HRE Strategy Theoretical Perspectives
There are a lot of theoretical discussions on the different strategies applied in human resource management as engraved in the management of organizations and strategic literature. The use of strategies was recognized in the management field leading to the use of different strategies in dealing with the overall management of an organization.
The most commonly used strategies are based on a framework that is structured on SWOT analysis and other internal analysis methods in the organization. From such analysis, the management is able to assess the progress of the organization and determine its financial and competitive position hence they are able to make well-informed and helpful decisions.
Some Major duties of HR Personnel include the management of recruitment, performance and compensation, planning of the labor force, organization of on-job trainings, catering for employee leaves and Management of the employee Benefits, management and distribution of overtime, Distribution of the Pay slips, allocation of duties, Management of the employee information and skill, acting on behalf of employees on their grievances, Employee Survey, Exit Interviews & Process, Health & Safety (McConnel, Stanely, & David, 2009).
HRE is an agent of change
The HR is an agent of change in an organization. In any organization, change is Inevitable and for effective implementation of change in the organization, the HR may use different approaches. The first approach is informing and educating employees before they are fully assimilated in the activities in the organization.
Any accumulated information helps employees accept the change effort by viewing it on the basis of the overall benefits it has on the organization. This causes a decrease ion the false claims and perceptions that are the notion of those that are opposed to change in an organization.
The HR also involves the employees in drafting and designing the change formula by Ensuring they participate fully in the process. When the employees are fully involved in the change process, they usually agree with the change and move with it rather than opposing and fighting it. This approach hence reduces the opposition from those who merely reject the change process with no founded facts (Arrow, Bowles, & Durlauf, 2000).
Adjustment problems have in many instances been reason for people resisting change. An area that HR involvement with employees is usually seen overtly is during employees’ transition periods where HR helps them through the difficulties that are associated with transition.
Typical of this approach, involves special activities like carrying out on-job trainings and also organization of interaction sessions away from the normal office environment.
Some group may become outdated in their experience due to a change in the working environment and may have a strong force for opposition against change. In handling difficulties associated with change, HR personnel may use incentives to encourage and compel employees to hang on through their transition and not to be discouraged with challenges of change.
To achieve this, a number of techniques is required like compelling persons resistant to the change to accept different aspects of the change being suggested as a way of ensuring that organizational objectives are met. This may require a lot of skills of negotiation and agreement (Bosch, Huse, & Senneseth, 1999).
When the rest of the strategies become too or fail to effectively and efficiently work, the HRE can choose to manipulation or co-optation. Co-optation is the strategy in which an employee who is opposed to change is incorporated into the group organizing and managing the change process not necessarily that he may contribute but rather that he may just appear in the group and the change process (Lian, 2005).
Where speed is essential and should be used as the last resort the HRE can use any available internal or external capacities to force employees opposed to change into accepting the change process irrespective of their stand or attitude. The HRE achieves this by stating clearly that any resistance could lead to job loss, dismissals, transfers and no promotions.Thus in doing all the above, the HR acts as the agent of change in an organization.
HRE as an organization architect
The HR acts as the organization architect. This involves detailed plans and analysis which include highlighting the key driving forces of the organization for example technology, distribution, Competition and the markets. The implications of the driving forces on the human resources within the organization and the main contributors to the general performance of the business.
He develops the man goals and objective that are supposed to be achieved by the human resources in the organization through the rational consideration of the effects of using different ways of ensuring the labor resources are properly utilized and by allowing to any proposed objectives and goals or references to idealistic statements and contributions to the same (Cope & Watts, 2000).
He also conducts a SWOT analysis of the organization by putting a focus on the internal environment in the organization and determining the strengths and weaknesses of the human resources within the organization.
He carries out a detailed and extensive research in the external environment of the organization and determines the opportunities and threats that may face the labor resources in the organization, the impact they may have on the general performance of the organization considering the shortage of skills and evaluating the impact of advancing technology on the level of staffing in the organization.
From the SWOT analysis he then examines the capabilities and structures of the personnel department, considering its main operations, the quality of its services and also the level of experience of its employees (Karlsson & Dahlberg, 2003).
He then conducts an extensive and deep analysis of the human resources mainly focused on the culture of the organization and its related COPS. He fills the gaps that exist between the reality of where the organization is now and where it wants to be.
By investigating the business strategies being used by the organization and the examining them against the SWOT and COPS analysis, the HRE is able to identify the critical issues of labor resources that must be addressed and those with very effective impacts of the strategies mainly with a priority on the main contributors of progress in the organization.
He hence initiates a plan for action on the issues of concern in the organization and sets targets for achievement of the organizational goals. By so doing, he develops s consequences and solutions to the various challenges and the implications for the organization and the personnel function.
The main aim of formulating strategy for development of human resources is to ensure that the rewards and wages given to the employees are consistent with their level of accumulation of knowledge, skills and experience. Finally, he evaluates the action plans thus acting as the organization architect (Evers & Schrader, 2003).
HRE as A Talent Manager
The HR is as a talent manager in the organization and retains key talent issues that are critical for the organization and ensures that the organization maintains a competitive advantage against its competitors hence increasing the customer base for the organization, increasing the productivity of the organization and also reducing the expenses and costs incurred by an organization.
Talent management involves the application of many human development strategies mainly when the employees are working within the organization. The strategy goes ahead and even tries to identify the potential and talents in the employees and this way is able to take a given course for the direction of talent development to take.
This strategy also ensures that leaders become well equipped for their tasks and that there is more development of leaders for the future of the organization. He also organizes talent management programs.
The core components of our program optimize performance, maximizing development, retaining and motivating top achievers, identifying the talents in employees, recommending different employees for different roles as dictated by their experiences and talents and maximizing the effects of the human development strategies (Reid, 2001).
The main objectives of establishing as human resource management department is to ensure that the human resources within an organization are properly organized and utilized hence helping in realization of the organizational goals for the company.
Hence, HR executive needs to have adequate knowledge on how best to organize manage and even manipulate the human resources so as to ensure maximum benefits for the organization (Lussier, 1996).
The HR executive also contributes to the process of organizational progress by formulating ways of assessment and monitoring of the functions of the human resource development strategies.
He initiates and manages the whole process of attainment of organizational goals by manipulation of the human resources so as to ensure the organization is able to adequately fulfill its mission and vision as well as determining how effective all the strategies for attainment of the organizational goals are.
HRE as an Alliance Builder
The HRE acts as a tool for alliance building. He is involved in establishment of ways and structures for application and implementation in the organization so as to make sure that all the functions in the organization run smoothly.
He is also involved in the general organization of the labor resources in the organization leading to better co-ordination between all the departments and all the employees in the organization with the aim of ensuring the organization is able to achieve its organizational goals much faster than is the case if there was no proper co-ordination (Smallbone & Welter, 2001).
The HR executive also ensures that there is harmony between the organization and all its employees so that all may work for a common goal instead of being independent of each other. Harmonization of all the parties in the organization results to faster progress of the organization as well as satisfaction from all the involved parties (Karlsson & Dahlberg, 2003).
In addition, the HR executive is involved in examination of all the requirements of both the organization and the employees and hence aids in the realization of all the requirements and needs of all the involved parties in an organization.
This realization helps the organization to formulate ways of trying to meet the needs of all the parties in the organization hence allowing each party to be comfortable in the organization as well as allowing more satisfaction and loyalty on the part of the employees (Smallbone & Welter, 2001).
All these factors ensure that there is unity and harmony in all the functions and activities in the organization, a factor that helps in the building of a strong alliance whose constituents work together for a common goal and are loyal to the alliance and satisfied in its affairs.
Comparing the Assumptions of the HRE Strategy Theoretical Perspectives
The different assumptions of the theoretical perspectives of HRE strategies are very similar, mostly in their objectives and in the way they are implemented. All these strategies are a basic requirement for any organization so as to ensure there is progress and that all the labor resources in an organization are properly utilized for the better of the organization and everyone involved in the process of finding progress.
On the other side, the HRM executive acts as the bridge between the organization and all the labor resources in the organization hence acting as a source of organization and manipulation of that factor of production so as to ensure that there is better flow in all the activities in the organization hence allowing the organization achieve its goals and objectives (McConnel, Stanely, & David, 2009).
All the strategies used by the HRE are aimed at improvement of the working conditions for the employees in the organization. Studies have revealed that when the employees in an organization are satisfied and happy at the work-place, they are usually more motivated to work harder and hence they become more productive and eventually have a positive effect on the organization’s output.
Hence, by engaging in the different HRM strategies. HR executive allows the organization to gain information on how it can improve the working conditions for the employees, a process that reciprocates its benefits back to the organization as it realizes more outputs at the end of the day.
All the HRM strategies are also aimed at ensuring there is unity and co-ordination among all the parties and departments in an organization for the success of the whole process of production and sale of products and services by an organization.
If there is lack of co-ordination in an organization, then the failure of one of the parties may reflect on the whole organization as having failed. For example, even if the process of production in a given organization was carried out efficiently, the failure of the sales and marketing department may result to low returns for the organization.
In a nutshell, the HRM strategies are all labor-oriented and aim at improving the workability and productivity of the labor, and generally, the human resources in a given organization.
Hence, all these strategies are implemented in a manner to allow the progress of the organization by effectively and efficiently utilizing the labor resources for the better of the organization. In this way, the organization is able to manipulate and organize its labor resources in a manner that allows it to realize the best results out of its human resources.
Contrasting the Assumptions of the HRE Strategy Theoretical Perspectives
The main assumptions of the various HRM strategies have various differences both in their implementation and their effects on the organization. There are many way in which such differences arise and may be identified. Although the strategies are all aimed at improving the productivity and efficiency of human resources in the organization, they vary in different ways in their effects.
There is a difference in the strategies used by the HRE as an agent of change and as a talent manager. As an agent of change, the HRE is mainly concerned with the goals of the organization and using all the possible ways to streamline all the human resources in the organization to follow the way that will help the company realize its goals.
In this case, it doesn’t matter the settings of the human resources and any attitudes towards the process of change. The fact is that change must be realized at all costs, even if it calls for withdrawal of some of the employees who may not be able to move with the change. On the contrary, as a talent manager, the HRE’s main focus is the capabilities of all the human resources available to the organization.
In this aspect, the manager tries to realize and utilize all the potential in the human resources present in the organization and hence tries to formulate ways of maximizing returns to the organization using the capabilities of the human resources. Hence, the direction for any change in the organization is towards the realization and utilization of the potential of the employees (Durkheim, 1984).
There is also a contrast between the HRE acting as an agent of change and on the other side when he acts as an alliance builder. Mostly, when the HRE acts as an agent of change, he places a lot of force on all the employees and they have to follow the course of change as dictated by the requirements of the organization.
Hence, all the employees have to [formulate ways of moving with the change and helping the organization work with that change. Any employee who does not fit into the new settings of the changing working environment in the organization usually is left outdated and may end up losing his job in the organization.
On the other side, as the HRE acts as an alliance builder, he works on making sure there is unity and togetherness in the organization and that all the employees work together for the good of each other and of the organization.
In this way, the HRE ensures ways of involving everyone into all the processes in the organization, a factor that leads to the inclusion of everyone in any process of change in the organization in a way that is convenient to everyone.
Hence, if there is any employee who is not able to move with the change, the HRE formulates ways of updating the skills and experiences of such an employee to a point where they are fully assimilated into the change channel. Therefore, none of the employees is bound to lose their jobs or be left out in the process of change in the organization (Lussier, 1996). This effectively brings organizational profitability for corporations.
References
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