STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Strategic management of human resource (HR) is one of the most important parts of a business in a global context. The current study has considered Woolworths and its strategic HR management. The HR strategies are aligned with the broader corporate strategies of the firm through this current study. Similarly, the alignment of HR strategies with the broader corporate strategies for Woolworths has been focused on using the following analysis. It is necessary to find out the implementation procedure of HR strategy at the department level. Therefore, the current essay sheds light on the implementation of HR strategy along with the assessment of contemporary challenges, which have impacted the business of Woolworths.
HR management procedure can be considered as the core solution for business improvement. In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to the corporate strategies of business through the proper alignment with HR management strategy. Malik (2016) conveyed that HR is playing a pivotal role in the decision-making procedure of the company. In order to attain corporate excellence in business, it is evident to follow the appropriate HR strategies of the business. Supporting this Noe et al. (2017) opined that the strategic management of HR could ameliorate in gaining competitive advantage. Besides this, organizations can sustain competitive advantage through the appropriate evaluation of HR management practices.
The HR needs to address key areas of business in a profound manner that can offer an effective layout for the business. As identified by Bratton & Gold (2017) goal setting for the employees can be conveyed as one of the most important factors for sustainable progress in the business. The process of shaping HR management can be identified as a crucial requirement of business that can influence the designing procedure of corporate strategy in a broader manner. Similarly, it is necessary to develop an idea regarding HR’s role to improve the decision-making process of the company (Bailey et al. 2018). Apart from employee selection, HR is responsible for the training of employees, identifying government issues in the company, performance measurement and other factors. It is observed that HR strategy complements the corporate planning of business (Dickmann, Brewster & Sparrow, 2016). Therefore, the demonstration of business goals can be obtained as mandatory for strategic HR management.
An HR is responsible for turning business strategies into action and this can be achieved through techniques of the company. García-Carbonell, Martín-Alcázar & Sánchez-Gardey (2016) proposed that internal communication framework of a business can be modified through the appropriate incorporation of HR strategies. Woolworths is one of the leading retail firms in Australia, which is focused on customer requirements. As reported by Bruce (2016) the loss of business is a serious challenge for HR. However, in order to eliminate the uncertainty from the business of Woolworths the company has planned to close the master hardware business. Similarly, HR of Woolworths has approached to dwindle down the staff-cut rate for securing the future of employees. Staff satisfaction is an important issue for the prospect of companies and sudden removal of staffs can have a major negative impact on the business (Cascio & Boudreau, 2016). Woolworths HR has planned to inform the existing staffs regarding potential challenges to improve the performance of employees.
An organization can elevate the overall performance through the appropriate selection of employees. Ulrich & Dulebohn (2015) commented that the prime role of HR is to hire talented people within the organisation for the successful growth of the company. Woolworths appoints its employees through their talent measurement process and effective skill assessment techniques. In addition, Woolworths is focused on its employee empowerment whereby it has increased the commitment of employees. Similarly, the inclusion of online business support has improved the business scopes for Woolworths whereby it has met the critical requirements of customers (Woolworths, 2019). The continuous monitoring process of the HR department in Woolworths has increased the employee performance. Feedback process has enriched the knowledge regarding the actual needs of the company. Martin et al. (2016) postulated that an employee needs knowing the actual job role. Thus, alignment of corporate governance strategy with the Hr management strategy can deliver appropriate opportunities to the organisation.
Corporate excellence prefers talent to other factors of the business. It has been identified through the intense investigation of Woolworths that company offers priority to the talents during the selection of employees (Woolworths, 2019). In a similar vein, continuous mobilization of talents helps this organisation to maintain proactive functions in business. Thus, the productivity of the company has enhanced commendably through the process of talent mobilization as it has encouraged the internal knowledge sharing process of the company. Brueller, Carmeli & Markman (2018) observed that market acquisition is another important part of strategic HR management. HR needs to transform the unfavourable business situation into a favourable environment. Woolworths has embedded the effective strategies of corporate governance whereby it has increased the performance of the HR department (Haddock-Millar, Sanyal & Müller-Camen, 2016). Most importantly, cost-effective business strategies of HR management have been observed as a key factor that has increased the market value of Woolworths and intensified its client base drastically.
The implementation of the HR strategy is solely related to the efficiency of HR management. Hence, considering the strategic vision of HR management is the primary requirement for implementing HR strategy into department level. Guan et al. (2016) stated that forming supportive strategies for the business is the most important factor for implementing HR strategy in grass-root levels. It is necessary to plan the HR programs in a simple manner to enhance the understanding of employees. HRM programs need to follow integrated business approaches and mission, as well as the vision of organisation, needs to be integrated with the HR strategic planning. It is necessary to empower the employees of the company through the effective training procedure (Ma & Ye, 2015). Similarly, elimination of the contemporary challenges from the business can increase the opportunity for organisation. Hence, improved policy-making strategies of HR can help in the implementation of policies in departments.
Knowledge transfer contributes to the improvement of organisation thus, it is necessary to plan an effective knowledge transfer process for organisation. The insights into organisational objectives can guide the employees regarding their actual goals. Rotich (2015) commented that a developed HR framework in business could be employed through the proper knowledge transfer procedures. HR needs to illustrate the ethical business framework in front of staffs to guide them regarding their obligations. Hence, unethical practices from the departments can be eliminated through this technique of HR management (Albrecht et al. 2015). Thus, increased employee engagement can be attained through effective HR strategies, which can contribute to the employee retention policies of organisation. Notwithstanding, through the implementation of safety policies, employees can be assured regarding their work environment safety. Thus, departmental security can be enhanced through these techniques of Hr strategy planning and business can meet the desired needs.
Managing employee dissatisfaction is one of the important challenges of the HR department of Woolworths. As for example in one of the time, the company has gone through a severe loss in the context of revenue. In that time the company has decided that, they have to cut the expenses of the company. Hence, in this context they tried to cut the employee number. The HR department in this company has decided to solve the employee dissatisfaction issues on behalf of the company. The main objective of the action is to balance the management as well as subordinate issues.
It is another challenge that the company has faced several times. The HR department of Woolworth is mainly responsible for the skill development of the employee as well as workers in the company. In the context of up growing technology as well, as competition, the company has started to conduct the workshop for training of employee in order to maintain a positive brand value in the respective market of retail in the country of Australia. The HR manager of the company has implemented several skills development programme to the remaining employees after the termination of a few employees.
In addition to that, the HR department has to look at several other things regarding the employment of the employee such as promotion, incentive and salary issues. The HR department has to check the performance assessment of the employee in order to improve the quality of the product as well as service of Woolworths.
From the analysis of the current essay, it has been identified that strategic HR management is one of the most important factors in this global competitive era. Woolworths is a leading Australian retail company that has drawn attention in staff selection through effective HR strategies. The company has prioritised talent to the other factors during the employee selection. However, loss of business has incurred challenges regarding the staff's employment and to combat the situation the HR department has planned to reduce the number of staff cut. Nevertheless, an illustration of the ethical codes in front of employees can keep them away from committing unethical practices. Hence, following the process HR strategies can be implemented in the department level of company.