BSBHRM602 Manage Human Resources Strategic Planning

Briefly discuss the importance of a human resources strategy.Identify three aims of human resources strategic planning. List at least five information areas that should be included in a Human Resources Strategic Plan. Discuss four key steps in the human resources strategic planning process. Discuss each step in at Discuss in around a paragraph, how the introduction of technology benefited the recruiting function of human resources. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the following options for the provision of human resource services.

Human resource management in the organization is considered as a simple process of efficiently and effectively using the human capital to achieve the set goal of the organization. The human resource manager thus plays a vital role in managing the ‘people’ part of the organization (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). The key functions of human resource manager include recruitment, training and development, compensation and benefits management, performance appraisal and legal compliance.

2. Briefly, discuss the importance of a human resources strategy.

Strategic HRM is defined as a process which links the human resource of the organization with its strategic objective and helps to improve the overall performance of the organization (Boselie, 2010). The designing, allocation, and adaptation of HR strategy help to evaluate the existing HR policies, team building, to monitor the progress of achievements and to ensure the fair legal environment in the organization.

3. Identify three aims of human resources strategic planning.

The human resource strategic planning refers to the arrangement of right amount of employees who have desired level of skills and talent, motivating them to perform at the right time to achieve the set goal and fulfilling the long-term corporate vision (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). The aims of human resource strategic planning are:

1. Identify the number of employees required for strategic fulfillment and acquiring people with desired skills for the organization
2. Designing and implementation of motivation strategy to enhance the performance of the employees.
3. Creating a link between corporate objectives and people planning activities in the organization.
4. List at least five information areas that should be included in a Human Resources Strategic Plan.

The human resource strategic plan comprises with the areas which need to be developed in order to align them with the strategic goal of the organization. The information areas such as technological environment of the organization, cultural management, legal environment, sales, and marketing strategy of the organization, financial aspects of the organization should be included in the human resource strategic plan.

5. Discuss four key steps in the human resources strategic planning process. Discuss each step in at least 2 to 3 sentences.

The HR strategic planning includes first the realization about the current human resource situation of the organization and then designing a plan to make changes in the HR capital based on the future forecasting and organizational requirements (Bratton & Gold, 2012). The four key steps of strategic HR planning are as follows:

Step 1- Assessing the current HR capacity- This step includes the gathering of information about the skills, talent, knowledge, and abilities of the current staff of the organization. The HR manager can develop a skill inventory for the employees to maintain the information. The performance assessment of the employees should also be kept handy to get information about the career planning and till time performance of the employee.

Step 2- Forecasting HR requirements- This step provides answers to the question such as number of employees required in the future to fulfill the strategic goal of organization, new job profiles or positions that should be introduced, changes required in the existing job role and responsibilities of the employees and the skill set required for the new employees that organization is planning to recruit. Here, the HR manager also has to consider the impact of external environment on the staffing process such as the impact of economic, technological and cultural shifts in the market. 

Step 3- Gap analysis- This is the most crucial step in HR strategic planning as it provides sound information about the gaps that need to be fulfilled. It includes the comparison of the number of employees working in the organization, their skills and abilities and the future requirement of the employees in the organization. Lastly, to analyze the current HR management practices and identify the changes that are required in the practices.

Step 4- Developing HR strategies to support organizational strategies- The last step of strategic HR planning include firstly the restructuring of existing strategies, later introduction of new recruitment, training and development, outsourcing and collaboration strategies for the company. The HR manager has to ensure that the newly introduced strategies are aligned with the strategic vision of the organization.

6. Discuss in around a paragraph, how the introduction of technology benefited the recruiting function of human resources.

In this wide world, every job, every sector and every function is affected or will be affected by the internet (Kalika, 2000). The HR sector is no exception to this rule. The introduction of new technology has transformed the recruitment function of human resource management. The companies are now maintaining the career websites which provide information about the company, promote an attractive image of the organization among the prospective employees and generate the job application (Cober, Brown & Levy, 2004). These websites help the HR managers to attract the potential candidate for the job openings in the organization. The job boards available in the market are an easy way to communicate the job offers to a large talent pool (Founder, 2006).

Also, the job boards provide information about the experience and qualifications of the candidate which helps the HR manager to shortlist the candidate and generate the call for the interview. Lastly, the new recruitment systems lead to cost reduction, improve the service quality, enhance the strategic orientation of the HR department and make it efficient (Parry & Tyson, 2008). In terms of social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, the HR manager has got new social networking way to recruit employees. The emergence of the internet also giving the opportunity to HR manager to recruit virtual teams which include geographically dispersed employees. Thus, we can say the introduction of technology made it easier for HR managers to reach out talented people, attract them and recruit them for the organization.

7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the following options for the provision of human resource services.

The companies can make the provision of human resource services using following three options:

External provision by a consultant or contractor- The HR department can hand over some specific requirements like attracting the candidate for recruitment drive and arranging their interviews to consultants. The advantage of this method is that HR manager can save time as assigning the job to a consultant to increase the speed of work. It will improve the quality of the selection as HR managers can be focused on the interview and screening process. The disadvantage of the process is that HR department remains unaware about the talent pool available in the market and it becomes difficult to design the job profile as per changes in the market.

Outsourcing of HR services- The HR department can outsource the functions like recruitment, training and development and payroll to the HR experts in the market. The advantage of this option is getting high-quality service as the HR experts get involved in the fulfillment of the task, workload and cost reduction. The main disadvantage of HR service outsourcing is its impact on work culture and issues related to maintaining the skills, talent and ability details of the employees.

Internal human resources provision- The HR department can solely handle all the HR function on their own. This method provides the HR department the opportunity to make required changes in the HR strategy as per the ongoing changes in the objectives of the organization. However, this provision increases the workload of HR department, required more staff in HR department and sometimes decreases the quality of work.

8. In at least two sentences, discuss the aim and scope of the Fair Work Act 2009?

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) is a foundation of all regulations and standards for employment which employers are bound to follow. The purpose of the national workplace relations system which is outlined within Fair Work Act is to provide a balanced framework for relationships at work, promote social inclusion and economic prosperity. The act provides terms and conditions of employment, set of rights and responsibilities of employers, employee, and organizations, provide compliance for enforcement of the Act and provide administration of the Act by the establishment of Fair Work Commission. Along with the provisions and guidelines, the Fair Work Act gives the guaranteed safety net for fair, enforceable and relevant minimum terms and conditions in the form of National Employment Standards (NES), Modern Awards and National Minimum Wage orders.

Human Resources Strategic Planning Project

The King Edward VII College had a successful run in the educational industry. The college plans to expand the operation and open two additional campuses based in Brisbane and Sydney. The organization needs a three-year strategic plan to execute the objective of business expansion. The human resource planning is the essential part to ensure the achievement of the strategic goal of the organization. Thus, we present a report on the current human resource capacity of the company, the future requirement of the staff, the gaps at a strategic level and the new strategies that should be implemented for the success of the organization.

Current HR capacity

The King Edward VII College currently has 24 full-time employees which include CEO, a Marketing Manager and Marketing Assistant, Human Resources Manager, Finance Manager, Administration Manager, Office Assistant, Receptionist, Academic Manager, Student Services Officer and approximately 14 trainers. The employees are highly qualified in their domain and efficiently executing the assigned task. However, for the new branches of the college new staff members are not yet recruited. The skill inventory of the current human resource includes leadership qualities, domain knowledge (academic, HR, marketing & finance), administrative skills and teaching ability. The present staff is capable of run one business unit for the organization, but the additional responsibility of upcoming venture can increase the work load and might affect the work quality.

Forecasting HR requirements

It is predicted that for each upcoming campuses the college will require a receptionist, student services officer and 4 trainers. This provides that King Edward VII College should recruit two receptionist, two student services officers and 8 trainers in the near future. Additionally, the college will also require IT manager, to take care of introduction of new technology to the campus and marketing team to ensure the promotion of the college among the potential candidates. The college should also recruit team members for HR department for allocation of new employees and to implement the HR strategic plan.

Gap analysis

The rapidly changing business environment requires the changes the policies and strategies of King Edward VII College. Advancement in technology, cultural changes, and the emergence of the importance of work-life balance are the main aspects which affect the work culture of King Edward VII College. The current work system of King Edward VII College is not technically advanced as there is a lack of standardized policies which can support the expansion plan of the organization. Thus, there is a need to restructure the current policies of the organization, to introduce new policies and to ensure the healthy working environment in the organization.

HR Strategies to Support Organizational Strategies

We propose the designing, development, and implementation of following HR policies for King Edward VII College in near future.

Recruitment and selection strategies- The standardization of job profile, selection criteria, skill set, and educational background of the candidate should be done. Also, the policies regarding the compensation, benefits, working hours and working conditions should be designed based on the employment law.  

Flexible working arrangements policies- The importance of work-life balance is increased among the employees. Thus, the organization should design flexible working arrangement policies to put the ground rules for flexible work opportunity and facilities for the employees.

Advanced HR information system- To maintain the information about the employees such as attendance, personal, official and educational details, performance ratings, performance appraisal details and skill inventory there is a need of advanced HR information system in the organization.

Induction, training & development programs- It is essential to run the induction program for the new employees of the organization to make them aware of their role, responsibilities, rights, rules, and regulations of the company and the facilities provided by the organization. The training and development programs should include cross culture training to maintain cultural harmony, skill development exercise and technical training course to use new technology to perform the given task.

Occupational health and safety policies- There is a need to create health and safety policies which will include the details regarding insurance, accident allowances, and safety precautions. The company should ensure the proper implementation of the health and safety norms given by law.

Performance management system and retention policies- A fair performance appraisal system should be introduced which include the ratings from the supervisors, team members, and the employees. The retention policies should cover the additional compensation, rewards, and facilities the company will provide to retain the employee in the organization.

The human resource strategies suggested here will ensure the successful implementation of the long term objectives of the organization. 

Human Resources Strategic Plan Implementation

The employees always prefer to work for a family friendly organization and term ‘work-life balance’ is often used in the same context (Greenhaus et al., 2003). The work-life balance is precisely the interface between the work and private life of the employee (Abendroth & Den Dulk, 2011). The work life balance indicates a certain level of success in meeting both work and family demands (Valcour, 2007). The work-life balance of the employee is important for the organization as it promotes positive psychology and health (Hurrelmann, 2006). It reduces the level of stress and anxiety among the employees who are trying to perform well on the organizational and personal level.

King Edward VII College under the theme of work-life balance sets an objective of providing safe, healthy and inclusive workplace culture to the employees. There are three distant work-life balance programs we proposed to run in the organization for the fulfillment of the objective.

1. Creating Designated “Quiet Space”

While dealing with the work pressure or if someone encounters a bad day, an employee often needs a quiet space to take a mental break. The King Edward VII College should come up with a well designed quite space which is uncluttered. We propose to build a place where employees can relax during the short break; the place should have comfortable seating arrangements, plenty of light and fresh air along with the natural entities like plants and flowers. This place will enhance the health of the employee and help in quick refreshment.

2. Cross-cultural training session

The King Edward VII College consists of diverse staff and also serves diverse students. It is essential for the staff members to be aware of the different norms and beliefs of various cultures. The cross-cultural training will enhance the cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence of the employees. This intervention will help to develop an inclusive work culture in the organization.

3. Allowing Schedule Flexibility

The virtual workforce is the new trend in the educational sector. The employees working on the profiles such as online marketing executives, course designer, and online tutor are not required to be physically present in the organization. Thus, we proposed that King Edward VII College should consider providing work from home opportunity to the employees whose profile does not require the arrival at work in-person. This work-life balance imitative will provide benefits like the opportunity to attract highly skilled employees across the global, retentions of the employees who are looking for the flexible work environment, increasing the employee engagement, contributing to the health and well-being of the employees and development of an innovative, agile workforce.

Human Resources Strategic Plan Monitoring And Adoption

The technological advancement allowed King Edward VII College to recruit the work from home team which is working with the organization from past one year. The implementation of ‘work from home’ opportunity under the work-life balance theme is found to be successful for the organization. As stated by Perry-Smith and Blum (2000), the work-life balance practices act as a source of competitive advantage for the organization. It is proven right in the case of King Edward VII College work from home team. The virtual team consists of highly qualified employees who have significantly contributed to the growth of the organization.

The post implementation analysis has shown that there is a noticeable improvement in employee satisfaction, work-life quality of the employees, the retention rate of the organization is improved and the absenteeism is drastically reduced at the end of this year. The yearly health-check up reports of the ‘work from home’ team has shown positive improvement in overall health and reduced level of stress and anxiety. The productivity and response time of the team is highly improved after they got the opportunity to work from home. However, some of the issues were found while implementation of the ‘work from home’ initiative. The issues are listed below-

1. The family members of the virtual team are not quite aware of the norms to be followed to provide a productive working environment to the employee
2. The technological failure makes it difficult for the ‘work from home’ employees to join the regular online meetings

As the ‘work from home’ initiative was quite successful based on the gain in terms of employee satisfaction, improved productivity and performance we proposed to continue this effort with some additional action.  The additional actions include-

1. Workshop for family members- We propose to run an online one day workshop for the family members of the employees who are working from home. This workshop will help them to understand the importance of creating a healthy and productive work environment. The workshop will also provide simple guidelines, rules and regulations to be followed to make virtual team work more comfortably. The workshop will be an initiative to thank the family members for the till time support they provide to the employees and encourage them to boost the performance of the ‘work from home’ employees.
2. Technological advancement- As technical failure can lead to issues like miscommunication and failure of the assignment we propose some technological advancement in the existing system of the organization. We propose that organization can design a simple communication interface which will allow the team members to join the regular meetings. The organization can also encourage the ‘work from home’ employees to use a particular internet service which will allow them to seamlessly connect with the other employees working at the office. The discount in the internet service or internet allowances can be introduced to ensure the proper connectivity among virtual employees.

We propose to continue to provide ‘work from home’ opportunity to more employees with the additional action mentioned in the report.

References

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Boselie, P. (2010). Strategic human resource management: A balanced approach. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2011). Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.

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