Strategic human resources management

Strategic Human Resource Management is the practice of aligning business

strategy with that of HR practices to achieve the strategic goals of the
organization. The aim of SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management)
is to ensure that HR strategy is not a means but an end in itself as far as
business objectives are concerned. The idea behind SHRM is that companies
must fit their HR strategy within the framework of overall Business
objectives and hence ensure that there is alignment between the HR practices
and the strategic objectives of the organization.
Evolution of SHRM
With the advent of new economy industries like IT and the mushrooming of
the service sector, organizations all over the world realized that human
resources must be viewed as a source of competitive advantage as opposed
to treating it much the same way in access to technology or capital is
concerned. What this means is that the practice of HRM is being viewed as
something that promotes the business objectives of the firms and not merely
another factor in the way the firm is managed.
How does SHRM fit in with Strategy?
With the advent of todays economy where services account for a major
share of the GDP and the fact that the service sector is essentially people
centric, it is imperative that the people first approach be embraced by the
organizations for sustainable business strategy. The practice of SHRM
demands a proactive and hands on approach by the management as well as
the HR department with regards to the entire gamut of activities ranging
from staffing and training and development to mentoring and pay and
performance management.
The Way SHRM works
If we take real world examples, many organizations in recent times have
dedicated people managers whose sole function is to look after the
enabling and fulfilling needs of the resources. This is a marked change from

treating people as just resources to treating people as assets. For instance,

Infosys states that people are its assets and the famous statement by Mr.
Narayana Murthy, one of the founders of the company that the capital of
Infosys walks in every morning and walks out every evening has to be taken
in this context.
Elaborating on this point, one finds that organizations tend to leverage upon
the capabilities of the people employed there and ensuring that the human
capital is nourished and nurtured as a source of competitive advantage. This
translates into a dedicated HR department and people managers in every
group dealing exclusively with employee issues as opposed to treating this
as a line management function.
Strategic HR takes it to the next level by guiding companies on how to
engage its workforce to drive results and build its high-performance culture.
It also creates a compelling employment brand that helps to attract top
talent. Put another way, Strategic HR focuses the companys talent on
winning in the marketplace! For HR to truly be strategic, a companys
attraction, selection, development, performance and rewards strategies and
practices need to be aligned with the companys business strategy and
objectives. Strategic HR practices also need to translate the business strategy
into action, engage employees at all levels to drive results and be transparent
so everyone uses them every day to run the business. Strategic HR practices
can result in a competitive advantage for the company in the marketplace,
profitable revenue, innovation and strategic alignment.
The following are the essential human resources strategies needed to achieve
the business objectives of any high-growth company in todays volatile
economic environment.
An attraction and selection strategy that delivers the right talent at the right
time and acts as a starting place for effective employee engagement
A development strategy and system that grows the technical, core and
leadership competencies that accelerate the companys performance
An integrated performance and rewards strategy that engages and
motivates employees to deliver results and offers employees what they need
to excel in their work
As an example let me detail the differences between tactical and strategic
human resources by function. As you will see, tactical HR is administrative

and fundamental to running a company and strategic HR is action orientated

and creates a competitive advantage in the marketplace through people.
1. Function: Employee Relations
Tactical HR: Policies and records, compliance and discipline, company
events and community relations, complaint resolution
Strategic HR: Engaging employees to drive business results, recognizing
teams and individuals strategically, seeing employees as an investment
2. Function: Attraction & Selection
Tactical HR: Recruiting and hiring, testing and background checks, college
relations, temporary staffing.
Strategic HR: Creating a compelling employment brand, workforce planning
focused on talent needs, delveloping talent pipelines
3. Function: Development
Tactical HR: Basic skills training, new hire orientation, values and
competencies.
Strategic HR: People strategies that drive results, succession planning and
onboarding, creating career and development plans.
4. Function: Performance & Rewards
Tactical HR: Performance management, compensation administration and
surveys, job descriptions, executive compensation, benefit administration
.
Strategic HR: Assigning goals and metrics aligned to the business strategy,
rewarding employees for business results, measuring the results of delpoying
people, rewarding employees for their value, executive compensation tied to
business results and shareholder value.

Human Capital Management

Strategic HRM provides comprehensive suites of human capital management, leadership
development, organizational development, and change management solutions. These
customizable consulting, seminar and workshop solutions are categorized by solution.
Human Capital Management
The era of reactive transactional human resource management has passed. Twenty-first
century knowledge age organizations require proactive, transformational human capital
leaders and managers who enable business expansion and organizational sustainability.
As a result, the human resource management industry is experiencing a profound

professional change. Increasingly, human resource management professionals in all

functional disciplines are acquiring new knowledge, competencies and skills necessary to
transform themselves into human capital leaders, demonstrating self-leadership,
professional credibility and the ability to provide business-informed, data-driven
contributions that produce measurable business results.
Central to this professional transformation is human resource management professionals
capacity to acquire new knowledge, competencies and skills necessary to transform
themselves from traditional, reactive human service administrators into innovative,
proactive human capital leaders and managers.
This professional transformationdemonstrating self-leadership, professional credibility,
and acumen to deliver informed, data-driven contributions that produce measurable
business resultsmay be challenging and threatening to many human resource
management professionals.
For those human resource professionals willing and qualified to engage in this
professional transformation, they will be committed to professional reengineering,
reevaluating their capabilities, reeducating, and reskilling themselves. The results of this
professional transformation will align human capital management-oriented thought,
action, and contribution with the high-performance requirements of 21st century
knowledge age organizations.
Human Capital Management Solutions (Consulting, Seminars, and Workshops)
Consulting

Human Capital Management

Human Resource Management Transformation
Outsourcing
Talent Management

Seminars
Seminars consist of a presentation, large or small group experiential reinforcement
activities, and brief individual professional development coaching sessions focused on
strategic orientation, collaborative planning, and workplace application. Seminar formats
are customizable to client objectives.
Human Capital Management

Human Resource Management to Human Capital Transformation:

Creating the Future Today
From Human Resource Management to Human Capital Leadership:
The Crises of Relevance and Irrelevance
Human Capital Leader and Technology: Building Competitive Advantage

Human Resource Management Transformation

Human Resource Management in the 21st Century Knowledge Age: Partner or

Pariah
Human Resource Management in the 21st Century Knowledge Age:
Human Capital Management Trends in the Global Business Environment

Outsourcing

Outsourcing and the 21st Century Knowledge Age:

Relevance, Resistance, and Renewal
Outsourcing: Human Resource Managements Ally or Advisory

Workshops
Workshops consist of a presentation, large or small group experiential reinforcement
activities focused on immediate workplace application.
Human Capital Management

Human Capital Leadership: The Ten Competencies, Characteristics, and

Capabilities for Credibility
Learning Organization Leader: Methods and Tools for Leveraging
Communication, Collaboration, and Conflict
Talent Management and Retention: Managing the Mainstream: Psychology,
Strategies, and Best Practices

Human Resource Management Transformation

Employment Law for Non-HRM Professionals: Guidance, Guidelines, and Goals

Measure IT Accurately the FIRST Time!
Foundations of Survey Design, Deployment, and Reporting
Collaborative Sustainability: Team Building Through MBTI and Kilmann
Conflict Indicator
Rationale Decision-Making: Models, Methods, and Tools in REBT

Conclusion

The times when management could arbitrarily dictate terms to the

employees and tread upon their rights is something that is not relevant
anymore. With the ballooning of the white collar workforce, it becomes
necessary for organizations to pay more attention to the needs of the
employees more than ever. Finally, the fact that organizations derive their
strategy from employees instead of imposing strategy upon them is the
essence of SHRM.