Difference between Traditional Human Resource Management and Strategic Human Resource Management

In modern business world human resource management strategies are important to ensure maximum employee satisfaction and obtain the maximum level of contribution from the human resource to achieve the goals and objectives of the business entity. Strategic human resource management approach is the modern method of managing human resource of the business entities (Armstrong, 2006). Compared to traditional human resource management strategies, strategic human resource management approach involves with understanding the requirements of the human resources and compare with the strategic approaches of the business entity which need to be applied in order to achieve the corporate growth Strategies and perspectives. It emphasizes that organizations should plan the human resource management strategies with respect to the changes in business environmental forces and it is essential to consider those changes in right time in order to ensure and maintain high level of employee satisfaction within the organization. For that purpose there should be a proper link between Change management Strategies and human resource management strategies in order to identify and address the changes in business environmental process and factors within human resource management mechanism (Barney, 1991). In overall perspective it is emphasized that strategic Human Resource Management process has been integrated with business functions and business environmental forces in order to evaluate how those functions and forces will impact to the performance of the human resource within the business entity (Beardwell, 2010). 

In modern business world Human Resource Management process has been linked with business environmental for processes and there are several steps which need to be followed in order to ensure successful implementation and execution of overall strategic Human Resource Management process. The first step of Human Resource Planning process involves with how business organization should plan the human resource with respect to the production and other operational function capacity. That means human resource management plan should be implemented in order to achieve the operational efficiency compared to the functional plans. Based on that,organization should develop the job description which describe the scope and responsibilities which need to be liable by the employees(Beardwell, 2010). It is important to evaluate the expected competencies and experience level of the human resource in Planning the job description. The third step is recruitment and selection process. The primary objective of recruitment and selection process is to attract right candidate to the employment at right time. during the recruitment and selection process business organizations use different types of approaches such as interviews and discussions in order to evaluate competencies and experience level of the candidates in order to confirm that respective candidates are matching with the organization culture and requirements of the respective position (Armstrong, 2006). As fourth step of modern Human Resource Management process business organizations use orientation and induction programs in order to ensure the familiarizationorganizational culture with the new employees. During this process new human resource can adapt to the organization culture in order to perform the roles and responsibilities of the employment successfully. Training and development step of modern Human Resource Management process is important to enhance the performance of the human resource and identify the lapses of Human Resource performance which create adverse implications to achieve the corporate goals and objectives. In addition to that having proper training and development mechanism within the organization it will cause to reduce the risk of human errors and mistakes during the operation process from the human resource (Barney, 1991). 

It is essential to have proper performance management mechanism within the business entities in order to evaluate the operational performance of the human resource in order to identify level of contribution and commitment of the human resource in order to achieve the operational and corporate goals and objectives. In developing the employee performance manage and parameters and performance measurement variable it is essential to consider the practices of competitive business forms and nature of the human resource within the organization to enhance the performance and commitment of the employees (Armstrong, 2006). for example when respective business entity has higher employee turnover ratio it is essential to review the records of employee resignation meeting to identify the real requirements of live in the business entity and how those practices and cultural implications have been impact to enhance the employee turnover ratio. In order to enhance the human resource performance within the organization it is essential to measure that motivation factors with the organization have been properly implemented and executing. Further performance evaluation approaches and methods need to be changed with respect to the changes in business environmental forces and nature of the human resource compared to the other competitive business firms (Barney, 1991).

Human Resource Management Issues in Modern Business World

Recent redundancies had lowered the motivation of the existing staff members. This includes increase in work load of the existing employees with no formal training provided. Further all salary related decisions for the human resource are decided without considering economic environmental variables.  Other reasons for staff demotivation are(Beardwell, 2010),

•        High qualified and experienced staff is leaving. This is effecting the existing staff’s expectations with regards to guidance from their higher ranked colleagues.

•        Difference in salaries and benefits at same position.

•        Short duration contracts makes staff looks for new jobs even when they have not settled in their current position.

•        Communication between researchers is not at an appropriate level.

•        Limited or absence of research support at organization culture.

Based on the staff opinion and best practices in the sector, decisions should be taken and implemented by the management for improving the staff morale. Business organizations should encourage and materially support staff development of staff in line with general policies, and in particular, especially by following up on training opportunities identified in the annual staff evaluation process. In addition to that staff planning process is discussed under modern human resource management strategies (Beardwell, 2010). It discusses that develop an operation based staff management plan integrated with the present future project requirements that is adjusted periodically to reflect the priorities. The staff management plan will be an input to the overall plan prepared by the business entity and develop an acquisition strategy to obtain the required resources which includes guidelines on how a particular resource will be acquired.

In addition to that business organizations have no formal reporting system to ensure that all vacation taken by employees is properly accounted for in the Company’s records.  Instead, we understand that employees track their own vacation during the year and at the end of the year the Human Resources Director obtains such information from each employee. In order to ensure the accuracy of the Company’s recorded vacation liability, modern human resource management strategies suggest that the Company develop and implement a formal reporting system to ensure that all vacation taken by employees is properly accounted for in the Company’s records(Barney, 1991). Further authorization matrix should delegate authority to employee designations and not individuals. The authorization matrix should ensure proper segregating duties and must define responsibilities to prevent any individual from exercising overall control. Once authorization matrix has been formalized, this shall be communicated amongst the personnel within the unit. This matrix shall be regularly reviewed by the unit head to ensure appropriate authorities are designated accordingly and updated. Human resource management department should continue to work with all stakeholders involved in the payroll process in identifying, documenting and monitoring payroll related risks, as part of the organizational risk management process. Management should draft and implement a standardized risk assessment procedure that specifies risks identified for each unit involved in the payroll process(Armstrong, 2006). Further less than satisfactory human resource record keeping poses risks of loss/misplacement of crucial records and inability to access them when necessary, raises transparency issues which in turn may affect staff motivation, ex-employee relationships and organizational reputation. It is essential to streamline record keeping practices to ensure that all files are stored systematically and properly indexed, and all staff-related records are filed promptly and in a readily accessible manner (Beardwell, 2010).

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