Growing Importance Of
Strategic Human Resource Management

Empowering People to Drive Productivity

Charles R. Greer wrote:

"Some authors define strategic human resource management as the effective application of the organization's human resources to accomplish the organization's overall strategies."

Get and read Charles Greer's book available from Amazon.com.

Others see Human Resource Management as being integrated with strategy formulation on how human resource management can help accomplish the business plans of the organization.

Based on these definitions, we can see that we are concerned with HR long-term goals in order to improve business performance.

Why must your organization concern itself about strategic Human Resource Management?
Organizations, particularly business entities, must succeed financially if they are to survive. This is the reason why business plans are prepared.

This is one of the simple ways in understanding the important factors related to strategic human resource.

Your organization, too, has its business plan. The only thing left to do is to make it a reality.

When you adopt a strategic Human Resource Management plan, there is a high probability that certain positive results will ensue.

This can result in the following:

1. Enhancement of your organization's economic performance
   
2. Increase in employee and organizational productivity
   
3. Increase in your survival rate as a corporate entity
   
4. Lower labor turnover
   
5. Increase in customer satisfaction
   
6. Your HR function does not become redundant due to value-adding quality
   

Pfeffer lists seven dimensions of effective people management.

• Employment security
  
• Rigorous selection of employees
  
• Self-managed teams and decentralized decision making
  
• Comparatively high compensation linked to individual and organizational performance
  
• Extensive training
  
• Reduced status distinctions, and
  
• Extensive sharing of financial and performance information throughout the organization
  

Formulate strategies to ensure that you can attain these objectives.

There are others who had written books on Human Resource Management.

In order to ensure that employees can play their respective role in the organization, you need an HR plan of action.

You need to conduct HR strategic planning to this effect.

Further to this, you need to train and develop your people in order that they have the knowledge and skills to perform their respective tasks.

Human Resource Strategic Approach
In strategic Human Resource management, you can choose to place emphasis on "performance improvement and competitive advantage."

This has the potential of leading to industrial conflicts.

You also have the choice of adopting the "soft approach". This approach takes into consideration an employee's superior know-how, commitment, motivation and job satisfaction.

Some argue that this approach is manipulative. But there is more to the HRM approach than this.

Implementation Process
The process adopted by organizations may differ.

Your HR Manager and HR professionals can assist as this is their role.

• Formulate your HR mission and objectives to provide the connecting link between all Human Resource management activities.
  
• Clearly define and understand your HR "strategic intent."
  

  R. Collins states:
  

  "Improvement in the strategic management of people also requires a commitment to sustained long-term action."
  
  
• Understand the business carried out by your organization. This includes HR Managers and HR professionals.
  
• Choose the strategy you will adopt to migrate from "people business to business business". This is making HR as Strategic Partner.
  
• Formulate your HR strategic plan, understand what it is intended to achieve, and how to link it to the overall business objectives.
  
• Implement the plan. This requires a strategic implementation plan to ensure the plan is understood and accepted by everyone in the organization.
  
• Obtain feedback on outcomes. Use these as inputs in future decision making.
  
• Review and amend plan accordingly, communicate and re-implement.
  

Human Resource Management Strategy
To ensure a high probability of success in the implementation of strategic human resource management, a number of things are necessary.

1. Strategic recruitment where the right person is selected to fill the right job and according to organizational needs
   
2. Using the right mix of incentives to motivate and engage employees who then can concentrate improving their performance
   
3. Appointment of the right HR Head to provide the necessary leadership in making HR as a strategic partner
   
4. An HR mission statement with well defined HR objectives drawn up in alignment with the overall organizational objectives
   
5. Provision of the right set of training and development programs on an on-going basis to every level of employees
   
6. Implementation of a performance management system to identify high-performing employees for the purpose of giving rewards befitting their performance, work quality and output
   
7. Giving recognition and implementing a fair rewards system to retain quality employees
   

The Human Resource Function
Someone, somewhere within your organization must carry out the HR function.

If not, your organization cannot fulfill its legal and contractual obligations towards employees.

So, who are responsible for the HR function?
Human Resource Managers are appointed for important purposes. HR professionals are there to help them.

Your organization may have appointed an HR Manager or an HR Director or both.

If your organization is very serious about implementing strategic human resource management, appointing an HR director goes a long way in ensuring that the HR plan is treated as important as the organization's business plan. He or she can provide the necessary leadership on all matters relating to HR.

Whatever is the approach, it is crucial that you have a competent person looking after this important function. It is important to remember that HR leaders do face a lot of different problems.

Capable professionals are what your organization needs to succeed in implementing strategic Human Resource management.

Note however, that a survey had shown that there are still a lot of organizations who do not place much importance to human resource. Surely, your organization doesn't want to follow suit.

Some organizations may have even decentralized or outsourced the entire function.

The Better Option
Decentralizing the entire HR function goes against the new development and trends in Human Resource management.

However, you can decentralize certain human resource activities to line managers.

When you do this, provide them with all the necessary support.

Make your line managers responsible for the occupational health and safety issues in their own area of operations, the training of their subordinates, recruitment for their respective sections according to needs, and the performance appraisal of their subordinates.

Integration of Strategic Human Resource Management into Planning and Decision Making Process
It is now accepted that without people, achieving result is practically impossible.

In managing your people, prepare a long-term plan to integrate your organizational goals with HR policies and actions.

Strategies are implemented in identified key HR areas to improve employee motivation and productivity.

You need to see whether your HR strategies are competitive enough as compared to industry standards. Benchmark them while exercising due care.

Information must freely flow throughout the organization. You can ensure that this can by adopting an effective informantion system.

Strategic Human Resource Management and Business Strategy
Strategic Human Resource management helps to identify the business strategy that you can adopt.

For example, you implement an effective training and performance improvement plan to improve customer service.

More satisfactory customer service will bring in more revenue.

You can use this superior performance to determine the rewards. This, in turn, motivates your employees to perform better.

Learning and skills improvement forms a necessary part of improving human resource management both on the part of employees and management.

The 7 S of HRM attempts to simplify the important characteristics of human resource management. Thereafter, conduct a more in-depth examination.

The Future of Strategic Human Resource Management
Proponents of strategic Human Resource management generated tremendous interest on the subject.

Some large organizations had implemented it.

In contrast, some lament the ineffectual efforts by many organizations in implementing the system.

Strategic human resource management is not going to disappear. This is so as long as people continue to run organizations of whatever size and for whatever purpose. Go to "Strategic Human Resource Management" for more information.

It is very certain that people will continue to play pivotal roles. It is in people that creativity and innovative ideas reside. This is one reason why people will continue to play important role in the business plan of organizations.

As the world of business becomes more complex and challenging, strategic human resource management will continue to grow in importance in the success story of organizations.

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