Strategy for HRM

Strategy for HRM

Strategy for HRM :These issues motivate a well thought out human resource management strategy, with the precision and detail of say a marketing strategy. Failure in not having a carefully crafted human resources management strategy, can and probably will lead to failures in the business process itself.

This set of resources are offered to promote thought, stimulate discussion, diagnose the organizational environment and develop a sound human resource management strategy for your organization. We begin by looking at the seven distinguishable function human resource management provide to secure the achievement of the objective defined above.

Steps in developing HRM strategy

Step 1: Get the 'big picture'

Understand your business strategy.

• Highlight the key driving forces of your business. What are they? e.g. technology, distribution, competition, the markets.
• What are the implications of the driving forces for the people side of your business?
• What is the fundamental people contribution to bottom line business performance?

Step 2: Develop a Mission Statement or Statement of Intent

That relates to the people side of the business.

Do not be put off by negative reactions to the words or references to idealistic statements - it is the actual process of thinking through the issues in a formal and explicit manner that is important.

• What do your people contribute?

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT analysis of the organization

Focus on the internal strengths and weaknesses of the people side of the business.

• Consider the current skill and capability issues.

Vigorously research the external business and market environment. High light the opportunities and threats relating to the people side of the business.

• What impact will/ might they have on business performance?
• Consider skill shortages?
• The impact of new technology on staffing levels?

From this analysis you then need to review the capability of your personnel department. Complete a SWOT analysis of the department - consider in detail the department's current areas of operation, the service levels and competences of your personnel staff.

Step 4: Conduct a detailed human resources analysis

Concentrate on the organization's COPS (culture, organization, people, HR systems)

• Consider: Where you are now? Where do you want to be?
• What gaps exists between the reality of where you are now and where you want to be?

Step 5: Determine critical people issues

Go back to the business strategy and examine it against your SWOT and COPS Analysis

• Identify the critical people issues namely those people issues that you must address. Those which have a key impact on the delivery of your business strategy.
• Prioritize the critical people issues. What will happen if you fail to address them?

Step 6: Develop consequences and solutions

For each critical issue highlight the options for managerial action generate, elaborate and create - don't go for the obvious. This is an important step as frequently people jump for the known rather than challenge existing assumptions about the way things have been done in the past. Think about the consequences of taking various courses of action.

Consider the mix of HR systems needed to address the issues. Do you need to improve communications, training or pay?

What are the implications for the business and the personnel function?

Once you have worked through the process it should then be possible to translate the action plan into broad objectives. These will need to be broken down into the specialist HR Systems areas of:

• employee training and development
• management development
• organization development
• Performande appraisal
• employee reward
• employee selection and recruitment
• manpower planning
• communication

Step 7: Implementation and evaluation of the action plans

The ultimate purpose of developing a human resource strategy is to ensure that the objectives set are mutually supportive so that the reward and payment systems are integrated with employee training and career development plans.

There is very little value or benefit in training people only to then frustrate them through a failure to provide ample career and development opportunities.

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, including, eg, career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management


Human Resource Management


Human Resources may be the most misunderstood of all corporate departments, but it's also the most necessary. Those who work in Human Resources are not only responsible for hiring and firing, they also handle contacting job references and administering employee benefits.

It's true that any individual who works in Human Resources must be a "people person." Since anyone in this department deals with a number of employees, as well as outside individuals, on any given day, a pleasant demeanor is a must.

Managing employees is a major job, so those in Human Resources must be equal to the task. Ten or twenty years ago, Human Resources personnel were rarely seen. Instead they worked behind the scenes to ensure personnel records were in order and employee benefits were being properly administered, but the job stopped there. Today's Human Resources personnel don't only handle small administrative tasks. They are responsible for staffing major corporations. This is no minor feat.

It's not enough to be able to screen potential employees, however. Those who work in Human Resources also have to be able to handle a crisis in a smooth, discreet manner. Whether the issue is health care related or regarding sexual harassment or employee disputes, a person working in Human Resources must be trusted to keep an employee's personal details to herself. The Human Resource team must also be a good judge of morale and realize when morale boosting incentives are needed. It's up to them to make sure all employees are comfortable with their surroundings and working under acceptable, if not above average, conditions.

For those looking to enter a career in Human Resources, a college education is necessary. One doesn't necessarily have to have a degree in Human Resources, however. Majoring in Business Administration, Psychology, Labor Relations and Personnel Administration, as well as degrees in Social and Behavioral Sciences, can also be beneficial.

Human Resources may have gotten a bum rap, but it's clearly among the most important departments in any corporation. The next time you have to meet with someone from Human Resources, remember that without her, your company might not be running so efficiently.

Overall Human Resources Management can be defined as a "strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its goals" (from A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice - Michael Armstrong - 2000 revised edition).

Human resource (or personnel) management, in the sense of getting things done through people. It's an essential part of every manager's responsibilities, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently.

"People are our most valuable asset" is a cliché which no member of any senior management team would disagree with. Yet, the reality for many organizations is that their people remain"

* under valued
* under trained
* under utilized
* poorly motivated, and consequently
* perform well below their true capability

The rate of change facing organizations has never been greater and organizations must absorb and manage change at a much faster rate than in the past. In order to implement a successful business strategy to face this challenge, organizations, large or small, must ensure that they have the right people capable of delivering the strategy.

The market place for talented, skilled people is competitive and expensive. Taking on new staff can be disruptive to existing employees. Also, it takes time to develop 'cultural awareness', product/ process/ organization knowledge and experience for new staff members.

As organizations vary in size, aims, functions, complexity, construction, the physical nature of their product, and appeal as employers, so do the contributions of human resource management. But, in most the ultimate aim of the function is to: "ensure that at all times the business is correctly staffed by the right number of people with the skills relevant to the business needs", that is, neither overstaffed nor understaffed in total or in respect of any one discipline or work grade.

Training

Training

It is a process for developing individual skills and effectiveness. Individual effectiveness, in terms of skills, knowledge and attitude, is one of the essential building blocks towards achievement of the wider goal of improved organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The development of the individual and the organization are therefore inextricably linked.When organization has invested in some training, how do we know if it has a success? Our gut feeling might be that skills and practice have improved. But in what ways and by how much has it improved, and did organization get value of money? Answer of these questions can be given by doing evaluation. The evaluation of training forms the remaining part of the training cycle which starts with the identification of training needs, establishing objectives and continues through to the design and delivery of the training course itself. It is the function of evaluation to assess whether the learning objectives originally identified have been satisfied and any deficiency rectified. Evaluation is the analysis and comparison of actual progress versus prior plans, oriented toward improving plans for future implementation. It is part of a continuing management process consisting of planning, implementation and evaluation; ideally with each following the other in a continuous cycle until successful completion of the activity. Evaluation process must start before training has begun and continue throughout the whole learning process.

Training policy could be stated as:

To provide cost-effective training for the Company which is clearly identified with, and is supportive of, current and future business requirements, to agreed standards and within financial limits determined by the board?

Training can and must make a significant contribution towards securing both individual and organization objectives.

1.Every manager, potential manager and employee must receive the training required to perform his/her job effectively.

2.Training must deliver real tangible and measurable results.

Training Purpose

To satisfy present and future company needs created by organizational growth and change, accelerating business technology and increasing competition.

1.To achieve the maximum possible learning in the shortest possible time.

2.To ensure that training effectiveness is measured.

3.To provide high quality training and support services to the staff of Company Name on all aspects of technical / non-technical / behavioral / spiritual progress.

4.Enable Help & Support for Planning and Design of a trainer

5.Aid in identifying training requirements and areas.

6.To make an inventory of people with detailed information on their skill and qualification

7.To prioritize groups according to the training needs.

Objectives of Training Policy

1.To impart a new entrant the basic knowledge and skill they need for an intelligent performance of definite tasks.

2.To assist employees to function more effectively in their present positions by exposing them to the latest concepts, information, techniques and developing the skills they will need in their particular fields.

3.To offer a range of Multi Skills training, subject to available resources, in response to the needs of our customers / new technical advancements.

4.To offer a consistently high quality of support and training in multi skills to all staff members working with Company Name

5.To offer provision for documentation, learning materials and training wherever possible.

6.Clarify training plans in individual personal development portfolios as the prime mechanism assisting in the achievement of corporate objectives.

7Finally individual or group training objectives should be used to design personal development portfolios, design training events and/or development experiences and drive delivery and subsequently assess performance improvement

Training Objectives are derived from

1.Training needs analysis
2.Performance assessment of personal development portfolios
3.Stating the targeted improvement in output or performance required as a result of training and/or development.

4.Corporate aims, objectives need assigning to each senior manager, in turn they have to be broken down to functional sections/work groups or individuals as appropriate. Consequently all levels become aware of their "assignment".

Need for Training

Changes occurring at an increasing pace in technology, information systems, attitudes to and behavior at work etc.
A need to make and manage cost reductions.
A requirement for more professionalism.
A need for more analytical and assertive business management.
A more flexible, aware and demanding work force.

More critical and selective customers.
An increasing diversification of the technology and human skills.

Training Budget

1.HR Department will submit at the beginning of each financial year the budget for Training & 2.Development activities to Board of Partners. The budget will include:
3.Report on last years training activities including efficacy.
4.Training Man days achieved and budget for current year.
5.Training costs budgeted for external programs.
6.Internal training programs and costs.
6.Capital investments including training equipment planned.
7.Segment & skill wise training calendar for the year.
8.Trainers developed during last year and planned for current year.

Training Calendar

Training calendar shall be submitted to Partner and upon approval shall be circulated to all HODs and concerned. The Training Calendar must be prepared in close consultation with all HODs so as to ensure no overlapping dates appear in the training calendar vis-à-vis normal functioning of the organization.

Training Calendar shall consist of following information:

1.Program details
2.Dates
3Duration & Timings
4.Type of Program -External/Internal
5.Faculty
6.Participants Profile
7.Follow up sessions

Training Needs Analysis
1.Operational plans
2Strategic plans
3.Corporate aims, for example to:
o Improve performances
o Cope with Change
4Improve communications and team working
5.Plan succession

Training need identification

Ways to identify

1. Individual feedback on training needs
2. Appraisal
3. Individual personal files & performance
4. Technical needs of the organization
5. Customer feedback
6. HOD feedback
7. From external advertisements

Training need identification survey shall focus on identifying three types of training needs:

Organizational Needs

Development Needs

Functional Needs

The outcome of the Training Need Analysis should be summarized function wise and quarter wise for each employee.

Based on this analysis, the training plan should be devised to provide Value Added Training to all the employees of Company Name.

Training Evaluation

Evaluation is a de-briefing with ones immediate superior soon after a learning experience and gathering appropriate evidence, analyzing and interpreting that evidence and then making a judgment.

How to Evaluate Training –

1.Collect appropriate evidence to demonstrate compliance with the organization's defined values and behaviors
2.Collaborate its validity, currency, sufficiency and authenticity and make your judgments

Evaluation questions-

1.Whether the required changes have taken place

2.Whether the organization has got the return it sought and if not why not

3.What remedial action is required

4.May be what new initiatives, whether training or change based, might be initiated

5.Evidence can be collected from various sources and in a number of ways, e.g.:

6.By interviewing holders of personal development portfolios (to obtain, for example, personal accounts of decisions and actions taken in different situations)

7.By sampling outputs of their work (e.g. letters to customers, minutes of meetings, reports, work instructions, plans, schedules, programs)

8By searching appraisal and other performance management records

9.By completing psychometric, competence or capability tests

10.By interviewing their immediate superiors and colleagues

11.By holders of personal development portfolios completing self-assessment questionnaires

12.By direct observation at work or in assessment center