there is a need for some serious reflection amoung hr practioners and theorists alike about what...

7/28/2019 There is a Need for Some Serious Reflection Amoung HR Practioners and Theorists Alike About What Constitutes Good Strategic HRM

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Sacha Cherrington 96003919 2012

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There is a need for some serious reflection amoung HR practioners and theorists alike

about what constitutes good Strategic HRM. (Stone, 2010)

What constitutes good Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) lies in the historical

and contemporary definitions of Human Resource Management and the practice of such

definitions within the work environ. There are four main roles of the Human Resource

Manager, one of them being strategic partner to both management and employee

relationships. (Stone, 2010)

When looking into Stones Letter to the editor (Stone, 2010.pp10) it is easy to see where

the writer is coming from. The utilisation of workers/employees as factors in the production

process has been a long evaluated process which has become in essence relative to the work

environment they are relegated to. The job of the Human Resource Manager has evolved

over time from that of Personnel Manager to Human relations and then to what we term as

Human Resource Manager. The Human Resource Manager is relied heavily upon to predict

and identify positive and negative factors in the workplace, then create and implement

strategies to align job satisfaction and work ethic with the strategic vision of the employer to

create an outcome that benefits both. It is a difficult job for any one person and relies on the

co-operation of all parties involved. The author of the letter to the editor points out that

the inference of Human Resource Management as strategic and vision based creates a type of

reactive management which he terms as management by crisis. (Stone, 2010; pp10)

However if we were to look at the theory and practice of strategic HRM as a whole over time

and in terms of relationship with the other key roles of the HRM we would see that though

some may see these practices and implemented strategies are not only necessary for the

continuation of employment and business growth, but play a key role in the happiness of staff

and the continuation of application and alignment to the vision and core values of the

organisation as a whole. In order to truly understand this concept of Strategic HRM and the


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relationship between the other key roles, we will firstly look into the meaning of Strategic

HRM and then what actually constitutes good Strategic HRM. This way when we move to

examine the relationship between the key roles and relate all this to Puzzled HR Practitioner

and his current views, we will be able to see how everything within the realm of HRM is

interconnected and cannot be discounted in favour of one or the other.

The concept of Strategic HRM has developed over time, more so in the last ten years,

alongside the conceptual changes of Personnel Management to Human Resource

Management. (Rudman, 2010) Because of this defining Strategic HRM can be broad and

implies different things to different companies depending on how involved the HRM is in the

strategic management of the organisation. Broadly speaking, Rudman (2010) describes

Strategic HRM as the integration of business strategy into everyday operation, and the

relationship between manager and employee becoming more horizontal with the employee

becoming more stable in their environment and working more competitively for the goals of

the company. Relationships are made between the organisational goals and the subsequent

aims and changes in the organisations recruitment, development and training, performance

management and employee relations strategies, policies and practices; all belong under the

strategic HRM banner. This in a sense seems an obvious concurrence as the HRM is

responsible for the motivation of the employee while trying to keep both morale and work

output high.

Bartol and Martin (1998) discuss the importance of Strategic HRM as it affects the other key

roles of the HRM process. How can one actively recruit and manage staff without the essence

of the organisation in mind? Training and development all rely on the strategic direction of

the business. There can be no growth without the realisation and implementation of the

vision and strategy of the organisations structure. Puzzled HR Practitioner seems to see this

concept in a negative connotation, yet could it be that he is one of those over worked people


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he talks about and is substituting poor management for strategic management and the over

use of the people in the roles of HRM as a buffer for the confusion. In real terms the

extension of strategic management concepts into practice comes in a form of empowerment

of the staff/employee to take an active interest in the job they are doing. (Stone, 2010)

Puzzled HR Practitioner asks for some serious reflection about what exactly constitutes

good strategic HRM. (Stone, 2010) This can be seen in the integration of the roles of the

HRM and the endeavour of organisations to recruit and develop the thinking performer.

(Francis & Keegan, 2006) The implementation of healthcare and medical plans into the

workplace, aim at keeping staff health and morale at optimum performance levels enabling

employees to take control of their lives within the work environment. These can be

detrimental to staff morale when employees are forced to take part removing that control.

However the fact that many organisations offer these as perks of the job is more likely than

the former. Herein lies the crux of good strategic HRM, the factor of giving employees a

choice and also input into what will make them perform better in effect gives them little

excuse to not perform properly. The use of training, performance management and

development coincide to align the strategic management of the organisational values and

vision, creating a partnership between management and employee which did not occur

previously. The reality of this is that not everyone can be satisfied at all times and the good

strategic HRM will look at ways of alleviating workplace stress for as many employees as

possible, while constantly reviewing the process and the success rate of job performance.

The following chart helps to solidify the necessity of strategic HRM in both management and

employee performance.

Diagram removed

(Source: Rudman, 2010; pp19)


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extra time and effort. This is where the HRM becomes more of a resource management in

outlaying the positives and gains to be made by such training and development in terms of

rewards and better productivity in the workplace. The relegation to change agent occurs

through the very function of co-ordinating such development and reward performance

indicators, evolving current strategies and policies to allow for changes in the staffing

environment. (Caldwell, 2003)

The term administrative expert refers to the re-engineering of HR activities through the use

of technology, rethinking and redesigning processes with the continuous improvement of all

organisational processes This again is integrated throughout the job of HRM. Puzzled HR

Practitioner refers to the continued outsourcing and software related administration, yet one

could really only look at this as a continued delegation of the role of HR administration and

the ever evolving roles involved. A true HRM administrative expert would see the delegation

of such important administration roles as a key development of change and reflect it as

networking and consumer satisfaction is the ultimate result in such a key compromising of

roles. The duality of change agent and administrative expert working together can only bring

about continued relationships and effective performance especially if the roles are delegated

to employees as a result of development and training in such areas. Robbins, Millett,

Cacioppe and Waters-Marsh discuss this as the ever changing role of HRM in organisational

behaviour and management as an eventual necessity in an ever changing employment

environment. One can only hope to advance if they take advantage wholly of the technology,

recruitment process and employee development in front of them. This includes the

outsourcing of administrative roles that can be found to be more cost effective and

employment engaging elsewhere. (Robbins, Millett, Cacioppe & Waters-Marsh, 1998) The

following diagram looks at the implementation through the strategic HRM process and can be


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applicable to the discussion previously through the operational structure of strategy

management.

Diagram removed

(Source: Rudman, R: 2010 pp 16)

To finish we look at Puzzled HR Practitioner and his inference to management confusion in

the whole strategic HRM. Puzzled talks about how people are perceived as just another

production process and how the role of the HRM is blurred into management confusion over

which role the HRM actually takes. The above diagram looks at this relationship as a working

relationship and if we are to look at the research and theory we can see that HRM is not

essentially a part of the management structure although they do have input into what

essentially relays from management to employee. (Rudman, 2010) The development of

organisations as a whole does not rely on the positions of management and employee

respectively, it relies on the integration of management procedures and policies and

employee wants and needs. When an employer can see the employee as more than just a

production process the integration begins. The integration of needs and satisfaction of

employee relations into management process brings about the change agent of HRM and

serves as a catalyst for changes within the organisation as a whole. Any organisation willing

to succeed will bring about any changes possible, and in the current climate it is evidently

possible for such things to happen. If we look at the beliefs and people management of

corporate giants in New Zealand such as The Warehouse, Mad Butcher, and New Zealand

Post, the vision and HRM statements say it all; an example being The New Zealand Post:


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We are a people business and strive to make New Zealand Post a great place to work, and a

great organisation to work with. We recognise and respect the contribution of our people and

as a team aim to maintain the highest standard in all our business dealings operating in

good faith, ethically and responsibly, to build trusting, collaborative and long term

relationships. New Zealand Post

(Source: Rudman, 2010: pp 21)

This statement alone aligns itself with the key competencies and reliability needed to create a

good management structure. Strategy tools can be put in place to ensure the recurring

changes in HRM and strategic management take place, but only when the management as a

whole accept and believe that their human resource is their greatest advantage in

advancement.

In Conclusion, Puzzled must be a part of a very structured and pushy organisation to make the

claims in the Letter to the editor; otherwise the letter must stem from frustration with upper

management. These issues are not an overnight fix but when coupled with theory and

practice, the integration of not only strategic human resource management but the other key

roles of employee champion; change agent and administrative expert; any organisation is

bound to succeed on the level of evolving strategically if nothing else. Theory and practise

can meet on common ground if both management and staff follow the policies and

procedures implemented by the HRM department and with the end goal in mind of consumer

retention and satisfaction.


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References

Bartol, K., & Martin, D. (1998). Management. (3, Ed.) Boston, USA: McGraw Hill Ltd.

Caldwell, R. (2003). The changing roles of personnel managers: Old ambiguities, new

uncertainties.Journal of Management Studies , 983-1004.

Robbins, S., Millet, B., Cacioppe, R., & Marsh, T. W. (1998). Organisational Behaviour(2 ed.).

Australia: Prentice Hall.

(2010). In R. Rudman, Human Management in New Zealand. North Shore, New Zealand:

Pearson.

(2010). Future Challenges for HR Management. In R. Rudman, Human Resources management

in New Zealand. North Shore, New Zealand: Pearson.

(2010). Roles and Responsibilites for HR Management. In R. Rudman, Human Resources

Management in New Zealand. North Shore, New Zealand: Pearson.

(2010). Strategic Human resources Management. In R. Rudman, Human Resources

Management in New Zealand(5 ed.). North Shore, New Zealand: Pearson.

Stone, J. (2010). Managing human resources (3 ed.). Brisbane, Australia: John Wiley.

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