Strategic Human Resource Management Report: UK Fast and Holiday Extras

This report provides a comparative analysis of the Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices of two UK-based companies: UK Fast and Holiday Extras. The report delves into the context of each organization, examining their respective HR policies and practices, including recruitment, training, and employee engagement. It highlights the differing approaches of each company, such as the classical and systematic approaches, and hard versus soft HRM approaches. External forces impacting HR decisions, such as competitors and technological changes, are also discussed. The report further explores the role of HR practices, including employee involvement, performance-related pay, and work-life balance. Finally, it examines Ulrich's model, outlining the roles of HR business partners and shared services within the organizational structure. The report concludes by offering insights into how these factors contribute to organizational success.

Running head: SHRM 1
Strategic Human Resource Management

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Context of organizations..............................................................................................................................4
Analysis of HR practices and policies.........................................................................................................5
An analysis of some specific external forces...............................................................................................7
Ulrich’s model.............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
An HR practice plays a vital role in the organization and the main purpose of it to ensure
that the organization is able to attain success through effective using of people. The report will
focus on two companies that are UK fast and Holiday extras. The HR practices of both
companies are entirely different and the report will focus on the different HR strategies of both
UK organizations. HR team and HR manager handle every situation of an organization
efficiently whether it is regarding appraisal, performance management, rewards and recognition
or staff grievance, absenteeism and staff shortage (Delaney and Huselid, 2011). An analysis of
external factors will be focused in this report and the effect of these forces on the HR strategic
decision will be discussed. An HR function comprises the recruitment, selection, training and
development, payroll and relational assistance. The discussion will be made on both companies
regarding HR practices and policies and comparison will reflect in this report to provide better
understanding about the HR practices in different organization.

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Context of organizations
Holiday Extras operates in the UK travel and leisure market selling subsidiary travel services to
outbound travelers and specific packages of selling to consumers taking UK based short stays
breaks. The employees, governments, director, creditor and owner are the stakeholders of this
company. Employee engagement is necessary component in the organization to amplify the
productivity of the employee. It has been analyzed that the holiday extras travel company has
awarded a ten years achievement award in 2016 (Holiday Extra, 2017). It has been done due to
effective HR practices in the company. It has high skilled workers but due to lack of
communication between employee and employer, the productivity is lesser. The feature of their
labor market that is full time. Legal and regulative system such as national minimum wage affect
the organization but the organization get to know that under 18 year, it has to provide £4.05
while more than 25 and over, it has to pay £7.50 per hour. Changes in political system may affect
the organization. Best fir HRM of this organization is that the capability of running operations. it
has started in 1983 by Gerry Pack. Gradually, the growth of the company has improved and it
chase come in the UK 100 best companies.
On the other hand, UK fast is one of the leading hosting and collocation provides that is
specialized in supplying dedicates server hosting and cloud hosting solutions. The customer
services and support of this company is efficient and the management system of this company is
supporting. It provides services to its customer 24*7 which facilitates them to make customer
satisfied from their services. There are so many employees in the company and the age factor
does not matter for this organization and it provides full time job (UK Fast, 2017). Legal and
regulative areas affect the organization in the good manner and create the good image in the

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market. Due to changes in employment law, company is not affected much because it handles the
every situation due to effective bonding with employees. It was founded in 1999 by Welsh
businessman Lawrence Jones and his partner Gail Jones. It has become more popular
organization and received so many awards such as National Business Awards "Employer of the
Year" award and the Institute of Customer Service.

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Analysis of HR practices and policies
HR policies and practices are playing a vital role in the organization. It has been analyzed
that the HR policies and practices of Holiday travel is effective. On the other hand the HR
policies and practices of the UK fast organization are outstanding because the main focus of this
company to satisfy the customer as well as the employee of the company. There are various
strategies that may influence the organization. Classical approach is also considered as the
rational planning approach which defines that the strategy is formed through a formal decision
making process. Holiday travels have followed this strategy to maintain its reputation in front of
viewers. The clear goal and better understanding has been given by Holiday Travels to its
employee for making them clear about the goal of the company and to maintain the role of HR is
integral. On the other hand UK fast company considers the systematic approach in which
strategy is shaped by the social system in which it operates.
Hard approach is the approach which defines that the employee of the company is resources such
as machineries and they have to accomplish the task within time frame. On the other hand soft
approaches in HRM is defines that the employee of the companies most vital resources and they
involve in the important decision making process. It has been found that the Holiday travel is
followed the hard HRM approach in which the main focus of this organization is to recognize the
workforce needs of the business and manage them accordingly. The communication structure of
this organization is minimal and it is required for the HR of the organization to involve the
employee in the decision making and communicate with them for better cooperation (Kumar, et.
al., 2012). On the other hand the UK fast company is followed the soft HRM approach in which
the main concentrate of the company on the need of the needs of the employee such as reward

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and motivation. The communication strategies in this company are attractive and entire team of
the company has better understanding about the aim of the company. Training and development
program are vital for the organization because it enhances the productivity of the organization.
The pay structure of this company is competitive with suitable performance related rewards. The
employees of the UK fast organization are empowered to seek delegation and take responsibility.
The organizational structure of UK fast company is flatter.
High commitment HRM is a set of practices that has the potential to contribute towards
organizational performance. It is considered as the most effective HR practices which are able to
reduce the absenteeism, enhance the turnover of labor and improve the quality of the work and
the behaviour or attitude of the employee towards the aim (Karami, Sahebalzamani and Sarabi,
2015). Work life balance, selective hiring, extensive training and development program,
performance review appraisal and employment security are the major component of the
HCHRM. The role of the line manager in the organization is major because it handles the
employee productivity and able to convey their message to higher authority. The individual is
responsible for managing employees and resources in chase of attaining specific functional or
organizational goals. The HR contribution can be measured by evaluating the number of
employees and their satisfaction towards organization.

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An analysis of some specific external forces
Strategic decision of HR is a vital component of strategic HR management. The
employment market is the place in which employers of the company find out the skilled
employees for the company after evaluating their jobs and educational skills. There can be
various external forces which may lead the company into adverse situations. These external
forces can be competitors, new entrants, technology change and social demands. Competitors of
Holiday Extra is Airport Parking & Hotels Ltd. On the other hand the competitor of UK fast
company is Hostway services and pulsani limited. These competitors are working in same field
and the trust of customer is playing significant role in the competition case. New entrants in
same industry can be the risk for both companies because it may reduce the number of selling
products and services. Technology has become advanced and due to lack of awareness regarding
technology may break the trust of reliable customers. People want satisfaction from services and
if the companies are not able to make them satisfy, it would reduce the trust of customers and
they can switch to other company for services.
The procedure of hiring is an important aspect performed by HR of the company. HCHRM’s 9
HR Practices are defined below which may influence the HR strategic decision within an
organization. The nine practices are:
 Security of employment
 Sophisticated procedure of hiring and selection
 Extensive learning, training and development
 Participation of employee in decision making
 Team working and collaboration

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 Performance related pay
 Performance appraisal and review
 Reduction of staff differences
 Work life balance
These 9 HR practices of HCHRM influence the strategic decision making process of HR
appropriately. Employees are the most valuable asset of the organization and it is vital for the
organization to provide good environment at work place. The main function of HR is to recruit
the right person for right profile and sophisticated procedure of hiring and selection can improve
the efficiency of the work place (Youndt, et. al., 2012). The practice says that the trained
employees are more active that is why the organization should trained its employee to enhance
the productivity of the employee and definitely it will influence the HR strategic decision and the
focus of HR will move on the improvement of the work environment (Grant, 2014). Employee
involvement and participation is major component of the high commitment. Team working is the
platform to make the better decision making and the creative solution. Performance related pay
refers that the HR should take decision by evaluating the two major practices such as higher than
average compensation and performance related award both should be awarded to employees for
their superior contribution in the task. Pays should be competitive to enhance the productivity of
the employees and to retain high quality labor. Performance appraisal, review and career
development are major element of the HCHRM. The performance expectations are increased due
to this element and the mind of the employees are settled towards achieving the target. HR of the
both organization should communicate in concise manner with employees regarding appraisal
for making the strong bonding between organizational performance and HR practices (Purce,
2014). It has been evaluated that the Holiday travel pays low to their employees while the UK

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fast organization pay scale is well structured. The performance as well as the job profile of the
employee hugely influenced the strategic decision making of HR. Work life balance is
considered as the motivation technique in the organizations. There can be some barrier which
may lead the organization in adverse situation such as lack of identification with management
goals, limited investment in training and failure to apply organizational goals. Both companies
can face worst situation due to above mentioned barriers. It has been found that the due to lack of
training in the Holiday Extras, the employee of the company has to face so many challenges.

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Ulrich’s model
Davis Ulrich has introduced this model which is based on the four roles of HR that is
strategic partner, change agent, employee champion and admin expert. The three legged stool of
Ulrich comprises HR Business Partners, Shared Services and Centre of Excellence.
Figure 1: Three Legged Stool
Source: (Theotokas and Kapantais, 2017).
HR business partners
HR business partners are responsible to take decision in the favor of the organization and in this
process they involve employee and management of the business. They facilitate to resolve the
issues in an efficient manner. In the context of Holiday travel and UK fast organization, it is
integral to give proper attention to the employee of the company. It is one of the vital
components of the legged stool which act as change agent. It is the group that builds agendas for
HR of the organization and work together with the seniors of the both company.

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Shared Services
The groups of shared services are liable to handle the day to day activities of the organization. It
defines the responsibility of HR in which the HR of the company are responsible to hire, recruit
and for providing training and development program to the employees of the organization so that
they get knowledge about the objective of the company (Plutchik and Conte, 2011). Along with
that it handles cross organizational synergies, dissemination of good practices and recognition of
administrative activities.
Centre of excellence
It is considered as the small group of HR that is able to handle the specific issues within an
organization. It enhances the transformational services to execute the HR services. Centre of
expertise creates the HR frameworks. HR initiatives has been developed and introduced by this
group. It defines the vital responsibility of HR towards the specialized areas such as employee
relations, compensations and benefits, staffing, diversity, workforce planning and talent
management (Pollack, 2015). These activities are playing a major role in both organization such
as Holiday travel as well as UK fast organization.
Along with that there is a model of Ulrich regarding HR roles which is included Strategic
partner, change agent, administrator expertise and employee champion. These roles are vital for
the daily activities of the operations. A strategic partnership refers a bonding between two
commercial businesses.