Success Of Business Through Effective Human Resource

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

This assignment is based on Human resource management and it is included two tasks. In the first task it is mentioned about the strategic human resource management, models of strategic management, importance of human resource management, HRM frame work, HRM process and role of HRM. In the second task it is mentioned about the case study of the British airways and what type of strategic should take with them to develop the current situation at British Airways. Also it is discussed about the merge with Iberia and the impact of the merges.

Task One

Ensure the success of your business through effective human resource strategies

A definition of strategic human resource management and a comparison of two models of strategic HRM

Human resource management is a main function in an organisation and it is responsible about the selection, training and development, reward management and etc. Same time they have to handle the compliance of the employees and should maintain the labour law as well. Other than that HR is responsible about the strategic decision making such as mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, labour relations, diversity and etc. According to the Maund (2001) strategic human resource management is a part of the HRM and it is a new field in the functions. According to the Poole (1999) Strategic human resource management is a linking with HRM and strategic goals, objectives and it is increasing the company performance and required to develop the business. Also it is important for the competitive advantage and to develop the company culture as well. According to the Porter (2004) in the organisation SHRM is involved with company strategies relating to training and development, rewarding, recruitment and etc.

According to the following SHRM model there are main activities of the HRM and each of the functions should have strategies to develop it and then only organisation can benefit from that.

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Figure 01: Michigan Model of SHRM

Source-: www.managementexchange.com

Here it can see that all the functions linked together and after selecting the right candidate it is important to evaluate the performance and if there is a high performance and cover the given targets then that person should reward or if not the company should provide training and development programs and then after they can do performance appraisal to find the development of the employee. Therefore it is a process and each of the function should use strategic HRM and HRM department is responsible about this process.

Following figure is mentioned the Warwick SHRM model and according to that there are many functions under HRM and each of the functions linked with the SHRM.

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Figure 02: Warwick SHRM Model

Source-: www.emeraldinsight.com

According to the Figen et al., (2003) this model can use by the organisations to develop their HRM systems and to link each of the functions with the strategic HRM. Through this model it is able to get a better understanding about the company HRM context, Business strategic content, inner context and etc. Under inner context it has can mention culture, structure and etc. Under HRM context it has can mention role, organisation, HR outputs, employee relations, work systems and etc. Business strategy content it includes the objectives, product markets and etc.

Reasons for the importance of HRM in organisations

According to the Dave and Fari (1999) HRM is important to organisations because of several reasons. Mainly it is a main function in the organisations and to maintain the employee training and development, reward systems, performance, and etc it is required to have HRM department. They are responsible about the employees for HR department is the one who recruit employees to the organisation. If they didn’t use the proper system to select the candidate it is can impact for the company performance. Also according to the requirement they have to select the employee. Same time HR should understand the employee’s interests as well. If the employees are de-motivated then company HRM should find the reasons and should implement programs to motivate them. Same time it is required to give rewards for the employees and most of the time rewards give according to their performance. Therefore HRM should have an idea and proper system regarding their reward management.

Other than that HRM is important to arrange the training and development programs and it is make benefits for the employees. When the employees need to develop their skills and competencies training and development programs are important. HRM should identify the employee’s requirement and based on that they have to implement programs.

After implementing training and development programs it is significant to evaluate the employee’s performance level and if they have developed that program is successful and if not it is important to make the required changes in the program. Also whenever the employees get issues relating to their day to day work HRM is responsible and should sort out those issues. Personal attention and counseling also handle by the HRM in the organisations. If the company have unions and other employee associations it is important to deal with them in the best way to get their support for the company. That is also should maintain by the HRM of the company. Other than that regarding employee’s salary, wages, EPF and ETF also company HRM responsible and if there are any issues relating to those functions employees are able to discuss with the HRM department. HRM department should have wide knowledge about the employment law and the laws relating to the business to handle issues relating to them (Tyson, 2006).

Explanation and analysis of an HRM framework

According to the Dave and Fari (1999) Harvard analytical framework provides explanation about the HRM system. It is mentioned how the stakeholder interests and situational factors linked with the HRM policy, HR outcomes and long term consequences. In any organisation stakeholders are their interests and they being influenced the company development. According to the Dave and Fari (1999) most of the time when the company makes decisions it is required to give priority to the stakeholder interests. When the HRM takes decisions regarding the HRM policies they have to consider these all the factors. Those actions which are taken by the HRM should be make benefits long term basis for the organisation as well as for the stakeholders.

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Figure 033- Harvard HRM framework

Source-: www.emeraldinsight.com

Under stakeholders it can mention the shareholders, management, government, unions and etc. Under situational factors it can mention the workforce, unions, laws and values, business strategy and etc. These factors linked with the HRM policy and it is mentioned about the employee influences, work systems, reward management and etc. Then after HR outcomes will be commissioned, competences and etc. Finally long term consequences will be organisational effectiveness, individual and social well-being and etc. Therefore to get long term benefits it is significant to maintain each of the functions in HRM framework.

Explanation of the HRM process and how strategies are developed

According to the Figen et al., (2003) when it is mentioned the HRM process it is mainly can divide into three categories as mention in the following figure such as creating HRM strategy, implementing HRM strategy and evaluating the HRM strategy. Each of these steps has its sub steps as mention below.

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Figure 044- HRM process

Source-: www.emeraldinsight.com

According to the Figen et al., (2003) when it has developed the strategies for each of the steps it is required to create the goals and the objectives first. Then after there should have alternatives and options to select the best strategy. After selecting the strategy which is well matched with the requirement company is able to implement the strategy and end of the implementation it is important to evaluate the new strategy. The evaluation also should do by using the correct strategy such as performance appraisal or 360 degree appraisal system. According to the Figen et al. (2003) at the implementation stage it can be a system to control HR function or training and development program or system to manage performance or etc. Through the monitoring it is able to find the impact of the operating system, support process or manage process.

When it has developed the strategies relating to the HRM process it is important to go through the company HRM process first and then after they are able to finalize the best process and the programs which are relate with the company objectives and the business plan. Strategies should be developed according to the company objectives, requirements and the employee’s requirement.

An assessment of the roles in strategic HRM

When it is mentioned the roles in strategic HRM mainly it depends on the organisation and its structure. According to the Beardwell and Claydon (2007) most of the time HRM departments make decisions but top management is involved with the decision makings. Also stakeholders such as government, unions and etc also support by making strategic HRM decisions in the organisation. According to the Beardwell and Claydon (2007) employees and the customers are also part of this process since employees are the people who develop the company performance and customers are the people who make a profit to the company. From the following figure it is mentioned how those roles effectively for the SHRM decision making and company performance.

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Figure 05 – roles in HRM

Source-: http://dev.keraj.net/kurwa/?url=auduboncampmaine.cold10.com/human-journal-management-planning-resource-strategic.php

According to the above figure there are different types of factors such as HR functions, personal functions and firm level factors and each of these factors are connected with the overall fit and depend on that company performance will be decided. HR factors include the HR policy of the company, options, budget and personal factors includes the HR managers, top managers and employees' skills. Company level factors include the values, culture and etc.

Task Two

Case study British Airways

Question 1: Choose four HR strategies that could be implemented by British Airways. Explain each of the strategies and its application to British Airways

According to the guardian (2010) British Airways is a well reputed organisation in the airline industry and it is headquartered in London. It is flying to about 400 destinations and they have many issues relating to the employee relations.

It is mentioned about the British airways they use different types of strategies to develop the business and they are able to develop current situation further. According to the case study mentioned here they faced difficulties because of the cabin crew members and employee relations with them. Their company has to provide them proper training program before things happen like this and to respect each other first. The company should give them proper knowledge about how to keep the relationships with other employees. Mainly company should get following four strategies before this issue starts (Guardian, 2010).

Training programs about employee relations

Reward system based on the performance

Well arranged disciplinary system which is impact for their career

Team building and development

As Kelly, (2006) discussed, training programs regarding the employee relations it is important for the any organisation or any employee to know how to work with other employees well. Through the training and development programs it is able to get knowledge as well as they is able to develop the skills and competencies of them. Mainly when they get difficult time or problems at the workplace through this program they will know how to work friendly with others. Through that they are able to know the hard times and how to get others support in such situations. Employee relations included different type of training. This can conduct at the organisation as a seminar or classroom training or team wise training. Same time this is able to develop as the day to day workplace as well. If they provide this at the begging they could not face such situation and those employees would be able to work as a team at that hard situation. Knowledge is a main component which is required by an employee and they should know how to take decisions and how to solve the problems they get into their day to day career.

It is important to offer reward systems based on the employee’s performance and this is can be non-monetary rewards or monetary rewards. Pilbeam and Corbridge, (2002, pp. 134-136) claimed that reward system depends on the position they held, experience, performance and etc. If they didn’t perform well in their career company is able to punish them through this reward system. Also it is significant to develop the reward system based on the employee’s interests and requirements. If they think to make trouble in the company they will think twice if they keen about the rewards or the commission they get for their day to day works and performance. Therefore companies can use the expert’s knowledge to develop the reward system of the organisation and this is control the employees and they will motivate towards the targets and job because of that.

Any organization should have a disciplinary system with them to control the workers and the HR department is responsible about the HR policies of the organisation. As explained by Poole, (1999) HR policy should include the employee’s disciplinary and the rules and regulations relates to their jobs. This is not enough to mention at the orientation and it should be documented to see and read by each and every employee of the organisation. Then they know if they go beyond the limits that companies can take action against them. This will make them to respect for the career and the organisation as well. Most of the times when there is a union, the employee are getting into those unions and make issues at the work place. Therefore it is important to arrange rules and regulations to cover the each and every area of the organisation and the every department of the organisation. It is important to discuss the employee’s problems and counseling them time to time to find out their personal matters and the career matters. Through that also the company is able to find solutions for the problems before it is becoming worth situation.

According to the Maund (2001) it is important to develop teams in each department and each team should provide different tasks to work on. This is increasing their motivation level as well as they learn how to work with others and how to develop relationships with others. If the organisation did this earlier they will be able to minimize the current situation and before they take action they would think twice. Through the team building it has increased the leadership skills of the employees and support for their company performance as well as individual performance.

Question 2: British Airways merged with Iberia in 2011. Analyse the impact of the merger on strategic HRM at British Airways.

While an organisation merge with another organisation it is important to study the history of the other company as well as the current situation of the company. It is mainly important to do a SWOT analysis about the company to find the strengths, weaknesses, threats and the opportunities of the other organisation and based on the analysis it is able to do the merging argued Henry, (2002). Because by doing merging there are different interests of both organisations and it should be make benefits for the both organisations. When two organisations merged it is impact to the both company employees in different aspects. Especially all the employees have to come under one culture and they have to respect each other. It is kind of a difficult thing to practice. Therefore it is a responsibility of the management and the HRM to convert all the employees to the new system and through that they are able to make the company environment more flexible.

Further, according to Kelly, (2006) each of employees should feel that they got the best thing in their career and it is a good thing to merge like that. Otherwise it makes them de-motivate in their career and will be going down the performance. Therefore it is important to identify the employees interested when they do merge with another organisation. There are some organisations which should not link since they have different cultures and values with them. Therefore management should get the expert knowledge on this before they take the actions. Also if the organisations have diversity issues this is also can make problems in the future after they do the merging.

More importantly when it is merged the two organisations they have to identify the resources have with the other organisation. What has happened to British airways is they have to train the other organisation all employees to get them in to the stand of the British airways. Because of this they have to spend more cost for the training and development programs and it was affected for the company HRM. When they work in a same department it is sometimes made problems for the employees since the department members are new and unfamiliar for them. It takes some time to trust each other and this may be increase the low trust and de-motivation within them. Outdoor activities and group’s works will useful to change such situations. Even the two company employees worked under the different rules and regulations and when it is merged they may be uncomfortable with the new system. Soon after merge the organisations it is important to provide orientation programs for the all employees and training programs to bring them all to one stand and one thinking pattern (PRWEEK, 2012).

According to the Appelbaum and Yortis (2000, pp 09) Mergers impact in the marketplace sometime and it is loose the investors of the company. Therefore it is important to identify such issues before it makes the issue and if something happens like that it can make problems with the salary payments and etc as well. According to the Henry (2002) company productivity can be low during this time and management has to take actions regarding such issues. Most of the times company has to reduce the employees and these are highly impact for the employee’s career life.

Conclusion

This assignment is mentioned the two tasks and the first task is based on the theoretical aspects of the subject such as what is SHRM, importance of HRM and HRM functions, models in HRM and etc. The second task is mentioned about the case study of the British airways and it is discussed about the impact of merger and the strategies used by the British airways. Also it is provided some strategies which should take by the organisation to minimize the current situation which is making an issue because of employee relations at British Airways.