HR assignment report on: Report writing help on HR with organizational strategy

Executive Summary

Human resource management in the organization is viewed as an administrative function but that is not the right thing to do because HR department can add value to the employees if handled tactfully. The management of the organization needs to involve HR department in the plans that they make. In most of the organizations, HR department is expected to fit in the strategic planning that is being done but that can be misguiding to the employees in the organization.Management has a general perception that HR department is not a revenue generating department but the management needs to understand that they may not generate revenue directly but they can actually motivate the employees to achieve more than what they have done in the past. The managers in the HR department should inform the seriousness of their role in the organization so that the HR department isn’t ignored in the next strategic planning meet.

The strategic planning in the organization should be such that it involves the HR department right from the starting rather than that of adjusting the HR department somewhere in the middle. The management should understand the importance of HR department so that they can take care of things accordingly. Industrial relations cannot be ignored at any cost.

IntroductionHuman Resource department is viewed as an administrative function in most of the organizations and thus in majority cases the need and opportunity to strategically align this department with the organizational plans is generally ignored. Even if the HR department is included formulating strategies for the organization, the alignment of the department is generally limited to function of forecasting. It has been observed that absence of HR on the strategic planning table is one of the most important contributing factors in ignorance of HR department in formulation of strategies for an organization. For any organization and its strategies, “people” are the core; by the nature HR is all about people and the irony, it is the one department which is left over in formulating strategies. Generally HR department is considered a “soft” and not so important department as the success of HR department is very difficult to measure. The major contributors to the strategies of organizations are the things which can be measured and these things are given authority (Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997). Strategy is the essence of Human Resources of a company. There can be a substantial contribution to strategies as well as bottom line of an organization from HR department if it is aligned properly. In order to earn a seat at the strategy table, it is very important for HR department to earn respect in the organization and this respect can be earned only if HR can build a strong administrative foundation for itself. Apart from this, acknowledging what HR department is doing now and what actually it should do is very essential to gain access to the full involvement with strategy development.Once the gap is recognized, HR needs to measure itself to guide itself, and prove itsworth as an ongoing strategic unit(Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997).

The Problem: HR is not aligned with strategic planning

Following are some key reasons as to why HR is not aligned with strategic planning

Too Focused on AdministrativeThe two key functions that are performed by the HR department are: first, bringing effectiveness to the HR strategies and second one is development of employees of an organization so that they can contribute in the best possible manner in achieving the organizational goals. Most of the time of HR department is spent on administrative effectiveness function. Administrative activities such as recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, and compensation plans have been associated from traditional time with the HR department (Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997). Unfortunately HR department does not have an option to choose between the strategic or administrative functions. For HR department, both the functions hold equal importance. HR administrative functions are the basic building blocks that keep order with the function ofHR. In order to maintain a level of credibility, it is very important that HR perform administrative functions correctly. Once the administrative functions are done, HR department start focusing on strategic arena and this area generally the HR personals does not feel comfortable.

Poor HR Personal Competencies

Ineffective, incompetent and costly, these three words are generally associated with the HR department and the reputation which HR department holds in an organization is that of a beleaguered. A change in the mindset and thinking of the HR department is quite essential to change this image of HR department. Along with this changes are also needed in the expectation of senior manager from HR department. In order to make HR department serious in their role in an organization, the senior managers need to make HR department believes that apart from administrative duties, HR department can also play an important role in the strategic planning of an organization. Furthermore, HR professionals must upgrade themselves. Organizations need HR people who know business, can influence the culture, and make positive change happen within an organization; doing so will bring personal creditability to HR (Ulrich, 1997).

HR is not measured in dollars

Often, not much attention is paid by the organization to its HR department thus HR starts lacking accountability. The general perception which people have about HR department is that HR department is nothing but a group of clerks who can process benefit forms of employees and max to max can keep track of vacations. Apart from ensuring smooth running of these administrative functions no strategic accountability is expected from HR department (Galford, 1998).Unless and until HR department is able to demonstrate the importance of role which it play in smooth functioning of an organization, in creation of organizational values and return on investment; HR department will never be able to achieve its full potential (Frangos, Fitzenz, 2002).HR lack’s alignment with other departmental goals

Aligning with the organization is very important for HR department in order to get involved with the over-all strategy of an organization. HR can contribute in a big way to the performance of an organization but for that it needs to become interdependent with the rest of the organization. Adoption of a comprehensive approach is very important for this purpose. The ultimate goal is for HR to support an organization through the management of human capital, which is the major subset of the broader organization’s strategy (Freedman, 2004).

The Solution: Aligning HR with organizational strategy

There are various benefits of becoming part of the strategic process in an organization and in order to overcome the resistance, HR needs to identify and measure the benefits (Mills,1985). Most of the organizations agree on the fact that their HR department plays an importantrole in their success but there still has been a continuous ignorance from their side when it comes to make this department part of their strategic objectives.  It is very important that HR department measure the impact they can have on the strategies of an organization.

A strategy designed by the management ignores the employees in the organization and this happens due to the politics that is taking place among the management members. The organizational goals are designed by the management in such a way that it totally ignores the managerial functions like that of HRM, marketing, operations and finance but this is not the right thing to do. Management needs to understand that capitalism is not the only thing that needs to be taken care in the organization because if proper care is taken regarding the structural implementation then retention of employees becomes an easy task (Hyman, 1987 1:25).

Conclusion

In every organization, Human Resource department is present for sure, what is more important is the fact that how morale and motivational level of members of an organization are impacted substantially through the policies of HR department. Artifacts, values and both visible as well as invisible assumptions are the three sources through which culture is communicated to the members of an organization.For every organization, it is an important endeavor to align HR and strategic plans. If studies are to be believed, an alignment of human resource department and organizational strategies have majorly contributed towards performance of an organization. Formulation of organizational strategies in consultation with HR department result in more feasible, accurate and employee friendly strategies which in turn benefit the company in large manner on their achievement. In order to become part of strategy team of an organization it is very important that HR department start thinking out of the box and do not limit itself to the administrative function only but it should support organization in its day to day activities. There will not be any ignorance from the top management if HR department will start thinking from business perspective and will add value to the company, this will also bring credibility to the work done by HR department. By measuring the key HR contributors to strategy, execution the HR function istransformed into a source of value creation for the organization. Measuring the key HRIssues in strategy provide the alignment between HR and business process and ultimately, what can be used to link to financial business outcomes (Ulrich, D. 2000).

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