Human resources staff are among the most important members of any organization, but surprisingly, business owners and managers leave them out while formulating business plans and strategies. They are often not invited for participation in the planning process. In result, when staff members from departments of finance, marketing, sales, or manufacturing are asked for implementing tactics and strategies for the next years, they find themselves in a difficult situation. They fail to plan with the staff members with no or wrong aptitude. It is therefore highly important to align HR strategies with business strategies that could help in achieving goals of the organization.
When HR staff participates in planning, better ideas and strategies can be devised. HR staff members can predict the number of people and the type of skills required. The primary tasks of HR department are promotion, training, recruitment, and outsourcing. These ensured HR strategies can greatly help the organization in fulfilling the plans. In addition, HR department should also participate in driving change management. Change is one of the most critical and important element of the competitive world. Organizations that manage change in a strategic manner are most likely to beat its competitors. For triggering changes in the organizational environment, the HR department needs to systemize and plan training of the staff members and leaders, so they can easily adapt the changes.
It has been observed that if employees are in connection with the company’s strategy then goals are achieved more accurately and efficiently. It can be greatly helpful for the organization, if business plans and strategies are designed in consultation with the HR staff members. They can design performance management goals as according to the company objectives. Similarly, HR can help in recommending the right scale of salary that could balance employee expectations and company finances. It is important to offer the optimal salary to the employee to retain them and at the same time, keeping them within the company’s budget. HR strategies are designed calculatedly that provide options to every decision and action taken by the business owners and management. However, all these HR strategies are developed as according to the business strategies.
The alignment of HR with business strategies is achieved by following certain guidelines. In case of Marriott Resort and most of other organizations, HR collects information from different departments regarding their requirement for the number of employees, their expertise, job level, and other related information. Such information helps HR to develop strategies for recruitment, organization budget, and other processes. For example, for purpose of training of employees, HR department collects information regarding the standard of employees and level of training that has to be delivered. According to the collected information, HR department make estimations of the number of employees that would require training, duration, and costs to be incurred in conduction trainings. In order to estimate results of training, success measures are designed as according to the business objectives. Later on, the success of the training is measured in terms of the level achieved set by business objectives. Similarly, HR strategies are developed for people’s management, leadership management, and reward and recognition by linking up with the business objectives or strategies .
The Marriott Resort list down various HR positions and their key responsibilities that are as follows:
- Human resources coordinator – responsible for conducting timely hiring, training, and administration based on organization strategic goals, mission statement, and overall objectives. HR coordinator is also responsible for collecting information related to employee’s career and development, recruitment, benefits, and orientation and training. Coordinator assists HRM by coordinating and implementing HR programs and initiatives.
- Human resources manager – HR manager is responsible for managing HR office daily activities, including recruitment, training and development, and compensation.
- Assistant training manager – Assistant training manager (Casino) is responsible in driving Marriot values and ensures that training and development activities of Casino staff are strategically linked with the mission and vision of the organization. The manager conducts training programs to promote product knowledge, customer service, company philosophy, and leadership skills.
- Director, personnel services – Director of personnel services assists HR Director in executing strategies that are designed to attract, retain, and motivate diverse workforce. In addition, the director is responsible to direct and work with HR associates to conduct HR office daily activities .
Marriott Resort can improve competitive advantage by focusing on the trainings of their service staff members. Since, services builds up the overall impression of the organization; therefore, resort should emphasize on improving the standard of services. Secondly, the company’s HR department should develop strategies to attract workforce from diverse cultures. At Aruba Marriott Resort, tourists come to stay from different countries. Therefore, diverse workforce can greatly helpful for the organization in improving the competitive advantage. However, for increasing the diversity at Aruba Marriott Resort, the HR team needs to foster culture suitable for various cultures, building long-term relationships with foreign organizations or build a network through strategic alliances, and understand the demographic variations in the workforce. However, Marriott Resort must not affect internal culture of the organization in efforts to graft minorities in the workforce team .
References
Daynes, T. (2011, December 5). The Golden Thread - Aligning HR strategy with business strategy. Retrieved from HR Zone: http://www.hrzone.com/blogs/taradaynes/tara039s-top-tips-news-views-amp-things-use/golden-thread-aligning-hr-strategy-busi
Marriott. (2006). Aruba Marriot Resort & Stellaris Casino. Retrieved from Marriott: http://www.arubamarriottcareers.com/JobDescriptions.html
Righeimer, J. P., & Energy, M. (n.d.). Aligning Human Resources & Strategic Plans. Maverick Energy.
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