What is HRM?
The policies, practices and systems that influence employees’ behavior, attitudes and performance (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright).
Overview
For some time now, human resource management has become an important part of an organization. Just as the HR department brings efficiency and value to the organization in a fashion where it can strategically change; it should also grow with the company’s strategy.
This paper discusses essential actions for the HR department to develop a framework for its staffing in a modern day environment. This would reinforce HR’s role as a strategic partner in today’s workplace. The focal points of the paper will be: 1) Recognizing key components of a strategic HR department, 2) coordinating an HR structure based on HR strategy, and 3) choosing between internal versus external HRM functions to meet the organization’s needs. Also, this paper will address important steps in staffing and retaining employees, relationships.
Background
The HR staffing function includes more than just the responsibility for recruiting, hiring, and the compensation of the organization’s employees. Its function also entails the training and development of these employees. Furthermore, it has other valuable responsibilities to the organization such as being responsible for the discipline and termination of employees. More than ever, HR departments are equipped to offer more to organizations than just the traditional record-keeping, payroll and employee benefits administration. Some organizations have even allowed the HR department to become responsible for major policy decisions and legal compliance. Today’s typical HR department should perform duties in three major areas:
• Transactional work that is administrative and primarily for the benefit of individuals
• Tactical work that is solution- focused and primarily for the benefit of employee workgroups
• Strategic work that is long term links to one or more business goals, involve multiple solutions and benefits specific business units or the entire organization (SHRM).
Staffing
An HR department that staffs its organization strategically to meet its needs should understand that there are certain elemental necessities of a strategic HR department. Key components for staffing a strategic HR department to meet the goals of the organization include:
• Deciding what HR duties should be performed internally or externally.
• Developing staff members with resources needed to perform well.
• Evaluate key indicators of staffing effectiveness.
• Developing a Framework for Strategic HR Staffing
• Choosing a structure for the HR department
• Determining which HR responsibilities are to be sourced internally or externally.
Understand the characteristics of a strategic HR function
HR departments that want to match their strategy to its organization’s own strategy usually:
• View the transactional aspects of HR as an important—but not a core—competency.
• Outsource administrative and transactional HR work to focus on strategic HR work
• Make significant investments on behalf of the organization to attract and retain top talent using effective employee recruitment and training programs.
• Create an aligned HR structure based on HR strategy
There are many ways to structure an HR department to meet its organization’s goals. The selection should be based on a variety of considerations. These considerations include the extent of organizational impact, technological changes in its industry, the resources available to the HR department, and the HR strategies used by competitors.
Many employers use a combination of these HR strategies. Strategies widely used to structure the HR department include:
• Personnel strategy.
• Business partner strategy.
• Call center strategy.
• Centers of excellence strategy.
Consider internal versus external HR responsibility sourcing
Although conducting business in the U.S. requires many human resource functions, some HR functions are more important than others to the organization’s business strategy. HR staffing decisions should agree with its organizational operating strategy and needs to be evaluated on a risk-versus-reward basis in deciding what activities should be utilized internally or outsourced for better efficiency. Most activities that offer the most value to the organization should be handled internally using qualified HR professionals, whereas low-value HR duties are good for outsourcing. Organizations seem to prefer to maintain control over the following HR responsibilities, rather than to outsource them to a third party:
• Performance management.
• Employee communication plans and strategies.
• Policy development or implementation.
• Strategic business planning.
Conversely, these HR activities that are primarily transactional or administrative are prime candidates for outsourcing:
• Payroll administration.
• External recruitment.
• Relocation.
• Benefits administration.
Staffing-Retained HR Functions (Retention)
Recruiting and retaining employees does not begin or end with hiring and should be an organization’s top priority. Getting the right people on the bus” should result in better employee performance and long term business success. General Mills (GM) provides each new hire with a mentor to help them acclimate to the organization. GM believes that every employee deserves a good boss because “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers” The basic concept for our exemplars are expressed with the motto, “start right and don’t stop.”
Turning employees into assets of the organization should be a major factor in its strategy. To ensure that retention is handled efficiently, HR managers and staff should possess or should acquire competencies associated with strategic HR performance in order to align with the organization’s strategy.
Identify HR competencies for strategic human resource management
Competencies of the HR department’s staff.
Competencies are individual characteristics, including knowledge, skills, abilities, mindsets, feelings and ways of thinking, which, when used with the appropriate roles, achieve a desired result (SHRM). An awareness of the competencies that contribute to an HR department’s efficiency allows a measurement of strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s staff. These measurements identify a way for employees to grow across the organization.
Some strategic identified competencies are listed below:
• Human Resource Expertise.
• Relationship Management.
• The ability to manage interactions to provide service and to support the organization. Consultation.
• The ability to provide guidance to organizational stakeholders.
• Communication.
• The ability to effectively exchange information with stakeholders. Global and Cultural Effectiveness.
• The ability to value and consider the perspectives and backgrounds of all parties.
• Ethical Practice.
• HR department diversity.
These competencies should be developed and demonstrated by HRM Managers at all levels.