Strategic HR: Models, Frameworks, and Best Practices

This report provides a comprehensive overview of strategic human resource management (HRM). It begins by outlining the importance of HRM in today's competitive business environment, emphasizing the need for effective employee utilization and the role of HR in gaining a competitive advantage. The report then delves into key forces shaping the HR agenda and explores various HR models, including the Ulrich model and its four crucial roles: Administrative Expert, Change Agent, Employee Advocate, and HR Business Partner. It also examines HR strategies, including the importance of aligning HR practices with organizational goals and the use of SWOT analysis. The report details best practices for developing and implementing HR strategies, such as effective communication, budget management, and performance-based incentives. It also explores the Deloitte HR strategy framework and the integration of HR practices, including vertical and horizontal integration. Finally, the report examines models for strategy formulation and implementation, including the interrelation between strategy implementation and formulation, and the role of HR in evaluating business performance through traditional and modern indicators. The report emphasizes the importance of HR in planning, change management, and the selection of appropriate recruitment and training strategies to meet organizational objectives.

Fadi Jarrah
Introduction
Business is constantly evolving due to internal as well as external factors and the companies
are surviving in a changing environments of a market. In order to survive with in th
competitive market there is an extra supply of employees and labors caused by the global
recession. For survival in the market company needs to have an effective and efficient
employees in the organization which can help the company to gain a competitive advantage.
For this it is required that company should have proper human resource management in place
which is responsible for effective utilization of employees and labor with in the workplace of
the organization.
Keys Forces which help in Shaping Agenda of HR.
Models of The HR Function: One of the main objectives of the HR management is to make
effective utilization of the human resources within the organization and to develop a better
working relationships within the employees and to develop a human resource to optimum
level. One of the major function of HR department is to constantly plan for human resource,
making a proper job analysis, recruitment, development and training, career planning,
compensation, performance appraisals, etc. Also, the HR functions comprises of developing
an employee relations, employee researches, keeping track, record keeping and various other
functions.
Various priorities of HR are Leadership development or capabilities, Workforce planning,
Employee engagement, cultural transformation and, managing change developing a high-
work culture, and management of skills and talent.
David Ulrich, the greatest management person of HR, has got an ability to influence the
mechanics of HR, and it is still being used till date. He delivered the world-renowned Ulrich
model (Appendice 1) or the 3-legged stool model (Appendice 2). Ulrich Model included four
crucial HR roles which result in an effective management of organization. These roles in HR
are Administrative Expert, Change Agent, Employee Advocate and HR Business Partner. He
also introduced the concept of HR business partnering. It states that to achieving the common
organizational objectives, the HR managers should work in collaboration with the business
leaders. The Ulrich model has faced several criticisms in the past. The model has not made
any contribution towards strategic thinking and is also unable to motivate the higher levels of
management related to the required business enation in order to affect the strategic role.
Although this model is perceived to have an inaccurate way of managing people but it is still
used at present as it provides a good reference point for the HR framework, defines and also
Page 1 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
defines a role of the HR and in addition creates a proper structure of value for the
organization.
HR Strategies
Page 2 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
Developing a Human Resource strategy is essential for setting directions to all important
areas of HR which may include performance appraisal, hiring, compensation and
development .
Strategies of HR has got set of characteristics:
 It is required to have an analysis of company's external and internal environment.
 It may take long time for implementation.
 HR strategy help in shaping the direction and character of various activities HR
Management in an organization.
 Also, it helps in the allocation and deploying resources of the organization Such as
money, people and time.
 It is revised year after year on regular basis.
 Incorporation of judgment from expert senior HR management.
 It is responsible for a specific behavior.
 Includes all the key areas in HR: Learning & Development, Recruitment,
Compensation, Succession Planning and Performance Appraisal.
One of the key HR models to create the HR strategy is the standard causal model of HRM.
This model shows that the HR strategy is what the company wants to achieve in the future
and has been doing in the past. This also shows that HR activities helps in creating value if
aligned to what an organization wants to achieve. Also, it acts as a tool for arriving towards
the strategy of SWOT analysis.
Within SWOT analysis, company’s Weaknesses and Strengths, and Threats and
Opportunities are mapped in an effective way. Strengths of a company includes its core
know-what and know-how. The possible threats of a company may include high competition,
low purchasing capacity of customers, less value of economy, etc. so, it important that
company should develop suitable strategies in order to face threats over in the future. .
Appendice 3 is an example that I have chosen to show the SWOT analysis of Al Ghurair mall
that I am currently working in.
Page 3 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
Best practices of HR strategies
Wile developing, implementing as well as executing a strategy it includes six best practices
which are mentioned as below:
1. Professionals of HR should well know various strategies and also should know
how it is to be implemented in the organization: This helps in developing an
effective communication and also creates buy-in.
2. HR budget and Management buy-in are considered as critical enablers for
execution of strategies: Strategies of HR can never be accomplished within
isolation.
3. Various Initiatives of HR is to be aligned as per the strategy of HR: Strategy of
HR exists for a particular reason and it is important that it should be followed within
the organization.
4. Incentives related to performance should be directly connected with strategy
execution: An idea of providing compensation to employees has come from the very
beginning and still people work harder if their goals and incentives are aligned which
is the best way of improving the performance of employees and the organization as
well.
5. Strategies are to be monitored and execution of strategies is to be measured with
the help of KPI's (metrics that measure strategic goals): Implementation of a
particular strategy can never be effective if there is no consistency as monitoring of
the strategies.
Page 4 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
6. Strategy as long-term plan: It does not mean that is not subject to change. Strategy
should be adapted to better fit the external environment.
One of the best example of HR strategy which worked was that Netflix has managed its
employees. After the 9/11 attacks and dot-com bubble burst, Netflix had to lay-off a third of
their people. But it was Netflix’s strategy to recruit only A players and this gave a company
an opportunity which made them let go with B players. This resulted in happy and more
productive employees which remained in the organization. Netflix when Worked with only A
players had a sever impact on company’s holiday policies. When Netflix got public, there
was a huge pressure of formalization of paid-off-time policies. Then McCord made a decision
to make a system in which employees can take as much time off to the extent they felt that it
was appropriate while discussing with their superiors.
HR strategy framework
One of the most useful tool in the HR strategy framework is the Deloitte. It includes ten-step
approach which helps to define strategies as well as delivering value.
1. Definition human capital value: This may include two steps:
a. First is Understanding strategy of business: this may include understanding
the forces of a market and also to identify how does it impact priorities and
HR strategies.
b. Defining strategy of HR: by creating a road-map in relation to how HR
should align its strategy and how it should help in building a competitive
advantage.
2. Products of HR as well as services of HR is to be aligned.
3. Segmentation of customers of HR into different groups and identify the most crucial
ones as they are not all equal and it is to be noted that different groups requires
different types of approaches and policies.
4. Prioritizing investments of HR: As budget of HR and various resources are limited
in an organization so, prioritizing the investments which can benefit the important
customers which help in providing the best ROI (Return on Investment) for the
organisation.
5. Design HR services: by analyzing and identifying various processes which is to be
re-engineered or streamlined.
6. Ensuring right HR service delivery model: by assessing the present HR service
delivery model and how it can help effectively in order to meet the goals of the
Page 5 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
organization and also by making an analysis of important HR enablers such as Hr
processes, HR systems as well as infrastructure.
7. Establishment of right capabilities of HR: it can be identified through existing
skills, competencies and the existence of a skill gap.
8. Continuous improving HR operational excellence: by assessing and optimizing the
capacity of company's HR processes, one can make improvements continuously in
them.
9. Building of HR brand: it includes establishment of the HR departments within the
wider context of an organization and obtaining of data on how HR is performing and
should perform.
10. Measuring the impact of products and services of HR: At the end, HR processes
should be effective. Impact of products and services which is based on outcome of the
business can be measured through analytic which can help in adapting and improving
what to do in HR.
Strategic HR may include two major types of process of integration:
1. Vertical Integration: This type of integration helps to deal with aligning practices of
HR with the strategic management process of the company and it is based on the
approach of contingency and helps in creating framework for fulfillment of the
strategies of management.
2. Horizontal Integration: It includes coordinating different types of HR practices and
also help in dealing with the effective resource allocation. The main reason of the
company is to create a good as well as effective company. There are various best HR
practices which includes employee security, staffing of employee by using various
recruitment and selection criteria, training and development process and even sharing
of employee performance information.
Models for Strategy Formulation and Implementation
The strategy formulation and the implementation are considered as vital function for the team
of HR and this stage of formulating strategy includes the evaluating the interactions between
strategic factors as well as strategic choices from the higher level managers of the company.
Implementation of strategy includes the various tools and techniques which can be used for
the implementation of strategies which are formulated.
Page 6 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
Below figure shows that there is inter relation between strategy implementation and the
strategy formulation.
There are various in the formulation of strategies such as corporate, strategic choice,
functional and business. The main function of HR is to select among various options that are
beneficial for both the company and people in it. The business level strategy consists of the
overall path and the belief of the organization towards the expansion of the organization. HR
includes different strategies towards a particular stage which is efficient utilization of the
company resources, improvement in the performance of employees, managing the diversity,
etc. HR can take important job by the implementing the best HR strategy after selecting of a
suitable competitive strategy for the organization. While as the at functional level, HR can
take an important part in maximization of productivity of various resources in the
organization.
Evaluation of Business Performance
Human resource department plays an important role within the formalization of strategies of
a business and leaders of the organization have to lay great influence on the flexibility of the
organization, importance of skilled labors and employees, etc. Human resource department
need to imbibe such devices and skills which is suitable for the recruitment strategies that
will help in meeting the needs for achieving the organizational objectives. HR should also
formulate effective training policies as well as training methodologies which will help in
Page 7 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
improving the performance of the employees in the workplace. HR should select the best
source of recruitment and making an appropriate hiring decisions. Performance management
structure should be developed by HR department of the company and is also responsible for
making the effective utilization of external and internal data. It can be illustrated with the
example, HR need to implement 360-degree performance appraisal in the company. In this
process, it can be said that HR plays an important role in planning of business and the change
management.
The performance of business should be evaluated by modern and traditional indicators.
Traditional indicators helps in measuring the employee performance with respect to
objectives of the organization and such indicators shows only average results. While, as
modern indicators is considering every activity of the employees who are involved in
different processes of business. The example of traditional indicators may include the
evaluation of employee's performance with the organizational goals. The example of the
modern indicator is the 360-degree performance appraisal systems which has been adopted
by our company (Carrefour Hypermarkets).
Assessment of Different Sources of Data
Different types of data, that can be used by the HR managers i.e. quantitative and qualitative
sources of data.
- The balanced scorecard: It is considered as most popular method of performance
management and can be used by HR in order to align company's business activities to
that of strategic goals which helps in improving the communication process and
performance of a company.
- The AMO-Black box model: It is a mode; that can be used for assessment of
employee performance. It signifies the Motivation, Opportunity and Ability. The
black box indicates the relation of the performance management and HR in a
company. I
- The Cotter’s stage model: It is used to evaluate the process of change management
in workplace.
Page 8 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
HR can make use of different sources of information with a purpose of HR planning and
can make use of internal data with a reason of developing a strategies as well as in taking
decisions. Company's data base like policies, marketing data, financial data sales data, etc
can be used by the HR department of a company. Also, company can make use of
external data such as government information, competitive data, technological
developments, environmental analysis, etc. Both sources are used by the HR department
with a purpose of smooth functioning of business operations.
HR Insights
Diagram below shows the important three HR insights.
Page 9 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
Align, or realign the employees to the company’s identity should be kept at high priority and
the culture should get deviated towards the employees which shows up for a paycheck. It
requires tapping into the emotional bond which is shared with the employees, and developing
an emotional connection that is shared by the employees with each other. As per the survey
which sponsored by CultureiQ, 3 common ways by which HR departments have to manage
organizational culture are employee resource groups (18%), culture committees and events
(28%) and employee engagement surveys (54%). Technology has helped to take HR
management towards digitization where we have to stand by employee engagement survey.
There are some concerns and issues which can be uncovered by surveys so in this case,
anonymity should be recommended. They will provide to the HR department a mixture of
quantitative and qualitative information straight from different sources which is unhindered
from the fear of results.
An example on organization that values learning and development and embraces change:
Majid Al Futtaim organization created a Leadership Institute in Holding for the managers,
and the Retail Business School for all the employees. This left no space for pride or ego as
the organization's leadership is ready to gain information from anyone within the
organization.
One of the greatest for approaching towards HR insights can be alignment of all employees to
the organizations main purpose as well as beliefs and making use of employee engagement
surveys and to be proactive in nature.
Page 10 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
HR Solutions for Business
Proper development of a business case and structured governance should be established in an
organization and HR can include the leaders of the business within the planning process as
well as the governance which help in enabling the business alignment which results in the
greater support for the company's business. Also, company should develop advanced
workplace and should also implement analytics of a workplace. An implementation of the
correct HR philosophies can be done so that the employees can make contribution towards
the success of business. Hiring the proper talent at the proper time for the right jobs, building
an engaged workforce, empowering the employees make the best place to work and increase
the organizational efficiency.
Business Ethics
HR department of the organization is responsible for various important systems as well as
process which help in underpinning of effective delivery information of the company which it
wished to convey related to ethics. HR department can help in the integration of ethics within
the processes and to communicate better in relation to unethical activities form company's
view point to external and internal customers of the organization. Company can provide the
valuable information in relation whether a company has embedded the ethical values or
company has been operating with the ethical practices.
It is important for the organization the ethical practices and HR functions should work
together for improving the employee performance and rewarding the employees based on
their performance levels. Company should develop an incentive system for the employees
who demonstrate ethical behavior for example promotion, remuneration or ethical awards to
reinforcing and encouraging the expected ethical behavior of the employees in the workplace.
HR department is the center point for all staff member to make contact and has got the unique
access to all staff members form their induction to their exit. It is important for HR manage to
go through the past records of the employees before hiring and also company should not
tolerate any unethical behavior from the employees of the organization.
Page 11 of 19

Fadi Jarrah
Accountability
The accountability exists to let managers manage and to support the mission within the
framework of laws, rules, and regulations.
The diagram below explains the shared accountability in an organization. Top management is
accountable for committing the organization to shared accountability.
The HRM accountability system consists in:
- Establishing measures and goals of HRM
- Establishing responsibility for measures and goals.
- Measuring performance.
- Evaluating as well as utilizing information measurement.
- Assessing as well as improving process of accountability.
Below graphic shows that accountability of HRM begins with the identification of agency
strategic goals and then agency HR goals should be followed in support of the strategic goals
is to be well-defined. Next measurement of performance is to be established and also base
line is to be established in order to assess whether goals are achieved or not. It is important
that HR objectives and goals are widely communicated across the organization and for this
Page 12 of 19