Strategic human resource is a mostly research field in management. Most employers as well as employees have in the recent years developed interest in this field. This is due to the manifold and mutual benefits that accrue from SHRM. Most organizations are striving to have an effective SHRM in place so as to be the employer of choice and win the war of talents. There are various SHRM models that can be applied to a range
of businesses. There are also advantages that come in when there is effective SHRM in an organization, and this has been the arsenal of most studies. One of the most useful persons in the success of SHRM is the human resource (HR) manager. This paper expounds on the concept of Strategic Human Resource Management and looks into three roles of the HR manager giving examples to emphasize on the points.
Strategic Human Resource Management
Most authors have defined strategic management in different ways. Durai (2010) asserts that strategic human resource management can be defined as the formulation and execution of human resource policies and practices aimed at improving the competencies of the employee as well as their needs so as to realize the strategic aims of the organization. It can also be defined as an approach where decisions are made on the plans and intentions of any given organization concerning the employment relationship and the organizational training, development, performance evaluation and management, recruitment and the strategies of an organization as well as practices and policies (Durai, 2010).
SHRM has various features. First off, it entrusts the strategy formulation task with the HR manager while all the advisory related roles rest with the HR professionals. Second, it views employees as the central strategic potential of an organization and uses this as a basis to distinguish the organization from its competitors (Durai, 2010). It goes hand in hand with business strategies. For example, it offers a critical input in the formulation of business strategies as well as specific HR strategies such as performance appraisal, recruitment and training and development that are shaped by business strategies (Durai, 2010). SHRM also aims at fulfilling the long term organizational requirements in terms of HR thus come up with effective policies and procedures for efficiency (Durai, 2010).
Lastly, it is closely related with goal setting, formulation of policies and resource allocation thus performed at top management levels (Condrey, 2010). Unlike human resource management that is based on hard management approach, SHRM is based on soft management approach (Durai, 2010). There are also other distinguishing factors between HRM and SHRM. SHRM is focused on business level outcomes whereas HRM on HR level outcomes (Durai, 2010). In SHRM the HR managers operate at the higher levels while in HRM the managers operate at lower levels of the organization. Lastly strategic human resource management is mainly based on the competitive advantage that arises from human resource (Condrey, 2010). On the contrary the main basis of HRM is the management of employees.
There are three models of SHRM. The Strategic fit model mainly focuses on matching the available opportunities with the HR potential and resources. That is it integrates HR strategies with business strategies. Strategic Labor Allocation Process (SLAP) model on the other hand focuses on human resource managers’ strategic decision making. It mainly looks at the organizational changes and the HR and business strategies. Lastly, there is the business oriented model that lays its focus on the competitive advantage of the firm.
Roles of Human Resource (HR) Manager
Human resource managers just like the departmental managers have two major primary functions. First, they have the duty of overseeing all the human resource department functions. Secondly, they are tinged with the duty of managing employees (Condrey, 2010). These managers must have a good background in human resource disciplines. The core competencies that HR managers should have are analytical, decision making and communication skills among others (Banfield & Kay, 2012). There are various roles of HR managers including business partner, change agent, administrative expert, and employee agent.
Employee Agent
The HR manager elaborates the procedures for the employees so that they are able to ask open and honest questions. This mostly happens in open forums where the employees are encouraged to feel free and share any relevant information they have concerning their welfare. The manager also deals with performance appraisal issues (Bernardin, 2007). The manager has the role of acting as a team member in projects.
The manager is able to solve any grievances that occur at the workplace (Bernardin, 2007). For example, where the workforce is diversified people usually have the discriminatory behavior on their co-workers. It is the duty of the manager to ensure that the less represented workers are not discriminated at all and their rights protected (Banfield & Kay, 2012). The HR manager also conducts a regular opinion survey in order to evaluate the job satisfaction levels of the employees and come up with an effective strategy addressing all the concerns raised (Condrey, 2010).
The Hr manager ensures that there is effective and efficient feedback mechanism to the employees especially where addressing the concerns of the employees is crucial (Bernardin, 2007). Lastly, the manager chairs the employee skip level meetings. Overall, the HR manager acts as the employee’s voice whenever there are management decisions to be made (Bernardin, 2007). For example, when there is need to downsize, the manager can come up with a plausible alternative.
Change Agent
The HR manager identifies the gaps that exist in management practice and comes up with initiatives that are close to them yet still the best alternative. A good example is where there are poor performance evaluation practices as well as promotion methods (Condrey, 2010). The manager has the duty to research on the best performance appraisal method the organization can use so as to retain most of the employees as well as become an employer of choice (Condrey, 2010).
When there are projects in the organization, the HR manager acts as a team member responsible for change management. In this case the HR manager ensures that the set of conditions favor the success of the project (Banfield & Kay, 2012). The manager also assists the clients or employers to come up with a good communication plan that will be implemented on a regular basis. This facilitates upwards and horizontal communication of the employees and the management and the management and the employee. Lastly, the manager has the duty of leading the process of talent development and succession planning. The manager comes up with the basis upon which the employees shall be selected for succession planning and talent development.
Administrative Expert
The manager must ensure that there is proper selection and recruitment, training and development, appraisal as well as rewarding systems in the workplace. Some of the administrative functions include policy making and formulation, housekeeping, records maintenance, welfare administration, and legal compliance among others (Yusoff, 2012). The human resource manager comes up with policies that align the organization to its strategic plan.
The manager formulates policies that govern acquisition of wages, salaries, welfare activities, and work environments (Yusoff, 2012). The manager also interprets the policies, so that the personnel can understand them. The manager also introduces job structures and descriptions as well as a job matrix so that the administration gets simple and easy (Condrey, 2010). For example where there is an existing gap in the job description the manager updates it in consultation with the other managers (Yusoff, 2012). The manager also discusses work related problems among the employees and other managers so as to ensure smooth flow of work.
Conclusion
SHRM is a concept that has been widely discussed and is very important in making a firm have competitive advantage. Firms should therefore invest in good strategic human resource management systems that are available to compete favorably based on the human resource capacities. As evident in the paper the human resource manager has a very crucial role to play in an organization. There is a thin line between these managers and other managers in any organization. With the war of talents and the fight to be the employer of choice, a human resource manager slot should be one of the organizational tenets in an organization.
Bibliography
Banfield, P., & Kay, R. (2012). Introduction to human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bernardin, H. J. (2007). Human resource management: An experiential approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Condrey, S. E. (2010). Handbook of human resource management in government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Durai, P. (2010). Human resource management. Chennai: Pearson.
Yusoff, Y. M. (2012). THE path From an Administrative Expert to a Strategic Partner Role: A Literature Review. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(9), 141-154.
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