Human Resources And Human Resource Decisions - 1446 Words

Human resource decisions, according to Becker and Gerhart (1996), contribute to organizational performance either by improving efficiency or contributing to revenue growth. Those that are in charge of human resources are responsible for assisting the organisation to motivate its employees to perform well (Henderson, 2008). Human resource management (HRM) has often been defined within two distinct forms; short-run responses and long-term strategies (Truss et al, 1997). Short-run responses and long-term strategies were finely defined by Storey (1992) and Guest (1987), making the key distinction where the emphasis is being placed on either ‘human’ or the ‘resource’. These widely adopted models of HRM are concerned with strategic issues†¦show more content†¦Long-term strategies on the other hand, are in place for a long period of time, that would ensure sustainability. They are also known as soft HRM. With long-term strategies, control is more achieved through commitment, communication with the same ultimate gain to secure competitive advantage (Truss et al, 1997). For this essay, I will be discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of both short-run responses and long-term strategies, with the support of academic references to support each case. This would therefore lead to an overall conclusion deciding between short-run responses and long-term strategies. Short-run Responses (Hard Human Resource Management) Advantages Short-run responses are expected to result in a more economical labour-force, in a situation where decision making is quicker and focused on senior managers (Wilkinson, et. al, 2014). By doing so, it reduces costs that can be incurred when running a process over a long period of time, therefore saving money and time (Cooke, 2000). It also reduces costs as it focuses to increase the numerical flexibility of the workforce (Ryan and Macky, 1998). Therefore, doing so by using employees with lower level of skills as there is not much emphasis on training and development (Gill, 1999). The adoption of this strategy shows that short-term cost effectiveness rather than skill retention of the workforce is a managerial priority (Cooke, 2000). A second benefit of short-run responses is that it