Strategic Human Resources

Strategic Human Resource Research

Shane Snapp

Devry University

Strategic Human Resource Research

InterClean is an $8 billion dollar institutional industrial cleaning and sanitation company which is implementing a new business strategy. This strategy is closely linked to human resource management. Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business (Armstrong 2006). The general goal of human resource management is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively. Human resources management comprises several processes. Together they are supposed to achieve the above mentioned goal. These processes can be performed in an HR department, but some tasks can also be outsourced or performed by line-managers or other departments. The Human Resources department at InterClean has been presented with a mammoth task of implementing a strategy which will evaluate alternative solutions to strategic human resources problems. This paper will closely examine training and development, recruitment and selections, organizational structure, skills inventories, gap analysis, and organizational culture. In addition to benchmarking InterClean along with IBM, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, Sears, US State Department, DHL, AT&T and Sprint which have implemented such human resource strategies.

InterClean desires to expand in both the domestic and global markets. An increase in profitability and market presence is necessary to the future survival of InterClean. In obtaining these expectations, InterClean must adhere to strict environmental safety regulations being implemented in the locations where they conduct business. InterClean proposes to do this with the offering of a streamlined full service solutions package to grow its customers. InterClean will also need to examine their workforce and evaluate their employees' status.

Training and development analysis

Training and development is essential for all competitive businesses. With a new business strategy, training and development may be the deciding factor between success and failure. An organization should associate training and development with a systematic approach including: assessing training needs, designing training solutions, deploying these solutions, and evaluating the results of these initiatives (Dreher and Dougherty, 2001). This can be completed through numerous means including skill orientation, training method orientation, career pathing, succession planning, and skill inventory. InterClean has completed a skill inventory to establish the possessed skills versus the desired skills.

Recruiting and alternative solutions

When implementing a new business strategy, companies must always ensure that human resource planning. This includes forecasting the labor demand, goal setting and strategic planning, implementing and evaluating the current HR plan and applying HR planning to affirmative action (Noe et al, 2004). InterClean will need to ensure that employees retained have the information required to meet the new requirements of the strategy. Personnel policies, recruitment sources, and human resource plan should be evaluated and updated to merge with the new policy.

InterClean should also decide if the recruiting should focus on internal resources or external resources. Can the current staff be trained to meet the requirements of this new strategy? Should new hires be found from outside the company? InterClean has decided to inform all staff that they will be retained. Therefore, recruiting will be from within the company through training and development.

Skill Set and Gap Analysis

InterClean must also keep the skill set and gap analysis within view during this transition. The skill sets and gap analysis should look at job dissatisfaction, behavior change, physical and psychological withdrawal, and job satisfaction. Companies understand the all personnel are a cost in which they expect a return on their investment. InterClean should look at the various labor markets within different regions. Research the culture, race, age, level of education, values and interests. This will strengthen the employees' loyalty and increase sales. With this in mind, the company must ensure that they are within the laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Aligning Organizational Structure with Strategy

Aligning an organization's structure with its new strategy takes a lot of working parts. When the decision is made to go with a new strategy all of the working components must be addressed and reevaluated accordingly. Looking at the organization's capacity and success means taking into consideration the organization's ability to manage people to gain that competitive advantage (Dreher & Dougherty, 2001). In order to derive a competitive advantage through the effective management of people, the organization must be selective in the choice of recruiting incentive pay, for this will determine the quality of new staff that can be gained with the reorganization.

Making the employees feel a sense of ownership or empowerment will also aide in the process of increased morale and loyalty. Establishing and implementing training and development programs and a cross utilization and cross training program will assist the departments that are lacking in staff or have to go through extensive retraining to accommodate the new strategy. Finally, the company will need to address wage compensation; the organization must ensure employees feel adequately compensated to reduce turnover and retain resources.

InterClean has recognized that it must align its organizational structure with its vision. In this it must review its staffing, namely in its sales and marketing department. Along with this InterClean has determined that it has to determine the current strength of its sales team, areas of needed development, and future staffing requirements.

Compare and Contrast

IBM: Training and Development

InterClean is transitioning for a company who provides services to one which provides an entire cleaning solution. This requires knowledgeable employees who understand the legalities and regulations with items such