- HR for Competitive Advantage - Responsibilities of Line Managers - Responsibilities of Staff Manager - Line and Staff Relations - Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager - ASTD Model of Human Resource Management

1. Human Resource for Competitive Advantage
A Presentation by Atul Chanodkar

2. Human Resource Management HR and Competitive Advantage
Human resource management is a distinctive approach to employment management
which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a
highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural,
structural and personnel techniques. (Storey, 1995)
The policy goals for HRM identified by Caldwell (2004) included managing people as
assets that are fundamental to the competitive advantage of the organization, aligning
HRM policies with business policies and corporate strategy, and developing a close fi t
of HR policies, procedures and systems with one another.
A distinction was made by Storey (1989) between the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ versions of HRM.
The hard version emphasizes that people are important resources through which
organizations achieve competitive advantage. These resources have therefore to be
acquired, developed and deployed in ways that will benefit the organization. The focus
is on the quantitative, calculative and business-strategic aspects of managing human
resources in as ‘rational’a way as for any other economic factor.

3. Human Resource Management HR and Competitive Advantage
As Kepes and Delery (2007) comment, a defining characteristic of HRM is that HRM
systems and not individual HRM practices are the source of competitive advantage.
‘Coherent and internally aligned systems form powerful connections that create positive
synergistic effects on organizational outcomes.’
Three strategies aimed at achieving competitive advantage have been identified by
Porter (1985):
1. Innovation – being the unique producer.
2. Quality – delivering high quality goods and services to customers.
3. Cost leadership – the planned result of policies aimed at ‘managing away expense’.
It was contended by Schuler and Jackson (1987) that to achieve the maximum effect it is
necessary to match the role characteristics of people in an organization with the
preferred strategy.

4. Human Resource Management Responsibilities of Line Managers
The line managers are responsible for:
- Formulation of objectives, plans and policies.
- Making policies for implementation of plans and policies and attainment of
objectives.
- Providing supervision and leadership.
- Achieving coordination and exercise control.

5. Human Resource Management Responsibilities of Staff Managers
The staff managers are responsible for:
- Advice, help and guide to line managers in the performance of above functions.
- Provide specified administrative services.
- Interpret objectives, plans and policies.
- Make the best tools available for implementation of plans and policies.
- Help in the selection of and training of employees.
- Measure organizational effectiveness.
- Report results to top management and suggest measures of improvement.

6. Human Resource Management Line and Staff Relations
Line and staff managers are in an interactional and interdependent relationship with
one another. Interactions are involved in their day-to-day relationships of advice,
guidance and service to the line.
The line managers are dependent on staff specialists for achieving their goals. For
example, a production manager can not function effectively if the materials manager
does not provide him supplies, tools and spare parts, raw materials etc.
Similarly, staff managers will find themselves superfluous if line people do not need or
reject their advice and services.

7. Human Resource Management Line and Staff Relations
Another aspect of line and staff relationship is based on their authority relations. The
line managers have command authority over their departments. Similarly, staff
managers have over their own departments. But staff managers have no authority over
other managers, line or staff, outside their own departments. Their function is to give
advice and render service to line departments as well as to other staff departments.
It is discretionary on the part of a line manager to accept or reject the advice of a staff
expert. Acceptance of advice is always voluntary: it can never be forced on others.
The nature of advisory relationship between line and staff imposes a special
responsibility on both of them. The staff manager, in order to be successful, has to gain
the line manager acceptance as a person with expertise, abilities and integrity, before
he can have his advice accepted by them. A staff manager who complains that line
managers do not need his advice, has failed to establish himself as a reliable source of
advice.

8. Human Resource Management Line and Staff Relations
Besides advisory relationship between line and staff, there are a number of dimensions
of authority-responsibility relationship between them. The staff specialists enjoy various
kinds of authority in relation to line which contribute to more effective utilization of
their expertise by the line, and which also lie at the root of many conflicts with it. The
major dimensions of staff authority are:
Implied authority
Compulsory staff consultation
Concurrent authority
Functional authority
Control authority
Administrative authority
Splintered authority (Support).

9. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Human resource managers have strategic and functional responsibilities for all of the
HR disciplines. A human resource manager has the expertise of an HR generalist
combined with general business and management skills. In large organizations, a
human resource manager reports to the human resource director or a CXO-level human
resource executive.

10. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Compensation and Benefits
Human resource managers develop strategic compensation plans, align performance
management systems with compensation structure and monitor negotiations for group
health care benefits.
Examples of human resource manager responsibilities include monitoring Family and
Medical Leave Act compliance, and adherence to confidentiality provisions for
employee medical files. Human resource managers for small companies might also
conduct open enrollment for employees' annual elections pertaining to health care
coverage.

11. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Training and Development
Employee training and development includes new hire orientation, leadership training
and professional development. Human resource managers conduct periodic needs
assessments to determine when training is necessary, and the type of training necessary
to improve performance and productivity. They examine employee performance records
to identify areas where employees could improve through job skills training or employee
development, such as seminars or workshops on leadership techniques.
They also play an integral role in implementing employee development strategy and
succession planning based on training and professional development.

12. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Recruitment and Selection
HR managers develop strategic solutions to meet workforce demands and labor force
trends. An employment manager actually oversees the recruitment and selection
processes; however, an HR manager is primarily responsible for decisions related to
corporate branding as it relates to recruiting and retaining talented employees.
Corporate branding as it relates to recruitment and retention means promoting the
company as an employer of choice. Human resource managers responsible for this
usually look at the recruitment and selection process, as well as compensation and
benefits to find ways to appeal to highly qualified applicants.

13. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Effective Employee Relations
Although the employee relations specialist is responsible for investigating and resolving
workplace issues, the human resource manager has ultimate responsibility for
preserving the employer-employee relationship through effective employee relations
strategies. An effective employee relations strategy contains specific steps for ensuring
the overall well-being of employees. It also ensures that employees have a safe working
environment, free from discrimination and harassment. Human resource managers for
small businesses conduct workplace investigations and resolve employee complaints.

14. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Organization structure and planning
Roles and responsibilities of HR manager in an organization is to build an
organizational structure. The HR roles and responsibilities help in laying the foundation
for the organization. They participate to form different pillars in an organization that is
responsible for its development. They develop different strategies to meet the goals of
the organization and contribute their support to all the departments of their company.

15. Roles and Responsibilities of HR Manager
Build HR policies and maintain them
HR manager responsibilities and duties are to infuse the government’s HR policies in
their organization’s HR policy and keep revising policies for the better performance of
employees.
One must be aware of all the government policies to reflect them in their policy. They
keep track of whether the policies they implemented are working successfully and if not
they take necessary action and inform their reporting executives to check out with their
employees on this. It includes leaves, promotions, regulations, pay, incentives, abscond
policy, working hours, etc.

16. ASTD Model of HRM

17. ASTD Model of HRM
In recent years there has been relative agreement among HRM specialists as to what
constitutes the fields of HRM. The mode that provided the focus was developed by the
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). In its study, ASTD identified
nine human resource areas:
- Training and development
- Organization development
- Organization/ Job Design
- Human resource planning
- Selection and Staffing
- Personnel Research and Information Systems
- Compensation/ Benefits
- Employee Assistance
- Union/ Labor Relations

18. Human Resource for Competitive Advantage
A Presentation by Atul Chanodkar