Why Is It Difficult To Develop And Implement An Effective HR Strategy? Ways To Overcome The Obstacles

Why is it difficult to develop and implement an effective HR strategy? Discuss ways in which obstacles to this may be overcome.

Discussion

Human resource (HR) strategies of organization’s sets out what they intend to do of their human capital or human resource management practices and policies. Along with it, HR strategies also directs how human resources must be integrated to business strategies to achieve organisational success. According to Wairimu (2012), “Human resource strategy is designed to develop the skills, attitudes and behaviours among staff that will help the organization meet its goals” (p.15). The basic purpose behind developing and implementing HR strategies in an organisation is to articulate human related policies and practices for long-term and short-term basis that managers should perform to succeed in future as an effective HR strategy meets both human as well as organisational needs. However, while developing and implementing HR strategies, organisations have to face many challenges for which enabling effective HR strategies becomes very difficult for them. Difficult though it may seem to be, an approach to bring effectiveness in HR strategy is desirable to give businesses purpose and direction for bringing workplace effectiveness and thus this essay intends to bring forward reasons behind difficulties faced while developing and implementing HR strategies along with finding out ways through which these obstacles can be overcome.

Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo (2014) suggests that an effective strategy, whether any kind of business management strategy or HR strategy must be consisted of two basic elements: firstly, it should have a strategic objective like factors that needs to be achieved for which strategy is formulated and secondly, there must a set of planned action through which strategic objective can be met. Moreover, the responsibilities of today’s HR managers have become gradually broader and strategic due to globalisation of organisation’s and introduction to diversified work places. The concept behind creating a global village has undoubtably made many organisation’s exchanges business culture with diversified countries, but it has brought many additional difficulties for HR managers to manage human capital effectively. Nowadays, a product of a company is produced in one country, assembled in another and marketed in third countries, banks situated in fourth country and insurance made from fifth country and so on. Therefore, global businesses need to employ people who belongs to various countries to manage multi-cultured people with multiple skills that comes under the range of contemporary HR managers. They are expected to solve issues instantly and henceforth make suitable strategies, however, managing diversified workforce brings additional problems to them and difficult to tackle intense situations especially related to culture, language barriers and traditions.

According to Narkhede & Joshi (2007), “The world of HRM is changing more rapidly than we can imagine”. Indeed, the biggest challenge faced by HR managers around the globe remains facing social classes and cultures under which global workers are recruited and selected along with making them trained to understand organisational systems and policies so that they become perfect fit for handling customers related services. Even, talented people show little to no interest in working for foreign brands and hence the companies have to maintain fine balance between free agent ship and career planning. Attracting and retaining qualified workforce has become an additional issue for organisation’s HRM that makes development of HR strategies more difficult. The overall success and effectiveness behind HRD formation is conceptualised from structured, formal and strategically focussed HRD orientation ( Osborne & Hammoud, 2017). Moreover, HR strategies that are focused more upon organisational capabilities formulates plans and procedures that integrates with their core business objectives. Unfortunately, many of their strategies often become imperceptible as they are mostly short termed and proves scarcely available for many organisations. Certainly, this leads to improper planning and development of HR strategies that can affect overall process of recruitment and selection along with employees training and development processes. Ones who are highly expert reaches top positions in companies and remains sought above the others. (Abdullah, 2009)

Challenges in Developing and Implementing HR Strategies

Abdullah (2009) argues that due to ageing population among workforce, developing new HR strategies requires recruiting and retaining qualified staff that can reinforce organisation’s knowledge management capabilities. In fact, in literature also it has been suggested that HR role is becoming quite competitive. However, there are still few organisations who are criticized either due to inefficient balancing between different human roles or not focussing on core business purposes. Following the similar stance, smaller companies who operates with lesser amount of people and operating with new technology equipment’s have to face difficulties immensely. This again is because selection and identification of right people along with inefficient training makes smaller firms face additional challenges.

Change in nature of work in contemporary organisations has brought additional difficulties in developing and implementing effective HR strategies. Today’s work has comparatively become more complex, more on team based and less routine type as it was in earlier days and organisations have to depend largely on latest technology and digitalised communicational skills. Besides, nowadays businesses do not compromise in work quality and even in business hours as every action and decisions require prompt feedback for which making flexible work-related strategies becomes difficult for HR managers (Peshave & Gujarathi, 2014). Today’s HR-strategies and organisational culture focuses on training and development of organisation’s individuals. Nevertheless, it becomes very difficult for enabling every employee improve their skills through training and thus HRM have to shift few selected skilled people only for organisational success. Providing employees with safe and comfortable work environment has become very essential in organisations for which taking care of individual’s psychological and physical health along with other mental and personal care makes many companies giving priority to their employees more than their core organisational strategies. These further hampers productivity level and many times employees perform below expectations (Eneh & Awara, 2016).

Other than above mentioned difficulties, mergers and acquisitions further hampers organisational HR strategies to some extent. Merger and acquisitions (M&A) involve sales and purchases of businesses or organisations that is based on the factors where synergies expect that two organisations create greater value organisation combinedly rather than performing it individually (Bakanauskiene & Brasaite, 2015). Whenever M&A takes place, organisations expand rapidly while entering into newer markets and acquiring fresh talent and knowledge. Although M&A improves business standards along with gaining competitiveness and cost reductions, HRM of organisations have to face many challenges while coping with organisational changes. According to Aguilera & Dencker (2004), M&A involves certain integration degrees in which success is determined by demonstrating member organisations about how they must value each other’s for gaining success in future. However, failures may be experienced in few cases where integration of organisational culture is made poorly or to worst, it is ignored completely. It becomes responsibility of the HR managers for developing and implementing effective strategies for new organisation’s success, retention of core and talented employees and endorsing productivity. They also have to make sure that employees cooperate new work environment without showing any reluctance along with managing change by following organisation’s HR strategies. Once the new united organisation is materialised, it becomes significant to evaluate the integration process and make further adjustments as per requirements, solidify after making joint agreement and henceforth reinforcing the new entity. However, HRM have to make evaluation of the new entity after considering and ensuring that all the employees are united to fulfil one common goal for which their job becomes very challenging and time taking.  Under few circumstances where employees remain unhappy with their new post or organisational change management, HRM have to deal with low employee productivity and turnover along with lack of loyalty and poor performance of staff. Therefore, HR strategies made by HRM must be made in such a manner that eliminates negative impacts over the employees along with overall process to avoid ineffective management and loss of control while sharing interpersonal relations and information (Nankervis, et al., 2017).

Ways to Overcome Obstacles

Without efficient HRM and HR professionals, organisations cannot develop or drive effective business performance. Fortunately, in past few years, many research studies and authors have reported few effective measures that bridges organisational performance with HRM to bring workplace effectiveness. Several themes and theoretical frameworks have emerged from commendable studies in HR field that not only eliminates obstacles that comes in the way while developing and implementing HR strategies, but also gives HR managers a solid ground to lead and mange workplace individuals efficiently. Since HR practices makes great difference in bringing success to organisations, the primary objective behind forming a HR team must focus more on building employee commitment. To update and develop resources according to management capability is also very necessary as every business environment have to face highly unpredictable market conditions and environmental constraints. To develop a winning edge, HR related strategies and practices must be made that can be amended according to market changes so that the strategies creates value-based resources rather than ones that have become obsolete (Talukdar, 2016). Effective HR strategies enables organisations with continuous improvement and growth along with utmost optimization of resources while realising organisational goals. HR strategies must be categorised after making valuation of employees like a valuable asset along with firm’s partners and associates so that competitive edge can be gained strategically. HR planning and execution requires identification of organisational actions and decisions that can help in gaining greater value under several assumptions regarding organisation and business environment. The integration of SHRM in core organisational strategy provides grounds that enables HR function to implement and support strategic planning and processing for achieving competitive advantage (Y?lmaz & Bulut, 2015).

It is also important to update and develop human resources, especially whenever any new merger or acquisition takes place since all the activities and positions of organisations are highly affected during such changes.  Effective HR strategies allows organisations make a choice between prospective employees, effective reward and compensation planning, proper selection and recruitment planning and training and development of employees to meet the organisational objective. Following these, organisation’s will not only reach its targeted customers but also retain best workers of the organisation efficiently. Along with it, business organisation’s also needs to evaluate their external and internal environment consistently to remain aware or present and upcoming business challenges and opportunities along with enabling HR strategies enriched with relevant information. All the above stated ways will not only eliminate obstacles while developing and implementing HR strategies, but also helps businesses grow in positive direction for sustainable growth in future (Ritson, 2011).

Conclusion

Difficulties faced by HR mangers while developing and implementing HR strategies in organisations to achieve business objectives cannot be over-emphasized. Since it is imperative in nature, HR managers have to fully recognise objectives and goals of organisations under which both employees as well as management must come to terms regarding what is beneficial for both of them. As organisations do not exist in vacuum, it needs employing individuals to achieve certain goals and thus HR strategies is formed and implemented. The head of managements are usually responsible for systematic coordination and implementation of planned actions and thus aims at utilising available resources to its maximum. However, the above essay identified various reasons that acts as an obstacle while bringing organisational effectiveness concerning majorly the HR department. From the study made and research done of contemporary organisations, it can be said that HRD must act as a pivotal unit while facilitating competitive advantage and must be enabled with top positions so that human capital is utilised effectively without facing difficulties for smooth running of the business.

References

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Available at: https://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/75743/Kairu_Challenges%20of%20Implementing%20Human%20Resource%20Strategies%20in%20the%20Civil%20Service%20in%20Kenya.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
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