Strategic HRM Case Study

Keywords: research study hrm

Introduction

An organization is constructed of people. These folks who assemble together as an organization's workforce are recognized as human resources. Recruiting department clutches all the scopes of employee concerns like recruiting, training and motivating. Basically, the function that focuses about how to manage people in a organization is known as Human Resource Management (HRM). HRM handles issues related to the people such as compensation, recruiting, performance management, organization development and employee concerns like- safety, wellness, benefits, motivation, communication, administration, and training. HRM thrives to control the workplace culture and environment. Effective HRM allows employees to contribute efficiently and productively to the entire company direction and the accomplishment of the organization's goals and objectives.

HRM is not managed using the traditional approaches anymore. Rather, the increased use of outsourcing has generated the urge for building up new and progressive ways to manage the workforce in the current workforce. It calls for comprehensive and thorough ways of respond to the contemporary issues of globalization and diversity.

Company overview:

Complete IT (CIT) is an UK based IT support Service Company that is providing with local IT support to SMEs for over 20 years now. They have a tendency to keep up with the highest levels of technical expertise and accreditations to solve IT issues. They contain the motto of not simply fixing problem, but finding ways to improve systems and positively impact on their clients' tea, and business. Their services range from reactive support to proactive management of the clients' IT, but each built specifically for each and every client. They promise to deliver IT support with passion and commitment with a friendly, honest and simple approach.

1. Role and Importance of Strategic HRM

1. 1 Strategic HRM

Strategic HRM is known as the preventive management system of the employees within an organization. More elaborately speaking, it is a technique of managing human resources that brings a strategic outline to upkeep long-term business objectives and outcomes.

There are three major theories of strategic HRM used in today's HRM. Like a great many other companies, CIT also uses these theories into application.

1. Universalist Approach:

Also known as Best Practice Approach, this theory assumes that high performance output in an organization can be achieved via a set of HRM practices. These practices are described in a couple of four policy goals-

• Commitment: Confirming the faithfulness of employees to the business in order that they provide with their best of performance.
• Strategic Integration: The integration of the HRM to the company's strategic planning so that HRM can be a part of company's overall strategy should be ensured. Moreover it will also be ensured that the line managers use HRM strategies in their everyday work.
• Quality: The actual fact that employees should be kept satisfied and motivated in order to bring out their optimum performance so that they can deliver products and of the highest of quality should be ensured.
• Flexibility: Today's workforce look for versatility in their workplace. Administration should ensure this aspect in order to keep the staff driven enough to deliver the utmost productivity.

However, it is usually to be noted that Guest believed all of these theories shall work only together, and not individually, to attain the company objectives.

1. Fit or Contingency Approach:

HR plans and practices must be coordinated with the organization's plans and practices for the utmost performance to be produced. This synchronization of HR and Company strategies can be called the "vertical fit". This process is also called the "best fit approach".

The best fit approach:The very best fit approach supports that HR strategies and organizational policies need to be aligned. You will find three available simulations of this best fit approach-

• Lifecycle model: Organizational development is performed in four stages - Start-up, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The HR department should be well aware of the company's ongoing stage to allow them to select the correct strategies to match up the company's current stage.
• Strategic configuration: In such a model it is stated that companies can be on the operative front if they can implement tactical configuration policy (market-type structure or internal type structure), coordinated with company types (namely Defenders, Prospectors and Reactors, Analyzers), and (classified as; Machine Bureaucracy, Divisionalised form, Simple Structure, Adhocracy Professional and Bureaucracy).
• Best fit and competitive strategy: three competitive strategies are; Quality, Cost-Leadership and Focus (Niche). Companies should adopt competitive strategies to be able to maximize performances. That is more important as a result of increasing competition in today's business world. It is always easier to have a competitive edge and use that edge in the simplest way possible.

1. The Configurationally Perspective:

This model handles the importance of the outline of several HR policies and in what way these outline of HR policies (independent variables) affect the Organizational performance (dependent variable). The term configuration is explained differently by various scholars and writers for just two reasons. The first one being "the scope to which HR policies are associated into an overall HR structure" and the next one- "the notch of fit amid an overall HR structure and an administrative type".

1. 2 Importance of HRM

In CIT, HRM is perceived as one of the most consequential drives of the corporation. HR management's significance can be classified in to the following subsequent activities:

• Enrollment and Training: Recruiting new people and training them according to the organizations' needs will be the key duties of HRM. To fill the vacant position in the organizations, HR managers plan ensure that you trials for potential candidates. HR also fixes the terms and conditions of the contract that occurs between the employee and the organization.
• Performance Evaluations: HRM prompts the workforce to bring out their finest performance. It provides with feedbacks to the employees that creates an effective communication between your employees and the employers.
• Nourishing Work Atmosphere: Work ambiance is a crucial aspect for employee satisfaction and high level of performance. HRM manages to keep up a decent, safe and clean working environment because of its employees. The performance of the workforce largely be based upon the task atmosphere and company culture. So, HRM strives to keep up the best possible work environment because of its staff.
• Handling Disputes: Inner disputes and conflicts among colleagues is an extremely common element in organizations. It is always the HRM's duty to mediate in such situation so as to resolve such clashes and therefore establish an order in the workforce. While it's important to care for the disputes in a good manner, the HRM must also be very cautious in handling such cases as sometimes, the methods can simply create employee displeasure.
• Increasing Public Relations: Developing public relation with numerous interested parties and stakeholders of the business is a essential role played by the HRM. HRM stands accountable for organizing meetings, seminars, workshops etc. to interconnect with these parties. In some cases HR department even helps into business and marketing planning.

1. 3 Analysis of different Frameworks of HRM

• The Harvard Analytical Framework for HRM: Produced by Beer et al. (1984), is an excellent equilibrium between the Universalist Approach and the Fit Approach. CIT relates this model in its HR management. This framework works on the conjecture that the problems of managing employees can be explained when the overall managers of the business have their own perspective about how precisely they want the employees to be involved in the business and what type of policies are best for this method.
• Ulrich's Multiple Role Model: Ulrich et al. (2009) proposes a multiple competency framework involving of four potentials for HR mangers apart from recruiting, training, and motivating. It really is specified below:

• Figure 2: Ulrich's Multiple Role Model

HR roles are demonstrated in this framework into two axes. The horizontal axis designates the primary focus of HR-either Future Strategic or Day to Day Operational, and the vertical axis indicates leading actions of HR, either process and systems or people connected. These two axes form the four qualities of HR- Strategic Partner, Change Agent, Employee Champion and Administrative Expert. CIT's HR managers ponder in these features with attention.

2. 1 Analyzing the Strategic Human Resource Process

Strategic HR Process can not be made of any single approach, it can always vary between organizations. CIT uses a specific model for Strategic HR process that encompasses of the next key facts:

• Structuring the strategic course: If the HR policies are backed up by the business's mission, vision and objective, this process is constructed. In CIT, the whole HRM process is set up by concurring the company leaders' long term objectives. So the complete process of recruitment, training, motivating and additional processes are planned to achieve long-term company goal.
• Developing the HRM System: Since CIT is an IT based firm, it allows its employees to home based by using internet. Also, CIT believes in creating variety in their workforce instead to that they are engaging female employees in definite positions.
• Planning the full total workforce: Defining the fundamental future workforce with regards to the company's progress and necessity is a very challenging activity of the HRM, especially now-a-days.
• Producing the required human resources: The key focus of this process is to recruit, contract, organize, formulate and convey staffs grounded on the tactical provisions of the management's workforce strategy.
• Dedicating to HR progress and performance: HR development process marks on the growth and use of business proficiency and the cooperating elements, which lead to a thriving organizational performance. An excellent encouragement program for the employees should comprise a variety of base pay, bonus, profit share, priority in company share etc. in overall. (Robert C. B. , 2003).
• Evaluating and supporting managerial aptitude and performance: Basically, there is no exact method of precisely measure the changes in HR policies or how performances affect the business's output. This can be overcome by the consumption 'balance scorecards. '

2. 2 Roles in Strategic Human Resource Management

The strategic roles of top management, front-line management, HR executive, HR specialists are the ones that sums up the roles of strategic HRM. Their roles in CIT are described below-

• Strategic Element of Top Management: The long-term business goals of the company are set by the idealistic leaders of the company- the ones who forms the very best management. This set contains the CEO, CFO and President. They ensure the concurrence of the business growth and objectives with those of the average person departments.
• Strategic Section of Front-line Administration: According to Eduardo Salas et al (2001), front line managers 'bring HR policies to life'. Which means that if the managers are against a new HR strategy, it would be problematic to device the strategy that will steadily lead to dissatisfaction among employees.
• Tactical Role of the HR Director: Because they're the part of the top management, the HR Directors hold a great position in the strategic planning. They ensure the integration of HR policies and tactics with overall business goals and supervise the implementation of these plans.
• Strategic Element of HR Authorities: HR executives have various tasks like new preparation programs, performance management, granting employees, improving the task atmosphere etc. therefore, at any given point, they have to work on a priority basis.

2. 3 Development of HR Strategies

There is no single way to advance HR strategies. For example, CIT uses the six step method proposed by Gratton (1999):

1. Figure the superintendent association: Comprising folks from all parts of the professional.
2. Envisaging the upcoming: Creating a shared idea for the regions of strategic prominence.
3. Identifying present talents and pinpoint the gap: Assessing the business's present point and analyzing the break between company's upcoming goals and current condition.
4. Shape a map of the machine: This is done to guard the small stages taken can be expressed into a complete plan.
5. Model the refinements of the structure: All possible future results should be studied into account to evade any unexpected change or uncertainty in the strategic plan.
6. Bridge into action: Involving line managers, creating guiding principles, forming cross-functional collections to identify objectives and performance devices.

2. 4 Implementation of HR Strategies

HR strategies implementation can always change from organization to organization, it has no perfect model. CIT practices the next tasks to implement HR policies.

1. Supporting employees to comprehend the strategy: Employees must have the proper knowledge of the 'what and why' of the policy to actually execute it in the workplace. A failure to grasp the business policy properly will prohibit the employees from using their full level of talent to attain company objective.
2. Improving employee responsibility to the strategy: It will always be known that change causes disharmony. Almost any modification in strategy can certainly cause displeasure among employees. Employees must be given the knowing that accepting the current change will lead to a much better outcome.
3. Reforming local use the strategy: The proper understanding of the strategies by the employees is not necessarily enough, it must also be executed by dismissing off-strategy works and starting on-strategy works together with new vigor.
4. Generating inter-departmental assistance: Creating bridging relation among the employees of different subdivisions is definitely just a little challenging because of their different work nature.

Activity 2

3. Contemporary Issues in Strategic HR Management

3. 1 Identification of Contemporary Issues Affecting Strategic HRM

Strategic HRM is mostly affected by the next issues-

• Job Stress: The adverse reaction that folks tend to show when they're not capable of coping up with the pressure and atmosphere of work can be defines as Job Stress. It could lead to illness, absenteeism, low efficiency rate, frustration, personal problems etc.
• Work-Life Stability: Many people are always busy in today's competitive corporate world. The usage of advanced technology allows employers to engage employees in work even after office hours, via internet.
• Diversity: In virtually any organization today, folks from diverse backgrounds come together to work. Globalization has turned into a major issue in today's HR management.
• Downsizing: Many companies are economizing their workforce due to recent economical recession, as a measure of cost cutting.

3. 2 Analysis of Contemporary Issues Affecting Strategic HRM

The increasing challenges in HRM management are forcing today's organizations to consider strategic HRM in different ways. Recruitment procedure is currently a two-way approach. Employers can use a resume record or 'corporate poaching'.

Because job switching has turned into a very common issue today, keeping employees, specially the most adept ones, motivated and satisfied is becoming much tougher. Even CIT has not been able to keep a your hands on many of its most capable employees. So, they're now forming new ways of keep their employees driven.

Activity 3

This section discusses different kinds of strategies in HR and their application in business organizations.

4. 1 Range of HR Strategies

The ranges of HR strategies include different tools. The people used by CIT are discussed below:

Strategies for enhancing organizational effectiveness:

• Concrete leadership from the upper management.
• A strong management team.
• Continual pressure to renovate and expand.
• Ability to react fast to opportunities and threats.

• Strategies for Learning and Expansion: This ensures the correct training of the employees to be able to achieve organizational goals. That is related to housing a learning culture, encouraging organizational knowledge, providing for individual learning and launching a learning organization.
• Strategies for Performance Measurement: Performance Management "carries a mean of joining business strategy and technical assembly to direct the whole organization to achieving mutual organizational objectives" (Purcell et al, 2005), it provides the best means to attain organizational goals.
• Strategies for Employee Relations: Here, the intents of the business about what must be achieved and what's needed to be altered in the customs where the organization maintains its relationships with employees and their trade unions is explained. It really is to be noted that employee policies will vary than strategies. Strategies are dynamic.

3. 2 Application of HR Strategies

CIT attempts to attain its organizational goals through the use of all the strategies defined above, including resourcing strategy and reward strategy.

It can be quite impossible to measure the exact amount of return these applications of HR strategies bring; nonetheless, there are a few indicative measures that can help us towards greater understanding of the impact of change in HR policies. For example, if the workforce management program has been integrated properly with the company's goals and company is performing well, it could be said that people are receiving good return on HR strategies. Another example of good HR outcomes is available on Michael Armstrong et al (2006) research reports on hospitals which decreased mortality rate by creating efficient HRM.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that human resource management is one of the crucial activities in today's organizations. No workplace can be run proficiently without appropriately trained and motivated employees. And with the increasing globalization today, proper Human Resource Management is now increasingly more challenging.