Implications of Linking the HR Strategies-Free-Samples for Student

Question: Critically evaluate the implications of linking of Human Resources strategies and policies with strategic objectives of the firm. The report should argue role of HR strategies in developing performance oriented organization culture that fosters innovation and competitive advantage. Answer: Introduction Strategic human resource management is made up of two terms, namely, strategy and human resource management. It is a multidimensional policy, which is the utilization of the human resources in the best manner. SHRM is the process of strategically utilizing the human resources of the organization, so that the overall productivity of the organization can be enhanced. It aligns the human resource of the organization with the strategic objectives of the organization. As a result, most of the organizations have focused on linking the objectives and goals with the strategic goals of the organization. The present report discusses the implications of connecting human resource strategies with policies and the strategic goals (Varbanova, 2013). HR strategies of the organization are responsible for developing performance-oriented organization culture, which can enhance the innovation capabilities of the organization and develop the competitive advantage of the organization. Strategic Human Resource Management In the present times, competition among the business organizations is intense; therefore, it is important that these organizations pay attention to achieve the long-standing objectives of the organization. It can be stated that the primary goal of the human resources of the company is to make the employees productive so that the organization can easily achieve its goals. Strategic human resource management emphasizes on both individual goals and organizational objectives. The strategic human resource of an organization emphasizes on HR areas, in which HR strategies are designed considering the long-term goals of the organization. The SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management) emphasizes that there exists a relation between HR policies, practices, and the overall goals of the organization. It also states that HR intervention can easily sort out disputes and conflicts in the organization (Mello, 2014). There are two fundamental principles of SHRM, which are promoting HR activities in the organization, which can enhance employee performance and linking the HR activities with the financial goals of the organization. Connecting Human Resource Strategies with the Strategic Objectives of the Organization In present competition, traditional support services such as HR management, administration, IT and legal services are under increased pressure to directly impact the business results. Both public and private organizations are under the pressure of the customers, management, and investors to optimally utilize the business resources. HR managers can support the business objectives of the organization by linking HR with the goals and objectives of the organization. The business strategy is an articulated plan, which assists the organization in making optimal use of human resources and investment. It is an understanding that HR function can be used as a strategic partner to develop and implement the strategies, which can improve business performance and nurture innovation, flexibility and competitive advantage of the organization. The strategic orientation of the organization is important irrespective of the size of the organization. Strategic orientation refers to the action plan of the organization to align HRM with the business objectives. The business organizations can create a competitive advantage through skilled, committed and motivated workforce. Human resource planning refers to the process of analyzing future human resource needs of the organization so that the organization can achieve its objectives in an efficient manner. The human resource planning is essential for an organization so that lead time between the recognition of a new job post and filling that requirement is reduced. Therefore, HR manager should have knowledge of the job market and the availability of talented candidates. Over the years, the process of HR planning is changed and it has moved from the traditional hiring and recruiting to forecasting and succession planning (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith Courtright, 2015). Human resource planning can reduce the employee turnover by attracting them with the career opportunities present in the market. The core function of the recruitment and selection department is selecting best-fit candidate from the pool of the talented candidates. In the previous times, recruitment was considered as a traditional function, in which the focus was on finding a right person, who is fit for the role. However, not with strategic HRM, the companies are focusing on the person-organization fit, which means they are evaluating whether the applicants can be integrated with the culture of the organization. High performing organizations emphasize on the use of training and development to increase the competitive advantage of the organization. Training and development is an essential part of the business organization, which can grow value and potential of the people. With training and development, business organizations can transfer the existing knowledge, skills and abilities which are essential in completing specific task or activities. Training and development promotes the goals and objectives of the or ganization (Kramar, 2014). The strategic training and development of the organization are more targeted, measurable and effective. The traditional performance management system fails to deliver the business objectives as the business objectives of the organization are not always understood, which creates mismatch between the corporate strategy and its impact on the performance management of the team. Moreover, if the goals and the strategies of the business and the employee motivation and the culture are not ideal, it may impact negatively on the results of the organization. The strategic performance management approach can be used to manage the performance of the employees, to motivate the employees to achieve their targets, and assist the managers and the employees to work towards achieving these targets. Strategic HR management is an effective method in managing performance; developing selection and recruitment capabilities to establish a performance evaluation plan, which can be used for achieving strategic goals. The compensation system of the organization can be linked with the performance of the firm. It is beneficial in retaining the employees with the required competencies (Jackson, Schuler Jiang, 2014). The strategic performance management of the organization is focused on delivering effective results according to the business strategy. The compensation and reward structure are crucial factors in recruitment and the retention of the best talent in the industry. As a result, a large number of organizations are finding it challenging to retain the top talent of the industry. The company can design an efficient compensation structure by identifying the employee objectives and the motivation of the employees, while determining the compensation structure (Kramar, 2014). The older employees of the organization are concerned about retirement and healthcare benefits. However, the new employees might want paid time-offs and different opportunities for growth. Therefore, it is important that the compensation and the reward programs are strategically designed. The performance rewards are both financial and non-financial and; therefore, they should reinforce the performance outcomes and evaluate the contribution of the employees for the organization. Several tactics such as bonus, incentive pay, variable compensation, and performance linked pay are best methods to enhance the performance of the employees. It increases the competency and the competitive advantage of the organization (Swart, Hansen Kinnie, 2015). Role of Performance Oriented Organization Culture in Fostering Innovation and Competitive Advantage According to Naranjo Valencia, Sanz Valle Jimnez Jimnez, (2010) the organization innovation has significant benefits on economic development and enhancing the competition in the business organization. In the present era of complex and dynamic conditions, the need for business organizations to innovate continually has become extremely necessary. The Scheins model of organization culture states that the culture of the organization develops from the values of the organization, which are communicated through norms, policies, and the changes in behavioral patterns. With the emphasis on certain values and development of norms, companies can create a compelling employee behavior. Figure: Model of Organization Culture (Source: Hogan and Coote, 2014) The innovation theory is developed for the manufacturing industry and innovation is developed as a discrete paradigm. The innovation can be different such as incremental or radical process. In the manufacturing industry, the output of innovation capabilities is tangible. It results in the manufacturing of products, which are produced through technological innovation and they are stored so that they can be used later. The development of new machinery is dependent on innovation capabilities of the organization. The success of the human resource planning is based on establishing relations between the HR office and the direct managers of the organization. It empowers the organization in meeting the goals, objectives and consistencies. The succession planning is the process in which the organization recruits talented employees within the organization; and then, develops their skills, knowledge and professional capabilities. The innovation behavior of the organization emphasizes client-focused, technology-focused and marketing-focused innovation capabilities. However, it is not an effective conceptualization for the service industry because services are perishable and does not hold value at a later point of time. In the service industry, close interaction between the producers, service, users and the service delivery process increases the challenge between the product and process innovation. The knowledge and the innovation are intangible in nature, and the innovation is not necessarily based on the physical and the technological aspects. The strategic training and development is the process of developing and designing the training programs so that the employees can achieve superior performance. It can be used to uplift the innovation capabilities of the organization. In the views of Naranjo-Valencia, Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle (2011), in present, business organizations are facing different challenges due to the changes in the business environment. These complex changes demand changes in product architecture, firm competencies and technological developments. Therefore, the innovation capabilities of the organization are successful for its presence and innovation. The organization culture of a business enterprise can be categorized as innovation orientation and imitation orientation of the organization. The innovation orientation refers to the organization culture in which the organization pursues innovation and new product or services before the companys competitors introduce them. In contrast to it, the companies with imitation orientation try to escape from the research and development cost pertaining to the development of novel technologies and scientific investigation. Therefore, they try to easily adopt the ideas and technology of the organizations competitors. Most of the public know the innovation orientation as the new market entrants. They are also called as new market entrants or the market pioneers. In contrast to it, the companies with the imitative orientation are known as late market entrants or business followers (Shavinin a, 2003). Innovation capabilities require choosing the right candidate for the organization. In the strategic recruitment and selection, the companies translate the strategic objectives of the organization into HR demand and needs so that appropriate selection and recruitment can be conducted. The strategic recruitment and selection aligns the objectives of the candidates with the objectives of the business enterprises (Jackson, Schuler Jiang, 2014). However, the strategic recruitment emphasizes on filling the key job positions of the organization. It can be stated that the innovation capabilities of the organization are the basic of the market entry strategy. Along with it, other factors such as product advantage, promotional efforts and the relative price of the product are important in establishing a competitive advantage of the firms. Another important factor in the development of the competitive advantage is the timing of the market entry. The timing of the market entry cannot be determined statistically. It is qualitative decision making and mainly depends on the strategic decision of the organization (Subramanian, Rahe, Nagadevara, Jayachandran, 2016). The strategic decisions require strategic planning. The strategic plan of the organizations is designed for three, five or ten years. However, compensation strategies and performance incentives are based on the annual compensation and bonus; however, linking them with the compensation can boost the performance of the organization. The strategic compensation of the organiz ation can motivate the employees to align their behavior and job performance with the goals of the organization. The organization culture has a positive connection with the innovation capabilities of the organization. It means that in order to innovate and align with technological progress in an effective manner, there should be some specific internal and external characteristics in the organization culture of the business enterprise. The organization culture is the facet of the operational competency, which shows the inclination of the firm towards innovation. The organization culture is nothing, but the values, beliefs and the hidden assumptions of the different stakeholders of the organization, which reflects on the orientation of the organization. It fosters the development of the innovation capabilities of the organization. The primary reason for it is that it stimulates innovative behavior among the members of the organization. The different members of the organization accept that innovation is the core of the organization operations, and it can be used to enhance the innovation commitment to the organization. Further, the organization culture and management behavior are strongly linked and can foster change in the organization (Carayannis, Varblane Roolaht, 2011). The organization culture has two types of effect on the innovation process of the organization. It increases the innovation capabilities through socialization and coordination. With socialization, the employees can understand that innovation and creativity are part of the business operations. The different stakeholders of business organization can coordinate and support innovation through different activities, policies and procedures. It can generate value, which will fund innovation and creativity. The integration of these values will eventually improve the innovation capacity of the organization. The Competing Values Framework (CVF) is an organization culture model proposed by Cameron and Quinn, which is extensively used to define the organization culture of the business enterprises. These authors define that there are two cultures in the organization, which are adhocracy, set, market and hierarchy, which can be characterized by two characteristics. There are two dimensions, namely, flexibility and control. Other than that, the external focus and internal focus and the incorporation of these values in the organization culture is important. There are certain characteristics, such as organization leadership, employee management, emphasis of strategy is the major characteristics of the organization culture. According to this model, in adhocracy culture, the organization culture is dominated by change and flexibility. It is externally oriented culture. This type of culture is common in companies, which operates in the dynamic market. These companies are leader in their respective industry or try to become one. Such types of organization culture enforce creativity, entrepreneurship and risk taking ability of the organization. The clan culture is a similar kind of culture, which focuses on teamwork, employee involvement and commitment of the employees towards the organization (Holt, 2013). The market culture is another type of culture, which is concentrated on the external environment; also stresses on control within the organization. The culture has the main characteristics of productivity and high competitiveness. The last is the hierarchal organization culture. In this culture, the organization emphasizes on establishing control on the internal and external parts of the organization. The main dimensions of organization culture are efficiency, coordination and close adherence to the culture of the organization. These different characteristics of the organization form the innovation capabilities of the organization. Flexibility-oriented cultures have a positive impact on the probability of innovation within the organization. Flexibility, organic organization structure and informal communication can develop excellent organization culture within the organization. It can be stated that autonomy and freedom in organizational operations encourage innovation within the orga nization (Carayannis, Varblane Roolaht, 2011). Creativity can be defined as the manner, which can be used to perform work in an efficient and novel manner. The organization operations can be categorized into routine and creative acts, which have vastly different outcomes upon the knowledge process of the organization. These processes significantly impact on the learning outcomes of the organization. There are also certain other factors, such as the presence of the rules and regulations, excessive authority, and poor participation of the employees increases the obstacles in the innovation capabilities of the organization (Shavinina, 2003). There are certain unfavorable conditions, such as bureaucratic control, which challenge the innovation opportunity in the organization. This rule is applied by enforcing rules and processes, hierarchies in authority and standardization mechanism (Shavinina, 2003). These firms try to operate safely rather than exploring new opportunities in internal operations. Conclusion Conclusively, it is stated that the strategic human resource are an important aspect of the organization. It is the process in which the business organizations can strategically link the business goals with the human resource objectives of the organization. In the present competitive era, it is important for the business organizations to perform with high productivity. These human resources are the most critical source of the business organizations. The business enterprises can use the human resource to develop their competitive advantage. The organization culture is also important for retaining the employees within the organization. The organization culture has a progressive relationship with the innovation capabilities of a business organization. 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