Managing Human Assets

Description

The human resource is the ‘most vexatious of assets to manage. —Dr. Jac Fitz-enz (2000). Think about the particular difficulties and opportunities involved with managing people in organisations. The management of all resources – financial, physical and human – encompasses unpredictability, uncertainty and a number of ethical considerations. Yet, decisions made about the ways in which organisations plan for and use their people can have far-reaching consequences on societies, communities and individuals – the human resource, after all, is the only resource to have feelings. Organisations have choices about the way in which they choose to employ, deploy, reward and develop people. The most effective HR strategy is one that takes account of all of these elements of the employment experience and balances the needs of the organisation and its workforce to achieve mutual benefit. This exercise encourages you to look at the best ways to achieve this and the difficulties associated with it. For this assignment, you explain conventional approaches to strategy making and analyse alternative approaches to organisational strategy. Reference: Fitz-enz, J. (2000) The ROI of human capital. New York: AMACOM. Think about the role that people issues play in how strategy is made developed and executed in your organisation. In an approximately 500-word response, address the following issues/questions:

• Consider why the ‘human resource’ is difficult to manage. In your response, be sure to include an analysis of both conventional and alternative approaches to organisational strategy and human resources. • In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions: o Why is the ‘human resource’ difficult to manage? o What role do people issues play in strategy making? When writing your responses, synthesise the theory with real-world experience and use examples of the theories in action in a real organisation about which you have read or one in which you have worked