Essay Strategic Human Resource Management

Question: Write an argumentative/academic essay on strategic human resource management in Harvard referencing style. Answer: Introduction: Strategic human resource management defines the intension and plans to achieve the business goals. It is based based on three aspects such as human capital, people who implement the strategic plan and the systematic approach. It has been observed that the human resource management has addressed the issues developed from the change in structure and culture. Moreover they have also increased the organizational effectiveness and performance. As stated by Sirgy and Wu (2013), the human resource management has developed distinctive capabilities, knowledge management and management of change. The Probuild Construction was established in 1987 (bldr.com 2016). The organization has built different projects such as New Grandstand, Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre and Corporate Headquarters of Toyota (Ammons 2013). As argued by Sirgy and Wu (2013), employees have faced greater workplace issues due the huge work pressure. Therefore, the human resource management has implemented the Work-Family b alance strategy and offered multiple options for the employees. Therefore, the employees have maintained flexibility in their working structure and better work-life balance (Moen et al. 2013). Discussion Value opportunities for Workplace flexibility: It has been observed that Probuild construction was established in 1987 and it successfully completed major projects such as new Grandstand at Flemington Racecourse, Victoria garden Shopping centre and head quarters of Toyota corporate. As stated by Mauno and Rantanen (2013), the organization has successfully applied Victoria Governments new strategy as Better work and Family Balance. After applying the new strategy, the organization has planned to investigate about the work-family balance at Probuild. The human resource management has implemented the survey to gather information about the impact of pressure of work, family and life on the employees (Karatepe 2013). The human resource management has tried to observe whether the initiatives have been placed to assist the staffs to manage the pressure. Finally the human resource management has planned to implement new initiates for satisfying the staffs. The human resource management has provided value to the partners or families of the staffs. The human resource management has prepared a separate survey for the partners or family members of the staffs (Butts et al. 2013). From the employee survey result, the human resource management has observed that the employees were happy with the work structure of Probuild. As argued by Sirgy and Wu (2013), the employees are of the opinion that the constantly increasing pressures at the workplace have resulted in tougher challenges in managing the work and family responsibilities. Some employees also feel that the stretched working schedule and the working Saturdays have affected their personal relationships (Allen and Kiburz 2012). As argued by Sirgy and Wu (2013), partners and family members of the employees feel that long working hours and work load has affected day-to-day household management and family care of employees. Therefore the human resource management has implemented the workfamily balance strategy for the employees. According to Kim (2012), the employees have to be more flexible in managing their work pressure and responsibilities towards their family. The human resource management has implemented two different pay roles for the employees such as fixed salary and hourly based salary. As argued by Wang and Verma (2012), the employees can choose any one which is flexible in order to maintain the work pressure and family responsibility. The human resource management has reassured the employees that their decision regarding work-family balance option would not affect any ones employment in the organization. On the other hand, the working Saturday strategy would be optional for the employees. Efficiency of the work-family strategy: The human resource management has observed that the initiatives would be mutually beneficial for both the employees and the company. The human resource management has planned to implement the team building strategy to increase the work efficiency of the employees. As stated by Kossek and Lautsch (2012), teamwork helps in achieving better work efficiency and life balance rather than individual effort. The human resource management has planned to implement the solutions for the employees requirements. As argued by Eddleston and Powell (2012), employees should be more flexible to manage the stretched working hours. The human resource management has observed that good communication is the key to success. It has been found that the work-life balance strategy has improved the performance of the employees. As a result the organization has won the National Work-Life Balance Award in 2009-10 (Darcy et al. 2012). The innovative work-life balance structure has increased the performance of the o rganization as well as employee satisfaction. Flexibility and work-family balance: It has been observed that Probuild has involved in different high value projects. Therefore, the employees have faced huge work pressure. Keeping such trend in mind, the human resource management has planned to investigate about the work-family balance of the employees (Sirgy and Wu 2013). The survey data has presented the picture about the impact of working at Probuilt on the employees family. After acquiring the feedback from the employees and their partners or families, the human resource management has implemented the Work-Family balance strategy (Ammons 2013). Flexible work arrangement theory: The human resource management has implemented five guiding principles for the employees. The initiatives must provide mutual benefits to both the employees and company. The flexible work arrangement strategy would achieve better work and life balance for the team or individual and the managers (Moen et al. 2013). As argued by Wang and Verma (2012), the requirements of the employees have been supported by the Work-family balanced strategy. The employees can work in the organization along with greater flexibility. The human resource management has implemented different working structures for the employees such as fixed salary and hourly based salary. Therefore, the human resource management has implemented the information pack outline regarding the development of better work and family culture (Mauno and Rantanen 2013). The human resource management has provided practical information for staffs and their partners. Therefore, the staffs and managers can setup their goals to bring about better work-life balance. Thus, the specific action plan has been developed by the employees to address the key issues. Business competitiveness theory: According to the Porters Competitive strategy, Probuild has maintained the natural resources, climate, location and demographics. The human resource management has implemented the communication infrastructure, skilled labor and work-life strategy for improving the work efficiency of the employees. The employees have been supported by the basic factors and the employees have provided the best effort to maintain the success (Karatepe 2013). It has been observed that Probuild has faced competition in the market by other construction companies. The human resource management has implemented the communication strategy to understand the aims and objectives. It has been observed that the human resource management has implemented the intensive training, development and coaching program to improve the performance of the employees (Butts et al. 2013). The development of the employment skills helped the organization in getting the competitive advantage. Other flexibility and work-life balance strategy: The human resource management has to implement some other work-life balance strategies for the employees. The strategy has solved the issues of the employees but the new strategy would be better than the work-life balance strategy. The human resource management needs to be more concern about the employees. The human resource management needs to critically observe whether the employees can manage their families or personal responsibilities. the human resource management has to implement flexible shift timing and optional week off so that the employees would maintain flexibility in their workplace. As stated by Allen and Kiburz (2012), staffs have tried to balance the working hours and family responsibilities at the same time. However, the new work-life balance strategy would provide different option to the staffs. Therefore, the employees will be able to maintain flexibility in balancing their work and social lives as well as keep their required hours of work intact (Kim 2012). Productivity outcomes and benefits: It has been observed that the human resource management of Probuild has implemented the work-life balance strategy for improving the productivity of the organization. Moreover, this work life balance strategy was the also the national Work-Life Balance Award Winner of 2009-2010 (Wang and Verma 2012). However, the work-life balance strategy has not been able to fulfill the employees satisfaction. Therefore, a new work-life balance strategy has been developed for Probuild. As argued by Sirgy and Wu (2013), the work-life balance strategy, the human resource management has to implement flexible shift timing and optional week off for the employees. Therefore, the employees can choose suitable shift times so that they can spend valuable time with their families. Additionally, the employees can exchange their Saturday off with their week off. As argued by Kossek and Lautsch (2012), the human resource management would require considering the implementation of the job restructuring process so that the employees can manage their jobs. The new Work-Life planning would maintain the employee satisfaction and retain the employees as well. Conclusion: The human resource management has implemented the new Work-Life Balance Strategy to improve the performance of the employees. They have been able to inculcate this within their organization on the basis of a survey that was conducted on the employees and their families. The Human resource management has observed that the employees have not maintained proper family responsibilities due to long hours duty schedule and Sunday duty hours. Therefore the human resource management has implemented the Work-Life Balance strategy and implemented two different solutions such as fixed salary and hourly based salary. However, the issues of the employees have not been resolved after implementing the strategy. Therefore, a new Work-Family Balance strategy has been implemented to resolve the work load and family relayed issues of the employees. The human resource management has to implement two new options for the employees such as flexible shift timing and optional week off. They would also need to implement the job restructuring process for the employees. The new strategy would help the employees to maintain better Work-Family Balance, increase their performance and satisfaction and also build their loyalty towards the organization. Reference list: Allen, T.D. and Kiburz, K.M., 2012. Trait mindfulness and workfamily balance among working parents: The mediating effects of vitality and sleep quality.Journal of Vocational Behavior,80(2), pp.372-379. Ammons, S.K., 2013. Work-family boundary strategies: Stability and alignment between preferred and enacted boundaries.Journal of vocational behavior,82(1), pp.49-58. bldr.com, (2016).ProBuild | Builders FirstSource. [online] Bldr.com. Available at: https://www.bldr.com/probuild.htm [Accessed 21 May 2016]. Butts, M.M., Casper, W.J. and Yang, T.S., 2013. How important are workfamily support policies? A meta-analytic investigation of their effects on employee outcomes.Journal of Applied Psychology,98(1), p.1. 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