Developing effectiveness in human resources management for organizational success
Strategic Human Resource Management - People and Organisations: Principles and Practice in Global Contexts MN7181 (Assignment 1) for London Metropolitan University - MBA
1.0 Definition of Human Resources Management:
Source: (Esoft Metropolitan MBA 2019 -MN7181 Lecture note 6 slide 3)
1.2 Human Resources activities
Human resource management operates through human resource systems that bring together in a coherent way as given below.
● HR philosophies describing the overarching values and guiding principles adopted in managing people.
● HR strategies defining the direction in which HRM intends to go.
● HR policies, which are the guidelines defining how these values, principles and the strategies should be applied and implemented in specific areas of HRM.
● HR processes consisting of the formal procedures and methods used to put HR strategic plans and policies into effect.
● HR practices comprising the informal approaches used in managing people.
● HR programs which enable HR strategies, policies and practices to be implemented according to plan.
Figure 01: Human Resources activities
2.0 Organizational effectiveness
Distinctive human resource practices shape the core competencies that determine how firms compete (Cappelli and Crocker-Hefter, 1996). Extensive research has shown that such practices can make a significant impact on firm performance. HRM strategies aim to support programs for improving organizational effectiveness by developing policies in such areas as knowledge management, talent management and generally creating a great place to work. This is the ‘big idea’ as described by Purcell et al (2003), which consists of a clear vision and a set of integrated values. More specifically, HR strategies can be concerned with the development of continuous improvement and customer relations policies.
2.1 Bridging the gap between theory and reality.
The analysis conducted by Gratton et al (2001) found that there was usually a wide gap between the type of theory expressed on top and reality. Managements may start with good intentions to do some or all of these things, however the belief of them theory in use is commonly terribly tough. Different business priorities, short-termite, limited support from line managers, an inadequate infrastructure of supporting processes, lack of resources, resistance to change and lack of trust are some of the reasons to theory in use is very difficult. An overarching aim of HRM is to bridge this gap by making every attempt to ensure that aspirations are translated into sustained and effective action. Decide to make sure that aspirations area unit translated into sustained and effective action. To do this, members of HR operate got to bear in mind that HR is relatively easy to come up with new and innovatory policies and practice Purcell et al (2003).
3.0 Overall HR Strategies
Overall strategies describe the general intentions of the organization about how people should be managed and developed and what steps should be taken to ensure that the organization can attract and retain the people it needs and ensure so far as possible that employees are committed, motivated and engaged Amstrong (2006 p134) There are four categories of overall strategy:
1. An emergent, evolutionary and possibly inarticulate understanding of the required approach to human resource management. This will be influenced by the business strategy as it develops the position of the organization in its life cycle, and the organizational configuration (prospector, defender or analyzer). Business strategy will also be affected by the views, experience and management style of the chief executive, senior managers and the head of HR, whose influence will depend on position and credibility.
2. Broad-brush statements of aims and purpose that set the scene for more specific strategies. Aims and purpose will be concerned with overall organizational effectiveness , achieving human resource advantage by as Boxall and Purcell (2003) point out, employing better people in organizations with better process and generally creating a great place to work.
3. Specific and articulated plans to create ‘bundles’ of HR practices and develop a coherent HR system. This can be achieved through the approaches summarized below.
The conscious introduction of overall approaches to human resource management such high performance management, high-involvement management and high-commitment management as described below. These overlap to a certain extent.
The conscious introduction of overall approaches to human resource management such high performance management, high-involvement management and high-commitment management as described below. These overlap to a certain extent.
3.1 High-performance management
High-performance management aims to form a sway on the performance of the organization through employees in such areas as productivity, quality, levels of customer service, growth, profits and, ultimately the delivery of increase shareholder value. High-performance management practices include rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and relevant training and management development activities, incentive pay systems and performance management processes. As a bundle, these practices are often called high-performance work systems (HPWS). This term is more oftentimes used than either high-involvement management or high commitment management, although there is a degree of overlap between these approaches and an HPWS.
3.2 High involvement management
The term ‘high involvement’ was used by Lawler (1993) to describe management systems supported commitment and involvement, as opposed to the old bureaucratic model based on control. The underlying hypothesis is that employees will increase their involvement with the company if they are given the chance to regulate and perceive their work. He claimed that high-involvement practices worked well as a result of they acted as an action and had a multiplicative effect. This approach involves treating employees as partners within the enterprise who interests are revered and who have a HR strategies voice on matters that concern them. It is concerned with communication and involvement. The aim is to create a climate in which a continuing dialogue between managers and the members of their teams takes place in order to define expectations and share data on the organization’s mission, values and objectives. This establishes mutual affection of what's to be achieved and a framework for managing and developing employees to make sure that it will be achieved. The practices enclosed in an exceedingly high-involvement system have generally
expanded beyond this original concept and included high-performance practices. for instance, as defined by Benson et al (2006), ‘High-involvement work practices are selected set of human resource practices that specialize in employee decision-making, power, access to information, training and incentives. As noted above, high-performance practices usually include relevant training and incentive pay systems. Sung and Ashton (2005) include high-involvement practices as one of the three broad areas of a high performance work system & the different being human resource practices and reward and commitment practices. The way in which high involvement made an impact was explained by Guest (2011). He further stated that the commitment and adaptability provided by highly involving action cause behavior changes among staff. Because the employees show high levels of motivation, commitment and organizational citizenship, they adopt better-performing behaviors, leading to lower absence and turnover rates, increased productivity and higher levels of quality.
3.3 High-commitment management
One of the process characteristics of HRM is its stress on the importance of enhancing mutual commitment (Walton, 1985). High-commitment management has been delineate by Wood (1996) as a sort of management which is aimed toward eliciting a commitment in order that behavior is primarily self-regulated rather than controlled by sanctions and pressures external to the individual, and relations inside the organization are supported high levels of trust. Wood and Albanese (1995) added to this list job style as one thing management consciously will so as to provide jobs that have a substantial level of intrinsic satisfaction, a policy of no compulsory lay-offs or redundancies and permanent employment guarantees with the doable use of temporary employees to cushion fluctuations in the demand for labor, new forms of assessment and payment systems and, more specifically, merit pay and profit sharing; result in a high involvement of employees. As defined above, high-involvement and high-commitment management have many similarities.
4.0 Criteria for an Effective HR strategy
According to Amstrong (2006) an effective HR strategy is one that works in the sense that such a strategy achieves what it sets out to achieve. In particular, HR Strategy:
· will satisfy business needs;
· will be founded on detailed analysis and study, not just wishful thinking; These can be turned into actionable programs that anticipate implementation requirements and problems;
· is coherent and integrated, being composed of components that fit with and support each other;
· takes account of the needs of line managers and employees generally as well as other stakeholders. As Boxall and Purcell (2003) emphasize, HR planning should aim to meet the needs of the key stakeholder groups involved in people management in the firm.
5.0 Developing HR strategies
When considering approaches to the formulation of HR strategy it is necessary to underline the interactive relationship between business strategy and HRM (Hendry and Pettigrew 1990). They emphasize the limits of excessively rationalistic models of strategic and HR planning. The point that HR strategies are not necessarily developed formally and systematically but may instead evolve and emerge has been made by Tyson (1997): the process by which strategies come to be realized is not only through formal HR policies or written directions; strategy realization can also come from actions by managers and others.
5.1 Strategic options and choices
The process of developing HR strategies involves generating strategic HRM options and then making appropriate strategic choices. It has been noted by Cappelli (1999) that the choice of practices that an employer pursues is heavily contingent on a number of factors at the organizational level, including employer own business and production strategies, support of HR policies, and cooperative labor relations. The process of developing HR strategies involves the adoption of a contingent approach in generating strategic HRM options and then making appropriate strategic choices. There is seldom if ever one right way forward. Choices should relate to but also anticipate the critical needs of the business. Choice should be founded on detailed analysis and study, not just wishful thinking, and should incorporate the experienced and collective judgment of top management about the organizational requirements while also taking into account the needs of line managers and employees generally. The following six-step approach is proposed by Gratton (2000):
1. Build the guiding coalition – involve people from all parts of the business.
2. Image the future – create a shared vision of areas of strategic importance.
3. Understand current capabilities and identify the gap – establish ‘where the organization is now and the gap between aspirations for the future and the reality of the present’.
4. Create a map of the system – ensure that the parts can be built into a meaningful whole.
5. Model the dynamics of the system – ensure that the dynamic nature of the future is taken into account.
6. Bridge into action – agree the broad themes for action and the specific issues related to those themes, develop guiding principles, involve line managers and create cross-functional teams to identify goals and
performance indicators. But many different routes may be followed when formulating HR strategies there is no one right way. On the basis of their research in 30 well-known companies, Tyson and Witcher (1994) commented that the different approaches to strategy formation reflect different ways to manage change and different ways to bring the people part of the business into line with business goals. In developing HR strategies, process may be as important as content. Tyson and Witcher (1994) also noted from their research that the process of formulating HR strategy was often as important as the content of the strategy ultimately agreed. It was argued that by working through strategic issues and highlighting points of tension, new ideas emerged and a consensus over goals was found.
5.0 Current challenges, Issues and trend
The organization which I work is a leading garment manufacturer. To a large extent, the HR & administration department’s new found yet well-deserved prestige is the result of the enormous responsibilities undertaken by general manager. As with much of the current HR practice of the company the most significant fact is that company has more focus on the financial factors of the motivation of employees. But it’s just a single fact that effect to the motivation of employees. And it shows Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs also. Company can efficiently respond to the non-financial motivational factors to the motivation of its employees. Employees work longer hours and earn more, which would lead to find difficulties with balancing their family life. On the other hand they have to forgo the time that they spend with their family members.
Continuous improvement in all business processes and research and development ensure conformity to the established strong quality systems to accomplish its final product and upgrading of the skills of our employees generated the quality output. Staff training is focused on the development of individuals and to satisfy human capital management needs. Training of staff has helped to create a professional corporate culture and has significantly added towards the motivational strategy. Training facilitates the following transitions.
• Operational to strategic
• Short term to long term
• Administrative to consultative
• Functionally oriented to business oriented
• Reactive to proactive
• Creating a dynamic professional environment
• Focusing on both individual and organizational development
• Promoting knowledge sharing through learning and development.
Once the Individual development plan (IOP) is assigned to employees, he or she has to get 100% job involvement in task with innovative and creative skills of him or her to make better output. Quality output makes the employee happy with the ownership of the task where he gets credit and heartiest happiness of doing the job. Employees those who have passion of inventing creative developments can really enjoy what they do. Hence job satisfaction of the jobs in the nature of development, is to be maximum. That’s why development team enjoys what they do at work even they work longer hours. At the same time organizational commitment towards development of employees is very high. Quality work done by the employees should be valued in the correct way to retain them with the company or else labor turnover has to be there. Performance evaluation should be based on the skills and competencies of the employee. Skill assessment can be linked with their performance targets. Therefore at the performance evaluation skill gap can be identified with the required level. If there is a gap in the skill level, skill develop plan should be implemented. Assessed skills should be graded different level of the skills and financial benefits should aligned to each skill level. That means those who are in higher grade in their skill should receive higher benefits and those who are in lower level should receive less benefits. That will encourage the lower skill level employees to upgrade their skills with the organizational It has been noted that, need to have an integrated performance appraisal system to identify and develop the required management talent in the organization. Hence deciding on development of people, carrier moves, succession plans reconciling the aspirations and capabilities of individuals with the needs of the business. Performance appraisal may be defined as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. This the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions. By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify the poorer performers who may require some form of counseling or training.
6.0 Conclusion
Human resource management is a tool for accomplishment of goals and objectives in an organization. Therefore, that for human resource managers to fully achieve the goals and objectives of any organization, each the organization and also the workers should return to terms with regard to what would be beneficial to both. Since an organization doesn't exist in vacuum, the firm has to employ personnel to attain its set objectives and this is often what human resources management is all concerning. Management involves operating with and thru individuals to accomplish organizational goals and objectives. The head of management is concerned with systematic co-ordination of affairs, and is aimed at utilizing available resources to attain the goals and objectives of the organization. From this research study, often deduced that human resource department should be seen as a crucial unit in facilitating competitive advantage. It is imperative that the human resource department serves as a communication link between the stakeholders, management and employees in a business organization. It should be managed by well trained human resource managers and line managers.
REFERENCES
Armstrong, M (2006) Human Resource Management practice 10th edn Cambridge University Press
Boxall, P (2007) Human resource strategy and competitive advantage: a longitudinal study of engineering consultancies, Journal of Management Studies, 36(4), pp 443–63
Boxall, P and Purcell, J (2003) Strategic Human Resource Management, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Byars and Rues (2000), Human Resource Management, United States of America, New York.
Cappelli, P (2001) Making the most of on-line recruiting, Harvard Business Review, 70(3), pp 134–48
Cappelli, P and Crocker-Hefter, A (1996) Distinctive human resources are firms’ core competencies, Organizational Dynamics, Winter, pp 7–22
Cole G. A. (1999), Personnel Management: Theory and Practice, London, Ashford Colour Press
Gratton, L (2000) People processes as a source of competitive advantage, in Strategic Human Resource Management, eds L Gratton, V H Hailey, P Stiles and C Truss, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Gratton, LA (2001) Real step change, People Management, 16 March, pp 27–30
Guest, D. (2011), The impact of HR practices, HR effectiveness and a strong HR system on organizational outcomes: a stakeholder perspective, The international journal of human resources management, 1686-1702
Hendry, C and Pettigrew, A (1990) Human resource management: an agenda for the 1990s, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1(3), pp 17–43
Lawler, E E (1993) Who uses skill-based pay, and why, Compensation & Benefits Review, March-April, pp 22–26
Purcell, J (2001) The meaning of strategy in human resource management, in Human Resource Management: A critical text, second edn, ed J Storey, Thompson Learning, London
Rick Bottler. (2004), Personnel Management and Human Resource, Second edition USA, New York. R.R. Donnelly and son’s Company.
Tyson, S (1997) Human resource strategy: a process for managing the contribution of HRM to organizational performance, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8 (3), pp 277–90
Tyson, S and Witcher, M (1994) Getting in gear: post-recession HR management, Personnel Management, August, pp 20–23
Walton, R E (1985) Towards a strategy of eliciting employee commitment based on principles of mutuality, in HRM Trends and Challenges, ed R E Walton and P R Lawrence, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA
Wood, S (1996) High commitment management and organization in the UK, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, February, pp 41–58
Wood, S and Albanese, M (1995) Can we speak of a high commitment management on the shop floor? Journal of Management Studies, March, pp 215–47
valid points are evaluated
ReplyDeleteAccording to Amstrong (2006), Human Resource Management can be described as a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organizations.
ReplyDeleteBoxall et al(2007) remarked that HRM covers a vast array of activities and shows a huge range of variations across occupations, organizational levels, business units, firms, industries and societies.
So as you said, Human resource management is a key point for organizational success.
Thanks for elaborating on the Human resources management. HR professionals will play a proactive role, contribute to the formulation of confederate strategy, developing integrated human resource strategies and volunteering directive on matters associated with upholding core values and moral principles. They help to improve organizational capability, the capacity of the organization to perform effectively and thus reach its goals and work with line managers to deliver performance targets.
DeleteNowadays there is a debate on what determine Human Resources Development (HRD) strategy. As Sergey (2011) says strategy-making process as an on-going process, whereby the companies’ objectives and means to attain them are determined. Further he described strategies are some general actions implied for development of resources to achieve comprehensive objective. The purpose of strategy would be communicated through major objective and policies and Strategic planning seeks to make certain that various sections of the organization provision each other to overcome potential adverse environments (Dansoh, 2004). As that, HRD policy of an organization is a demonstration what the organization is prepared to do in terms of developing its employees (Odusami et al., 2007).
ReplyDeleteAgree with your point for that HRD purpose. Human resourcing is not just about recruitment and selection. It is concerned with any means available to meet the firm’s need for certain skills and behaviors. A strategy to make sure the organization has the proficient individuals it desires (a talent management strategy) might begin with enlisting and selection but would extend into learning and development to enhance abilities and skills and modify behaviors and succession planning (Michael Armstrong 2012). Performance management processes can be used to identify development needs (both skills and behaviors) and motivate people to make the most effective use of their abilities, competency frameworks and profiles can be prepared to define the skills and behaviors required and can be used in selection, employee development and employee reward processes.
DeleteIn your blog, you have mentioned that certain strategies aim to support programs for improving organizational effectiveness. This is further confirmed by Armstrong(2010) where he says, to manage people effectively, it is necessary to take into account the factors that affect how they behave at work. The development of HR processes and the design of organizations are often predicated on the beliefs that everyone is the same and will behave rationally when faced with change or other demands. But the behaviour of people differs because of their characteristics and individual differences, and it is not always rational(Armstrong, 2010).
ReplyDeleteAs you highlighted on managing diversity effectively , HR professionals fall prey to common hazards that often impair the success of the strategy. Kesler (1997) advises the following: 1. Avoid HR speak: Keep it practical and close to the business, 2. Find the pivot points in talent and organization that will have the most impact on results; don’t treat all jobs and talent as equal be willing to differentiate, and 3. Measure what you do. Finally, a company can have a great HR strategy, but it’s worthless if the proper channels and professional staff aren’t in place to put it into action. HR support from the top down is essential to the success of any HR strategy. “Although you will probably need to get the entire organization to buy in to the strategy, failure to get buy-in from the right people, especially the executive suite can cripple your plans for expansion and growth right from the outset,” said Willmot (2018).
DeleteIn addition, Human resources departments provide two kinds of services: administrative and strategic. Russ Elliot, senior vice president, human resources director at Bridge Bank, says initially, it’s critical to develop effectiveness and efficiencies on technical aspects of human resources. The next step is to develop an understanding of the core business and use your combined knowledge of HR technical competencies, the business and its employees to influence the business direction, its goals and ability to perform(Adam,2012).
ReplyDeleteAs you said, it is critical to develop effectiveness with out influence employees on business direction. Creating a transparent organization that shares key information with employees not only sustains a high trust culture but enables employees to legitimately contribute to organizational decision-making (Bandsuch, Pate & Thies, 2008). Training people to play a key role in the organization requires that employees possess the critical information necessary for them to make well-informed and intelligent decisions (Pfeffer, 1998:93-94). As human resource managers and organizational leaders strive to build high trust organizational cultures, those who guide their organizations must carefully assess not only the implicit and explicit assumptions of their own social contracts but must also carefully tune in to the perceptions of others (Caldwell & Hayes, 2007; Van Buren & Greenwood, 2008). Ethical duties owed in responding to complex issues are encompassed in a stewardship obligation that rises to the standard of a covenantal relationship (Pava, 2003). Hosmer’s (2008) model of ethical leadership provides a valuable framework for examining the subtle nature of ethical obligations owed to stakeholders and reflects the growing importance of business leaders understanding the implications of their moral choices (Pfeffer, 2007
DeleteThe highly esteemed ethics scholar from the University of Michigan, LaRue Hosmer (1987), observed more than two decades ago that ethical dilemmas “arise almost continually in human resource management” noting that ethical considerations need to be integrated with financial, legal, and behavioral forms of reasoning to arrive at decisions considered to be “right,” “proper,” and “just” for the various stakeholders involved. As the framework of the business environment has become global in scope, the ethical challenges that Hosmer expressed have grown increasingly complex, the commitment between employer and employees has become fuzzier, and the importance of employees in creating and sustaining strategic competitive advantage has become more apparent yet more difficult (Pfeffer & Veiga, 1999; Dowling et al., 2009). Human resource management professionals and scholars have recognized the complex challenges involved with creating human resource systems that are aligned, congruent, and connected with their corporation’s strategic mission (Becker & Huselid, 2006), and capable of producing the high trust and commitment from employees that are conditions followers to sustaining long-term wealth creation (Senge, 2006). Developing the quality performance approach to management is a key role of the human resource management function (Pfeffer, 1998), and necessary to establishing a reputation of trust and integrity for organizational leaders (Schein, 2004).
In HR Management, Employee's Job Satisfaction is one of the most important area.
ReplyDeleteJob satisfaction is one of the most studied variables in HR literature because it is assumed that a satisfied employee’s exhibits better performance that leads to overall organizational performance and growth. Ostroff (1992) in his research concluded that organizations having more satisfied employees performed well than organizations that had low employee satisfaction. Front line employees of service providing organization represent their organization to the customers. Depending on the interaction with frontline employees, customers’ decides whether to stay with or buy the same services from some other organization. The quality of these interactions depends on the front line employees’ attitude. If the employee is satisfied with his organization, he will exhibit extra role behavior and will try to leave a good impression of his/her organization in the mind of the customer (Naveed, Abdul and Muddassar, 2014).
in addition to you comment, job dissatisfaction occur when the hygiene factors are either absent or insufficient (Nelson and Quick, 2009). Based on Herzberg’s two factor theory, motivation factors were those aspects of the work environment that lead to psychological growth and promote job satisfaction. Hygiene factors on the other hand refer to aspects of the work environment that established psychological discomfort and job dissatisfaction. In this scenario, managers’ unethical behavior in the organisation is considered to be hygiene factor. According to Nelson and Quick (2009), unethical behavior influence the level of job dissatisfaction. If hygiene factors are well administrated, the result is a higher organisational commitment as decrease in employee dissatisfaction
DeleteAs you mentioned in the blog that corporate culture interacts with motivational strategy in the organization, I would like to discover the scope of corporate culture. In the literature, corporate/ Organizational culture is totally a physiology part of the employees. It consists with the values and norms of the organization. Employees’ beliefs and their attitudes also give some differences for the corporate culture (Deal and Kennedy, 2000).
ReplyDeleteAs you said, Corporate culture is a physiology part of the employee and component that links relations and processes in enterprise . Based on expert opinions (Kotter & Heskett, 2001; Lukášová & Nový, 2004; Cameron & Quinn, 2006; Mihalčová & Gavurová, 2007; Sagiv & Schwartz, 2007; Armstrong & Stephens, 2008; Hitka et al., 2010; Kachaňáková, 2010), corporate culture is a set of basic assumptions, values, attitudes and norms of behavior that are acquired within the company and are expressed in thinking, feeling and behavior of members of the enterprise but also in artifacts of material and non-material nature. Corporate culture gives individuals the opportunity to justify their behavior in response to the preferred value of the company. On the other hand, managers and owners use corporate culture to support activities that are of particular interest to them. Regulation of corporate culture that supports the development of human resources is essential. According to Lesáková et al. (2008, p. 108), the human resources development becomes a priority objective of strategic decisions of an enterprise and focuses on exploring the capabilities of employees, active management of education and learning in order to fulfill the long-term intentions of the enterprise.
DeleteAn important element of organizational success is an HRM strategy where every manager is an HRM manager. For example, every manager must be expected to set goals for the development and satisfaction of employees. Second, every employee is viewed as a valuable resource, just like buildings and equipment. The organization’s success is dependent upon high-performing employees and without such employees there is no competitive advantage for organization. Finally, through effective HRM programs the organization’s goals are successfully integrated with individual employee needs. HRM will continue to be an important element in achieving organizational success in the years to come (Sims, 2002).
ReplyDeletein the point that you highlighted, communication is playing vital role between managers and employees. Researchers (Markos, Sridevi 2010) have discussed the importance of communication, "Most studies demonstrate that feeling valued by management, two-way communication between management and employees, management’s interest in employees’ well-being and giving more opportunities for employees to grow are the top drivers of employee engagement." Job satisfaction is playing vital role to achieve the optimum relationship between managers and employees. It is so critical to increase job satisfactions for employees during the daily hard circumstances. Authors (Oedekoven and Hay 2010) have presented the benefits of job satisfaction, "With increased job satisfaction and productivity companies can maintain low employee turnover, which not only will help them achieve greater levels of economies of experience, but also reduces the cost of training and human resource issues that arise in a conflicted setting".
DeleteDear Diana ,In your conclusion you have reiterated that Human Resource Department should be seen as crucial unit in facilitating"competitive advantage". This would not be possible if Strategic Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management are not align to achieve the long-term objectives of the organization to gain a competitive advantage through adding value for the stakeholders. Hence,
ReplyDeletethere is a growing realization among organizations to align its Human Resource practices with corporate strategies to meet the needs of its business in order to gain strategic advantage from its Human Resources. Ellers and Lazenby (2007) stated that successful strategy implementation can be achieved if resources are allocated in a manner that supports the organizations long and short-term goals, chosen strategy, and structure.
Dear Upul, My debate was developing effectiveness in HRM. It focus on HRM as integral to firm’s strategic processes involves viewing HRM activities as a resource contributing to firm profitability as opposed to a cost of production (Butler et al., 1991; Delery and Doty, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Lado and Wilson, 1994). Thus, previous work has concentrated on linking the existence of individual or sets of HR practices to firm performance. Huselid et al. (1997) note that future research needs to go beyond the mere presence of HR practices and HR relationship to financial performance to examining the effectiveness of the practices compared to the desired outcome. They argue that effective use of HR practices should have a greater impact on firm performance beyond the simple existence of HR practices. Russo and Fouts (1997) note that it is the firm’s ability to employ its organizational capabilities, its ability to assemble, integrate and manage human resources, that matters because human resources are not inherently productive. Pfeffer (1994) also argues that sustained competitive advantage emanates from effective workforce management. Huselid et al. (1997: 173) defined strategic human resource effectiveness as practices that create a unique human capital’.
DeleteFurther to what you have explained in your blog, HRM of an organization is a set of typical activities, functions and processes that are aimed enticing, guiding and sustaining an organization’s human capital (Lado and Wilson 1994). It is noted that HR function of organizations has considerably grown over the past few decades, to the extent of covering the full range of people management processes (Shen et al., 2009).
ReplyDeleteVast variety of HR processes practiced by organizations and different views nature of human resource management exists (Boselie, Dietz and Boon, 2005). However, it is commonly known that the key practices of human resource management include recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and pay (Shen et al., 2009).
In the current context, diversity management also considered an important part of HRM. Workforce diversity is primarily focus on that people differ in many ways, those are visible or invisible, mainly gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, social status, disability, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture (Kossek, Lobel and Brown 2005). A well-diversified workforce contains a various belief, understandings, values, ways of viewing the world, and unique information, which can benefit the organization in many ways. Hence, workforce diversity, cross cultural and multicultural workforce has become a vital aspect for organization operate globally. As the guardian of people management process, diversity management has also become a vital function to be looked after by HRM team (Shen et al., 2009).
Thanks for elaborating strategic human resource and added more import element of work force diversity & it's influence for organizational performance. The concept of diversity has transformed from being a governmental or legal obligation to a strategic priority. The aim of attaining sustainable competitive advantage (Kleiner,2007) and the need to become an employer of choice (Foster and Harris, 2005; Ng and Burke,2005) has instigated organizations worldwide to embrace the concept of diversity. In the opinion of Farrer (2004), mere manifestation of diversity or embracing diversity as a concept alone does not guarantee success; organizations need to effectively manage diversity by celebrating, valuing, and actively encouraging the diversity of the workforce.Management of diversity has thus become a top priority for top executives of organizations around the world (Wikina, 2011).
DeleteHere I would like to elaborate what the Human capita that you mention in your blog. Form few definitions, it consists with the traits of each and every individuals in the organization. Knowledge levels, skill ranges and abilities of employees give the strength for a better human capital. Human capital makes a big role in organization imitate. Greater the combination of Human capital in organization, hard to imitate the organization’s strategy (Armstrong, 2014).
ReplyDeleteAs you said, to sustain competitiveness in the organization human capital becomes an instrument used to increase productivity. Human capitals refer to processes that relate to training, education and other professional initiatives in order to increase the levels of knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and social assets of an employee which will lead to the employee’s satisfaction and performance, and eventually on a firm performance. Rastogi (2000) stated that human capital is an important input for organizations especially for employees’ continuous improvement mainly on knowledge, skills, and abilities. TThe human capital focuses two main components which is individuals and organizations. This concept have further been described by Garavan et al., (2001) that human capitals have four key attributes as follows: (1) flexibility and adaptability (2) enhancement of individual competencies (3) the development of organizational competencies and (4) individual employ ability. It shows that these attributes in turn generate add values to individual and organizational outcomes. There are various findings that incorporate human capital with higher performance and sustainable competitive advantage (Noudhaug, 1998); higher organizational commitment (Iles et al., 1990); and enhanced organizational retention (Robertson et al., 1991).
DeleteAccording to Cole, (2004) the HR function brings in the strategic value of the people in an organization by contributing to value addition and competitive advantage. There has been recognition of HR skills, abilities and experience and their contribution to the success of organizations (Armstrong & Baron, 2004). An effective HRM strategy organizes all individual HRM measures and directly influences employees’ attitude and behavior leading an organization to achieve its competitive strategy (Huang, 2001). These strategies will include productivity gains, quality, reduced cost of business and innovation as well as product/service differentiation (Armstrong, 2009). According to Leopold, (1999) integration is achieved when the formal structure of an organization and the human resource systems are aligned to an extent where they drive the strategic objective of the organization.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you. Martocchio (2006: 221) illustrates that HR system operates at an even higher level of analysis and reflects a program of multiple HR policies that are espoused to be internally consistent and reinforcing to achieve some overarching results. HR system embraces various employee-related policies and practices such as recruitment, training & development, staff retention and so forth in order to enhance the competitive advantage (Kroon, 1995). In addition, Heery and Noon (2001: 165) view that employees are an important resource which should be ‘harnessed’ and ‘managed effectively’ as well as the other resources within organizations. According to the aforementioned views on HR system, it is stressed the crucial importance of managing human resources to an organization’s success.
DeleteTo create value and deliver results, HR must begin not be focusing on operational HR but by defining the deliverables of that work. Role of HR is to build a competitive organization including management of strategic human resources, transformation, firm infrastructure and employee contribution (Ulrich, 1997a). It is critical to move beyond the strategic business partner role to be a player in the business (Ulrich & Beatty, 2001). Accordingly, players must contribute to the profitability of the organization, they deliver results and they do things to make a difference. It is important to coach, design, construct, change the organization, creating followers, and playing by the rules. Another perspective on the role of HRM suggests that in leading-edge companies, HR professionals play four key roles as; a strategic business partner, innovator, collaborator, and facilitator (Schueler & Jackson, 2000). As a strategic business partner, HR professionals should understand the nature of the business from strategic, operational, financial, and other aspects necessary to be part of an effective team managing an organization.
ReplyDeleteFor strategic unit of time to emerge, it's essential for specific characteristics to exist, but conjointly to be integrated thus to make an “internal fit”. All are important in their own right, but they are also interrelated. If one or more is absent or weak, then this could significantly undermine the development of strategic HR, because the links with other characteristics would also be weakened (McCracken & Wallace, 2000a, 2000b). Meeting the strategic criteria of the various strategic HR models, HR professionals would be able to move closer of being accepted as equal strategic business partners among their organizations. HR’s credibility will also be enhanced by helping clients to meet their business and performance needs, and ultimately through the achievement of the organizational strategic business goals and objectives (Gilley et al., 2002). Developing strategic business partnerships is also completely crucial to the success of strategically integrated HR programs. In order to achieve success, HR executives have to be compelled to develop cooperative client relationships as the simplest way of enhancing their image and reliability. Furthermore, they have to become knowledgeable about the concept of demand and the various demand states of their clients.
DeleteObi (2016) introduced few interesting perspectives to define Human Resources Management and some of them are discussed below:
ReplyDelete1. Human Resources Management is that function which involves all management decisions and actions that affect the nature of the relationship between the organization and its employees (Biles, 1980).
2. Human Resources Management is a range of policies, institutions, and procedures which enables the principles of industrial psychology to be put into practice (Graham, 1988).
3. Human Resources Management represents the activities of recruitment and employment, manpower planning, employee training and management development, organization planning, organization development, wages and salaries and services, union management relations and personnel research (Beach, 1980).
4. Human Resources Management involves a focus on:
(a) Treating employees as individuals, but at the same time, developing mechanism to integrate individuals into teams.
(b) The careful selection, training and development of the workforce.
(c) Reward system that stresses individual performance and commitment and which are linked to appraisal and development.
(d) The integration, not only of all personnel related policies and the development of employees as individual, but allowing for trade-union involvement as well.
In generally, the increase in market competitiveness has resulted in the adoption of strategic plans that specialize in worker welfare and development schemes. Collective relationships are supported comparatively more cooperation during which both parties are motivated to add value to the organization (Gennard , 2005, p11). The evolving employment relationships emphasize the success of the enterprise through developing worker trust and commitment, enhancing job satisfaction, worker participation in higher cognitive process, and increasing organizational productivity, profitability and efficiency (Gennard & Judge, 2005).
Delete