David Guest's HRM Approaches - Essay Example

Human Resource Management College David Guest developed a more theoretical model of human resource management framework. He maintains that to achieve superior organization and individual performance, 4 possible approaches to human resource management is necessary. These are strategic integration, contingency, ideal set of practices and bundles. In this essay we take a look at how these four approaches can be used to achieve a strategic fit between human resource management and business strategy. Fit as strategic integration Guest proposes that integration can be done at three levels, these levels help to balance and create a relationship between the human resource and the business strategy. Every human resource has to be integrated in such a way that it can be accommodated by the main strategy of the business. The first level that he proposes is the fit, between the human resource policies and the overall business strategy. Every human resource department has its own policies to which they expect every employee to follow. These policies and rules are the ones that Guest maintains that should be in such a way that they can be accepted by the general business strategy. For example a policy which restricts workers from not working more than 56 hours a week might not be accommodated by a bossiness strategy which intends to complete a given task within a given time frame. Therefore the human resource department would have to adjust the policy so as to fit with the general business strategy. The principle of complementary is his second level that has to be taken by the human resource department in order to have success in the integration. He maintains the employment should be mutual between the employer and the employee in order for integration to be realized between the human resource and the general business strategy. When this is done then quality is increased and the functions of the human resource become coherent. If the terms of employment are not mutual so that one party feels that they are not given what they deserve from the deal then laxity will set in and reduce quality of the work that is done by members of the work force. Third he proposes internalization of the importance of the integration between human resource and the overall business strategy by the line managers. In simple terms it means that he proposes that the line managers are the ones who should be concerned with making sure that every person within the workforce understands fully the importance of integration and appreciate it to their very best. When this is done then the workforce is aware of what is expected from them and why they are supposed to behave in a certain way. This is one of the first things that should be done by the line managers whenever a new member joins the work force so that they are able to know what is expected from them from the very beginning. According to Guest, these three levels of integration are very important and every management should work to ensure that each and every level is followed correctly. Fit as an ideal set of practices A number of practices are good for the organization to realize its main goal. According to Guest, when coming up with the list of the practices that are good for an organization, the human resource department should consider the five main questions that every practice should conform with. The first thing that should be done is to carefully select the practices which can contribute positively to the organization. What it means here is that when the management is coming up with the list of practices that should be used in an organization, they have to carefully select the ones which they feel will highly contribute to the development of the organization and not any type of practice VANDENBOS (1981, p.67). The list should be in such a way that both the employer requirements and the employee requirements are met. Training is one of the practices that should be in mind. Training is an ongoing process and so it should be always recognized by an organization as one of the practices that is always ongoing and will always go on. So training should always be there for the work force in an organization and should not stop at any point. Job designing is also an important practice in an organization. Every human resource department needs to create and design jobs in such a way that it becomes flexible, motivational and more so it becomes a type of job that one can get committed to. When jobs are designed this way then it makes it easier for the work force to fully exercise their skills for the benefit of the organization and at the same time they avid stressing themselves. The work force also has the responsibility to make sure that the organization is satisfied with the type of service that they are doing. Communication is also a major practice that should be looked into. Communication should be a two way practice so that both parties become fully informed. This is sometimes considered the most important tool in human resource practices. If communication is one way then either the employer or the worker will not have the opportunity to express their views which can help develop the organization further. Therefore every communication should be a two way for everyone to be able to express their views in the right way. Sharing of ownership programmers is also an important practice so t hat the employee can also get aware of the financial implications and actions that take part in the organization. When an employee knows nothing about the financial performance of the company, then they might demand for things that that the organization is not able to afford or the organization can end up giving them too little. Therefore it is important that every employee know the general financial performance of the organization Bohlander (2001, p.678). All these practices are very useful for an organization in order to balance the general business strategy and the human resource policies. Fit of contingency The human resource department should be designed in such a way that it can react to UN expected events. Not all events are planned and Guest model explains that an emergency has to be treated as a special event and quick actions taken. The one question that should always be asked when planning for a contingency is the amount of money that it will cost the company after the whole thing is over. This is what is necessary here. The risks should always be expected and certain amount of money set an s idea for any emergency spending that is expected at any particular time. Guest contingency plan involve Communications Security planning Accommodation Medical and Travelling Every organization should consider the above factors when it is planning for any future emergency. Fit of bundles Fit of bundles refer to all the general practices that has to be done in order to realize an effective human resource. The practices that have to be done include human resource policies, the practices and all the contingency measures. All these have to be there for any organization to succeed in balancing its human resource department and the general business strategy. A good business should be in line with various ways to deal with all its issues and strategic human resource is the way out according to Guest. All his four fits are very applicable to any organization that has any number of work forces. Essay 2 Human resource has evolved in the whole world and especially in the UK since Guest came up with the fits. However to some extent Guests approaches are still being used in many UK organizations. In this part of the essay we take a look at some of the ways that Guest approaches are still being used by the human resources of the UK. Recently in the UK when there were demonstrations and looting over the killing of one of the citizens, many organizations underwent a lot of loses that they never expected. After that a research later showed that many organizations increased they insurance cover to protect what they never planned for. This is in accordance to Guests fit of contingency where the human resource managements are advice that every risk should be well planned for. Insurance is one of the contingency plans that reflect to the approaches that are given by Guest. In the recent years most companies and organizations have encouraged t heir workers to buy their shares before t he share is given to the general public. At times the price at which a company sells its shares to their employees is less than the amount that it sells to the public. An example is when the British American insurance company wanted to sell its share, its employees were given the first priority and the prices reduced to almost half of what was given to the general public. This is in accordance to Guest rules of practice where he maintains that for balance; the workers should take part in the financial obligation of the organization so as to understand the organization that they are serving and to know when profit has been made and when things are tough for the company. Therefore the approaches given by Guest are used here. In order to enhance a two way communication practice, many companies have suggestion boxes which they encourage workers to put their comments in. at the same time, there are assemblies in most UK organization in which the managers talk to the employees and tell them what the management wants. There are also memos that circulate the work place in case something urgent is required from the people working in the organization. These practices help to create a two way communication policy which Guest maintains is one of the practices that an organization should consider when they are choosing practices which are good for the organization. Therefore we see from these cases that Guests approaches to human resources have been applied in this case NEDD (1989, p.345). Many organizations have various ways of designing jobs to fit the need of every worker. Before someone is employed in any organization, their skills are always known. Every person is always assigned a job that the management is sure that he can handle. However some jobs are designed so that they can fit any person who has a talent. For example it is very common to find an engineer being a manager of a firm yet they never did anything related to management. This is because the job has been designed in such a way that it allows the worker to be able to fit anywhere as long as they have the relevant skill and knowledge. The other thing is that most organizations provide internships so as to enable students to get relevant experience that they are to use after they complete school. This is in line with Guest approaches to Human resource where he maintains that jobs should be designed in a way that makes them simple to do and not stressful Bohlander (2001, p.678). Salaries of employs are increased in most UK organization. This practice is made to help the employee realize the benefits of working for the organization. At the same time rewards are given to some employees for good performance. The organization on the other hand have lots of measures that ensures that the employee give out their best. All the above practices work towards ensuring that both parties i.e. the organization and the worker feel that their relationship is mutual and that one party is not exploiting the other. According to Guest, this is one of the integration processes that a company needs to put in place. For him every party has to feel that their relationship is mutual and not that only one party is benefiting from the other. Therefore the companies that use these methods are using the approaches that were suggested by Guest in 1987. Training is another approach that Guest maintains is necessary in an organization. A lot of companies provide internships in the UK and at the same time provide training for its fellow members of staff. This is what Guest maintains that for effective balance, the human resource should always ensure that there is training and the training of the staff should be a process that should be always there. Some companies even provide financing of the education of its staff members. Therefore they are in line with the practice of training t hat Guest maintains must be there in an organization. Many policies of the human resources in the UK have to relate with the general bossiness strategy. Some companies have to keep its members of staff working until late or send them with the work home because some goals have to be realized. If an organization business strategy involve travelling then the employees are always informed that they can be asked to travel at any time and that they have to agree. Therefore just like Guest had proposed, most human resources policies are always in line with the general business policies of an organization. This clearly shows us that most of the UK organizations still use Guest approaches to run its human resources and balance it with the general business plan Nedd (1989, p.345). In conclusion, it is very evident that most of Guest approaches are still being used by most organizations In the UK. The organizations try to make it look as if they are not using the approaches yet in real since if you try to analyze I t you will find that they are using the same approaches. There are lots of advantages that someone gets when they use the approaches and this is one of the reasons why most companies prefer to use them. It is also advisable that every company or organization should try to use the approache4s to rate themselves and know if the problems that they have might be as a result of negligence of the above approaches methods. Bibliography WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, & WORLD BANK. (1998). World resources, 1998-99: a guide to the global environment : environmental change  KIRKBRIDE, P. S., FERRIS, G. R., SHAW, J. B., & ROWLAND, K. M. (1993). Research in personnel and human resources management: international human resources management. Supplement 3. Greenwich, Conn, Jai Press. VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY. (1985). Human resources. Blacksburg, Va, The College. BOHLANDER, G. W., & SNELL, S. (2010). Managing human resources. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning. SHERMAN, A. W., BOHLANDER, G. W., & CHRUDEN, H. J. (1988). Managing human resources. Cincinnati, South-Western Pub. Co. 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