5HRF Assignment Example

 
Summary of the organizational objectives that the
HR function is responsible for delivering and how
these are evolving in contemporary organizations
 
According to CIPD (2020), the HR function is tasked to ensure that the various
objectives of the organization are achieved through the implementation of holistic
recruitment and enhancing performance management through career growth. The
HR functions assist an organization to accomplish its corporate strategy and set
objectives through effective recruitment and management of qualified employees.
The HR function is considered broad and classified into various categories such as
HR planning, recruitment, and selection, performance management, career planning,
function evaluation, and rewards. CIPD (2018), a professional map indicates the
importance of HR in accomplishing the organizational objectives is informed by the
prevailing change in the business environment. Furthermore, an increase in the
shortage of skills in the global organizational environment results in economic
challenges that hinder competition within an organization. Hence the main
organizational objectives of the HR function including;
HR Admin: The HR function is tasked with creating policies and procedures that
affect each employee within the organization. As an HR admin, the roles played
include setting up L&D interventions that meet the needs of the organization as well
as designing the organizational structures and using the organization information
systems to gather data and insights. Also, the HR admin maintains all personal
records, manages the HR documents, and updates the internal database of the
organization.
Enhancement of the Organization employee capability and performance
improvement: The strategy of the HR function is to ensure that the organizational
employees are engaged and their expectations are given priority (Alexander and
Lyytinen, 2019). Therefore, the organization’s operation strategy should harness the
employee’s satisfaction by advancing its process of change to boost performance.
Change Management in the organization: The HR function works as a change agent
in an organization by coordinating resources, facilitating the achievement of change,
and mitigating any arising resistance from change by unsatisfied employees (Malik,
2016).
Staffing of Employees in the Organization: The HR function is bestowed with all the
rights of employee staffing within the organization (CIPD, 2020). HR thus engages in
sourcing new employees, recruiting, training, and performing capacity development
of all the employees within the organization. To ensure the employees staffed to the
organization are efficient the HR functions conduct inductions to develop the talents
of the recruits to ensure the sustainability of the organization.
Promoting employee relations: A positive relationship between an organization and
its employees is very vital to the overall performance of the organization. The HR
function achieves good employee relationships through transparent and employment
of relevant laws to solve internal wrangles and implementation of proactive strategies
that will prevent future occurrence.
 
How these are evolving in contemporary
organizations
 
HR functions are considered dynamic and have been characterized by a series of
changes over the past years and in the current present. According to CIPD (2015),
the business environment was characterized by contemporary business practices
that have since changed with improved operations. This can also be affirmed by the
transition of the CIPD map of 2013 that relied on offering support to employees to
the current professional CIPD map of 2018. The CIPD professional map 2018 is
more flexible, comprehensive, and equally actively engaging in aligning all modern
and future operations of an organization to be successful.
Previously, the HR function was merely a support department operated from a single
department separate from the others. However, the current HR function has passed
through a series of changes from a single department to one that has become an
active coordinator in all departments in an organization. CIPD (2018) explains that
the HR function includes and actively identifies shared service centers of excellence
as strategic business partners. Also, the HR function in the contemporary
organization has since changed to include multiple stakeholders. Initially, the HR
function was being implemented in a physical department but in the current
environment, the HR operations are being more of an integrated practice.
As compared to the past the HR function adapted the use of distinct tools and
techniques to achieve objectives but in the current contemporary business
environment, HR practices include the use of electronic systems to store distinct
information, rely on using psychometric tests during recruitment and selection,
payroll management (CIPD, 2020).
 
1.2 Major theories of effective change
management and how these are implemented and
evaluated
 
Under CIPD (2020), organizational change is static in many organizations driven by
several distinct forces such as customers, market, and technology. There are
devastating and long-lasting effects that affect an organization that fails to effectively
manage change. For instance, the organization can lose its market position, remove
senior management, lose key employees, and lose stakeholder’s credibility.
Therefore, professionals must understand the issues affecting change and equip
themselves with relevant techniques to support change management initiatives.
Major theories of effective change management include;
Kurt Lewin’s Change Model: Lewin (1947), developed a three steps change model
that involved three steps; unfreezing, changing, and refreezing whereby employees
are involved and instructed by employers regarding issues related to the change
process.
 
 
Unfreezing of the current state of an organization refers to the stage of getting
employees to gain a positive perspective of their day to day activities and unlearn
their bad habits. This stage requires employees to open up new ways of reaching the
objectives of the organization. Lewin argues that change follows resistance by group
forces which prevent individuals to embrace change. Therefore, an agitating
equilibrium state to instigate behavior change through emotional stir-up to disturb the
group dynamics and forces can be very useful in instigating behavioral change.
Implementation: HR should determine what needs to change by conducting surveys
to determine why change is necessary. HR should also ensure to frame the issue
such that it impacts positively to the entire organization to obtain support from all
stakeholders.
 
Change
 
Lewin explains that change will only happen in an organization once the unfrozen
status-quo is dealt with. Organizational change is complex and will require a well-
planned change process, thus one must prepare a variety of change options since
there is no guarantee of predictable results. He explains that information flow and
leadership are two major drivers of a successful and long-term effective change
implementation within an organization. Therefore, he insinuates that any change left
without adequate reinforcement may be short-lived thus failing to meet the intended
objectives of the change process.
Implementation: HR should communicate widely and clearly about the planned
change, implementation, benefits, and employees to be affected. Encourage
employees to get involved in the change process by supporting line managers in
providing directions to the employees. HR should involve other stakeholders and
employees as much as possible during the implementation of change in the
organization.
 
 Refreeze
 
According to Lewin, this final stage’s purpose is to sustain the change enacted in an
organization. The main objective is for the employees to acknowledge the change as
the new status-quo so that they will no longer resist the forces trying to implement
the change. In this stage, the organization’s norms, activities, strategies, and
processes are transformed per the new state of change. Lewin goes ahead to assert
that without appropriate steps that sustain and reinforce the change, previous
behavior in the organization tends to reassert itself thus the need to consider formal
and informal mechanisms to implement and freeze the new changes.
Implementation: The HR should develop and promote ways to sustain the change in
the organization to be long-term by ensuring the leadership and management
support the organizational structure change.  Offer training, support, and
communication for both short and long-term to ensure the employees learn and
embrace the change. Lastly, HR should tie the new changes into the organizational
culture by identifying change support and change barriers.
 
Carnall, Change management model
 
Colin Carnall (1990) produced a useful model that highlights several perspectives on
change. He describes effective management of change depends on the
management level skill in the following areas; managing transitions effectively,
managing organizational politics, and dealing with the organizational cultures. An HR
manager skilled in managing transitions in an organization has an upper hand in
helping employees to learn as they change and create a business atmosphere by
being candid and risk-taking. HR manager dealing with organizational cultures can
examine the prevailing organizational cultures and begins to develop what Carnall
refers to ‘a more adaptable culture’. Furthermore, an HR manager who can manage
organizational politics can easily understand and recognize the different factions and
agendas within the organization.  Carnall points out that only by synthesizing the
management of the transition, dealing with organizational cultures and organizational
politics constructively can the HR manager be able to create an environment in
which risk-taking and rebuilding of self-esteem to improve the performance of the
organization.
 

 
Carnall’s model mainly focuses on the role of the HR manager during the change
process in the organization.
 
1.3 Evaluate the business case of managing HR
in a professional, ethical and just manner
 
Professional: According to CIPD (2019), The HR function is required to manage the
organization professionally. The HR function is a professional department expected
to operate within specific values, purposes, and integrate knowledge and employee
practice. This ensures that all the stakeholders within the organization work together
to benefit the overall performance of the organization. For instance, an organization
can effectively compete and succeed in the business environment only if the HR
function acts professionally.
Ethical: Ethical practice involves the application of ethical values in organizational
behavior (CIPD, 2020). Ethical issues in organizations are characterized through
cultural practices evidenced by increased integrity and staff. To operate ethically an
organization needs to design an ethics program that supports and brings the
organizational values to reality. The Institute of Business Ethics Research
demonstrates the benefits that an organization enjoys when they take seriously
ethical values. An organization can boost its morale, create good relations with
clients thus enhancing its reputation and an organization can outperform its
competitors financially in the long-term.
However, serious risk can occur when an organization is at odds with its stated
ethical values. This tends to harm the credibility of the organization and leaves the
employees disengaged.
Just manner: According to the 2018 CIPD professional map, individual’s activities
and practices are actively integrated in a more just manner inclusive of immense
practices. Just manner means that all policies in an organization are integrated, all
regulations addressed, planning workforces, diversification, and high levels of
inclusivity.  A just manner practice in organizations mitigates all forms of
discrimination and ensures equal opportunities and management practices provide
for all. An organization that operates in a just manner develops high-level integrity
with the client’s hence increasing profit and dominance in their operations.
 
2.1 Different ways in which HR objectives can be
delivered in organizations
 
In the CIPD profession map, line managers are tasked with the role of realizing HR
objectives and delivering the HR function. The Ulrich-3-Legged and CIPD model are
different application methods used in the delivery of HR objectives in an
organization.
Ulrich-3-Legged Model: This HR model includes shared services, HR business
partners, and outsourcing to deliver HR objectives within different organizations.
 
Shared Services
 
HR objectives are delivered by different HR professionals working in collaboration
with other departments such as line managers and other stakeholders. CIPD (2019)
points out that the provision of shared services is effective through the integration of
all business practices to be in line with the entire HR practices in an entity. There are
distinct differences between shared services and other HR business practices and
strategic business partners. Shared services are sufficient in the implementation of
all organizational objectives in HR to be in a more collaborative manner. Shared
services are beneficial in an organization since it is cost-efficient, offers zero
functions duplication and harness focus of the entire HR department. However, the
cons of this approach are that the delivery of the HR objectives internally hence does
not integrate the external players who harness the existence of a diversity of the
organization.
 
HR Business partner
 
The HR business partners in any organization are very critical to the overall
performance and growths of the organization thus are adopted as a critical HR
operating model. The roles of HR business partners involve working closely with the
managers of organizational departments to enhance the workforce performance,
foster and nurture strategic individual enablers with specific talents, leadership and
culture to achieve the organization objectives.
Strategic business partners- These are senior HR professionals who work
collaboratively with business associates such as line managers embedded in their
business units.  They have tasked the opportunity to influence, drive forward, and
implement the organization and individual strategy through harnessing an alignment
of the HR capabilities across the entire organization.
 
Outsourcing
 
Outsourcing strategy is equally used to deliver the HR objectives. According to CIPD
(2018), the outsourcing approach is suited appropriately to obtain diverse payroll and
provision of other services for the organizational operations.  The pros associated
with this strategy include the ability to improve the overall efficiency while making
sure that the entire organization’s expertise is made useful.  However, the
effectiveness of HR objectives delivery using outsourcing integrates the use of
Employee Self-Service (ESS) and the Manager Self-Service System (MSS)
(Alexander and Lyytinen, 2019).
 
The pros and cons of the above HR objectives delivery approach include:
 
Ulrich Model
 
Pros: Improves efficiency and cost reduction, reduces duplication of efforts, and
reduces the overall headcount.
Cons: Reduces diversity of employees within the organization, it is not flexible, loss
of control since less tailored services are in existence.
 
Outsourcing
 
Pros: Very cost-effective and increases efficiency, flexible, easy to manage
employee performance and development in the organization.
Cons: Offers a high possibility of losing sensitive data and confidentiality, HR tends
to know less concerning organizational operations.
 
2.2 Analysis of how the HR function varies
between organizations in different sectors and of
different sizes
 
As explained by Taylor and Woodhams (2013), every organization has a unique
functional structure in staffing since organizations have different contingency
variables and management practices. The HR function is unique to specific
organizations in every aspect of their operations. Different organizations may have
overreaching similarities in their improvement of the workforce. However, other
organizations may still have salient differences in the improvement of the workforce.
Every organization has its own plan that varies from other organization’s plans
related to the roles and responsibilities of employees. For instance, some
organizations may opt to form one department and combine the roles and
responsibilities of employees as their own way of reducing the organizational wage
bill. Another organization may opt to create small departments that are unique to
their production and service delivery with each department containing employees
with different roles and objectives.
However, the HR function has evolved into a more strategic contributor to the
organizational goals and objectives than previously. Currently, organizations are
customizing their internal functions to suit their needs more efficiently. The sizes of
the organization tend to have different HR functions. For instance, the retail sector
organization’s HR functions will differ from manufacturing sector organizations since
the manufacturing sectors tend to have a high level of customer interaction. The
management is also complex as compared to a small-sized retail organization. The
size of the organization plays a huge role in determining how the employees will be
structures and the various roles will be distributed (Russ-Eft, 2014). Big
organizations tend to have a hierarchical management structure whereby
departments have line managers as the heads.  HR however acts as the overall
manager who oversees the line managers.
Small-sized organizations on the other hand do not have many slots required to be
filled for both line managers and employees. Thus, the owner of a small organization
can opt to act as the HR manager who engages in recruiting, interviewing, and
supervising the entire employees in the organization.
 
4.1 Identify and evaluate research evidence
linking HR practices with positive organizational
outcomes
 
Sufficient evidence through research exists to prove that investment in HR practices
impacts positively on an organization both financial results and in the market value of
the organization (Ulrich, 1997, p.306).
HR operational practices are positively and directly associated with employee
productivity. The success and performance of any organization rely on the effort and
productivity of the employees to meet the set objectives. HR strategy and practices
develop the organizational capability of developing and supporting organizational
employee’s knowledge, skills, and relationships within the company (Snell, Stuebner,
& Lepak, 2002). The primary focus of HR practice is to ensure positive relationships
among employees and to explore various rational implications of HR practices to
ensure productivity.
HR creates new management styles and implementation of digitalization from
traditional HR practices within the organization. This creates relationship
opportunities with a significant impact on employee’s productivity by improving HR
services and empowering employees (Bissola & Imperatori, 2013). Therefore, the
quality of HR services in an organization plays a vital role in enhancing the
productivity of employees.
Similarly, the operational, relational, and transformational employed by the HR
practices form a crucial role in improving the quality of HR services and the overall
productivity of employees and the organization. First, operational practices are
concerned with the administrative roles of the HR function. The practice employed by
the HR to be used in workplaces enables the organization to achieve transactional
goals such as improvement in productivity and reducing the overall cost of HR
activities. This HR practice improves the organizational performance by attracting;
identifying and retaining highly skilled employees to achieve maintain high
productivity in the organization. Second, relational practices employed by HR focus
on interpersonal relationships with employees in the organization. The HR relational
practice improves the quality of HR services and to ensure procedural and
organizational justice through empowerment of both employees and the
management. Last, transformational HR practice ensures that employee’s attitudes
and behaviors are aligned with the organizational strategy.  The HR ensuring free
and open lines of communication, transparency, and promoting ethical behaviors of
employees makes them feel like part of the organization hence they become fully
engaged thus increasing productivity.
 
4.2 How high performance working and
investment in human capital impact on
organizational practice
 
High-performance practice refers to the way an organization plans the work in which
its employees participate in making decisions that impact the overall performance of
the broader organization. These practices enable the organization to achieve high-
performance culture with norms and values combined to create an environment that
supports the achievement of high levels of performance. High-performance work
practices do empower employees thus helping organizational efficiency and
performance. High performance supports substantial investment in human capital
thus empowering employees by developing their knowledge, skills, flexibility, and
motivation (Van Buren & Werner, 1996). Through empowerment, employees can
adapt quickly to the rapidly changing market conditions thus able to improve
operational efficiency and performance of the organization. Higher performance in
the organization is characterized by the HR through; highly selective hiring process,
offering employment security, conducting comprehensive training and development,
promoting teamwork among employees, reduction of status differentials, and high
compensation to employees based on their performance.
According to Combs et al. (2006), high-performance work practices improve the
social structure within organizations thus enabling effective communication and
collaboration with employees. Employees are free to express their ideas on the
functioning of the organization and line managers can listen and put into
consideration. This practice affects the overall performance of the organization it
supports employees to engage in voice.
An organization can therefore implement high-performance work practices to
improve organizational performance through increasing employee’s skills,
knowledge, and abilities. HR should empower the employees to utilize their
knowledge, skills, and abilities for the benefit of the organization and motivate them
often to do so.
However, there are cons associated with high-performance work practices. First,
organizational and employees goals overlap and are diverse making it difficult for the
individual interests of employees to be considered in the high-performance work
practices. In HPWS, it imposes strict employee regulations for instance high-
performance standards, and increases demands made upon employees. To meet
the set standards, employees are forced to cope with work overload thus affecting
negatively the ability of employees to accomplish their life goals while working to
achieve organizational goals. HPWP assumes that employees are a homogeneous
group of individuals with similar interests but in a real sense, employees perceive
and interpret the aims and results of HPWP differently since they boost unique
values and a diverse range of life pursuits.
Human capital measures the economic value that employees provide to an
organization through their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Rastogi (2000), refers to
human capital as an important input for organizations especially employee’s
continuous improvement mainly on knowledge, abilities, and skills. Investing in
human capital involves all those activities that improve the quality or productivity of
employees in an organization. Human capital focuses on two components; individual
employees and the organization. These attributes generate additional to employees
and organizational outcomes.  Noudhaug (1998), findings establish that human
capital is associated with higher performance and sustainable competitive
advantage. An organization reaps most from employees by investing actively in
them.
First, investing in human capital increases employee satisfaction hence there are
higher chances of improved productivity of the organization from employee’s
production. Employees are more satisfied with their jobs once they notice that their
workplace cares about their development. Second, improves retention rates of
employees as less-skilled workers will be willing to leave the organization and seek
alternative employment. It is estimated that the cost of replacing an employee
amounts to an average of six months’ salary thus a little investment in employees
can save the organization such as avoidable expenses. Third, developing employee
engagement by an organization to improve productivity and make employees more
loyal to the organization. Therefore, offering career advancement opportunities and
investing in them offers them a reason to be engaged at work thus enabling
organizational productivity. Last but not the least; improve ROI by spending a little
more on employee development through increased salary, benefits and perks are a
useful investment in the organization’s human capital. Maximizing return on human
capital by offering opportunities to employees to grow and learn ultimately improves
the overall performance of the organization.
However, it is not easy to attract, develop, and retain skilled employees in a
complicated and tight labor market. Skilled employees tend to create a competitive
advantage to be lured by rival organizations thus making it difficult for organizations
to keep talented employees. An organization can easily lose an employee from being
lured away to rival organizations or leaving voluntarily after investing heavily in their
employees to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to boost their performance.
Furthermore, the current marketplace is evolving rapidly hence an organization
needs to keep active its L&D programs to ensure employees possess the
knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed for the changing marketplace to achieve
the organizational results. This can be very costly thus reducing the organizational
performance especially if an organization fails to upgrade its L&D to meet the
existing marketplace standards.
According to the Entrepreneur, October 2014 found out those organizations with
happy employees tend to outperform their competitors by approximately 20 percent
to earn 1.2 to 1.7 percent more in revenue. It is thus important to invest more in
human capital for an organization to get the most out of the employees thus fostering
productivity.
 
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