Strategic HRM: Analyzing Challenges and Implementing Strategies

This report delves into the critical realm of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), defining its role in shaping organizational structure and achieving long-term goals. The assignment focuses on identifying and explaining key HR challenges faced by businesses, particularly within the...Read More

Strategic HRM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
QUESTION 2...................................................................................................................................1
Part A. Identify and explain the main human resource challenges facing by organizations..1
Part B. Select any 2 of these challenges and analyze the HR practices and strategies that
organizations could or are following to overcome and tackle them.......................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) can be defined as the term that helps in
providing long term direction and thus, assists in creating an effectual organizational structure
and design. SHRM is the function that helps in maximizing the employee’s performance in
regard to undertake strategic objectives. In the present assessment, focus is on identifying and
explaining the main human resource challenges faced by business (Bloom and Van Reenen,
2011). Challenges related to human resources faced within UK have been identified in order to
carry out the particular research and thereafter, implementing certain practices and strategies that
help in overcoming challenges and issues from the organization.
QUESTION 2
Part A. Identify and explain the main human resource challenges facing by organizations
In the current era of globalization and rapidly changing business scenario, human
resource management faces varied challenges that will continue to evolve for future. However, it
is essential for HR department to create value addition to the business and achieve long term
goals. In addition to this, restriction of recession is not over yet and thus, businesses are forced to
take crucial steps in order to retain their skilled workforce (Chen and Huang, 2009). It can be
attained through providing best training and development sessions so that needs of candidates
can be satisfied. Further, HR department of businesses are also trying to maximize their human
resources so that it can help firm to expand and grow exponentially. Also, because of the
fluctuation in economy as well as advancement in local and global businesses, there are varied
changes faced by HR department that affect business operations of firm in the market. In this
regard, World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA) reveals different
HR challenges that are faced by business. By identifying these challenges, effective tactics can
be selected in order to come such problems (Chuang and Liao, 2010). Following are different
HR challenges faced by different organizations working in UK:
Staff Engagement- It is one of the main HR challenges faced by businesses operating within
UK. From the research conducted by different institutes, it has been observed that 2600 senior
HR executives across 14 countries found that employee engagement is the main HR issue faced
by HR professionals of UK. This particular factor was in negligence as compared to other
countries that influences the sales and profitability of firm. For instance: Hilton hotel faces
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challenge with regard to engage their employees within firm’s decision making process and at
the time of carrying out operations (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013). Due to fluctuations in the
economy, businesses are not able to meet the expectations of their workers and thus, growth and
development of employees are hampering. However, if employees are engaged within business
operations enthusiastically then they will take positive action in order to develop business
reputation.
 Productivity- It is another issue faced by businesses operating in UK. Human resource
department of organization is required to make sure that business is operating efficiently
or not. For instance, if it is found that productivity of firm is low, then main reason
behind this is related to poor working practices or lack of human resources. However, the
HR department of Hilton found that due to economic slowdown within nation it affects
the operations of firm and thus productivity decreases up to a great extent (Jackson and
Seo, 2010).
 Retention- It can be assessed that main task of HR is not only to recruit new candidate
but also he or she needs to retain existing talent within firm for the long term. As workers
are the lifeline of any business, therefore, it is essential for enterprise to provide them
required training and expertise so that they can raise their productivity. Retention of
workforce is the main task of HR that can be achieved by fulfilling the needs of every
employee and making them satisfied (Meredith Belbin, 2011). Furthermore, it has been
observed by the HR of Hilton hotel that people in huge number are leaving business since
2013 as the main reason behind that may be insufficient motivational rewards and
benefits.
 Recruitment- It is another challenge that is faced by businesses of UK at the time of
recruiting talented employees. Therefore, HR professionals are required to find right skill
workers from the pool of candidates. Here, proper scrutiny of CV should be done to
determine the ability of candidate against the desired responsibility. For instance,
management of organization is required to strengthen their recruitment process so that
they can prevent productivity and morale from dropping out (Price, 2011).
 Training and compliance- It is a crucial aspect in developing workers in terms of
enhancing education and attaining continuous growth within organization. Further,
providing training to workers in which field they are lacking helps in ensuring the overall
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development of them (Shamsudin and et.al., 2012). Thus, it has been observed that
organizations operating in the UK market such as Hilton faces issues in order to develop
the skills and abilities of workers and for that, it is required to plan proper training and
development session so that best results can be attained.
 Health and safety- It is another challenge faced by HR of the organization that they need
to maintain the health and safety of the workers at the workplace. Further, providing
details regarding health and safety information helps individuals to work at safe and
healthy environment and ensure firm to meet the legal obligations towards both
individuals and business (Gavino, Wayne and Erdogan, 2011). For instance, when a
health and safety issue arises, it is essential for HR to showcase that the business is
required to provide best health benefits to workforce so that desired results can be
achieved. HR is also responsible for providing proper training session to employees
regarding health and safety and thus undertakes best measures to satisfy the needs of
workers (Guest, Paauwe and Wright, 2012).
 Discrimination and diversity- It is another challenge faced by HR department within
business that they are required to develop effective policy regarding diversity and thus
minimize discrimination in order to attain progress towards organizational goals. For
instance, Hilton hotel is required to select skilled candidates and thus they should not
discriminate candidates based on their religion, race and culture. Also, business is
required to carry out disciplinary actions based on firm's policies and further helps in
attaining desired outcomes as per the employment contract (Kaufman, 2010).
 Remuneration- It is the major challenge that has been faced by the HR directors within
UK banking sector. For instance, there are different issues faced by the workforce such as
bonus deferrals, bonus buy-outs etc. Further, another failure of remuneration within
banks is reform regarding pension that affects the need of employees (Kotler and et al.,
2010).
 Worker queries- The HR department of business also faces issues regarding the queries
of employees that can be related to work or any other factor. Therefore, it is essential for
the HR professionals of business to deal effectively with such queries and provide best
pay and perks to employees so that challenges can be overcome and thus best results can
be attained (Kozlowski and Salas, 2010).
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 Change management- It is another human resource management challenge faced by
businesses such as in order to maintain change management within business. Here, it is
crucial for HR to continuously develop and make the business more forward. As change
is an essential part of every business but it needs to be in right direction. However,
employees need to be trained effectively so that they are able to deal with the change
management (Lamond and Zheng, 2010).
Thus, from the above discussed challenges, it can be evaluated that all the identified
issues within business helps in determining that it influences the productivity and profitability of
firm in market. Therefore, it is essential for the HR department of organization to undertake best
methods and practices in regard to overcome the issues and achieve organizational goals (Ruel,
2011).
Part B. Select any 2 of these challenges and analyze the HR practices and strategies that
organizations could or are following to overcome and tackle them
It can be assessed that the identified challenges need to be overcome by adopting
effective strategies and practices so that organizational goals can be attained. Further, the HR
department of enterprise is required to analyze effectual HR practices that need to be
implemented so that it helps in overcoming the challenges in an effective manner. Here, it is
essential for firm to undertake best HR professionals so that they identify the business
opportunities and thus solve the issues of business and achieve desired goals (Sánchez and
Soriano, 2011). The above identified challenges need to be overcome effectively so that success
can be attained within business. Also, organization is required to select skilled candidates so that
they are able to meet the requirements of both individuals as well as business. The challenges
undertaken are employee engagement and retention of workforce so that it is essential for HR
department of organization to find suitable ways to overcome such issues and thus tackle them
properly in order to achieve desired outcomes (Yeo and Li, 2011).
 Employee engagement- It is one of the crucial factor that helps in developing a
corporate vision and attain success within business. However, in order to improve the
performance of business it is essential for the HR department to involve all its workers
within business operations and thus improve the efficiency of both individuals and
business. It has been assessed that UK organizations are stuck in recession and thus the
economy is in recovery stage (Longenecker and Fink, 2013). Therefore, it is essential for
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business to start its growth and development process by investing capital and inspiring
their employees to work hard, putting their talent initiatives so that desired goals can be
attained. It is crucial for firm to assess the different factors that are responsible to
influence employees and thus they leave the organization. Therefore, HR department is
required to determine the needs of workers and then provide them proper benefits and
rewards so that they are able to engage workers within business and thus attain desired
goals. Furthermore, adopting and maintaining best practice in regard of health and safety
or diversity fields. For instance, if business wants to engage their employees within firm
and take active interest in the business to make it wider (Stuart, 2015).
Also, it is crucial for business to provide different motivational schemes such as rewards
and awards in order to make them engage within firm and carry out the activities of business.
Further, management is also required to involve different employees altogether so that they can
overcome the issues and bring new ideas to enhance the future success. Hence, all these factors
help in overcoming the issues and tackle the business operations well. In order to overcome this
issue one of the best solution is that company needs to involve its employees in decision making
process so that they can feel motivated as they are allowed to give their suggestions, ideas and
advice while taking decisions (Newcombe, 2013). Along with this, organizing informal meetings
outside the organization is also an effective technique which includes parties, picnics and dinner.
By using this method HR manager can communicate effectively with employees so that level of
employee engagement can be enhanced. Furthermore, it is necessary to overcome this issue so
management of organization needs to take regular feedback from employees in order to identify
their issues and problems in terms of personal and professional (Chen and Huang, 2009).
 Workforce retention- It is essential for business organization to overcome the challenge
of employee retention by retaining best skilled workers within firm. Here, HR
professionals are required to implement effectual tactics such as providing rewards and
benefits in the form of high payment, bonuses and incentives so that it increases the
morale of workers and thus retain top talent within firm. However, it is essential for
human resource department of business to overcome such challenge because it increases
the cost of business as when any employee leaves the organization, firm is required to
employ new candidate and provide them training that requires huge cost and time
(Jackson and Seo, 2010). Therefore, it is essential for firm to provide proper motivational
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benefits to existing workers so that they do not think of leaving the organization and
perform the functions effectively and efficiently. For instance, it has been assessed that
the main reason of leaving the job is unsatisfactory compensation. Thus, it is essential for
HR professional of firm to overcome such issue by employing effectual strategy and thus
satisfy the needs of clients (Price, 2011). HR manager of organization needs to play
active role in providing best motivational speech to employees so that they can be
encouraged in order to work effectively and efficiently in the firm and thus enhance the
performance to attain desired objectives. Also, it is essential for the HR manager to
identify the reasons of the employee leaving the job so that it could not impact upon the
consumers. Because if any person is in good contact and relationship with the sales
personnel and he/she leaves the job then it might effect the shifting of client to another
company (Shamsudin and et.al., 2012).
Furthermore, it is essential for business to satisfy the needs of employees and involve
them in decision making process so that best results can be attained. However, it motivates the
employees and provides better results to business. Improving wages helps in employee retention
and thus overcome their issues in order to attain best results. Also, implementing workforce
analytics strategies can be used significantly to enhance the impact upon retention challenges.
Thus, it is essential to provide opportunities to employees so that they can competitive advantage
and benefit packages to satisfy their needs. In addition to this, making the hiring process
effective it is essential for business to retain its workforce for a long period of time and thus
attain growth objectives (Gavino, Wayne and Erdogan, 2011). Also, providing additional benefits
such as health and safety at workplace, holiday leaves, insurance and medical facilities attract
employees to work within organization with better strength and positive attitude. Thus,
employing all such methods helps in overcoming the issues of employee retention and thus
attains results in an effective manner. Further, providing priority to workers suggestions helps
them in providing additional motivation that attracts them to remain working within business for
long time. Moreover, annual bonuses and incentives on attaining sales targets helps workers to
efficiently carry out the operations within business and perform their objectives to attain desired
results. Hence, it can be concluded that both employee retention and workforce engagement are
the crucial methods that helps in involving employees within business and overcoming the issues
related to them so that best results can be gained (Chen and Huang, 2009).
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CONCLUSION
It can be articulated from the above study that there are different challenges faced by the
human resource department of organizations. Main HR related issue assessed was of employee
engagement and retention that have been faced by several organizations operating in UK. Also, it
has assessed that main reason behind such issues is economic slowdown and thus, HR
department is required to implement effectual strategies such as inspiring workforce and
providing training in order to overcome such challenges. Furthermore, it is crucial for the HR
department of business to assess such challenges and try to tackle them with full efficiency so
that organizational goals can be attained in an effective manner manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Chen, C. J. and Huang, J. W., 2009. Strategic human resource practices and innovation
performance—The mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of
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Chuang, C. H. and Liao, H. U. I., 2010. Strategic human resource management in service
context: Taking care of business by taking care of employees and customers. Personnel
Psychology. 63(1). pp.153-196.
Gavino, C. M., Wayne, J. S. and Erdogan, B., 2011. Discretionary and transactional human
resource practices and employee outcomes: The role of perceived organizational support.
Human Resource Management. 51(5). pp.665-686.
Guest, E. D., Paauwe, J. and Wright, P., 2012. HRM and Performance: Achievements and
Challenges. John Wiley & Sons.
Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D. A., 2013. Organizational behaviour. Pearson.
Jackson, S. E. and Seo, J., 2010. The greening of strategic HRM scholarship.Organization
Management Journal. 7(4). pp.278-290.
Kaufman, E. B., 2010. Hired Hands Or Human Resources?: Case Studies of HRM Programs
and Practices in Early American Industry. Cornell University Press.
Kotler, P. and et al., 2010. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism: International Edition. 5th ed.
London: Pearson.
Kozlowski, S. and Salas, E., 2010. Learning, Training and Development in Organizations.
Taylor & Francis.
Lamond, D. and Zheng, C., 2010. HRM research in China: looking back and looking forward.
Journal of Chinese Human Resource Management. 1(1). pp.6–16.
Longenecker, O. C. and Fink, S. L., 2013. Creating human-resource management value in the
twenty-first century: Seven steps to strategic HR. Human Resource Management
International Digest. 21(2). pp.29–32.
Meredith Belbin, R., 2011. Management teams: Why they succeed or fail. Human Resource
Management International Digest. 19(3).
Price, A., 2011. Human resource management. Cengage Learning.
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Ruel, M. J. H., 2011. Electronic HRM in Theory and Practice. Emerald Group Publishing.
Sánchez, M. A. and Soriano, R. D., 2011. "Human resource management and corporate
entrepreneurship". International Journal of Manpower. 32(1). pp.6–13.
Shamsudin, A. and et.al., 2012. Framework of human resource planning (HRP) influencing
factors for local workforce supply in Malaysian construction industry. Journal of
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perspective with insights for human resource management". Human Resource
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Online
Newcombe, T., 2013. Employee engagement and productivity biggest HR challenges for UK,
report finds. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/employee-engagement-and-productivity-
biggest-hr-challenges-for-uk-report-finds>. [Accessed on 23 January 2016].
Stuart, R., 2015. Essentials of Human Resource Training and Development. [Online]. Available
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[Accessed on 23 January 2016].
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