The Effective Implementation of Human Resources Strategies in Organization - Essay Example

Strategic management of human resource Human resources are the real assets of any organisation. The success and competency of business organisation depend on its workforce. Strategic management of human resources is required for the smooth running of business organisations. Strategic human resource management and human resource management are two different terms important in the business field. Strategic human resource management is an extension of the term human resource management. Even if it is just an extension, the term is encompassing and fool-proof. Strategic human resource management is a step ahead as it is result oriented. Like every strategy, strategic management of human resources is also a strategy for getting some desired result in the organisation. The foundation of strategic human resource management is based on the organisational objectives. Every business organisation has some main objectives and they formulate certain plans and strategies to achieve these organisational objectives. The set organisational objectives lead every firm to the zenith of success. Human resource management and strategic human resource management are two different concepts with some specified relations. They are actually the two sides of the same coin having certain similarities and differences. People usually have the wrong notion that these terms are one and the same. As a result, people tend to use them interchangeably without understanding the real meaning. But there is a clear-cut difference between these two terms in meaning as well as in practice. Strategic human resource management is needed for the high level of competency of any organisation. Human resource management is an inevitable process with in the organisation. The terms strategic human resource management and human resource management can be thoroughly understood from the following analysis. The definitions of these concepts would give an in-depth idea. The term strategic human resource management can be defined as “the linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation, flexibility and competitive advantage” (Sinha 2007). The strategic human resource management is a link in connecting human resources with definite organizational goals and objective for the purpose of enhancing business performance and developing certain culture which suits the requirements of organizations. On the other hand human resource management can be defined as “the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization” (Heathfield). So the human resource management is an internal function that involves recruitment, selection, direction, training etc. of the workforce in the organization. People usually mistake human resource strategies for strategic management of human resource. It is actually the management of people in all aspects in a business. Human resource management in a business focuses mainly on the theory and practice of management of workforce in a business organisation. Managing the work force is done in different manner from organisation to organisation. While implementing the human resource management, every organisation adopts certain plans to improve efficiency as well as to solve any business related problem in the organisation. As Jackson and Schuler rightly put it "a set of processes and activities jointly shared by human resources and line managers to solve business-related problems"(Jackson and Schuler 1999). These plans are generally called human resource strategies in business organisations. Thus human resources strategy ultimately aims at solving business related problem by the joint efforts of human resources and line managers. The success of any business organisation depends on the effective implementation of human resources strategies. Human resources strategies are always in tune with the business strategies and they play a greater role in achieving the objectives by rightly motivating the human resource in the organisation. “HR strategy is linked to business strategy and facilitates the organisation to achieve the objective by building people capability” (Human Resource Strategy). The people in the organisation play a major role in leading the organisation adhering to the organisational vision, mission and objectives. The vision, mission and the objectives are the real motivating factors in the organisation. The potential and the capabilities of the people are to be identified for bringing them into the right track. Strategic human resource management is comparatively a newly emerged concept in the business. This has attained a great impetus in recent years and many of the leading organisations in the world have taken the concept into their hearts by adopting it in the business. Strategic human resource management, as stated by Kumar, “has attained a great deal of attention in recent years, most notably in the fields of human resource management, organizational behaviour, and Industrial relations” (Kumar 2006). Even though strategic human resource management is a newly introduced concept in the field of business it has got greater scope in the present day management of business. Business has attained a complex turn and the emergence of strategic management eases the complexity. The main aim of strategic management of human resource is the improvement of the performance of the business by interconnecting human resource and business objectives. As Bratton states, “Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organisation in order to improve performance” (Bratton). When a business organisation aims at improving its all round performance the question of strategic management of human resource comes to the picture. The attainment of high performance can be assured only when the work force of an organisation can be strategically managed. Thus the strategic management of human resource yields the desired results by attaining high performance of the human resource. The improvement in the performance due to the strategic management of human resources enables the organisation to conquer new heights. The adoption of strategic human resource management and its implementation in the business organisations will help in enhancing the productivity and the profitability of the organisation. The business organisations which practise strategic management of human resources can have excellent results with in a span of short time. An analysis of approaches to the strategic management of human resources would give a more comprehensive idea regarding the applicability, relevance etc. of the concept of strategic management of human resources. There are mainly two approaches of strategic human resource management. One among them attempts to “link Human Resource activities with competency based performance measures” and the other “attempts to link Human Resource activities with business surpluses or profit”. (Kumar) Approaches of Strategic Human Resource Management attempts to link Human Resource activities with competency based performance measures The approach tries to establish a connection between human resource and their performance in leading an organisation to success. Performance is the basis of every organisation especially the business organisation. A business organisation which has laid its strong foundation on the performance of its employees will succeed in the day-to-day business activities without facing much challenge. The efficiency of the human resource is a decisive factor in deciding even the existence of the organisation. attempts  to link Human Resource activities with business surpluses or profit The approach tries to connect the human resource with the profit of the organisation. Human resource in an organisation plays a crucial role in deciding the profitability of a business. Profitability in this context can be referred to as productivity also. When the human assets in any organisation work with great productivity the profitability is inevitable for the organisation. Profitability and productivity are interrelated. If productivity is high, the chances of profitability is also high and the vice-versa. When the human resource in a business enterprise is fully utilised up to the maximum extent possible productivity is going to be increased thereby the profitability also. Strategic HRM is often confused with implementation of HR strategies. Key Features of strategic human resource management The strategic human resource management has certain features which makes it practicable in business field. “Clear association between HR policy and practices, organizing schema linking individual HR interventions and responsibility for the management of human resources is devolved down the line” etc. are the main feature s of strategic management of human resources (Sinha 2007). Clear association between HR policy and practices One of the most important features of strategic management of human resources is the clear association between human resource policy and practices. A clear connection between them will enable the organisation to run smooth. Usually business organisations have some outstanding human resource policies but in practice many of them are not effectively followed by the organisations. Thus there occurs a wide gap between practice and policy. As against this, strategic human resource management assures clear link between human resource policy and practice and thereby practicability is ensured. Organizing schema linking individual HR interventions Another important feature of strategic human resource management is that strategic human resource evolves a strategic scheme linking individual human resource interventions. As a result of the connection between individual and human resource interventions they become mutually supportive. Individuals themselves are the human resource; but as far as a business organization is considered, individual and human resource are different. The strategic management of human resource enables business organizations to set the individual and human resource interventions the same. The objectives of the business firm and human resource are usually different. But the strategic human resource management sets these different objectives more or less similar. This helps in high commitment on the part of the human resource to the organization. Much of the responsibility for the management of human resources is devolved down the line Another feature of strategic human resource management is the transferring of accountability down the line. Under the concept of strategic human resource management, the accountability for the management of human resource is transferred down the line. This special feature of strategic human resource management makes the workforce more responsible and accountable. It is similar to the concept of delegation of power. When power is transferred or delegated to the maximum possible extent the whole system starts working effectively. Delegation of power is very essential for the smooth running of any organisation. Managing human resource is a strenuous task but it can be effectively done when the responsibility for the management of human resource is passed down the line. Main trends in Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic human resource management has certain trends. These trends work as forceful factors in popularising strategic human resource management in the business field. “Internationalization of market integration, increased competition, rapid technological change, new concepts of line and general management etc. are the main trends of strategic human resource management. (Sinha 2007). An analysis of these trends would make the thorough understanding of the concept easier. Internationalisation of market integration An important trend of strategic human resource management is the internationalisation of market integration. Internationalisation of market integration can be referred to as the process of integrating international market. The trend of integration of international market gives wide scope for any business. The whole world has been confined to a market in which all major businesses can thrive and prosper. Internationalisation of market integration is a major trend of the strategic human resource management. Increased competition Another important trend of the strategic human resource management is the increased level of competition. Competition is an inevitable part of every business. It gives room for change and improvement in the business. As a result of adoption of strategic human resource management overall cost of running the business has come down extensively. The reduction in cost compels the companies to go for increased competition. Severe competition at the local and national level has helped in improving the business strategy, product quality etc. and it has become a blessing in disguise for all business organisations. . Thus the strategic human resource management has paved the way for setting the trend of increased competition in the business. Rapid technological change Another important trend set by strategic human resource management is in the form of rapid technological change. Technological changes are the direct result of application of strategic human resource management into the business. When the workforce became highly advanced because of the implementation of strategic human resource management sudden need for technological change came into being and as a result technological changes also came to the picture. Thus the strategic management of human resource has set the trend of rapid technological change. New concepts of line and general management Strategic human resource management has set new trends in the concepts of line and general management. Both line and general management are necessary for the success of a business organisation. The success of the firm is assured when an organisation is managed perfectly by way of line and general management. Line management helps in increasing the productivity and is a clear line function while general management helps in assessing the all round performance of different departments of the firm and their productivity. SHRM Strategies Strategic human resource management strategies are the policies which are followed by the organisation as a part of the concept of strategic human resource management makes use of certain strategies by which it can be implemented effectively in the organisation. Strategies are goal oriented, specific and most probably short term plans specified to attain some organisational objectives. Kumar rightly states it “Strategies are a specific, measurable, obtainable set of plans carefully developed with involvement by an institutions stakeholders” (Kumar 2006). Most of the business strategies are decided by the joint effort of all of the stake holders. The SHRM strategies and business strategies are not one and the same; but organisational strategy may include SHRM strategies also. Strategic human resource management strategies include many of the human resource strategies. These strategies are the characteristic features of strategic human resource management. They make the concept of strategic human resource management outstanding and practicable. Employee participation, human resource flow, performance management, reward systems and high commitment work systems in the context of globalization etc are the main strategies of strategic human resource management.(Sinha2007) when these strategies are followed by business organizations, the concept of strategic human resource management becomes effective and fruitful. Employee participation One of the main strategic human resource management strategies is the feature of employee participation. Strategic human resource management gives participation to the employees in the administration of the organisation. When employees are made part of the decision making process, they naturally experience a kind of attachment and a feeling of being part of the organisation. It helps the employees become more productive. When the participation of employees in the decision making process is assured the workforce will experience attachment rather then detachment to the organisation. Human resource flow An important policy of strategic human resource management is the human resource flow. When organizations follow the concept of strategic management of human resource they will have the human resource flow in the organisations. Human resource follow is a decisive factor in the effective and smooth running of the organisation. When organisations face difficulty in human resource flow the entire activities of the organisation get stuck with out any movement. The policy of human resource flow as the part of strategic management of human resources keeps the firms in ideal proportion regarding the availability of human resources. Performance management Another important policy of strategic management of human resource is performance management. Performance management is the process of assessing and evaluating the performance of the different departments as well as the entire organisation as a single system. Performance is the basis of development of any organisation. Without performing effectively no business organisations can exist in the field. Performance management, as a policy of strategic management of human resources assesses the performance of the business organisation and recommend necessary changes, if any. Reward system Strategic management of human resources follows a unique reward system as its strategy. The reward system followed by strategic management of human resource meets the requirements of its employees. The concept of strategic management of human resources considers employees as the real assets of organisations. The reward system enables the employees to be more responsible to the organisations in which they are working. High commitment High commitment is another important policy of strategic management of human resource. The organisation following strategic management of human resource has a great level of commitment to its employees. The commitment on the part of organisation to employees compels the workforce to be committed to the organisation as well. The high level of commitment on the part of both organisation and employees lead the company successfully. This unique feature helps the organisation sail forward without severe challenges. These are the main policies of strategic management of human resources. The policies mentioned above are actually the strategies practised by organisations that follow the concept of strategic management of human resources. All these strategies mainly aim at the satisfaction of the workforce and the development of business organisations. A company following strategic management of human resource has many advantages and benefits when compared to other organisations which do not follow the concept. The main benefit of following the concept of strategic management of human resources is that it helps in” identifying and analysing external threats and opportunities, providing business strategy and vision, supplying competitive intelligence, ensuring high productivity” etc. (Kumar 2006). Managing the human resource in an organisation is a complex process as they are from diverse culture and different background. The role of strategic management becomes more relevant in this scenario. The concept of strategic management of human resource is very important today because of the changing role of human resource management in the business organisations. Human resources are the real assets of any organization and it has to be strategically managed. Only with strategic management of human resource the productivity of the workforce can be attained to maximum extent possible. The conventional concept of human resource management is replaced by the new concept of strategic human resource management. The strategic management of human resource is very relevant today when the complexity of running a business is taken into account. The concept of strategic management of human resource establishes linkage between traditional theory and modern practice of human resource management in a business organisation. The corporate strategy process and the concept of strategic human resource management go together in the business. Works Cited Bratton J, Strategic Human Resource Management, viewed 9May 2009, Heathfield, M. What Is Human Resource Management?, About.com, viewed 6 May 2009, < http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/hr_management.htm > Human Resource Strategy, Cumi Carborundum Universal Limited, viewed 9 May 2009, Kumar, M. 2006, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM): An over view, Indianmba.com, viewed 6 May 2009, Sinha, R. 2007, What is Strategic Human Resource Management? , EzineArticles.com, viewed 6 May 2009, . Schuler, S and Jackson, E, Strategic Human Resource Management, 2007, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN Read More