A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The problem and the solution the article review the literature on strategic
human resource development. It proposes a model of strategic human
resources development (HRD) which is multi-level and focuses on the
interaction between context human resources development processes,
stakeholder satisfaction and characteristics of human resources development
profession. Strategic human resources development, external and internal
context, stake holder’s satisfactions. Human capital theory argues that firms
should protect core competencies through investment in training and
development.

Lepak and snell 1999) wrote the value of employees to the firm is related to
the uniqueness and value of their capabilities and skills. Competitive
advantages is secured when organisations have skills and capabilities that are
unique difficult to replicate and initiate by competitors. Strategic human
resources development (SHRD) contributes to the creation of firm-specific
knowledge and skill when it is aligned with the strategic goals of the
organisation. SHRD enables and organisation to combine different knowledge
elements. Correct poor new knowledge and combine internal and external
knowledge to ensure sustained competitive advantage (Davenport Prusak and
Wilson, 2003: pfeffer 1994).

Strategic Human Resources Development

The concept of strategic human resources development is includes the

integration of HRD activities with organisation mission and goals, the
involvement of line managers in the design and delivery of human resources
development. Strategic human resources development facilitates the
development of core capabilities that are critical in developing and maintaining
sustained competitive advantage. Leonard- Barton (1995) suggests four
dimensions of core capability, (a) knowledge and skills (b) physical and
technical systems. (c) Managerial systems of development and education (d)
organisational values and norms impact the kind of knowledge and knowledge
building activities that are enabled and facilitated.

Strategic human resource management literatures suggest that any

conceptualization of SHRD must focus on evaluating the linkages among
organisational strategies. Human resources development system and policies
and practices, incorporate the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and focus
on contributions at multiples levels of analysis.

Model of strategic human resource development.

The context of Strategic human resource development are the global

environmental, the internal business context including strategy and structure,
the influence of the job and the individual.

Strategy human resource development focuses on the interplay between HRD

practices and the broader context within which these practices play out. Four
levels of context are suggested; the global environment, the organisation
strategy structure, culture, and leadership. The value and uniqueneness that
the form attaches to particular jobs. Individual expectation, employability and
careers. Morrow and Hill (2000) argue that a firm must be flexible to respond
to changes in the environment. Semler (1997) suggest that to ensure strong
alignment with its external environment, a form must be able to control and
react to external environment, regardless of the strength of its internal
alignment.

The firm’s internal context impacts SHRD, Particular aspects of internal context
that impact human resources development are focus; including strategic
orientation, organisation, culture and leadership. Strategic orientation is
particularly relevant. The firm’s strategic orientation will influence the SHRD
practices utilized and their priority and importance. Lepak and Snell (2003)
found that firms pursuing a cost orientation are less likely to invest in
management and leadership development and more transformational SHDP
practices such as business partnering, organisational development and
knowledge management. McGlendon and Ginacy (1999) suggest that cost-
oriented forms may outsource HRD activities where they generate immediate
savings and benefits.

Organisational Structure

The forms organisation structure is an important element of internal context. A

key dimension of the form’s structure focuses on whether it is domestic or
global. Strategic human resources development practices. However they tend
to have less sophisticated practices and systems than forms with global
structures. Global forms adopt more corporate wide approaches and individual
divisions or units frequently have less choice in respect of the types of strategy
human resources development practices implemented. Semler (1997) defines
structural alignment as the level of congruence between the process of the
organisation and the context in which strategy human resources development
practices elicit behaviours in line with these processes. Way (2002) suggests
that SHRD contributes to motivation and commitment processes which ensure
that employee produce appropriate behaviours that support strategy.

Firm Culture

The forms culture provides direction concerning the development of

integrated and coherent SHRD systems. Heiffer (1994), for example, suggests
that vision and values serves as touch-stones that human resources
development professionals and other stakeholders use to evaluate the internal
constituency of SHRD practices. Truss and Gratton (1994) defines cultural
alignment as the extent to which SHRD contributes to an organisational culture
that supports organisational strategies, goals, and objectives.

Leadership

Leadership is key to implementing vision and value and developing culture

leaders set the agenda for the organisation and confer legitimacy on strategies
human resources development activities. The influence of form leadership is
often manifested in human resources development professionals being
concerned with showing bottom-line results and adopting business partner
roles. Collins and Clark (2003) demonstrate that strategic human resources
development enhances form performance because it encourages leaders to
build internal and external social network that they leverage to enhance the
financial bottom line.

Job Value and Uniqueness.

Strategies human resources development is the idea that the types of human
resources development practices used vary according to the judgements firm
make concerning the value of different employment modes. Lepak and Snell
(2003) argue that firms establish diffents modes of employment. These models
reflects differences in human capital various employment modes have
different strategic values refers to the potential of the employee mode to
contribute to the form performance. Wood and DEMENZES (1998) found that
differences in the application of human resources development practices were
intended and more sophisticated SHRD practices were applied to jobs with
higher value and uniqueness.

Individual Expectations, Employability, and Careers.

The psychological contract and talent management literatures suggest that

individual employee expectations and firm decisions concerning those
employees who are perceived to be stars influence SHRD practices and the
extent to which they are strategic. Farnham, (2003) argues that in a
postentreprenteurial word, the best source of security for people is guarantee
not of a specific job, or a specific employer, but of their employability. She
suggests that employees require a number of skills to manage a career
including a willingness to keep learning a belief in self rather than in the power
of a position alone. Hendry and Jenkins (1997) highlight the significance of
psychological contracting and the extent to which individuals may impose a
deal. These various deals have implications for the types of strategies human
resources development activities that are expected by employees and
provided by the form.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT FOCUS, ORIENTATION, SYSTE, POLICIES

AND PRACTICES.

Strategies human resources development is required to respond to context

with an appropriate mix of strategies in addition to an orientation that ensures
horizontal alignment with the various element of context. The focus of human
resources development captivities can emphasize short-term or long term
concerns. Espedal (2005) and March (1991) suggest that forms need to
implement a mix of practice that focus on expectation-focused strategies
human resources development practice tend to be short-term and focus on
the internal development of competencies. According, dimension of strategies
human resources development focus concerns the degree to which its
activities are horizontal integrated with SHRM activities.
Human resources development activities to line manager and the tendencies
toward decentralization indicate a changed role for human resources
development professionals. Schuler and Jackson (1992) suggest that HRD
professionals will be challenges to the business, shaping of the strategic
direction of the form. Lepark Barton and Erhardt (2005) speculate that human
resources development professionals with employee champion and traditional
orientations engage in transactional human resources development activities
such as induction training, skills training and competency profiting. SHRD
Strategies, system, and practices Golley and Maycunich-golley (2002) provide a
valuable framework to understand the domains of strategies human resources
development. These are organisational performance, organisational learning
and organisational performance domain emphasizes efficiency and
performance improvement.

Stakeholder satification with SHRD

An important imperative for strategies human resources development

concerns fostering close cooperation between human resources development
professionals and stakeholders within outside the organisation. Human
resources development must posses the capability to ascertain the
expectations of different stakeholder groups and merge these expectations
into its overall human resources development goals. Paauwe (2004) suggest
that this belongs to the dominant coalition “whose composition will differ in
each organisation. Jackson and Schuler (2003) use the term human resources
triad “to describe the key parties involved in human resources development
partnerships.

Human resources development as a key component of the model. They ar both

influenced by and influence the context, the nature of stakeholder satisfaction
and the characteristics of human resources development within the
organisation. The values competencies are debility and integrity of the
professional will determine whether they are part of the “dominant coalition”
Human resources development professional possesses will impact the
orientation they adopt strategic partner roles, and contribute to both the
formulation and implementation of business strategy. Strategies human
resources development as a “coherent vertically aligned and horizontally
integrated set of learning and development activities” which contribute to the
achievement of strategic goals. Strategies human resources development
focuses on both traditional and transformational activities. Human resources
development professional strive to implement activities that are focused on
both exploitation and exploration. Strategies human resource development is
concerned with satisfying the different expectations of stakeholder; it
facilitates the organisation in creating the conditions where strategic
objectives and resulting performance can be realized.

Implication of the Research

Scholars have contributed to the emergence of a strategic perspective on

human resource development. Strategies human resource development
considered at multiple level of analysis and combination of SHRD practices
rather than the single isolated practices make an impact on organisational
performance. Human resource development practice to achieve the same
outcome than other human resource development practices potentially may
have a greater impact on certain outcomes than other human resource
development practices. Strategic human resources development should not be
confined to focusing solely on simply input/output system thinking. Typically
HRD practices are considered as in put variables. Human resources
development outcome as intermediate variables, and form performance
indicators as dependent variables. However, it is also important to focus on the
various actions and stakeholders involved the values of the organisations and
the nature of the human resources development processes themselves. This
discussion suggests that we may need to develop a more sophisticated
definition of performance one that is multidimensional and pluralistic.

Implication for Practice

Strategies human resources development presents important challenges for

human resource professional’s success requires that professionals meet the
current demands of multiple stakeholders whole also anticipating future
demands. Human resources development professionals are faced with meeting
the challenges of interpreting the needs of stakeholders. they are required to
negotiate appropriate human resources development solutions that meet their
professional requirements address the needs of stakeholders contribute to the
process of change sustain continuity and at the same time. Facilitate the
necessary flexibility to adjust and change where necessary. Human resource
development professionals increasingly pay attention to organisational culture
and climate forms benefit from the creation and sustain met of a culture that
supports learning. Human resource development professionals because they
have been associated with human welfare and employee champion
perspective.

Work Organization and Flexibility

Work organisation and flexibility considers how employers design jobs and
working patterns in order to meet both their own and their employees’ need
for flexibility. It is central to the whole employment relationship, given its
impact on the working conditions of employees and the implications it has
both for organisational performance and for working life as it is experienced by
employees.

Major Influence on Work Organisation and Flexibility

Factors that have influenced the increased flexibility of labour in terms of the
world war ii to the 1970s saw the broad adoption of a “standard-working time
model (Allan and Brosnan, 1998) in which most employees worked an
approximately 8- hour day in daylight hours from Monday – Friday

Demand Factors

The overriding employer driver of such flexibility has been the globalization of
markets that has led to over greater product competition and an increased
need to seek means of competitive advantage (Williams, 2000). String for this
competitive advantage has induced firms to employ more “flexible’ workers
and to provide less secure jobs in order to keep costs down and to retain or
increase market share.

Supply Factors

The changes in the demand for labour in the U K outline above coincided with
labour market changes that have occasional a greater supply of labour at non
standard times. Increasing labour force participation of women, particularly
women in the child care and flexible working arrangements, ( fagnani et al
2004). There has been a shift away from the traditional ‘nuclear’ family and
associated male – oriented employment, with a marked increase in single –
parent families and dual career coupics.

Working – Time Flexibility and Work Intensification.

Employer – driven approaches to renegotiating working time have

predominated in UK organisations (beyond et al, 2002). Allan and Brosan
(1998) suggest that this has also been the case in France, Belgium and the
Netherlands, Australia and new Zealand (see case study 7) and in transition
economics such as Poland (Stenning and Hardy 2005). This has not been so
evident, however in Germany and sudden, where employee orientated policies
have continued to predominate, or in similarly high regulated transition
economic.

Working – Time – Time Flexibility and Work Intensifications

Although we present above a coincidence in drivers of working – time

flexibility in terms of both labour supply and demand, we support the time
have predominated in UK organisation (Beynon et al,2002). Allan and Srosnan
(1998) suggest that this has also been the case in France, Belgium and its
Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand (see case study 7) and in transition
economies such as Poland (Stenning and Hardy, 2003). This has not been so
evident, however, in Germany and Sweden, where employee oriented policies
have continued to predominate, or in similarly highly regulated transition
economics such as the (Zech Republic and Hungary (Tang and Consins, 2005).

Policy Framework In Respect Of Work Organisation and Flexibility

Regulation of employer – driven flexibility as noted above, the past two

decades have seen deregulation and its application of liberal policies to the
employment relationship in the UK. In this section, we consider the implication
of this policy approach to working time in the UK, over viewing the implication
of the legislation that is in place (the details of the provision of such legislation
are provided in chapter ii). We compare the UK’s approach to that of other
countries in the eu and elsewhere and consider the implication of different
policy approaches.

Employer – Driven Flexible Working Practice

In this section we present that we consider to be employer – driven in terms of
creating flexibility in working time, ansing offen to strategic objectives. While
we note above that there can be coincidence of employer and employee need
in flexible working practice, we draw on the arguments of bishop (2002) and
Harris (2003) who suggest that there are inevitably tensions between employer
and employee need and that what employers characterise as beneficial to
employee. We further adopt the argument that what is practice.

Regulation of Employer – Driven Flexibility

As noted above, the past two decades have seen deregulation and the
application of liberal policies to the employment relationship in the UK. In this
section we consider the implications of this policy approach to working time in
the UK.

Voluntarism

The UK has historically adopted a voluntarism approach to the employment

relationships relying unponn social regulation through means of trade unions.
Thus priop to the working time regulations (wtr, 1998) there was no
comprehensive regulation of working time in the UK.

Social Partnership

The UK’s approach stands in contrast to that of much of the rest of employee,
which adopts a more socially democratic approach to regulation of the
employment relationship requiring co- determination through the social
partners’ = the state, employer stand employees (or their representatives).

Core Employees

Core employees are permanent, often full- time, add form part of an internal
labour market with good career prospects and are usually well rewarded
financial flexibility, adopting mechanisms such as team – work and muli-
skilling.

Periphery Employees

Periphery employees divide into two types comprises those who are skilled but
whose skills are either not in short supply or not in short supply or not specific
to the firm e.g. secretarial skills. For these employees employers typically rely
on the external labour market, offering limited career prospects and a range of
employment contracts. Temporal flexibility, the more away from a standard
working – time model noted above (Allan and Brosnan, 1998) to either core or
periphery employees. Although there are cristism of Akinson’s model Legge
(1995) arugging for example, that flexibility is not used strategically but in a
pragmatic way to meet employer need – it has been generally accepted that
work organisation has changed and that flexibility has increased over the past
two decades.

Flexibility and Hrm

One theme within the flexibility debate is the extent to which it is compatible
with best practice human resource management (HRM) (guest 2001) and its
relation to @soft or hard@ approaches to HRM. Given that much of the focus
of working time flexibilisation has been in creating part – time employment
(Rosendaal 2003), we consider the implications of part-time working in more
detail in this section. There is empirical data available internationally to
demonstrate that part-time working as a benefit to employers, often at
employees’ expenses, is not a phenomenon confined to the UK.

We present flexible working practices we consider to be employee driven,

often termed work –life integration practices (Smithson and stokoe, 2005) this
term is intended to denote that r practices and applicable to the whole
spectrum of employees for a broad range of issues that extend beyond family
concerns. The ‘business case’ as a policy approach while employers have
traditionally driven most of the bargaining on flexible working time, there is
growing evidence of employee demand for increased autonomy to meet their
demands for wli (Thornthwaite 2004). Policies often introduced to improve wli
include part – time working, flexitime, a compresses working week, annual
hours, term –time working, job share, self – roistering shift – swapping, unpaid
leave, sabbaticals and working from home ( Thornthwaite and Sheldon, 2004;
Torrington et al, 2005).