Analysis of Strategic Human Resource Management as a Factor in the Success of an Organization

The management of the human resource is a critical aspect of any organization. It is a factor that is developed within the organization for the purpose of enhancing the productivity of employees within the organization. People form a very crucial aspect of an organization, and their management is paramount to ensure they work efficiently. Human resource management is associated with activities such as the recruitment of employees, their training as well as their development within the organization, their appraisal, and benefits within the organization. In return, they provide human effort that is paramount for the running of organizations. The employees are human capital that leads to the development of economic value based on the activities an organization is involved with (Bratton, 21).

They bring in important aspects such as skills, training, talent, knowledge, intelligence, etc. which form their human capacity that constitutes a form of human wealth which they use for the achievement and goals of an organization. In addition to the management of human resource for the development of maximum economic value, strategic human resource management enhances the process by developing a collaborative approach between the organization and the employees for the purpose improved quality, more productivity and performance and an overall mutual benefit for both the employees and the organization at large. This is an approach that brings closer the management and employees and develops a collaborative environment that leads to job satisfaction, better performance and overall success of an organization. Strategic human resource management also tries to develop a form of the interrelationship between the human resource aspect and the competitive business aspect of the organization. This results in a harmonious relationship between the different levels of an organization especially the management and employees for the purpose of achieving the goals and objectives of the organization (Fottler, 7).

As explained above strategic human resource management is an addition to the processes of human resource management that applies a strategic approach associated with developing ways that link the human resource management process with the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. This is a great aspect of strategic management within an organization and is associated with actions and decisions developed by the management of an organization for the running of the organization. Strategic management is important and is composed of several factors. These factors include the development of the organizations mission regarding goals and objectives. It also involves the analysis of the environment where the organization operates in terms of bother internal and external factors that may influence the operation of the business. Another factor is associated with the development of a strategy that would stipulate all the actions the organization is willing to do to achieve its goals and objectives. The other factor involves the implementation of the strategies development and lastly is the evaluation of the strategies in terms of the performance and effectiveness. This factor assesses the benefits the strategies may offer and also finds all necessary mistakes that they may have in order to improve them. Strategic management is a continuous process within an organization. These are five important aspects of business strategy, and all have to be incorporated into the strategy of human resource management and vice versa. This means that the two aspects have to interrelate with one another for more success within the organization. There exist different levels within an organization and operations in some is top down while in others is bottom up. These operations have different strategies, but for Strategic human resource management, they have to be integrated with each other.

The need for a better approach when it comes to the management of an organization is associated with the decry by many human resource managers and executives from many organization that most of the time the human resource is usually left out in the strategic management of the business. This means that there exists a great disconnect between the human resource sector of an organization and the strategic plans of the organization. This disconnect creates an environment whereby employees do not have a good understanding of the direction an organization is heading and do not have input in the strategic development of the organization. Effective management of people within an organization has always been a good source of competitive advantage and general success for an organization. Despite the great amounts of literature associated with Strategic human resource management, there has been the little association with outcomes and processes of organizational activities (Fottler, 8).

For some people strategy, human resource management is viewed as an outcome associated with the design of organizations system in a manner that is expected to produce competitive advantage through the use of people. Others view as a process instead which is associated with linking businesses strategies and process with human resource processes and strategies. However, human resources strategy is viewed by many as an outcome associated with policies and systems of the human resource function of an organization. The strategic human resource factor is mostly considered a proactive process whereby the human resource is given an opportunity at the strategic management seat of an organization. In other aspects, and this is in most cases a reactive orientation is usually used in management whereby human resource strategies are only implemented once the strategies at a business level have been determined. This makes the human resource more dependent on business strategies (CANA, 14).

The integration of business strategy with that of human resource has become a great factor in consideration by many organizations. It is a shift in management style since strategic human resource management is a new evolutionary aspect of human resource understanding. The process of integration is associated with a two-way relationship between the two factors to ensure that they fit for the achievement of the organizations goals and objectives. In strategic human resource management, the policies and strategies developed by the human resource department have to fit and be in line with those developed for the business strategy of the organization. The process of integration is associated with certain activities that include the linking of the process of human resource with those of the strategic management process of the organization, the acknowledgment, and internalization of the significance of human resource in the management process of the organization and the process of integration of the workforce into the organization. These are all elements that are expected to reduce the dissonance that exists between human resource management the overall goals and objectives of the organization. It means that systems within human resource management need to be matched with those of the organization in order to have an understanding of the organizations ultimate strategy that is inclusive of all people within the organization. In most cases, the strategies of human resource do not operate in isolation as standalone factors within organizations but occur dependent on the corporate and business strategies of the organization (Bratton, 11).

All other important aspects of an organization reflect the efforts put in the management of people in the organization and in this case human resource management becomes a strategy on its own in alignment and congruence with the strategies of the business.

Many organizations make mistakes whereby they implement their strategic plans with little to no consideration to human resource. Many organizations are labor intensive with human capital providing most of the production processes and efforts. In some instances, the human resource has a direct link to service provision, and in such instances, the quality of product and service greatly depends on the competence, skills, and dedication the employees put to their work. Because of the great need to control the performance, productivity, and quality of services provided within organizations, it becomes paramount for leaders and top managers to have a better approach to the management of human resources. The employees can have more input into the organization because of their understanding of the operations, customer preference and a different perspective regarding how the business should operate (CANA, 24).

The strategic human resource is, therefore, a factor of organizational management associated with the activities that involve the development as well as the maintenance of a qualified workforce. These activities ensure the development of employees in a manner that enhances the effectiveness of the organization for the achievement of its goals and objectives. It is a current trend in todays management system, and it is a factor attributed to the evolution of the understanding of human resource management and strategic management. Strategic human resource management links the strategies of the organization with those of the human resource department. Strategic human resource management approaches are holistic whereby many organizational aspects are integrated into each other.

Organizational performance has become a great focus for many organizations. The world has become very competitive, and businesses are trying to develop a competitive advantage over their competition. Competitive advantage in organizations is based on aspects such as cost reduction, market expansion, improving quality and productivity and all these happen based on the efforts human resource put. There two aspects in question. The first is the one this paper has thoroughly explored and is associated with strategic human resource management and the other is the strategic management of human resource. In the latter human resources is regarded as key to the success of an organization and efforts are put in place to make sure that employees have the best environment to perform their duties within the organization. Human resources are more important than other resources because their mandate is mostly associated with their utilization of other resources within the organization. In strategic management in human resource, organizations have to understand the needs and expectations of their employees and create a conducive environment from where they can work to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. The environment has to be able to foster high performance for the employees and maintain continuity of productivity within the organization. Through effective management of people within an organization, its performance is enhanced. Strategic management in human resource is associated with the development of human resource strategies that are set to maximize the productivity of employees while at the same time developing and maintaining them and ensuring that there is job satisfaction (Bratton, 22).

The above describe two important aspects of the relationship between human resource management and strategic management. The first aspect explores the development of interrelationships between business strategies of an organization with that of human resource. It is based on high levels of dissonance that exist within organizations where human resource is left out of the business strategies of organizations despite the great contributions they could offer. Human resource from the human capital that utilizes the resources of an organization with the aim of the achievement of the goals and ob...