The human resource function has slowly evolved to play a pivotal role in the organization. Successful organizational that are doing well have strategically included the human resource system into the organization. The movement from the classical organizational theories to human relations theories led to the need to focus on the role that the human resource department plays in the organization as a way of developing competitive advantage and ensuring that organization develop the competencies required to survive in the modern environment (Caliskan 2010, p. 109). In such organizations, the human resource systems are aligned to the organizational processes to ensure that they meet the strategic role of the organization. According to Meister (2017, pp. 3), the human resource systems in most organizations are undergoing transformations called “consumerization of HR” where a consumer experience is created for employees to focus on the final product and improve the outcome of business processes. such strategies lead to the use of the human resource system as a major element in the organizational survival process (Teena & Sanjay 2014, p. 3). This has been defined as the future of the workplace where the revolutions are leading to an increasingly changing and strategic role of human resource function. Each year new HR trends are coming up creating a better workforce and environment for employees. Samsung is one of the leading electronic companies around the globe with successful business processes with one of the best people management practices. This essay analyses the role of the human resource function in achieving competitive advantage by using Samsung as a case study.
To achieve this, the company focuses on its human resource system to ensure that it meets the requirements of the modern world. The human resource strategy of the company focuses on employee development and motivation to ensure that they are aligned to the needs of the organization (Schuler & Jackson 2007, p. 22). The success of Samsung electronics in the industry is attributed to the role of innovation in developing business competitiveness. The company’s human resource system is established on the slogan “ we are value creators with commitment, creativity and collaboratiob” (Samsung 2017, p. 5). This slogan drives the whole organization in ensuring that the organizational strategy is met.
The nature of the human resource system within the organization is bringing people together to achieve organizational goals. By sharing tasks within the organization, human resource systems ensure that the organization fulfills its reason for existence. This is achieved through focusing on the results and not rules, developing the potential of employees, bringing people together to achieve business needs, putting people together in groups and cluster to achieve goals and motivating the employees to retain them in the organization (Y?lmaz & Bulut 2015, p. 7). This is the role of the human resource management function which ensures that employees are satisfied and meet the needs of the organization. By engaging themselves in different activities, employee achieve the functional role of human resource systems within the organization. This process in turn leads a symbiotic relationship that allows the two to benefit from each other.
To ensure that employees work well, the human resource management function builds a cordial relationship between employees and management which in turn increases organizational competitiveness. Through integrating employees with organizational goals, the HR function aligns employee activities organizational processes to achieve the greatest outcome in the organization (Stanton & Nankervis 2011, p. 5). This is a continuous process that focuses on balancing the needs of the employees and those of the organization. The theory of contract is based on the notion that employees forego their rights towards the organization for a set of benefits that are valued about the effort and abilities that they invests towards the organization.
Alagaraja (2013, p. 8) suggest tha the characteristics of HRM are universal and defined using different models based on the nature of the organization. Two major characteristics of HR exist in Samsung; diversity and strategic nature. The diversity nature of HR recognizes the fact that organizations have employees from different backgrounds that need different strategies to accommodate them. For example, Samsung UK has a diverse range of employees that reflect the face of the country rather than having employees from one segment. On the other hand, the strategic nature if HR is based on the fact that HRM issues need to be integrated into organization plans and ensure that they focus on the needs of the organization (Crawford 2014, pp. 5). For example, the human resource system is charged with the responsibility of developing business competitiveness to sustain the organization (Lengnick-Hall, et al. 2009, p. 69). Through innovation, employees ensure that Samsung is sustained in the market despite competition from other electronic organizations. The company has three strategies of shared value, leader program and global talent. This strategy integrates employees with organizational process to develop products that meet the needs of the market. The global talent approach integrates the public with organizational processes to create innovations that reflect the needs of the market.
According to Armstrong (2014, p. 13) people management focuses on organizational measures put in place to create a functional human resource system that meets organization needs. From Herzberg’s two factor theory, employees require motivational and hygiene factors to be motivated. These strategies focus on creating conditions that make employees more resourceful to the organization. These can be achieved through recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and employee engagement (Boxall & Purcell 2011, p. 15). Recruitment and selection ensures that the right person is hired for the job. Through a proper screening process organizations can hire the best brains that are in line with the business strategy of the organization. According to Yoo-chul (2015, pp. 4), the Samsung recruitment strategy focuses on candidates who are in line with the needs of the organization.
Training and development is the investment in employees through providing them tools and competencies for increasing efficiency and organizational output. The outcome is increased productivity, flexibility and satisfied customers which leads to business competitiveness. As a quality requirement, continuous improvement ensures that employees are trained and developed to attain competencies required in the modern world (Hubbard 2009, p. 180). As business trends keep on changing, organizations have to ensure that the employees evolve in the same way to reflect the current market trends. Samsung uses this process to cultivate global experts to bring out change and create business opportunities with creativity and challenging spirit (Samsung C&T Trading & Investment Group, 2018, pp. 3). The training and development program in the company revolve around value creation, leadership, global competitiveness and expert abilities which define the success of the company in the electronic sector.
According to Rastislav & Petra (2016, p. 109) performance management analyses the output of each employee within the organization to ensure that they meet business expectations. This process analyses individual employee results to map out areas of improvement. Since employees set their targets based organizational goals, this ensures that the employees align their goals with the overall organizational goal. The intention is to is manage and motivate employees based on defined targets that the organization seeks to achieve. Through performance management, the organization benefits through improved performance, productivity and leads to overcoming ofcommunication barriers within the organization. On the other hand, it leads to motivated employees through defining clear career paths and promotes job satisfaction. By evaluating employee performance, management sets clear standards for employees to ensure that they meet the needs of the organization. Chelniciuc (2013, pp. 5) suggests that in Samsung the system is a combination of talent management, green management, integrity management, time management, financial performance and creative business strategies to asses employee efforts (Crawford 2014, pp. 6). The company uses talent management to develop the best products by allowing employees to innovate and create leading products for the company. Individual employee measures like the appraisal system and balanced score card are used to asses the perfomance of employees.
The implications of human resource management systems in organizations has been growing with the rise of strategic human resource management systems that emphasize the role in organizational effectiveness. Here the HR system is involved as a partner in the organizational strategy and development of an organizational culture that reflects the needs of the organization (Reddington, et al. 2011, p. 61). Since business strategies focus on developing competitive frameworks that need to be implemented, then management has to work directly with employees to achieve these processes. Employees are the ones who implement new processes thus the need to involve them in the initial process of strategy development. Today human resource manager are part of the management team since they sit on the same table with other functional managers to develop strategies for the future of the organization.
One advantage that strategy human resource management offer the organization is the development of a flexible and competitive workforce that leads organizational competitiveness. This means that the human resource department needs to change from a cost center to a strategic business partner (Hubbard 2009, p. 191). This is an organizational action plan that aligns the human resource system with the strategic business needs of the organization to achieve competitive advantage. As businesses become more competitive, organizations rely on employee performance to develop business efficiency and effectiveness that leads to increased productivity and customer satisfaction
As the field of human resource management grows and becomes more complicated, there are new trends that are coming up within the context of the organization. The rise of the millennial workforce and technology within organizations has led to new approaches in understanding human resource trends (Lengnick-Hall, et al. 2009, p. 71). One common trend that most organizations have applied is the workplace diversity as way of developing the best competencies. With the rise of women in the workplace, organizations have a wide array of human resources to pick from unlike the past where there diverse differences in recruitment. (Caliskan 2010, p. 109)Today the dimensions of workplace diversity are not limited to age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience. In Samsung employees are recruited based on their abilities rather than other physical or social characteristic that defines them (Chelniciuc 2013, pp. 5). By recruiting based on skills, management ensures that the best brains that are aligned to the organizational strategy are picked. Here, the company reaps the benefits of a working team through bringing together employees from different backgrounds to form a team that reflects the face of the population. This process leads to the development of the best products that reflect the diverse difference of customers.
Conclusion
Another trend is the development of the human side of business to increase productivity. Through putting proper mechanism in place organizations can achieve higher productivity through utilizing the benefits of the human side of business (Boxall & Purcell 2011, p. 9). At the organizational level, managers are focusing on taking advantage of every opportunity including taking advantage of cooperation, collaboration and conflict to increase productivity. Through training and development, businesses encourage employees to grow mindsets related to developing better solutions.
Remarking of performance management reviews is another trend taking place in the human resource management system. Performance reviews re being used to improve employee’s ability to perform rather than measuring the output that they produce (Stanton & Nankervis 2011, p. 9). Through removal of bonuses and other employee incentive systems, the organization can achieve the best employee performance standards by focusing on ways that can be used to motivate employee, improve performance and increased organizational outcomes.
Human resource management departments have evolved to strategic organizational areas that meet the needs of the organization through ensuring the success of the business strategy. By aligning the human resource system of the organization with the business strategy, managers ensure that employees work within the goals of the organization and their performance complements the overalll goal of the organization. The department has moved from a compensatory role to a functional role that plays a major role in achieving organizational effectiveness. Organizations lie Samsung UK have invested heavily on their employees through training and development to empower them with strategic abilities for meeting the needs of the organization. The outcome is competitive advantage as a result of organized employees who meet the needs of the organization to increase business competitiveness and competitive advantage.
References
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ÇALI?KAN, E. N., 2010. The impact of strategic human resource management on organizational performance. Journal of Naval Science and Engineering, 6(2), pp. 100-116.
Chelniciuc, A., 2013. How is Samsung doing it? Good Practices on Performance Management. Performance Magazine, 25 September.
Hubbard, G., 2009. Measuring organizational performance: beyond the triple bottom line. Business Strategy and the Environment, 18(3), pp. 177-191.
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