Human Resource Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Human Resource Strategy - Essay Example What is strategic human resource management? Strategic human resource management can be considered to be the capability of an organisation to ensure that it has the right mix of talent and skill in order to meet its business objectives (Armstrong and Baron, 2002, p. 42). Holbeche (2001, p. 13) highlights strategic human resource management as a ‘focus on implementing strategic change and growing the skill base of the organisation to ensure that the organisation can compete effectively in the future.’ SHRM involves the recognition of the internal intelligence available at all levels of the organisation and creating processes to draw upon this knowledge. Communication ‘is at the heart of these processes (Brewster, 2000, p. 153). The author discusses Mintzberg’s observation that strategy involves planning ahead of time and making changes to the plan on the basis of real world situations. The ability of an organisation to alter its course is dependent on the abi lity of the culture to allow for internal flexibility. SHRM then is an attempt to link organisational strategy with human resource management and drawing from this effort, makes an attempt to provide direction to the functional areas on HRM. Salaman, Storey and Billsbury (2005, p. 5) view SHRM as a ‘repository of ways in which academics, consultants†¦ think about ways to change organisations’. SHRM then is the key to how business is run and people managed. Huber and Glick (1995, p. 297) highlight the importance of facilitating organisational learning as a means to understand and adjust to changing business environments. Organisations that are designed to allow two-way information flow to ‘reflect cultural values and economic perspectives of top management’. This is of particular relevance in a multinational corporation. Ready and Conger (2007) reiterate the role of talent development in providing company’s the competitive edge to stay in the mar ketplace. They believe that companies that create ‘talent factories’ have the right mix of ‘functionality and vitality’ to fill key positions as and when the need arises. Storey (2007, p. 79-80) foresees a risk to the study of human resource management claiming to be a strategic function in the absence of a ‘robust analytical framework’. Terms like knowledge management have not been proven on grounds of efficacy in gearing the business up for change. The author suggests that some part of the responsibilities can as well be transferred to departments like marketing for managing the communications and the HR department relegated to the purely administrative practices of yore. The traditional role of HRM as policy maker to guide people management is incomplete without a conscious alignment to business goals. Strategic HRM aims to utilise the capabilities of the workforce towards a unified goal. The match between employee talent, employee goals and business goals is the key to successful work organisation. The necessary ingredients for an effective Strategic HRM process are the learning processes to facilitate future strategy development and adaptation to changes in the business environment. Who takes responsibility for strategic HRM? Ivancevich (2004, p. 48) recognises the role of the leader in laying the foundation for strategic HRM. Functional specialists provide the framework to carry out effective talent management processes; individual team heads determine