Introduction and Alignment

A strategic approach to human resource management seeks to proactively provide a competitive advantage through the company’s most important asset: its human resources. While human resources are the most important asset, they are also usually the single largest controllable cost within the firm’s business model. The HRM function needs to be integrally involved in the formulation of strategy to identify the people-related business issues the company faces. Once the strategy has been determined, HRM has a profound impact on the implementation of the plan by developing and aligning HRM practices that ensure that the company has motivated employees with the necessary skills. (Noe et al., 2019, p. 100)

The textbook reading for this Workshop One assignment is Chapter 2—“Strategic Human Resource Management.” The learning concepts in the reading include:

• The differences between strategy formulation and strategy implementation
• Components of the strategic management process
• The role of the HRM function in strategy formulation
• Linkages between HRM and strategy formulation
• The more popular typologies of generic strategies and the various HRM practices associated with each
• Different HRM issues and practices associated with various directional strategies (Noe et al., 2019 p. 72)

Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:

• Evaluate trends in human resource management and their implications for the HR professional.

Resources

• Textbook: Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage
• Media: Overview of Human Resource Management–Presentation B
• Webpage: Look Ahead at Trends for 2018
• Webpage: What Is a Scholarly Article?

Background Information

HR programs and the HR function are under pressure to relate to the business strategy and show a return on investment. Customer focus needs to be included in all HRM practices. New technology means that administrative and transactional HR activities will be delivered via technology, creating less need for HR professionals to provide these activities. The aging workforce combined with reduced immigration because of security concerns may lead employers to focus more on retraining or encouraging older, skilled workers to delay retirement or to work part-time. (Noe et al., 2019, pp. 19-20)

For this assignment you will select a company you have worked for, are familiar with, or would like to work for, and evaluate that company in terms of the trends discussed in your textbook reading. In addition, you will make thoughtful suggestions for how the company might deal with the challenges posed by these trends.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 2, “Strategic Human Resource Management,” in the Human Resource Management textbook.
2. View the media “Overview of Human Resource Management–Presentation B.”
3. Reflect on a company you have worked for or find an annual report for a company you would like to work for. Many companies post their annual reports on their websites.
4. Navigate to the discussion topic and, in your initial discussion post, respond to the following discussion prompts:
   1. Trends. Describe how the company you selected has been affected by the trends discussed in Chapter 2 and/or as identified by Jerath (2018) in the Society for Human Resource Management article “Look Ahead at Trends for 2018.”
   2. HR Practices. Does the company utilize the strategic HR practices recommended in Chapter 2? Give an example or suggest a strategic HR practice that, in your opinion, might benefit the company and explain why.
   3. Suggestions. Suggest how the company might deal with the challenges posed by the trends discussed in Chapter 2 and/or as identified in the SHRM article written by Jerath (2018; refer to the link in Step 4a).
5. Provide a detailed post that demonstrates clear, insightful critical thinking. Your initial posting should be 200–300 words in length.
6. Organize your initial post by using a heading for each response to match those shown in bold in Step 4.
7. Your initial posting is to include, at a minimum, three sources properly cited and referenced: (a) the Human Resource Management textbook, and (b) two academic journal articles obtained through OCLS that are at least three pages in length and published within the last five years.
   1. For an explanation of what constitutes an academic source, review “What Is a Scholarly Article?”
8. Post your initial discussion by the end of the fourth day of the workshop.
9. Also conduct a critical analysis of postings by two of your classmates by the end of the workshop.
10. Each discussion response to a classmate should facilitate engaging dialogue and evidence critical thinking when addressing your classmate’s posting. Utilize the following ways to engage in scholarly dialogue and expand learning around the topics in this workshop:
    1. Extension: Expand the discussion.
    2. Relevancy: Relate the topic to a current event.
    3. Exploratory: Probe facts and basic knowledge.
    4. Challenge: Interrogate assumptions, conclusions, or interpretations.
    5. Relational: Make comparisons or contrasts of themes, ideas, or issues.
    6. Diagnostic: Probe motives or causes.
    7. Action: Identify an application or an action in personal or work life.
    8. Cause and Effect: Cite causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events.
    9. Hypothetical: Pose a change in the facts or issues.
    10. Priority: Seek to identify the most important issues.
    11. Summary: Elicit synthesis. (Teacher Stream, 2009, p. 5)
11. Each response should be 200 to 300 words in length and include, at a minimum, three sources properly cited and referenced: (a) the Human Resource Management textbook and (b) two academic journal articles that are at least three pages in length and published within the last five years.
    1. At least one academic source is to be different from the two academic sources provided by your classmate.
    2. For explanation of what constitutes an academic source, review “What Is a Scholarly Article?”
    4. Trends. Describe how the company you selected has been affected by the trends discussed in Chapter 2 and/or as identified by Jerath (2018) in the Society for Human Resource Management article “Look Ahead at Trends for 2018.”
    5. HR Practices. Does the company utilize the strategic HR practices recommended in Chapter 2? Give an example or suggest a strategic HR practice, that in your opinion, might benefit the company and explain why.
    6. Suggestions. Suggest how the company might deal with the challenges posed by the trends discussed in Chapter 2 and/or as identified in the SHRM article written by Jerath (2018; refer to the link in Step 1).

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2019). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage (11th ed.). New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill Education.

Teacher Stream, LLC. (2009). Mastering online discussion board facilitation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-onlinelearning-

mastering-online-discussion-board-facilitation.pdf