Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain :
(From previous issue)
The second level is formulation of the mission statement that should give every employee a clear understanding of values, targets and output expected. It should contain a formulation of the firm’s objectives that enables progress toward them to be measured.
The third level is the strategy which is the key element for what needs to be done, what the company needs to focus on (i.e. business growth, improved productivity, higher quality, etc.). This is where HR comes in. There needs to be a plan specifically for the HR function, a strategic plan on how to add value and how to measure HR’s success.
The Level four concerns the business, operating, and budget plan including all that is needed to contribute to the strategic plan, the processes of HR, the function of training and the all day-to-day running costs.
Th Level five – creating departmental plans – is vital to ensure that the results you have predicted is produced by the strategy of the operating/business plan. There are always two strategic plans: the organizational plan and the plan for the HR department.
The Level six and seven concern team and individual plans. If you want to achieve maximum results from employees the minimum they need to know is what’s required of them, to what quality standard, time frame, cost and end result. This also needs to be in context with the overall objectives so that people are not working in isolation.
For the success and the achievement of measurable results, monitoring and performance review systems need to be in place in order to help identifying problems at an early stage and to put plans or actions in place to keep expected results on target. As knowledge is considered one wing of the bird, action is the other. It needs both to fly.
Formulating the strategy ‘properly’ is the key of business success. The HR manager can only contribute to the strategy if he/she is a strategic player.
Miller further opines that the success of being a key strategic partner within the company depends mostly on three factors: a) the perceived value of HR, b) the ability to deliver promises made, and c) producing results without errors. Putting actions into manageable processes and standardizing the work method is very important for producing expected outcome. Moreover we should not forget that everything we do can be measurable by specific scales.
Focus on Outcomes
As per Guest’s theory regarding HRM, four HR outcomes are emerged, that include political goals: strategic integration, commitment, flexibility and quality. These political goals are all related to HRM policies and need to be achieved to create expected organizational outcomes.
Strategic integration can be happened through by ensuring that HRM is fully integrated into strategic planning, that HRM policies are coherent, that managers use HRM practices it to their everyday work as well as through effective policies of managing change.
Commitment is the goal to reach by ensuring that employees relate to the organization and are committed to high performance. This can be achieved through competent recruitment, selection and policies. Flexibility is necessary for ensuring an adaptable organizational structure, and functional flexibility based on situation. This adaptability of employees can be ensured through appraisals, reward systems, training and development.
The Final goal is to reach quality by ensuring a high quality of goods and services through high quality, competent, committed and flexible employees as a whole.
As per recommendation of Dave Ulrich in his article ” A new mandate for Human Resources” by four ways senior managers can create an trend in which HR is focused on outcomes instead of activities. The first step for senior managers is to demonstrate their belief and respect in HR and to
communicate to the organization that the soft side of HR – like culture change and intellectual capital – is critical to business success. The second step is to explicitly define the results expected from HR and to hold HR accountable for these by setting specific goals and then track, measure, and reward performance. The third step should be to invest in innovative HR practices to signal to the organization that HR is worthy of the company’s money and attention. As theses new practices are identified, line managers should expect HR to adapt to them by focusing on learning how a new practice should work in the company’s unique competitive situation.
Finally, what senior managers can do to drive forward the new mandate for HR is to improve the quality of the HR staff itself by, because when more is expected of HR, a higher quality of HR professionals that know the business, understand the theory and practice of HR, that can manage culture and make change happen, and have personal credibility must be found or the existing staff must be trained.
It is true that HR cannot expand its role in an organization without the necessary expertise in this field. Becoming a strategic partner demands a degree of knowledge on the strategy, markets and the economy. Becoming an administrative expert demands some knowledge of re-engineering, as well as the details of what the line actually does. If HR is to happen real change, it must be made by the expert and confident employees who have the skills and relevant knowledge to work.
(To be continued)
