What Are the Key Initiatives the Hrm Function Can Take in These Areas in Order to Support the Achievement of Organisational Objectives?

What are the key initiatives the HRM Function can take in these areas in order to support the achievement of organisational objectives?

From a global perspective, there have been mixed results of progress to date of value add for the HRM function in aligning with key business criteria, such as operational excellence, organizational capabilities and functional goals. Many organizations see HRM as simply a service outsourced function for headcount, benefits, discipline or performance management. Certainly outsourcing these functions through vendor models is where most companies have achieved success in more challenging headcount situations with HR: using full time employees (FTE's) to fill only critical roles such as acting as point of contacts (POC's), critical recruitment leadership (outsourcing the day to day areas like interview scheduling, logistics), benefits Q&A, etc. From an overall value capability of HRM, this is something that certainly needs to change over time as organizations mature and evolve. Part of this is around creation of a POC where this function acts as a critical consultant to support the business segments, functions and key initiatives. Moreover, this also involves evangelism of the capabilities of HRM to leadership and throughout the chain of command. This takes time to evolve and change, but selling the HR value is key for it to become a strategic driver and part of an organizational's rhythm of the business. (Excellence in Financial Management. 2009)

Specific to strategy, HRM can play a key role here now and in the future. Examples here would be around off site planning, facilitation and enablement, executive coaching, leadership development programs, long-term succession planning for all critical functions in the corporation and heavy engagement in strategy sessions around budgeting, headcounts and future company investment areas. The function cannot exist in a silo or as simply a back office function, it needs to have a seat at the table in all areas of the corporate culture. As the business grows and changes dynamically, so does the HRM function. This would entail making sure that during tough economic times, lay offs and redundancies are managed well from an end to end process perspective. Moreover, support during tough times involves making sure performance and career development exists as an engrained part of the company culture, tied to not just calibration by managers, but also into the day to day operations of the business where key models such as 70,20,10 are used such as at Nestle, Unilever, and P&G. "The "70-20-10" refers to how you should allocate professional development: 70% of all development should occur on-the-job, 20% from relationships, networking and feedback, and 10% from formal training opportunities." (Janus Capital Group, Inc., 2008)

Tied to strategy overall, incentive plans for cost cutting ideas by employees are another example where HRM can play a critical role. An example here would be bullet trains used at organization's like GE where groups get together of individual contributors through to managers to brainstorm how to reduce costs in a specific business segment. "...Example is Yokogawa Electric, which makes industrial testing and measuring equipment. Its 'telling discovery' is again old news; 'How a product is designed, not how it is manufactured, can account for an extraordinary 80% of total production costs.' If you're making a simple plastic cover for an industrial recorder, and employing 31 separate components, when a single die-casting can do the job, you're offending against basic engineering criteria. Yet, enthused by this 'bullet-train thinking' (named after the revolutionary design approach which created Japan's famous high-speed trains), GE's Welch introduced