The Journal Personnel Today

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

In this assignment we are invited to contribute an article to the journal "Personnel Today". And in the said journal, they are catering a series of articles which introduce the principle of Human Resource Management (HRM). The title of this article is "Ensure the success of your business through effective human resource strategies." The title itself is challenging. Let me first tackled what is strategic human resource management. Strategic human resource management is a tool to help companies to best manage the most important and most expensive resources in the industry/company; the people. It is a process that identifies the needs of an organisation to achieve the current and future goals. Some of the aspects that involve human resource management are strategic planning, management of corporate culture, recruitment and retention, and performance appraisal. Focusing on these aspects, leaders will be better equipped in their roles, provide guidance that they comply with legal requirement and maintaining standards. With all these in mind in order to better meet the needs of its employees, the people, and for the employees to better meet the needs of the company, human resource management should critically plan to promote goals without jeopardizing the needs of their employees. And this is what we call Strategic human resource management. Human resource management or HRM have prominent forms which are often elaborated as soft and hard. The soft model is about giving importance to each and everyone; their self-direction and places commitment, trust, and behavioral self-control at the core of any approaches to people in strategic way. Moreover, it gives also emphasis on communication, motivation and leadership. In this model they do treat employees as "valued assets" a source of its edge in business world by their steadfastness, malleability and the skills and performance which is in high quality. It therefore views that the employees are "means rather than object." But other author oppose to this statement and according to them; "treat people as end unto themselves rather than as means to an end." But still this model stresses the need to gain commitment, employees’ involvement and considering also the organisational culture. Unlike the hard model it gives emphasis on the rationalism of strategic fit and very particular on performance management and an influential approach to the management of each and everyone involve. Furthermore, hard model of HRM give attention that people are important resources through which organisations achieve competitive advantage. These resources should be acquired, developed and deployed in such a way that the organisation will benefit. The focus is on quantitative, calculative and business-strategic aspect in managing human resources based on reason like any other factor in trade and industry. It is a viewpoint that appeals to management who is striving to increase competitive advantage and recognize the value to do this; it is essential to devote in human resources as well as in new technology. But however, even if the idiom of HRM is ‘soft’, the veracity is more or less all the time it is ‘hard’, with the benefit of the organisation matter most on top of those of the individual.

On the other hand, the importance of human resource management in the organisation is that they focus on the people/ employee, nobody just hires a great employee, and human resources have to find, attract and recruit people. Then train them to succeed and ensure they will feel well compensated and well represented, thus retaining them for good. According to Susan Heathfield, "Selecting and retaining great staff is a key for business success. Talented people who continue to develop skills and increase their value to organisation and to customers are the most important resource". Recruitment and retention strategy is one of the major functions of human resource. It is extremely important to have a thorough planning in recruitment and retention of employees, who are the most valuable assets of the organisation. Some of the strategies human resource management in recruitment & retention are establishing an employee referral program, performance appraisal system and developing retention objectives. Establishing an employee recommendation program is more valuable way of employing candidates. Because they share same worth ethics, somehow the practices and employer tend to associate it with one another through their employment records. In performance appraisal system, HR should be careful in retaining employees; they should consider other things not only by the comment supplied from peers of the employees. However, insight they gain from their peers maybe more helpful than appraisal information receive from the employee's manager. Developing a retention strategy requires extraordinary abilities in which employees are likely to look for opportunities elsewhere and which of them are really fit and have the best quality to your organisation. Retention incentives can be awarded through additional benefit like monetary way to professional improvement it could be conferences abroad and even get into higher qualifications. Employees who want to continue their professional ladder should be encouraged and complemented. Salary increases are another retention strategy, HR should consider too that this may have a bad effect when management want to increase the salary, just to retain the employee. There should be valid and clear reasons that the employee is worth to have a salary increase so that their organisation will not be unfairly accused of discriminatory employment practices.

In every organisation there is HRM Framework which consist of "recruitment procedures"; when recruiting a new member of staff you are investing in the future of your organisation and therefore you want to ensure that you recruit the best possible person for the position. There are a number of important considerations to bear in mind, including a number of legal factors. Another thing is "HR and Workplace Policies & Procedures" ; it is important to have the necessary and relevant (to your business) HR and Workplace procedures and policies in place. This is not only essential for the efficient day-to-day running of your HR department, but also serves to safeguard your business against legal action. One thing more is the "redundancy procedures" ; redundancy is the dismissal of an employee from their job, due to the employer reducing the work force. In this, it is never a pleasant experience for either the employer or employee. It is vitally important that employers conduct the redundancy process within the law.

After mentioning the framework of HRM, there is also HRM process. The intention of each organization is to have a drive on the way to the awareness of one vision. Certain strategies and execution of one vision can be attained systematically and that is HR department is mainly doing. At the bottom of this strategy formulation lie a variety of processes and the usefulness of the former lies in the scrupulous design of these processes. Nevertheless what really is in these processes? These were the; a.) Human resource planning which includes recruitment, selecting, hiring, training, induction, orientation, evaluation, promotion and layoff. b.) Employee remuneration and benefits administration. c.) Performance Management. d.) Employee relation. The design effectiveness of these processes lies upon the degree of correspondence in each of these apart from other things. In other words, each process is subservient to other. At each steps, from the initial human resource planning up to the end of the process there is a continual value added. Therefore, no single process can work alone. All processes must be included because each process is essential to the survival and success of HR strategies; high level of compliance and cohesiveness between the processes must be always present.

Moreover, we keep reiterating the HRM strategies and it is better to know how it is develop. Yes how? With the arrival of new economy industries like IT and the rapidly increasing of the service sector, organizations all over the world recognize that human resources must be sighted as a source of competitive advantage as opposed to treating it much the same way in access to technology or capital is concerned. The meaning of this is that the custom of HRM is being viewed as important that uphold the business objectives of the firms and not just another factor in the way the firm is handled.

So I therefore conclude that the period when management could illogically impose terms to the employees and step upon their rights is something that is not appropriate anymore. White collar workforce is getting bigger, that is why organizations has to pay more attention to the needs of the employees more than ever and in so doing, it becomes an essential part. Ultimately, the real meaning of Strategic Human Resource Management is that the organizations have to develop their strategy from employees instead of commanding strategy upon them.

ASSIGNMENT TWO

TASK ONE

We are asked to choose four HR strategies that could be implemented by British Airways. So in this the first strategy is the recruitment and selection; second is career development; third is performance appraisal; and the fourth one is the training and development.

First, the recruitment and selection process, it is important for new and more so to the well-known businesses alike. The human resources department has the support and knowledge of employment specialists who help out hiring managers with the correct measures to make certain that the company’s leaders are creating intelligent hiring decisions. Recruitment and selection process have numerous pieces such as sourcing candidates, assessing and following-up applicants, carry out interviews and selection for employment. But this thing is depend on each organisation; they do have their own way of recruitment and selection in accordance to their vision and mission. British airways are looking on the recruitment policy and process to accept new employees with a new management style and value system. It introduced equality in identifying candidates. Schemes and processes gave vent to methodologies; to adopt and absorb competent and knowledge-skill people; accepted right people with business acumen, motivated under a strong leadership and ensured teamwork. Having said these, candidate who will be part of the said organisation will be an asset.

Second, career development is the process of managing your life, learning and work. According to Peter Tatham, Executive Director, Career Industry Council of Australia says "the quality of the career development process significantly determines the nature and quality of individuals' lives: the kind of people they become, the sense of purpose they have, the income at their disposal. It also determines the social and economic contribution they make to the communities and societies of which they are part." The career development process starts with the individual; knowing yourself and then matching their interests, ambitions and skills with preferences for study and work. As a result, career development is concerning over merely your first job, it's about the entire of your existence and for many it’s about getting a life that you love!

Every employee of British Airways should assess their career development, so that they will know if their interest is still on the job that they are inn to; always willing to serve and give hundred percent of their love and devotion to the said organization. Having mentioned it, they can serve better to their client in the best quality service that the customer is always wanting to experience in their flight.

Third, performance appraisal is the evaluation and examination of employee’s work behaviour by the supervisor or consultant in accordance to organisational procedure. In the said evaluation they compare the preset standard and write down the results of comparison, then after give feedback to the employee based on the said results. So that employee will know if they need improvement and why. Through appraisal, promotion can be applied; efficient employees will be in lined for promotion programmes by the supervisors without second thought. On the contrary, there is a possibility for incompetent workers are being demoted and the worst case is being removed in the post. In terms of compensation: the said appraisal aid in chalking out compensation packages for employees as well as merit rating is achievable. It tries to give worth to a performance. A compensation package have pre-requisites which is dependent on performance appraisal in order to obtain the gratuity, high rate of salary, extra remuneration and allowances. Merit is the main criteria rather than seniority. Last but not least, development of employees: Supervisors were guided in framing the training policies and programmes through methodical procedure of performance appraisal. Moreover, strengths and weaknesses of employees can be determined so that competent/efficient employees can be given new task. And also future development programmes can be framed or organised.

The fourth one is the training and development it is official and ongoing educational activities within an organisation, fulfilment and performance of employees are enhancing in the training and development. The staff can attend in their own accord or compulsory if mandated by the company. They cater variety of educational techniques and programs in relation to business. In today’s’ world of competition, most organisation look at the training and development programme as an investment to employee rather than as an expense. Because companies want their employee to have the best skills and full knowledge in their special field of work.

British airways should do the training and development to their employee so that more skills and full knowledge will be gain by each and every employee. It is not only the employee who will gain on the said programme, but the biggest impact will be on the company.

TASK TWO

In 2011, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh announced that the merger with Iberia is supposed to be great news for British Airways shareholders and customers. British Airways is the largest airline in the United Kingdom; it has about two hundred and twenty-five airplanes which go to approximately 150 destinations around the world. Iberia Airlines is the nation airline of Spain; it has almost one hundred eighty-three airplanes and works in about 120 destinations. This merger promotes easier and efficient booking, more ground staff, and a lot more better lounge service. The British and Iberia Airlines merger is now the third biggest airline worldwide; Air France-KLM and Delta-Northwest are the biggest airlines. This merger has had an impact on the stakeholders, the staff, the shareholders, and the customer. The merger also benefits both airlines.

The merger of British Airways and Iberia has to share the profit of the company to each shareholder. British Airways gets fifty-five percent while Iberia gets forty-five percent. This new company will based mostly in Spain’s capital, Madrid. This means that both of the companies will profit together with the new company. Both airlines will have to share everything like their maintenance, offices, ground staff, etc. This will allow a lot more adaptability in the passengers’ side and can have many cost savings for the new company. Even though it may seem that sharing workers is an exceptional benefit, one of the biggest concerns with this project is the amount of jobs being lost. Willie Walsh said that he wants to cut about 20% of Iberia Airways jobs (4,500 jobs). The merger was meant for less people to be employed. Justin Peral, head of Sepla says, "It’s not fair and it’s not the way things were supposed to be. The merger was supposed to bring growth for both companies and benefits for workers of both airlines. We want to break the merger and go it alone again, that’s the only way we will survive. We will not stand by and see Iberia dismantled by the British."

Cutting the most of the workers may ruin the other workers dependability and ambition. There are other benefits that come with the merger like there will be more international competition, the company will make huge investments, and there will be more and better efficiency with everything. An idea has appeared with this merger and it is called Synergy and this means that the "whole is greater than the sum of individual parts." This explains that Iberia and British Airlines are stronger and better together than they are separate. The new company is going to be mostly based in Spain, here the price for land and labour are cheaper than in the United Kingdom. This merger has allowed both companies to expand their opportunities worldwide. Iberia has a few benefits from the merger like, they are able to reduce their costs, increase their network, create an alliance, and improve their brand image. Before the merger Iberia’s threat of bankruptcy was very ambiguous because of the worldwide increase in fuel prices, which means that the merger of Iberia and British Airways has helped Iberia destroy its chances of bankruptcy.

The merger also helped British Airlines overcome its main conflict, their biggest conflict was having a strong British identity and this offended some of the European customers, but after affiliating with Iberia this may have attracted more of the offended customers. Having the merger of British Airlines and Iberia mean that both companies are going to gain access to each other’s routes therefore this plan will increase the new company’s market share. This is a great change for Iberia because before the merger Iberia had a very small network. There are many advantages to this merger and it’s biggest advantage is it’s economy of scale. British Airlines is the largest airline in the United Kingdom and you are more like to find most of its aircraft at the Heathrow Airport. The biggest impact overall in this project is the amount of jobs being lost. British and Iberia Airlines will need to have a few excessive workers (mostly as managers). Nearly 1,400 crew members are ready to strike at British Airlines. There are many bad situations that appear or can appear from this merger. Because this merger is made of two different countries we can expect a mixture of the two cultures between both British Airlines and Iberia Airlines. The act of mixing the two cultures can result in reducing the capability of assimilation. All of this can lead to a huge diseconomy which would conceivably require a huge cost on both companies.

Unluckily there are many problems with the Spanish working class, because Spain has the biggest unemployment rate in all of Europe, about twenty percent of Spain’s Population is unemployed. Willie Walsh, British Airlines chief executive, already wants to cut more than twenty percent of Iberia Airlines workforce. With the amount of jobs being cut because of the merger we can expect Spain’s unemployment rate to rise. There is a huge trade union in the United Kingdom called Unite and they fight all in the working classes, they are powerful because if British Airlines starts to cut many workers the Unite can organize strikes within the workers and this can disrupt the Airline. All of this can also happen with Spain the only thing different is that Spain has strong union representation.

The merger between British Airlines and Iberia can and will benefit the share holders because the new company will really significant cost savings. There are also many benefits to the customers like there will more options for passengers to chose and book flights on different airlines using one ticket. The merger is a good thing for both companies because it helps reduce costs which will help with the increased competitions. In the long run it may seem that the merger can offer plenty of opportunities, however in the short run, there will be many potential problems with the change and this can affect the reputation of both companies.