Human resource management (HRM) is the art of managing employees in an organization. It involves the use of people to achieve organizational objectives in a productive manner and still satisfy the needs of individual employees (Fuller, 2005). This is the traditional approach to human resource management. Human resource management has always been viewed as a department set apart from the rest of the organization.
Lately however, the human resource department has had to justify its existence within an organization due to the increase in use of technology in place of human resources.
The move is an attempt by the HR department to remain relevant to an organization in the face of the current technological changes. This has led to the emergence of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM is a form of management that links HRM with organizational goals and objectives to improve performance and to strengthen organizational culture (Fuller, 2005).
SHRM focuses on organizational performance rather than individual performance (Inyang, 2010). Unlike HRM, SHRM is not just reactive. It seeks to prevent problems rather than tackling them when they occur. The objective and activities of SHRM must be measurable, must include deadline for accomplishments, should identify and involve key stakeholders and HR customers, and should nominate individuals responsible for implementation (Fuller, 2005).
It is difficult to implement SHRM and as such, it is faced with various challenges. This paper discusses the issues that a human resource manager should understand and the actions that should be taken to get the job done. The three big issues facing HR managers in recent times include developing and retaining talent, anticipating change, and enabling the organization (Society for Human Resource Management, 2002).
Although strategic talent management lacks a consistent definition and clear conceptual boundaries, Collins and Mellahi have defined it those activities and processes that involve the identification of key positions that contributes to the organization’s competitive advantage. It is the development of a pool of talent consisting of high performing employees and the development of a human resource structure to facilitate filling of these roles (Collings & Mellahi, 2009, p. 304).
In the search for a good employee, the HR department is normally faced with the challenge of observing the behavior of an employee and determining if it is a good fit for the organization. For example, the behavior of an employee seeking a job in a discount store cannot be equated to that of an employee seeking a job in an upscale store. HR is charged with the responsibility of managing talent, improving leadership development, managing work- life balance, and managing demographics.
The HR manager is faced with the problem of finding the right talent in a market short for talent, and where employees are less loyal to employers. Tough economic times mean that employees have fewer choices for the few available jobs. This presents the HR department with a challenge as they try to figure out which employees have the desirable qualities for the job.
In order for the HR department to fully exploit the potential of their internal talent, it must first identify those positions within the organization which have the potential to impact differentially on performance (Collings & Mellahi, 2009, p. 313). Once the talent has been identified, the challenge now is to manage it to give full benefit to the organization and to ensure that employees do not leave.
A human resource manager should always be the voice of the employees. This is because when it comes to dealing with an employer, the employee is usually on the losing side. The HR manager acts as a bridge between the employee and the employer. He or she ensures that the employee is treated fairly and justly without compromising on the goals of the organization. When the workplace is no longer favorable for the employee, the organization’s bottom line suffers.
Employee discontent leads to high employee turnover, poor productivity, and inaccuracy (Muhammad, 1999). This reflects badly on the HR manager. A HR manager has to find out what incentives would keep employees in the company. Some HR departments in certain organizations accomplish this by carrying out a survey to get a feel of what employees want.
HR optimizes total rewards by working with senior management to find the right combination of pay, benefits, environment, and learning opportunities to engage employees and reinforce company culture (Society of Human Resource Management, 2002).
Change is inevitable and it normally affects all organizations. Technology and globalization has hit the Human resources and forced it to acquire a different strategy. For majority of the large organizations, globalization is becoming a reality for the different HR professionals as technology leads to a global market (Society of Human Resource Management, 2002).
In a global market, there are fewer restrictions on the flow of commodities across national borders. A good example is the flow of goods in Europe due to the formation of the European Union. There is also the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Economic Community of West African States (Armstrong, 2008). Any organization that desires to compete in such a global market must have a HR department that is open to change. The HRM is in this case is required to adjust to a different culture and economic and political system.
The HR manager is faced with the challenge of managing external and internal environments. As a way of anticipating change, the HRM often undertakes an environmental analysis. This analysis looks at the internal organizational strengths and weaknesses and the external environment for opportunities and threats (Bratton & Gold, 2007). These strategic factors allow the HR department to maintain the organization’s strengths while eliminating its weaknesses.
Opportunities like global markets and potential talent should be acquired by any HR manager who is considered to be a strategic planner. For example if a competitor is doing better in the market due to the way its employees are being trained, The HR manager should look into it and ensure that the organization’s workforce remain competitive.
For the HR department to be productive, it requires top management support, and this may be difficult to achieve. The HR department may be required to recruit employees who are a good fit for the company and also to master all processes pertaining to the HRM. In SHRM, HR professionals need to be equally adept at managing both the business and the people (Society for Human Resource Management 2002). They need to figure out a way of becoming strategic partners in the organization.
If the HRM is to become a strategic partner in an organization, it had to change the way it operates. In the traditional HRM design, corporate, business level and organizational strategies determined HR policies and practices. HRM would wait until the strategies were made, then they would design their policies based on what they were told. For HR managers to be successful, they have to embrace SHRM where they have a seat at the strategic table and are actively engaged in strategy formulation (Bratton & Gold, 2007).
To accomplish this, they have to be part of the top management team of the organization. They also need to be involved in corporate planning. Their contribution should be in developing and communicating a vision for HRM. One way of showing the value of HR function is by quantifying the value its initiatives bring to the bottom line (Society for Human Resource Management 2002).
This has been simplified by the presence of technological software programs in the market that make it easy for HRM to show their contribution in figures.
HR is expected to deliver on recruiting and staffing. In acquisition and development of employees, the HR strategy develops a good balance between nurturing the employees that are already present in the organization and recruiting externally. Their objective is to keep employee turnover low while hiring good productive employees.
A good balance must exist between work and life. Employees who are overworked tend to resign quickly and if they do not work enough, the organization does not profit. SHRM works out the most appropriate balance to keep both parties content and committed.
A HR professional is often expected to master HR processes, while the HR strategy is expected to nurture social relationships, encourage mutual trust and respect employees instead of focusing on monitoring and controlling employees’ compliance with company standards (Bratton & Gold, 2007). The HRM is also expected to know the current legislations pertaining to employees. They should understand what is considered legal and what they can or cannot ask the employees to do.
One issue that a human resource manager ought to understand is that there is need to make an attempt at showing the value of HR function to the organization. Since technology being a possible substitute for the HR department, the HR managers should figure out how they can compete. What is it that they can bring to the table that technology cannot? Because human resources will always be a requirement in every organization, how can they use technology to make their work easier and more useful?
There are various types of strategies used by HR. They include growth, retrenchment, and stability. HRM strategies must mirror the strategic objectives of the organization. They must support culture, climate and organizational processes to attract and keep employees. They must be geared towards sustaining organizational commitment. SHRM objectives should be measurable and they should have specific dates of completion (Fuller, 2005).
To successfully handle the issues of talent management, rapid change and difficulties in enabling the organization, a HR professional must be highly knowledgeable about business and its environment (Inyang, 2010). This allows him/her to become a strategic partner in the organization hence remaining relevant. The HR professional must develop a strategic vision, acquire the latest skills in technology and think globally.
Becoming a member of the management team is also important in keeping up with the organization’s issues. The HR professional should also work towards retaining the existing pool of talent because it is hard and equally expensive to recruit new talent. Top and genuine leadership often produces the best results. And as such, the HR strategy should be part of the larger business strategy. In addition, it should also engage all its employees and customers as well.
Reference List
Armstrong, M. (2008). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action. New York: Kogan Page.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2007). Human Resource Management, Fourth Edition: Theory and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Collings, D.G., & Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic Talent Management: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 19(4), 304–313.
Fuller, T. (2005). Strategic Human Resource Management. London: John Wiley and Sons.
Inyang, J. (2010). Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM): a Paradigm shift for achieving sustained competitive advantage in organization. Web.
Muhammad, A. (1999). The challenges of globalization and the role of human resources. Web.
Society for Human Resource Management. (2002). The future of the HR profession. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/pages/default.aspx