Strategic Human Resource Development Paper Example

DEDICATION

In the memory of my late father 'may your soul rest in peace'

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Mohamed Gouda, 06/17/1935 - 11/07/2018

You fought cancer courageously and refused to submit to it, but unfairly cancer won the battle. You lived your life to the fullest until the last minute, adamant not to let go - like you never let go of me when I was a hopeless case and all the doctors told you that I would be dead in a matter of days. You were a pillar in my life, when all my family members and friends gave up on me. You fought for me, believed in me, and never surrendered because this was how you were 'A FIGHTER' and my everlasting 'HERO'. You saved my life and for that you have a special place in my heart forever. I believe that you will live entirely in my heart until we meet again. You taught me to fight and here I am fighting and I will never surrender.

"I love you daddy and it is a goodbye until we meet again."

AKNOWLEDGMENT

While contemplating on this year's events, I remember there were times when I almost abandoned my Master's degree. I became a single mother after being abused by my ex-husband, lost my job, changed my citizenship, and on top of that I was alone: broke and my father has recently passed away. These hardships however, did not get me down on my knees; instead I kept on rising above every obstacle I faced. I believed in myself, used these challenges as motivation and steeping stones to improve my life. I decided to take control of the things that I could such as working hard to successfully complete my Master's degree and fortunately, my efforts led to other people to begin to believe in me.

I would like to sincerely thank the University of Leicester and its management for believing in me and giving me a second chance - a special thanks to Tony Milton-White and Steve King who showed me nothing but understanding and support. My gratitude extends to my supervisor Dr. Vincent Pieterse who gave me all the advice needed and has always been there for me at all times answering all the questions that I have had.

A very special gratitude to my mother who stood by me and always found a way to cheer me up when I was down.

Last but not the least; I am thankful to my baby Jabriel who is the real reason behind my strength and power. I am doing this for you my love; for a brighter future for both of us.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Strategic human resource development has emerged a key issue in impacting or influencing the overall performance of the employees in an organization. The reason for this is that companies are becoming more aware that their personnel or workforce is the most important component in helping them achieve a competitive advantage over their business rivals. Imparting relevant skills and knowledge to the employees on a regular basis, helps an organization to become more flexible and re-configure the strategic challenges that it encounters when conducting its business practices. The researcher was keen in determining both the role and contribution of the HR department in successfully achieving the overall strategic plan of Company A, and the impact that it has on the employees. To facilitate this, it was imperative to identify three areas for this study. The researcher was keen to identify the strategies and activities of the HRD that support both the mission and goals of an organization. The second area of study was to assess the impact of these strategies on the individual and organizational performance of Company A, which is a multi-national establishment. Finally, the researcher wanted to identify the major challenges facing the HRD in successfully achieving its overall strategic plan. The findings of this study revealed that Company A uses diverse human resource practices such as: human capital, agency, contingency, universalistic, configuration and resource-dependence theories motivated strategies. For instance, it was determined that the organization uses regular training activities to improve individual productivity and firm performance. There are also a variety of employment development opportunities that have been implemented by Company A such as: promotion of career advancement opportunities for its employees, monitoring the skills and education progress of its employees, frequent job rotation, information sharing from the management to the employees, and employees being allowed to generate new and innovative ideas.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Who Cares?

The Human Resource Department of organization plays an essential role in determining its overall performance. It is known that they are responsible for the recruiting, managing and directing people in terms of assigning them individual or group roles and duties within the company. For employees to perform at their optimum level, the HRD needs to implement effective leadership styles and strategies that motivate their workforce, improve their organizational commitment, and engagement levels. There is the growing recognition that a well-chosen HRD practice can have a positive impact on the individual and therefore organizational performance of a company. This notion is based on studies such as: Garavan, 2007, which states that the workforce plays a significant role in an organization's success. However, it is important to note that in order for the HRD to have a positive impact on the performance of the employees, they have to move away from process-oriented and administrative approaches that have become less effective in the 21st century workforce environment, to a more strategic approach.

Strategic HRD in a multi-national company is the focus of this study. The researcher is interested in assessing the HRD practices that are employed by companies that operate in different countries, and how they affect the overall performance of the organization. The researcher aims to determine:

If the strategies and activities that are employed by HRD in different branches support the mission and goals of the company. This means that the researcher will be seeking to see if these establishments use specific strategies and activities- a one size fits all approach, or do the strategies and activities that are used by the HRD change in relation to the work environment and type of employees that they are dealing with?

The researcher is also interested in determining the effectiveness of the HRD practices that are used in influencing the individual employees and organizational performance. How have the employees responded to the current HRD practices? Are they effective? Is there a need for improvements, or are they satisfied with the current practices by their human resource department?

The researcher will seek to see if there are major challenges that are facing the HR management in successfully achieving the strategic plan of the organization. The reason for this is because of the company operating on a multi-national level. Are they constrained in terms of the strategies that they can apply, or do they have the liberty to apply the effective ones as long as they have a positive impact on the organization?

The human resource department working in different organizations are provided with guidelines of the strategies that they can apply using a variety of theories such as contingency theory, universalistic theory, configuration th...