Session 2_The Strategic Orientation in HRM

7/29/2019 Session 2_The Strategic Orientation in HRM

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Session 2: The Strategic Orientation in Human ResourcesManagement

Respicius Shumbusho Damian, BA, MA (Public Administration)Director, Senior Consultant, Researcher, and TrainerShumbusho and Associates Consulting (T) Limited

P.O. Box 4859, Dar es salaamPhone: Phone: +255736403442

Cell: +255 772 228 318Mob: +255 786 428 318

E-mail: [email protected]

Session 2: Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, the participants shouldbe able

To understand and explain HRM from a strategicperspective

To distinguish horizontal strategic alignment from

vertical strategic alignment To identify the core strategies of their

organizations at different levels

To develop well aligned HR (and otherManagement) strategies for their organization (s)

9/7/2013 The Strategic Orientation in HRM 2


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What is not strategic today?

Think of:

Strategic planningStrategic Implementation

Strategic Training

Strategic decision making

Strategic management

Strategic HRM

Strategic BusinessPlanning

Almost each and everythingon earth is becoming

strategic (in theory).What is not strategic? Yes,but in most cases (inpractice) very few thingsare donestrategically..Strategicis just a well sounding pre-modifier for themanagement pundits

Tom Peters and Bob Waterman (1999), In Search ofExcellence, pp. 9

What is strategic in HRMThe best thing to note is that; HRM isitself strategic even without pre-modifiersIt replaced the old employeesmanagement methods, which were notstrategic.Such models treated EmployeesManagement as a remoteorganizational function in thebackyard offices full of dusty filesof employees records.

HR personnel were not taken asthinkers, but just as mouthpieces ofthe top managementIn the simplest term, being virtuallystrategic means doing everythingwe do strategically. So, if planning isstrategic, implementation has to bestrategic. If we have a businessstrategy, we must also have a HRstrategy, Operations strategy,marketing strategy, retentionstrategy, etc.

SO; WHAT IS SHRM?

Strategic Human ResourcesManagement is a new model ofmanaging organizationalworkforce that emphasizes onstrategic alignment betweenorganizational goals and thegoals of individuals who work inorganizations.

SHRM takes an employee as an

important factor inorganizations success. Itassumes that the organizationcan succeed only if theemployees want it to succeed(which is possible if they areassured of their own success).

Batch (2005) writes


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SO; WHAT IS SHRM?..................

HRM as a new model ofmanaging workforce, whichassumes that the interests ofemployees and employers will

coincide and is preoccupiedwith the shared goal oforganizational effectivenessthat marginalizes theinterests of otherstakeholders such asemployees. HRM is alsopredominantly focused on theindividual and seeks solutionsto HR problems within thefirm, with an analytical focuson the motivations andaspirations of individualemployees.

Bach (2005) P. 4

The other important thingis;Human Resources

Management in its strategicorientation assumes that forthe organizations humanresources management to beeffective there should bestrategic alignmentbetween organizationsHRprocesses and strategieson one hand, and theorganizations strategicgoal (core objective, vision,mission, and values and thegeneral operation plans andstrategies).

Types of Strategic Alignment

There are two types of strategicalignment. These are:Vertical Alignment: The extentto which organizational functions,processes, plans, units, anddecisions are well shaped toachieve organizations corestrategic goal and objectives.

Horizontal Alignment:Organizational functions, units,plans, and decisions muststrategically support each other.For example, if the advocacyunity is planning to reach andhelp more people in 2014, the HRtraining plan must also givepriority to training programs inadvocacy skills and recruitingmore people in that function. Training&

Development

Recruitment&

Selection

Motivation&

Rewarding

HRM Strategy

HR Strategy Advocacy Strategy

Fund RaisingStrategy

OrganizationalStrategy


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SO; WHAT IS SHRM?

There are two types of strategicalignment. These are:Vertical Alignment: The extent towhich organizational functions,

processes, plans, units, and decisionsare well shaped to achieveorganizations core strategic goal andobjectives.Horizontal Alignment:Organizational functions, units, plans,and decisions must strategicallysupport each other.

For example, if the advocacy unity isplanning to reach and help morepeople in 2014, the HR training planmust also give priority to trainingprograms in advocacy skills andrecruiting more people in thatfunction.

Pair Exercise: Think of thesescenarios and find out about the levelof alignment. Identify the fallacy ineach of the scenarios

1. We need to be food self sufficient, wecultivate more coffee2. We want to fight poverty, we call for

more investors3. We need to harness technology, send

people to study it4. We need to increase voter turnout,

provide civic education5. We want to control population growth,

improve health facilities

Group Exercise: Go back to your ownorganization. In groups of three orfour, study the flowchart in thenext slide and discuss how toestablish strategic alignmentvertically and horizontally. Use 5minutes to explain to the

participants.

Horizontal and Vertical Strategic Alignment Flowchart

Organizations Core Goals:

VisionandMission

.

Training Strategy:

1. Core HR Strategies

..

3. Core Strategies

2. Core .. Strategies

Motivation Strategy:

.

Documents

Session 2_The Strategic Orientation in HRM