How do human resources influence a firm's performance? How does ...

[Chloeellawright]

How do human resources influence a firm's performance? How does strategic HR planning benefit a firm?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What strategic choices does a company have regarding issues such as staffing and performance appraisals? How does the concept of fit relate to decisions made about such HR strategies?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[medine]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: Companies compete for human resources, and those that are capable of attracting, retaining, and motivating good employees are more likely to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. Strategic HR planning helps a company be proactive. It permits explicit communication of company goals. It stimulates critical thinking and examination of corporate assumptions. It identifies gaps between the current situation and the future vision of the company, and it encourages line management participation in HR functions. It enhances the identification of HR constraints and opportunities, and it helps create common bonds across the organization.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: Summary of suggested answer -
 Staffing - internal vs. external recruitment, empowerment vs. centralization of decision making, informal vs. formal employee socialization.
 Performance appraisal - standard or customized, development tool or control mechanism.

An HR strategy's effect on firm performance is always dependent on how well it fits with other factors. This fact leads to a simple yet powerful prediction for HR strategies that has been widely supported by research: Fit leads to better performance, and lack of fit creates inconsistencies that reduce performance. Fit refers to the compatibility between HR strategies and other important aspects of the organization.