Strategic Human Resource Management

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1.1 Importance of strategic human resource management in organization

Human resource is referred to as the function of business that has been designed for the purpose of maximizing the performance of employees. It is concerned with management of people in the business and lay emphasis on policies as well as systems. There is huge importance of strategic human resource management in Thomas Cook. This has been enumerated as under:

Optimum utilization of resources: Every firm has limited amount of resources available with it. The company makes sure the efficiency of the personnel with reference time as well as productivity (Armstrong, 2011). The firm focus on making development of practices that reduces the amount of waste in terms of time and resources. This is in order attain the goals of Thomas Cook in an effective manner. With the assistance of staffing and training the employees can be developed for attaining business goals.

Employee commitment: Through human resource management the firm can analyze the efficiency of the personnel. It acts as an aid in training and developing the employees by the methods that are related with training practices (Lawler and Boudreau, 2009). Thus the commitment of employees can be gained through this.

Securing cooperation: The workforce that is cooperative assists in developing healthy work environment within the business. For the purpose of managing working it is essential to develop effective policies regarding grievance handling as well as fair practices of working.

1.2 Assessing purpose of strategic human resource management activities in an organization

Human resource management plays an imperative role in achievement of the organizational goals. It is due to the reason that the efforts of the workers results in attainment of strategic objectives of the business. There are different purpose of strategic human resource management activities within Thomas Cook. These have been assessed in the manner below:

High performance management: It is concerned with number of interrelated procedure of the business. This has influence on the overall performance of the organization. This can be carried out by people of firm with assistance of quality production, relationship management as well as consumer services (Lynch, 2006). Through high performance the business can achieve its desired targets within specified duration of time.

High commitment management: With the involvement of the personnel in the planning process of the organization has resulted in individual growth. This further results in gaining the mutual commitment of the personnel (Arthur and Boyles, 2007). Through trust of the employees within the business strong committed work force can be obtained by Thomas Cook.

High involvement management: The company believes in the policy of considering the personnel as partners of business. With this effective communication can be established among the different departments of the organization. Moreover the involvement of employees increases the morale of the personnel to carry out the work with effectiveness.

1.3 Evaluating contribution of strategic human resource management to achievement of business objectives

There is greater contribution of strategic human resource management in the achievement of the business objectives to a significant level. Human resource develops strategy that guides the employees of Thomas Cook to carry out the operations in an effective manner. Ever business possess certain objective for which it comes into emergence. The main objective of Thomas Cook is to enhance its sales as well as profitability. This can be effectively achieved through maintenance of productivity with the organization (Rothwell and Kazanas, 2003). In addition to this it also includes retention of the employees so that job can be performed with effectiveness. In order to achieve several business targets the role of strategic human resource management is very crucial.

This is because through this the company can attain its goals in an effective manner. For instance, in case the business has objective to increase the sales as well as profits then it can look over the recruitment of the personnel. This would assists the business in gaining qualified and skilled employees that can bring improvement in the overall sales and revenue of the firm (Nikandrou and Papalexandris, 2007). Such can be attained by Thomas Cook only when it makes appropriate planning in relation to the human resource management. Likewise the employees can be retained only when they are satisfied with the job. This can be achieved by offering proper motivation to the employees. Thus with this the company can focus on attaining its overall targets that results in increasing its performance to a significant level.

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2.1 Analysis of business factors that underpin human resource planning

There is existence of several business factors that underpin human resource planning in the organization. These factors have been analyzed as under:

Growth of business: With the assistance of new innovations as well as strategic alliance the company like Thomas Cook has ensured major growth in the present era. In order to manage such opportunities it is essential for the organization to make recruitment of new and highly skilled personnel. Thus this assist the employees in dealing with the changes that occurs with the internal environment of the organization. This can be effectively carried out by the means of organizing training programs (Finegold and Frenkel, 2006). In case when the business is at declining phase then they may not develop new products rather the company has to rely on the existing product for attainment of its targets.

Changing nature of work: The company like Thomas Cook is changing the nature of its work. This has been done by making introduction of new technologies and policies for improving work environment. Appropriate training can be offered so that employees can be made comfortable with the changes that emerges within the firm. With the assistance of this the company can effectively increase its productivity and efficiency.

Cost of labour: In order to control the cost of labour the company is engaged in offering training to the existing personnel. This is results in cutting down the cost of hiring the fresh talent within the firm.

2.2 Assessing human resource requirements

The human resource requirement of the business is affected by several factors. This is in relation to enhancing the size of operations, expansion and reduction plan of the business. It is essential for the company to develop planning in relation to internal and external factors that affects the requirements for human resource. In case the company is planning for its expansion in other countries then for such it has to determine the number of manpower required. Further it addition to this the company has develop personal specification plan that includes skills, experience and qualifications that are needed within the personnel.

The major task with the company is to match the personnel to the requirement of the organization (Fong and et.al., 2011). This implies that Thomas Cook is required to determine whether or not the ability of the manpower is effective in achievement of the desired targets of the business. The internal factors includes labour requirement, skills requirement and workforce profiles. Such has huge impact on the human resource requirement as they guide the type of manpower that is needed for the purpose of achievement of business objectives. In contrast to this there are external factors which involves demand for labour, supply of labour as well as government policies.

Such factors influences the labour requirement within the business. In case the demand of labour is more and the supply is less then the company will have to pay huge amount to the employees and they are limited number of manpower in the market. Such results in affecting the overall operations of the business to a greater extend.

2.3 Developing human resource plan

In order to develop human resource plan series of steps needs to be followed by the organization. These have been enumerated as under:

Recruitment: It is defined as the process through which potential job applicant is searched. This is in order to persuade the people to apply for the vacant job position. This assist the business in achieving its goals in an effective manner. For performing such the company has to define predefined approach of selection (Gloet, 2006). This is designed in the manner that the needs of the company with respect to skills required within manpower is fulfilled.

Retention: Human resource plan cannot be accomplished without retention policies. Thomas Cook can carry out such by motivating the personnel in an effective manner. Moreover such can be conducted by appraising the performance employee in order to boost their morale to perform the job with effectiveness. Thus for retaining the employee the company can offer financial rewards to the personnel so that they can be offered with job satisfaction.

Development of employee: With the assistance of planning, the development of employees can be ensured. Thomas Cook can perform such in an effective manner by offering adequate amount of training to the personnel.

Re-skilling and up-skilling: At this stage the company can determine the learning requirements of the personnel (Saunders and et.al., 2007). In accordance with this the company can make arrangement regarding the programs that can be organized in order to update the skills and knowledge of the personnel in an effective manner. With this the aim of the company can be achieved.
Succession planning: The data that is gathered from the above mentioned stages is utilized in the particular step. Such activity results in providing effective plan for succeeding in the future time period.

2.4 Critical evaluation of ways in which human resource plan can contribute to meeting organizational objectives

The role of human resource planning is crucial in hospitality sector. This is because such assists the firm in monitoring the performance of an individual or a team in an effective manner. Thomas Cook has make alterations in its working with the changes in the needs as well as preferences of the customers. The skilled personnel plays critical role in achievement of the organizational targets. In each department there is requirement of qualified staff that can perform the business functions with effectiveness (Hutchinson, Quinn and Alexander, 2006).

Human resource planning is critical in infusing the strategic fit within organization. Such can be done through alignment of business goals with that of individual efforts. In addition to this the role of employee involvement as well as performance measurement is major as it contributes to the entire procedure. This develop feeling of belongingness within the employees of Thomas Cook. This results in increasing their loyalty towards the business and thus affects their morale to a greater extend. This has overall impact on the performance as well as productivity of the firm. The needs of the company can be effectively met only when it make forecasting of human resource plan. With this the flaws can be determined which can be improved with the assistance of development programs.

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3.1 Purpose of human resource management policies in organization

There is greater requirement for the human resource policies in organization like Thomas Cook. Policies are referred to as guidelines that is in written format. Such assists the organization in carrying out its functions with effectiveness. The main aim of the human resource policy of Thomas Cook is as follows:

Appropriate recruitment and selection: It is the referred to as the recruitment as well as selection activity of the firm that results in generation of employment within Thomas Cook in an effective manner. The policy of assortment of the company is based upon the fact that is related to hiring of the suitable employee within the corporation (Jackson and Seo, 2010). In order to attain the objectives, the organization needs to make appointment of the talented personnel who can effectively perform for the recruitment objective of the

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