Human Resource Management Strategy at Omantel - Essay Example

?Human Resource Management Strategy at Omantel Executive Summary Omantel is an Oman-based telecommunications company that works to unite individuals,businesses and the society. The managerial roles of the Omantel Group are entrusted to the board of directors. The board of directors provides the members of the various committees that completes the management function of the company; executive committee, human resource committee, audit committee and regulatory committee. A comprehensive human resource strategy ensures that the company achieves its stipulated objectives. The paper has analyzed the Human Resource Planning in Omantel through four human resource theories affecting employee performance; knowledge management theory, employee training and development theory, theory of organisational culture development and strategic human resource management theory. A Questionnaire on information about Human Resource Management Strategy at Omantel Company has also been included. Some of the challenges that the company faces include the existence of the vertical management structure leading to unidirectional decision making as well as increased bureaucratic resistance due to failure of adoption of the current management strategies. Some of the recommendations for improving human resource planning function for enhancing company productivity include detailed and efficient training programs for the employees, designed according to the current industry requirements and promoting diversity through offering equal employment opportunities to both nationals and foreigners. Annotated Bibliography Armstrong, M. (2009) Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice, London, Kogan Page. According to Armstrong, the human resource management practice emanated from the need for the personnel specialists to preside over industrial relations. The personnel manager became a crucial party in the discussions and settling of disputes related to business organisation and trade unions. The personnel manager had the power to negotiate any deals related to pay and other employee welfare issues. Enhanced employment regulations and laws improved the significance of the human resource personnel who guided the managerial department on the professional and legal strategies of handling the workforce to avoid any disputes or legal tussles. Boxall, P. & Purcell, J. (2006) Strategy and human resource management, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Boxall and Purcell portend that in addition to industrial relations, human relations includes other human resource aspects such as employee development, employee remuneration and employee safety among others. This makes industrial relations a crucial aspect of management for the current managers. This is because it recognises the importance of human relations in the current business environment. Boxall, P., Purcell, J. & Wright, P. (2007) The Oxford handbook of human resource management, Oxford, Oxford University Press. The book asserts that human resource management came into existence due to the impact of the situational variables. These variables led to alteration of the management principles that guided employee behaviour. The universal outlook of dealing with employees had to be abandoned in favour of recognition of the workforce as an asset of any organisation, dynamic in thought and functioning. Davidson, M., McPhail, R. & Barry, S.B. (2011) ‘Hospitality HRM: past, present and the future’ International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 498-516. The changes in the political, socio-economic and technological environment has led to the rise in the management challenges related to globalisation, quality evolution, diversity management, employee ,empowerment and corporate reorganisation. The paper asserts that the impact of the challenges depends on the mode in which the management handles financial resources, machines and workforce. Kannan, G. & Akhilesh, K.B. (2002) Human capital knowledge value added: a case study in infotech Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 167-179. The paper addresses the need for the organisational managers to develop organisational strategies that utilises and develops the human resources in the improvement of the business activities. The proposed strategy guides on the impacts of employee welfare with emphasis on the importance of providing greater opportunities for knowledge sharing and learning as the pillars of motivation. This delineates the traditional aspects of human resource management to the current ones. Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A., Bewley, H., Dix, G. & Oxenbridge, S. (2006) Inside the workplace: findings from the 2004 workplace employment relations survey, Abingdon, Routledge. The findings of Kersley et al survey affirm that human resource management functions deals with the management of people. It includes all the practices that enable proper utilisation of the human personnel in various stages of the employment cycle i.e. pre-hire, staffing and post-hire. This led to the introduction of recruitment and selection and later on employee training, motivation, discipline, health and safety, team work and wage and policies. These roles increased the significance of the personnel department involved in the organisation and administration of the enhanced interrelation between the management and the workforce. Patel, V. & Rana, G. (2007) Personnel management, Jaipur, India, Oxford Book Co. Patel and Rana cite personnel management as the most traditional form of management whereby the manager is responsible for organisation, delegation and division of labour. The book asserts that the management presided over all the organisational functions regardless of the nature of the organisation or the situation involved. Personnel management had a limited scope in that the operation laws were set by the organisation management. The operational managers were required to hire, maintain employee records and ensure that all regulations related to labour are followed. Schmitt, M. & Sadowski, D. (2003) “A cost-minimisation approach to the international transfer of HRM/IR practices: Anglo-Saxon multinationals in the Federal Republic of Germany” International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 409-430. The article offers a detailed comparative explanation of the Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations practices and their role in transforming business enterprises. Industrial relations function addresses the relationship between the management of the organisation, workforce and the role of the organisational regulations in resolving industrial disputes. Some of the activities handled under the industrial relations include collective bargaining, industrial relations training and the role of the machinery for trade unions and the government. However, the human relation is different from the industrial relations in that it encompasses all the aspects of the human resource that deals with all the employees collectively. Storey, J. (2007) Human resource management: a critical text, London, Thomson Learning. Storey asserts that human resource management comprises all the activities undertaken by a business organisation to ensure that the welfare of its employees is addressed. This promotes the attainment of the organisational goals. He presents the historical account of the human resource practices and its transformation due to the changes in the socio-economic, technological and political environment. The first form of human resource management was industrial resource that saw employees being charged with the responsibility of becoming factory inspectors while the working hours for women and children was regulated. Introduction Omantel is a prominent telecommunications company in Oman, charged with the role of uniting individuals, families and businesses. It has contributed in uniting the Omani community as well as enhancing global connection. The following figure is an illustration of the organisational structure: Source: Available at: Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG . According to the Omantel Annual report 2011 (23), as well as 70% of the respondents, the managerial roles of the Omantel Group are entrusted to the board of directors. This board is composed of eight members, six of whom represents the government function; inclusive of the Board Chairman. The remaining two members are elected by the private sector shareholders during the annual general meeting. This board approves the financial and business policy of the organisation to ensure that the objectives of the company are achieved and the shareholder value is maximised. The board is also charged with the responsibility of presiding over the internal activities of the company and specifying the responsibilities of the executive organisational arm. Other roles include evaluation of the company performance, nominating members of any subcommittees and specifying their roles, appointing the Chief Executive Officer and reviewing the interim annual financial statements. The board of directors provides the members of the various committees that completes the management function of the company; executive committee, human resource committee, audit committee and regulatory committee. The executive committee comprises of the chairman, vice-chairman and four members and is charged with the obligation of reviewing the business plan, studying the annual budget, studying and approving the new tariffs and changes to the company policies, addressing any matters presented by the board or the CEO and deciding on the issues that requires the board’s approval. The audit committee is comprised of the chairman, vice-chairman and two members (Omantel Annual report 2011: 23). Most of its term of reference is related to the audit issues such as consideration of the fees and terms of engagement for the auditors, overseeing the adequacy of internal audit control system, acting as the channel of communication between the internal and external auditors and checking any financial frauds especially the fictitious and fraudulent issues of the financial statements. The human resource committee is made up of the chairman and two members. The 2011 report asserts that the committee reviews any factors that may require amendments to the organisational structure of the company and presiding over other issues related to the human resource personnel such as salaries and compensations. Any strategic plans or policies related to the employee welfare are handled by the HR committee (Patel and Rana, 2007). The regulatory committee comprises of three members, with one of them acting as the chairman. Their roles includes studying the laws of the regulatory affairs, reviewing legal reports submitted by the management before handing them over to the board of directors, and handling all government affairs. A comprehensive human resource strategy ensures that a business organisation achieves its stipulated objectives (Storey, 2007; Armstrong, 2009). Implementation of the strategy illustrates that the management understands the direction that the company is taking. Formulation of such a strategy requires extensive planning o ensure that the right people are hired, there is a balanced mixture of skills, employee development is carried out in the correct way and the workforce exhibits the right attitudes and behaviour. Human Resource Planning in Omantel can be scrutinized through four human resource theories affecting employee performance; knowledge management theory, employee training and development theory, theory of organisational culture development and strategic human resource management theory (Gardner and Wright, 2009: 57-74). The 2011 annual report indicate that the company was recognised as Asia’s best brand in 2012, an achievement attributed to its excellent human resource strategy related to planning. Human resource planning in Omantel has played a vital role promoting the achievement of organisational objectives. The company has diverted profound attention to the recruitment and development of human resources. This is a responsive strategy targeting the current business environment that calls for promotion employee performance in enhancing the business competitiveness. The company as designed efficient training programs that are aligned with the company vision and goals to impart the necessary skills required for the provision of improved services. Omantel management established a productive environment that considered the recent development and changes in information technology and telecom sectors. These changes meant that the personnel had to be trained on the modern strategies of harnessing the technology to ensure maximum benefits. Being the principal human resource management theory, the company focused on implementation of strategic human resource management theory that links the employee power and the resources with its strategic goals (Gardner and Wright, 2009). According to Boxall and Purcell (2006), one such goal is the attraction and development of talent in an environment characterised by team work and unity. The strategic human resource management theory is dependent on employee factors such as skills, dedication and commitment that are combined to achieve the company goals. Majority of the respondents were of the opinion that focus on human resources strategy has made the company management understand the challenges that must be countered to ensure the achievement of strategic goals. Application of the theory in the company management has enabled engagement of consultancy and contracting with other third party organisations in management and operation of the vast telecommunication network. The company is one of the semi-private industrial sectors that provide fair remuneration and favourable employment terms within Oman; the others are banking and oil sector (Omantel Annual report 2011). This has attracted the most qualified workforce, especially graduates, with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote performance. Entry of the Oman nationals into permanent financial security as Oman employment regulations guarantees lifetime employment has led to minimal rates of turnover. The lifetime employment system has also led to the ignorance of the benefits of individual merits. The knowledge management theory is built on the premise that the organisational performance is dependent on the knowledge that the workforce possesses (Dalkir, 2005). The aspects of the theory are witnessed by the Omantel’s efforts of promoting training and enhancing teamwork among employees. Training equips employees with new innovative skills and business strategies of improving their performance. Teamwork encourages information sharing across all departments to create a knowledge-based company. The company management also applies the concept of information sharing in improving company productivity. Application of the knowledge management theory has made the company hire advisors who are well experienced in offering the required advice for promoting employee performance. The focus on the enhancement of the employee knowledge has made the company implement strategies that provides employees with the chance to pursue education in Sultanate’s colleges (Omantel Annual report 2011). The company has also established internal training centres that equip employees with additional skills on role play and keeping up with the latest changes in the telecom industry. Employee planning also includes enhancement of employee skills through embarking on group training and development initiatives (Boxall, Purcell and Wright, 2007). This leads to the application of employee training and development theory. The focus on intensive employee training strategies is related to the deep conviction that the company management possesses towards the fact that employee knowledge is a compulsory foundation for any successful company. The company undertakes extensive recruitment practices and training programs for a maximum number of employees. These employees are distributed in various departments according to their areas of specialization. The experienced and knowledgeable expatriates enables the company recruit exceptional work force and apply appropriate technology suitable for improving performance. The company has of recent considered the possibility of hiring more foreigners, especially those of western origin, as a measure of employee development. Most of the development measures have been focused on developing young talents through recruitment and training of the youngsters with a motive of introducing the young talent to the telecom sector (Kannan and Akhilesh, 2002: 167-179). Colluding with other smaller private telecom companies in enhancing young talent is an eminent progress towards performance improvement. However, hiring of the expatriates exhibits inequality in that their satisfaction is based on their nationality; western expatriates are paid higher than the Asian expatriates. The theory of organisational culture development focuses on the enhancement of the organisational culture through understanding and dealing with the behavioural responses of the employees. This ensures that employee practices and roles adhere to the efficiency and effectiveness of the work force (Schmitt and Sadowski, 2003: 409-430). Adhering to the company culture requires motivation. The company has ensured this through development of various initiatives that attracts employee attention. Such initiatives include health insurance, staff solidarity fund, privilege card and the establishment of the human resource care centre. The shifting of the company to a new building in 2010 was one of the human resources planning measure geared towards employee motivation i.e. provision of an ideal working environment. The worker environment has been improved by the presence of restaurants, clinic, bank branches, children leisure points, gymnasiums, car rental counter and insurance outlets. The company culture is characterised by a high number of the nationals within its workforce. Additionally, most of the foreigners originate from the Asian subcontinent, with the few Americans and Europeans being expatriates that handle defined roles. Although such a culture might ignore the current effort geared towards promoting global business and international integration most employees share similar social characteristics that allows them to devise efficient strategies of interacting and avoiding any work-related conflicts (Patel and Rana, 2007). This enhances performance leading to success of most human resource plans. Efficiency is spearheaded by the CEO who has introduced the culture of incorporating the western workforce and diversity through taking a daring political risk related to inclusion of western contractors and advisors. The expertise has come with the need for creation of multicultural vision. This vision has made the human resource department responsible for development of new policies and strategies for talent acquisition. Although numerous improvement strategies have been put in place to improve the human resource planning of the company, it still faces numerous challenges related to the current vertical management structure whereby decision making process is unidirectional i.e. top to down. This may contribute to the development of regulations that are not friendly to employees as most of their opinions are ignored. The focus on organisational culture sustenance has led to increased bureaucratic resistance. This is because the management is not ready to abandon the old inefficient management practices such as consideration of Baksheesh as normal extension to the organisational compensation, in favour of more efficient strategies capable of motivating the work force. The rewards and compensations are also offered on pro-forma without any links to the individual results. Recommendations The management should realise that it is only through detailed and efficient training programs designed according to the current industry needs that employees can acquire the required skills for improving performance (Kersley et al, 2006). The company should promote diversity through offering equal employment opportunities to both nationals and foreigners contrary to the current status whereby nationals are more favoured compared to foreigners. This attracts diverse skills and enhances competition that enhances performance. Lifetime employment requirement should be revised to ensure that the regulations does not infringe on the benefits of individual merits that may compromise the performance of the human resource function. Harmonisation of the salaries for the expatriates should exhibit fairness whereby the payment level should not be based on the nationality. It should focus on the knowledge possessed by the subjects. Any form of discrimination discourages expatriates leading to eventual decrease in productivity. The top-to-down administrative structure should be abolished in favour of a more inclusive structure that considers the opinions of the human resource personnel. Most of the administrative decisions should reflect inclusion in that the problems facing employees should be considered as the first priority. The current competitive environment, characterised by the presence of Qtel, will require Omantel to leverage the expertise of foreign workers. They will also be forced to develop competencies capable of retaining a diverse expatriate work force to thrive in the present and future competitive environment (Davidson, McPhail and Barry, 2011). The possibility of increased competition in the future is also high because the World Trade organisation will enhance its demands on deregulation as well as the entry of new western competitors into the local market. This implies that Omantel must enhance its e effectiveness in the provision of quality services capable of satisfying their customers. This cannot be possible if the management does not include a multinational, multicultural workforce in the success equation. The company should enhance efforts geared towards development of educational programs within the organisation to reinforce human resource transformation. Conclusion The board of directors undertakes all the managerial roles of the Omantel Group. The board of directors provides the members of the various committees that completes the management function of the company; executive committee, human resource committee, audit committee and regulatory committee. Human resource planning enables the Omantel Group to thrive in the current competitive telecommunications industry. Human resource planning in Omantel has been assessed through focus on four human resource theories affecting employee performance; knowledge management theory, employee training and development theory, theory of organisational culture development and strategic human resource management theory. Some of the challenges that the company faces include the existence of the vertical management structure whereby decision making process is unidirectional as well as increased bureaucratic resistance due to failure of adoption of the current management strategies. The review of the human resource planning aspect of Omantel Company proves that human resource function is a crucial aspect of any success strategy. Effective human resource strategies can lead to the success of a business organisation regardless of its orientation. References Armstrong, M. (2009) Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice, London, Kogan Page. Boxall, P. & Purcell, J. (2006) Strategy and human resource management, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Boxall, P., Purcell, J. & Wright, P. (2007) The Oxford handbook of human resource management, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Dalkir, K. (2005) Knowledge management in theory and practice, Amsterdam, Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann. Davidson, M., McPhail, R. & Barry, S.B. (2011) ‘Hospitality HRM: past, present and the future’ International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 498-516. Gardner, T.M. & Wright, P.M. (2009) ‘Implicit human resource management theory: A potential threat to the internal validity of human resource practice measures’ International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 57-74. Kannan, G. & Akhilesh, K.B. (2002) Human capital knowledge value added: a case study in infotech Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 167-179. Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A., Bewley, H., Dix, G. & Oxenbridge, S. (2006) Inside the workplace: findings from the 2004 workplace employment relations survey, Abingdon, Routledge. Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG (2005) . Omantel Annual report (2011) . pp. 23. Patel, V. & Rana, G. (2007) Personnel management, Jaipur, India, Oxford Book Co. Schmitt, M. & Sadowski, D. (2003) “A cost-minimisation approach to the international transfer of HRM/IR practices: Anglo-Saxon multinationals in the Federal Republic of Germany” International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 409-430. Storey, J. (2007) Human resource management: a critical text, London, Thomson Learning. Appendix Questions Prepare an annotated bibliography, detailing the relationship of Human Resource Management (HRM) to the traditional practice of Personnel Management (PM) and Industrial Relations (IR). Review the organisation structure and the practice of organising within the chosen organisation. Assess the selected organisation's HR activities in one of the following areas: (a) Strategic planning (b) Human Resource planning (c) Human Resource Development (d) Motivation and Reward. Your evaluation should draw on the theories discussed in the module. Based on your analyses, provide conclusions and suitable recommendations to improve the HR activities in the selected organisation. Questionnaire Questionnaire on information about Human Resource Management Strategy at Omantel Company Respondent’s information Name: ……………………………………………… Job title: …………………………………………….. Age: ………………………………………………… Gender: ………………………………………………….. Organisation and Human Resource Function 1. Approximately how many employees are employed by Omantel Total ___________________ Male _____________________ Female _______________ 2. What is the approximate number of employees employed by the human resource function? Total ___________________ Male _____________________ Female _______________ 3. Has the human resource function enhanced its responsibilities and business scope in the last two years? a. Yes______________ b. No __________________ If yes, specify: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Has the company human resource function transformed in structure over the last three years? a. Yes: _____________________ b. No: ___________________________ If yes, elaborate: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Has the HR function been diversified to centres of professional improvement, services and business partners? a. Yes: _______________ b. No: ________________ c. Do not know________________ 6. What is the primary role of HR in your company (Omantel)? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Which are the most important areas of HR planning need for your organisation over the next three years (please tick a maximum of four and indicate in order of importance with 1 as most important)? More Important Important Less Important Function Performance Management and Pay Career Management Competencies for Competitiveness Policy Knowledge Managing Diversity Management Performance improvement If other, please specify________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Please mention 4-5 planning challenges facing Omantel Group (the Policy and Regulatory, HR efficiency in the competitive environment, Strategic HR Management, Introduction new service lines, Marketing and Customer orientation, Technology Trends, etc)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for filling this questionnaire. Read More