Analyse Forces Shaping the HR Agenda

ANALYZE FORCES SHAPING THE HR AGENDA
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Question 1
Ethics, accountability, CSR and corporate governance
Many businesses in the current dispensation are required to act ethically and accountable while discharging their duties. Moreover, they should also participate in programs and projects that ‘give back to the community,’ that is, CSR. An organization like a hospital (MEDWELL, for instance, and as mentioned in the subsequent pages) follows an ethical code required for professionals and is founded on certain principles. These doctrines determine how the workers should behave and establishes the brand personality which also explains the perception of the workers regarding the company.
Specific business units are guided by their ethical codes that relate to the values of the group. For instance, the hospital HR, just like other functions in many organizations is governed by CIPD moral code. The content in this requirement entails Professional competence, Integrity and other ethical standards in institutions. More specifically, Responsibility while discharging duties is encouraged. The hospital again has got its brand values of Respect for everyone, Dedication, Care for its Clients, and accountability. The personality supported by the HR in this health care is warm, caring, human, understanding, global outlook and approachable.
The company’s intranet has got all the above information and other requirements such as fair treatment to the clients, Safety Requirements, Security and Protection of Data.

This facilitates easy access to all the data that is necessary to the workers. Each employee is also required to be accountable for all his tasks. Accountability is enhanced via division of labor via functional specialization. Every person is personally responsible for his or her actions in the company. No one should interfere with the affairs of the other. Delegation of duties is prohibited. In addition to the above, proper channels of reporting ill behaviors and vices like theft and mismanagement of resources are instituted. This is usually referred to as ‘whistleblowing.’ It is a way through which employees can report to the relevant authorities vices like secretive embezzlement of company funds. Periodic reviews are typically done by the HR to gauge the performance of each employee which is used in establishing accountability and in doing appraisals.
Furthermore, this company supports Corporate Social Responsibility through many undertakings. These include cleaning the environment, partnering with the society in propagating health and wellness, together with educating the needy. This group also supports, encourages and motivates employees towards involvement in CSR. Many scholars have seen the reason for participating in this activity as a tool for advertising and building a competitive edge in the face of the rival firms. Again, this tool shows a sign of appreciation to the society that consumes the company’s goods (Garavan and McGuire, 2010, 29)
Corporate / Business governance
Governance aims to provide a good ground through which efficient, prudent and entrepreneurial management can cause success to the company in the long-term. It is the system through which big organizations are controlled and managed. This concept incorporates rules and procedures on how things are done in the group. For instance, the selection of top management may be via voting which is done collectively by the staff. The company ought to be led by a board of directors with individuals possessing diverse expertise and skills. In my example, the healthcare is led by five directors who oversee the different functions of the business. These managers have academic prowess from diverse disciplines such strategic management, finance, operations, human resource, and marketing. The board also should embrace integrity, and accountability in handling the funds of the business as is also evident in MEDWELL Hospital
Question 2
MEDWELL is a leading multinational hospital with a mission of assisting people to live longer, happier, better and ensure that they suffer less. This company does this through the provision of improved health services to its clients. The healthcare group also provides supportive counseling services to individuals at different stages of life. The company does not have share subscriptions to any member, but it exists in over 190 nations. It is a leader in the provision of medical services. This organization has existed for the last 60 years and provides services such as Healthcare, Human Wellbeing Care Services and Insurance cover for its clients about Health. The vision for this organization is to become a world leader in the provision of healthcare services to individuals. These are the main objectives of the group:
(a)Listening to its clients, proactively in the dispensation of its services and acting professionally
(b) Upholding the organization’s values to the latter under the control and monitoring from the human resource function on a regular basis.
(c) Making a difference in the lives of people through the provision of high-quality medical services
(d) Generating and developing a diverse mix of skilled and knowledgeable personnel and workforce via the department of HR.
The Human Resources function in this organization works as a partner in the strategic management and hence, plays a crucial role in operations, finance, and other departments. The primary goal in this case, is to facilitate the provision of big returns to the investment of the company to its people. MEDWELL does not shadow any pre-set model of HR although it closely relates to the Harvard prototype that recognizes various stakeholders in the business. The Health care’s HR structure also slightly resembles Ulrich’s Mode. This is because all units of the company operate with separate departments that usually deal with strategies, change, and administration.
The contrast between Harvard and Ulrich model
These models have one thing in common, that is, seeking to address the operation of HR relative to the salient characteristics that interact with it. In addition to this, they complement the formulation of questions that help in understanding the real meaning of the HR function in an organization, the roles and the evaluation criteria for its contributions towards the achievement of the company goals.
Harvard model
This model recognizes that different stakeholders exist in an organization. It also considers the interest of these participants legit. As a result, the HR is supposed to incorporate these concerns into the formulation of strategies for the function and business in general. Furthermore, the Human Resource department is viewed as a system with the various sub-elements working together to achieve a common organizational purpose. High commitment is also encouraged. Harvard model, however, focuses majorly on the horizontal alignment rather than the vertical one.
Ulrich Model
This model proposes for the change of HR function structure and builds it around different roles which include Change agents, Administrative experts, Business Partners with HR, and advocates to the employees (Heathfield, 2017 p.41). Again as I said earlier, all units of the company operate with separate departments that usually deal with strategies, change, and administration.
Internal forces and the shaping of the Human Resource agenda
Internal forces are a subset of the SWOT analysis whereby, it is required that a business builds on its strengths, minimizes the weaknesses to embrace the opportunities, and conquer the threats in the external environment.
Technology – MEDWELL embraces current technology that helps in fastening the procedures for treatment as well as providing both online and across-the-phone health guidance to customers.
Employees- the workers in this organization are highly skilled and with vast experience in health care.
Question 3
A company’s business can significantly be affected by both internal and external factors. In this subsection, I will address three external forces that affect both the company and the HR function. First, there is the issue of the government regulations. These are the policies and rules that are related to taxation and compliance with statutes and constitutional requirements. If a government raises its taxes, the results will be that the business will look for ways through which it will cut down on its expenditures to factor in the issue of the levies. Stringent government regulations will negatively affect businesses whose profits are taxable. Failure to comply with these government requirements and rules can attract huge penalties, constraining of the activities of the company or total closure.
Economic Conditions
The state of the economy greatly affects the performance of businesses. Most commercial organizations make a lot of profits during the boom period. However, these incomes tend to drop significantly during the recession time. It is important to note that economic risks are systemic and cannot be controlled by the efforts of any single business. During an economic crunch like that which happened in 2008, there is a lot of interplay of adverse activities in companies that lead to decreased profits, increased overhead costs and general retrenchment of workers. The laying off is automatic since the organizations may not have money to pay workers.
Political conditions
These are the actions or statements and propositions of political leaders that influence business activities in a country. Politics influence the stability and the general climate of a company. In my example, I will use Brexit to explain this concept.
Brexit
This term is used to explain the possibility of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU which was proposed via referendum that passed by a 52% vote. Businesses in London and UK, in general, will be affected if this move is ratified. This proposal is meant to allow free trade of Britain with other nations across the globe. For much businesses operating in the UK, British exit may affect the labor laws; they have to be repealed to incorporate the change. This will affect businesses greatly, especially those that have had their plans drawn for a longer period of time and had not created room for such eventualities.Moreover, when immigration is restricted, labor to the major companies will be affected since foreign citizens who work for the EU will be evicted. The business closure with the European Union may lead to adverse economic conditions as it has already been registered via the fall of the Euro. The main reason why this concept will affect businesses is that they were not psychologically prepared to handle such cases and hence, they will end up incurring huge costs to incorporate the change.
Impact of the forces on the Human Resource function
Government regulations
Whenever new compliance standards are introduced in the workplace, immense pressure is exerted on this department to stay within the confines of the law. Several processes of the HR function are affected greatly. They include the hiring of workers, training, salaries, and remuneration, termination, and many others. Failure to comply with government requirements calls for fines that can lead to company closure
Economic conditions
The current economic shape braces significant effect on businesses. It not only influences the current pool of talents but it can impact the capacity to employ anyone by all means. Companies should strive to create plans for economic downturns as well as gathering sufficient information relating to what is happening in the world. This can be facilitated via setting aside a contingency fund that will cater for any imminent eventuality of the economic meltdown.
Political environment and HR
The politics of the day affect the HR function a lot. Say for example, in the above Brexit case, the British government via a referendum proposed for withdrawal from the EU. Many companies had not prepared for this and hence, can have a significant impact on the hiring of permanent employees. Again, the immigration of workers is at stake since if this move is implemented, the foreign workers will be sent away. The HR function of many businesses both in the EU and the UK who had not set aside a contingency fund to handle the incorporation of this concept have, and will find it hard when addressing Brexit. The matter is of urgency. The permanent and pensionable employees will cost the companies a lot of money. Also, the change in laws concerning immigration will impact the hiring of workers in many companies in the country, some of whom may be very skillful. As a result, businesses may lose competent staff.
Question 4
Organizational tools employed in assessing specific environmental aspects
An environment for a company can be described as the total of the external and the internal forces that influence its functions and activities. These two forces in most cases can work together to control the operations of a company. Environmental analysis entails evaluating the above factors one after the other to come up with the best strategy that will see the business achieve success in the long run.
Various models can be used to evaluate the environment for a company. These prototypes have one common goal of identifying the interplay of factors that can be mitigated or improved to foster growth and development in the group. The analysis of these factors facilitates credible decision-making in the business. In this work, I will focus on the following analyses: PESTEL and SWOT.
PESTEL
The set of factors that are beyond the control of the managers of an organization are referred to as the external environment. PESTEL is an acronym for all these forces. The complete description of the terminology is P- Political, E-Economical, S-Social, T-Technological-Environments/ecological, and L-Legal factors that affect a business. PESTEL analysis is used by managers in identifying the company’s positioning in the market as well as its strengths.
SWOT analysis
This refers to the following: S-standing for strengths, W- for the weaknesses, O- for the available opportunities, and T- for threats
SW analyses the internal environment whereas the OT focuses on the external environment of the company. For a business that wants to perform better in the market, it should capitalize on building itself internally to face the external environment. By this, I mean that the managers should work hard to minimize the weaknesses and build on the strengths. After doing this, it will be easy for the company to venture into the exploitation of the prevailing opportunities and beat the threats. Weaknesses in this regard may be the employment of incompetent staff or inadequate supply of raw materials. Strengths, on the other hand, maybe good management, and enough financial resources. Threats may be adverse competition and opportunities could be the availability of new unexploited market niches which can fetch good profits (Srdjevic and Srdjevic, 2012, 40).
Contrast of the merits and demerits of both SWOT and PESTEL
Figure 1
Model Advantages Disadvantages
SWOT It is less costly Can be both a strength and a weakness at the same time
Less time is used in addressing a complex issue It does not provide solutions to businesses
It concentrates on the pertinent areas affecting a business Can generate much information which may be of little use
PESTEL Involves skills and expertise that is cross-functional Data for decision-making can be oversimplified
It Encourages strategic thinking The process needs to be done regularly for it to be credible
It Gives an easy to learn evaluation framework o
The analysis is also subjective since it uses assumptions.
Comparison between SWOT and PESTEL
SWOT can be used to analyze both the external and internal forces affecting a business whereas PESTEL evaluates the outside environment only. The current position of the market for the industry can be identified using the former while the latter focuses on assessing the company’s external factors that can affect its expansionary moves. Moreover, PESTEL analyses six factors whereas SWOT deals with four factors that affect a business.
Question 5
Strategy formulation/implementation and HR involvement
Strategy formulation is defined as the process through which a company selects the best option to achieve its set goals out of several available alternatives. This concept provides the business with a framework for the activities that attract the desired outcomes. Strategy implementation on the other hand simply indicates the actualization of the set plans or strategies to attain the goals.
The stages of strategy formulation/implementation (and the role of HR at each step)
Analysis
This is a critical stage that will shape the subsequent steps. In this step, necessary information for the achievement of the business vision is gathered. The primary focus in this regard is to get an understanding regarding the company needs as a going concern, the direction of the strategy and identifying the initiatives that will grow it. SWOT analysis is done to determine the weaknesses and the strengths of the group together with the possible opportunities and threats in the market. PESTEL evaluation is also conducted to gauge the impact of the external forces on the business. The HR in this stage evaluates the personnel in the company to gauge their skills about the goals set.
Strategy Formulation
This is the step where goals are formed. In this case, the information gathered in the first stage is reviewed accordingly. Matters affecting the company must be ranked in the order of their importance to attain success. At this point, the strategies can be formulated. Establishment of the available resources that can aid in goal attainment is done. The HR should at this stage determine if there are enough workers to do work and enough finances to pay them. Several options for targeting each part of the plan should be developed since economic and business situations are very fluid (Mayhew, 2007, 30).
Evaluation
This is the stage of determining if the formulated strategy is realistic and achievable using the resources available. The HR and other managers must establish if the current materials and workers are enough to help in the achievement of the objectives. They should also identify areas for obtaining external resources should they project inadequacies. The HR in this stage should also identify where to seek for the pool of workers should there be a shortage.
Strategy Implementation
This is making the set plans work. The HR should make everyone in the business to be aware of his or her roles and responsibilities relating to the implementation of the objectives. These roles should also fit in the goal itself. It is at this stage that the necessary funding and resources are secured after which the execution of the strategy occurs.
Control
At this point, we review the set outcomes of the goals against the actual ones. If any deviation is realized, then some mechanisms may be instituted to provide corrections. If the actual results tally with the benchmark, then the company will have achieved its goals hence, embrace the plans. The HR should keep on communicating with the workers to inform them where to do adjustments when deviations occur.
Henry Mintzberg theory argues that formulation of strategies should come before its implementation. He said this by countering the traditional assertion of emergent goals where the latter came before the former. The implementation of strategy in any organization gives it the reason for its survival. If the employees will come up with a proposal and strategy that will never be implemented, then there is no reason for the planning.
Question 6
HR and planning
Human resource just like the other functions, has a crucial role to play in planning for the business. HR ensures that each unit in a company has the right level and blend of skilled personnel to deliver value to the customers. Moreover, it also initiates and draws the working hours for the employees, terms of job contracts, together with rewards and recognition mechanisms that will foster motivation and achievement of goals in the company. The HR manager also ensures that the employees are acquainted with work schedules that will guide them on how and when to accomplish some tasks in the organization. This creates an order that prevents overlap of activities in the company. Planning also entails the provision of necessary tools to undertake the required tasks in the group which is facilitated by the HR.
Evaluation of indicators of performance
The evaluation of the employees’ performance is very paramount in gauging the level of success in the business. A proper analysis of how a particular worker has performed helps the HR manager to establish the learning curve trends as well as the non-performing employees of the company. It is worth noting that some employees may not indicate good numbers regarding numerical scores in the business but may have specific attributes that are important to the firm. It is out of this reason that non-financial measures are incorporated in the evaluation.
The two components are illustrated in the table below.
FINANCIAL NON-FINANCIAL
Salaries and wages per work Time taken for a worker to learn
Cost of employee absenteeism Rate of employee turnover
Recruitment costs Rate of collisions between employees and managers
Cost of retrenchment Performance between external and internal orders
The price of training workers Shape of learning curve for employees for different periods
Figure 2
The financial indicators are the factors that can be quantified in monetary terms. The non-financial pointers cannot be evaluated by cash.
HR role in managing change in organizations
Change is one of the highly feared aspects of organizations. It is believed to cause a modification in the status quo and retrenchment of workers. Employees fear transition because of fear of unknown, layoffs or reduction of salaries among others.
The Kurt Lewin model and change management
The prototype has three stages:
(a)Unfreezing
(b)Changing
(d) Refreezing
Unfreezing
In this step, the forces that resist transition in the organization are broken. In this regard, the HR has to communicate early in advance that change is necessary, and the current status quo in the company is not desirable in the achievement of its goals and objectives. However, the employees should be informed about how the change will impact their roles and positions in the business. If the difference is big, the employees will be motivated to accept it (Lederer and Sethi, 1988, 91)
Changing
After ideologically ‘unfreezing’ the minds of the people, transformations can be allowed to occur in the company. In this stage, the HR manager can offer training to the employees to cope up with the new state of affairs in the organization. They should also be reminded the reason for the incorporation of new processes, ideology, technology or techniques in the company (Thompson Jr and Strickland III, 2012 p.123)
Refreezing
This is the step of reinforcing the change among the organizational members. The reason for this is to prevent individuals from going back to the original state before the transition occurred. The Human resource manager can support refreezing through recognizing the efforts of the workers towards embracing change in the company (Srdjevic, Bajcetic, and Srdjevic, 2012 p.567).
Question 7
Sources of information for making plans
Both HR and business information can be used for planning purposes in the organization. Data related to business can stem from the analysis of the environment via the SWOT or the PESTEL analyses. When this is done, the team is in a position to establish its current status and the need to come up with a strategy that will aid in the achievement of its goals. Analyzing the external environment will provide the company with detailed information about the state of affairs in the market. After getting this, all the business functions sit down and build their internal environment to brace the opportunities outside and mitigate the threats available. The HR manager can get information from different areas to plan for the business. Inter-departmental reports about personnel needs together with the other ones that indicate the rate of turnover for the workers are very good in setting plans for the company (Harris, 2016, 66)
Information sources
I work in a big hotel. The data used for planning by the business and the HR team comes from different sources. Some are external whereas others are internal. The latter sources are generated within the company whereas the external ones come from forces outside the business.
Figure 3
Internal sources External sources
Cost information Statutory data( how things are supposed to be done)
Analysis of customers Marketing information( competition)
Cost information
This is data that emanates from past financial commitment of costs to products, payments to employees, services or procedures in the company. This information is beneficial in planning for future allocation of costs in the relevant areas since it will act as a benchmark to curb over expenditure on unnecessary units of the business.
Statutory data
This is the information that is found in the Acts of Parliament and is beyond the control of the HR team and the business itself. The company and the Human Resource manager does the planning while confined within the limits of the legislation. This may be tax requirements and the timings for doing the remittances for the hotel (Frith, 2016 p.89)
Customer analysis
Customer analysis information is gotten from reviews from the clients about the products the hotel offers. It can also come from online feedback and suggestion boxes pinned in the organizational premises. The business and the human resource for the hotel can analyze this information efficiently hence, use it in the planning for different issues like the provision of quality meals that will not attract complaints in the future.
Marketing data
This is the kind of information that comes from promoters of the business products and services. In the case of the hotel for instance, if the number of advertisers limits the current market reach, the HR should raise their number and pay them accordingly. Marketing information can range from the demographics of the unreached customers to the market niches not yet reached. The business utilizes this information in tailoring their products based on the nature of the target market.
Conclusion
The factors influencing the HR agenda should be handles with prudence. These include ethics, accountability, governance, environmental analysis, strategic formulation and implementation and planning. If all managers, including the one for HR will do this, the organization will paradigmatically achieve success.
References
Frith, B. (2016) What Brexit means for HR: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/what-brexit-means-for-hr
Garavan, T.N. and McGuire, D., 2010. Human resource development and society: Human resource development’s role in embedding corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics in organizations. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(5), pp.487507.
Harris, F. (2016) What is HR’s role in ethics?: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/what-is-hrs-role-in-ethics-1Heathfield, S (2017) The 3 New Roles of the Human Resources Professional:https://www.thebalance.com/the-new-roles-of-the-human-resources-professional-1918352
Mayhew, R. (2007) HR Practices That Can Contribute to Ethical Behavior: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/hr-practices-can-contribute-ethical-behavior-16203.htmlSrdjevic, Z., Bajcetic, R. and Srdjevic, B., 2012. Identifying the criteria set for multicriteria decision making based on SWOT/PESTLE analysis: a case study of reconstructing a water intake structure. Water resources management, 26(12), pp.3379-3393.
Thompson Jr, A.A. and Strickland III, A.J., 2012. Strategy formulation and implementation: tasks of the general manager.
APPENDICES
Figure 1. Contrast between the merits and the demerits of PESTEL and SWOT analyses.
Figure 2: differences between the financial and the non-financial indicators of employee performance
Figure 3: external and internal sources of information