ISSN 0798 1015

Vol. 39 (Nº31) Year 2018. Page 31

Human resource management strategy: implementation features, prerequisites, and effective results

Estrategia de gestión de recursos humanos: características de implementación, requisitos previos y resultados efectivos

Larisa V. MEZENTSEVA 1; Konstantin N. KURKOV 2; Zina A. ARSAKHANOVA 3; Marina V. MARTYNENKO 4; Elena V. TAKMAKOVA 5; Tatyana G. GUSEVA 6

Received: 18/03/2018 • Approved: 01/05/2018

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Materials and methods

4. Discussion

5. Conclusions

Bibliographic references

1. Introduction

Modern society has approached such a stage of its development, when the mind, qualifications and skills of personnel as productive forces become the main sources of social wealth. A new society, based on intellect, interest and information, is emerging. The qualitative variety of information and the possibility of its rapid dissemination are responsible for the high dynamism of the business environment of modern enterprises. In this regard, management of professional and organizational development of the staff requires new approaches (Putnam, 1993). At the same time, it is the aspects of strategic management of the company’s labor resources that cause the greatest difficulties, since on the one hand, they are regarded as the main strategic resource of the enterprise as generators of competitive ideas that ensure its survival in the future, and on the other hand, modern theory and practice of strategic personnel management has a multitude of approaches that require study and further development, taking into account modern business conditions and personnel management features.

Despite the fact that the term “strategic management of the enterprise” came into use in the 1960-70s, in connection with the need to manage the future of companies in the increasingly complex environment of their functioning, the problems of strategic management of the company’s personnel came to the focus of discussions later, in the mid-1980s. It was then that American scientists P. Bamberger and I. Meshoulam tried to prove that in the near future it is human resources that can play an important strategic role in running the enterprise (O’Reilly, Chatman & Caldwell, 1991).

Within the framework of this research, the concept of strategic personnel management needs a critical analysis and generalization of approaches to the definition of it.

The most common is the approach of M. Ortig. The author’s concept of personnel management unites three functions: controlling employees as a direct impact on personnel, managing personnel as an indirect effect on employees and developing the organization as a continuous development of the system (Maslow, 1999). Since the process of enterprise development can be viewed in different time frames, from short-term to long-term, it is therefore logical to assume that the strategic management of personnel within this approach can be viewed as a system of direct and indirect impacts on human resources to ensure the development of the enterprise in the long run (Filippova et al., 2016). At the same time, neither the specific character of strategic management in general, nor the types and features of the mentioned impacts implemented within the framework of this management, as well as the object of their application (the personnel of the enterprise) are specified in this approach.

The approach of E.G. Belskaya, who defines the strategic management of personnel as a specific function of managerial activity, whose main object is the person as an employee entering into certain social groups and ensuring achievement of the organizational goals of the enterprise (Belskaya, 2010), also seems incomplete. Assigning employees, the main role in achieving the objectives of the enterprise, and also implying the need for a differentiated approach to managing them, taking into account belonging to different social groups, the author, however, does not specify the essence of the strategic management of personnel and does not disclose other characteristics of personnel as an object of such management.

H.T. Graham and R. Bennett take a wider perspective of the characteristics of personnel as an object of strategic management. Prioritizing the achievement of mutually beneficial relations between the employee and the company so that “the employer could get the most possible benefit from their skills and skills, and employees could enjoy the maximum possible material and psychological satisfaction from their work”, the authors view the staff as one of the types of resources used, referring to it in quite a consumerist way and ignoring the generally accepted modern view of employees as a priority strategic resource. However, at the same time, the specifics of human resources management are emphasized, which is expressed in the mandatory consideration of “... the achievements of labor psychology and the use of technologies and procedures related to the staffing of the enterprise, the identification and satisfaction of workers’ needs” (Graham & Bennett, 2011). Thus, the presented approach develops an understanding of the characteristics of personnel as an object of strategic management from the position of the motivational and psychological aspect and the aspect of relationships with employers. But at the same time, the essence of the strategic management as such is not disclosed in it.

Armstrong’s approach is more detailed in this respect. According to the researcher, “strategic management of personnel is a stable scheme of planned use of human resources and actions aimed at ensuring the company’s performance of the set goals. This is the approach to making decisions about the intentions and plans of the company in the field of labor relations, as well as in the formation of policies and practices in the field of hiring, training, development, performance management, staff performance and interpersonal relations” (Armstrong, 2008).

Attention is also drawn to the interpretation of the concept of “strategic management of personnel”, presented in the Big Economic Dictionary, as “a functional sphere of activity, the task of which is the formation of workable collectives in which workers are viewed as capital and act with their own interests and for the benefit of the organization as a whole”. Since human capital, according to the same source, is “education, qualification, knowledge and skills embodied in the labor force” (ibid.), it is these characteristics of personnel that can be considered as an object of application of strategic managerial efforts in framework of this approach. The emphasis on the consistency of the individual interests of workers and the values of the development of the enterprise in the long term, that is, the presence of the motivational aspect of personnel management, is also not disputable.

Consideration of personnel as human capital of the enterprise is also reflected in the approach of E. Borisova. The author associates strategic management of human capital with the management of its movement and growth, singling out two approaches: rationalistic and humanistic. The first assumes a high degree of adaptability of the company to a competitive environment due to the flexibility of forms of staff contracting, the intensification of labor of highly skilled workers and the participation of personnel in the distribution of profits. The second is related to the fact that the formation of the company’s competitive advantages is not ensured by the employees themselves, but by their involvement in the enterprise’s affairs due to effective organization of communications, high motivation and flexible leadership (Borisova, 2009). The essential difference between this approach and the previous ones is, first of all, an emphasis on the contextual characteristics of this process.

In the scientific literature, the personnel of the enterprise as an object of strategic management is associated not only with capital. So, according to V.I. Maslow, the strategic management of personnel relies on human potential as the basis of the organization, and represents a program way of thinking and management that ensures the coordination of the goals, capabilities of the enterprise and the interests of workers. It involves not only the definition of the general course of the enterprise, but also an increase in motivation, interest of all employees in its implementation. Identification of personnel as a potential, according to a large economic dictionary, involves taking into account the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the members of the work collective at a given level of development of science and technology (Maslow, 2009).

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the fundamental scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists who substantiated the conceptual provisions in the field of the theory of personnel management, systems theory, and also in the field of innovation management.

The methodological basis of the research is the dialectical method, the system and process approach, the methods of logical and comparative analysis.

The information basis of the study is the materials of official data of the Federal State Statistics Service, materials and reports of management and personnel departments of various enterprises, publications in scientific and periodicals.

The scientific novelty of the study is to develop the features of personnel management within the integrated model of personnel management of an innovative university.

4.1. The main components of HR management strategy

In literature there are many ideas about the content of the elements of the personnel management system. In our work we will rely on the presentation of the personnel management system, where (Biryuk, 2009):

• The management object is the personnel of the organization, i.e. all employees of the organization included in its roster.
• The subject of management is top management, line managers, functional specialists.

Proceeding from here, the human resources management system can be characterized as a set of connected and interacting elements and subsystems that make up a single whole and fulfill the functions of human resource management. With this approach, the classical elements of the personnel management system will be the elements presented in Figure 1.

The main goal of human resources management (the ultimate desired result) is to ensure that the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of personnel are consistent with the organization’s goals. All set of the purposes of the enterprise can be divided into 4 types:

• economic: profit growth;
• scientific and technical: introduction of technological advances, productivity growth;
• production-quantitative: effective production and sales;
• social: meeting social needs.

Figure 1
Human Resource Management System

Source: Prepared by the authors.

Depending on the purposes of the organization, the objectives of human resource management are changed and adjusted.

The system of human resource management objectives is considered in two ways. On the one hand, it must take into account the needs of workers, on the other hand, it must use personnel to realize the organization’s goals. These goals should not be contradictory.

The tasks of human resource management are certain types of work that must be performed to achieve the main goal. There are several main tasks in the management of human resources:

• to ensure the organization of highly qualified personnel;
• to provide continuous training, staff development, effective use of labor potential;
• to harmonize production and social objectives.

The content of activities for the management of human resources is essentially determined by the tasks performed by the organization (Shkurkin et al., 2017).

Human resource management methods are ways to influence people to achieve their goals and solve problems. There are no specific ways of managing human resources as such, they are all based on the general management methods: administrative, economic and socio-psychological (Hekhausen, 2002).

Human resources management functions are separate types of management activities aimed at solving problems and achieving the set goals. All functions of human resources management can be grouped and divided into intra-functions (functions of human resources management) and infra-functions (functions aimed at the organization of the human resources management system).

Intra-functions:

General functions: planning; organization, staffing, accounting, use, incentives, staff development;

Specific functions:

• personnel planning (specification of the need for the number and quality of employees, as well as the time of their use);
• selection and recruitment of personnel (organization of recruitment of candidates for vacancies, organization and conduct of selection (interview and assessment) and reception of personnel);
• staff adaptation (induction);
• evaluation, training and development of personnel (training, retraining and advanced training of personnel, formation of the personnel reserve, development of the business career of personnel, personnel certification);
• personnel motivation (rationing of the labor process and tariffing of the payment of labor, development of systems of material and non-material incentives, as well as application of methods of moral encouragement of personnel);
• personnel accounting (accounting for admission, dismissals, staff movements, documentation of the personnel management system);
• social development (organization of food during the working day, ensuring health and recreation for employees and their families, organizing the development of physical culture, organizing social insurance).

Infra-functions:

• performance of the main tasks for the implementation of the organization's objectives (identification of personnel needs, development and use of personnel, legal and information support of the personnel management process);
• providing for the best result in the implementation of the organization's goals (organization and coordination of all work with personnel, consulting and methodical assistance to line managers, monitoring the implementation of personnel policy in structural divisions, etc.).

Personnel management system also proposes the establishment of a rational organizational structure of management, which reflects the logical relationships of functions and levels of management. It gives an idea of the units, services and individual officials, their specialization, subordination and interrelationship.

Information is the most important element of the personnel management system, no management function is possible to implement without it. New information technologies in human resources management are implemented on the basis of various programs such as the ACS “Cadres”, A&T “Cadres”, “Pharaoh”, “1C” and others, or an automated workplace for the HR specialist.

In its most general form, technology is a technique, skill or service that is used to make certain changes in a material (Bogoviz Alexei, Vukovic Galina & Stroiteleva Tamara, 2013). Sociologist Charles Perrow describes technology as a means of transforming raw materials, whether people, information or physical materials, into the products and services that are sought.

Administrative influences on the management object (the enterprise personnel) can be directed straight to the employee or to their aggregate as a production cell, as well as to the factors of the internal and external environment in which the labor process is taking place. In the latter case, one can speak of an indirect effect on the control object.

The core of the entire human resource management system is the personnel policy of the organization (Ivanova, 2009).

Any organization has its own policy, which can be characterized as a set of rules, according to which the organization as a whole behaves and according to which the people who enter it act. In addition to financial policy, foreign economic policy with respect to competitors, etc., any organization formulates and implements personnel policy.

The term “personnel policy” has a wide and narrow interpretation:

• a system of principles and norms (which must be understood and formulated in a certain way), leading the personnel of the organization in accordance with the strategy of the firm;
• a set of specific rules, wishes and limitations (often unconscious) in the relationships between people and organizations (Maslow, 2009).

In a broad sense, personnel policy is a set of rules and norms, goals and concepts that determine the direction and content of work with personnel for a long-term perspective. Personnel policy realizes the goals and objectives of human resources management (that is why it is considered to be the core of the human resource management system). Personnel policy is formed by the management of the organization, implemented by the personnel service in the process of performing its functions by its employees. It is reflected in the normative documents: the philosophy of the enterprise, the Internal Regulations, the Collective Agreement.

4.2. Key Elements of the Human Resource Management System

In different conditions, the emphasis and priorities of the elements of the personnel management system in the organization will be different. With the change in the goal, objectives, the development strategy of the organization, the personnel management system should be adjusted, restructured (Krasyuk, Bakharev &Medvedeva, 2017). These changes can be either conscious, purposeful, or unconscious (elements are reconstructed spontaneously). In any case, some elements react to changes first, giving a “push” to changes in other elements and transformation of the whole system - these elements will be key. To track which elements are the first to change, it is possible on the following grounds:

• The frequency of mentioning of the elements of the personnel management system in documents issued by companies (what is more often mentioned at the moment is more important);
• The predominance of certain functions in the structure of the activity of the staff service (in the organizational practice, this or that element of personnel management prevails, and the subjects of management may not notice this);
• The set and hierarchy of channels through which companies inform the external environment (investors, customers, candidates, etc.) of changes (websites, social reports, etc.).

External and internal documents are equally important. At the same time, documents intended for the external environment reflect the ideology and state of affairs for a certain reporting period, acceptable in the organization’s view. Differences in the structure of information presented on sites and in social reports can be evidence of the backlog of practice from ideology, the same weight (an insignificant difference in the structure) will indicate the implementation of intentions.

For further analysis, we study only such elements as purpose, objectives, functions, information and organizational structure. When carrying out the diagnostics of the personnel management system, it is necessary to pay attention to these elements, since methods and technology are secondary to other elements of the personnel management system, being a consequence of changes occurring in the organization. Personnel policy is reflected in the goals, tasks and implemented functions.

4.3. The Development of Questions of Organizational Behavior as a Method of Personnel Management in an Enterprise

In order to successfully operate the enterprise, the processes of formation and development of the corporate culture must be managed, otherwise it will develop spontaneously, so we propose the following directions of its development (Figure 2).

Figure 2
Directions for the corporate culture development

Source: Prepared by the authors.

The main provisions of this concept boil down to the fact that the bearer of a corporate culture is a single person with a personal culture. The association of individuals into groups forms subcultures of the organization, which in turn form a unified corporate culture capable of working for the purposes and tasks of the organization and ensuring the growth of labor productivity at

attract their authenticity and truthfulness, the sound of a truly enterprises of the agro-industrial complex.

Corporate culture is formed, proceeding from values and organizational norms. By the norms it is necessary to understand the general rules governing the behavior of employees, which lead to the achievement of the enterprise’s goals. Roles establish the contribution of everyone to the overall activity, depending on the formal or informal position held by the enterprise, as well as mutual control and mutual expectations of employees. From the point of view of sociology, staff is a group of employees, each of whom receives and shares common norms, values and goals of the enterprise, has established personal value orientations, has the necessary set of skills and qualities that allow them to occupy a conditioned position in the social structure of the enterprise and execute the corresponding social role (Konovalova, 2010).

In literature there are many examples that reflect the values and positions of the activities of different enterprises (Demyanova & Obermeister, 2009; Gruvman, 2010; Kirillova, 2010). They human voice and group unanimity, the coloring of high responsibility and ethical norms of people’s behavior, the connection of producers and consumers (Cameron & Quinn, 2001).

Values should meet the needs of people in obtaining confirmation that the activities they are engaged in have a role that goes beyond the limits of a particular business, a specific position, specific employees and a specific salary (Abramova & Kostechuk, 2010).

In other words, the strength of organizational culture is determined by at least two significant factors: the level of acceptance by employees of the organization of key values of the enterprise and the level of their fidelity to these values. It seems obvious that even prosperous organizations with a highly developed organizational culture also need continuous development and maintenance of their own cultural values.

The difficulty of maintaining the necessary degree of organizational culture consists in the fact that new employees bring with them not only new ideas and personal approaches to the fulfillment of professional tasks, but also their personal views, values, and beliefs. Personal values of workers can significantly shatter the formed cultural values within the enterprise (Kozlov, 2009). To maintain the developed system of cultural values of the enterprise, it is necessary to exert constant influence on the development of the value orientations of the workers in order to bring them closer to the values of the enterprise itself.

Strategic management of personnel is a complicated and multifaceted concept, because it is located at the intersection of two areas of scientific research: strategic management and personnel management. However, a study and a critical analysis of approaches to its essence showed that in them, to some extent, the basic theoretical provisions are reflected, the generalization of which will achieve the goal of the study.

Strategic management of personnel is the process of formation, effective use and development of the human potential of an enterprise to achieve strategic goals of activity in an unstable environment of functioning, taking into account the characteristics of the relationships, interests and needs of employees.

In the modern literature there are different approaches to determining the essence of the HR strategy, for example, the HR strategy is a continuous process, which includes the following elements:

• planning of staff needs;
• formation of the personnel of the enterprise;
• development of the personnel of the enterprise;
• use and retention of personnel;
• motivational mechanism;
• staff reduction.

The main areas of improvement of socio-psychological methods in motivating staff in the organization can be:

• maintaining a favorable psychological climate in the team on the basis of the development of the conflict management system, the adoption of norms and rules of labor discipline and measures of responsibility for the violation, removing barriers to communication between employees and management.
• creation at the enterprise of a system for preventing conflict situations, stimulating their positive consequences will ensure high efficiency of the management system at the enterprise, maintaining a favorable psychological climate.
• the implementation of the proposed program will significantly raise the level of the organization in the person of its employees, the prestige and interest of working in this company will increase. The departments will identify the most valuable employees, which will allow personnel reshuffling and justifiably distribute posts.
• increase of social guarantees, which will rise the standard of living of employees and will provide for attracting to the workplace professionals with high demands. All these events will inevitably lead to an increase in the working capacity of personnel, and accordingly will positively affect the production and turnover.

In general, it can be concluded that the introduction of proposed activities in combination with the improvement of other management methods will increase the interest of employees in the results of their work and the effectiveness of the entire enterprise management system.

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1. Tyumen Industrial University, Branch in Noyabrsk, Noyabrsk, Russia, E-mail: mlvnnk@mail.ru

2. Russian State Social University, Moscow, Russia

3. Chechen State University, Grozny, Russia

4. Institute of Service, Tourism and Design (branch) in Pyatigorsk of North-Caucasus Federal University, Pyatigorsk, Russia

5. Orel State University in the name of I.S. Turgenev, Orel, Russia

6. D. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Moscow, Russia