HRM Report: Westpac Case Study - Strategic HR Planning and Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Westpac's Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, focusing on the alignment between strategic organizational planning and human resource planning. The report begins with an executive summary, followed by an introduction outlining the ...Read More

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Managing people and Organisational Behaviour

HRM 1
Executive Summary
The increased competition and globalisation has led the management of the entities of today
the responsibility to formulate and establish efficient strategic objectives in light of the business
environment of the enterprise. One of such chief business strategic objectives is the human resource
planning and implementation. The experts have clearly defined a direct relationship between the
efficiency of the human resources of an entity and success and growth of the company.
The human resource planning itself is a comprehensive subject and requires dedicated efforts,
time, financial and other resources. The case study of Westpac has been taken into consideration to
shed light on the various aspects of the human resource planning and the impacts of the same on the
entity. Westpac New Zealand was established in the year 1861 and is engaged in the provision of
business, consumer and institutional banking services, insurance services, wealth administration and
wealth management services to the varied range of customers across New Zealand and Australia. The
data has been collected from primary source that is the case study of Westpac and the secondary
sources in the form of books and journals that enable to gain an understanding of the HR planning in
detail.
The purpose of the report is to evaluate the effectiveness of the HR planning process at
Westpac and examine the relationship with that of SO planning. On evaluation, it has been found that
there are a number of key drivers and challenges in the HR planning and process. In addition a strong
HR planning and process aid the entities to yield the maximum results of the human resources assets
of the enterprise, leading to long term growth and success.
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HRM 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................3
2. Findings and Analysis........................................................................................................3
2.1 The relationship between Strategic Organisational Planning and Human Resource
Planning..................................................................................................................................3
(a) Evaluation of relationship of Strategic Organisational Planning and Human
Resource Planning practices used by Westpac..................................................................3
(b) Potential challenges for HR professionals of the Westpac in the in alignment of
the Strategic Organisational Planning and Human Resource Planning.............................4
2.2 Human Resource Planning process and methods.............................................................5
(a) Analysis of the effectiveness of the Human Resource Planning practices used by
Westpac..............................................................................................................................5
(b) Analysis of the potential challenges faced by the HR professionals during the
planning of the manpower requirement by Westpac..........................................................5
2.3 Developing High Performing and Global Mind set Employees and Managers...............6
(a) Suggestion on application of a relevant model in order to develop a high performing
work team for multi-cultural workplace............................................................................6
(b) Suggestion on how Westpac can apply a global mind set model in developing a
global mind set workforce..................................................................................................6
3. Conclusions............................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8
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HRM 3
1. Introduction
With the enhanced industrialisation and globalisation, the demands of market competition have
been consistently placing pressure on the organisations across the globe to enhance the efficiencies of
the organisational operations and be consistently responsive to the stakeholder’s needs (Zhu, Wang &
Bart, 2016). Human resource management is regarded as one of the key measures that aid in
developing the strategic responses to these pressures (Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey & Saks,
2015). A substantial body of research has supported the idea of the positive relationship between the
effective human resource planning and the competitive advantage over the competitors (Noe,
Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright, 2017).
The following work is aimed as evaluating the various aspects of the relationship between the
strategic planning process and the human resource management. The case study of the Westpac has
been taken into consideration for the said evaluation. Westpac was established in the year 1817 and is
popularly known as the first bank of Australia, and commenced its operations in New Zealand in the
year 1861.
The first segment of the report will evaluate relationship between the Strategic Organisational
Planning and Human Resource Planning, followed by examination of the Human Resource Planning
process and methods in the second segment. In addition, the work will shed light on the methods
adopted in the human resource planning process. The last segment will suggest on the application of
the various models for the development of the High Performing and Global Mindset Employees and
Managers. Further, the work will conclude on the effectiveness of the overall human resource
management within Westpac.
2. Findings and Analysis
2.1 The relationship between Strategic Organisational Planning and Human
Resource Planning
“Strategic Organisational Planning “refers to the set of activities employed by the entity for the
attainment of the long term goals and objectives (Arend, Zhao, Song & Im, 2017). These activities are
centred on the growth of the entity, long-term survival, creation of value and gaining the competitive
advantage. “Human Resource Planning” is referred to as the set of the activities that provide for the
anticipation and movement of people, in and out of the organisation (Bailey, Mankin, Kelliher &
Garavan, 2018). In simple words, the processes aid the managers in the effective deployment of the
human resources.
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HRM 4
(a) Evaluation of relationship of Strategic Organisational Planning and Human
Resource Planning practices used by Westpac
The basic aim of the HR planning is to forecast the demand and supply in line of the strategic
objectives of the company and fill the gaps thereon (Reilly & Williams, 2016). In the given case study
of Westpac, there is a strong alignment of the Strategic Organisational Planning and Human Resource
Planning practices. The reasons are explained as follows.
Reason 1
The first reason is explained as follows. The first chief strategic organisational goal of the bank
is known as the “workforce revolution.” to consistently build an efficient workplace, while focussing
on strengthening of the skills of the workforce. Further, the entity aims to indulge diverse set of
workforce at the workplace. The alignment of the strategic objectives of the entity and the human
resources is evident in the following ways. Firstly, the company has employed a large base of 40,000
employees for the provision of various services namely the banking, insurance and consultancy
services to whopping 13 million customers in various regions. The company was awarded as the
Diversity Leader in 2015. The gender diversity is quite evident in the top executive positions with a
ratio of 50-50 among men and women.
Reason 2
The second reason that depicts strong alignment is described as follows. The second strategic
organisational goal is to empower its workforce in terms of on the lines of innovative practices and
enhanced means of working. In terms of innovative practices, the HR planning must be done on the
lines of the forecasting of demand and supply of the labour possessing technical skills that are
required to carry on the advanced operations of the entity, depending on the introduction of the
technological reforms in the Westpac. Further, innovatiove HR practice must be introduced to retain
the highly skilled employees. Some of the key policies of the company that enables efficient working
to the employees are the offering of flexible working options, working from home, variety of leaves
being offered and mobile working as well. Some of the leaves that are being offered to employees
taking into account their individual needs are the parental leave, wellbeing and lifestyle leave, grand
parental leave and others. In addition to the above, the Human Rights Position Statement of the entity
is aimed at protection of the human rights of the workforce. Thus, it is evident that the organisation is
consistently innovating with the enhanced working measures to get the maximum work yield from the
employees as well as taking care of their individual needs.
Thus, it can be stated that HR planning is conducted in a way that depicts a strong alignment of
strategic objectives and human resource planning within Westpac. The positive outcome of the said
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HRM 5
string alignment is that the second largest bank in New Zealand and also serves eminent customers
such as the New Zealand government
(b) Potential challenges for HR professionals of the Westpac in the in alignment of the
SO Planning and HR Planning
While planning for the human resources taking into account the strategic objectives, the HR
professionals of the Westpac bank might face the following two key challenges.
Challenge 1
The first challenge is introduction of a new business process in the enterprise (Binder, 2016). As
the strategic objectives of the entity change with the change in the business environment of the entity,
consistent alignment of the same with the human resource department is one of the key challenges. It
is necessary to strike a balance between business and the human resource planning. Some of the key
practices where the organisational goals must be adhered to are the recruitment of the workforce,
learning and development of employees, protection and implementation of the HR information
systems and developing the organisational teams (Chowhan, 2016). In addition to the above, the
leaders of the organisation must take the initiative to inform and explain the employees about the
current and future business strategy, record the current capabilities of the employees and the future
capabilities required for a business process, and must also draw a road map to achieve the same.
Challenge 2
The second key challenge that the HR professionals of the Westpac might face is to create an
overall positive work environment and retain the high value workers of the enterprise. It is important
to provide the employees with the career advancement opportunities (DeCenzo, Robbins & Verhulst,
2016). In order to retain the talented pool of personnel it is necessary to organise different initiatives,
workshops leading to learning and development opportunities to build the capability of the staff and
yield maximum potential of them. If the HR planning is not done efficiently, there wopud be shortage
or excess of the employees possessing certain skills, and the strategic objectives of the company
would not be achieved by the entity.
2.2 Human Resource Planning process and methods
(a) Analysis of the effectiveness of the Human Resource Planning practices used by
Westpac
The HR planning practices used by Westpac are very effective, the reasons for the same are
described as follows.
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HRM 6
Reason 1
The first reason is that the environmental scan forms an essential component of the workforce
planning process within the Westpac. The company makes use of the PEST analysis to identify the
opportunities and risks of the business environment of the Westpac. Further, the company conducts an
environmental analysis in order to gain an insight of the long-term employment needs. The workforce
planning model of the Westpac is divided into eight key elements. These elements are objectives of
the Westpac, future vision of the required workforce, knowledge about the current capabilities,
identification of the future needs, analysis of the workforce gaps, implementation, and review of the
process. This enables the Westpac to rightly forecast the demand and supply of the employees in the
organisation.
Reason 2
Second reason for the effectiveness is that rewards and recognition, training and mentoring
programmes, enables employee engagement, and are stated to be the key drivers of the workforce plan
of the Westpac. The company further measures the success of the planning process in terms of certain
parameters such as the increase in the cost-efficiency in the areas of recruitment, drawing linkage
between productivity and financial performance, implementation of the data security measures in the
HR information systems, and extent of filling of the capability gaps by training, learning and
development measures. The Professional Qualifications Programme is one of the most popular
initiative undertaken by the company under the Best Banker Strategy that is based on building the
customer confidence and enhancing the professionalism of the banking personnel of the entity. It is
significant to note that the company has enabled 1,470 qualification completions through the above
programme since the year 2012. Training and development for the acquisition of the new skills and
the enhancement of the existing skills of the employees of the entity are vital for the organisational
success. The above policies help to meet the business strategy of developing the skills and
professional competence of the staff to provide the excellent services to the employees.
Thus, it would be right to state as per the instances above, that the HR planning practices of the
Westpac are quite effective.
(b) Analysis of the potential challenges faced by the HR professionals during the
planning of the manpower requirement by Westpac
Challenge 1
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HRM 7
The first challenge faced during the planning of the manpower requirement is the availability of
the financial resources with the entity and that the planning is a time consuming process. There is a
need of the competent team of workforce planners who are able to map the current and the future
requirements of the entity in light of the organisational objectives. In addition and complementary to
this, there are requirements of efficient executive and board reporting processes for transparent
reporting of the resources consumed and results achieved (Reiche, Stahl, Mendenhall & Oddou,
2016). The same are a necessary element of the financial statements of the entities.
Challenge 2
The second challenge faced by the HR professionals are in the form of operational difficulties
(Sparrow, Brewster & Chung, 2016). These refer to the consistent high employee turnover in certain
key areas, high levels of absenteeism among employees, critical skill gaps in key areas of business
operations, ongoing loss of high performers, sudden change in the employee demographics such as
the age, gender, mode of employment and others (Stone & Deadrick, 2015).
2.3 Developing High Performing and Global Mind set Employees and Managers
(a) Suggestion on application of a relevant model in order to develop a high performing
work team for multi-cultural workplace
The entity is suggested to implement a human resource model namely the HR value chain
model in order to address the challenge of establishing a cultural diverse workplace. The model calls
for the routine measurement of the yield and value addition of the various activities of the human
resource planning such as the recruitment, training and development, compensation and succession
planning. The targets must be set for the departments and entity as a whole and policies must be
reviewed on how to achieve the said targets in timely and efficient manner. The recognition and
rewards are further important concepts in the said model. The effective leaders and teams must be
praised and rewarded which in turn would increase their morale, motivation and goodwill of the
company as a whole. The measurement model will further lead to the reduction of the unnecessary
costs by the elimination of the unproductive activities from the human resource framework.
(b) Suggestion on how Westpac can apply a global mind set model in developing a
global mind set workforce
Currently the company Westpac New Zealand branch serves around 1.5 million customers
with a wide range of services to offer. The company can develop a global mind set workforce by
streamlining its human resource policies and procedure across its 197 branches. This can be done by
formulation of a common and global code of conduct for its leaders and employees.
Some of the chief elements that are significant to be included in the global code of conduct of
the entity are the accountability, fairness, integrity, security of systems and data, adherence to the
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HRM 8
applicable laws, business and industrial standards; and other incidental factors. The employee must be
explained the code of conduct with relevance to the data on laws and regulations and technical
knowledge of data security. Further, it is necessary to elaborate the penalties and actions that may be
taken by the company on failure of the employees part to adhere to the global code of conduct of the
entity.
In addition to the above, the company can set up a whistle blower cell. This is to enable the
employees to report on the elements that are outside the purview of the policies and objectives of the
company, to relevant authorities.
3. Conclusions
Thus, as per the discussions conducted in the previous parts it can be stated that human
resource is one of the most vital component for the survival and success of an organisation, and there
is a direct relationship between the strategic goals of the entity and human resource planning. The
success of the organisation largely depends on the human resources it owns and their performance, as
stated through the case study of the Westpac Bank. The case study allowed us to understand that the
process of human resource planning is comprised of complex activities such as acquisition, utilisation,
development, and preservation of the personnel.
Nevertheless there exist some key challenges as well, in the form of retaining of employees,
striking a balance between vision of entity and planning process, filing the capability gaps and
security of the HR information systems. As seen in the case study of the Westpac, a number of
initiatives and developmental programmes are necessary to be undertaken to combat the above
mentioned issues. In addition, the process must be measured on a consistent basis to determine the
effectiveness of the same.
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HRM 9
References
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & 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),
7-35.
Arend, R. J., Zhao, Y. L., Song, M., & Im, S. (2017). Strategic planning as a complex and enabling
managerial tool. Strategic Management Journal, 38(8), 1741-1752.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource management.
UK: Oxford University Press.
Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. UK: Routledge.
Chowhan, J. (2016). Unpacking the black box: understanding the relationship between strategy, HRM
practices, innovation and organizational performance. Human Resource Management
Journal, 26(2), 112-133.
DeCenzo, D. A., Robbins, S. P., & Verhulst, S. L. (2016). Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management, Binder Ready Version. John Wiley & Sons.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Reiche, B. S., Stahl, G. K., Mendenhall, M. E., & Oddou, G. R. (Eds.). (2016). Readings and cases in
international human resource management. UK: Taylor & Francis.
Reilly, P., & Williams, T. (2016). Global HR: Challenges facing the function. UK: Routledge.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., & Chung, C. (2016). Globalizing human resource management. UK:
Routledge.
Stone, D. L., & Deadrick, D. L. (2015). Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of human
resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), 139-145.
Zhu, H., Wang, P., & Bart, C. (2016). Board processes, board strategic involvement, and
organizational performance in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Journal of Business
Ethics, 136(2), 311-328.
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