Example Answers to Tasks on STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The purpose of this assignment will try to critically examine the short coming in CPP (NALCO), human resource management. It will try to explain the importance of strategic of human resource management and it probable contribution to the company. Human resource is the backbone of an organisation. Strategic human resource management is a branch of human resource management. In an organization SHRM means accepting and involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the company's strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. Armstrong (2000). Strategic Human Resource Management is a concept that integrates traditional human resource management activities within an organisation's overall strategic planning and implementation. SHRM integrates human resource considerations with other physical, financial and technological resources in the setting of goals and solving complex organisational problems. Legnick-Hall & Legnick- hall, (1988).

Case study NALCO

The case study discusses about the human resource management policies adopted by Captive Power Plant (CPP), a power plant set up by National Aluminium Company (NALCO) in India. The study discusses about the human resource development in the organisation and the practices with the organisation's overall corporate strategy. It details relate to the employee training, training and development, mentoring and work-life balance. It also describes how the organisation has established a culture of poor performance and struggling to achieve its strategic goals. The case study concludes with the suggestion on whether the CPP can further optimize its returns by modifying its HRM practices to prepare itself for the future.

TASK-1

Purpose of the Strategic Human Resource Management in CPP (NALCO)

The purpose of Strategic Human Resource Management is to create strategic capability by ensuring that the company has the well-motivated, skilled and committed employees to achieve its strategic goals and to provide a sense direction in a turbulent environment. SHRM consists with both Human capital requirements and the development of the process. It provides a perspective way in critical issues or in success factors which relates to people, major impact on strategic decisions and success of the organisation. Today's corporate world became an extremely complex and competitive market. Scaling and heights of the success in business is not easy task. Now a day for any organisation, employees play a key role to success of the organisation. It does not mean that only an employee will do the best job, but also means that every employee must be right for the job what they are doing. Captive Power Plant (CPP), a public sector power plant, a power unit on National Aluminium Company (NALCO). It operates in an inclusive environment; this means a culture that gives stress on individual and cultural differences. The management of the company has very old and poor culture which has lack of flexibility among the employees. It has got an unstructured organisational culture. The company has lack of interest to the developing human resource, not interest on the employees. Although it is a very old company, the traditional management systems of the organisation still supporting. They are making policies of human resource which has been used by the management without any consultation of any other department. The management decision making in functional orientation of the company hampering the cross-functional perspective. So it is very complicated for the whole management system which can be a big loss for the organisation. For their hierarchical decision making, that can be effect on response from the employee. Organisational culture is made by the value of assumptions, beliefs and those are shared by the whole members of the organisation. It has been created by the top level management or team members which presents the important unit of the work environment in which the employee do their jobs. The idea in this culture sometimes most of the employee cannot touch which is intangible, but it can be feel and follow. The management system and organisational culture affects all over the organisation. The work culture of CPP is not giving the important for its employees and executed by hierarchical and rigid culture. The company had adopted the traditional structure which needs a big change in responds to rapidly changing markets and conditions in order to competitive and grow. Good management culture motivated the employees to perform more and more and provide the optimum output for the organisation. Organisation should believe in the philosophy of people first than all other thing in the organisation. CPP has created an environment where the people are not happy to work. Most of the employee takes sick holiday, more absenteeism, irregular on work. Strategic human resource management is the way to help the company to satisfy the needs of the employees while desiring the goals. Human resource consult with any part of the company that effect on employees, such as training and development,, hiring and firing, pay incentives, safety information and sick or vacation days. However, the management of the company pointed out that it could not allow highly accelerated career growth due to the company's unstable career policy. The company felt that there is no job secure in the company. It has to considerable the stability at the company, so that employee can work stress-free and could give their best to the company.

TASK-2

Developing Human Resource Plan

An organisation always thrives on challenges and tries to overcome those and prove itself to its effort to prosper. Many organisations fall upon major assets, the human resource to achieve its strategic goals. Forcefully workforce in an organisation is not a key of chance. In fact CPP has led the public sector undertaking in setting traditional management structure. Human resource is the back bone of any organisation. It provides the most important policies for the organisation to achieve its objectives. As the time of developing and expanding of the organisation, the human resource department of the organisation needs to change the policy and the regulation according to the employee satisfaction. So it helps the organisation to achieve its strategic goals. The main elements of human resources are like planning, recruiting, training and development, performance and measurement. Planning is a process of determining the strategic goals of an organisation and developing the strategies with the operation and utilizing resources towards setting goals and objective. A human resource manager needs to plan for the future according to the external environment of the company like competitor, government policy, and labour market. He needs to know if there are required skills needed or if there are few people with the type of skill needed by the company. It is all about recruiting the right people and developing them with the new strategy. In case of recruitment and selection it is very important to know when, why and how to recruit staff. Organisation recruit the employee so business can be expand and changing job roles within the business because of new skills and new technology. Employees are also recruited due to the company needs to fill the vacancies. Training could be defined as a learning experience or activity of the work, making the high performance of employees which will turn the business successful. Training provides to the employee to contribute the effective of an organisation, while on the other hand employee also get development itself. In order to competitive business the performance of the management needs to monitor employee effectively. Some of the organisation use to monitoring the performance of their employees like performance reviews, self-evaluation, peer evaluation and target setting for individual or group.

TASK-3

Principal Impacts on Human Recourse Management

The impact of strategic of human resource management in an organisational culture of a company, it influence by life values, thinking patterns and behavioural modes of senior managers and employees. When organisational culture and strategies of human resource management supplement each other, the strategies can exert their effectiveness and competitive advantages. The organisational culture provides an equal and open environment for the senior managers and the employees to communicate frankly and share their knowledge and study from each other. It is on the base of frequent communication, mutual supporting, and trust between employees.

Improving the effectiveness of Human Resource Management

CPP is a big company but recruits less amount of people during the year. It should be aim to ensure that they attract and offer employment, to either internal or external applicants who are most suitable for the current and future needs of the business. When there are some new opportunities for internal staff, the company has to advertise the new job. They have to advertise the job by using the Internet, newspapers and job centres. If anyone is interested then they can apply and if selection has been done that, they will go for an interview. For an interview the interviewer will ask the candidate a set of questions. This questioner will include questions, which will be the main objective or details of an employee, those the company is looking for.

Training and development programme

There are different types of training for different position. Company should provide the specific training every six months. Different types of training such has on going, training framework, care skills, health & safety, legal, and multi- skill.

Performance management

The organisation should monitor the performance of its employees by giving them a review plan once a year depending on different department. To academic aspiration of employees company should sponsor employees to induct for courses which are basic require of an employee. To meet the strategic goal of becoming a learning organisation, company should integrated knowledge management system which will be facilitates tactic knowledge of employees for the future reference. Appraisal system has to be carried out every 12 months. An appraisal system is an opportunity to discuss with members of staff what's going well, what can be improved, how they would like to develop and any reasonable suggestion from any member of staff. At CPP these meeting are done between the manager and CPP's employee. These meeting are also confidential. The pay and reward system should be every year for the best member or members of staff that have contributed to the company in respectively. Organisation will give certificates of recognition, praise and value awards.

Rewards and Recognition

Creating a new organisational culture of rewards and recognitions through an events, function and celebration of various achievements and recognising the contributions for the success of organisation.

Career Advancement & Opportunities

Talent management system in an organisational culture is to ensure that the commitment of meaningful growth & new challenges for the employees. Talent management should comprise with performance management, career paths and leadership development.

TASK- 4

Purpose of Human Resource Management Policies in an Organisation

The purpose of Human resource management policies is to well establish, develop, maintain and communicate office policies throughout the entire company providing help, advise and consult with the employees (www.smallbusinessbible.org). Handling people is always hard task and difficult people are always hard to handle. With the help of Human Resource department, employees can work together in a cordial and friendly atmosphere with their peers to create an effective business mechanism. John Purcell (1993) considers that when in an organisation applied new policies and practices, it often associated with such words like organisational commitment, competence, empowerment, flexibility, organisation culture, performance, assessment, reward, teamwork, involvement, cooperation, harmonization, quality and learning. These policies are intended to support the effectiveness of the human resource function. An organisation introduces their Human Resource Policies for very different reason. These are including: To support their general management strategy To follow the latest developments in effective people management To comply with existing or new rules and regulation Complying with the government rules and regulations To keep up with the competitors particularly in a tight labour market.

Purpose of Human Resource Management Policies in CPP

CPP has adopted a visionary approach to address the issue of corporate social responsibility since inception. CPP management takes every care to promote and fulfil the recreational and health requirements of the employees. It creates different social groups to organise their project with cultural traditions and social values.

Recruitment and Selection policy

Recruitment is the process of employing the staff in an organisation and then selection consists of choosing suitable candidate from the application form to fill the post. Recruiting procedure can be done through internally by recruitment within the firm or externally by recruiting people from outside. When in an organisation forming a recruitment policy, it comes with some elements like job analysis, job profile, recruitment advertising, selection techniques, interviews, references, medical examinations, asylum and immigration, documentation and equal opportunities monitoring. The recruitment policy had provisions to give preference to marginalised classes of society like the scheduled castes/tribes, economically backward classes, Ex-servicemen, persons uprooted from the project areas, physically handicapped and dependents of regular employees who die in harness. Specific provisions are made for reservation and concessions to SC/ST and physically handicapped persons.

Recognition to employee

CPP has introduced a combined team Award Scheme to bring in an inter-unit competitiveness in various areas of activity, leading to excellence and perfection. With this in mind CPP is introducing inter-project competitions in Productivity, Safety, House Keeping, Industrial Relations, and Improvement & Protection in the Environment. The objective of the Award Scheme is to induce a Team Spirit amongst all employees of Projects/Stations, to bring in a sense of competitiveness amongst all employees and the teams and to reward the best performing project.

Training & development

In organisation, training consists of the way of developing skills with productivity and quality of work and accepted as a method of improving the skill of employees in work environment. To meet the objective of the effective organisation it depends on skills, abilities and commitment of the employees who contribute the most important asset of the organisation. In CPP it has developed its own comprehensive training infrastructure, which envisages a minimum of 7 man days of training per employee per year.

Gender equality

The HR policies and the practices ensure gender equality. CPP is one of the few organizations to have a policy for grant of paternity leave. Adequate mechanism has been provided in the form of a committee for investigating complaints relating to sexual harassment of working women. CPP also taps rich resources available in families of employees. Ladies' clubs at each of the projects utilises this potential for educational, health and other community development projects in and around the project areas.

SC/ST

CPP has endeavoured that it takes responsibility for adequate representation of SC/ST and OBC categories in employment. Towards this effort, there have been exclusive advertisements/notifications for employment of SC/ST category candidates. These vacancies are circulated to all accredited SC/ST associations as prescribed under Govt. guidelines.

Social efforts for physical handicapped people

CPP has a deep-rooted commitment to reach out and light up lives of physically challenged people. Apart from the medical camps as described above, equal employment opportunities are offered to this special category of individuals as defined under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full participation) Act 1995. With 125 such persons already provided regular employment, 200 odd are more likely to be recruited at various projects in the near future. Such a massive effort of this magnitude has never been undertaken by any organisation in the past. This has been done because CPP has committed itself to provide enhanced employment opportunities to disabled persons.

Health & Safety

The organization provides comprehensive medical care to employees and their families inclusive of primitive, curative and preventive healthcare. It also provides adequate health care to the community around the project sites.

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