Hr strategies Key concepts and terms

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3
HR Strategies
Key concepts and terms
High commitment management
•
High performance management
•
HR strategy
•
High involvement management
•
Horizontal fi t
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Vertical fi t
•
On completing this chapter you should be able to defi ne these key concepts. 
You should also understand:
Learning outcomes
T
•
he purpose of HR strategy
Specifi c HR strategy areas
•
How HR strategy is formulated
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How the vertical integration of 
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business and HR strategies is 
achieved
How HR strategies can be set out
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General HR strategy areas
•
The criteria for a successful HR 
•
strategy
The fundamental questions on 
•
the development of HR strategy
How horizontal fi t (bundling) is 
•
achieved
How HR strategies can be 
•
implemented
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48 Human Resource Management
Introduction
As described in Chapter 2, strategic HRM is a mindset that leads to strategic actions and reac-
tions, either in the form of overall or specifi c HR strategies or strategic behaviour on the part 
of HR professionals. This chapter focuses on HR strategies and answers the following ques-
tions: What are HR strategies? What are the main types of overall HR strategies? What are the 
main areas in which specifi c HR strategies are developed? What are the criteria for an effective 
HR strategy? How should HR strategies be developed? How should HR strategies be 
implemented?
What are HR strategies?
HR strategies set out what the organization intends to do about its human resource manage-
ment policies and practices and how they should be integrated with the business strategy and 
each other. They are described by Dyer and Reeves (1995) as ‘internally consistent bundles of 
human resource practices’. Richardson and Thompson (1999) suggest that:
A strategy, whether it is an HR strategy or any other kind of management strategy must 
have two key elements: there must be strategic objectives (ie things the strategy is sup-
posed to achieve), and there must be a plan of action (ie the means by which it is pro-
posed that the objectives will be met).
The purpose of HR strategies is to articulate what an organization intends to do about its 
human resource management policies and practices now and in the longer term, bearing in 
mind the dictum of Fombrun et al (1984) that business and managers should perform well in 
the present to succeed in the future. HR strategies aim to meet both business and human needs 
in the organization.
HR strategies may set out intentions and provide a sense of purpose and direction, but they are 
not just long-term plans. As Gratton (2000) commented: ‘There is no great strategy, only great 
execution.’
Because all organizations are different, all HR strategies are different. There is no such thing as 
a standard strategy and research into HR strategy conducted by Armstrong and Long (1994) 
and Armstrong and Baron (2002) revealed many variations. Some strategies are simply very 
general declarations of intent. Others go into much more detail. But two basic types of HR 
strategies can be identifi ed; these are: 1) general strategies such as high-performance working, 
and 2) specifi c strategies relating to the different aspects of human resource management such 
as learning and development and reward.

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HR Strategies 49