HR GUIDELINES

• Interest & usefulness for the manufacturer


The Guidelines are intended to stimulate thought and then action on the part of a company to change its Human Resources (HR) strategy so that it is in tune with its business strategy. To assist companies, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are provided and guidance is given on the HR strategy development process. Changes may be incremental by addressing specific areas for improvement or major as a part of a substantial strategic restructuring programme. It is aimed at small and medium sized businesses which do not necessarily have the luxury of employing an HR specialist.

Via a step-by-step interactive process, the guidelines help you quantify your own business strategy and then set it in a HR context. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis then allows you to identify the priorities for the particular HR areas that need to be addressed, currently and in the future as the business strategy evolves. You are asked to identify any potential barriers to change and an action plan is the final step which not only identifies the change you are seeking but how and when it will be achieved and communicated.

The three KIP indicators are designed to measure the outcome of the actions implemented and other diagnostics tools are provided to help management through the process of change.

The guide is based on UK experience and case studies within it show how companies have adopted this type of approach to achieve HR change. For example, a cabinet manufacturer with 160 employees introduced ‘lean’ production techniques to reduce the number of component parts in production and trained all of its skilled workers to a nationally accredited standard in lean manufacturing methods. The numbers of component parts have subsequently reduced by 20% and 15% savings in general efficiencies have been achieved to date. The case studies (CS) in the guidelines highlight strategic changes achieved by Companies in the following areas:


• Recruitment (CS4 & 6)
• Training & Development (CS1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10)
• Outsourcing/consultancy (CS5 & 6)
• Empowerment (CS1, 4 & 6)
• Management (CS1, 3, 6, 7, 8)
• Reward and performance (CS6, 7, 9, 10)
• Work systems (CS 1-11)