Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain :
The Functions of Human Resource Management in various organizations are different based on the mission and vision. It is very complex to manage the employees in the right ways due to volatility of notion and attitudes of the individual employees. In this respect, top management of the organizations and business enterprises should be careful and competent during the formulation of the HR and administrative policies. An appropriate and competent policy can motivate and influence the employees to be more skilled, proficient and competent as a whole. With this end view, we have to look over the current trends to analyze the real problems in managing human factors.
The HR function has been in constant motion and evolving for many decades.
Although many new HR ideas, views and concepts have been introduced, the actual roles and functions of HR professionals did not change much until the 1970s. It was Later, the companies to deal with new social and individual values in the workplace, and highlighted the need for the HR function to be more active, progressive, supportive, coordinated and worthy of respect as a whole. Since then human resources management, as a concept and a framework for practice that
has gained broad acceptance in both the academic and business world.
Human resources management theories have superseded earlier personnel
management theories and a new strategic HRM model is driving the
perception of employees as organizational resources as opined by Nankervis & Compton,1994.
Nowadays, expert’s opinions and business giants confirm the key roles that people play in organizational survival through the HRM functions. Theoretical literature, according to Hiltrop (1996), is now supported by evidence from research studies that employers who use HRM practices creatively and strategically are able to attract and retain more talented people, thereby contributing to organizational performance.
According to Pfau and Kay (2002) that the business case for human capital management has been building over a period of time and that their research has proven that superior HR practices drive financial results and its growth. It is within this context of employee contribution to improved business performance that Ulrich, Losey and Lake (1997) noted that HR departments are under increased pressure to
rethink, redefine and re-evaluate their roles. In order to attempt an effective evaluation of HR functions, it is necessary to study and analyze the new
proposed roles of the HR function.
Transformation of the HR function is in reaction to the forces shaping the new
world of work. Peters stated that today’s economic environment requires a fresh look at the individual, the job, the department and the organisation. In general, HR functions are battling to justify the reason for their existence due to an inability to communicate the importance of what they do, in economic terms (Naves, 2002).
As defined by Ulrich (1997) that competitive challenges that require a new way of thinking by the HR function. These challenges include: globalisation; the focus on organisational capabilities for competitiveness; the need for an organisational model for change; dealing with ever changing technology; and attracting, retaining and measurement of competence and intellectual capital.
Further, Mohrman and Lawler III (1998) supported this view and added to this list of challenges with aspects such as restructuring for high performance (combining knowledge of strategy, design and principles of motivation);deployment of people within a virtual organisational concept; managing organisational learning and defining the new psychological contract. On the other hand, many authors call for playing (1) a more strategic role, (2) for HR strategy to be aligned with organisational strategy and (3) for all HR activities to enhance organisational growth through collaboration and cooperation. They further call for the HR function to have a full partnership role in key business processes
such as strategy development, organisational design, change implementation, and the integration of performance management practices as Mohrman & Lawler III, opined,1998. In support of the above views, Fitz-enz and Davison (2002) indicated from research by the Saratoga Institute, that the HR vision for the new millennium must be drawn from aspects such as enhanced productivity and effectiveness. The HR vision must further include the aspect of professional functions, staffed by professionals, trained employees, dedicated to the development of people in ways that are to be satisfying to both the employee and the organisation. Besides, the researcher’s put their views that, in the last decade, the majority of the literature on the transformation of HR functions has been influenced in some way by Ulrich’s multi-role model for human resources management.
Ulrich (1997) developed the multi-role model for human resources management as a blueprint for HR professionals in order to make the required business partnership a reality and effective. This model indicates that HR professionals must learn to be both strategic and operational, focusing on the long and the short term. For successful outcome, they should have to follow these principles. So, the HR function and HR professional of today need to be successful in four principle in HR roles. These roles include are:
Management of strategic human resources (strategic partner).
Management of infrastructure (administrative expert).
Management of employee contribution (employee champion).
Management of transformation and change (change agent).
A new structure for the HR function
To play the new roles, HR professionals need to be free themselves from other transactional issues that occupy a major time of their day-to-day activities. The key to achieving such capacity lies in the structuring of the HR function and its processes.
Ndhlovu (2004) indicated that organisations adopt variations of organisational models and choose to deliver different services using different models as per their abilities. Some of the relevant organisational models for service delivery include:
decentralisation, centralisation, shared services, and outsourcing.
The features of a centralised model include a structured and specific hierarchy, distinction between the operating core and services activities, formal communication and control systems, and role specification. In the decentralised HR model, HR staff in business units report to a central HR department to the director of the business unit (BU). A variation on this is the devolved HR structure where HR staff in business units report directly to the director of the business unit, with a dotted-line relationship to the central HR department. A structure that has gained increasing interest in recent years is the shared services structure. According to Galbraith (1998) the shared services model emerged because of problems with both centralised and decentralized structures. In a shared services organisation, each activity is placed in the best location for its execution, smooth operation and the expertise is shared by all other locations within the organizational setting.
(To be continued)
Moreover, Boninelli (2004) stated that the HR service delivery must change from the current face-to-face and manually intensive processes to tiered HR services. Such a tiered HR service consists of:
Tier 1: Self-service (employee and manager) through Intranet and Internet.
Tier 2: Shared service dealing with basic queries, through an HR Call Centre.
Tier 3: Back office transaction processing through workflow management.
Tier 4: Specialist services delivered through HR professionals.
It is evident that the HR function of the future will need to find an appropriate service delivery model to deliver quality service at a lower cost with an expert service to the organizations. The structuring of the HR function directly influences the nature of service delivery and will be a key component to include in the evaluation of the effectiveness of an HR function. So, the evaluation process of the effectiveness should be carefully designed by the experts and specialists those who have previous experience and capability in the same sort of activities.
Apart from this, the roles described by Ulrich as well as the new focus for HR functions as described by Boninelli provide a framework that can be used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of an HR function of different organizations. It is further evident from the literature that the competencies and awareness within the HR function play a prominent role in the function’s effectiveness, no doubt.
So, it is seemed necessary to carefully analyse these competencies as part of the research and to accommodate it in the evaluation model for better outcome and information. This new HR functions will require a change in the competency profile of the HR professional and the associated personnel. Further, competence refers to an individual’s knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality traits, which directly influence job performance. Becker, Huselid and Ulrich (2001) cited the results of a number of HR competency studies with emphasis on the extensive surveys conducted at the University of Michigan School of Business over a ten-year period (1988 to 1999).
Through this study, HR competencies were identified by three distinct phases, can be divided into five domains as mentioned below:
Knowledge of the business: Understands the human resources practices, organisational structure, competitor analysis, and the financial indicators of business success.
Delivery of HR practices: Expresses effective verbal communication,facilitates the process of restructuring, and attracts appropriate employees. The strategic emphasis is on the ability to measure the value created by the different HR practices.
Ability to manage change: Establishes trust and credibility, is a visionary, and takes a proactive role in bringing about change.
Culture management: Shares knowledge across organizational boundaries, translates desired culture into specific behaviours, and challenges the status quo.
Personal credibility: Has track record of success, has earned trust, instils confidence in others, and demonstrates high integrity. The results of the Michigan studies further highlighted the continually changing nature of the profession. A new competency – strategic HR performance management – was later integrated into the mentioned competencies. Becker, Huselid and Ulrich (2001) divided the strategic
performance management competency into four dimensions, namely (1) critical causal thinking, (2) understanding principles of good measurement, (3) estimating causal relationships, and (4) communicating HR strategic performance results to senior line managers.
On the other hand, HR professionals of today need to embrace change and consider the change as an opportunity to enrich their contribution to organisational performance and obtain new skills and understanding for better result.
Such a model would however be incomplete and inadequate if the notion of HR architecture alignment were not incorporated into the process of HR functions. In this connection, Becker, Huselid and Ulrich (2001) emphasised that the HR architecture – the sum of the HR function, the broader HR system, and the resulting employee behaviours – must be aligned with the requirements of the organisation’s strategy implementation process. Their model depicts the dimensions of alignment that the HR architecture must achieve in order to become a strategic asset for the organizations.
Firstly, the alignment should be between strategy implementation and the HR system. HR deliverables represent those products of the HR architecture that are integrally linked to the successful implementation of the organisation’s strategy. In an integrated fashion, the HR system will be shaped by the HR deliverables.
The second alignment, the HR function can play and the level and mix of competencies available in the organisation. These competencies include competencies are both HR professionals and line managers. This alignment will influence the overall development of human resources as a strategic asset.
The current challenges facing the HR function and the HR professional highlighted a number of themes that are also relevant to this study:
The transformation from personnel management to human resources management has not automatically translated into a change in roles.
Many HR functions have made the change in name without changes in roles or practice.
Some uniqueness exists in the activities that are performed by HR functions but a large percentage of activities are generic in nature.
Stereotypes still exist that HR functions do not contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. However, evidence exists that a new breed of HR professionals is beginning to appear. Professionals are highly qualified, with a desire to contribute to the organizational bottom-line.
More and more research studies support theoretical literature in as far as employers, who utilise HRM practices creatively and strategically, are able to attract and retain more talented employees who can contribute to organisational performance.
The multi-role model of human resources management, developed by Ulrich (1997), has largely influenced the current thinking around HR functions and HR professionals.
To embrace the new roles, HR functions will need to adopt a structuring philosophy that will deliver quality service at a lower cost.
The new model for HR functions will require a change in the competency profile of the HR professional.
In fine, it was manifested that the study focuses firstly on the ability of the HR function to respond to the needs of the changing world of work in different organizations. Careful emphasis should be given on employment equity and the shortage of skills among the employees at different level.
Secondly, the focus is on the ability of the HR function to deliver in the new roles required by organizations and business enterprises. The emphasis is further on the ability to align the HR business plan with the organizational business plan, and then to measure the HR contribution to bottom-line success.
The model thirdly evaluates the structuring philosophy of the HR function, with the emphasis on delivering quality at a lower cost. Lastly the focus is on the current competencies of HR professionals.
So, it is proved that the above components of HR functions, emphasis on employment equity, measure and resolve the shortage of skills among employees, alignment of HR plan with organizational business plan are necessary for raising competent organization in terms of stability, growth and progress in all respects.
(Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain is a expert in HR studies)
