Management of Talent - Essay Example

Introduction Strategic human resource management (SHRM) defines the intentions of an organisation and plans on how the organisational goals will be achieved through people. Thus, it links the activities of human resource and the strategic objectives of the organisation (Armstrong, 2011). Paauwe & Boselie (2003) defines SHRM on basis of three propositions: first, the major source of competitive advantage in an organisation is human capital; second, the strategic plan is implemented by people; and, third, there should be a systematic plan that the organisation should adopt in order to determine where it wants to go and how to get there. SHRM is regarded as a process that incorporates use of overarching approaches to the creation and development of human resource strategies which are horizontally integrated with one another and vertically integrated with the business strategy. These strategies define the plans and intentions that are related to the overall considerations of the organisation such as learning and development, reward, resourcing and employee relations (Armstrong, 2011). SHRM addresses the broad issues in an organisation in relation to effectiveness and performance, changes in structure and culture, matching organisational resources to future requirements, management of knowledge, development of capabilities, and managing change. The concern of SHRM is the ability to get things done in an effective way by dealing with issues that are related to people which affects or are affected by the organisation’s strategic plan (Huselid, Jackson & Shuler, 1997). This article discusses the aim of SHRM and approaches to SHRM and the management of talent as a ‘big issue’ that a HR manager needs to consider. Aims of SHRM The main aim of a SHRM is generation of a strategic capability by making sure that the firm has committed well motivated and skilled employees that it requires in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Thus, it provides a way for addressing critical issues as well as success factors that are related to the employees where strategic decisions that have major impact to the success of the organization are made. In this way, the SHRM offers a sense of direction in a changing environment in order to meet the organizational and employees needs through development of practical and coherent HR policies and programs (Becker & Huselid, 2006). Wood (1999) states that while considering the aims of a SHRM, it becomes important to consider how the strategies of human resources will take into account all stakeholders’ interests in the organisation. That is, the employees and the management. Soft SHRM will greatly emphasize on the aspect of people management, communication, stressing continuous development, security of employment, involvement, and quality of working life as well as the balance of work-life. Ethical considerations are also essential. Hard SHRM will emphasize the yield as a result of human resources investment in the interests of the organisation. A SHRM should achieve a balance between soft and hard elements. It should ensure that the organisational plan should put the personnel in mind by considering the needs as well as aspirations of all employees within the organisation. SHRM strategic approach Becker & Huselid (2006) describes five approaches to SHRM which include resource based approach, high performance management, high involvement management, high commitment, and achieving strategic fit. The resource based strategy is aimed at increasing the strategic capability of an organisation by developing managers and staff who can understand the key strategic issues. It is based on the belief that an organisation can achieve a competitive advantage if it can obtain as well as develop human resources. These resources should enable the organisation to learn faster and apply the learning in a more effective way as compared to its competitors. It puts more emphasis on enhancement of human capital to the organisation. High performance management is aimed at making an impact on the organisation’s performance through employees in areas of quality, productivity, growth and level of customer service among others. The practices in high performance management include extensive and relevant training, rigorous procedures of recruitment and selection and processes of performance management among others. It is characterised by clear job design and description, extensive systems of recruitment and training, performance appraisals, high level of participation, and promotion and compensation schemes which offer rewarding on high performing teams (Armstrong, 2011). High commitment management involves an organisation that is aimed at bringing out commitment to enhance a primary regulated behaviour where the relations in the organisation are on the grounds of high levels of trust. Achievement of high commitment involves various approaches. These include developing of career ladders with more emphasis on commitment and trainability as one of the highly valued characteristics of employees, abandonment of potentially rigid description of jobs and high levels in regard to functionality flexibility. Other approaches include relying heavily on team structure in dissemination of information, team working and problem solving (Huselid, Jackson & Shuler, 1997). High involvement involves establishment of a mutual understanding between managers and employees in order to share information and define expectations on the mission, objectives and values of the organisation. Strategic fit involves aligning the business strategy with human resources strategy in order to achieve an approach that is coherent in managing people (Becker & Huselid, 2006). Management of talent The issue of management of talent is of interest in regard to the success of the organisation. Currently, most organisations report the management of talent as one of the critical challenges for management of human resources (Boston Consulting Group, 2007). Talent management in an organisation explains activities and processes that incorporate systematic identification of key positions that contribute in a differential manner to sustainable competitive advantage of the organisation. It also involves development of a pool of high potential and performing incumbents for filling the positions or roles (Aston & Morton, 2005). Based on this definition, there are various ideas that a human resource manager requires in talent management. First, there is identification of key positions that contribute differently to the competitive advantage of the organisation. Second, there is a need to develop a pool of high potential and performing incumbents. Thus, there must be differentiation of employees who are performers and those that aren’t. In order for strategic jobs to provide a differential impact to the organisational performance, there are various factors that need to be put into consideration. These include job analysis, recognition, identification, development and retaining of high performers. In addition, the organisation will also be involved in rigorous recruitment and selection process in order to obtain high performing incumbents for these positions (Capelli, 2008). Talent management in such a case can be divided into two categories. First, the human resource manager needs to plan for management of talent within the organisation based on the current employees. Second, they also need to plan in order to acquire new performing employees in order to achieve the objectives of the organisation (Boudreau & Ramstand, 2005). Management of talent for existing employees require addressing of various issues. First, it requires training and development of employees in order to develop a good understanding of their roles, to gain variety of skills within the organisation as a way of promoting innovations. Second, they need performance management system in order to improve the skills and productivity of employees. Finally, there is a need for recognition of their efforts through rewarding in order to retain high performers (Aston & Morton, 2005). On the other case, the human resource management requires new high performing candidates to fill key positions. This means that the first step involves job analysis in order have a clear idea of the role of the required candidate to fill the required position. Second, they need to develop rigorous procedures for recruitment and selection of the right candidate based on the job description of key position. Thus, application of appropriate human resource policies will ensure that employees are deployed and supported using the appropriate policies of human resources. SHRM will ensure that all human resource management activities are employed in management of talents while focusing the organisational strategic objectives (Capelli, 2008). Conclusion A strategic human resource management links the activities of human resource and the strategic objectives of the organisation. It is aimed at generation of a strategic capability by making sure that the firm has committed and well motivated as well as skilled employees that it requires in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Various approaches to SHRM which include resource based approach, high performance management, high involvement management, high commitment, and achieving strategic fit. One of the big issues that HR manager needs to consider is the management of talent. This is one of the critical challenges for management of human resources. Talent management in an organisation explains activities and processes that incorporate systematic identification of key positions that contribute in a differential manner to competitive advantage of the organisation. The activities of a human resource manager in talent management will require promotion and recognition of the existing talents within the organisation. They will also consider development of various policies and procedures to ensure an extensive recruitment and selection of high performing incumbents in regard to the strategic objectives of the organisation. Thus, SHRM links the activities of human resources with organisational strategic objectives. References Armstrong, M. (2011). Armstrong’s Handbook of strategic human resource management. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Aston, C., & Morton, L. (2005). Managing talent for competitive advantage, Strategic HR review, 4(5), 28-31 Becker, B. E & Huselid, M. A. (2006). Strategic human resource management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, 32, 898-925 Boston Consulting Group (2007). The future of HR: Key challenges through 2015. Dusseldorf: Boston Consulting Group. Capelli, P. (2008). Talent management for the Twenty-First century, Harvard Business Review, 74-81 Huselid, M. A, Jackson, S. E & Schuler, R. S. (1997). Technical and strategic human resource management effectiveness determinates of firm performance, Academy of management journal, 40, 171-178. Paauwe, J. & Boselie, P, (2003). Challenging strategic HRM and the relevance of institutional setting, Human resource management Journal, 13, 56-70 Wood, S. J. (1999). Human resource management and performance, International journal of management reviews, 1, 367-413 Read More