Differences in the HR Function
Instructions:-
Question : • Analyse how the HR function varies between organisations in different sectors and of different sizes.
Answer guide lines
. They should provide a brief analysis of how the HR function varies between organisations in different sectors and sizes e.g. candidates may choose to address this by comparing the size and role of HR services delivery in an SME with a large multinational organisation.
Solution
Differences in the HR Function
The Human Resource (HR) function varies depending on the sector: public or private, the industry: retail, manufacturing or service, and the business locality: local, international or national (Reilly, Tamkin, & Broughton, 2007). The function varies because various industries, sectors and localities face diverse issues that cannot be handled in a similar way. International institutions for instance have to deal with different culture, legislations, religions, languages, institutions and labor markets as opposed to local markets (Taylor & Woodhams, 2012). Thus the need for the HR functions to vary to meet the demands of the various organizations.
In large private sectors for instance, the HR functions are more susceptible to using the Ulrich model that involves HR partners of business, shared services and excellence centers. A good example is RasGas. These sectors follow the best practice approaches for instance performance-related variable pay; graduate recruitments; official career paths; and talent management. They outsource transactional processes. On the other hand, the small private sectors, for instance Emsys IT, outsource some of the Ulrich elements; and have one person managing various areas. These sectors practice on-the-job learning, and have tight pay control. They are more flexible to change, have more employee-involvement schemes as opposed to the large sectors and the HR practices change quickly (Faragher, 2014).
The HR functions of public
sectors like Nakilat give accountability great importance (Andreescu, n.d.). They focus on transparency in terms of performance,
equality and diversity throughout the practice. They employ executives on
flexible rates, outsource unskilled labor, and employ strict measures on
internal staff while using casual approaches on external employees. Ooredoo an
example of a Global Multinational Corporations employ the Ulrich model and vary
it across the different regions. Their HR practices depend on cultural factors (Farndale & Paauwe, 2005). They have consistent practices and use one another to
benchmark their various procedures. HR functions should therefore base their
practices on their industry, sectors and localities to ensure productivity.
References
Andreescu, F. Changing the Roles of the HR Function in the contex t of two commercialised public sector agencies in the United Kingdom: a longitudin al analysis of the evolution of strategic HRM (1st ed.). London.
Faragher, J. (2014). Public and private sector HR in 2014: what are the key differences?. Careers In HR.
Farndale, E. & Paauwe, J. (2005). The R ole of C orporate HR F unctions I n Multinational Corporations: The I nterplay Between Corporate, Regional/National And Plant Level. Erasmus University.
Human Capital | Factsheets | CIPD. (2012). CIPD. Retrieved 5 December 2016, from http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/human-capital.aspx
Reilly, P., Tamkin, P., & Broughton, A. (2007). The Changing HR Function: Transforming HR.
Taylor. S, & Woodhams. C. (2012). Studying Human Resource Management (1st ed.). London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.