Strategic Human Resource Management and Employee - Essay Example

Outline Outline 2 Strategic Human Resource Management in 4 The Business Context 4 Reference 10 Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) One of the most overlooked facts in the human resource field is that the total cost of the expenditures in the service sectors are either reduced or added by people. As a matter of fact about 80% of total operating costs and expenditures are directly linked with people (Salaman et al, 2005). This is why there should be policies and practices that not only observe how stakeholders like employees are brought on board, trained, mentored, motivated and treated but also as they work in order to make the organizations thrive in the face of competition (Wright and McMahan, 1992). This analysis will be based on the service sector and it will showcase case studies that demonstrate the relationships between Strategic Human Resource Management and other factors such as employee empowerment, business context, employee relations, high quality service, customer satisfaction and so forth The human resource department should be directly linked to each stage of organizations so that there is an advancement of the company’s progress. Strategic human resource management being the proactive management of people, it requires thinking ahead and careful intertwining of people’s activities and practices with the companies’ overall objectives as noted by Ericksen and Dyer (2004). The following subsections will specifically highlight the link of the SRHM with specific overall objectives of companies in any part of the globe. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and employee empowerment and commitment is all about having a calculated risk and making proactive steps together with the employees (John, 1995). It also involves empowering the people who are working for ones company so that they can have control over what they do. It is a step that is not taken with the seriousness it deserves by traditional or conservative managers due to the fact that they fear reprisal by their employees. Employee empowerment is one of the strategic objectives of modern companies and the SHRM has a big influence in the realization of the results of the objective. Basically, employee empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing individuals to think, behave, take action and have some form of control over what they do (K’Obonyo, 2007). It is a form of decentralization of responsibility and decision making process to lie in the hands of the employees. Human resource management that is strategic enough should be able to utilize this process in order for the employee to have maximum satisfaction while company realizes maximum return. The human resource department should take the following steps in the due process of empowering its employees. First, Delery and Doty (1996) observe that there should be an availability of resources and information. This enables the workers or employees to perform their duties independently and with minimal interruption. This also makes the workers have an easy time to do more without frequent asking their fellow colleagues for assistance. In simpler terms it promotes independence. SRHM can achieve this objective through delegation and assignment of duties that are important to the employee’s development. By doing so, the employee is challenged to come up with the best way of completing the task with minimal fail. Therefore, the worker is able to make greater decisions and challenges in future with confidence (K’Obonyo, 2007). Lastly the human resource management should promote economical empowerment through considerable wages and salaries as well as skill and knowledge empowerment through trainings and seminars. This boosts the workers knowhow making them better employees. Strategic Human Resource Management in The Business Context One fact that is common with the companies today is the neglect of the importance of HRM in the global economic platform. Many analysts concentrate on the financial, technological and technical aspects of the business because of their direct information o the business numbers. However, the human resource department also has an impact on the business context. This is through employment legislations, effect of inflation on wages and salaries, business culture and globalization of the business employees (Salaman, et al, 2005). In the business context, employee rights and unions have a big impact that the SHRM cannot assume. This is by formation of trade unions and other organizations that constantly negotiate about the terms and conditions that the workers are subjected to work. This can impact the companies in several manners such as the budgets, strikes and other enforcement which have effect on the annual performances of the organizations (Wright and McMahan, 1992). Strategic human resource management ought to take this into consideration beforehand to avoid future dilemmas. In addition to that, the globalization of the working condition for the worker increases the chances for multi-tasking or having more than one job at a time. Because of the introduction of on-the-spot technology people can find better jobs with better terms and choose to leave. This means that organizations may lose very good employees to other companies if they choose to ignore their plight about fundamental or basic requirements such as pay (Ericksen and Dyer, 2004). The effect of global inflation also affects the worker and may influence the reduction of productivity therefore a strategic management ought to have that in mind and adjust the in favour of the employee (Paauwe, 2009 and Gerhardt, 1996 ). Employee relation is a term used to refer to the general management and planning of activities related to development and maintenance of employees by the firm. It involves aspect of communication in formal and informal manners, dispute resolutions and welfare of both the employers and employees (Li-Qun Wei, 2010). It is one of the objectives that visionary companies seek to have because of the strategic importance that employees have on the company’s progress. SHRM should have a proactive mode of handling the relations of the employees. The first step of doing so is through opening of information channels that enable all levels of management communicate more effectively as Brewster (2001) seems to agree. By doing so, the grievances and the complaints of the employees and lower management can be addressed sufficiently with minimal interruptions. All formal and informal channels of communications should be clarified so that adequate redress of information is taken with speedy resolution. Secondly, a strategic human resource department should have the mechanism of dispute resolutions in its systems. Many firms tend to ignore the fact that it is inevitable for firms and organizations not to have conflicts. This means that many problems may go unnoticed and hence accumulate to the point of destruction just as Becker and Gerhardt (1996) taught. A good dispute resolution mechanism observes protocol and should not only serve justice but also make it to be seen as served. The welfare of the employees should be taken seriously from the start. This is through competitive recruitment and employment, aspects of mentoring and employee development should also be subjected to transparency and accountability. Fair treatment at work and abolition of harassment in other non-work related instances should be banned. All these can be achieved through a proactive human resource management department that is strategically linked (Brewster, 2001). High quality service otherwise known as total quality management is one objective that many a company have embarked to achieve because of the benefits that are accrued from its correct applicability. It is a tactic that was conceived to achieve a high level productivity of services in the most effective and efficient manner. SHRM department have an obligation and duty to achieve this through a link between the employees and this strategy (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). The link is achieved through a systematic interaction of this strategy with the principles of total quality management. One aspect in this case is the training and development of employees. It is obvious that well trained employees are able to carry out their obligations with minimal error and maximum efficiency. Human resources department are supposed to keep their members informed about the newest technology and knowledge in the industry as advocated by (John, 1995). This promotes the service provision due to the fact they understand their field well. In addition to that, continuous improvement and development of skills and tactics through the previously stated ways can be another form of employee quality enhancement. Additional skills should be imparted on the employees to make them rise to the occasion. According to Wright and McMahan (1992) and John (1995), with all the effort that the human resource department puts in its members it is only fair for them to evaluate the progress that is achieved through frequent tests and assessment. This apparently is one of the concepts of total quality management that Bowen and Ostroff (2004) advocates for. Employees should be put through aptitude tests from time to time to note any sort of laxity or progress to be rewarded or rectified as desired. All these can be achieved through a visionary leadership and a good network of human resource tactics. Ultimately it goes without saying that total quality management is a direct responsibility of all people in the organizations. There is an adage in the business circles that ‘customer is king’. This is one aspect that drives businesses to do things that have a positive impact on the customer relations and satisfaction. It is no longer the work of the sales team to advertise and be ambassadors of their brand in order for maximum return to be realized. Clark, Grant and Heijltjes (2000) teach that nowadays all the stakeholders are encouraged to play their roles well in order to maximize the returns of their organizations collectively. The human resource department also has a big obligation in making sure that customers are satisfied. The obligation here is having the best qualified members of staff who carry out their jobs well with minimal error and maximum professionalism. The department should also make sure that the employees observe the quality standards that are not only set internally but also above the industry’s standards as Charles et al, (1984) observed in their earlier work.. Customers are satisfied through various aspects. These include, price quality service, care and complaint resolutions and so forth (Allan, 2007 and Clark, Grant and Heijltjes, 2000). Because people handle this sort of activities it is important for the organization to invest time money and expert impacting to influence the outcome. Customers are the best sales force of the service industry. This is because they recommend one another to try certain providers because of the reputations. Because of the nature of services which include the fact that they are instant and on the spot quality is not to be compromised. This therefore means that the workers employees and all the stakeholders should be spot on to make sure that the services that they offer at any particular time serve as a wider and long lasting marketing tool for a long time. SHRM should involve strategies and policies that are able to promote the customer satisfaction at all times (Alan, 2007). The service sector is a very delicate industry as compared to the product and goods sector. It is so because it involves a lot of people and intangible products. An implication of one step gone bad can be detrimental to make even the entire organization to go down (Alan, 2007). This is why successful strategic human resource departments ought to have clear cut policies that show what people should be brought on board, how they should be motivated and the way they should conduct their business for the company’s objectives to be realised while making the customer happy. To sum up the whole discussion, all organizations that have a vision and long term objectives normally set their targets from the first day and tray to maintain them all along. One major way that they make the goals a reality is through the involvement of a competent, skillful and hardworking human resource team. This study has looked at five broad objectives of a service industry business namely employee empowerment, business context, employee relations, high quality service and customer satisfaction and how a strategic human resource is able to assist in the overall realization of the goals. Ultimately a successful firm ought to have a visionary and strategic HRM department to realize this. Reference K’Obonyo, P, (2007).Influence of Culture on Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices in Multinational Companies (MNC) in Kenya: A Critical Literature Review, viewed 26 October 2011 http://www.strathmore.edu/research/strategic-human-resource-mgt.pdf. Wright, P. and McMahan, G., 1992, Theoretical Perspectives for Strategic Human Resource Management, Journal of Management, 18 (2): 295-320 Ericksen, J. and Dyer, L., 2004, Toward a Strategic Human Resource Management Model of High Reliability Organization Performance, Viewed 26 October 2011 http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.138.3546&rep=rep1&type=pdf Brewster, C. 2001, HRM: The comparative dimension. In J. Storey (ed.), Human resource management: A critical text, London: Thompson Learning. Clark, T., Grant, D. & Heijltjes, M., 2000, Researching comparative and international human resource management, International Studies of Management, 29(4): 6–23. Bowen, D.E., & Ostroff, C., (2004), Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: The role of the ‘strength’ of the HRM system, Academy of Management Review, 29 (2): 203-221. Alan P, 2007, Human Resource Management in a Business Context 3rd ed, London: Cengage Learning EMEA. 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