Strategic Human Resource Management Essay

Strategic Human Resource Management

In general, human resource management has adhered to one of two major models in the workplace; the "best fit" and "best practice" model. To determine which of these is best, companies should carefully examine the advantages and challenges of each. For each company, the outcome should adhere to the needs and culture of the personnel base involved.

Morris and Maloney (2) offer an overview of both models. The best fit model, for example, aims to match human resources strategy with the existing strategy of the corporation. In other words, the strategy of the corporation remains static, while human resources strategy is modified to obtain a good fit. This is then assumed to improve organizational effectiveness.

According to Armstrong (2008: 40), the best practice approach, on the other hand, assumes that there is a set of HRM practices that will inevitably lead to superior organizational performance. This model is the opposite from the best fit model, in that HRM practices are not necessarily flexible, but that there is a set of best practices that will universally have the desired effect. These practices include strategies such as employment security, selective hiring, self-managed teams, high compensation matched with performance, training, sharing information, and so on. According to the author (Armstrong 2008: 44), some have been critical of the best practice model. The notion of a single set of best practices, for example, does not necessarily adhere to the best possible strategy for HR managers. According to the critics, for example, each firm has its own distinctive management practices. To subvert these to a specific and commonly accepted set of rules is not necessarily "best practice" as such. At the core of the criticism is therefore that the best practice model does no provide sufficient flexibility to be viable in the reality of the business world.

The best-fit approach, on the other hand, allows for much more flexibility. In this model, as seen above, the context, circumstances, and type of organization differ among different organizations, but remain internally static, while HR strategies are modified to fit in with these.…