HTC Human Resource Analysis - Research Paper Example

?HTC Human Resource Analysis Table of Contents Assignment 3 Introduction 3 Strategic Framework of HTC 4 Human Resource Issues in HTC 6 Recommendations 7 Conclusion 9 Assignment 2 10 Introduction 10 Recruitment and Selection Practice 10 Employer Branding 12 Aligning the SHRM with Business Strategy 13 Conclusion 15 References 16 Appendix 1: Strategic Framework of Sparrow and Pettigrew for HTC 19 Assignment 1 Introduction Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a tactical method which is used by modern day organisations in order to manage their employees in an effective and objective-oriented manner. In comparison with Human Resource Management (HRM), SHRM is an innovative thought of 21st century in the field of management. SHRM includes planning and executing a set of effectual strategies and practices which can certify the degree of contribution made by the human capital of that particular organisation towards the accomplishment of the overall business objectives. The traditional HRM functions and technical HRM functions, as accumulated in the ideology of SHRM, covers a wide range of activities which includes recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development as well as management of remuneration and employee advantages. By balancing HRM activities with organisational business strategies, SHRM can effectually reproduce flexible planning and use human resources in order to accomplish the organisational objectives, and accordingly assist organisations to gain a sustainable competitive edge (Wei, 2006). With due concern to these aspects, the paper will discuss the strategic framework of HTC Corporation using the theory of SHRM and also seek to identify the HR issues faced by the organisation. Hereby, the objective of the paper is to analyse the HRM practices in HTC and accordingly make recommendations towards its improvements. Strategic Framework of HTC HTC Corporation principally deals in manufacturing electronic products such as laptops, mobile phones, smartphones and other handheld devices. The business functions executed by HTC are spread internationally. It is worth mentioning that the company has been learnt to experience a significant growth rate in its international as well as national operations owing to its effective approach towards HRM and comprehensive differentiation strategies (Scribd Inc., 2012). Strategies in any organisation are concerned towards the long term planning which are further divided into five aspects, i.e. organisational mission and objectives, environmental examinations, strategic formulations, strategic implementations and strategic assessments. The mission outlines the organisational values and ambitions. The mission and objectives designates the way of strategic management within an organisation (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.). In this context, in HTC, the objective and mission of the organisation has been identified to emerge as one of the top smartphone organisations in the world. Therefore, it is quite likely that the human resource strategies adopted by HTC replicate its organisational objectives and mission. The examination of environment assists in identifying the organisational strengths as well as weaknesses along with prevailing external organisational prospects and threats. These aspects are significant for the future sustainability of any business. Contextually, the industry where HTC operates its business is dynamic in nature which incorporates the characteristics of mobile phone sector with personal computer sector making a complete utilisation of the benefits of high-end technology. Moreover, the value chain of HTC contains operating system, brand, and telecommunication providers along with the dynamic resources and capabilities (Chiou, 2010). The strategic formulations in any organisation includes the senior executives liable for assessing the interface between strategic issues and making strategic selections which intends to direct employees to satisfy the organisational goals. It is in this regard that the strategies of HTC are always assisted by the close association and union with employees, consumers and other organisations. This indicates that the strategic formulations developed in the organisation are concentrated on the mutually beneficial relationship of employees and the various stakeholders of HTC. Similarly, the strategic implementations, in particular, denote those functions which are related with leadership styles, information and control systems and HRM initiatives within an organisation. With respect to SHRM implementation, HTC concentrates on the skills possessed by its employees and other available knowledgeable assets in order to continuously enhance its business performances (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.). HTC assists employees to easily adjust with the work culture of the organisation. In this regards, it attempts to arrange ‘employee alignment programs’, ‘job rotation programs’ and conduct assessments after the completion of every employee’s probation phase in the organisation. HTC also provides various professional training and development courses to its employees in order to nurture required skills and knowledge enhancing their skills to perform with intelligence. On the basis of job requirements, HTC arranges appropriate training programs which can satisfy the employees’ necessities by a large extent. The human resource managers also play vital part in the HR activities conducted within HTC being identified to be well capable of managing the employees. Thus, HTC ensures that managers are properly trained by providing the managers with the scope to attain the required degree of managerial skills so that they can cherish great team spirit effectually motivating the employees and ultimately satisfying the organisational objectives (HTC Corporation, 2012). Human Resource Issues in HTC HTC’s viewpoint towards its business functions is to enhance reliability, innovation and performance. Integrity is considered as an integral part of HRM in HTC. HTC maintains integrity with its employees in order to gain their valuable faith and support as well as to raise the customer base in today’s competitive business environment. On the other hand, innovation determines HTC to deliver the customers with high-tech products. With this concern, HTC encourages employees to bring innovative thoughts at workplace. HTC develops such working environment which helps the employees to readily accept challenges for minimising the difficulties and accomplish the organisational objectives. Finally, the continuously enhancing employee performances help to provide customers with quality products. The HR strategy of HTC further helps to ensure the superior service and value to the customers (HTC Corporation, 2012). HTC is a multinational organisation owing to which diversity of workforces and human rights has raised a few key issues for HTC in its strategic framework. Diversity issues have been considered as a significant HR aspect for HTC. Therefore, HTC needs to look for methods to manage diversity in its international functions in order to produce greater efficiency and competitive advantages through employee coordination. Contextually, the demographic changes necessitate HTC to appraise the HR practices and develop creative methods which can better manage the employees belonging to differing cultures (Goodguide, n.d.). Recommendations From an in-depth point of view, managing diversity issues must fit with the managerial system of an organisation. Due to internal and external business pressures, HTC needs to have diversified workforces. Notably, diversity helps HTC in numerous ways as it increases the market opportunities, recruitment opportunities and maintains a good brand image where an active involvement of managers can be apparently identified (Chiou, 2010). Moreover, the unpredictable business environment of HTC requires flexible and active approaches that should be incorporated in its SHRM practices. In present days, multinational organisations such as HTC are evolving to be more complex multi-layered organisational systems influencing changes in its corporate strategies. Hence, the role of diversity management in the complex organisational system must be taken in to concern. As a part of diversity management, HTC can implement quite a few strategies related to training and development (Sluijs & Kluytmans, 1994). HTC can implement awareness training by concentrating on the development of an understanding about the significance and meaning of diversity to its employees. It can further increase the employees’ self-awareness regarding diversity and the associated issues such as labelling and cross cultural selfishness. HTC can implement skill development training as well, in order to coach employees on particular cultural differences and educate them how to react with the changes in workplace. Apart from the legal awareness, training can be provided to the employees that can help to notify them regarding the penalties caused due to the breach of anti-discrimination laws and thus inspire them to involve in demonstrating productive performances (Sluijs & Kluytmans, 1994). Additionally, HRM requires support from other managerial divisions and honest pledge from top level administration. Hence, HTC needs to take strong individual stances on the requirement for managing human rights. The HR practices must be shaped in the corporate strategy and should be constantly included in the senior level conferences. Subsequently, the implemented HRM strategies should be effectually altered according to the transition of the external environment requirements (Wei, 2006). However, it has been recognised that HTC has no explicit strategies to deal with the impact of changing environment and that of the changing arrangements in the workforce culture. Thus, the company necessities to react actively and develop dignified approaches by acknowledging efficient SHRM practices in the workplace (Erwee, n.d.). The management of diversity issues also necessitates cultural audits which can help to identify socio-economic divisions with certain employee groups and monitor the effectiveness of HR practices in an organisation. HTC can implement cultural audit and analysis of HR practices taking into account its processes towards recruitment, performance appraisal, career arrangement, promotion and compensation of employees and so on with the objective to expose any bases of possible unfairness against employees identifying methods to manage the cultural differences. It is in this context that the strategic framework of Sparrow and Pettigrew can provide alternatives for organisations by which HRM can become more strategic (Wei, 2006). The appendix shows the alternatives for HTC which can be used as HR strategy. Conclusion One of the noteworthy features of the strategies proposed for HTC in order to manage the HR issues is the degree of concentration on the abilities of employees. Managing the diversity of employees in organisation can help to generate larger workforce contribution towards the organisational objectives. Moreover, there must be fair treatment and equal opportunity for employment for every person irrespective of race, physical attributes or gender. Presently, the form of performing business is changing rapidly causing the HR functions of an organisation to change simultaneously. Hence, HTC needs to recognise the major HR issues which can hamper the organisation in future and strategically take approaches in order to maintain good performances. Assignment 2 Introduction Several organisations view the HR activities as managerial duties and at times overlook the requirement to align them with the business strategies. In situations, where human resource management is included in the business strategy of an organisation, its alignment does not move beyond the projecting practices. The major reason for not aligning SHRM with the business strategy of the organisation is that HR functions do not grasp an attention in the strategic formulation executed by the organisation. As HRM concentrates on employees as the backbone of any business, the practices must be aligned with the business strategy of an organisation (Righeimer & Energy, n.d.). Recruitment and Selection Practice The effective method in which HTC can address the possible challenges of supporting strategic people management with its business strategy is through recruitment and selection activities. In order to deal with the technological and sociological variations, recruiting and selecting the right individuals can decipher an effective SHRM practice for HTC towards accomplishing its business objectives. HTC can also align the HR practices with an attempt to recruit and select employees with a degree of ethical concerns who are able to satisfy the value, culture, system and varying sociological characteristics of the company. In the competitive business environment, HTC needs to select the most qualified as well as experienced individuals for a certain job position. There are several challenges that HTC can face during the practical implementation of recruiting such talents. One such challenge for HTC indicates towards the circumstance that individuals tend to misjudge the performance and efficiency based differences which are prevalent within the workplace. In financial terms, the differences in performance can result in production advantage for HTC on the basis of annual salary. Hence, organisations which are capable of recognising and recruiting high performing individuals can have considerable financial and strategic benefits. Selecting the appropriate individuals can be thus regarded as essential for any organisation, owing to the fact that incompetent employees shall not only lead to expenses due to recruitment charges and cost of training and development, but also result in increased turnover rate. Considering these facts, HTC can select the best player at the first place by avoiding poor performing employees (Hirsh, 2009). There are several extensive selection techniques which deliver prospective candidates a certain job position. Personal behaviours, aptitude, training and experience and educational accomplishments can be considered as collective selection methods which delivers light prognostic utility. The selection methods can differ significantly in their usefulness and also according to economic structures, signifying that the cultural background can certainly influence the practices in which HTC functions to asses and employ particular selection tools. Therefore, in order to gain the benefit of huge individual variances in efficiency, it is essential to recognise the top applicants. In this context, recruiting the best employees for HTC necessitates the utilisation of best selection process (Hirsh, 2009). Employer Branding HTC can use the employer branding strategy as a part of its recruitment and selection practices. Employer branding is considered as a sequence of messages and descriptions which an organisation extinguishes to the service market in order to share the organisational culture and value as perceived by the workers. The notion has often been identified to result in attraction of competent recruitment candidates boosting the possibility of effective balance between SHRM practices and business strategies. In present days, accurate employer branding has emerged to be a significant challenge for organisations such as HTC in order to entice employees in the talent market. Through employer branding, HTC can increase the awareness of employees concerning varieties of job options. From the perspective of an employer, it also creates sense to employ the recruiting effort on applicants who are already passionate about getting involved with the organisation (Mason-Jones, 2005). In order to better peruse business strategies, HTC can establish a real time career development prospects for its workforce. A strong employer brand requires diversity of stakeholders and functions which must be involved in the HR strategy. In majority of cases, adopting a SHRM approach requires leadership mind-set and engagement with stakeholders in order to re-adjust the HR practices (such as talent management and recruitment) with other business strategies. This particular strategy can effectually guarantee HTC that major dimensions of its businesses are concentrated on the similar direction in order to create value; simultaneously, lessening inadequacies and redundancies developed by its employees (Mason-Jones, 2005). Furthermore, HTC can involve the marketers in order to strengthen the brand value. It will necessitate a better understanding for the managers that HTC has one brand and it is managing other interrelated parts such as employer brand, shopper brand, and commercial brand which cannot be managed autonomously at the pace in which workplace dynamics are developing (Mason-Jones, 2005). The major issue for HTC in today’s competitive market environment is scarcity of talented professionals, where majority of its trained employees are departing from the workforce due to elderly population. In combination with the level of change in HTC determined by innovation, competition, modernisation and technology along with the rivalry to wealth formation, a mismatch can take place within the talent required for satisfying its overall objective. Failure to recruit and train talented employees and to think tactically can result in detachment of employees with organisation causing unfortunate turnover which can hamper the overall performance of the organisation (Hirsh, 2009). Therefore, strategic thinking can be regarded as vital for HTC in order to ensure the accomplishment of its business objectives. Aligning the SHRM with Business Strategy SHRM generally focuses on employee oriented activities that an organisation performs. It comprises an essential assumption that every HRM practice such as recruitment and selection share the similar basic nature and related role with regards to strategic management. It is in this context that effective HRM strategies of HTC require systematic administration and measures which can directly impact employee attitude and behaviour in line with its business objectives. Taking into account that there exists a positive relation amid HRM and productivity of a contemporary organisation, the traditional employee oriented aspects are no longer sufficient in maintaining organisational competencies. Although the HR department have traditionally been bureaucratic in nature, its role must concentrate on following more flexible and innovative ways to provide sustainable employee facilities in continuously varying environment. In order to align HR practices with the business strategies, the HR professionals of HTC needs to be more reactive, proficient and capable of making strategic involvement with the organisation (Chiou, 2010). Nowadays, HR practices are refurbishing the focus from merely managing the employees to the maintenance of company efficiency which is probably reliant on the mass of organisational strategic and environmental features. The following figure can depict how HRM practices can be aligned with the organisational strategies and its business performances (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.). Source: (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.) In order to appropriately align the HRM practices with business strategy, HTC initially needs to organise its human capital which is likely to leverage all fields in the organisation. In this regards, the “Human Performance Management” system of HTC shall help the organisation to recruit employees and manage them effectively. It simplifies the recruitment procedure by systematising every stage of planning, database development, short-listing, and selection. Notably, the HR system of HTC monitors the employee profile from the moment of joining. Furthermore, employee oriented information also supports the company’s constant requirement for data to be readily accessible which help the managers to develop effectual decisions about the HR issues (San Blue Enterprises, 2012). Furthermore, the HR system of HTC must ensure that employees are strategically concentrated towards the determined goal. Each component of HR activity of HTC such as recruitment, hiring and selection must be developed in such a way so that it can attract the right human capital for the company (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.). Conclusion HTC can design and incorporate better HR system in order to guarantee creation of value for the employees and thereby sustain its organisational effectiveness. It can thus be suggested that if employees are considered and managed as valuable strategic resources, HTC can accomplish better performance towards achieving its business objectives. With reference to the fact that the objectives and necessities of every strategic implementation such as competitive strategies or commercial strategies are different from each other, the SHRM practices in HTC must be balanced in accordance to the overall strategy of the organisation. References Chiou, C., 2010. Dynamic Capabilities, Collaborative Network and Business Model: An Empirical Analysis of Taiwan HTC Corporation. African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 294-305. Erwee, R., No Date. Integrating Diversity Management Initiatives with Strategic Human Resource Management. University of Southern Queensland. [Online] Available at: http://eprints.usq.edu.au/978/1/Erwee_2003_-_Div_magmt_in_SHRM.pdf [Accessed June 06, 2012]. Erdil, O. & Gunsel, A., No Date. Relationships between Human Resource Management Practices, Business Strategy Fit and Firm Performance. Gebze Institute of Technology. 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San Blue Enterprises, 2012.HTC Global Services - eBusiness Application Suite (e-BAP). HTC Global Services (Canada) Pvt. Ltd. [Online] Available at: http://softwaresolutions.fibre2fashion.com/company/htc-global-services-canada/productDetail.aspx?refno=4525 [Accessed June 06, 2012]. Sluijs, E. & Kluytmans, F., 1994. Business Strategy and Human Resource Management: Setting the Scene. Merit Open University. [Online] Available at: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/rmpdf/1994/rm1994-036.pdf [Accessed June 06, 2012]. Scribd Inc., 2012. Discussion of Strategic Actions. Strategic Formulation: HTC Corp. [Online] Available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/70045736/HTC-Article[Accessed June 06, 2012]. Wei, L., 2006. Strategic Human Resource Management: Determinants of Fit. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 49-60. Appendix 1: Strategic Framework of Sparrow and Pettigrew for HTC Source: (Sluijs & Kluytmans, 1994) Read More