The Various Roles of the HR Manager - Literature review Example

Literature Review Role of Human Resource managers have become an important area of research for the researchers because of the changing role of HR managers in the organisations. The shift from Personnel management to human resource management has broadened the scope of human resource managers. Human Resource managers’ roles are evolving in the competitive environment and they have to play a strategic role for the overall success of the organisations (Chan, n.d.). The modern human resource management practices are different from the personnel management practices in the past, so does the role of HR managers. The practices of Human Resource Management have been integrated so that such an organisational culture could be designed in which the workers could identify their own success (Smith, 2006). The role of HR managers is becoming significant in organisations because ‘sophistication of human resource management practices can enhance the operational inefficiencies (Ijose, n.d.) and to remain operationally efficient having strong management team, designing the work according to successful strategy execution, retaining skilled people, designing the culture that may implement strategy critical activities and creating good policies and procedures that may support strategy execution are required (Higgins, 2005 cited in Ijose n.d.). A lot of research work has been done on the changing and various roles of HR managers in the organisations. In the new service paradigm, the HR managers are in the position to measure the pulse of organisation therefore; they have to be very responsive (Ulrich, Losey & Lake, 1997). The changes in the roles of human resources in organisations have significant implications not only for businesses but also for the HR functions and HR professionals (Bundy, 1997). The role of Human Resource managers is not limited to typical HR functions. Only determining the competencies cannot bring competitive advantage to the organisations unless the knowledge is integrated into the entire HR system therefore, HR managers should think systematically and strategically instead of thinking functionally and tactically about their area (Becker & Huselid, 1999). In a research on the impact of rapid change in Europe on HR managers by European Association for Personnel Management, it was found that nowadays, managers in Europe are required to give attention to traditional HR problems of line managers and they are also supposed to be specialised by line managers in various other functions so that they may get a broader business experience (Hiltrop, Despres & Sparrow, 1999).The researchers have been focusing on the changing roles of HR managers. The international survey on 22 countries found that organisations significantly changed their people management policies including performance-based pay, training, performance appraisals, employment practices and designed jobs, and the evidence on changing role of managers were also found (Kramar, 1999). Human Resource managers are not acting as simple implementers or administrators and they are recognised as strategic partners and they are required to go beyond human resource mastery such as business mastery and change mastery (Santiago, 2003). The roles of HR managers have not only changed the responsibilities of HR managers but it has also impact the skills, competencies, thinking patterns and educational background of these managers. HR managers are required to think systematically rather than functionally or tactically in their area because ascertaining the competencies for an organisation cannot bring competitive advantage however, integrating that knowledge effectively throughout the entire HR system can be an inimitable source of competitive advantage (Rennie, 2003). A general belief is that the various roles of HR managers are because of increasing competition, globalisation and demands of workers. Globalisation influences the Human Resource Management Functions to adapt the changes with the changing organisational needs to add more value (Friedman, 2007). The HR managers are not necessarily coming from HR backgrounds as it was a common practice in the past. The increased demands from HR managers and more expectations of CEO is the major reason because of which HR managers are coming from diverse backgrounds (The Great Place to Work, n.d.). There are various roles of HR managers which he plays in an organisation. Various HR models have been also presented to describe roles of HR professionals. Old HR Competency Model highlights the relationship of HR roles. This model describes four major roles of HR including Business partner, Leader, HR Expert and Change agent. It is interesting to note that most of the researchers have also found the similar roles of Human Resource managers after conducting surveys and interviews in organisations. A second Integrative Model of HR Competencies was developed for the private sector. This model highlights four major roles of Human Resources including core roles, HR Expertise, Consultation and Leadership (OPM Gov. Website). These models have been developed after analysing the practices of organisations. Because of the changing environment, since the roles of HR professionals have changed therefore, these models have been also revised. The models of Human Resource Management suggest that roles of HR are changing since the organisations are seeking to create HR function, learner and more strategic (Francis & Keegan, 2006). The New HR Competency Models highlight six major roles of HR professionals including Talent Manager/Organisation Designer, Strategy Architect, Culture & Change Steward, Operational Executor, Business Ally and Credible Activist (RBL Group). Based on a research in the UK, a four-fold typology of Human Resource Change agent (HR Manager) was proposed and the defined roles of agent according to the model include champions, adapters, synergists and consultants (Caldwell, 2001). Schein (2008) identified four basic roles of Human Resource Managers as a result of impact of globalisation, cultural diversity and technological complexity including employees’ champions, partner in top strategy, payroll and contract administrator and professional conscience and organisation developer. Human Resource managers play an important role as strategy expert, work organisation expert, employee champion and transformation agents in changing institutional and human capacities of public service (Rennie, 2009). Within a corporate environment, the role of HR managers is changing very rapidly and the modern HR managers’ role is more unambiguous, employee champion and change catalyst, business partner and focus on strategic leveraging of work force (Michigan Ross School of Business, 2009). The research studies of researchers show various overlapping and new roles of HR managers in organisations. Various researchers have talked about the specific roles of Human Resource Managers. Erven (n.d.) discusses the leadership role of HR managers in organisations and argues that all human resource managers have leadership responsibility and without effective leader of them no group of people come close to their potential. Human resource managers are the human resource professionals and they should take on the role of business partner, change agent and leader which are the emerging roles in the new structures of the companies as compared to the past ones (Dash, Shree & Sathi, 2009). The increasing mergers, acquisitions and international joint ventures have also affected the role which HR managers play in organisations. In 2006, Antila conducted a research on the role of HR managers on International Mergers and Acquisitions (IM&A) and through semi structured interviews of corporate level managers in three Finnish international industrial organisations, it was found that during IM&A, Human Resource Managers have to integrate HR practices and play two other roles including to provide support for business unit transaction and to play a strategic role company-wide integration. Some researchers talk about the increasing role of HR managers in ethics and corporate social responsibility. Human Resource managers can also take the role to create ethical organisational culture (Sims, 2007). The HR staff especially the HR manager, has to play a significant role in five aspects for stopping harassment and discrimination at workplace which include supporting management by designing policy against it, educating people, creating avenues of assistance for the employees facing such problems, offering guidance to employees who directly face such problems and by supporting action committees (CGIAR Website). Human Resource managers play a significant role by assisting the organisation to achieve its aim of becoming a socially and environmentally responsible organisation (Standberg, 2009). Besides the various other roles, HR managers’ involvement in strategic side of the business is also visible. The involvement of HR in the development and implementation of business strategy increases the firm’s performance and organisational effectiveness in the industry (Karami, Analoui & Cusworth, 2004). The major reason because of which HR manager’s role in strategic business is assumed to be the positive organisational performance however, the opinions may vary. In a research on managers’ perceptions about strategic HR roles and organisational learning capabilities, a survey with a sample size of 640 managers was conducted. Bhatnagar and Sharma (2005) found that perceptions of HR managers different from line managers about strategic HR roles and organisational learning capabilities. Moreover, the research also found that correlation between strategic HR roles and organisation learning capability is positive. Francis and Keegan (2006 cited in Nickson et al, n.d.) supported the findings of Ulrich (1997) and highlighted two possible roles of HR managers including business partner and employee champion and the second role is more humanist than the first one. Some of the senior managers seem to show their willingness to give HR managers a significant role in strategic decisions of organisations (Price, 2008). The Human resource managers should participate in the process of strategic decision making along with their senior managers in the companies, only then they can become the strategic business partners of the organisations (Inyang, 2010). Almost all researchers agree on the various roles of HR managers in organisations. The researchers are getting more interested about the implications of increasing HR manager role in organisations. Renwick (2003) conducted an exploratory study on HR managers’ strategic role and their role in devolution of HR work by interviewing 46 line managers from three UK organisations over a period of two years and found that HR managers are engaged in both the employee wellbeing process and its anti-process. Therefore, through his research, he proved that roles of HR managers should not be always discussed in positive aspects but role of HR managers could be evaluated from negative aspects as well. Chang and Chi (2007) worked on the impact of changing HR Manager’s role and gave recommendations to enhance the performance of HR managers in these roles. The study on 500 manufacturing companies through hierarchical regression analysis showed that HR managers’ roles and HR performance indicators are consistent with each other therefore, it is recommended that Chinese companies should consider HR managers’ role whilst designing the performance indicators. Wright (2008) in his research on new roles of HR managers and its impact on their professional identity finds that HR managers’ role as business partners and internal consultants have enhanced their self esteem and organisational status. It shows that Wright has worked on the impact of HR managers on the personalities of managers. In the last few years, the different practices of large and small organisations insisted the researchers to compare the roles of HR managers based on the size of organisations. Moreover, the increasing number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises further enhanced the importance of this area. It is not surprising that human resource manager is not looked in the similar way in small organisations as it is looked by large organisations (Business Continuity Institute, 2009). Therefore, the research work of researchers show that HR managers play a very significant role in organisations and because of the changing environment, the roles of these managers have also changed. While presenting the research studies, very little work found on the impact of increasing role of HR managers on the motivation level and perceptions of other managers. The increasing participation of HR managers in strategic business decisions and considering them as business partners, do show their enhanced level of authority and involvement. Knowing the impact of this apparent increasing level of HR managers’ authority might have considerable impact on performance and motivation of other managers. Moreover, the research in this area can also help the organisations to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of various HR managers’ roles. Bibliography Antila, E. M., 2006. The Role of HR Managers in International Mergers and Acquisitions: A Multiple Case Study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, [E-Journal] 17(6). Abstract only. Available at: InformaWorld http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a749277474 [Accessed 26 August 2010]. Becker, B. E., & Huselid, M. A., 1999. Strategic Human Resource Management in Five Leading Firms. 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Wright, C., 2008. Reinventing Human Resource Management: Business Partners, Internal Consultants and the Limits to Professionalisation. Human Relations, 61(8), pp. 1063-1086. Read More