points out that the term role does not typically stand for “job title.” The term “role” connotes a systemized set of behaviors that are associated with an identifiable position or office. As such, a HR practitioner’s personality can often affect how a role is performed. Accordingly, when a human resource practitioner is engaged in demanding tasks such as designing and implementing the organization’s business strategy, it becomes difficult for him or her to handle worker’s welfare. It is argued that just like managers and supervisors, human resource practitioners play predetermined roles (Ulrich et al., 2008). According to the role theory, the nature of an individual’s work often creates certain expectations with regard to how the job is done, in terms of the work method and work results. However, individuals influence the way in which the work methods are applied and what quality of work is to be considered as the desired outcomes (Horgan, 2003) In light of this, human resource practitioners are often expected to deliver quality as far as their role is concerned as they determine the success of the business. Thus, HR practitioners should focus on designing business strategy and other issues such as ethics and works welfare. On the other hand, Katz and Kahn assert that the HR practitioners’ roles are affected by various variables such as individual attributes, interpersonal factors and organizational factors. To begin with, the individual characteristics are associated with the unique strengths and weaknesses of the HR professional. Consequently, when a HR practitioner engages in the workers’ welfare and business strategies, his weaknesses resulting from lack of concentration may affect his or her performance. Secondly, the interpersonal factors concern the feelings that exist between the HR practitioner in his or her roles and the other employees he or she must interact with. For example, if the HR practitioner becomes more empathetic with employees issues, it can affect his concentration in strategic role. Next, the organizational factors consist of the explicit as well as the implicit norms that affect the desired results related to the role played by the HR practitioner. Since dealing with employees’ welfare revolves around various norms, HR practitioners might find themselves in conflicts, which may take much of their time and concentration need in their strategic roles. Thus, with all these variables, human resource practitioners’ role becomes very sensitive and demanding, and for them to concentrate on the business strategy of the firm, they need to specialize. The Demanding roles of HR practitioners Notably, HR Professionals’ need to be supported if the desired results associated with their tasks are to be realized. As Horgan (2003) explains, HR practitioners are exposed to many challenges as well as opportunities, which come as result of the ever-changing complex business environment. With the emergence of development in technology and communication, intensifying competition as well as globalization, organizations today experience new competitive realities. As such, HR practitioners are forced to concentrate more on building business strategy in order to keep the organization on track. Therefore, the HR practitioners are left with little or no time for workers’ welfare and ethics as their strategic role is consumes much concentration and time. Accordingly, stopper (2000) posits that roles related to ethics and employee well-being should be devolved; in order for the line managers as well other departments to deal with such kind of issues. With devolvement, HR practitioners will have enough time needed in pursuing their strategic roles as they cannot multitask. Today, organizations consider the traditional HR role of dealing with human capital distractive as far as designing and implementing business strategies are concerned. According to Rennie (2003), HR practitioners are expected to provide expertise on how to stay competitive in the global world. Rennie (2003) also adds that offering cost-effective administration services is no longer a function but a typical expectation. Moreover, Du Plessis (2009) asserts that HR practitioners’ role as strategic business designers and implementers is receiving considerable attention. Unlike before, today the strategic HR practitioner is viewed as a professional, who can design, plan as well as implement various organizational initiatives (Murphy & Southey, 2003). As Boxall & Purcell (2000) assert, HR functions have strategic implications on the firm’s performance and as such human resource professionals must focus more business on strategy related-activities. In addition, Purcell (2000) argues that human resources practitioners must make right decisions when it comes to recruiting and retention as it is related to the firm’s business strategy. On the other hand, issues to do with employee welfare ethics are considered routine in nature and as such, they can be well handle by the line managers as such kind of task falls within their mandate in today’s business world. The competitive forces that firms face today have created a new mandate for HR practitioners thus, the HR practitioners’ role must be aligned with strategic functions. This view fits well with Raich’s (2002) claim that HR typical function has since changed from “service provider role” to “business partner role.” In fact, many organizations have re-tilted their HR professionals as business partners, whose sole purpose is to lay out business strategies for the company to succeed. As Raich (2002) points out, organizations should let the HR practitioners to concentrate on developing and implementing business strategies and such, relieve them from other traditional tasks such as dealing with employee well-being and ethics. Raich argues that in today’s competitive business environment, HR practitioners cannot risk multitasking roles as this could disorient their focus on business strategies, yet it is important for the firm’s success. The HR professional’s capability to provide direct support, as well as add value to the company allows them to join the management team in strategizing the way forward for the business. Consequently, this increases new responsibilities, expectations, opportunities and possibilities for the HR practitioners’ role (Raich, 2006). This indicates that HR practitioners are charged with more complex functions which need creativity and skills; these functions allow them to be part of the management. Accordingly, Raich (2006) suggests that issues that are related to employee well-being should be delegated to line managers as HR practitioners’ role has shifted from being administrative to strategic oriented. The new approach of HR practices requires HR professionals to develop the organization’s strategic value, which would create a real marketplace differentiation. The HR practitioners are supposed to determine the company’s competencies as well as the current culture in order to establish ways in which they can support the firm’s business strategy. Environmental factors that affect HR Practitioners’ role Jackson and Schuler (2005) pointed out the macro and micro environmental aspects are playing a significant role in the HR practitioners’ role. Moreover, Jackson and Schuler posit that these environmental factors include the changes in business and economic structures. The business and economic structures may include new organization forms, economic downturn, knowledge-centered organizations and globalization. Other environmental factors include changes in industry structures and characteristics; and technological as well as financial advancements. The changes in product, service and labor market characteristics are also considered to be major environmental factors that have since forced the role of HR practitioners to change (Jackson & Schuler, 2005). As Jackson and Schuler (2005) contend, micro environmental factors are associated with the HR practitioners’ technical and professional skills, the development of their strategic mindset as well as their reputational effectiveness. As such, engaging in other issues such ethics and employee well-being might as well affect their performance with regard to designing and implementing business strategies. This is because micro environmental factors such as the strategic mindset can be affected negatively by engaging in both the strategic roles and employees’ welfare thus delivering undesired results. Importantly, the macro and micro environmental dimensions forces the HR practitioner to pay more attention to strategic and consultancy role as they entail much work. Therefore, these roles cannot allow them to engage in other issues such as workers ethics. For instance, consultancy requires the HR Practitioners to reposition themselves within the organization in order to act as the internal consults for the line managers as well as the organization as whole (Adams, 2000). In today’s human resources practices, HR professionals act as facilitators of the firm’s change process (Adams, 2000). As Anon (1997) puts it, the consolidation of the ‘change role’ and the ‘strategic role’ depicts the importance of HR professionals to manage the organization in somewhat volatile environmental conditions. Therefore, the HR practitioners cannot manage the change and strategic roles while at the same time looking at the well-being of the workers. In Australia, for example, organizations have created employee welfare departments, whose sole purpose is to take care of the ethics and welfare of workers in the organization. Therefore, the HR practitioners are left to deal with more important aspects such strategizing on how the firm can be above its competitor in terms of service delivery and quality production. The role effectiveness associated with HR professionals concerning strategic decision-making process is a significant micro dimension. In Australia, a study conducted by Gennard and Kelly (2007) depict that most HR practitioners who oversee the well-being of employees as well take on their strategic roles, do not deliver the desired results. Moreover, the study also found out those HR managers who engaged in specialized roles, more so those associated with business strategies, scored high marks when it came to general performance (Gennard and Kelly, 2007). On the other hand, Jackson and Schuler (2005), argue that the reason many organizations delegate all human resource related practices to the HR practitioners is because they find it is cost effective. What these companies do not understand is that while they focus more on cost reduction by engaging their personnel in multitasking roles, their competitors are gaining more profits through specialization (Jackson & Schuler, 2005). Accordingly, the HR practitioners add value when they are involved in strategic business process using their competencies and skills. As Jackson and Schuler (2005), indicates organizations that match their strategies with the ever-changing business environments often succeed more and those who still rely on the traditional human resource practices. This indicates that HR practitioners cannot multitask. A recent study indicates that HR practitioners must stick to their strategic roles in order to be in line with macro and micro environmental factors’ demands (Dale &Hendricks, 2012). According to the study, HR practitioners are required to relate their initiatives into the complex business environment. Dale and Hendricks (2012) suggests that the HR professionals must be included in the top management team as they are charged with managing as well as strategizing proper human resource initiatives that boost the business’s performance. With their presence in the top management team, HR practitioners can propose long term strategies associated with the new human resources practices. The top management team should not view the HR practitioners as administers, but as planners and decision-makers as far as the workforce is concerned. In order to depict the valuable role that the human resource professionals play in the organization, the next section will delineate their strategic role. Strategic Role In today’s business environment, organizations have been forced to accommodate their human resource practitioners in their strategic ‘think tank’ teams. In their new important roles the HR practitioners are expected to contribute towards the organization’s accomplishment of comprehensive business objectives and plans. The viability of the business depends on the amount of energy they put in developing new plans that match up with competitive business environment. Accordingly, the HR practitioners are challenged to think as strategic business partners. According to (Horgan, 2003) the human resource business objectives are developed by the HR practitioners in order to support the realization of the changing strategic business objectives and plans. In light of this, a human resource practitioner is expected to be deeply knowledgeable about the various designs of changing work-systems associated with the workforce. Some of these changing work-systems include strategic pay of employees, hiring, recognition and reward. The HR practitioners’ strategic partnership must reflect the positive aspects that the organization’s human resource department would realize in the long run. Consequently, the outcome must have positive results in terms of the overall organization’s performance. More often than not, the HR resources are expected to come up with new performance development and appraisal systems. Further, the HR practitioner is mandated to develop strategies that can enhance the employee career development and succession. In light of the above strategic role, it is evident that it is practically impossible for the HR practitioner to be engaged in other issues that are related to the well-being of the employees. As indicated above, the strategic role consumes the HR practitioners’ time and mindset as the function is demanding. In some organizations, HR practitioners are often engaged in the organizational decision-making process. Accordingly, the HR practitioners are often given the platform by the top management to present their proposal in regard to how they would want the organization to brand its products and services. Interestingly, the HR practitioners often take part in strategic roles such as marketing the firm’s products and services. Traditionally, the marketing was done by line managers; but due to the changing business environment, HR practitioners have been forced to take part in these challenging roles. They have assumed these roles in order to help the organization achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors. Thus, this indicates that the HR practitioners cannot manage strategic role while at the same time looking into the employee’s well-being and other issues that are not associated with the active roles. Conclusion Evidently, the strategic role is much demanding and such HR professionals should be left to deal with strategy related roles in order for the organization to realize its objectives. In effect, the paper has managed to argue that it is impossible and ineffective for the HR practitioners to develop and implement business strategies while charged with other issues such as ethics and employees’ well-being. Accordingly, the paper used various concepts to delineate the demanding strategic role. References Adams, K. 2000. Externalization vs specialization: What is happening to personnel? Human Resource Management Journal, 1(4), 40-54. Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. 2000.Strategic human resource management: where have we come from and where should we go? International Journal of Management Reviews, 2(2), 183-203. Dale, Hendricks.2012.”The elements of successful organizational change”. Industrial Management, 31(2): 4-5 Du Plessis, A.J. 2009. 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