Relationship Between Strategic Organizational Planning And Human Resource Planning: A Case Study On Westpac Essay.

Discuss about the relationship between strategic organizational planning and Human Resource Planning in Westpac Banking Corporation.
 

Relationship Between Strategic Organizational Planning and Human Resource Planning

Overview

The following report is based on the relationship between strategic organizational planning and Human Resource Planning. The relationship in between these two different variables have been shown by taking the example of Westpac which is the first Australian company as well as the first bank to be established in Australia. The company has a wide range of presence as it has its offices in New York, London and also all throughout the Asia (westpac.com.au 2019). However, the largest presence of the bank is seen in Australia and its neighboring country, New Zealand.  Apart from the discussion of the two different variables, the report will also throw light on the human resource planning processes followed by the management of Westpac Corporation and the different challenges faced by the HR professional in identifying and planning the needs of the workforce (Barak 2016). The report has also discussed about the possible effectiveness of the HR planning process used by the Company and has justified those processes with appropriate examples. The report has been further made compact by the inclusion of the ways by which the organization has ensured a high performance for the business enterprise.

Analysis of the relationship of strategic operational planning and human resource planning practices used by Westpac and justification

The relationship of the strategic operational planning and the human resources planning practices used by Westpac has to be established in a proper manner. The report will begin with the discussion of the two variables and then will establish the link in between this two. The strategic operational planning of Westpac can be determined by discussing the vision, values and strategic operational planning of the organization. The vision of the organization is to be among the world’s greatest service companies and help out the customers, communities and the people to prosper and grow in their life (Barak 2016). The main strategy of the company is to deliver a quality banking service to the customers and build a strong customer relationship with the business organization. The company also focuses on building up a strong position in the competitive business market by means of establishing a strong bond with the stakeholders of the organization (Gualini 2018). The strategy of the organization to provide financial services appeals to a large range of customers and thus helps them to gain a strategic flexibility that offers solutions and better meet the individual needs of the customers .

Strategic Operational Planning of Westpac

On the other hand, Brewster (2017) says that the human resource planning of the Company is also important and relevant as it differentiates them from other organizations. The workforce planning of the organization is in line with the business strategies and ensures that the management has a constant watch over the performance of the employees. The constant watch over the performance of the employees helps the organization to make the proper sourcing and development decisions which clearly supports the mission, vision and strategic plans of the enterprise. 

The human resource operational planning is clearly related to the strategic planning as before the formulation of the organizational strategy, it is utmost important to have a clear idea about the present as well as future strategies of the organization, understanding the current strategic context and most importantly having the ideaabout the characteristics and capabilities of the employees.  

Therefore it is clearly visible that a clear idea about the workforce is again needed to formulate the strategy toensure the capability and ability of the people working in the business organization.

Two potential challenges faced by the HR professional in Westpac

The planning of strategies and Human resource in any organizations is a challenging process. The planning process will face a number of difficulties as the team planning the total process has to consider each and every element that are related to the total process. After analyzing the case study, the two most important challenges faced by the business organization are as follows;

Workforce Training and Development-The training and development of the employees of Westpac is a major challenge for the HR department. Most of the employees who undertake the Professional Qualifications Program do not pay extra attention to the following developmental program as they are too much overconfident on their present set of skills (westpac.com.au 2019). Therefore the management of the organization faces a tough time to make each and every employee of Westpac capable of completing the professional development course easily.

Proper Articulation of the current and future strategy- The Human Resource Management of Westpac faces a tough time over articulating and explain the current as well as the future strategies clearly to the employees. Moreover, the change in the financial rates and the problems faced to counter inflationary measures has been the cause of major issues for the business organization.

Analysis of the effectiveness of the Human Resource Planning practiced by Westpac and Justification

Human Resource Planning of Westpac

The need to measure the effectiveness of Human Resources of Human Resources is related to the need to identify the key drivers of the Human Potential and to model the effect of its modification. The human resource planning is believed to be one of the most important elements that can be a major source of success for the business organization (Nankervis et al. 2016). The planning of the HR strategy has been completed in such a manner that it is able to attain considerable success. The effectiveness of the planning can be determined by ensuring a continuous review on the performance of the workforce and also reviewing the needs and demands of the workforce. The management of Westpac follows this particular process as because to meet the goals and needs of the business strategy.

The breakdown of the HR strategy in the case study has helped to measure the effectiveness of the business strategy. The justification of the chosen strategy can be shown by providing some examples that can highlight the effectiveness of the planning. 

The workforce planning strategy is made effective by comparing it with the vision, mission and strategies created by the business organization.The HR planning can be said to be effective once it follows all the rules that helps the organization to achieve the goals of the Company.

On the other hand, the effectiveness of the HR planning can also be understood by means of proper understanding of the organizational strategic context and a transparent knowledge about the current workforce. The presence of a transparent knowledge about the workforce will make the HR planning more effective as the knowhow of the characteristics of the people working for the organization will help the HR management to formulate the strategyaccording to their demand.

Apart from this the proper investment of the organization in setting strategies and involving in change management processes will also make the strategic HR planning much more effective.

Discuss 2 potential challenges faced by HR professional in planning manpower needs

As seen by, Altamony et al. (2016) the rapidly changing business landscape means that there are currently many human resource management challenges which will continue to evolve over the years to come. As time passes by, there will be a lot of challenges that might be complex to address. Therefore the management of the organization has to develop the latest processes and ensure the appointment of the best HR professionals in the organization to identify and neutralize these challenges (Bryson 2018). The major challenges faced by the Human Resource professionals of Westpac during the planning of the different kinds of manpower needs are classified below;

Challenges Faced by HR Professionals

Cultural Diversity-The establishment of a cultural diversity program within the business organization is utmost essential as because it helps the company to address the different kinds of cultural issues concerning the employees easily. Westpac is a large organization and employs people from different sectors of the society. The HR management faces a tough time to control the employees and link them in a single chain as the differences in their culture restricts them to easily recognize the chain and link with the other employees (Altamony et al. 2016). Apart from this the HR management also faces a tough time to reach a milestone of a strong learning culture within Westpac. The HR department of Westpac has been tasked with presenting the customers with a highly skilled and highly learned workforce. The HR department thus faces major challenges to develop and train the workforce of Westpac according the regulations asset aside by the organization.

Preparing front line workers with a broader skill set- The changing times and the increase in the demand for innovative and unique range of services by the business organizations is a characteristic that must be taken care of. The HR management of the organization thus has to take up the challenge of preparing the front line workers of Westpac capable of the different demands of the customers. The difference in the capability of the workers to adapt to the new changes makes it tougher for the HR professionals. 

Suggestion of how Westpac can apply a relevant model 

The increasing competition and focus on building innovation led competencies within the business organizations demand effective, efficient and a high quality delivery. The presence of high performing teams and their identification within the business ensures the driving of the business objectives in an efficient manner (Pacquiao 2018). The maintenance of High performance teams within the business organizations are done mainly to outperform all expectations and achieve superior business results for different kinds of business organizations. One of the best models that can be taken as an example for the development of High Value HR teams is the Training and Development Model (shown in appendix 1).The training and development model is totally based on the identification of the skills of the employees and also the identification of the gaps in the skills of the employees and then assessing them and providing the necessary training to develop a strong team that could change the organization accordingly.

Effectiveness of HR Planning at Westpac

As mentioned earlier the training and development model can create a base for the organization to identify and sort out the best employees and then select them to be part of the high performance team of the organization. According to, Reilly and Williams (2016) the team must be assigned with the individual roles and responsibilities of the organization. The setting up of a proper communication channel can ease the problems of the organization accordingly. The proliferation of cross cultural teams presents the business organization with different kind of challenges that must be handled successfully by the management of the organization in order to handle the cultures of the employees in a sensitive and respectful manner. The training and development model can thus serve as a major source for the development of a major working team for the business organization.

Suggestion on how Westpac can apply a global mindset model amongst the workforce

As seen in the study, the planning of both the variables in the company are weak and needs some drastic changes. The management of Westpac has the target to inspire the executives at Westpac to inspire the workforce towards the development of a global mindset. The vision of the bank is to become a global organization by turning into one of the largest service companies and then starting a revolution to turn the following into a reality (Reilly and Williams 2016). The company generally wants to inspire a radical change in the way they plan, develop and retain their workforce in the future. The following plan is being developed by the business organization in order to ensure their success and sustainability in the business market.

The first and foremost step that is being taken up by the business organization is the enforcement of workplace diversity as the company embraces the diversity issues in all spheres related to the workforce within the workplace. The presence of a 50:50 gender partnership in between the senior executive level of the organization is one of the most commendable steps. However it is suggested that the organization must provide more attention towards the diversity of the common workforce of the bank. Secondly it will be important for the organization to embrace upon new job roles, and new job specifications for the future in order to ensure success. The changing times demand a globalized and stronger multi-cultural workforce. The presence of a Multicultural workforce who would be able to address the different needs of the workforce is thus strongly recommended by the organization. For example the relationship manager of Westpac Bank can have a virtual meeting with a customer depending on the latter’s needs. This particular process can enhance the creation of a post by the name of Business partner who will be expected to have a proper knowledge about the business and the proper knowledge on transactional banking or estate planning. 

Challenges Faced by HR Professionals at Westpac

Conclusion

Strategic Planning and Human Resources have symbiotic relationship. The discussion of the strategic planning and the Human Resource Planning in the organization has provided the necessary characteristics that determine the elements of the relationship. First of all it has been observed that the strategies of the business have a clear relationship with that of the Human Resource planning of the organization. The HR management has to formulate the HR strategy by means of analyzing the characteristics of the workforce and identifying their individual capabilities. The identification of these capabilities thus helps the management of Westpac to formulate the strategies. Similarly the HR management of the business organization has to train the employees based on the lines of the organizational guidelines and the training must be done according to the plans of the organization to make their workforce global and competitive in the near future in order to address the different challenges that arises in the business organizations. Therefore the analyses of the following report clearly suggest the needs for a strong and competitive workforce for Westpac in the near future in order to address different issues of the globalized market. 

References

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