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Managing Human Capital

Introduction:
The human resource management focuses more in the achievement of the corporate strategy
with their effective management. This is used for the examination of the link that exists with
the people, their satisfaction and also their productivity. The effectiveness of the HRM will
result in higher quality in the work life and makes the readiness for the change. There is a
huge change that is undergoing in the role of the human resource manager with the rapid
change in the environment. The personnel managers were considered as the administrators,
their policing and also help in the maintenance of their status quo, but in the modern human
resource management they are more ambiguous, and they shift their direction as the business
partner and also the employee champion which will leverage the human capital. (European
Council, 2005)
The role of the human resource manager is also moving towards the internal consultant and
this makes the managers in the upper level to manage their employees. (Fleming, 2010)The
human resources consist broadly of the compensation, the benefits that is given for the
employees,

the human resource,

the information system, their job design,

employee

relations and also recruits the individual and also the career development and also the training
and also the organisational development. In the case of the entry level professionals the
opportunities are mainly with the generalist and also the rotational programs. In the case of
the graduate level and also to hire the people for the experienced positions they need to focus
more on the higher level strategic aspects related with this function. (Michigan, 2010)
The application of the different disciplines in the human resources will cause the change in
the organisation and also will add more value which can be considered as the change
management. (Price, 2008)The human resources strategy consulting is something that is
new to the field and this will focus more on the helping the companies to make the changes in
the strategy and the process redesign initiative with the implementation of the system and
also uses the merger integrations. Some of the vital functions that they do are the organisation
and the redesigning in the jobs, the development of the communication strategy, the
recruitment and the selection strategy, the training requirements and the development of the
strategy relating to this, the management of the performance and also to redesign the
compensation, to make the restructuring and reduction in the workforce and also the other
consulting initiatives. (Swift, 2012)

The human resources will help to distinguish them from the other business professionals and
this will give strong interest and also the skill for the counselling and mentoring services.
The functional competence is must in the human resources and apart from that they also need
to understand the internal and the external conditions of the business. This will result in the
ongoing tension that occurs with the role of the employee and also the business advocate.
The companies will make an increase in the realisation with the link between the current
skills of the employees and also the business strategy of the company. (European Council,
2005)
Literature review:
There are many challenges and issues that are related with the development of the strategies
of the HRM. The HR strategies that are followed in the organisation must be devised in the
manner so that they formulate the business strategy. (European Council, 2005) The proper
HRM matters and the section of the personnel will develop the strategic policies. This
development will require the line managers to get equipped with the proper skills, their
knowledge and their attitude for the effective management of the people and the staff. The
selection and also the development will make them to have their expertise to make their
strategic role. (Fleming, 2010)
On a whole the change process will be planned and managed carefully so that they will be
requiring the change with the existing organisational culture. The main challenge will lie in
the granting the adequate freedom for the department and also to manage the financial and
also the human resources. This will facilitate the development in their HRM practice and also
helps in the retaining of the proper control and also the essential at the centre with the overall
running costs.

There are many critical issues which are identified and they are to be

discussed. (Michigan, 2010)

The development of the integrated approach with the HRM;


There is a professionalism of the approach towards the HRM
There is an appropriate functions that is done with the line managers
The decentralisation is made with the proper HRM issues and also with the central
departments (Price, 2008)

There must be good implementation and have an overall impact with the HR strategy and
they depend completely with the capability and the commitment that they have with the

senior management, line managers and also the personnel sections. There are different roles
that they play and they must get adapted to
The role played by the senior management: There is a requirement to raise the profile, the
roles and the capabilities based on the growth of the organisation, the personnel section at the
level of the department. The best practice of the HR shows the extent of which is influenced
with the belief of the senior management and this will add more value HRM so that they
contribute for the organisation and also gives visible support for the HRM. (Swift, 2012)
The role played by the HR: The best practice that is done will make the successful
transition from the personnel management to the strategic management which is dependent
on the equipment of the HR staff with the proper knowledge, attributes and skills. The
departments will require commencing and speeding up the process so that they can obtain and
develop the specialism with the personnel sections. (Michigan, 2010)
The role played by the line manager: There are number of factors which are more crucial
for the successful decentralization of the HRM managers. This takes place with the
framework of the strategic and also the proper business planning opposed with the separate
exercise. The management of the competencies with the new performance management and
also their development system will place more emphasis with the skills and also their
behaviour which is required for the development and management of the staff. This will help
them to adequate resources which are allocated with the training and educating the line
managers. (European Council, 2005)
The role of the centre: in the longer term the issue will have more flexibility with relation
with the grading and also the pay which is required to be revised so that there is an integrated
approach for the HRM so that they become a reality. There is a centralised recruitment
process which will require some change with the line departments so that they are facilitated
with the better planning so that they can organize human resources. In the future they must
concentrate by providing more guidance and also their expertise with the development of
their HR strategies. This will help in the implementation of the performance management and
also to personalise the HR with the personnel section level. (Price, 2008)
From the personnel management to the HRM:
It is very much vital to clarify and distinction with the personnel management and also the
HRM. There is a traditional concept with the personnel management so that there is a concern

with the needs of the employees. The concept of the HRM will show the new approach to the
management of the people which is evolved in the 1980s. This evolution was influenced
with the wide range of factors. They include the huge competitive pressures which is cause
with the deregulation and also the globalisation which will influence the academics in the US
and also the UK. Though it is been suggested that the HRM is the old style of the personnel
management with the new name, there are certain features which will distinguish the HRM
from the traditional personnel management. (European Council, 2005)

It is more explicitly linked with the strategy of the corporate;


This will help in seeking and obtaining the commitment of the employees than with

their experience.
There is more employee commitment which could be obtained with the more
integrated approach with the human resource policies (example: reward, appraisal,

selection and also training)


In the personnel management this will be more domains of the specialists, but the
HRM will be with the line managers as a means of the fostering of the integration.

These are some of the issues be considered with the further in this assignment.
Best models of HRM:
There is no single model that can be considered as the best fit with the generic model of the
HRM and there are key features with the most influential models that can be explored. There
are more requirements for the stakeholders that are to be examined. (Fleming, 2010)
Hard and soft approaches to HRM:
If the organisation is focusing more on the control of the resources and their achievement
with the strategy the company will make them to adopt the hard approach. Here the
employees are considered as the resource for the management in the organisation. There is
also an argument that the over emphasis which is made on the hard HRM will ignore the
resistance of the workers and also trade unions. (Michigan, 2010)These are factors which
cannot be ignored for the success of the HRM. In the soft model of the HRM they view the
business strategy as the situational factor so that they will influence the management
approach for the HRM.

This model will consider the situational factors and this will

influence the HR policy roles, including the management philosophy and also the societal
values. (Price, 2008)

The integrated aspect of the HRM:


The main theme of the running with the models in the integration is the following factors
which are considered as the heart of HRM. This will help in the identification of three levels
and they are integration of HRM policies which follows the business strategy, the integration
with the complementary HRM policies, and also the integration of the HRM with the line
management function. (Price, 2008)The personnel strategy must fit in with the business
strategy and this must be fully integrated and aligned with the personnel philosophy which
will ensure the personnel policy and also the practice. There is a growth in the evidence of the
human resource practice which will result in the more superior performance. (European
Council, 2005)
Integration of the HRM with the line management function:
There is an integration of the HRM which is more concerned with the line management and
there is an argument that human resources are crucial for the success of the business
managers and there is a research that is done which indicates that the managers are more
reluctant with the HRM responsibilities so that they are not considered to be the legitimate
part in their job. (Fleming, 2010) The managers are glad to allow the personnel department to
deal with the aspects of the job in more relation to the balance that they make with the aid
and the advice of the line managers and this will require more balance so that they help in
taking up the responsibility of the people management issues. (Michigan, 2010)In the UK
organisations the managers rile n the HRM activities are rarely included with the objectives
that is set for them and they are assessed with the part of the performance management
system. The UK organisations also have the short term priorities with the organisations
tangible results which are coupled with the workload pressures so that they result in the
tendency of the managers to view the HR activities with the very less priority. This makes the
people management activities to be first squeezed out from the line managers day to day
activities. (Swift, 2012)
The line managers feel that they are suffering from the overload of the work and this will
place very high priority with the HRM activities. The mission of the organisation will be
made more successful with the emphasis that is placed on the development of the staff and
also the management. This will focus on the achievements that they make in their targets and
that is more measurable and valued with the activities that is related with the activities.
(European Council, 2005)

The first stage in the process of the involvement is the translating of the implications in the
high level of the business objectives into the high level of the HRM objectives. The primary
stage in this process is the involvement of the translation of the implication of the high level
business objectives which is further translated into the HRM objectives.

(Fleming,

2010)There is a very much useful mechanism for the translation of the HRM objectives into
the HR plan and process.

The key purpose is that they ensure organisation with the

appropriate level and also with the quality of the human resources and they need the context
in the business objectives. There are four stages that are done in this process. (Price, 2008)

The stock takes which are an existing resource and the level of the skills for the
requirements of the business strategy.

The process can be influenced with the

external factors with the control that they have on the organisation and they are
including labour market trends and also with the central recruitment process so that
there is an impact with the range of the internal factors and they are including the

staff turnover trends and absenteeism, the level of the skills that could be identified.
There is a forecast in the future resource level with the reference that is projected
with the flows in and also out of the organisation mainly on the basis of the
promotion, resignation and also with the level of the recruitment (European Council,

2005)
There is also a requirement to make an evaluation of the existing HR policies which
will establish the need for the change in the organisation and they can be used
appropriately with the resources that are equipped. This will outline the framework
and they enable organisation to identify their required plans and make the basement

of the activities that are existing with the light of the strategic objectives. (Fleming,

2010)
After following the evaluation there is a specific plan which is made for the range of
the HRM activities that must be developed and drawn together for forming the formal
HR strategy. This is specific and they vary from one organisation to the other so that
the plans are developed and this will range in different areas which will include the
recruitment, rewards, training, and also the management of the performance. There is
further translation in these plans into the sectional level so that they are linked with
the business planning process. (Michigan, 2010)

The process through which HR strategy which is developed and they are vital. There will be
a suggestion that the engagement of the key stakeholders which is inclusive of senior
management, the line managers and also with the employees which is useful for the gaining
support for changing the HRM. Example: the attitude of the employees survey is carried out
for the assessment of perceptions of HR policies and also the future expectations which is
with regards to the HR policies.

The use of the partnership, the engagement of the

management and the trade unions in the process will be useful for the mobilisation of the
support of the changed approach to the HRM. (European Council, 2005)
Progress in the personnel speciality:
The personnel management is recognised as the function in the USA since the 1890s. The
American personnel mangers worked with the more unitarist tradition and this will identify
closely the objectives in the organisation. This made natural for the HRM to emerge in the
smoother perspective area. While in other countries the personnel management function is
arrived in the much slower area with the number of routes. This orientation is not completely
managerial and in the UK for example: the origins are traced to the welfare officers who are
employed by the Quaker owned company like the Cadbury. In the earlier stage they were
very much evident that there is a conflict with their activities and those with the line
managers. They never had the compatibility with the senior managers. (Fleming, 2010)
The welfare officer orientation placed the personnel management to have the buffer between
the business and also with the employees. This played the organisational politics which is
not the more politically viable position so that the individual wishing to have their future
careers so that they can increase their status and also earn high salaries. There is a managerial
stance which will have the assumption that every member in the organisation will be member

of the team and they shall have the common purpose. (Price, 2008)They will embody the
concern that they have for the HRM like the organisations people whether they are the
manager or the lower level employees must share the similar objectives and they must work
together in the more harmonious manner. By considering this perspective the conflicting
objectives are considered as the negative and they are more dysfunctional. It is considered as
the opposite of the pluralism; that is the acceptance of the several approaches and the main
interest and the goals in the same organisation and also in the society. In the field of the HRM
the unitarism will be representing the US tradition whereas the pluralism is more of the
European attitude towars the management of the people. (Swift, 2012)
There is distinction with the types of the personnel management jobs:

Clerk of works: The majority who are involved in the routine of the administration,
the letter writing, the record keeping and the setting up of the interviews will be

reporting to the personnel or senior line manager.


Contracts manager: They are mainly found in the large organisations where they
have the formal and the more industrial structures. They are involves in the more
detailed and short term policy making and they help in resolving the problems. They
have more degree of the influence with the trade unions and also with the senior

management.
Architect: They are highly qualified but they need not be in the personnel
department as they have the broad portfolio and their strategic role. (Swift, 2012)

But from the 1980s onwards the governments in the neo liberal and also in the free market
orientation like Mrs Thatchers n administration that is present in the UK reined their union in
the freedom severely. On the whole there is a reduction in the vitality of the collective
bargaining which reduced and the power of the manager increased.

The trade union

membership also declined with the centralised pay bargaining and also other forms of the
collective negotiation. (European Council, 2005)There is also significance in the collective
bargaining which reduced and the managerial power increased. The trade union membership
declined and the focus switched from the more collective to the relationship that exists with
the employer and also the employee. To have the support in the change a more variety of
personnel techniques must be applied so that the business goals are achieved. This will
include the performance management, the setting of the objectives and the development of
the skills related with the personal reward. But the personnel management is bunged up with

the problems of credibility, ambiguity, credibility and also trash can labelling which is
disconnected with the set of the duties and they are tainted with the very low status of the
welfare. (European Council, 2005)
Japanese role model:
The Japan remained closed to eth outside world till 1868 for 300 years and Japanese
borrowed from eth western ideas and they did not simply copy the American methods rather
revitalised the Asian values. The main progress was the co-operation of the government and
the business and this made the long term market penetration and also the dominance. The art
of the Japanese management gained more popularity and this helped in achieving the
competitive advantage with the effective people management. (Fleming, 2010) The human
resource is considered as the essential factor for the success of the production. The western
managers still found it difficult to manage the people and place interest in their employees
among their stakeholders which is followed by the customers and also the shareholders. This
is opposite to the situation which is found in the free market western countries like Australia,
Canada, UK and USA. The recession in the 1990s made Japanese companies to adopt the
western ways. (Price, 2008)The Japanese model cannot be applied in the UK or USA since
the model is more the mix of the racial stereotyping, their culture and hence the imitation is
not possible here. The Japanese are seen mostly as the workaholics and they rarely take
holidays and they are very much eager to work in the every available hour. This makes it
difficult to work in the other cultures where they have the different set of the culture. This
shows the culture is also vital in the HRM decisions. (Swift, 2012)
Conclusion:
The literature discusses the range of the challenges which is involves in the process of the
development of strategic approach for the HRM. Regardless of whether the organisation wish
to have a hard or the soft control approach for the HRM, there is a typically which wishes to
achieve the integration of HRM policies and also the business strategy in the internal and also
at the line management level. The influence of the shareholders and also in certain situations
they will be able to undermine the process of the integration of these levels. There is also the
division in the responsibilities with the central and also with the departmental levels which
shapes and also dictates the extent of the HRM policies which will provide more strategic fit.

The integration of the HRM with the business strategy will help the company to achieve the
objectives of the business. There is an integration of the responsibilities of the HRM with
line management and this will free up the resources in the personnel section which will
develop the strategically integrated HRM policies so that they add more value for the
organisation. By drawing these issues there are many key stages for the development of the
strategic approach related to the HRM which is identified in this review.

There is an evaluation of the division of the responsibly that is done with the line and
also at the central levels and this is requirements which will assess the extent of which

is desirable and easy for the decentralisation of the HRM activities.


There are HR strategies which need to be devised with the process of the formulation
of the business strategy and this has much number of the implications in the personnel
section. The ability of the playing the better role is completely dependent on the
process of the belief of the top management which will value the HRM and they add
more for the organisation. There are also personnel sections which will critically
audit the existing HRM policies and helps in the development of the time and the

expertise which is required for devising of the new strategic policies of the HR
The process of the movement from the personnel management to the HRM which
will imply the need for the change in the culture of the organisation. The consequence
of this will be change and they are resisted with the key stakeholders. There is a need
for the plan and this will carefully manage the change process and the need for the
change will involve the process and the benefits of such change and they are to be
communicated clearly with the unions and also with the line managers who are
involved. The partnership is also the valuable mechanism that could be adapted with
the involvement of the stakeholders and they are successful with the requirements of
the significant change in mindset of the different groups who are involved.

References:

European Council. (2005). Human Resources management strategies to support


organizational changes. Ministre de la Fonction publique et de la Rforme
administrative (pp. 12 - 34). Luxembourg: PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Fleming, S. (2010). From personnel management to HRM: Key Issues and


Challenges. CPMR discussion paper , 23 - 45.

Michigan. (2010). Human resources. Ross school of business publication , 23 - 45.

Price, A. (2008). Human Resource Management in Business Context. London:


McGraw Hill.

Swift, G. (2012). Managing people and organisations. London: CIPD.

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