Knowledge Management in the Age of Information Overload
The Evolution of Knowledge Management Knowledge Management as a separate stream of business and as an organizational function and practice emerged with the advent of the Information Age with its reliance on knowledge as power. Indeed, while the Industrial Era did have some connection to accumulating, preserving, and share knowledge, it was only with the […]
Evolution of Competency Based Assessment
Competency based assessment owes its genesis to the traditional method of Job analysis where a detailed description explored how a job is done. It was used as a decision tool for a number of HR processes like hiring, promotions etc. Job Analysis however had minimal or no reference to the knowledge, skills and attitudes required […]
Implications of Workplace Changes for Individuals and Organizations
Career, as a series of upward moves of income, status, power and security has died long back. In 21st century, career is seen as continuous learning and changes in identity due to experience and personal learning along with upward moves in income, status and power. Employees, these days want a fulfilling career and organizations need […]
How to Manage Star Performers and High Achievers
What do the Terms Star Performers and Fast Trackers Mean? In every organization, some employees are designated as Star Performers and Fast Trackers by the Managerial and the Human Resources Professionals. The term Fast Trackers refers to the internal classification of some employees who are expected to move faster up the hierarchy than other employees […]
Employee Training – Objectives, Benefits & Steps in Creating a Training Programme
Training implies enhancing the skills and knowledge of the employees for performing a specific job. Training tries to improve employees’ performance in current job and prepares them for future job. The crucial consequence of training is learning. Objectives of Employee Training Programmes To prepare employees to meet the varying and challenging needs of the job […]
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.
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.
With the advent of today’s 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.
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.
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.
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