Introduction to Strategic Human Resource Management

Globalization has out pressure on governments and businesses to carry out structural alterations or adjustments, diversify businesses, specialize processes optimize effeciency, sustain and augment productivity, maintain competitive edge all in the face of increasing cost constraints. There is need for economical utilization of human capital through right capacity building strategy for desired organizational performance.

To cut costs, unplanned retrenchment of human resources has become a frequent thought by no means a desirable organizational practice. Strategy should be evolved to maximize the utility of the HR function. Human resource management per se may not be targeted or specific enough to achieve desired accuracy of policy. For example how targeted are employees benefit policies? What is the impact on productivity? What modifications are needed? Correlations based on empirical analyses would need to be drawn

Therefore, combining human capital regulation with overall business strategy ; economizing operations to maximize 'effeciency ;is what is understood in common parlance as stretigic human resource management.

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Strategic Human resource management is relevant to all organizations - public or private, irrespective of form, hierarchic or networked fluid or command control etc. SRHM ranges from a reactive management field where human resource management is a tool with which to implement strategy, to a more proactive function in which Human resource activities can actually create and shape organizational strategy. Human resource management being an architectonic activity may not be targeted or specific enough to achieve desired levels of accuracy and economy in policy making and implementation. There is therefore need for strategic need for human resource management for cost effectiveness of human resource programs.