Description of Strategic Human Resources Management
The strategic HR Management is purely connected with the implementation of the business and HR Strategy. It does not touch the operational HR issues. It provides the guidance to HR employees as they can change the operational HR processes. The strategic HR Management focuses on the development of the HR Strategy and setting the right position on the job market and providing the right HR policies, procedures and processes. The strategic HR Management is the real source of the competitive advantage.
Generally, the HR Management is focused on the operational role of Human Resources in the organization. This part is extremely important for the line managers. They do not evaluate the performance of HR by observing the strategic approaches being implemented. They value the performance of HR by the stability and responsiveness of the most common HR processes. The strategic HR Management has the high importance for the top management. The executives are focused on gaining the competitive advantage. They need to support building of the modern HR Function.
The strategic HR is a pure strategic management process. It consists from the key steps:
- Mission and Goals
- Environmental Analysis
- Strategic Formulation
- Strategy Implementation
- Strategy Evaluation
The missions and goals in the strategic HR Management are derived from the business strategy. They should not just fulfill the business strategy, but they should enhance it as HR deliver the extra value added. Additionally, the mission and goals process step define the ground rules for the HR Strategy. The management usually discuss the current mission and goals. The management should invite employees and best customers into discussions as the inputs to the strategic formulation are rich.
The environmental analysis is about the deep analysis and scan of the external and internal environment. The HR Management cannot avoid the internal scan. The internal environment is about the corporate culture, values, the managerial values and the decision processes in the organization. The results of scans are a great input to the next step.
The strategic formulation is about the choice the organization has to make. The organization has to choose its position on the market. The strategic HR Management has to follow the strategic choice of the company. It cannot play on different markets. The job market selection should be aligned with the general market for processes and products. In case of the conflict, the customers and employees can get confused.
The strategy implementation is a longest strategy implementation process step. It takes years to implement the strategy in the full scope. The implementation of the HR Strategy has to be closely connected with the implementation of the business strategy as no misalignment is created. The role of HR is this process step is crucial. It acts as the change agent for employees and managers. The long implementation can lead to the decrease of the commitment and motivation. The change agent helps other to keep their patience and enthusiasm. The strategic HR Management is about keeping the desired levels of motivation as well.
The strategy evaluation is the final step of the process. It is about the evaluation of successes and misses. It should evaluate all strategic goals and the gaps should be used as the input to the first step of the following process. The next step is about the strategy re-formulation.
The strategic HR Management cannot exist without the operational management of Human Resources. The employees have to focus on the excellence in both areas.
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