The Human Resource Management Team - Coursework Example

Human resource management essay Student Name Institution ‘Despite all the talk about HRM, HR specialists are still “Cinderellas” in the senior management team. They don’t belong in the top team because they make no contribution to strategic management’. Discuss. Human resource management is the planning and controlling of human resources with the aim of maximizing their performance in meeting organizational goals and objectives (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). It deals with management of human beings within organizations. Recently there has been transition of human resource management profession from the traditional administration of personnel in an organization to strategic human resource management. According to Lawler (2008), in strategic human resource management, HR strategies are adopted to help in the achievement of the organization’s goal as well as objectives. Human resource departments are now taking part in strategic management of organizations even if in many organizations this achievement is still under way (Krishnan & Singh, 2011). This essay will discuss the role of human resource management in strategic management. It will show that human resource departments are strategic partners in strategic management. Strategic management is the process through which organizational goals are formulated and initiatives implemented by the top management of an organization with consideration of resources and the prevailing business environment (Pfeffer, 2005). In some organizations human resource management is not valued as a source of competitive advantage of the organization hence they are neglected. Some the reasons for this neglecting include the mentality in some organizations that human resource management staffs are lower in status than other staff such as in marketing and finance. Some top managers fail to recognize the significance of HRM (Krishnan & Singh, 2011). It is usually difficult to quantify the output of human resource management and this makes it difficult for senior management to value their significance hence underrating it. However human resource is much significant and should be involved fully by the top management in the strategic management process (Gratton & Truss, 2003). According Boxall & Purcell (2011), human resource management is linked to strategic management because of implementation of strategies. Human resources in an organization are usually responsible for hiring as well as recruiting employees including the top management. Lawler (2008) says that HR professionals usually coordinate strategies of development meaning they cannot be isolated from any development strategy. They have the sole responsibility of advising managers in issues relating to workers and therefore assist the organization in achieving its goals and objectives (Gratton & Truss, 2003). The human resource management team in every organization must work together with top management team to develop the skills of employees. They have the responsibility of advising their supervisors and managers on how to assign duties and other roles in an organization to the different employees (Gratton & Truss, 2003). This helps an organization to successfully adapt to the other external business environment. Human resource management teams are strategic partners of most organizations today. They are usually responsible for the development and accomplishing business goals and objectives from the business plan. They have the sole responsibility of coming up with strategies that usually increase the commitment of workers in an organization (Bridle, 2010). This starts from the recruitment process where employees are matched with roles depending on their qualification. After employment workers maintain their commitment to their work and must feel challenge by their managers throughout. According to Lawler (2008), any business organization’s competitive advantage is developed by the human resource management team. The building capacity of any company to satisfy its customers comes from human resources. HR helps organizations to create value of their products and compete favorably with other businesses in the same industry (Krishnan & Singh, 2011). This usually created by their responsibility for provision of healthy working conditions in the work place through employees’ motivation. They usually provide systems which benefit their employees in different departments of an organization therefore creating job satisfaction (Pfeffer, 2005). Human resource management can never be overlooked as workers are the pillar of any business organization. Their relationship in the working environment helps in influencing their behavior as well as their output (Andersen & Minbaeva, 2013). HR have the sole responsibility of training and developing employees through coming up with programs which will increase their workers knowledge and skills and therefore contributing significantly to the organization’s strategic management process (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). Human resources usually influence the most important business processes and systems which make an organization achieve its corporate social responsibility. They provide a framework to be followed by the top managers in aligning the organization with corporate ethics and culture therefore branding the strategic framework of the organization which helps it compete favorably and be more profitable (Krishnan & Singh, 2011). Team work must be enhanced in all organization’s departments including human resource management. This makes it important for the top management of an organization to include the human resource management in their decision making processes so as to achieve the set organizational goals and objectives (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). Many business organizations in today’s world have adopted a strategic human resource management which aligns HRM with the business strategy. This includes engaging all employees in decision making processes, management of workers’ talents as well as engagement in acquisitions and mergers. This helps the top management in the management of strategic change which is very crucial in the achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Gratton & Truss, 2003). Involvement of HRM in strategic management has taken the form of two way linkage. This is where the strategic planning team of an organization involves the human resource management in the various strategies being considered in the organization (Bridle, 2010). The human resource director in many organizations is an integral member of the top management team. This makes human resource management integrated in decision making processes of an organization. From these linkages between the human resource management and the top management, it is clear that human resource management cannot be overlooked in the strategic management of an organization (Andersen & Minbaeva, 2013). Various characteristics of human resource management also show its importance in strategic management. It is always an inevitable process to incorporate human resources in planning as well as implementing any strategic plan. It is also an aspect of all the managers’ work making it important for it to be incorporated in the management process (Pfeffer, 2005). HRM is basically aimed at building organizational performance by influencing the ability of the employees positively. Human resource management is usually responsible for developing strategies which are effective in solving organizational problems (Bridle, 2010). They are the ones in a position to identify and define the problem better than other stakeholders in the organization. They are also in a position to identify the resources that are available and at disposal to solve the problems. This brings about the importance of their integration in the strategic management team for the organization’s competitive advantage to increase (Pfeffer, 2005). In conclusion, human resource management is an integral part in strategic management. Other than personnel administration, HRM has become more sophisticated and has adopted other practices such as pay for performance, succession planning, team work as well as work life balance. It is the responsibility of the human resource management to formulate and implement any business strategy in the organization. Organizational goals and objectives have been achieved in many organizations due to incorporation of human resource management in decision making process of an organization. This increases the organization’s competitive advantage and profitability that comes from effective strategic management. Most business processes involve the human resource management in one way or the other. Human resource management directors in many organizations are also integrated in the top management team of the organization hence they are never overlooked in the strategic management of the organization. References Andersen, T.J. & Minbaeva, D. (2013). The role of human resource management in strategy making. Human Resource Management, 52(5), 809–827. Boxall, P. & Purcell, J. (2011). Strategy and human resource management (3rd ed.). Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Bridle, P. (2010). HR should be buried and then given a seat on the board. Human Resource Management International Digest, 18(1), 5-7. Gratton, L. & Truss, C. (2003). The three- dimensional people strategy: Putting human resources policies into action. Academy of Management Executive, 17(3), 74-86. Lawler, E., (2008). Make human capital a source of competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 38(1), 1-7. Krishnan, S. K., & Singh, M. (2011). Strategic human resource management: A three-stage process model and its influencing factors, South Asian Journal of Management, 18(1), 60-82. Pfeffer, J. (2005). Producing sustainable competitive advantage through the effective management of people. Academy of Management Executive, 19(4), 95-106. Read More