Strategic human resource management

Strategic Human Resource Management Amity University MBA IB This module will place previous studies of Human Resource Management within a strategic, international dimension so as to illustrate the concept of competitive advantage applied to human resources Ms Snigdha Malhotra Semester Two STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Course Objective: This module will place previous studies of Human Resource Management within a strategic, international dimension so as to illustrate the concept of competitive advantage applied to human resources Learning Outcomes: On completion of this module students will be above to: Demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of approaches to labour mangement, (including HRM) in certain western societies and critically appraise the relevance and appropriateness of each of these to contemporary organisations and employment Identify the strategic aspects of HRM and linkages between these and business terms of effectiveness and best practice' approaches Understand and evaluate the role of organisational change in affecting HR policies and employee perceptions of organisations Course Contents: Module I: Introduction & Development of Ideas on Human resources Introduction to Strategic Human Resource Management Difference between traditional HR and SHRM Pluralism, unitarism and frames of References: the 'excellence' literature and new managerialism Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Module II: Business and HR Strategy Relationships between the business and HR strategy, competing approahces and models Changing Profiles of employees and customers Globalisation of Business and Human Resources Challenges of leading an organisation Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Module III: Employment realtionship and organisational change Restructuring 'leanness' and 'downsizing' and the implications for the mangement of HR Implications of contextual change for HRM in relation to resourcing, development Management of human resources, and business Concepts and Growth of HRM and HRD Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Module IV: Personality and Leadership Concepts of Leadership, Determinants, Models of Personality Concept of self – esteem, Socialisation, Components of attitudes Leadership styles and organisational values Challenges in Global business environs and Situational Leadership Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Module V: Leading Effective Teams & working in Groups Team as a competitive strategy & obstacles for effective team performance Groups – Importance & Dynamics Global Organisation, Reaching out the Global Customer & Role of individuals Functional & Dysfunctional competition and cooperation in Organisation Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Module VI: Learning organisations & Organisational learning Organisational learning – Process, Policy, Diffusion & Institutionalisation Change & Effective implementation Employee autonomy and ethical Managers Goals, Policies, Creating and sharing vision Summary & Review Questions, Case Studies Text & References: Text: Mello Jeffrey, 2003, Strategic Human Resource Management, Thomson Learning References: Robbins, Stephen P Management, PHI, New Delhi, 2000 Udai Pareek, 2000, Understanding Organisational Behaviour, Oxford University Press Monappa, Arun, Managing human resources - Delhi: Macmillan, 1997 Mejia, Luis R G,Managing human resource,4th,Pearson Education,New Delhi,2006 Beck, Robert C,Motivation theories and principles,Pearson Education,New Delhi,2000 Cascio, Wayne F, Managing Human Resource, 6th,Tata McGraw Hill,New Delhi,2003 Ivancevich, John M,Human resource management,Tata McGraw Hill,New Delhi,2004 Sanghi, Seema,Towards personal excellence,Response Books, New Delhi,2002 Epstein Robert,The big book of motivation games, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi,2001 Aswthappa, K., HR and Personnel Management, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 2005 Biddle, Derek, Human Aspects of management, 2nd, Jaico Publishing House,Mumbai,2002 www.indianmba.com www.umuc.edu www.allbusiness.com www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/Case_Studies www.irex.org/programs/uasp/CaseStudies www.questia.com www.books.google.co.in/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Resource_Management CONTENTS Introduction & Development of Ideas on Human resources………………….5 Business and HR Strategy……………………….…………………………………… 19 Employment Relationship and Organizational Change… …………………………28 Personality and Leadership…………………….…………………………………… 36 Leading Effective Teams and working in Groups…… …………………………….66 Learning Organizations and Organizational Learning……… ……………………77 Other Study Material and Case Studies ……………………… ……………………92 MODULE I: INTRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS ON HUMAN RESOURCES Strategic Human Resource Management deals with how people are treated in organization Its main object is to bringing people into the organization, help them to perform their work, compensate them for their labors, & solve their problems which arise in organization Commitment and Motivation are important aspect Strategic Human Resource Management This helps us to connect Strategy Human Resource Management with organizational behavior & management strategy The process of Strategy Human Resource Management is complex which is being studied and discussed by commentators ‗Human Resource Management which helps in acquiring, stimulating & helps in retaining the outstanding employees as it provide both effectiveness & efficiency for the working of the organization, in present world it is being used in strategic way hence is termed as Strategic Human Resource Management‘ The two authors convey message about Strategic Human Resource Management which has similar meaning but have different approach to Strategy Strategic Human Resource Management is a long-term goal, which helps the organization to regulate environment to a free market environment, has direct implication for Strategic Human Resource Management Practices in India and Human Resource Management The Department is under pressure to bring changes in their organizations Their implementations are more able to achieve their goals & objectives It integrates traditional Human Resource Management activities It helps employees to build pool of skill, knowledge & abilities Which are needed in organization for their betterment & to achieve their future goals Strategic Human Resource Management helps organization to form with the vision, mission & goals for the organization Strategic Human Resources Management is a concept which deals with all Human Resource activities within a firms overall strategic planning implementation The set of policies & practices which will help the employees to build better skills, knowledge & abilities, which are needed for achieving organizational goals and for betterment of organization There has been an increasing awareness that Human Resource function were like an island with the people who are softer centered value which was far away from the really hard world of real business To justify its own existence Human Resource is getting more and more connected with Strategy & current running of the business side In the early 1980s the Debate about the meaning of Strategic Human Resource Management dates backs to an extensive literature on the major difference between the terms Human Resource Management & Personnel Management This issue of the relationship between Strategy & Human Resource Management is at centre of the debate concerning the difference between Human Resource Management and Strategic Human Resource Management concept of Strategic Human Resource Management has act as a ‗barrier‘ between business strategy the management of human resource Basically Human Resource Strategy is a set of process & activity which is jointly shaped by Human Resource & line manager, which help them to solve people-related business issue The organization must develop strategic objective that direct the work of the members of the organization towards achievement of the mission To energize and focus the work of the member of the organization, strategic objectives must be developed from the mission statement to specify the task that must be done and the goals that must be met to achieve the mission Strategic Human Resource Management objectives must be developed for the human resources planning, recruitment, selection, training & development, job design, compensation & benefits, quality of the work life and worker health & safety Strategic Human Resource Management helps organization plays a vital role in forming the objectives for the organization along with the goals, mission & vision The vision mission & goals of a company is a short introduction of its operational plans for the future A mission statement shows people the need of the company to subsist, the vision statement of the organization give a brief idea of the organization, their inspiration and the frame work for its future strategy, and goals are the path where they progress to achieve it For all the parts of the organization it is just a mental image which is to be perceived as real & not in present, but to be achieved in future Goal is a statement which and individual or an organization want to achieve (Dhar, 2008) The goals of the organization are the statement that is the main aim of the organization which has to be achieved in future Now the goals, and objectives of the organization has been set, its time to analyze the organization internally as well as externally, knowing the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is known as SWOT analysis It plays a vital role to form the goals, mission, vision & objectives It Stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats With the help of the analysis we come to know about the current situation, competitors, and position etc of the organization in the market Which help us to become better than others SWOT gives an idea about the market value, the current scenario so with the help of that we have better chance that where it is leading The changes which take place in the organization are known as ‗Transformation.‘ The way organization or the teams as whole accept these changes without affecting the working ability is known as ‗Transformational Management‘ Transformational Leader focuses on tasks and getting them accomplished at all costs, a Transformational Leader focuses on the worker and the best way to motivate them to achieve the desire result Transformational leader are those who change organizations by developing a vision and communicating & implementing this vision through effective leading of subordinates Transformational leader are able to handle both task and relation dimension of leadership Transformational has primary focus on individual performance, satisfaction, effectiveness The main function of the transformational leadership is to satisfy employees & to performance The outcome such as leadership effectiveness, innovativeness, quality improvement & both subjective & objective rating performance has also been linked with Transformational Leadership The incentives given to the employees make employees committed towards organization & this bringing in new trends To perform any task the employee should be loyal with particular organization so he can perform better for the organization in future That faith & loyalty of the employee towards organization is known as commitment Commitment is a word which denotes the connection between two or more parties It is an important aspect of Human Resource that deals with the psychological attachment of an employee When an organization gives the best possible funds such as such one can live a comfortable life then why would someone quit opt to quit The ability to furnish one‘s family with all the necessary amenities gives every employee a motivation to keep working Commitment is an important aspect of Human Resource which deals with the psychological attachment of an employee It is said that ―commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision and gives us the right manner over dreams into reality‖ Now the employees are faithful or loyal to the organization and has caliber to perform well, so certain authority need to be given in order to make them perform well, this is known as Empowerment Employment Empowerment could be defined as controlled transfer of authority to make decisions and take actions Management can implement this policy by development of commitment and facilitation to the employees Though Employees make suggestions, final analysis is still to be made by the managers Employee Empowerment is very crucial to maintain the employees because it develops broader horizons, maximizes on-the-job learning, inspires confidence and high selfesteem and finally increases well-being Donald Peterson, the CEO of ford, transformed the company from one that was loosing money and market share to one that produce high-quality produce made big profit and created the ford Taurus, one of the best selling cars in an American Automobile History Business context is helping a person by the business in order to take work from him Business context mainly provides an international focus on the theory and practices related to people management in Human Resource Management The main duty of the manager in the organization is to handle the situation, and make sure that work given to the employee is done on time and to check them To get better work from the employee manager should motivate their employee By which work will be done in a better manner To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself To improve productively, quality & services positive motivation philosophy and practices plays very important role in the organization Motivation plays a vital role in achieving goals, to gain positive perspective, creates the power to change, and gives confidence, it helps in building self –esteem and capability It also helps them in managing their own development and also helps others with theirs Motivation also helps us in rapid changing workplace Employees who are motivated help organization to survive for longer time & are more productive Following are the way in which the employee is motivated is Economic Reward, Promotion & Transfer, Opportunity to grow, Challenging & Stimulating work etc thus level of motivation differ from individual to individual at different point of time Another way of motivating people could be by providing flexible working time The term flexible working refers to working practices, which is mutually agreed by two parties‘ employee & employer, which cover hours of working, place & pattern of work If your workplace arrangement is flexible you and your employee will improve the way your workplace operates Flexibility helps in tapping our own potentialities & carving a niche in our professional career By creating a good workplace it helps business and has a number of advantages like by improving your ability which helps to attract skilled and motivate employees, it helps in creating staff loyalty & will give higher return on training investment, reduces stress level among employees & improve moral & commitment It also helps employee to work creatively and which will result in better and improved productivity To attract talents, to retained valued employees, to raise morale and job satisfaction, to reduce stress and burnout Etc Organization has started thinking about their flexible working timing for their employees After solving the internal affairs related to the organization the company can concentrate on there external affairs existing in the market, such as high quality service & customer satisfaction High quality of service can be expected only when the employees are committed to the organization so that it can prosper Providing customer with High Quality Service the chances of Customer Satisfaction is more Fulfilling customer‘s requirement most appropriate & efficient way it greatly enhances the perceived value of the product By Giving High Quality service it further adds value to a product, providing incremental income & customer loyalty Mc Donald‘s has an excellent ‗A‘ rated service Which provide the customer with lots of privilege & services Every time a customer walks in they promise to give the product within minute, which gives the customer a warm welcome feeling The practice applied by Mc Donald‘s is to work as a team and contribute to the organization Reputation Only providing high quality service doesn‘t mean you are satisfying your customer make your customer satisfied by providing value for the money is vital Customer service, like any aspect of business, is a practiced art that takes and effort to master Customer service is one of the most important aspects of the business Customer satisfaction is nothing but fulfilling the customers need If in a hotel a guest orders for a coffee and if the service of the coffee is not on time or the coffee is cold it create a negative impacts on the guest mind, about the organization and the way they treat guest And because of the poor quality service the organization may loose business & profits Strategic Human Resources Management basically deals with longer-term people related issue It is also macro-concerned about the structures, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching resources for the future needs It deals with all those activities which are affecting human behaviors of the individuals in their efforts to formulate and implement the strategic needs of business For retaining talented workers, they need some value more than what others get The most important thing which should be kept in mind is equality of opportunity Flexible working would be best for the employees to balance their commitments This policy would surely retain the employees As Woolwich Dairy, does employee empowerment, it would be helpful to them to retain their employees because employees getting authority would be working whole heartedly, keeping in mind the broader visions This way the customer would be satisfied and as everyone knows customer satisfaction leads to employee‘s job satisfaction Introduction Why HR Can't Win Today If you've been feeling "damned if you and damned if you don't" lately, you're not alone Human resources professionals everywhere are feeling they can't win today than ever before And they're shouldering more role-related dilemmas as a result Remember the UPS strike a few months ago? There, the HR leaders tried to temper strategic workforce-planning issues against temporary workers' needs And how about the Texaco racial-discrimination case last year involving secret audiotapes and allegations of racism among senior managers? HR had instituted diversity training, but incidents of apparent racism and discrimination happened anyway and ultimately cost the firm more than $175 million As Roseanne Roseannadanna (played by Gilda Radner) humorously used to say on "Saturday Night Live": "If it's not one thing, it's another." She certainly had a point Many human resources professionals can relate While strikes and discrimination charges are no laughing matter, for HR professionals, dilemmas like them are hitting faster, harder and more profoundly than ever Consider these real HR issues: Employees are filing more lawsuits than ever Disgruntled line managers need state-of-the art training yesterday CEOs won't let HR anywhere near the strategic planning table, but in their next breath profess: "Employees are our most important asset." It's time for an HR reality check As if you didn't already know it, the damned feeling is real What you might not have thought about is that much of the frustration stems from dichotomies in the many roles HR plays It could be that your HR department has so many internal and external customers the senior management team, CEOs, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders that you're having a hard time steadying your eyes on the firm's business goals and your HR mission in fulfilling those goals Of course, there are no simple answers to the complexities of HR's many dilemmas, or to figuring out which roles the HR department should play in organizational strategy But understanding where the dilemmas lie and why your current HR role is causing confusion, is a good place to start Damned, no matter what How often HR professionals feel damned? "All the time," says Max Wagoner, HR director for P2S Engineering Inc., which is based in Long Beach, California, and employs 69 workers "I've told people the job is many times like being a high-wire walker You can't afford to deviate even marginally from a very straight line without falling off And, of course, falling off can be very expensive." One of these expensive areas where HR often faces the "damned if you or don't" scenario is employment law and other legal entanglements "There have been times I remember thinking that if I did A I'd be breaking one law and if I did B I'd be breaking another, and the only choices were A or B," laments Wagoner "So sometimes it meant making a decision as to which of the choices would be the least costly or have the least chance of coming back to bite us." But legal entanglements are only one reason why HR people are feeling damned these days, albeit a big reason HR also has to fight old stereotypes and is still punished, it seems, for past sins Other times, senior managers simply aren't willing to allow HR's emerging role as business partner "I just left an organization where HR was just damned," says Nancy Probst, who's now a manager and organizational development (OD) consultant of management advisory services for Dixon Odom PLLC, a certified public accounting and management advisory firm, based in High Point, North Carolina At her old firm, a large health-care system for which she was the director of organization development, Probst says she had helped her boss, the chief HR officer, outline a vision of HR as a strategic business partner Unfortunately, the directors in that organization just couldn't see the HR leader's vision and fought it constantly They truly preferred to preserve the paper-pushing, compliance/police role human resources had played for so many years," she adds "As a result, in their eyes, HR had little respect and basically couldn't anything right." That's not to say the damned feeling is unique to HR professionals Other directors of business functions, such as sales, production, accounting and marketing, also experience job frustrations and dilemmas For example, a production manager has to decide which jobs to push through first on the production line An accounting director has to figure out how to surface losses in one division, while trying to bury profits in another These scenarios are certainly real business But at the core of their functional roles, these other professionals don't seem to experience the same type of role frustration that HR professionals "I haven't personally confronted that type of no-win scenario to any extent in the positions I've been in," says Art Karacsony, manager of marketing and communications in Coopers & Lybrand LLP's Parsippany, New Jersey, office "In my role, I wear a number of hats: public relations, advertising, strategic planning, business development, corporate communications, management and so on." But, he says, these hats all fit well within his job of serving his primary customers the firm's 1,200 partners Interestingly, when functional managers outside of HR experience dilemmas, the concerns often tend to be employee-related "In an ideal world, we could serve both of these objectives being an employee advocate as well as a business manager -successfully," explains Susan A Orr, director of catalog marketing for Programmer's Paradise, based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey "Of course, we don't live in an ideal world, so naturally, our dual objectives often conflict." However, the frustrations of business people in functional roles other than HR seem to arise with the changing nature of business itself rather than basic role discrepancies Not so for HR Much of HR's struggle and conflict has surfaced in the form of the "damned if you or don't" feeling because HR has increasingly taken on the business partner role, while still holding on to other traditional HR roles: being employee advocates and administrators This leaves HR with a uniquely dichotomous function in the corporate world Notes Bob Carter, HR staff consultant for Guilford County government in Greensboro, North Carolina, "Leave it to human nature, culture, life experiences, brain chemistry and , to make the world of HR one of the most difficult to master in terms of organizational effectiveness." Adds Joan Farrell, vice president of HR for Lawson Mardon Wheaton Inc based in Millville, New Jersey: "I've worked in both line and staff roles, and my three years in production management were like a vacation because the possibilities were limited, the choices were clear, and at the end of the day you could look back and measure progress." HR's role isn't so clear-cut But it wasn't always that way Today's HR role: various and dichotomous Traditionally, the human resources role was fairly straightforward The personnel function was the administrative force behind employee issues Personnel managers hired, fired and did employment-related paperwork Now, human resources is more Much more Not only is HR responsible for the administrative tasks and strategic planning issues relating to employees, it has also moved into the business partner roles of being a change expert, an organizational performance specialist, a best-practices consultant, a legal liaison and now, even a risk manager According to HR guru Edward E Lawler III, director of the University of Southern California's Center for Effective Organizations in Los Angeles, HR's role is now both: Follower and Leader Reactive and Proactive Administrator and Strategist Controller and Business Partner Conscience and Businessperson Employee Advocate and Manager Doer and Consultant The many roles are causing HR to make some tough decisions: Choosing between business reality and social welfare, between current expediency and long-term viability, and between blind regulatory compliance and common sense The problem is: What's good for the business isn't always good for employees, and vice versa For example, in the "Reactive and Proactive" scenario, U.S HR managers are responding to single employees who are demanding that company benefits be more universal and not presuppose that employees have a traditional family For instance, many companies provide child care, but don't provide elder care or pet-care assistance While HR managers have to react to benefit problems at hand, they also have to think proactively about making a benefits package that pleases workers and yields a high return on their company's investment But, perhaps the biggest role conflict for HR has come in trying to be both business partner and employee advocate This dichotomy has surfaced some big hot buttons for HR people in terms of clashes between employee-relations issues and ethical problems To add fuel to the fire, the dichotomies HR professionals face in trying to serve both company and employee interests aren't always appreciated by other managers "Unfortunately, operations managers and accountants don't always understand that employees are the company's most important resource and where your actions are really an extremely beneficial 'business partner' activity, they're sometimes seen as 'proemployee and anti-company,'" says Wagoner He admits the employee advocate and business partner dichotomy does lead to some very real "damned if you or don't" scenarios He points out that if a company has a union, for example, the labor relations manager spends his or her time representing the company exclusively However, in nonunion workplaces, most HR managers have to understand the needs of employees and management "Does this create a conflict between roles?" Wagoner asks "It shouldn't But, in fact, it does perceptually." Says Lawler, "I think the toughest role for HR is the duality issue around conscience and employee advocate." It's now common for HR organizations to have centers of excellence that take care of administrative tasks related to worker issues And HR can have another area that's strictly concerned with business-partner issues "What I'm not so sure about is how you balance the traditional role of HR being the employee advocate and conscience of the organization with simultaneously being a business partner," he ponders "It's often in the same meeting that you need to be both." He suggests that in the best of all worlds, the conscience and the employee-advocate roles would be shared by everyone in the organization, especially those in other leadership roles But getting other functional leaders to share the corporate conscience may be a daunting challenge considering that HR people (46 percent) currently tend to feel they're cleaning up the messes caused by ethics violations in their companies, according to "The Business Ethics Survey Report," a joint study of 747 HR professionals released in 1997 by The Ethics Resource Center based in Washington, D.C., and the Society for Human Resource Management Getting other managers to act in sync with ethical standards could be a daunting task, but it's not impossible And on the employee-advocacy front, HR professionals would have to continue pushing responsibility for employee-advocacy issues further out into line managers' and supervisors' hands This has been a constant struggle for workforce managers who have been trying to switch gears and take on more of the business partner's role over the past few years This is exactly what one general manager for HR in a large, nonunion company in Australia has done "To empower employees, we've created and successfully trialed a position of 'employee adviser.' This position is not in HR," says this HR professional who recently posted her company's idea on a popular Internet HR listserve She adds: "HR staff advise management; the employee adviser supports employees It also means I have a more independent view on whether management is stepping out of line and whether, and to what level, I may need to intervene." Adds USC's Lawler: "I'm inclined to think that in the short term, if HR people are really going to become business partners, they have to partially abandon that role and gain credibility first as a business partner." Then, once HR professionals have gained credibility as business partners, they can come back to that employee-advocacy role "Because if you keep that as a central piece of your behavior, it's very hard to get seen as a business partner," he says This idea represents a radical shift from what most see as the current role for human resources But face it: HR's role has become somewhat of a repository of tasks, functions and roles To HR's credit, HR professionals have proved in recent years that they can and will take on an organization's toughest challenges, while still providing world-class, administrative record-keeping services But, have HR professionals let organizations put them in a no-win situation where they can't effectively serve two or more masters? "HR, as a profession and as a function, is in flux," says Probst, the OD specialist who had left a firm where human resources was just damned "It's important for HR professionals to truly decide what their roles will be They need to take a proactive stand and make this decision based on the best outcomes for the organization They've always been reactive and have waited to be told what they should be Therefore, they haven't gained the respect they so desire." Perhaps it's time to pick a role, instead of trying to be all things to all people, which can't be very good to HR departments' bottom line or the companies they serve Don't get stuck in a no-win spot Choose your role wisely When senior human resources managers clarify their primary roles upfront whether it's making the radical shift away from employee advocate to be more of a business partner, being a change agent or being the knowledge worker management guru the dichotomies will work themselves out That's not to say that in the end you won't have more than one role Many world-class HR operations Yet, to put it simply, it's not unlike the roles of any given individual who might at the same time be a businessperson or worker, a mother, a wife, a community volunteer, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a civic leader and so on Everyone plays different roles at different times However, it's crucial to be clear about which roles are primary, which are secondary and how best to fulfill the roles your HR department agrees upon as most important with your firm's other business leaders And have a clear plan in mind The best HR professionals today are starting with their companies' business mission and defining their human resources mission from there Those who don't, flounder "The business mission is your North Star," says Lawson Mardon Wheaton's Farrell "Without it to focus on, you can wander lost in the seas of uncertainty forever." The lesson here is: If you take it for granted that you're there to fulfill the needs and requests of everyone in the organization at all times, you'll be spending a lot of time on unnecessary and nonvalueadded activities Think big picture For example, Gayle Evans, assistant vice president of HR for Standard Insurance Co based in Portland, Oregon, originally set her group's human resources mission four years ago, but reassesses it yearly based on her firm's business mission The goal of her company, whose motto is "People, not just policies," is to provide excellent insurance products and services to its customers From there, Evans' HR team extrapolates its mission: "Our HR service strategy is to be perceived by our customers and we define those as external applicants, employees and managers as caring, knowledgeable, flexible, responsive, approachable and fair." To assess how well the firm achieves its business mission and HR mission, each of the company's seven divisions has subjected itself to a rigorous quality-improvement process since 1991 The process is based on both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award qualification process and the Oregon Quality Award process It measures quality in seven categories, including HR development and management, and quantifies the results of those activities Evans says the clincher for her HR department's strategy is making Standard Insurance a great place to work for all of its 1,750 employees "And that's all linked to our corporate vision, which is driven by the elements of long-term relationships, excellence and a supportive work environment," she adds This is exactly the area that USC's Lawler says is how human resources can still strategically keep the two HR roles as company advocate and employee advocate: That of making a company an employer of choice These days, with the shortage of qualified workers, HR can frame the argument for continuing to be an employee advocate by positioning it under the "employer of choice" mantle "The window has been opened more in the past couple of years as organizations have become concerned about retaining people and attracting high-talent people particularly technical people," says Lawler If HR chooses the employee-advocacy role as its primary mission to make a firm the best place for employees to work and thereby fulfills the corporate mission of having the best workers who can be the firm's strategic advantage, then HR's role is clear And everyone else will be clear on HR's primary role as well When setting your HR vision, pay close attention to the CEO's leadership signals The CEO will speak volumes in the way he or she sets the company's agenda For example, at Verifone Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard that's a global provider of secure electronic payment solutions based in Santa Clara, California, its 2,700 employees around the world are considered the firm's number one corporate asset Therefore, the firm's former chairman, president and CEO, Hatim Tyabji (who just announced his retirement last month) has considered HR his right arm for the past 12 years "Most CEOs look upon HR as a backwater function," says Tyabji "But I look upon HR as a key element of my overall strategy in moving my company forward HR people here are front and center in the formulation of the strategy and how to achieve it." Adds Tyabji, "We don't operate in silos here." He doesn't separate the HR strategy from the business strategy because Verifone's human resources strategy often drives the business For example, to capitalize on top world talent, HR set up development centers globally in countries such as India Half the firm's employees work outside the United States The company's revenue has grown from $31.2 million in 1986 to $387 million in 1995; HR helped make it happen "HR at Verifone is not an administrative spectator sport; it involves being part of the business solutions," says Katherine Beall, vice president of global human resources "Our HR strategy is to be collaborative business partners who provide value-added HR services." And at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Polaroid Corp., Joseph G Parham, Jr., corporate vice president of HR and total quality ownership, says he sees his primary role as working with the CEO to help run the company "In so doing, I believe the interests of the employees, customers and shareholders align nicely with exceeding the customers' requirements Satisfied and enthusiastic employees are bound to deliver results which satisfy or delight shareholders." That's HR nirvana, you say, and it's impossible to achieve that type of human resources business partnership in the real world because most senior managers aren't that enlightened Just because it's difficult to achieve doesn't mean it's impossible Now that HR has begun to shake up the corporate hierarchy by stating its strategic partner value, it's time to further clarify what it means to add people smarts to your business and how it plays out in the management ranks Take a stand Clarifying your primary role as a strategic business partner shouldn't mean putting yourself in a no-win situation by diluting your HR effectiveness with conflicting roles Experts say it's well worth the effort In fact, in this case, you just might be "damned if you don't." GroupThink: A Lingering Menace? Can more number of brains lead to superior problem-solving ability? The capacity of groups producing more or improved ideas than individuals working alone has been debated for long Groupthink is the cruelest predicament in our society It is a grave mental ailment that has not been recognized It changes members of a group into supporters and adherents of rites and rituals They firmly assert that the group is right and the rest are incorrect It shrinks communication from the group to outsiders In staid instances of groupthink, members use might and violence to persuade non-believers The essential truth is that the majority of individuals are not mindful that they suffer from group-think Governments and other institutions (fundamentalist groups, anti-social groups, religious sects, and so on) splurge large amounts of resources to defend and uphold their groupthink Power and politics damages the cause of peace, within a nation or among nations White lies are hyped in the name of diplomacy To solve the menace of group-think, there should be a focus on the reality; that reality which is in relation to humankind and the reality of the inter-dependence of all entities Groupthink is a thought demonstrated by members of a group who attempt to reduce inconsistencies and reach a common agreement sans critical investigation, analysis, and evaluation Groupthink makes groups to make impulsive, unreasonable decisions, where individual qualms and suspicions are set aside, for fear of disturbing the group's stability The term "Group-Think" was coined by William H Whyte in 1952 Irving Janis worked extensively on this and, thus, he is considered to be the pioneer in this area Irving Janis defines Groupthink as a kind of thinking where people in the group strive for unanimity and this striving eclipses their motivation to truly assess alternatives This word was meant to be suggestive of Newspeak words like "double-think" and "duck-speak", from George Orwell's novel, "Nineteen Eighty Four" Groupthink arises when a homogenous and an exceedingly cohesive group is so deeply concerned with upholding its harmony that there is a failure to assess all available options A group is said to suffer from groupthink if it overvalues its immunity, jointly rationalizes the decisions made by it, typecasts the out-groups, follows a culture of homogeneity, and consists of members who shield the group leader When groups build up cohesiveness and lay internally unswerving set of rules, they don't like to disrupt the group's decision In most cases, the group's self-esteem, delight and satisfaction becomes vital than the well-being of the organization Thus, "Groupthink" is the term given to the demands that highly cohesive groups wield on their members for identical and up-to-the mark decisions, and it in fact decreases their power to make efficient decisions There are two observed processes of group dynamics viz., 'group-think' and 'risky shift and/or cautious shift' In Risky Shift, the decider group becomes more far-reaching and is prepared to take a risk or a chance with organizational resources In Cautious Shift, the group gets to become more conservative Risky Shift and/or Cautious Shift behaviors often weaken good decision making and group members need to be receptive to such practices and their repercussions Group dynamics and collective actions are intriguing because of the extremes to which they can drive people For example, an individual risks his life to save a little boy from drowning, whereas another person is ready to sacrifice himself as a suicide bomber for a collective goal which is higher Many such demonstrations have happened in history like the crowd asking for the crucifixion of Jesus to global benevolence during the recent Olympic Games in Greece Constructive social change is unattainable without mass movement Human rights, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Environmental Protection, etc., are a result of mass movements i.e., substantial engagement of people who crusaded for a common good, their individual interests taking a back seat The irony of groupthink is that the individual hardly ever suffers from a sense of guiltiness In spite of the risks and mass killings involved, members of the group feel that they are moving in the right direction The war in Vietnam is another example of group stupidity The psychology of the group is not pathological But an individual's self is depersonalized when he or she joins a social group For instance, a suicide bomber's knowledge has become fully overwhelmed by the collective Death by sacrifice becomes the utmost form of self-realization Causes of Group Think Irving Janis said that there are three main causes: 1) The higher the cohesiveness, the lesser the likelihood to raise questions 2) Isolation of the group from outside experts 3) Strong leadership, because the leader is likely to promote his/her own solution Clark McCauley, a social psychologist, has identified that directive leadership, uniformity in members' ideology and background, and insulation of the group from outside sources of information and analysis are the main causes of groupthink Classic Cases of Group Think Disaster of Space Shuttle Challenger (1986) This is an archetypal case of groupthink The Challenger, whose launch was scheduled on January 22, 1986, was launched on January 28, 1986, and it blasted shortly after lift-off There was a problem in the O-rings in the booster rockets a day before the launch Several discussions were conducted to discuss the problem and finally the launch was planned Several symptoms of groupthink were seen here Warnings that contradicted the group goal were ignored The target was to launch it as soon as possible and it ended up being a deadly mistake Bay of Pig Invasion (1959-1962) The main plan of the Bay of Pigs Invasion was to prepare a set of Cuban exiles to attack Cuba and set off a rebellion against Fidel Castro's communist rule The plan was hopelessly defective President Kennedy's top advisers never spoke against the plan as they did not want to upset the President All of them were highly educated from top class universities Their high qualifications caused them to become a very cohesive group These advisers were showing many signs of groupthink Also, Robert Kennedy, the President's brother, became the "mind guard", telling the dissenters that the President had already made up his mind and it would be a mere waste to discuss GroupThink in the India-Pakistan Context In the India and Pakistan case, groupthink says aloud that India and Pakistan should eternally be divided and every evident harmful act by Pakistan has to be balanced with a reference to a causal action by India, however unjustified or irrational the causality appears Quintessentially, the specialists review all the data from within the established prototype and forcibly fit the out-of-the ordinary data to the prototype by choosing reasonable calisthenics In this process, the "experts" discharge data that is not in agreement with the prototype as "questionable" By not questioning the India-Pakistan dyad prototype and its underlying suppositions, no new ideas are generated, and more importantly, key trends are missed because of faulty analyses Preventing GroupThink According to Irving Janis, there are several ways to prevent groupthink: All useful options should be thoroughly researched Group ideas should be discussed with trusted outsiders Outside experts should be invited There should be a devil's advocate in every meeting There should be one in the group who can critically evaluate It would be nice if there are many groups working independently on the same problem Conclusion To conclude, GroupThink has raised several male-dominated empires/cultures around this planet These empires or structures are mismatched and have the penchant to fight each other People, who are fundamentally good, have to abide by the awful 'man made' laws and rituals, thus, instigating brutal/abusive activity against each other It will be the providence of females to change these disgusting structures that have been made by male groupthink God, religion, and laws have been formed by humans to steer and synchronize activities in a well thought-out form, so that it is easy to follow But as and when an activity coordinating system generates benefits, members begin worshipping it This worshipping slowly turns into a ritual It is outlandish to find that this ritual is still followed even when the activity coordination system doesn't yield benefits anymore Children of this generation are cleverer than anybody in history because they have better facility to access information Therefore, free mental development is to be ascertained Giving explanation about present mental cages to children protects their mind from being caged in Cages are religious, governmental and commercial rituals that compel people to obey through cruelty, intimidation and money-slavery against their spirit and their individual intelligence Human beings are trapped in mental cages and act according to predetermined formulae They act like a marionette on a string Human beings make other humans deliberately suffer only when they follow rituals (groupthink) The more the violent civilization structures, the more the suffering in this world Role of a Human Resources Manager It is time for Human Resources practitioners to rethink their role and that of the HR department, not only for the purposes of contributing to the organization's bottomline, but also for their own survival HR continues to balance the demands of several different roles: business partner, internal consultant, operational and administrative expert and both employee and employer advocate This may sound like business as usual, roles that aren't likely to create a mad rush of HR people arming themselves for the future In reality, however, they are new Although the questions may be the same, the answers most assuredly are not The ongoing challenge is to establish new deliverables and to sustain strong partnerships with both internal and external customers The ability to see the big picture - and to deploy the resources to address the big picture - will be more important than ever First, you need to ask yourself some important questions: - HR is mentioned, managers picture savvy strategists, backward bureaucrats, or pleasant, people-pleasers? furthering the organization's mission and objectives? HR department make an effort to market its services to the organization? If it does not, then it has the reputation it deserves HR Department Reputation & Brand The key is to open up conversations with all levels of employees, and present yourself in the role of facilitator instead of enforcer You have to get out of the HR office and into the world of your organization's employees Finding these answers requires dialogue, which means that HR must communicate That communication must consist of equal parts of listening and promotion First, HR must listen carefully to what its customers need Then it must promote what it has done and can HR staff must educate the organization about its capabilities and potential contributions No one knows your capabilities as well as you Employees, for the most part, still see HR as 'those people who handle benefits and interviewing' To position the HR function for the next decades, every HR practitioner needs to take on a public relations role - starting with your own employees Think of yourself as a product and some smart marketing The marketing of the HR department requires you to demonstrate your problem-solving skills, so others will know you much more than simply process papers The best form of advertising is the actions you take By your actions, processes and programmes, you can promote the HR department as a flexible, adaptable, solutions-oriented partner, a resource to whom the organization can turn when it needs problems solved Market Your HR Department's Reputation & Brand Identify your customer's needs and perceptions The first step in creating or enhancing a brand identity is to determine who your customers are and what they need from the HR function You will also want to know your customers' current perceptions of the HR department Begin this process by identifying your customers Are your primary customers executive managers, line managers or the entire workforce? What products and services they use from HR? What would they like to receive from HR? Do they use HR services from outside HR vendors, and if so, why? How they perceive the internal HR department? HR departments could conduct employee attitude surveys to obtain answers to these questions, but to get truthful and more useful information; it is worthwhile to hire an outside consultant to conduct the interviews in private It is important to conduct analysis, to understand the difference between what you are providing and think your organization wants from you, and what they say they need In today's organizations, there are so many perceptions about what role HR should play HR conducts so many activities: training, recruitment, personal welfare, salary and bonus, and a whole range of other concerns that 'HR brand' development is challenging In order to correct this, HR practitioners must research their current 'brand' to figure out where they stand Think about customer needs It is important to note that the function of the HR department will differ from organization to organization In one organization, internal customers may want the HR department to provide great service in all of the traditional HR areas In others, customers may expect HR to take responsibility for productivity and growth You have to decide what 'brand' identity works best for your particular culture and then work to create a mission statement and organization that supports that identity As another example, in your organization, it may make sense to outsource routine tasks such as payroll processing so that the remaining HR staff can concentrate on more strategic matters To achieve a solid brand identity, you cannot be all things to all people You can try, but you will fail in the eyes of significant numbers of your customers Having determined your identity, design a mission statement that will guide you through the changes and improvements that you need to make The mission statement should define the HR function, the values and core principles the department will uphold, and the benefit HR expects to provide to the rest of the organization For example, mission statement should be as follows: - comprehensive and equitable County personnel system; st departments in developing and maintaining a high quality workforce, enabling them to provide critical services to the public; ensure consistent application of human resource policies, including recruitment, selection, promotions, training, discipline, employee benefits administration, workforce reductions, classification, compensation, employee appeals and disability benefits; and It is important to have a mission statement as it helps define your future goals and direction The mission should not be empty rhetoric It is a charter that outlines the HR pledge to the rest of the organization Tips for the Human Resources Reputation & Brand Deliver your promises Supposing, based on your customer input, the HR department needs to improve its customer service and supportiveness This might require hiring more employees, empowering the receptionist to make decisions, or conducting team-building sessions Customers want you to be more responsive Forging new identity means delivering a promise, you must ensure that the staff, practices and systems in your department all work to support the goal of customer service Staff your departments with people who are easy to work with and who are willing to go the extra mile for line managers Deliver what you promise in your mission statement Can you imagine mistaking a can of Pepsi for a can of Coca-Cola? These companies understand that the look of their products communicates powerful messages to consumers The same applies to HR If your HR department has made substantial improvements and changes, then you can use the packaging as a means of communicating those improvements to others Develop a separate logo for your HR department, if you'd like, that expresses your mission, your commitment to customers, and your goals The most important packaging piece, however, is the HR department itself If you want your HR brand to deliver the message of quality service, ensure that visitors to the department get what they need, with no hassles, frictions, or needless hoops to navigate You can spend millions of dollars redesigning your department and developing a logo, but if the people in HR are impossible to deal with, you have accomplished nothing in the eyes of your organization Publicize the word After you have determined your identity, created a system in which you can consistently deliver on your promises, and package the HR department in a manner that conveys improvements For example, if you want human resources perceived as a strategic partner, take the time to quantify the strategic impact of a recent HR program or decision Communicate this impact in board meetings, through your organization's newsletter, your web site or Intranet, or by developing special HR performance reports The key objective, for positive notoriety, is to back up the overall message with hard data and specific success stories Enhance your visibility Another good marketing technique for HR, not only inside your organization, but also to the human resources world at large, is to publish articles in magazines and speak at HR seminars or conferences This validates the internal changes you have made and may capture the attention and interest of your management group You can heighten this visibility within your organization by including the programmespecific managers and employees in the article or at the conference podium with you Professionals love hearing from 'real people' and they will spread the good word for you in your organization Continuously improve Just as in the business world, where companies have to continuously review, revisit, and update their brands to meet customers' changing needs, so this advice applies to HR In the rapidly changing world of business, the HR profession must regularly be willing to make tough decisions about what it will and will not stand for Every HR professional can craft initiatives using the same toolbox The best will try new things, challenge conventional wisdom, and ask more questions more often With careful attention to forging an identity, your HR department can learn to provide what your internal and external customers expect Your organization will love you and your HR staff members will take their place as 'players', making a difference in the real world of your organization Your positive HR department brand and reputation will support all you want to achieve ... & Human Resource Management is at centre of the debate concerning the difference between Human Resource Management and Strategic Human Resource Management concept of Strategic Human Resource Management. .. aspect Strategic Human Resource Management This helps us to connect Strategy Human Resource Management with organizational behavior & management strategy The process of Strategy Human Resource Management. .. Strategic Human Resource Management helps organization to form with the vision, mission & goals for the organization Strategic Human Resources Management is a concept which deals with all Human Resource