Strategic Human Resource Management

Executive summary
Previous findings have suggested that human resource management practices and beliefs play important roles in the management of businesses today especially when it comes to planning, recruiting and motivating employees to commit themselves for the organisation. Comes to issues of Therefore, there is a unique relationship between the human resource management practices and techniques employed by an organisation and its overall performance. Certain sets of human resource practices are critical for any organization restructuring and if they are not implemented, they will lead to poor performances.. This paper will examine various functions of human resource management in relations to APS business objectives and evaluate the human resource management aspects of the company.

introduction
Strategic human resources management, alignment with mission achievement, strategic alignment these terms are some of the phrases, which are being used to explain the latest, evolving function of human resources management (HRM). Different people will give different meaning for these terms. Consequently, it is imperative to ascertain from the starting what we are really talking about. Human resources management alignment implies integrating decisions concerning employees with decisions regarding the outcomes a business is attempting to reach the objective of the company in relations to its business targets. (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003) This report will address strategic human resource management in APS Company. The report will take a critical evaluation of the human resource and offer the best strategy to follow.

A critical evaluation of the role of strategic human resource management in contributing towards the success of APS

With human resource rising as the primary asset of an organisation, human resources (HR) management are being faced with new challenges to come up with strategic approaches that can add value to the organisations when sourcing for new employees. To address this issue the human resource have to formulated strategies that will add value to an organisation in pursuit of identifying, recruiting, developing and retaining highly talented employees who can take the company to new heights and provide a competitive advantage to the company (Armstrong, 2006)

Recruitment and retention
Beardwell & Holden (1997) states that; employee recruitment is very important in an organization. It consists of administration, performance and staffing. All these are interrelated activities that are carried out in an organization. Management and staffing activities help in ensuring that employees with right or desired skills are recruited. The employees have also to be in the right numbers desired by the organization. Employee recruitment aims at ensuring that employees are at the right place at the right time. Human resource manager in this case is concerned with ensuring that employees perform their best. Best recruitment processes insure that the organizations get the best staff that can improve and add value to the company. The human resource has to provide better employment terms to retain employees who are experienced in the organization. This will highly help the restructuring processes. (Beardwell & Holden, 1997)

Training and development
Each employee requires more learning in order to improve his /her skills, no matter how best a candidate is, he/she can not be 100% percent qualified. Thus, the human resource management should implement learning management system (Beardwell & Holden, 1997)

In general the human resource management is supposed to come up with training and education programs for its employees. Training can be termed as systematic enhancement of knowledge, skills and attitudes of the needed by an employee in order to perform a given task. Development is the growth of an employee in terms of capability, understanding and awareness. In an organization training and development is important in order to;

1. Develop a workforce that can perform higher-grade assignments

2. Increase efficiency, effectiveness and standards of performance by the employee

3. Keep the employees informed

4. Provide the usual training of new recruited workforce

Employee performance management
The most important aspect of human resource management practice is employee evaluation. The performance of any organisation is determined directly by the performance of the employees. It is possible to monitor the evaluation if the employees of any company via the use of human resource evaluation systems. These systems are done continuously with a view to retaining useful employees. Some organizations, because of their soft approaches, have incurred huge losses due to the fact that most employees are joy-riders in the organisation. These employees are considered a liability to the organisation because they contribute very little for the productivity levels. This means that their cost benefit ratio is high (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003)

Regulatory compliance
In the recent days, human resource management practices have extended its functions to include regulating employees in the organization. The human resource management will have to ensure that employees comply with the company rules and regulations. In addition the manager will also have to ensure that good working relations do exist between the employees. In case an employee breaks the company rules or regulations, then the human resource management has to take steps in disciplining the employee so that he/she can comply. If the employee persist being disobedient to the company rules, then the human resource management can sack him/her if that the only step that remains to be undertaken. Complying with company rules is directly related with improving production. (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003)

Compensation and benefits
Workers need to be compensated for their performance in order to encourage them to keep up or improve on that performance. The moment the human resource establishes the performance of the worker, managers should reward to commensurate with the workers achievement. These will ensure maximum production and effectiveness of the worker; current compensation programs should include a mix of basic pay, equities and variable pay. (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003)

Employees need to be motivated in order for the company to get the best out of them. An employee who is well motivated will easily stay in the organization and be more productive. For this to occur human resource have to attend to the financial and psychological needs of the workers by rewarding them well. Hunger & Wheelen (2003) observers that, better conditions for service and financial rewards are examples of measures applied to motivate employees within the organisation while in some, it could be in terms of annual, leave, insurance or shorter working periods. The human resource manager of the organization needs to come up with good employment policies that are desirable to the employees. It is important that the workers when paid accept their pay package as "fair and just" in order for them to be motivated. (Hunger & Wheelen, 2003)

Propose a strategy you would propose for managing HR in APS showing how it aligns to the published goals

Sound Manpower planning
The best method in which APS Company can directly improve its performance in successfully in relation to its objectives and missions, is through Manpower planning

Human resource management main function is manpower planning. As observed in APS organization, it lacks proper planning in its human capital which has been it undergo costly penalties. Having the right staff, in terms of numbers and skills is a task that the human resource may strategies well. When it comes to sourcing the human resource must source well so that it can get the maximum benefits from its workforce. The human resource has to understand that overstaffing is a waste and expensive to the organisation and does not add any value to the organisation but, instead reduce the competitive advantage of the organisation. (Armstrong, 2006)

In planning of the workforce, an assessment of current and future needs of the organisation has to be taken into account, compared to the available resources together with future predicted resources. Then appropriate strategies can be undertaken to balance demand and supply of the work force. Thus, before sourcing for more workers, the human resource has to take analyse the current workforce profile in terms of numbers, ages, skills, experience, gender, flexibility, forecast capabilities, etc. the human resource then can adjust this for say 2 or 5 years ahead so as to amend for normal employee turnover, retirements and staff movement in accordance with the business plan in relation to the corresponding time frames. (Armstrong, 2006)

The result from this will give the human resource a lot of information on how to come up with sourcing plans that will be able to add value to the organisation. The human resource will have a well "though out" and sound sourcing demand programme for different dates in future which then, can be compared with the rough supply programmes. The evaluation will then show the steps that have to be taken when sourcing in order to strike a balance. (Dainty, 2000)When human resource undertake such workforce planning program it will save the organisation a lot of money at the same time add competent staff to the organisation who can take the organisation to new heights and surpass the set targets.

Developing human resource strategy
Faced with the need to add value to the organisation, human resource need to come up with a more coherent and focused approach in sourcing practices. According to Armstrong (2006) to develop such strategy, two issues have to be addressed.

1. What type of workforce does the organisation need in order to manage and also run the organisation so has to meet the organisation strategic business goals?

2. Which type of workforce programs and schemes must be planned and implemented so as to attract, develop and retain a workforce that can compete effectively?

For these questions to be answered the human resource has to address four key areas of an organisation these are;

• The sourcing culture of the organisation; norms, beliefs and the management way of the organisation has to be structured in manner that it encourages sourcing or recruitment based on merit alone and on any other factors

• Human resource has also to address the organisation structure; this will define proper job descriptions, reporting lines in the organisation and job descriptions.

• The workforce; the human resource has to address the issue of level of skills, management abilities of individual employees and staff potential

• The human resources will have also to address its systems; the human resource should have a workforce focused mechanism that will deliver a plan of workforce selection, training, communication, career development and rewards.

If the human resource need to add value to the organisation in terms of quality and better services then, it has to retain its workforce, reward them, carry out appraisal, open communication systems and then re-examine the organisation human resource management plans. These strategies will ensure that the APS is able to get and retain a workforce which will drive the organisation to new heights. (Armstrong, 2006)

Provide a critical analysis of the tools you use for this environmental analysis to show why these are important to APS


An environmental analysis of the company
They are several tools, which a company can employ when analyzing its environment both internal and external. The most common are STEP or PESTEL analysis procedure. McGahan (2004) This analysis is worth because it determines whether the organization will be fairing well or not. For the purposes of this paper we shall use PESTEL marketing tool to analyze the APS

PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis is used to investigate the vital factors, which affects an industry and the influence they have on a particular company or companies operating in that particular industry. PESTEL is means political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal factors. Political factors entail government policies, which are related to the industry, this includes tax policies, regulations and laws, tariffs and restrictions and other factors. The economic factors include the wider economic performance for example economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. Social factors on the other hand relates to cultural issues which includes health, population growth, demographics, changes in consumer behaviors and other aspects. Technology factors include the adaptation of new available technology and new ideas such as automation, information technology and rate of technology change. Legal factors comprises of legal procedures, licensing, product legal descriptions and other legal factors. (Grant, 2005)

Political factors whereby the company have to deal with the political interferences that may be practiced by the government. According to research, political systems of nations affect the conduct of businesses, for example, some countries practice collectivism while others practice capitalism political systems. For instance in UK, the government practices capitalism in that it allows factors of production to be privately owned and the government performs only limited duties that the private sector cannot perform unlike in collectivism and communism that stresses collective goals. Therefore, APC Company has no restrictions and hence we can conclude that it enjoys good external political environment. (Grant, 2005)

Economical factors which mainly deals with financial forces in the economic environment. Such factors include foreign exchange rates, currencies and global monetary systems like the use of Euro currency, inflation, counter trade, balance of payments, monetary policies, and fiscal policies among others. After carrying out careful analysis of these factors APS Company can determine if the economic factors of the country it is operating in are favourable or not. The economic factors have a significant impact on the market segment of and share of the company. (Kotler, 1996)

Social factors are other factors that the company has to consider before formulating its marketing strategies in relation to the society aspects. Forces within the society such as religion, family, social structure and education may influence positively or negatively the way APS Company will market its products. Social factors affect our attitude, opinions and interests on the way we view products from certain companies. (Kotler, 1996)

Technological factors are another key factor to given consideration before going getting products on the market. Many companies because of the concept of globalization are now experiencing advanced technologies. Globalization has taken centre stage and now many firms have increasingly utilized the use of e-commerce or Internet marketing. The technology of production has continued to develop leading to more premium brands being produced by the company to fulfil the new demands of the customers that keep changing with time. (Hollensen, 2004)

Legal factors are other factors that must be analyzed before entering into a market. The way the company operates in terms of operating rules of law for example how APS Company will have to cope the legal rules in the a country more importantly because it avoids conflicts and will enhance the success of the organization. The company has to be ethical in its practices.

Critically evaluate the ethical requirements for managing human resources within APS and show why this particular area is of paramount importance within a counselling firm.

Ethical norms are the moral standards that help us judge good from bad or right from wrong and living morally. They involve articulating the good habits or character that we should have, the consequences of our behavior on us and others and the duties that we are supposed to follow. As company, treating employees ethically implies being fair to them in all aspects of human management. Basically, ethics and ethical conduct is about being professional and transparent. The NCDA code of ethics has been formulated as a guide to counselors. The code of ethics offers defined principles, which can be used in different situations and settings. The code serves both the careers professional counselors and those who are getting services from the counselors so that they are in a position to understand their responsibilities and rights as consumers. (Grant, 2005)

Ethical requirements stipulates that the Employees relations which are the relationship that exists between the employee and the employer. Or processes by which employees and their companies contract of work needs to be fair to all parties.. A good working relationship is required from both parties to maintain high production in the working place. For the employer to have a good relationship with his employees, the employer has to avoid disagreements with the employees. This can be achieved through, both parties honoring their agreements and the company offering better working terms can achieve this. In conuselling company ethical practices are more important because they will ensure that employees are also in a position to be ethical with the clients of the company. (Grant, 2005)

Counseling is very important in this 21st century when many people want information about personal development and enhancement. However, it is important the a company observe ethics in the profession so that they can offer better services for their clients. Ethics dictates that proper and professional ways be followed when the career counselor in performing his/her duties. (Grant, 2005)

Conclusion
Human resource management (HRM) practices are vital tools for any organisation. To manage the most important asset for any organisation-its human resource-requires extensive research, commitment, financial base and implementation strategic practices. All issues affecting the workforce will be affecting the organisational performance directly. It has been found that issues of recruitment and retention, training and development, employee performance management, and other human resources aspects ar of grave concerns and are usually addressed through effective human resource management systems and are important in strategic processes of any organization.

Employee planning and strategic human resource management have a challenge of coming up with strategic human resource managemnt ways that can add value to the organisation. The human resource has a function of delivering strategy insights in the organisation so as to enable the organisation to be more effective in sourcing, evaluating and motivating employees in this increasingly unstable business environment. In addition the human resource has to continue providing administrative services which are dependable, responsive and cost effective to the needs of the organisation.


Appendix


Chart 1: consultancy industry growth


The Chart compares different types of counselling consultancy and their growth over a span of five years. As shown in the graph, the consultancy services have been on an increase. Source (Hooves, 2007)


A SWOT analysis

In reviewing the SWOT analysis: which are strength, weakness, opportunities and threats; the APS Company can be seen to have these aspects;


Strength; immerse capital in terms of human and financial; also have a well-developed marketing share and aggressive marketing team.


Weakness; current weakness may be inability to have effective management structures which have led to poor management and high turnover of staff.


Opportunities; there exists new opportunities in the market which have not been exploited, the company can exploit those markets. Also, the company can create new products and services for the industry as there is still need for more products.


Threats; APS Company is facing threats from new entries in the industry that are creating tough competition in the industry.


Reference:

Armstrong. M. (2006): Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th edition, (Kogan Page) London,

Beardwell, I. and Holden, L (1997): Human resource management; a contemporary perspective; London; Financial Times

Dainty, A (2000): Improving employee sourcing within construction organisations, Proceedings of the ARCOM 2000 Conference; Glasgow; Vol. 1

Grant, R.M. (2005): Contemporary Strategy Analysis; Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford (U.K

Hoovers.com. (2007) Retrieved 10 February, 2008 on the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com

Hunger, J. D & Wheelen, T (2003): Essentials of Strategic Management, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc


Kotler, P. (1996): Human Resource strategies; 4th European Edition Prentice Hall. Harlow (UK)

Legge, K (2004): Human Resource Management: Rhetoric and Realities, Anniversary Ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan,

McGahan, A. (2004): How Industries Evolve - Principles for Achieving and Sustaining Superior Performance". Harvard Business School Press, Boston