Strategic HR Management and HR Strategies

Strategic HR Management   and

HR Strategies

Today, Human Resource Management (HRM) is being renewed in organizations and gradually affirming its strategic role (Belout & Gauvreau, 2004). Walker, (1974) further  elaborates  that, through Strategic human resource planning, management prepares to have the right people at the right places at the right times to fulfill both organizational and individual objectives. In the same way Armstrong, (2006) states that Strategic HRM is described as the process that leads to the development of human resource strategies. The terms "strategic human resource management" and "human resource strategy" are often used interchangeably, but they can be distinguished.

Table : 1

Key significant differences of Strategic HRM and HR Strategy

	Strategic HRM	HR Strategy
Focus	Human capital	Human resource practice system
Level of interest	Organization or business level	Job level
Responsibility	Designed jointly between line and HR	Designed mostly by HR
Goal or objective	Get the right people in the right place in the business to maximize business success	Get people to have (skills), feel (attitudes) and do (behaviors) things that lead to job and business success

Source :  (Wright, 2004)

The above Table : 1 clearly shows what are the significant differences between Strategic HRM and HR Strategy.

HR Strategies Defined

According to Armstrong ,(2006)The human resources strategy lists the measures that the organization intends to take on its human resources management policies and practices, and how to integrate it with the business strategy. As suggested by Chesters (2011) the human resources strategy should be viewed as a statement of the collective effort of the organization, not just a list of all the things the organization wants to do.

Armstrong ( 2014 ) emphasizes that the purpose of the human resources strategy is to clarify the measures the organization intends to take on its human resources management policies and practices in the present and the long term to make  sure  to assist achieve business goals.

It is not only the organization list that makes HR Strategies important, according to(Greer,2001) economic turmoil has also increased the importance of the strategic role of human resource management.

Armstrong ( 2014) elaborates that Human resources strategy can be formally defined as a part Strategic human resource management process, which leads to the formulation of a holistic or specific strategy for human resource managers and critical department managers to implement.

Types of HR Strategy 

Armstrong and Long (1994) and Armstrong and Baron (2002) revealed that among the many various HR strategies there are two basic HR strategies.

   ü  Overarching strategies. 

   ü  Specific strategies.

Overarching HR strategies

Armstrong (2006) describes the Overarching HR strategies’ general purpose of the organization is how to manage and train personnel and what steps should be taken to ensure that the organization can attract and retain the         required personnel, and as much as possible to ensure that workers are dedicated, inspired and engaged. Boxall   and Purcell (2003) pointed out that a great place to work is to recruit better people with better aspects who producehigh performance. However Armstrong (2014) further stated that General Strategy and Overarching strategies are similar to each other.The three main significant features in GeneralStrategy are:

                       i.         High-performance management: 

High performance management purpose is to enhance employee performance and enable the          employee motivation and talent enrichment,to make a great difference on the performance of the       organization in the areas of Customer service,productivity and quality control. In the same way          high performance working practices include rigorous recruitment and selection procedures,extensive and relevant training and management development activities,incentive pay systems and                   performance management processes. (Armstrong, 2014)

                                            ii.         High-commitment management : 

High-commitment management has been described by Wood (1996 : 41) as:‘A form of management which is aimed at eliciting a commitment so that behavior is primarily self-regulated rather than           controlled by sanctions and pressures external to the individual,and relations within the organization are based on high levels of trust’.Further (Walton,1985) states that one of the major feature of HRM   is that the prominence of mutual commitment. 

                                            iii.         High-involvement management: 

                       As defined by Benson et  al (2006: 519) as: ‘High involvement work practices are a specific set of       human resource practices that focus on employee decision-making, power, access to information,     training and incentives.’Camps and Luna-Arocas (2009) observed that High-involvement                   management provided highly motivated and talented employee contributed the organizational            success.

Specific HR strategies

Armstrong (2006 ) Specific HR strategies set out what the organization intends to do in areas such as:

   Ø  Talent management         – how the organization expects to enhance the employee talent. 

   Ø  Continuous improvement – providing for focused and continuous incremental innovation sustained                                                            over a period.

   Ø  Knowledge management – creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge to enhance                                                           learning and performance; 

   Ø  Resourcing                      – attracting and retaining high-quality people; 

   Ø  Learning and developing – providing an opportunity in which employees are encouraged to learn and                                                      develop; 

   Ø  Reward                            –implement reward policies, practices and processes to achieve of business                                                    goals and meet the needs of customers. 

   Ø  Employee relations         – defining the intentions of the organization to manage relationships with                                                           employees and their trade unions. 

Criteria for an effective HR strategy

A good HR strategy makes the employee feel valued and belong to the organization. A good HR strategy shows    the employee how they have performed according the Vision and Mission of the organization. A good HR strategy should develop the employee to grow in the organization and rewarded for the valuable contribution.     

Armstrong ( 2011) describes that An effective HR strategy is one that works in the sense that it achieves what it     sets out to achieve. Its particular requirements are set out below.

  ü  It will satisfy business needs. 

  ü   It is founded on detailed analysis and study, not just wishful thinking. 

  ü   It can be turned into actionable programmes that anticipate implementation requirements and problems. 

  ü  It is coherent and integrated, being composed of components that fit with and support each other. 

Implementing HR strategy

As Gratton (2000: 30) commented: ‘There is no great strategy, only great execution.’  

According to (Smyth, 2019) human resources strategies are method of planning the approach of handling the         organization’s valuable processions. Further(Smyth,2019) explains that there are eight elements that associated    with implementing a good HR Strategy.  

   o   Keep the HR requirements with business practices.

   o   Use Regular Check Ins.

   o   HR Strategy development.

   o   Organization and performance.

   o   Finding the balance between the employee and employee.

   o   Structure as a part of strategy.

   o   Resourcing and Hiring.

   o   Staff Development.   

Kanter’s (1984) Explains that HR practices that enable the strategy to work and can be the basis for                        implementation programmes with clearly stated objectives and deliverables.In the broader context, line managers have a great deal responsibility in implementation of HR strategies. As Purcell et al (2003:x) stressed,it is front-line managers who ‘bring policies to life’.

Armstrong ,(2006) briefly explains about implementation of HR Strategy; 

   o     Analyse business needs and how the HR strategy will help to meet them.

   o     Communicate full information on  the strategy and what it is expected to achieve.

   o     Involve those concerned in identifying implementation problems and how they should be dealt with. 

   o     Prepare action plans. 

   o     Plan and execute a programme of project management that ensures that the action plans are achieved.

References 

Armstrong, M (2014) A Hand Book of Human Resources Management Practice, 13th  Edition.

Armstrong, M (2009) A Hand Book of Human Resources Management Practice, 11th  Edition.

Armstrong, M (2006) A Hand Book of Human Resources Management Practice, 3^rd  Edition.

Belout, A., & Gauvreau, C. (2004). Factors influencing project success: the impact of Human Resource Management. International Journal of Project Management 22 (2004) 1–11.

Benson, G S, Young, S M and Lawler, E E (2006) High involvement work practices and analysts’ forecasts of corporate performance, Human Resource Management, 45 (4), pp 519–27

Boxall, P and Purcell, J (2003) Strategy and Human Resource Management, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Camps, J and Luna-Arocas, R (2009) Highinvolvement work practices and firm performance, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20 (5), pp 1056–77.

Charles,R.G (2001) Strategic Human Resources Management , 2^nd edition.

Chesters, J (2011) Creating strategic impact: it’s  how not what, People Management, August, pp 32–35.

Gratton, L A (2000) Real step change, People Management, 16 March, pp 27–30.

Kanter, R M (1984) The Change Masters, London, Allen & Unwin.

Purcell, J, Kinnie, K, Hutchinson, R, Rayton, B and Swart, J (2003) People and Performance: How people management impacts on organizational performance, London, CIPD.

Smyth,D (2019) How to implement a Human Resources Strategy, review by Jane Thompson, LLB, LLM September 25.

Walker,J (1974) Evaluating the practical effectiveness of human resource planning applications.

Walton, R E (1985) From control to commitment  in the workplace, Harvard Business Review, March–April, pp 77–84.

Wood, S (1996) High commitment management  and organization in the UK, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 7 (1), pp 41–58.