Evaluating Strategic HRM: Functions and Policy Implementation

This report provides a detailed overview of strategic human resource management, focusing on its functional aspects such as HR planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, organizational structure, HR payrolls and information, and employee participation and communication. It critically evaluates strategic HRM policies, highlighting their importance in effective communication, time-saving, and litigation prevention. The report also analyzes the strategic HRM policies of HSBC, particularly in the context of its challenges in Japan, and recommends adapting to different market situations by formulating effective recruitment, training, and firing policies. The conclusion emphasizes the vital role of HRM in achieving organizational goals and objectives.

STRATEGIC HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Functional aspects of strategic human resource management.....................................................3
Strategic human resource policies...............................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Strategic human resource management refer to the practices of hiring, recruiting,
deploying, managing the employees of the organisation in an effective and efficient manner
(Emeagwal and Ogbonmwan, 2018). HRM policy of an organisation is responsible for building
relationship between the employees and the organisational so that mission and vision of the
organisation is clearly understood for achieving success and growth of the company.
This report shows the functional aspect of strategic human resource management. Also it
represent the strategic policies in the different situation to be used and critically evaluated the
strategic HRM policies of HSBC.
MAIN BODY
Functional aspects of strategic human resource management.
Human resource management refers to the strategic approach of efficiently and
effectively managing the individuals in an organisation in way that help businesses in gaining a
competitive advantage (Al-Ayed, 2019). In other words the primary concern of HRM is to
manage the employees of the organisation with effective strategic and policies. The overall aim
of strategic human resource management is to efficient management of people for organisational
success and growth.
Strategic HRM plays a very important role in the management of organisation. That is a
holistic approach that helps in achieving the goals and objectives of the company through
efficient management of its employees (Armstrong and Brown, 2019). With effective HRM
practices it helps the company in achieving its goals by creating a positive environment among
the employees and maximising their efficiency and productivity for organisational success.
However, strategic HRM practices helps in building relationship with employees of the company
and leads to development of the employees by increasing their productivity and efficiency.
Strategic HRM is a very important aspect in the growth of a company. It includes all the
functions such as:
 HR Planning- The first and the most important function of strategic HRM is effective
planning of human resource (Boon and et.al., 2018). It is one of the most crucial and vital
function for the organisation for achieving success. It refers to identifying the needs of
the organisation for people for achieving its goals. It can be seen the case that HSBC

lacks in the proper HR planning in Japan that led to the slow decision making and closure
of bank.
 Recruitment and selection- Another important function aspect of the strategic human
resource management is the recruitment and selection of individuals for the organisation
(Collings and et.al., 2021). It refers to attracting candidates towards the organisation and
selecting the best suitable candidate through an appropriate selection process. An
individual that matches with the requirement of the organisation and fits appropriately in
the job requirement of the company. It considered a significant function because if right
employees are not hired in the organisation then goals and objectives of the organisation
cannot be achieved on time and will lead it wastage of resources. In the case study it can
be seen the HSBC has been facing the problem of hiring not appropriate employees that
is leading the company towards losses as the workplace environment has been affected
within the organisation and is leading to reducing the productivity and efficiency of the
organisation. Thus leading the company towards losses.
 Training and development- Training and development of employees in an organisation
is considered one of the most important function of HR management (Jiang and
Messersmith, 2018). That is it is very important that their is proper strategies and policies
that inculcate effective training programs for the employees so that they can adapt to the
culture if the organisation and can enhance their efficiency and productivity according tit
eh needs and requirements of the organisation for achieving the organisational goals and
objectives. Thus, leading the business towards achieving higher profits and revenue. One
of the factor that HSBC had to close its business in Japan was it lacked in providing
training and development to its employees. That is with providing effective training to its
employees, HSBC would have been able to create an environment where employees
would understand the vision and mission of the company and would have enhanced their
efficiency accordingly. But with ineffective training programs it led to slow decision
making and lack of understanding led to fall in the organisation.
 Organisational structure- Strategic human resource management helps in assisting the
management of the organisation in formulation of the organisational structure (Cooke and
Chen, 2021). For effective and smooth functioning of the company organisational
structure plays a significant role. Therefore, it the responsibility of the HR management

in creating pathways for effective organisational structure. However, it can be seen the
case study of HSBC that the organization failed in implementing effective organisation
structure where there would be proper flow of information and work management so that
organisational goals could be achieve.
 HR payrolls and information- It is the function of the human resource management to
monitor the payrolls of the employees of the company and keep a track of the working
environment. That is working conditions play an essential role in determining the
reputation of the company (Knies and et.al.,2017). However, in the case of HSBC it can
be seen that because of the ineffectiveness of the strategic HRM in providing its
employees with training and development programs, the company had to pay higher
percentage of wages and salaries. This lead to increasing the expense of the company and
which directly affected the profitability of the organisation. Thus, it can be seen that the
company lacked in formulation of effective payroll strategies.
 Employee participation and communication- One of the key roles of strategic human
resource management is to be an activist for its employees that is credible. For
management to be effective it is very important the employees are being heard and
informed (Kaufman, 2020). Communication plays a key role in this. For organisation to
achieve success it is very important that each and every employee of the organisation take
effective participation in the organisation for achieving the desired goals of the company.
Thus, strategic human resource plays a key role in achieving goals and objectives of the
organisation (Greer, 2021). With effective strategic HRM it will lead in higher motivation and
satisfaction level of the employees of the organisation. Thus, will boost them in enhancing their
productivity and efficiency so that they can achieve both the organisational and their personal
objectives as well. Therefore, organisation should inculcate the practices of effective HRM
because Human resource is considered one of the most vital asset for any organisation that helps
in making the organisation unique.
Strategic human resource policies
Strategic human policy of an organisation refers to the formal guidelines and rues that are
put in place to train, hire, recruit, reward and assess the employees within the workforce
(Harrison and Bazzy, 2017). These polices when disseminated and organised can serve in
solving several misunderstandings between the employers and the employees about their

obligations and rights in the workplace environment. It is very important for every organisation
to have policies of human resource management for effective management if the organisation.
Having clear written policies will help in clear understanding of the organisations rules and
regulation and what they stand for among the workforce. However, with unclear policies and
procedures of the human resource it can be disadvantage for the company in several ways. On
the contrary there are various advantages of the human resource policies that are beneficial to the
organisation such as:
 Effective communication with employees: With proper presentation of human resource
policy it will help in establishing the tone of the business that it wishes to maintain within
its organisation (Bailey and Garavan, 2018). These policies also serve in disseminating
what employees must expect from the organisation. Also the expectation of organisation
from its employees about their performance and productivity. Thus, help in effective
communication between the organisation and the employees.
 Time saving: Comprehensive and prudent HR management policies will help the
organisation in saving significant amount of time and will help the organisation is
utilising its precious time in other business operations like competitive analysis, new
product development or marketing campaign etc. (Hamadamin and Atan, 2019)
 Curbing litigations: With application of comprehensive and fair personnel policies,
organisations can cut off various legal threat from ex-employees and disgruntled current
employees according to the business and legal communities (Fahim, 2018).
However, it is important that strategic human resource policy are formulated in
accordance with the situation prevailing in the market or environment (Delery, 2017). That is
policies of human resource should be flexible so that it can adopt to the dynamic environment
and may benefit the organisation in every positive as well negative situations. It can be critically
evaluated in the case of HSBC in the situation of declining market the HR policies of the
company was not effective. That is at time of falling market the company was then also paying
its employees higher percentage of compensation because of it inefficient recruitment and
staffing. Thus, when already markets were low, profits were curbed with the ineffective strategic
policies it affected the organisation in a very negative way that led to the closure of the company.
On a contrary note, it can be critically evaluated that the HSBC strategic human resource
policies were incapable of solving the technical incompatibly that was faced by the company.

That is HSBC used standardise internet and ATM banking system which helped the company in
retaining its market position in the global markets. But with the ineffective Hr policies in the
Japan the faced lot of issues. The company was forced to used the local systems that hardly
complied with the global standards of the HSBC. Thus, with proper recruitment of employees
would have led the company in better understanding about the local systems which could have
benefited the company in inculcating profits and wouldn’t have allowed the company to close its
business operation in Japan.
On the other hand, it can be critically analysed that HSBC could cope up with its business
to be internationalised. That is with expansion of its business in the international market of Japan
the company could cope with the environment prevailing in the markets of Japan. Of which one
of the reasons was is ineffective HR management policies that restricted their operations in the
markets. It can be analysed that if the company would have formulated effective practices of HR
management it would have led to creation of a multiculturism environment in the workplace and
would have resulted in higher productivity and efficiency of the employees and the organisation
as well (Lee, 2021). Thus, it can be critiqued that in the situation of internationalisation of the
business, the company was unable to implement effective strategic human resource policy that
could have level up their business operation and would have provided them competitive
advantage to survived in the international markets.
However, it is recommended to the HSBC to adapt to the different situation that are
prevailing in the market. The company needs to frame and formulate effective strategic human
resource policies that will help them not only in retaining their market position in international
market but also help them in providing them with competitive advantage. The organisation needs
to adopt recruitment and selection strategies that will help them in hiring efficient employees
whose mission and vision are in line with the company’s goals and objectives. Also, the
company needs to formulate policies for the firing procedure so that they can for the ineffective
and unproductive employees with an ease so that the company is not unproductive and can hire
new employees who are productive and efficient.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can e concluded that human resource management plays a very
vital role in the successful management of the organisation for achieved the desired goals and

objectives. Also, it can be summarised that there are various functional aspect of strategic human
resource management that help the organisation in dealing with various situation effectively and
efficiently. By motivating and inspiring its employees to enhance their productivity and
efficiency so that the desired organisational objectives of the company can be achieved. Thus,
will lead the company towards growth and success.

REFERENCES
Books and journal
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challenges and research opportunities. Journal of Management Studies.
Jiang, K. and Messersmith, J., 2018. On the shoulders of giants: A meta-review of strategic
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Management, 29(1), pp.6-33.
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management? A review and suggestions for future research with China as an example. Human
Resource Management. 60(1). pp.89-118.
Knies and et.al.,2017. Strategic human resource management and public sector performance:
context matters.
Kaufman, B.E., 2020. The real problem: The deadly combination of psychologisation, scientism,
and normative promotionalism takes strategic human resource management down a 30‐year dead
end. Human Resource Management Journal. 30(1). pp.49-72.
Greer, C.R., 2021. Strategic human resource management. Pearson Custom Publishing.
Harrison, T. and Bazzy, J.D., 2017. Aligning organizational culture and strategic human resource
management. Journal of Management Development.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D. and Garavan, T., 2018. Strategic human resource management. Oxford
University Press.
Hamadamin, H.H. and Atan, T., 2019. The impact of strategic human resource management
practices on competitive advantage sustainability: The mediation of human capital development
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Fahim, M.G.A., 2018. Strategic human resource management and public employee
retention. Review of Economics and Political Science.
Delery, J.E. and Roumpi, D., 2017. Strategic human resource management, human capital and
competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human Resource Management Journal.
27(1). pp.1-21.
Lee, S.H., 2021. An Attention-Based View of Strategic Human Resource Management. Academy
of Management Perspectives. 35(2). pp.237-247.
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Al-Ayed, S.I., 2019. The impact of strategic human resource management on organizational
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