Introduction to Human Resource Management (HRM)
Question:
Discuss about the Management Communication.
Human resource management i.e. HRM can be explained as the overall management of the human resources in an organisation. The main purpose of incorporating the human resource management practice in an organisation is to enhance and uplift the performance of the employees so that there can be rapid achievement of the organisational goals. The effective planning of HRM is one of the most critical tasks for any organisation as it impacts the present as well as the future of a company and its human resource (Hendry, 2012). The report will highlight the major aspects related to the strategic human resource planning, project management and human resource planning. The later part of the report will discuss the part of HR planning in regards with project management.
SHRM i.e. strategic human resource management can be explained as the practical approach of employee management in an organisation. There are several elements which are the part of SHRM such as effective working of the workforce, recruitment, workforce unity, organisational discipline and payroll of the employees. All these aspects helps in providing several benefits to an organisation such as increasing retention rate of the employees, maximizing the organisational productivity, enhancing the quality and efficiency of the word done and boosting employees’ motivation (Boxall and Purcell, 2011).
There are theorists who have defined human resource planning as the approach used by the organisations for identifying the needs of the human resource and the ways through which those needs or the requirements can be fulfilled. Human resource planning can also be explained as an intricate approach by which the organisations make the estimations of the total demand and the size of the labors required in an organisation. This is linked with the analysis of the nature of supply which is required for meeting the market demands. There are number of things which are the part of the human resource planning such as employer branding, employee retention, talent management, development of the strategies related to selection and recruitment, absence management and improving organisational flexibility (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Human resource planning is the point of connectivity among the human resource management of an organisation and the company’s strategic plans. It is performed in such a way, which helps in effective attainment of the strategic objectives of an organisation. The significance of effective human resource planning can be demonstrated by the increasing demands for the competent employees in the developing nations and because of the fact that in western countries there is more of aging workforce, effective HR planning is needed (Yin and Oathman, n.d.).
There are number of HRM issues present in the global organisations such as increased turnover rate, presence of aging workforce, issues related to diversity, incompetent skills etc. To effectively manage these issues and achieve higher competitive benefits, there is a vital need of robust strategic management in an organisation by the means of effective HR planning. For example, one of the primary issues i.e. increasing rate of turnover can be managed by implementing the practice of conducting exit interviews in every organisation. The feedback and the data collected from the employees who are leaving the organisation helps in identifying the workplace issues and also supports in building a healthier working environment in future. It also provides the HR executives with the insight of the major causes which are the reasons for increasing turnover rate in an organization (Bratton and Gold, 2012).
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)
In a similar way, the various issues of the labor market can be resolved by the implementation of an effective human resource policy inan organisation. It is impossible for an organisation to attain its set objectives and goals in the absence of potential labors. There can be strengthening of the organisation by having a robust HR policy through a potential HRM strategy. The flexible working roster is just one of the elements which contribute in attaining a desirable working place for the competent employees. An organisation which lay high emphasis on the factors such as employee development, improving workplace environment, development of employee welfare programs etc. helps in achieving high retention rate of the employees as well as enhanced organisational productivity (Lengnick-Hall, Beck and Lengnick-Hall, 2011).
The issues which are developed because of organisational diversity can only be resolved bythe incorporation of a competent human resource policy. It is necessary that the policies developed have a sense of sensitivity in regards with the diverse values and cultures of the individuals. There must be few engagement programs in an organisation so that there can be developed a sense of belongingness and informal association among the employees which therefore helps in reducing the issues of diversity. For managing the human resource concern of ageing workforce, there can be done recruitment of new and fresh talent in the organisation.From the overall perspective, it can be said that the effective human resource management policies helps in minimizing the organisational issues as well as providing several competitive benefits to the organisation which therefore supports improved organisational branding (Wright and McMahan, 2011).
The project management supports an organisation in visualization of the resources and the time, checking and managing the development of the overall project and the identification of the reasons of failure of any project. A competent HR manager takes efficient use of the pioneering tools of project management for instituting productivity measurements, establishment of detailed recruitment process, collection of feedbacks, analyzing the cost of recruitment and providing managerial insights for the development of the project (Kerzner, 2013).
The primary element which is to be emphasizes upon at the time of HRM planning is the recognition of the various responsibilities and roles associated with the project. The major responsibilities in the HRM planning process comprises of documentation of the reporting associations and the recruitment and staffing management plan (Puckett, 2014). An effective strategic management plan helps in attaining the potential workforce through innovative ideas. There has been performed the analysis of the need for recruitment, training programs and information flow. In an organisation, all the human resource management functions are divided among the various managers and the project management. It is essential that the parties have a clear understanding of the division of roles and responsibilities, so that, every individual can play its work role in the most efficient manner and can help in achieving the fruitful completion of the project (Nagendra and Deshpande, 2014).
There is one real life example which illustratesthe importance of having an effective HRM in an organisation. In the ABC News, a news article was reported which revealed that in Brisbane, there were cancelation of 100 trains because of the reason that there was unavailability of required number of drivers for carrying out the train operations on Redcliffe Peninsula line.The issue occurred because of the absence of adequate number of trained drivers which were required to operate the newly scheduled trains. The report shows the significance of HR in an organisation no matter whether it is a private corporation or a public one. Every organisation faces number of issues related to deficiency or absence of competent workforce. In the long scale projects, the factor of human resource is of more significance as all the aspects of a project are interlinked with each other. Therefore, an absence or lack of potential employees in first phase of a project leads to delay in the second phase, and eventually the entire project. Because if the lack of competent workforce, it results in delay in the newly scheduled trains. There is a need to plan anprovisional timetable which is dissimilar from the current timetable but even the provisional timetable will take more than a week’s time. Thus, it shows that a minor delay or lack of workforce may result in the deterioration of the complete project or operations. After the occurrence of issue, there is a need of a solution to restructure things and this process of improvement takes much more time (ABC News, 2016).
Human Resource Planning
From this incident, it has been analyzed that if the HR department has implemented a robust HR policy then there can be easily forecasting of the required number of workforces for carrying out the operations. By the effective HRM, the presence of appropriate number of personnel has been ensured at the prior stage only so that the train operations would not have been stuck. The primary reasons for the lack of workforce was the shortage of trainings regarding the new service and the underestimation of the workers and this resulted in the cancellation of trains (ABC News, 2016).
The political consideration in the public services has a direct connection with the HR planning. Because of the reason that the policies of human resource management are outlined in such a way that they completely abide the various rules and regulations developed by the government. For the project management in the large scale organizations, it is of more significance as there are engaged increased numbers of people in a specific project (Berman, et al., 2012).
Resource based view offers an extensive number of competitive benefits to a company through the application of intangible and the tangible resources. The organization takes use of diverse form of resources for achieving long-term benefits. The resource based view supports an organization to have more potential and significant resources for the operations. With the era of globalization and robust market competition, it has been evaluated that the success of a company is dependent upon a strong RBV as it offers advantages to an organization. Through the RBV, the organization comprises the resources which are rare, valuable, not imitable and organized (Lin and Wu, 2014).
In HRM, the imitation takes place because of path reliance where the human resource of an organisation is relied over a path and another is the reason of un-informed certainty where the HR policies are not so effective that they can attain appropriate methods for generating potential. The HR policies of an organization are developed in a long-time period which is not easy for the competitive companies to implement the same. Thus, it results in development of imitation wall. Therefore, it is essential that the human resources are productive, rare, not imitable and valuable so that there can be gained several benefits b y the organization (Montgomery, 2011).
In the strategic human resource management, RBV is one of the significant factors as it led down high emphasis upon the organizational internal resources. The various components of resource based view supports in developing the organizational human resources as highly rare, valuable, organized and not imitable. For achieving this there is a need to implement a robust human resource planning so that the workforce can sense that they are the most valuable resource for the company (McWilliams and Siegel, 2011).
Conclusion
From the above report, it has been concluded that there is a vital role of human resource in an organization. The people or the human resources are the most important asset for any company to achieve success. For the successful completion of any project, there is a need of appropriate scheduling and workforce competence. To achieve human resource effectiveness, coordination and organizational growth, there is a need to have effective HR policy and HRM in an organization.
It has been analyzed and concludes that like all other segments, HR is also one of the most significant parts of a company. As the potential HR team supports in the attainment of potential and competent workforce and offers several benefits to the company. From the news article which was published in ABC News, it can be stated that there is a vital role of HR policy and effective HRM for the completion of any project. As because of lack of HR competence in the identification and management of the workforce, there was cancellation of trains. Therefore, from the overall report it can be evaluated and stated that there is an essential need of implementing appropriate HR planning and effective HRM for the successful completion of the projects in an organization.
References
ABC News. 2016. Queensland Rail disruptions: AnnastaciaPalaszczuk ‘furious’ over 100 cancelled trains in Brisbane. ABC News. Accessed on: 1st April, 2017. Accessed from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-23/annastacia-palaszczuk-furious-over-queensland-rail-disruptions/7957862
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J.P. and Van Wart, M.R., 2012. Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage.
Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Beck, T.E. and Lengnick-Hall, M.L., 2011. Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 21(3), pp.243-255.
Lin, Y. and Wu, L.Y., 2014. Exploring the role of dynamic capabilities in firm performance under the resource-based view framework. Journal of business research, 67(3), pp.407-413.
McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D.S., 2011. Creating and capturing value: Strategic corporate social responsibility, resource-based theory, and sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 37(5), pp.1480-1495.
Montgomery, C.A. ed., 2011. Resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: towards a synthesis. Springer Science & Business Media.
Nagendra, A. and Deshpande, M., 2014. Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) in HR planning and development in mid to large sized organizations. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, pp.61-67.
Puckett, J. 2014. The Critical Importance Of Project Management For HR. ERE Media. Accessed on: 1st April, 2017. Accessed from: https://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/the-critical-importance-of-project-management-for-hr/
Wright, P.M. and McMahan, G.C., 2011. Exploring human capital: putting ‘human’back into strategic human resource management. Human resource management journal, 21(2), pp.93-104.
Yin, J.G.S. and Othman, M.H.B., Strategic Human Resource Planning.