Corporate Corruption and the HRM Function: Legal, Ethical, and Moral Perspectives
February 12, 2025
Choose the B-School Wisely For those of you wanting to pursue a career in human resource management or HRM, this article is intended to give some guidance and tips on how to succeed in the field. First, if you want to become an HR professional, choose your institute wisely. This means that when you want […]
The Importance of Feedback in Organizations and the Role of the Managers in the Process Feedback is an integral part of any organizations workplace procedures. Managers are expected to provide regular feedback to their employees who in turn, are expected to incorporate such feedback into enhancing their performance. Moreover, feedback is also a necessity as […]
All of us have heard the story of 3 brick-layers who were working side by side when a passer-by asked them what they were doing. The first said – “I am laying bricks” The second said – “I am feeding my family” The third said – “I am building a cathedral” This simple story conveys […]
The Difference between a People Manager and a Project Manager In recent times, there has been a trend in multinational companies to have a people manager apart from the project manager for employees in teams and units. This division of responsibilities between the people manager and the project manager has been necessitated because of the […]
Many management programs are offered by leading business schools that specialize in a particular nice or field of management. Prominent among these programs are the specialized courses offered in Systems, HR, and Finance. For instance, the business schools in Asia like the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) and XLRI (Xavier Labor Relations Institute) along with […]
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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