You are required to develop a Strategic HRM System (applied SHRM) for their chosen organisation and discuss their chosen strategies, why they are effective for their chosen organisation and underpin this with a theoretical justification?
This report provides a design overview for the strategic HRM system for an organisation along with a number of factors which impacts the performance of this HRM system. The employees working in the workplace are considered to be one of the essential resources available to the business and operation model of any of the organisations across the entire world. The ferocious skirmish between the organisations for the market shares in various industries requires them to develop and implement a number of strategies in the workplace to maximise the performance and productivity of the various business functions included in the business model of the organisations. HRM is one such strategy which allows the management of the organisations to effectively manage the employees operating in various business functions of the organisations. The HRM is the business process which is responsible for the efficacious management of the employees available to the management of the organisation (Lundberg, 1985). The implementation of the HRM system in the workplace of the organisation also allows the management to complete various other business functions. The HRM system in the workplace of the organisation also plays a number of other roles associated to the employment of the employees in the organisation and also acts as a medium for the communication between the management and the employees of the organisation. This report focuses on the implementation and process of strategic HRM which is known as the process of HRM which allows the management to proceed ahead in the strategic direction to achieve the organisation goals and objectives (Kesler, 1995). The organisation which is in the focus in this report is Thames Water in terms of the development and implementation of the SHRM systems in the workplace of the organisation.
This section of the report gives a comprehensive overview of the organisation, Thanes Water which is under focus for the implementation of the SHRM system. The organisation known as Thames Water is actually named as Thames Water Utilities Ltd. which is operating in the United Kingdom as a utility company. The major business functions of the Thames Water are the public supply of water and the waste water treatment in the areas of operation of the organisation. This organisation is leading the industry of the water services and waste water services suppliers in the United Kingdom and is holding the maximum market shares for the corresponding industry. This private sector water services and waste water services provider was founded in the year of 1989 and has the headquarters located in Berksire, United Kingdom. The major area under focus of the organisation for the supply of its services is South England. Some of the areas under the service of Thames Water are the Thames Valley, Kent, Wiltshire and a number of areas in the Greater London. The importance of the operations of the organisation can be defined by the 2.6 gigalitres of fresh water supplied per day and 4.4 gigalitres of waste water processed by the organisation per day. This organisation with the total revenue of around 1.9 billion euros is also responsible for a number of water management projects around the United Kingdom. These water management projects in which Thames Water is involved also include a number of infrastructure developments in the corresponding areas of operation. Thames Water was involved in the project of one of the biggest water supply infrastructure in London, which is known as the Thames Water Ring Main. This major sustainable development in London was constructed initially by the Thames Water during the years from 1988 to 1993 (Delery, 1998). The organisation is also included in the project of extending the construction of the infrastructure aiming at the year of 2025 which allows the water supply infrastructure to be more effective and efficient. The organisation was also involved in the project of developing the large scale infrastructure for the desalination plant in the United Kingdom. The organisation consists of around 4700 employees and a large number of contractors who are responsible for allowing the completion of the business functions of the organisation. The management of these many employees working in various business functions of the organisation requires the development and implementation of an effective HRM system in the organisation. The HRM system should also consider the achievement of the strategic organisational objectives which in turn leads the organisation to high performance and productivity in the corresponding industry. The wide range of the areas being served by the organisation also requires the organisation to have efficient usage of the employees available to the organisation (Kesler, 1995). This justifies the implementation and usage of the SHRM system in the workplace of the organisation.
This section of the report focuses on the current strategies of the Thames Water in terms of the strategic HRM processes in the workplace of the organisation. The current business and operation model of Thames Water focuses on the supply of various services related to the supply of fresh water and management of waste water in various areas in the United Kingdom. So the strategic HRM process in the current workplace focuses on the management of all the in-house employees and contractors available to the organisation in the corresponding industry. Some of the essential elements of the current implementation of the strategic HRM process are mentioned in this section of the report.
The current strategic HRM process is based on the establishment and operation of the board of directors who is responsible for the creation and usage of various policies and guidelines.
The executive of Thames Water is consists of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and nine directors. They also take part in the process of creating and using the strategic HRM plans in the workplace of the organisation. They sign the documents for the approval of the strategic plans for the HRM system to be installed and implemented in the current workplace of the organisation.
There are a number of relevant regulatory factors which influence the operation of the strategic HRM system to be implemented in the workplace of the organisation. These factors have a number of effects on a number of business activities and processes included in the strategic HRM system installed in the workplace of the organisation. So the management of the organisation should ensure that these factors are considered and dealt with to ensure the smooth operation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organisation. Some of these relevant regulatory factors influencing the operations of the strategic HRM system are mentioned in this section (Beer, 1984).
There are a number of legislations and regulations established by various regulatory bodies and the government of the country of operation which affect the operations of the strategic HRM system implemented in the workplace of the organisation. These laws are also known as the employment laws which are responsible for the operations of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organisation.
The labour law established by the government of the United Kingdom regulates the relationship between the employees in the workplace of the organisation with the management of the organisation (Kesler, 1995). The labour law in the United Kingdom defines the minimum wages for the employees in the workplace of the organisation. This law also defines the participation of the employees in various business functions, equality among the employees in the workplace of the organisation and the job satisfaction of the employees in the workplace of the organisation. So the labour law established by the government of the operating country affects the operations of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organisation.
The diversity in the employee base available in the organisation is another factor which defines the usage of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the Thames Water. The behaviour and preferences of the employees in the workplace affects the strategies utilised by the management of the organisation and hence affects the operating of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organisation.
The employee relations is the factor which defines the relationship of the employees with each other and the management of the organisation. The employee relationships in the workplace of Thames Water can be defined as the way in which the employees perceive their surroundings and the behaviour of all the other employees in the workplace of the organisation (Delery, 1998). The relationships between the employees set the tone of the workplace which in turn affects the performance and productivity of the employees in the workplace of the organisation. So the strategic HRM system to be implemented in the workplace of Thames Water is affected by the relations between the employees and management of the organisation.
There are a number of factors in the environment of the organisations which affect the operating and behaviour of the strategic HRM in the workplace of the corresponding organisation. These factors in the environment of the organisation are related to the operating model of the organisation for the corresponding environment. This section of the report mentions some of these environmental factors which affect the strategic HRM system implemented in the workplace of Thames Water.
The technologies available in the United Kingdom also influences the implementation and operation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water. There are a number of technologies available in the market which can be utilised in the SHRM system in the workplace of the organisation, which can lead to different performance levels (Kesler, 1995).
The economic conditions of the country of operations is another external factor which affects the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organisation. The economic condition of the United Kingdom defines the available monetary resources for the Thames Water which in turn decides the amount that the management of Thames Water can invest for the employees operating in the workplace. The economic condition of the United Kingdom also defines the budget for Thames Water for the strategic HRM system in the workplace.
Another environmental factor which influences the operations of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the Thames Water is the social belief system. This factor defines the values and beliefs held by the people in the corresponding society of operations of the organisation. The social values and beliefs restricts the organisation in terms of the operations of the strategic HRM system. The strategic HRM system implemented in the workplace of Thames Water should operate under various conditions of the societies in the United Kingdom. The strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water can’t cross several restrictions set by the people living in the corresponding societies (Beer, 1984).
There are a number of other organisations operating in the same industry as the Thames Water, which can be considered as the competitors of Thames Water. The strategic HRM system implemented in the workplace of Thames Water is affected a lot by the operations of these competitors in the corresponding industry. The strategic HRM system is responsible for the development and implementation of some of the business strategies which are responsible for allowing the organisation to gain and maintain competitive advantage over the competitors in the same industry. The various business strategies implemented by the competitors in the corresponding industry affect the operations of the SHRM system to be implemented in the workplace of Thames Water in terms of the changes required by the organisation to have better efficiency and effectiveness of the HRM system.
There are a number of positions in the workplace of the Thames Water which are defined and justified under the hierarchical order and business model of the organisation. This section of the report focuses on the analysis of a core position in the business model of Thames Water which can be defined in terms of the business functions associated with the corresponding role and the skills required for the completion of these business functions associated with the role. The role to be analysed in this section of the report is the role of human resource manager in the workplace of the organisation (Kesler, 1995).
Title: Human resource manager
There are a number of responsibilities of the human resource manager in the workplace of Thames Water in relation to the strategic HRM system implemented in the workplace of the organisation.
The human resource managers in the Thames Water should possess a number of skills and knowledge to be able to handle various situations in the workplace of Thames Water and to complete the various business functions associated with the role of human resource manager.
Conclusion
The report focused on the development and implementation of a strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water, which is the largest supplier of the services of fresh water and waste water management. The strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water will allow the management to regulate and manage the high number of employees working in various business functions across the organization along with the large number of contractors included in the operational model of the organization (Kesler, 1995). The implementation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water also allows the management to effectively utilize the human resources to proceed in the direction of achieving the organizational goals and objectives which support the strategies of the management. As discussed in the report, there are a lot of essential elements which are responsible for the successful implementation and operation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organization. The HRM plan of the management focuses on the effective and efficient usage of these elements to ensure the successful implementation and operation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of the organization. The report also includes a number of regulatory and environmental factors which influence the operation of the strategic HRM system in the workplace of Thames Water. All of these factors are provided a lot of attention during the development of the HRM plan by the management of the organization.
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