HR Management Strategies

Introduction

The human resource department in an organization plays a very essential role; it can be compared to the role that the spinal cord plays in a human body.  Any flawlessness or weakness within the department will be clearly reflected in the general performance of the organization.  In addition to this, the business environment (market) has become a global village, entities s are all geared into going international so as to keep with the competitive demands that are being raised by the market.  Human resource management deals with designing the functions of the workforce within the organizations. To gain a competitive advantage and survive, businesses have to open new entities in new places where the practices and beliefs are quite different from those presented by the home ground.

Contact among people of different cultures is becoming a day to day activity than what was experienced in the past. People all over the world have started having a number of similarities that were not evidenced in the past. In addition to this, firms around the world are embracing the same technology and the methods they are using for operation are much similar. The idea behind all this is that technology has driven the world into a convergence and this has led to eradicating the ancient boundaries that were in existence. This clearly indicates that the needs of the people have been globalised.

Cross-Cultural Communication and Cross- Cultural Management

The globalization of individuals has led to the globalization of their cultures and this can be indicated by the numerous illustrations we have in the world today. This is especially in the sharing of information and ideas. The management of human resources can either be said to be proactive or strategic. This is because the various strategies that are employed in the management of the resources will differ and they are most suitable in relation to the business environment and the cultural differences of the people it is being employed on. On the other hand, the management of human resources can be categorized to as being proactive because of the various development and new ideas that keep on coming into the management of the firm's labour force as it looks forward to achieving its set goals.  The human resource department is very critical and demands for the involvement of all the individuals in management positions. These individuals are expected to help in the training and development of the company's labour force so as it is fully armed towards achieving set goals and objectives. The general organization management looks forward to ensuring that it has well equipped individuals in each organizational department who can adequately handle the various tasks required in these distinct departments.

All forms of communication have been referred to as cultural. It is interactive and how way we interact determines the effectiveness of this communication. The way we communicate tends to reflect on the various ways we have learnt to communicate either verbally or none verbally. it should be noted that people communicate differently, similarly, a single person does not communicate the same all through, the person's communication will  always differ from day to day. There are a number of factors that may influence a person's communication, these may include, personality of the person, and the mood of the person interacting. Similarly, the culture may play a big role in influencing a person's communication especially regarding the ones that we have internalized and the ones that tend to dictate on our choice of options.  

Communication is very vital not only in passing and sharing of information in daily life but in businesses management and business running. It is blatant truth to say that life in organizations currently has changed rapidly. The workplace has become vast and the business environment has increased rapidly to include a number of geographic regions and this encompasses a number of cultures. The challenge that numerous entities are now being faced with is how to effectively communicate with the people they come across with in the daily running of the entity since these individuals language is so different from theirs and they rely heavily on different mechanisms to arrive at their end goals. Through innovation and current technology, new business markets have been opened and this has acted as an improvement to the business entities.

It is through effective communication that we will only be able to access remote areas and promote our business endeavours. Since new technology has simplified communication amongst people in different locations to seem like face to face communication, cross cultural communication has increasingly become the new norm.  Due the differences in cultural contexts, new challenges are being experienced in the work places. This therefore demands that the differences are taken into consideration if the entity will run effectively.  Effective communication begins by first comprehending and understanding who the sender of the message is especially in relation to the cultural differences and backgrounds.  Understand a person's cultural diversity and is the only way through which an entity can be managed effectively.

Why HR Practices Differ From Country To Country

Entities are currently geared towards increasing their competitive advantage through the expansion of their operations to international boundaries. This expansion can be achieved through the formation of mergers, and acquiring new entities. At this point, it is very essential to remember that entities are formed with different objectives in mind; the goals behind the formation of entities differ from one entity to another. This simply can be stated that in the formation of mergers and acquisitions differs in forms of cost reductions, talent acquisition of retention and retention.  Through this, it's logical that the firms will require embracing different methodologies to run its operations in relation to the human resource management techniques to be embraced by the organization.  In addition to this, when new entities are acquired by a firm as a result of expanding its operations and the value the business is offering will demand for focused developmental strategies by the human resource executives. The human resource strategies that may differ from organization to organization include mentoring, compensation, compensation and cultural diversities.

The management of human resources is based on a number of human resource endeavours.  According to Jiang et al. (2009) human resource practices within an organization can either be favourable or unfavourable.  Comprehending the relationship, concepts and practices of human resource management plays an essential role in assisting the human resource managers to manage its resources effectively.  Similarly, studies in strategic human resource management have unfolded the link between the performances of an entity with organizational human resource practice.  It is therefore important that the HR recognises the value of human capital and their relationship with the amount of produce. In majority of entities, HR measurements have often been employed in a step per step mode instead of the usage of a value added process. In the current competitive business environment, the management of human resource is encouraged to completely get rid of the ancient strategies that were employed in running human capital. These old methods should be replaced by new innovative and acknowledging practices of human resource management.

A lot of entities and their employees' creativeness and HR practices originate from the various innovative technologies that they are able to embrace within the shortest time possible.  The creativity is also argued to have originated from the number of innovativeness that took place and not the value of this innovativeness, in order for workplace innovation to be promoted and the general performance. This is only possible if the people are considered important and they are involved in the general running of the entity. The practices involved in the management of human resource management must cultivate trust; trust in the management, individuals, compensation, organization and the various groups present in the entity.  There are a number of theories that explain the differences in human resource management and the reasons as to why these practices differ from country to country. Some of these theories are explained below.

Human Resource System Conceptualization

According to a study carried out in 2009, the management of human resource is entirely reliant on a number of multiple human resource practices and not in the case of investigating the effects the human resource methodologies have on the organizational and individual performance.  The researchers indicated that the viewing of the practices undertaken in human resource could not be separated from the organization and its practices; this therefore means that he individuals in an entity are highly affected by the practices.  This shows why it is important to conceptualize the human resource practices. There are two distinct levels that are involved in human resource practices; the practise level and the policies level, the practices level is the higher level whereas the policies level is a lower level and the two levels are owed with distinct operations and activities. The highest level of human resource management entails a number of activities that must be implemented in the entity in order for it to accomplish its set goals and objectives. For instance, a undertaking in an human resource system can include innovativeness, performance and the contributions of the organization to the practices in the work place setting. On the other hand, practices in the lower level deals with programs, techniques, process and all the strategies that are used to accomplish the activities within a work place. An example includes giving rewards to good performance and for compensations for pay for performance. At the end of it, a system employed in the human resource sector is geared to establish the behaviours of the employees that can influence the choices arrived at in decision making. There should be a clear distinction of concepts and practices in a human resource system.

Comprehending the practices and concepts of human resource and their relationship will place a human resource manager at a better position to function and arrive at a management strategy effectively.  Some experts in the human resource department have argued that some of the strategies employed in the management of human resource are very addictive. In addition to this, some system are considered as subjective and results to outcomes that are synergy.  From a different perspective, some of the human resource systems may be termed to as redundant. The additive linkage that arises from the systems can be referred to as a system that is considered to lack a consideration to the employees especially because of its overlapping effects on the outcomes of the employees.   The usage of at least two strategies in the management of human resource can be said to result to effective performance than in a case whereby a single theory is employed. The substitutive practice encompasses a case of replacing a human resource theory with a different practice whereas the synergetic practice calls for a built in inter5act6 on a separate distinct practice.

Implicit Human Resource Management Theory

A relationship between organizational practice and organizational performance has been unfolded through research in human resource strategic management.  The measurement of the outcomes from employees should be treated with a lot of keenness. Similarly, this measurement should be accorded the highest significance ever. It is through this that human resource should be viewed as a creator of income and a system through which expenses and costs should be gotten rid of. There are a number of opportunities that have been presented through marketing globally.  Apart from this, it is also a challenge.  As business entities are much interested with going global and forming mergers and acquisitions, it is very important to remember that the beliefs and practices of the people in the new markets differ greatly from those presented within the local market. This therefore implies that human resource managers must understand how the culture, technology and legal system of the new markets affect their workforce requirements.  When living in isolation, each person will always view his or her own culture as normal, this perspective will only change when we are encountered with individuals whose cultural practices are contrary to ours and they differ greatly. This is an example of a situation which HR managers are often encountered with.

As the role of the human resource manager keeps o changing every day, it is very important that the human resource managers keeps in line and understand the various changes and challenges that he or she is faced with. As the market competition increases both locally and globally, entities must be prepared to adapt the new changes that come in place. In addition to this, the entities are expected to be agile, resilient and focus on their customers if they need to succeed.  Of more importance is the workplace diversity. Work place diversity encompasses ancestry, age, abilities both physically and mentally, race and sex of the workers. The future of an entity relies heavily on how fast and successful an organization can manage this diversity in the people and help cultivate the numerous talents within it.

Human resource practices in the world differ from country to country. The differences in the practices are said to be highly impacted on by a number of factors. Some of the factors may include religion, beliefs and cultural practices, political influence and many more. In some countries like the Asian countries, gifts are considered as normal practices within the workplace or outside the workplaces. However, in western countries, this is not the case; the gifts may be considered bribes or mechanisms used to coerce someone to act in favouritism.  The politics of a country may also impact on the performance and practices within the human resource department of an organization. The politics of a country have often played a very big role in organizations within the country's boundaries. The formation of an organization may be strings attached. The government may give clear conditions to an organization before it is allowed to carry out its operations within its environment. These conditions end up defining the various activities to be engaged in by the entity as far as the human resource department is concerned.

Some countries may demand that a given percentage be reserved for employees from the local country while the other percentage can be outsourced. This is often done so as to create new employment opportunities for the local population which will necessitate a reduction in the unemployment level. Another reason that may be considered to provide legitimate argument as to the differences in human resource practices in various countries is the religious beliefs and practices within the area of location. The religion practices of the local community highly define the human resource practices to be employed by firms. Some religious practices highly prohibits the hiring of women assistants or the women from taking and occupying various positions within an organization. In such instances, going against such beliefs may result to a firm being highly reprimanded by the local authorities.

Apart from this, the objectives of firms highly define the human resource tactics to be employed. This is in addition tot he location of the firm, what may be considered normal at one place may not be normal in another region, this therefore needs to be weighed and the management tactics structured in relation to the place of location. Firms in different countries have different objectives and goals to fulfil. In addition to this, the human resource strategies employed by a firm will depend on its laid down objectives. Similarly, these objectives differ from one firm to another. Therefore, to achieve the objectives, firms have to employ their own specific techniques that they view workable for the firm. In addition to this, the financial capabilities of firm differ; this implies that the finance a firm has in its disposal will define whether it would be applicable for it. It beats logic when a local firm would start competing with a multinational entity which has been performing superbly well for a couple of years, from this illustration, it is clear that an entity will use a human resource strategy that is most effective and efficient to it. The human resource practices employed in an entity must be able to create trust and dependency on one another, as a result, a human resource practice must be the one that can establish these employee's behaviours.

Another factor that influences highly how human resource management is greatly influenced by the location of the business is the communication styles, perceptions and values that the area of location highly treasures. Different places treasure different values and practices. In addition to this, the values treasured differ from one country to another. Therefore due to this, the management criteria employed in one place cannot be employed in another region due to the differences. Taking an example of India and the US, the values that are treasured in these two countries differ greatly. Those that the Americans may regard as of great importance may be regarded to as low in value by their counterparts in India.  For instance, the Americans treat time very much, any wastage in time is treated with a lot of concern, however, the Indians o the other hand consider time as endless, it is a continuous process that is always in cycles which will never come to an end.

Conclusions

The management of human resource heavily relies on the human resource practices that are embraced within the organization.  The case of McDonalds that operates in over ii9 countries has brought to our enlightenment on how human resource department operates differently depending on the location. It is clear that despite McDonalds having the same management, various supervisors and overseers have been appointed to ensure that the operations in the different firm's outlets are in line with what the society considers normal (McDonalds 2010). The human resource practices are systems that can either assist an entity is accomplishing its set goals and objectives and at the same time, they can prevent the entity from achieving set goals. That is why business studies refer to them as either system that favour or those that unfavor practices. Comprehending the relationship and the linkage of the concepts and practices of the systems embraced in human resource management and which can be employed to assist in achieving the organization's goals.

In addition to this, research in strategic human resource management have indicated that the link between the performance of an organization and the practices followed within this organization have a direct relationship.  This thus implies that human resource must come up with the relationship of human capital and the outcomes of this relationship to human practices and concepts.  In relation to an analysis that was carried out in 2007, it was unfolded that culture diversity and practices if not well integrated into an entity may proof to be very detrimental in an entity's performance.  It may result to negative impacts that may cause uncountable problems to an organization. The techniques employed in the management of an entity's human resources should consist of methodologies that minimises the variances in people's diversities with a goal of achieving a work force that is monoculture.