The Business Through Effective Human Resource Strategies Business Essay Example
The Business Through Effective Human Resource Strategies Business Essay Example

The Business Through Effective Human Resource Strategies Business Essay Example

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  • Pages: 11 (2824 words)
  • Published: August 23, 2017
  • Type: Research Paper
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Human resources management (HRM) is a critical responsibility in an organization's forces department. The effective utilization of employees is vital for achieving the organization's objectives. Furthermore, planning the best use of human resources helps in attaining the organization's goals. It should be emphasized that HRM carries strategic implications.

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) involves optimizing the utilization of employees for the organization's benefit. It is the process of determining an organization's plans and goals by considering the relationship between employment and HR processes such as development, recruitment, training, performance management, rewards, and employee relations strategies, policies, and practices. SHRM aims to use people in the most effective way possible based on the organization's strategic needs. It strategically manages the organization's valuable assets: its employees who contribute to achieving objectives. Various models and theories

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of SHRM exist, including Hope-Hailey et al's (1998) identification of the best practice model and contingency model.

According to Michael Armstrong in his book titled 'A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice', the best practice model of strategic human resource management, also known as the outcome model, emphasizes commitment rather than conformity. It advocates for culture management processes to achieve cultural control of an organization. This model is a universal approach that explains how all organizations can improve their performance by identifying, gaining commitment to, and implementing a set of human resource management practices.

Guest (1997) argues that the wages pattern must include a "high commitment" aspect, which is crucial for human capital. This requires implementing an "ideal set of practices" to improve work output and well-being. The focus should be on motivating and aligning human capital with the organization's goals. The contingency model emphasizes

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achieving fit between organizations/businesses and their HR strategies. This involves updating definitions of purposes, policies, strategies, activities, and roles within the HR department to match the organization's circumstances. The goal is to align what the administration wants to become with what it actually does in terms of structure, processes, and implemented practices. Ultimately, the main purpose of human resource management is to contribute to organizational effectiveness and productivity towards achieving objectives.

HR personnel should consider various schemes such as employment relationship, resourcing, performance management, human resource development, reward management, employee relations, and health and safety to achieve organizational goals. In recent years, organizations have realized the importance of effectively managing human capital and recognizing employees as valuable assets with knowledge and skills. Each employee plays a crucial role in decision-making that drives change within the company. This highlights the significance of motivation, customer care, and training. It allows organizations to find suitable individuals for vacant positions based on quality, type, and quantity requirements. An example illustrating how changes in the employee selection process led to improved organizational success further supports this notion.

This company strives to find the best employees during the recruitment process, but they also hire students for specific job roles. This creates challenges for the administration. The job requires employees to spend hours in the warehouse inspecting the quality of goods. The working environment is not clean. Employees prefer to start work as soon as possible.

The HR director recently hired dealt with this situation by assigning the task to employees who may not be highly experienced or have high expectations. They also suggested rotating the job assignment among many employees during shorter working hours.

The Harvard human resource management model is used to solve the problems related to managing personnel. It is based on the idea of how the employees should be involved and what knowledge they should be given by the organization, and what HRM policies and practices may help achieve the organization's goals. Without a central philosophy or strategic vision, which can only be provided by top management, HR directors are left with a collection of independent activities, each protected by their own practice or tradition. There is a need for a broader, more comprehensive, and strategic view of the organization's human resource management in response to increased pressures.

These pressure points have greatly influenced the need for long-term management of individuals and the recognition of individuals as valuable assets rather than just variables. They were the pioneers in emphasizing the principle and theory of HRM being the responsibility of line managers. They also specified that HRM includes all management decisions and actions that impact the organization and its workers - its human resources. Harvard suggested that HRM had two characteristics.

First, line directors now have more responsibility for ensuring the success of competitive strategies and personnel policies. Secondly, the human resources department is responsible for establishing and implementing policies that reinforce desirable employee behavior. The process of managing human resources began when personnel management was in charge of addressing employee needs and wants, managing compensation, and ensuring motivation. However, in the early 1990s, HRM was introduced and has since become the most widely adopted approach to people management in organizations. The key HRM processes that support an organization's activities include HR planning, recruitment, selection, leadership, training and development,

and performance assessment. All of these stages must be in place for effective human resource management practices to be implemented within an organization.

The process of scheme development involves organizing and specifying control. It is also known as a systematic, step-by-step situation that results in an official written statement guiding the organization's long-term intention. Strategy is an orderly process: we think first, then act accordingly. We create and then implement. However, we also "act in order to believe".

The text discusses the role of strategic HRM in achieving organizational objectives. It emphasizes that strategic HRM is a process where schemes and visions can emerge organically or be intentionally created. The assessment of roles and responsibilities is crucial for the optimal performance of employees. Additionally, the transfer of knowledge among team members is a key aspect. The text highlights the importance of considering the interests of all stakeholders, including workers, owners, and decision-makers, when formulating HR strategies.

HR planning should have objectives that meet the demands of the basic stakeholders group involved in people management in an organization. Soft strategic HRM focuses more on managing human relationships, emphasizing job security, continuous development, communication, participation, and work-life balance. On the other hand, hard strategic HRM emphasizes the return to be achieved by investing in human resources for the benefit of the organization. The roles of strategic HRM in achieving organizational objectives are described as follows: Organizational development is concerned with implementing programs to improve the efficiency of an organization's operations and its ability to adapt to change. Overall, the aim is to adopt a planned and consistent approach to enhance organizational effectiveness.

Transformation is the alteration of something's structure, form, and

essence. Organizational transformation, in contrast, involves ensuring that a company can successfully develop and implement significant change programs to effectively respond to new demands and operate in its dynamic environment. The management of an organization's culture is primarily influenced by its leaders, particularly those who have played a key role in shaping it previously. The culture itself is analyzed over a specific time period. People tend to connect with visionary leaders based on their approach to issues and overall expectations. These leaders' actions and priorities are closely observed, often serving as role models for others.

The text discusses the importance of studying necessary or unnecessary behavior in significant programs managed by culture directors. It emphasizes the need for effective working relationships among administration members and how this shapes values and expectations. Additionally, it highlights how cultures can be influenced by the organization's external surroundings, which can vary in dynamics. The concept of knowledge management is defined as a process or practice that involves sharing, acquiring, creating, capturing, and utilizing knowledge within an organization to enhance learning and performance.

Knowledge direction involves storing and preserving the knowledge, understanding, and expertise that an organization has built up over time. This applies to the processes, methods, and systems used within the organization. Knowledge is viewed as a valuable resource. The management of knowledge deals with both the accumulation of knowledge and its distribution. Accumulated knowledge may include expertise and encoded information, such as computer strategies. The distribution of knowledge refers to how it can be transferred from one person to another or preserved in a knowledge archive. Rewards pertain to the design and implementation of fair and consistent programs that

appropriately compensate employees based on their contributions to the organization.

The text discusses the importance of reward management in guiding people within an HRM method. Reward management aims to improve and implement reward strategies, procedures, and habits that support the organization's goals by ensuring it has skilled, competent, motivated, and committed individuals. Talent management is the process of attracting, retaining, motivating, and developing talented individuals. The various processes involved in talent management are not new.

The development of a more consistent position on talent management procedures is what sets it apart. These procedures aim to acquire and increase talent, wherever and whenever needed, through various independent policies and patterns. It is important to note that everyone in an organization possesses talent, therefore talent management should not be limited to a select few individuals. However, those with rare skills and high potential are likely to receive greater focus.

Introduction

This report's objective is to explain the concept of HR strategies that could be implemented by British Airways and how these strategies are applied within the organization. Furthermore, it will analyze how consolidation has impacted strategic HRM at British Airways. As the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, British Airways serves as the flagship airline for the country. Established in 1971, its board merged in 1974 with a primary purpose of overseeing national airline companies that eventually formed British Airways.

These air hoses include BOAC, BEA, and various smaller and regional air hoses. In 2011, British Airways merged with the Spanish air hose 'Iberia' to form a new air hose known as the international air hoses group. As part of this study, I have assessed a range of HR

strategies that could be implemented within British Airways to address contemporary issues that impact strategic human resource management within the organization. The following HR strategies and their application to British Airways are explained below.

Explanation of HR strategies and their application to British Airways

Performance management strategy aims to cultivate a culture of performance within an organization.

The development of interconnected procedures that impact the performance and well-being of an organization's employees in areas such as productivity, quality, customer service levels, growth, and profits are crucial for increasing and delivering shareholder value. This can be achieved by enhancing employee knowledge and engagement. High-performance management systems involve rigorous recruitment and selection methods, comprehensive training and development activities, incentive-based compensation systems, and performance management processes. Progress must be consistently measured. The key drivers, support systems, and culture for high-performance management include decentralizing decision-making to those closest to the customer to continually improve the organization's offerings; improving people's capabilities through learning at all levels, with a focus on self-management and team skills to support performance improvement and organizational potential; aligning performance, operational, and people management processes with organizational goals to build confidence, engagement, and loyalty towards the organization's direction.Ensuring equitable treatment for individuals who leave the administration during periods of change, along with a strong dedication to meeting the demands of the wider public, is a crucial aspect of fostering trust and commitment. These principles are applicable to relationships both within and beyond the administration.

The survey findings from the SWOT analysis conducted on British Airways reveal that during a meeting in New York, none of the employees in attendance could recall the organization's mission statement, which is only a single sentence.

In other words, there is no aspect of BA's mission statement that employees are not expected to know. This demonstrates the difficulty in aligning all resources towards achieving the organization's mission and goals. Consequently, it becomes challenging to manage performance when employees do not feel connected to the organization's objectives. Implementing an employee relations strategy could be an additional approach for British Airways.

The employee relation scheme outlines how goals can be achieved among employees working together in an administration. It defines the administration's purpose and what needs to be changed and done regarding how the administration manages its personal business with workers and different brotherhoods. For example, if the business strategy is focused on gaining a competitive edge through innovation and delivering quality to its clients, the employee relations scheme may prioritize engagement and involvement, which includes implementing programs for continuous improvement and total quality management. Employee relations encompass the approaches and systems adopted by administrations to deal with workers, either collectively through the brotherhood within the administration or individually.

Employee relations scheme, like all other HR schemes, not only varies from the business scheme but also supports it. British Airways aims to enhance employee flexibility in order to achieve high efficiency. However, this goal had negative consequences as the airline faced industrial disputes and worker unrest, which tarnished its image. The work stoppages were largely due to changes in employment terms and conditions, and their impact on passengers was particularly noticeable during peak seasons.

British Airways strives to achieve high efficiency through cost reduction. Cost-cutting measures and outsourcing are essential for reducing expenses at British Airways. The merger with the Spanish airline Iberia aimed

at cost reduction. A target decrease in costs was set for this newly formed company, primarily through reduced labor costs. Wage policy is also a crucial aspect of human resources strategies.

The approach to wage policy differs from traditional human resource management. Having an effective wage policy helps achieve the organization's goals by ensuring that employees are motivated and able to fully utilize their skills and talents. From the perspective of human resources, it is important for the workforce to be highly flexible and adaptable. Embracing a HRM approach to wage scheme likely involves characteristics such as team working and continuous training within the organization.

Payment systems that support these goals will help achieve the objectives of the administration. There are several characteristics of a payment system that contribute to the success of an organization. These include wage flexibility, job flexibility, training, teamwork, decision making, employee needs, recruitment and retention, and evaluation. British Airways must also consider the strategy of selection, recruitment, and HR planning due to the numerous changes it has undergone. The airline experienced significant changes, particularly privatization in 1987 and a strategic turnaround in 1997.

Despite the current situation, British Airways is moving forward by agreeing with Iberia to unify their concerns and align their strategies, as stated by the Chairman in the 2009/2010 Annual Report. The report mentions that they expect to obtain anti-trust immunity from the US Department of Transportation and regulatory approval from EU competition authorities. This will allow them to operate a joint business with American Airlines and Iberia across the North Atlantic. These changes are a result of the company's new international and decentralized approach to resources and strategy.

Analysis of

the impact of the merger on strategic HRM at British Airways.

The merger has benefited shareholders, employees, and customers. The merger has expanded the combined network of both airlines, providing customers with more options. Moreover, the merger has positioned British Airways as one of the leading global airlines, particularly in terms of equipment, allowing them to compete with other airlines and contribute to the future consolidation of the industry. Cost savings are also expected by the end of the year thanks to the merger.

The amalgamation of British Airways and Iberia is seen as an opportunity for the British Airline to reduce costs in the challenging airline industry. By critically analyzing these two airlines, it is apparent that they have few overlapping routes, making them a good match. This merger will enable them to compete effectively with other major airlines in their region. However, the merger has mainly benefited British Airways, while Iberia has experienced job cuts compared to its previous state.

Wages and services were reduced by a certain percentage, leading employees of Iberia (pilot) to plan legal challenges over the merger agreement. They believed the agreement heavily favored British Airways.

Decision

Despite these challenges, British Airways remains the leading airline in the UK and was the designated airline for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mention

  1. Hall, A. ; Jones, A. ; Raffo, C. and Anderton, A., (2008), Business Studies, Pearson Education, Edinburgh, 4th Edition.
  2. Armstrong, M., (2003), A Handbook of Human Resource Management, Aberystwyth, Wales, 9th edition.
  3. https://www.sdbplus.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/british-airways-hr-management-part-2/, sited 12/2/2013
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