A Vent Into The Strategic Horizon Of Hrm A Study Focusing On The Certain Perspectives And Practices Of Strategic Human Resource Management By Abhinanda Gautam

ABSTRACT:

The need of an hour is that human resources is all about maintaining a positive and productive work environment, best practices helps to make sure that employees feel good about the company they work for. There is a growing recognition today that the strategic importance of HR is crucial to corporate success. In yesteryears was merely an administrative and supporting function of the organisation. Today it is the lynchpin of competitive advantage. Top organisations today are talking about “people before strategy”, underscoring Peter Ducker’s long-held contention that “people are a resource, not a cost”. HR today has moved beyond merely an administrative to a strategic role. HR managers are increasingly making their case for a seat on the board as they strive for the HR function to be recognized for the value it adds to the bottom line. The internal customers ought to be given the priority and how to romance them like the way you romance your external customers.

The paper entails new HR trends and practices adopted by the various organizations focusing on the factor of employee exhilaration. The study is an attempt in invigorating the need of “Employee Focus” and its impact on performance of the employee as well as the organization. The functions like Manpower Planning, Performance Management, Training and the role of Performance appraisals in the field of strategic HR are being laid emphasized on. Hence it is an endeavour in revealing the mounting significance of such facets of HR.

EVOLUTION OF HRM

The expression Human Resource Management (HRM) is a relative recent title for all aspects of managing people in an organisation. It represents a broad based understanding of the problems of people and their management in view of the development of behavioural science knowledge. A formal beginning of HRM functions in India was made in 1929, when Royal Commission of Labour was set up by the Government of India. Two years later the Commission submitted its report recommending the appointment of Labour officers to look after the employment and dismissal of workers as well as their working conditions. The scope of the function of Labour officers was widened during the Second World War, when such facilities as housing medical and recreational activities were added to existing responsibilities. In the process the labour officer got designated as Welfare Officer (WO),. The enactment of Industrial dispute act 1946 and factories at, 1947 further added the management of leaves, wages, bonus and retirement in the scope of the function of W.O.

Growth in the business, competition and increasing size during sixties and seventies led to the need of attracting and retaining talented people. Hence formulating policies on Human Resource Planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance and potential appraisal, internal ability and compensation management etc. also become a part of W.O. who now became the personnel manager. With the increasing recognition of the importance of human resources and their contribution to the survival of the organisations, personnel function has now been called as Human Resource Management Function. Some of this transitions have been the increasing the cost of labour, periodic stoppage of work, government legislation, changes in production and distribution methodologies, information technology and strategic use of employees contribution (Saiyadin 1992). Today the HRM function can be seen as the amalgam, of organisational behaviour, personnel management, industrial relations and labour legislation.

Increasing organisational size and its complexity, transitional from traditional to professional management, changing social and cultural norms globalization of industry and availability of information technology are constantly changing the profile of HRM functions HE has to play a more dynamic .Today HRM manager cannot survive in the security of past. He has to play a more dynamic role in not only performing the maintenance function, but should think of more creative ways to satisfy human aspirations to provide the competitive edge, to organisations on a sustainable basis. Human Resources Management by Mirza S Saiyadain

The people in the organisation, the human resources, are perhaps the most important aspect of any enterprise. The age of informational technology has popularized the word human capital. Earlier we were talking human resources and equating people along with the raw materials, financial resources and physical resources as an input for the enterprise. Now-a-days each and every process has its own management methods and personnel for managing that process. The basic principle remains the same as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling to achieve the goal by using the human, financial and material resources. Increasingly the firms are considering the adoption of new work practices such as problem solving teams, enhanced communication with workers, employment security, flexibility in job assignments, training workers for multiple jobs, and greater reliance on motivational tools.

Organisations are increasingly looking at human resources as a unique asset that can provide sustained competitive advantage. The changes in the business environment with increasing globalization, changing demographics of the workforce, increased focus on profitability through growth, technological changes, intellectual capital and never ending changes that organisations are undergone have led to increased importance of managing human resources.(Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy,1981;Wright, 1998).Youndt and Snell (1996) find that firms employing HR practices according to the stated strategy are regarded to have better perceptual performance.

The human resource management that aims to improve the productive contribution of individuals while simultaneously attempting to attain other societal and individual employee objectives has undergone drastic change with the passing of years.

We all know that HRM is concerned with the "people" & keeping the fact in mind that HRM helps in acquiring, developing, stimulating & retaining the outstanding employees as it gives both effectiveness & efficiency to the working of the organization, it has been started being used strategically & is now termed as Strategic human resource management.

Human Resource plays a significant, strategic role in supporting organizations. As such effective strategic human resource management approaches serve as the keystone of any severe change management planning. They must also be the heart of endeavours to transform the culture of organisations, so that they