STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
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STRATEGIC HRM – SESSION PLAN
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The essence of strategic HRM
Strategic management
The concept of strategy
Critical evaluation of the concept of strategy
Key concepts of strategic HRM
Perspectives on SHRM
Best practice
Best fit
Bundling
HR strategies
Criteria for an effective HR strategy
Case Study
THE CLOUDY NATURE OF STRATEGY
Strategy is
problem solving in
unstructured
situations.
Lester Dignam
Strategy is
emergent and
flexible.
Sean Tyson
There is a gap
between the
rhetoric and the
reality of SHRM.
Strategy consists of
illusions in the
board room.
John Purcell
Lynda Grattan
Strategy is a
pattern in a
stream of
activities.
Strategy is often
fragmentary,
evolutionary and
largely intuitive.
James Quinn
Henry Mintzberg
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THE ESSENCE OF STRATEGIC HRM
• Achieve integration or ‘fit’ between HR and business
strategies is achieved
• Take a longer-term view of where HR should be going
and how to get there
• Decide how coherent and mutually supporting HR
strategies should be developed and implemented How
members of HR function should adopt a strategic
approach
SO WHAT IS STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT?
Is it about long-range strategic planning?
Is it about day-to-day strategic management?
Or is it about both?
STRATEGIC HRM DEFINED
Strategic HRM is the process of
defining how the organization’s
goals will be achieved through
people by means of HR strategies
and integrated HR policies and
practices.
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SO WHAT IS THE
STRATEGIC ROLE OF HR
SPECIALISTS?
SEVEN STEPS TO BEING STRATEGIC
Aware of
business
context
Understand
the
business
Appreciate
how HR
can add
value
See the big
picture
Act as
change
agent
Practice
evidenceMake
based
convincing
business management
case
for
innovation
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SO WHAT ABOUT HR STRATEGY?
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HR STRATEGY AREAS
Overall:
• performance;
• engagement;
• ‘the big idea’;
• human capital
advantage;
• HRM process
advantage
Specific:
• organization
development;
• corporate social
responsibility;
• resourcing;
• talent management;
• learning and
development;
• employee reward;
• employee relations;
• employee well-being.
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EXAMPLES OF OVERALL HR STRATEGIES
The only HR strategy
you really need is the
tangible expression of
values and the
implementation of
values.
We want GSK to be a
place where the best
people do their best
work.
Stimulate changes on a
broad front aimed at
achieving competitive
advantage through
people.
Pilkington Optronics
GlaxoSmithKline
West Water
Maintain competitive
advantage by continuing
to attract very high
calibre people.
Boots
A strong focus on the
overall effectiveness of the
organization, its direction
and how it's performing.
There is commitment to,
belief in, and respect for
individuals.
New Forest Council
Staff who are enjoying
themselves, are being
supported and
developed, and who
feel fulfilled and
respected at work, will
provide the best service
to customers.
Lands’ End
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PERSPECTIVES ON SHRM
•
The universalistic perspective
–
•
organizations should adopt the best approach which develops the
relationship between individual ‘best’ practices and firm
performance.
The contingency perspective
–
•
HR policies must be consistent with other aspects of the
organization.
The configurational perspective
–
is an holistic approach which emphasises the importance of the
pattern of HR practices and is concerned with how this pattern of
independent variables is related to the dependent variable of
organizational performance.
(Delery and Doty, 1996)
BEST PRACTICE
Assumed is that there is a set of best HRM practices
that are universal in the sense that they are best in any
situation
This is questionable
KEY CONCEPTS OF STRATEGIC HRM
The resource-based view
• This states that it is the range of resources in an
organization, including its human resources, that
produces its unique character and creates competitive
advantage.
• Competitive advantage will be achieved if the
organization’s resources are valuable, rare, inimitable,
and non-substitutable.
BEST FIT
• The best fit approach emphasizes that HR strategies
should be congruent with the context and
circumstances of the organization
• Best fit involves vertical integration or alignment
between the organization’s business and HR
strategies
• There are three models: lifecycle, competitive
strategy, and strategic configuration
Often said that ‘best fit is better than best practice’
but best fit models can be unrealistic
Strategic fit
• Schuler (1992:18) stated that: ‘Strategic
human resource management is largely about
integration and adaptation. Its concern is to
ensure that:
(1) human resources (HR) management is fully
integrated with the strategy and strategic
needs of the firm (vertical fit)
(2) HR policies cohere both across policy areas
and across hierarchies (horizontal fit) and
(3) HR practices are adjusted, accepted and
used by line managers and employees as part of
their everyday work’.
BUNDLING
‘Bundling’ is the development and implementation of
several HR practices together so that they are
interrelated and therefore complement and reinforce
each other
HR STRATEGIES
HR strategies indicate what the organization wants to
do about its human resource management policies and
practices and how they should be integrated with the
business strategy and each other
CRITERIA FOR AN EFFECTIVE HR
STRATEGY
An effective HR strategy is one that works in the sense
that it achieves what it sets out to achieve.
• Aligned to corporate goals.
• Set out clear aims.
• Supported by business case.
• Take account of individual as well as business needs.
• Contain realistic and achievable plans for
implementation.
Checking understanding
2 Hotels
• Read the case studies and answer the
questions