The alignment of Human Resource practices and the business strategy
Introduction
Human resource management is an important department in the success of every company. Many international companies know the importance of the HRM department for its success. The human resource management department determines the performance of the company. The people lead to the success of the company and not technology. The more the skilled workforce the greater the performance and that is why most companies focus on hiring the best candidates. Apart from acquiring the best, the HRM department determines how they can motivate the employees to remain dedicated through pay, invectives, as well as benefits. The case study aimed to determine how the Coca Cola Company has aligned the human resource practices with the business strategy. The study relied on the primary data where the researcher interviewed the top managers of the company using the interview guide to have their opinion on how they align their practices to the business strategy.
Different sections of the Human resource management objectives are outlined in the business strategy of the company. The training and development are some of the practices that the Coca Cola Company uses to help the employees learn new skills that enhance satisfaction, motivation, and achievement of the strategic goals of the organization. The strategic human resource practices have a positive impact on the performance of the company since it leads to structural cohesion and employee engaged synergy, which propels forward to enable the company to respond to the internal and external forces. The human resource practices are determined through the organizational performance in terms of economic, customer, market as well as increased shareholder value-added.
Background & profile of the Coca Cola Company
The Coca Cola Company is the number one company, which deals with the production of soft drinks globally. It holds 51% of the global market and its red and white trademark is the best-known brand worldwide. The headquarter is in Atlanta and it offers more than 160 beverage products in more than 200 nations worldwide. It deals with carbonated beverages, tea, juices, bottled water, sports drinks, and coffee. Also, the company owns Minute Maid Company, which is a North American company that produces juice and other beverages such as Bacardi mixers, Hi-C fruit drinks, breakfast beverages, and Five Alive citrus drinks.
Problem statement
Many business companies have understood the importance of aligning their HRM practices to the organizational strategy to improve performance and productivity. The real-life situation shows that no matter how the business may apply modern technology, without aligning the human resource practices to the company strategies, it cannot obtain sustainability and realize growth. Business competition is a common theme, there are uncertain changes, greater competition among the firms therefore there is a need for continuous innovations, enhanced skills of the employees through further training and development. The challenges in the business world have led to increased research on human resource practices to manage the organization and human resources to maintain competitiveness. Various studies have indicated that when the company aligns its human resource practices to those of the organization.
Human resource practices
Strategic human resource practice includes specific practices, philosophies, formal policies that are designed to attract employees, retain, motivate, and develop employees. They ensure that they have effective functioning and survival of the organization. Employee motivation is one of the strategies that Coca Cola Company uses to ensure the employees align their objectives to the objectives of the company. When human resources are well managed, they lead to a competitive advantage. The leading international companies invest in human resources to help the workers to deliver a good performance. Coca Cola is one of the leading global beverage companies because of human resource management. Some of the strategies used by the Human Resource Management department include training and development, creation of learning environment, employee engagement, payment and rewards, performance management, as well as diversity inclusion
Learning environment
Learning is an essential part of employee career development. Coca Cola Company provides a learning environment for its employees to receive continuous skills and grow in their jobs. The company makes sure that the employees have an opportunity to learn and acquire new skills as well as build their careers. Apart from learning, the company ensures that the employees get fun and enjoy working as they achieve their dreams. Also, the company provides the employees with reimbursement to enable them to pursue higher education at accredited colleges and institutions. The employees are also encouraged to learn from e-learning courses. The employees participate in training programs and conferences that improve their knowledge and skills. The company has succeeded to retain the best employees through employee development programs through talent management, leadership, and employee performance management
Employee engagement
The employees are motivated through employee engagement. The employees feel part of the company if they are allowed to participate and engage in the company activities. The company uses employee engagement programs to make them feel appreciated and valued. The success of the company is determined by how well-motivated and committed the employees are. The company practices this by allowing dialogues, as well as surveys and representative groups, can be engaged. Engagement programs measure workforce engagement and job satisfaction. Besides, Coca Cola Company provides discounted gym membership, free exercise classes, drinks as well as fruits to the employees. They are also given flexible schedules as well as other health and personal welfare benefits that keep them working hard
Payment and rewards
Rewards and payment are very essential to keep employees satisfied. It is important to pay the employees fairly to retain and attract more employees. The company offers competitive pay to its workers, it also provides them with incentives and rewards when they perfume well. There are compensation, pension, healthcare insurance as well as holidays. The company ensures that the reward programs are benchmarked regularly against the groups, which include the main players in the international and global markets.
Performance management
The company expects its employees to perform at best. Feedback plays a key role in the performance of the workforce, performance management enables employees to know their performance goals, as well as their personal and organizational goals, are aligned. It also helps to identify the gaps in the skills and improve them through training. The company allows employees to look for training through annual performance systems. The system enables them to assess their annual performance against the set goals.
Recommendations
Many international companies know the importance of Human resource management for their success. The HRM practices are key to excellent performance. Many skilled and well-managed workforce leads to strong performance as well as productivity. That is why many organizations employ the best candidates. Therefore, for the company to have a competitive advantage it should align the interests of the employees to the objectives of the organization. It can be achieved through good HRM practices towards the employees such as the training and development of the employees to increase their skills and knowledge. Besides, the creation of the learning environment is a motivation for the employees to remain committed to achieving the organizational goals. Other activities that the HRM should practice are employee engagement, payment, and rewards, performance management, as well as diversity inclusion
Conclusion
Human resource management is an important part of the success of every company. Many international companies know the Importance of the HRM department for its success. The human resource management department determines the performance of the company. The first step is to recognize that the human resource department and its duties are strategic assets. They should stop using the traditional function of focusing on the cost. They should focus on value creation. The company should create a system that is created and be aligned with the organizational strategy.