Strategic HR Planning: Case Studies, Analysis, and Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of strategic human resource (HR) planning, covering key aspects such as HR strategic planning, PEST analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and risk management. The report examines the major steps involved in HR planning, including assessing current HR capacity, analyzing organizational strategic planning, conducting gap analysis, and implementing HR strategies. It also includes detailed case studies of Harrods and Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, evaluating their HR practices, employee engagement strategies, and professional development initiatives. The report discusses how Harrods increases employee engagement through surveys, leadership changes, and internal communications, and how Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour manages its HR policies, performance targets, and training programs. Furthermore, it explores the importance of monitoring and evaluating HR strategic planning, identifying the issues to consider when implementing strategic planning, and discussing the methods for mitigating risks within HR planning. The report provides insights into how organizations can develop and implement effective HR plans to align with their strategic objectives and improve overall performance.

Running head: MANAGE HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGIC PLANNING
Manage human resources strategic planning
Name of the student
Name of the university:
Author note:
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Table of Contents
Assessment Task 1- Written question and answer..........................................................................4
Assessment Task 2- Case study analysis.........................................................................................7
1) Discussing the activities, used by Harrods in order to increase employee engagement:........7
2) Explaining the ways, through which Harrods can create HR plan in order to accelerate
employee engagement and trust:.................................................................................................8
3) Discoursing the strategies, used by Harrods in order to promote professional development
of the staffs:.................................................................................................................................9
Identifying the methods, followed by Harrods in order to provide non-financial reward to the
staffs:..........................................................................................................................................10
Assessment Task 3- Project report................................................................................................10
Introduction:..............................................................................................................................10
a) Background of the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:..............................................................11
b) The business environment in which Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor is operating their
business:.....................................................................................................................................11
c) Legislations and rules applicable for Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:..................................12
d) Human resource policy, used by the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:..................................12
e) Performance target and expectation related to the personal development plan:...................12
f) Learning, training and development program in the company:.............................................13
g) Maintaining the healthy workplace:......................................................................................13

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h) Monitoring the HR planning by integrating cost-benefit analysis:.......................................14
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................14
References:....................................................................................................................................15

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Assessment Task 1- Written question and answer
1. What is strategic human resource (HR) planning? What is its purpose?
Human resource (HR) strategic planning is one of the major business components, which plays a critical
role in linking the human resources of an organization with that of its strategic planning along with the
mission and vision. With the assistance of comprehensive strategic planning, the organizations take the
necessary steps in order to enable the people to satisfy the future need. In addition, by developing
comprehensive HR planning, the organizations ensure that there are right number of people, with
effective skills and competencies. One of the major purposes of HR planning is that it helps the
management to determine staffing needs and accordingly in order to satisfy the needs. Riley (2014) said
that an effective strategic planning also supports in effective decision making by aligning the aspects of
the people with that of the organizational mission and vision.
2. Discussing the major steps of HR planning?
There are some of the major steps of HR planning, which are as follows:
 In-depth assessment of the present HR capacity is the initial step of HR planning.
Evaluation of current system and process are the key determinants of the HR needs. This
is the way, through which the staffing needs can also be assessed.
 Analyzing the organizational strategic planning is the second step of HR planning. This is
the way, through which the management can understand the number of human resources
required to meet the strategic objectives (Nieves & Segarra-Ciprés, 2015).
 Gap analysis is the third step of HR strategic planning. Reviewing the plan containing the
mission and vision of the organization is very much needed in this context as it will help
in determining the way, through which the future demand can be satisfied.
 Implementing comprehensive HR strategies is the last important step of strategic

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planning.
3. What is PEST analysis? What are the various factors of PEST analysis? What is the importance
of PEST analysis in HR planning?
PEST analysis is one of the major tools, through which the external environment in which an organization
is running their business. Political, economic, sociological and technological factors are the key
components of PEST analysis. Through PEST analysis, the organizations become able to explore the
latest economic trends along with the changes in the preferences of the customers. This is an important
factor in the HR planning as it helps the management to evaluate what is happening outside. In addition to
that, PEST analysis also supports in identifying the opportunities that are available in the market which is
the key of framing future strategic planning (Gannon, Roper & Doherty, 2015). It is imperative to note
in this context that in-depth market research is one of the major factors of PEST analysis which supports
in assuming the latest trend in the market and the requirements of the customers. This is the way, through
which the organizations can frame effective strategic planning to keep the customers satisfied.
4. What is cost-benefit analysis? Discussing the issues related to HR planning which can be
mitigated through cost-benefit analysis. Identifying the cost associated with HR planning.
Cost-benefit analysis is one of the major factors, to be considered by the human resource department of
the organizations in terms of analyzing whether the decisions are appropriate to meet the future objects.
The inclusion of cost benefit analysis plays a major role in determining the opportunity cost. Managing
the economies of scale is the biggest issues in the HR planning (Boella, 2017). Sometimes, it becomes
difficult for the HR department of organizations to determine different types of cost. There lies the
significance of cost benefit analysis, which helps the firms to determine both the tangible cost such as raw
material, manufacturing expenses and labor cost and intangible cost such as impact of the customers on
pursuing the new business strategy, construction of manufacturing plant and the cost associated with the
delivery delays of the product.
5. Discussing the way, through which the risk management method can be applied in the HR

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planning.
Risk management is defined as the process of taking effective steps in order to minimize the risk that can
jeopardize the normal business functionality. It is worthy to mention in this context that the inclusion of
effective risk management strategy helps in controlling any kind of business related issues in a timely and
cost effective manner. There are various methods, which are to be included within HR planning. The
methods of managing risk are as follows:
 Risk avoidance- This is the initial step of lowering the risk by avoids participating in the
risk related activities which may incur accident.
 Risk acceptance- This is the way of taking necessary risk mitigation mechanisms and
thus deal with the risk.
 Regulatory and Compliance- This is the way of executing effective regulatory framework
and thereby lead the people to perform their assigned tasks by following the ethical code
of conduct.
 Pay and compensation- Pay and compensation is the major way, through which the risk
related to negative attitude among the staffs can be mitigated (Al-Refaie, 2015).
6. Identifying the issues that need to be considered while implementing strategic planning.
The issues that need to be integrated within the organizational strategic planning re as follows:
 In-depth assessment of the external environment
 Organizational staffing need
 Identifying the skill requirement and way of sourcing the labor supply
 The degree of productivity among the employees
7. Explaining the importance of monitoring and evaluating the human resource strategic planning.
Monitoring and evaluating are the crucial steps of implementing comprehensive HR planning. There is
enormous effort, being put the management of the corporate entities in order to develop the plan by

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integrating the strategic objectives. There lies the significance of monitoring and evaluating, which can
help in evaluating the extent to which the plan can satisfy the future demand. At the same time,
monitoring and evaluating also help in exploring the new actions that need to be integrated within the
planning (Nieves, Quintana & Osorio, 2014).
Assessment Task 2- Case study analysis
1) Discussing the activities, used by Harrods in order to increase employee
engagement:
Appropriate management of human resources is the key step towards accelerating
organizational productivity. Being one of the famous departmental stores across the world,
Harrods is highly committed towards managing the human resources properly by keeping the
people happy and satisfied (Baum, 2016). The company has taken several steps in terms of
increasing employee engagement. Initially, every year Harrods carries out comprehensive
employee survey in order to assess the perception of the employees towards working in the
organization. This is the integral aspect of the human resource management program of Harrods.
The outcome of survey is used by the HR department of Harrods in order to increase the
degree of trust among the staffs. Changing role of leadership is one of the major steps, taken by
Harrods. A healthy working environment is created in the workplace by encouraging the
employees to take part in the decision making process. The ground level employees are
encouraged to delegate the roles and responsibility in accordance with the business need. There
are some of the innovative strategies, followed by Harrods in order to increase employee
engagement.
Your Harrods is one of the most creative internal employee magazines of Harrods
which involve the new starter list, interview with the key people, charity feature along with the

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crucial competitors. Morning briefing is another creative method of informing the team of shop
floor regarding the current sales statistics and the details day operation. Intranet is another key
method of increasing the employee engagement method (Deery & Jago, 2015). Through this
way, the management of Harrods shares the necessary information with the employees and
enables them to select the aspect that needs special attention.
2) Explaining the ways, through which Harrods can create HR plan in order to
accelerate employee engagement and trust:
Engaging employees is one of the critical ways, through which the organizational
productivity is being increased by keeping the business in the right track. Thus, employee
engagement should be the key priority of Harrods. It is imperative for the company to put the
staffs in the right position. The company should ensure that the right people are in the right
place. The talent acquisition and retention methods are to be aligned with that of organizational
goals and objectives (Baum, 2015). Arranging proper training for the staffs is another major way,
which Harrods should follow in terms of increasing employee engagement. This is the way,
through which the company can keep the staffs motivated by enabling them to satisfy their career
objectives.
In addition to that, through the comprehensive training, Harrods can also provide the
staffs with the opportunity to deal with their weaknesses. Establishing effective value help the
employees to understand underlying need of the company and integrate the strategic priority
within the decision making process. It is important for the managers of Harrods to work with the
employees with the same values which can have a firm impact on developing a successful team.
The employees must be offered with the opportunities to involve in the decision making process.
The senior management of Harrods should allow the staffs to face the impending issues, evaluate

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them and thus take decision accordingly in terms of integrating any kind of negative vive from
the organization (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Acknowledging the employees for their contribution is
another vital way of increasing employee engagement.
3) Discoursing the strategies, used by Harrods in order to promote professional
development of the staffs:
The senior management of Harrods is highly committed towards strengthening the skills
and competencies of the employees and thus enables them to satisfy their organizational goals
and objectives. Talent spotting is one of the major strategies, followed by Harrods in terms of
promoting professional development. It is important to note in this context that the management
of Harrods identifies the talented employees who have largest contribution on the organizational
success. The learning and development department of Harrods arranges the training session for
the new joiners (Pham, Tučková & Jabbour, 2019). In addition to that, opportunity is also being
provided to the staffs in order to promote their career.
Mentoring and coaching are also major mechanisms, provided by Harrods in order to
help the staffs to satisfy their career goals. The line managers of Harrods have the power to
communicate the targets with that of the employees through verbal communication. Harrods
arranges comprehensive training session with the intension of boosting the skills among the
staffs and enable them to meet the business goals. Sales Academy has been launched by Harrods
for the sake of accelerating the sales skills among the human resources. Both on-the-job training
and of-the-job training are provided by Harrods to its staffs. Through this way, the employees
become able to amplify their skills and competencies (Berman et al., 2019). On-the-job training
is most cost effective and relevant ways of promoting professional development of the staffs.

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Job rotation is one of the vital ways, followed by Harrods in order to strengthen the skills
of the staffs. This is the way, through which the employees improve their skills by working in the
different areas of business. In addition to that, multiple types of job opportunities such as face-to-
face customer operation, merchandising, reporting the sales and communicating the online
customers with the intension of helping the staffs to take more challenging job roles.
Identifying the methods, followed by Harrods in order to provide non-financial
reward to the staffs:
Reward is one of the major ways of keeping the staffs motivated. Motivating the staffs is the
utmost priority of Harrods. As the non-financial reward play a major role in improving the
emotional connectivity of the employees to its workplace, multiple types of non-financial reward
are provided by Harrods to its staffs. Apart from extensive benefits package and recognition
programs, ensuring healthy and happiness is the key priority for them. Travelling allowances are
also being provided by Harrods to its staffs.
Every staff of Harrods can avail the ticket loan in order to spend their leisurely time to
the fullest extent permitted. Harrods belief that spending holiday will help in improve their
wellbeing by boosting their energy level (Stewart & Brown, 2019). In addition, the employees
can also access gym discounts and healthcare plan in order to keep the staffs fit and healthy
(Harrods Careers., 2019). In addition to that, effective mental health training is also provided to
the staffs for the sake of promoting health and wellbeing among the staffs.

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Assessment Task 3- Project report
Introduction:
Human resource management is the key strategic activity of an organization as it plays a
major role in framing the competitive edge by aligning the staffs and the strategic objectives in a
single platform. Present report focuses the key aspects of human resource management in the
context of Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor.
a) Background of the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:
Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor is one of the famous five star hotels in Sydney Australia.
The hotel is placed at a very convenient location of Sydney, which makes it easy for the traveler
to access the hotel easily. This is the famous luxury hotel, located in the Harbor precinct that is
facing at the centre of entire Sydney. In this hotel, the travelers can experience a fine
combination of French Art de Vivre and local culture. At the same time, the travelers can also
experience a breathtaking view of the entire city. Located very near to the international
convention centre, the hotel is highly accessible by wide range of travelers (Sofitel Sydney
Darling Harbour. 2019).
b) The business environment in which Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor is operating
their business:
The hospitality industry is experiencing rapid growth with the introduction of key
players. It has been observed that in between 2016 to 2017, the entire rate of hotel transaction
was $1.7 billion (Nieves & Quintana, 2018). High occupancy rate is one of the major aspects of
the hospitality industry of Australia. In addition to that, increased air capacity from the market
like China is playing a major role in terms of promoting the growth of Australian hospitality

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industry. The inclusion of high occupancy rate and increased air capacity is playing a pivotal role
in terms of keeping the hotels profitable. By the end of 2014, the rate of passengers travelled to
Australia was 34.9 million (Hotel Management. 2019).
c) Legislations and rules applicable for Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:
There are various legislations, imposed by Australian government for the hospitality
industry. Fair work act is one of the major legislations, to be followed by Sofitel Sydney Darling
Harbor. This act states the fact that it is imperative for the hotels to create healthy working
environment in the hotels (Wadhwa & Guthrie, 2018). In addition, according to this act
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays must be considered while framing leave policy for the
staffs. According to AHA policy regulation, it is important to follow the minimum wage policy
and frame the salary structure accordingly in order to strengthen the value among the customers
(Aha.org.au. 2019).
d) Human resource policy, used by the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor:
Employees are the key priority of Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor. Comprehensive
organizational culture is being followed in Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor in order to drag a
largest pool of talent. Comprehensive strategic plan had been developed in the hotel in order to
lead the staffs towards proper direction. On-the-job training program is the major HR policy,
followed in Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor (Nazarian et al., 2019). In addition to that, creating
healthy working environment and maintaining cordial communication in between the employees
and senior management are the major policy, followed in Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor.