HRMG203 - Reflective Essay on HRM Theories and Practices at Kent

This essay is a reflective journal review of Human Resource Management (HRM) principles and practices. It covers strategic HRM, legal and ethical considerations, and the challenges of globalization, innovation, and talent management within the Australian context. The essay explores theoretical perspectives of HRM, including behavioral, resource-based, and political-influence views, and discusses the importance of performance management, employee training, and managing diverse cultures in organizations. It highlights the role of HRM in implementing corporate changes, improving employee performance, and fostering a positive work environment by addressing issues such as racism and ensuring employee safety and security. The reflection also touches upon the need for HR managers to understand and incorporate employee needs and opinions in decision-making and strategy formulation.

Running Head: Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management
Essay
System04104
12/20/2018

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Journal-1
Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Beck, T.E. and Lengnick-Hall, M.L. (2011) Developing a capacity for
organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource
Management Review, 21(3), pp. 243-255.
Human Resource management can be defined as the rules, regulations, policies, practices,
and systems that guide and influence the behaviour of people within the organisation. As I
studied in the first chapter of week one, it was clearly mentioned that human resource
management is an essential management function in the organisation and when organisation
deployed planned policies and strategies regarding HRM to achieve the organisational goal
then it is called strategic HRM. When I analysed the HRM in Australian context then I found
that strategic management decides the success of the organisation that how well organisations
achieve the goals with a well-planned and structured HRM strategies. The performance of the
company not only based on strategic human resource management rather it also based on
some other factors such as managing legal and ethical issues, industrial relations, job analysis
and design, recruitment and selection etc. (Lengnick-Hall, Beck, and Lengnick-Hall, 2011).
While I consider these two main aspects of strategic human resource management then I
found that strategy formulation and strategy implementation are two main and most crucial
functions in any organisation. The Australian human resource management facing three types
of challenges such as challenges from globalisation, Challenges from innovation, challenges
of attracting and retaining people in the organisation.
In the first week of chapter one, I studied about the three theoretical perspectives of HRM,
that are Behavioural view, Resource-based view, and Political-influence view. The
behavioural view describes how the behaviour of an employee influenced by contextual
factors inside and outside of the organisation (Jackson, 2013). The HRM strategy formulated
according to the employees' behaviour pattern. While the resource-based view explores the
ways in which organisation's human resource can provide a sustainable competitive
advantage by focusing on internal resources of the organisation rather than analysing
performance (Albrecht, et. al., 2015). Political influenced view considers the political
interference and influence on the HRM, that is most important to consider according to my
opinions because it is external factors that influence the strategic HRM of an organisation.

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In week two, I studied the legal context regarding HRM. I studied about the law that prevents
unethical practices and behaviour of people in the workplace. Law related to Australian
human resource management prevents any discrimination or sexual harassment at the
workplace and ensure there must be a fair human resource practice in the organisation
(Brewster, 2017). Whatever I observed, racism in Australia is a big problem in many places
where people are working together from different culture and country. The Australian law
should be formulated in such a manner that prevents such types of issues in the organisation.
As an HR manager, what I learned from the classroom, want to implement the law that forces
every organisation to strictly implement the rules and regulations in the organisation and
ensure safety and security of each person in the organisation. Women safety and security is
another issue that can be prevented by the strict HR rules and regulations and punishment for
those who breaches the law. Actually, the role of law in the Australian workplace is highly
contested and somewhere it does not apply to prevent the unethical practices and behaviour
of employees such as racism in the workplace. Although, it ensures that HRM must be
operated within the legal constraints in the different organisations.
Journal-2
Guest, D.E. (2011) Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), pp. 3-13.
The role of human resource management in the present scenario related to formulation of
those functional strategies that help in the implementation of major corporate changes in
order to gain competitive advantage over the competitors (Lee, Lee, and Wu, 2010). I think
the role of performance management in the organisation is so crucial. The success of the HR
department totally depends on how it works in order to improve the employees' performance
and guide them towards goal achievement. It is one of the most complicated functions of HR.
If I will be an HR manager of any company then I focus on several actions such as I will
define clearly the job descriptions to all and select the right people for the right job. As it is
necessary for the organisation to recruit expert people for every job, my focus will be on
recruiting people with multiple skills that help the organisation to meet its objective.
Training and development are also two crucial factors that determine the performance of
employees. Therefore, it should be conducted on regular basis (Guest, 2011). Training and

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development programs help the employees to learn new skills, update their selves with new
technology, and work procedures. As per my learning, I think that it is essential to take care
about the interests of employees and their needs because if they satisfied with the
administration/management, they will give their best to the organisation. Thus, it is essential
for an HR manager to frequently interacting with their employees about their needs. The only
interaction is not enough rather as an HR manager I also consider and will use their opinions
and idea as most crucial information in my decision-making and strategy formulation for the
organisation.
Managing diverse culture in any organisation is a global challenge in the field of HRM. This
is the major issue in Australian companies where managing diverse culture and people is a
tough challenge. As per classroom learning and my own studies about managing diverse
culture in the organisation helps me to understand the challenges, that how organisation face
challenges to handle the different work-life balance. Different people perceive a similar
situation or object in a different way based on their thinking and lifestyle (Jiang, Lepak, Hu,
and Baer, 2012). Thus, in my opinion, it is very complex to understand the behaviour of
people, but a proper balance between work and life inspires and motivate people. That results
in better work performance within the organisation and in their personal life as well. This can
only be possible if the HR manager can understand the different culture and their behaviour
pattern in the organisation.

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References
Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M. (2015) Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An
integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1),
pp.7-35.
Brewster, C. (2017) The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy.
In Policy and practice in European human resource management, 18(20), pp. 16-35.
Guest, D.E. (2011) Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), pp. 3-13.
Jackson, E.S. (2013) Behavioral Perspective of Strategic Human Resource Management
[online]. Available from:
https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/documents/faculty_staff_docs/
SusanJackson_Behavioral%20Perspective%20of%20HRM%20Jackson%20for%20Kessler
%20Sage%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Mgt%20Theory.pdf [Accessed: 20/12/2018].
Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C. (2012) How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.
Lee, F.H., Lee, T.Z. and Wu, W.Y. (2010) The relationship between human resource
management practices, business strategy and firm performance: evidence from the steel
industry in Taiwan. The International journal of human resource management, 21(9),
pp.1351-1372.
Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Beck, T.E. and Lengnick-Hall, M.L. (2011) Developing a capacity for
organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource
Management Review, 21(3), pp. 243-255.
.