Table of Contents
Assessment Questions
Question 1
AC1.1 In recent times people management specialists have sought to distance themselves from administrative activity, re-positioning our function as one focused on strategic activity which ‘adds value’. To what extent do you agree with the view that this is a mistake? Justify your answer and include an explanation of the major objectives of people management practice in contemporary organisations.
Introduction
Over the last few years, people management specialists have increasingly redefined their role moving away from traditional administrative tasks and towards activities, which are seen as to contribute value to the organisation/organisation (Cayrat and Boxall, 2023). It has been motivated due to the need to enhance organisational performance, management of talent and establishment of a more flexible and agile workforce. Critics however, argue that by de-emphasising administrative functions, could undermine the effectiveness of essential operational functions, which include payroll, compliance, record keeping are all important to organisational stability (Arokiasamy et al., 2024). This report critically evaluates whether prioritizing strategic over the administrative functions is a mistake in line with the major objectives of people management in the contemporary organizations.
The Strategic Value of People Management
A strong argument for shifting the focus towards strategic people management; this is because it allows the HR professional to be a true business partner. Studies by Komm et al. (2021) advocate for the need for the human resource function to have the capability to put in place people practices in line with organizational strategy that directly influences business performance. Through the focusing on strategic initiatives such as talent development, leadership coaching and employee engagement, the people management can enable innovation and organisational agility(Kaliannan et al., 2022). Companies with such initiatives, for instance, Google and IBM, have invested in strategic HR to support creativity and ‘adaptability,’ thereby enabling them to gain a competitive edge in rapidly changing markets (Nawaz et al., 2024) The strategic focus encourages people professionals to more proactively rather than just responding to the immediate admin issues.
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