Contemporary Issues in SHRM

This document discusses the contemporary issues in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and their impact on organizational strategies. It explores the four policy issues of employee influence, reward system, work systems, and human resource flow. The document also provides insights into managing changing business needs and promoting employee engagement.

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Contemporary Issues in SHRM
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Student’s Last Name 2
Question 1
Diverse personnel and labour relations activities are subsumed under four policy issues;
employee influence, reward system, work systems, as well as human resource flow (Armstrong
and Taylor, 2014). A cohesive and coherent SHRM system should address the four policies and
should align with the organizational and HRM strategies. In constructing an effective SHRM, I
would come up with organization’s policy that addresses the extent of influence the employee
stakeholders have on matters such as business goals, career progression, pay, working
conditions, and employment policies. Additionally, it is of the essence to work harmoniously
with personnel specialists to make sure that the personnel flow meets the company’s long-term
strategic needs which is to have the “right” number of staff and a mix of competencies (Beer,
Boselie and Brewster, 2015). In developing the SHRM, participation and the mix of rewards
offered should be consistent employee needs, business strategy, management philosophy, and
other HRM policies (Brunetto, Wharton and Shacklock, 2011). Among the problems
encountered in developing SHRM is managing the changing business needs for talents and skills.
Resolving the problem requires that an organization provides opportunities to grow and learn,
recognize and reward good work.
Bibliography
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Beer, M., Boselie, P. and Brewster, C., 2015. Back to the future: Implications for the field of
HRM of the multistakeholder perspective proposed 30 years ago. Human Resource
Management, 54(3), pp.427-438.

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Brunetto, Y., Farr-Wharton, R. and Shacklock, K., 2011. Using the Harvard HRM model to
conceptualize the impact of changes to supervision upon HRM outcomes for different types of
Australian public sector employees. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 22(03), pp.553-573.
Question 2
1. What does Carol see as the role of HR to bring the organizational culture to life?
The role of HR that Carols sees in bringing organizational culture to life is to enable
organizational associates to do their best at work and create an emotional connectional with the
patients or clients (R, 2019). HR is responsible is creating an environment in which the
employees are highly engaged to deliver on organization performance and productivity.
2. How would you make the connection between the culture and the needs of Carol’s
organization? Why would you give it this rating?
Carlo’s organizational needs are dependent on their culture. The Company’s HR’s system
is part of this culture which the organization uses to drive high performance for their patients and
families (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The company’s performance management system,
recognition system, and hiring and selection systems are part of their culture that focuses on
delivering health care for the community.
3. Carol refers to culture as the DNA of an organization. How can HR help to keep the
employees connected to the DNA?

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HR can help the employees keep connected to the DNA by identifying the behaviours
that are key to the company’s success in driving the best experience and customer satisfaction
(YouTube, 2019). HR ensures that employees remain connected to the DNA by driving and
promoting culture through people initiatives.
4. The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton) is one form of measurement of success
in cultural transformation. Can you think of others?
Measuring change in cultural transformation involves measuring three things; the
outputs, impacts, and outcomes. A simple audit of activities and their quality is a tool used to
measure outputs. On the other hand, impacts are measured using internal audits, customer
research, employee opinion surveys, and HR monthly reports. Balanced scorecard measures the
outcomes.
Bibliography
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
R, H. (2019). 190 Brilliant Examples of Company Values. [Online] The 6Q Blog. Available at:
https://inside.6q.io/190-examples-of-company-values/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). The HR leader's role in shaping organizational culture. [Online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm2YJ0Xw5TI [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].

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Question 3
1. In your view what impact on Thi’s health and wellbeing would this event have
induced?
On Thi’s wellbeing, this event will have created a barrier for success by inducing fear,
anxiety, as well as stress and eventually loss of confidence (Guillaume, et al., 2014). The health
manifestations of such an event on Thi include sleeplessness, headaches, depression, and ill
health.
2. You are appointed to interview all persons involved–being Mr. Short, Thi and the
person who witnessed the event. Do you consider that Thi lodging a grievance appeal was a wise
move?
It was a wise move for Thi to lodge a grievance appeal because Mr. Short seemed to
discriminate Thi based on her gender (Boddy, 2014). In Australia, discriminating against
individuals based on the characteristics is illegal and Thi was right to lodge a grievance appeal.
3. What would you say to Mr. Short?
Mr. Short is the company’s CEO. Despite that he observed Thi acting against the
company’s rule, it is not an excuse for him to lose his cool. Mr. Short thus needs to exhibit strong
emotional intelligence as a leader even when he is under stress to foster a harmonious cultural
environment (Nielsen, et al., 2017).
4. What action would you take given that Thi was misusing company property?

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At first, I would issue Thi a verbal warning and if she repeats the misconduct, I would
issue her a formal written warning. In the instance Thi continuously misuses the company’s
property, I would deny her certain privileges or suspend her from some duties.
5. Please summarize the action you would take to resolve this problem.
Resolving the problem would require conducting an investigation immediately to find out
if bullying really took place. In the instance Mr. Short is found guilty of bullying Thi, ethical and
legal measures would be taken against him to make sure he does not bully anyone else in the
future.
Bibliography
Boddy, C.R., 2014. Corporate psychopaths, conflict, employee affective well-being and
counterproductive work behavior. Journal of business ethics, 121(1), pp.107-121.
Guillaume, Y.R., Dawson, J.F., Priola, V., Sacramento, C.A., Woods, S.A., Higson, H.E.,
Budhwar, P.S. and West, M.A., 2014. Managing diversity in organizations: An integrative model
and agenda for future research. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 23(5),
pp.783-802.
Nielsen, K., Nielsen, M.B., Ogbonnaya, C., Känsälä, M., Saari, E. and Isaksson, K., 2017.
Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic
review and meta-analysis. Work & Stress, 31(2), pp.101-120.

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Question 4
1. From what you know, what is your understanding of EV?
Employee Voice (EV) is the means used by individuals to communicate their views to the
employer, and it is the primary way that the staff can influence issues that affect them at work.
2. What are the channels that are used in your experience to facilitate EV?
Some of the channels used to facilitate Employee Voice are trade unions, involving
senior management, an all-staff meeting, staff development, staff intranet or magazine, corporate
social media, and detailed job descriptions (ABC News, 2019).
3. Do you think that EV is a cornerstone of current contemporary workplaces? If so,
why?
EV is the cornerstone of current contemporary workplaces because;
 It motivates the staff by giving them a chance to contribute.
 Empowers the workers by availing them with more information and an enhanced
role in decision-making.
 It improves job satisfaction and management of trust.
4. In your organization, is EV expressed more on a collective or individual level? How
is this achieved?

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EV is expressed on a collective level. The employees are members of unions that
collectively voice their grievances. A collective voice is economically superior compared to
individual voice since it involves collective and majority-based decision-making (Wilkinson,
Dundon, Donaghey and Freeman, 2014).
5. What are your views on employees voicing their opinions about the company on
social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yammer?
Employees voice their opinions on social media and I feel this should be encouraged for
the better good of the company because it shows the management’s trust towards its staff, shows
that the company listens to its customers, it shows good leadership, it opens a brand ambassador
marketing, and it results in engaged customers (Benson and Brown, 2010).
6. Does your company have a policy on EV? Such policies could include Open Door
Policy, Communications Policy or Social Media Policy.
The EV policy adopted by the organization is a Communication Policy. For instance
differences of opinions are handled discreetly and privately, and conservative criticism is
encouraged.
Bibliography
ABC News. (2019). Striking port workers defy back-to-work order. [Online] Available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-11/unions-vow-to-maintain-presence-hutchison-ports-
dispute/6687154 [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].

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Benson, J. and Brown, M. (2010). Employee voice: does union membership matter?. Human
Resource Management Journal, 20(1), pp.80-99.
Wilkinson, A., Dundon, T., Donaghey, J. and Freeman, R., 2014. Employee voice: Charting new
terrain. The handbook of research on employee voice: Participation and involvement in the
workplace, pp.1-16.
Question 5
1. Do you consider an insufficient number of capable and effective leaders in business
to be a problem?
Capable and effective leaders are important to the organization. An insufficient number
of effective and capable leaders in an organization is a problem because such leaders are able to
connect with their juniors, facilitating them accomplish purposeful things collectively that give
the individual contributors sense of personal accomplishment and fulfilment (Radio National,
2019).
2. How important is investing in leadership training and development?
Development is a constant requirement for a leader. Leadership training and development
builds on the individual’s capability in a manner that translates to sustained organizational
performance (Cardno and Youngs, 2013). Enhancing the people management skills through
training and development among the leaders is essential in supporting the engagement of the
employees, thus achieving high levels of business performance.
3. Why is SHRM important in developing leaders?

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Strategic human resource management addresses and solves issues that affect people
management problems in the long-run (Boyatzis, Rochford and Taylor, 2015). As such, in
developing leaders, SHRM is important because it increases the leadership skills by emphasizing
on organizational issues that take place outside the setting of human resource. SHRM assists the
leaders to find solutions to issues such as human resource flow, performance management, and
employee participation.
Bibliography
Boyatzis, R.E., Rochford, K. and Taylor, S.N., 2015. The role of the positive emotional attractor
in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and
engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, p.670.
Cardno, C. and Youngs, H., 2013. Leadership development for experienced New Zealand
principals: Perceptions of effectiveness. Educational management administration &
leadership, 41(3), pp.256-271.
Radio National. (2019). Investing in leadership. [Online] Available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/this-working-life/leisa-sargent/8311802
[Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].