Strategic Human Resource Management Report

This report analyzes strategic human resource management (SHRM) using David Guest's model, which comprises six dimensions: HRM strategies, practices, behavioral, HRM, performance, and financial outcomes. The report applies this model to Asda, a UK-based retail organization, assessing Asda's HR roles, structures, and priorities. It examines both internal (operational efficiency, customer service) and external (economic impact, technological adaptability) influences of Asda's HRM practices. The report concludes by projecting Asda's changes over the next three years and the resulting impact on its HR function, including increased workforce planning, induction programs, and training to adapt to technological advancements and evolving business processes.

STRATEGIC HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Executive Summary
The report presented on Strategic human resource management is mainly focussed
towards HR models and their roles that are played in an organisation to increase the effectiveness
in the work. The report will make the concept clear by applying the Guest model of HRM
including six dimensions on which the entire HRM related practices and their roles along with
outcomes is based. Besides this, the report will analyse various implications of Guest model on
Asda, a retail organisation based in UK. The company is efficient in HR aspect as it has more
than 170000 employee. The said firm use to focus highly on its employee aspect and take them
as a valuable asset for enterprise. Further, the report has discussed various internal and external
impacts which have come up due to the application of HR practices on Asda. Finally, the report
has discussed about envisaged changes that might occur in company in next three years along
with a discussion of HR roles in this change.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Key model of HR roles, structures and priorities...................................................................1
Assessment of role, structure and priorities of HR function..................................................2
Internal and external influence...............................................................................................4
Envisaged changes in next three years and its impact on HR function .................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
Reflection ........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The Strategic human resource management is a modern concept in the present scenario
which includes dynamic environment. The SHRM has abolished the traditional concept of
personnel management and replaced it with various new dimensions. The concept of strategic
HRM helps in performance of business organisations with a major focus on developing present
and future state of company (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2012). The present report is based on
the SHRM where models of HR will be discussed in context of Asda which is a retail firm of UK
and use to operate in various parts of world. The report will asses the role and structures with
application of HR models along with its influences on HRM practices.
The report is based on primary and secondary methods of research where for secondary
researches various books and journals have been referred. Whereas, for primary research, various
HR personnels of said company have been consulted to carry out the information on mentioned
topic in more clear terms. The process conducted with the help of both type ODF research
contributed in collecting more accurate and relevant information.
Key model of HR roles, structures and priorities
There are various models of HRM in which various roles and structures related with HR
is done (Hubbard, Rice and Galvin, 2014). In this scenario, David guest's model of HRM is
useful which describes 6 different dimensions. These dimensions are mentioned below: HRM strategies- The HRM strategies expresses different plans that are made by HR
department of any organisation which helps in competing in market. Besides this, HR
department of companies make strategies of recruiting skilled personnels, their welfare
and also related to their attrition. All functions are needed to be handled in proper way. HRM practices- The HRM practices include various roles that are fulfilled by HR
department. In this practice, various functions are involved which is also related with
legal practices by complying with required acts and legislations at workplace
(Ackermann and Eden, 2011). Behaviour outcomes- The behaviour outcomes of HR is the result that may come due to
application of different practices on employees. These behaviours may be either positive
or negative which depends on both employers and employees.
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 HRM outcomes- The HRM outcomes is related with various results that are obtained due
to applied functions and operation of company. The HR department of organisations use
to execute functions of recruiting, selecting, paying wages etc. which leads to positive or
negative outcomes depending on effectiveness of HR department. Performance outcomes- The performance outcome is related with efficiency of
employees that can be improved by providing training and development to workers as
per their need (Keupp, Palmié and Gassmann, 2012). Besides this, companies use to
arrange various methods of motivational techniques so that staff can improve their
performance level.
 Financial outcomes- The financial outcomes implies the quantitative results that are
gained in the form of profits, returns on investments etc. Increase or decrease in these
results fro efficiency of HR which targets on improving the performance of workers.
All mentioned dimensions attempts to new approaches and does not take into account any
of the personnel management perspective. The six dimensions as proposed by David guest
implies various roles and structures of HR (Bloom and Van Reenen, 2011). this model also
reflects the Unitarianism approach where employees are taken as a family of company and is
completely against any trade unions at workplace.
David guest also mentions 4 policy goals which includes strategic integration, high
commitment, high quality and flexibility. The strategic integration connotes the strategies that
are made to enhance the quality of performance in organisation by means of integration with
other firms. The high commitment refers to the level of dedication which is devoted by
employees and enterprise with various strategies formulated by human resource department.
Whereas, the quality aspect is the vital factor that encourages the entities to focus on maintaining
quality in their work. The HR department of business firms use to make various plans that can
improve quality of performance in workers (Knowles, Holton III and Swanson, 2014). While the
flexibility of a company implies the ability of a firm to adopt various changes that occur in
business environment. The HR use to impart training to its staff so that they can cope with
changes occurring in the surroundings.
Assessment of role, structure and priorities of HR function
The Asda follows a particular structure of management in which all personnels of
business are placed according to their skills and qualifications. In top level, it includes all board
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of directors who are entrusted with taking important decisions in business that are related with
employees and business growth. Below them, the middle level management comes which
comprises of various chairman, managers of different departments and divisional heads. The last
level of management is composed of different supervisors who use to tackle employees directly
by managing them (Ployhart and Moliterno, 2011). Hereby, the mentioned firm attempts to
manage the whole company and the HR department use to lay down various policies and norms
that can guide all staff. According to guest model, cited enterprise's HRM use to work in various
ways which can be described in following ways:
 HRM strategies: Asda is a company that use to work in highly competitive environment.
The major focus is laid by company in proper workforce planning so that maximum
success can be achieved. For this, company use to make proper audit of departments so
that need of employees can be analysed. Thus, the HR department becomes able to
conduct recruitment process by selecting right number of candidates.
 HRM practices: As mentioned above, the major focus is laid upon recruiting skilled
workforce, the HR department of company also ensures proper induction of new joined
workers to enhance their familiarity at workplace (Effective recruitment and selection,
2016). This includes its 'Best welcome' practice that is arranged by HR department which
helps in making new workers comfortable in new environment and allows them to
interact with other employees.
 Behaviour outcomes: The cited firm use to focus on shaping the appropriate behaviour of
employees at workplace. For this, the management use to structure various norms and
regulations that can help in shaping the behaviour of employees in organisation. Further,
the it helps in maintaining the discipline in the environment with creation of positive
work culture.
 HRM outcomes: The practices of HR in Asda helps to meet various objectives of
business organisation. Various plans that are formulated by HR department is based on
focussing employees welfare and reducing their turnover from company (Gruman and
Saks, 2011). Cited firm is able to manage its more than 170000 employees and is
intending to expand its services more which reflects the potential of HR practices in said
entity.
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 Performance outcomes: The aforesaid enterprise gives a range of opportunities to develop
the career of its all workers. The company use to impart training and development to all
staff as per their needs and also invests a large sum to support in qualification of future
leaders of Asda. For instance, the said organisation use to provide a degree in George
retail foundation and also launched an apprenticeship scheme.
 Financial outcomes: Due to best HRM practices that are followed in cited retail firm
helps in gaining the results in positive way. Further, due to organisation's various
programmes it has been successful in reducing the turnover rates of workers (Priem, Li
and Carr, 2012). This has helped the enterprise in increasing the performance of company
and increasing their revenues.
Internal and external influence
With the help of application of different models and practices of HRM Asda has been a
successful brand in the market. Due to the implementation of above discussed model, the
mentioned entity has been a prosperous brand both internally and externally. In context of
internal influence the impacts can be seen in operations and services of customers by firm.
Whereas in case of extrinsic influence, the effects are apparent in company's performance in
context of economical and technological growth.
Internally, the company has managed its all operations in a cost effective way due to
which the organisation is able to sell goods at cheaper rates. The cited enterprise is able to make
profits by achievement of effectiveness in all its operations (Audebrand, 2010). The entity has its
numerous physical stores as well as online presence due to which customers use to make
purchase from home. This has enabled the firm to make more profits along with large customer
satisfaction. In addition, the aforesaid enterprise use to deal in a large number of products ranges
due to which it ensures that different segments of customers can be served. The quoted
organisation has good relations with its suppliers as well which helps in mainlining its profit
making ability.
Externally, the company has made its popularity and contributed in economic
development by generating more employment opportunities. Moreover, due to various practices
of HRM, the mentioned firm has been able to keep its operations cost effective which resulted in
decreasing the costs of products and increasing the number of consumers and profits. On other
hand, due to timely training and development sessions arranged by Asda, its employees are
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easily adaptable to technical changes that are taking place at a faster pace in the external
environment (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010). Moreover, the HR department has also made all
workers enough able to cope up with the changes taking place in environment and work with full
efficiency. This has made the profits and revenues of company more. Apart from the, due to
effective HR practices, the organisation has always maintained required safety standards in all its
foods. This has helped in making more brand loyal customers for enterprise.
Envisaged changes in next three years and its impact on HR function
In next three years Asda will be one of the major retail firms with large number of
customer base along with more returns on investment. Further, the cited entity will be able to
make more expanded services with increased number of products to deal. Recently, firm has
launched various service among which it has opened cafes also. By this, the entity use to offer
cup of coffee along with meals which can be enjoyed by customers along with a good shopping
experience. So, in future, the enterprise will be able to come up with such innovative ideas that
can increase the possibilities of making profits to a great extent (Keupp, Palmié and Gassmann,
2012). With all these envisaged changes, the role of human resource department will enhance to
a great extent. With the vision of increasing the services of organisation in various products,
there will be need of more number of employees. Therefore, HR department will have to make
audit for various departments so that correct number of required workforce can be determined.
After this, for all new staff, there will be needed a proper induction programme. This will help
them in increasing familiarity of workers with workplace and they will be able to grasp the
culture of company quickly. Moreover, with the advancement in time, technological changes will
also occur to a large extent which will necessitate firm to adopt modern techniques replacing the
obsolete ones. Thus, the need of training for staff will also enhance so that they can handle all
new machines and tools in efficient manner. Apart from this, there will be changes in business
processes and attitude of employees which will bring changes in forms of trade unions as well
(Hubbard, Rice and Galvin, 2014). Thus, HR department will have to lay down new policies as
well that can keep employees satisfied. This will help in reducing possibilities of conflicts and
workers' turnover rates.
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CONCLUSION
The report is based on Strategic human resource management in which various aspects of
HR roles and their structures have been discussed. The report has mainly focussed on HR model
which is described with the help of applying guest model. The model has implied six different
dimensions of HRM according to which the companies use to administer their large ranges of
work. Further, to understand the concept more clearly, Asda company is taken as a chosen
organisation which is a retail firm. The report has discussed various functions that HR
department of said entity use to perform for achieving best outcomes. Moreover, it is concluded
that the company can become a very successful brand in next three years which will enhance the
responsibility of HR as well. Besides this, the mentioned business enterprise will be able to make
more profits with the help of its ability to cope with changes.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Ackermann, F. and Eden, C., 2011. Strategic management of stakeholders: Theory and practice.
Long range planning. a44(3), pp.179-196.
Audebrand, L.K., 2010. Sustainability in strategic management education: The quest for new
root metaphors. Academy of Management Learning & Education.9(3). pp. 413-428.
Bloom, N. and Van Reenen, J., 2011. Human resource management and productivity. Handbook
of labor economics. 4. pp. 1697-1767.
Cinquini, L. and Tenucci, A., 2010. Strategic management accounting and business strategy: a
loose coupling?.Journal of Accounting & organizational change. 6(2). pp. 228-259.
Gruman, J.A. and Saks, A.M., 2011. Performance management and employee engagement.
Human Resource Management Review. 21(2). pp. 123-136.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E., 2012. Strategic management cases:
competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning.
Hubbard, G., Rice, J. and Galvin, P., 2014. Strategic management. Pearson Australia.
Keupp, M.M., Palmié, M. and Gassmann, O., 2012. The strategic management of innovation: A
systematic review and paths for future research. International Journal of Management
Reviews. 14(4), pp.367-390.
Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F. and Swanson, R.A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive
classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.
Ployhart, R.E. and Moliterno, T.P., 2011. Emergence of the human capital resource: A multilevel
model. Academy of Management Review. 36(1). pp. 127-150.
Priem, R.L., Li, S. and Carr, J.C., 2012. Insights and new directions from demand-side
approaches to technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management
research. Journal of management. 38(1). pp. 346-374.
Online
Effective recruitment and selection. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/asda/effective-recruitment-and-selection/human-
resource-management-hrm.html#axzz4SFAbhU4r>. [Accessed on 8th December 2016].

Reflection
The report constructed on Strategic human resource management implies various aspect
of HRM in context of modern business world. For this report, I have gone through various
challenges as well. The report has been made with the help of primary and secondary method of
research. For the secondary method of research, I have gone through various articles, books and
journals. This has helped me in collecting relevant information about HRM roles and Guest
model and its effectiveness in the present context. Further, I met with the HRM personnels of
Asda company as well to meet the need of primary research and collected fresh information.
By collecting information about topic, my knowledge about various roles of HRM, its
importance etc. developed. Further, by meeting with HR personnel of Asda, my interpersonal
and communication skill have improved. This also helped me in making links with different
professionals of the business industries. While on other hand, due to lack of time I was unable to
collect more detailed information about company's processes. Moreover, due to lack of funds, I
was unable to carry out the extensive research on the mentioned topic. For making improvements
in this weakness, I will adopt a planned approach for next researches so that whole study and
research findings can be done in proper manner.
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