Promoting Organizational Fit in Strategic HRM: Applying the HR Scorecard in Public Service Organizations

• Author: J. Barton Cunningham,Jim Kempling
• Date: 01 September 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/009102601104000302
• Published date: 01 September 2011
• Subject Matter: Article

Promoting

Organizational Fit in

Strategic HRM: Applying

the HR Scorecard in

Public Service

Organizations

By J. Barton Cunningham, PhD, and Jim Kempling, University of Victoria

Some mod els of strategi c HRM promote the idea of linking HRM’s practice s so

they “fi t” line manager s’ needs for imp lementing the ir strategies a nd objectives .

We tried to apply the idea of “ fit” by using the HR Scorecard in two public secto r

organi zations: the Vic toria Cool Aid S ociety and the Mi nistry of Water, Land and Air

Protec tion. In our appl ications, we to ok each of the org anization’s s trategic them es

and aske d a series of ques tions to identi fy HRM objectiv es, activitie s, initiative s,

and meas ures to respond to internal cli ent needs. The pr ojects focuse d on the long

range ou tcome of helpin g each organiza tion achieve it s strategies a nd objectives

in an effe ctive and effic ient way. It did this by helping deve lop a better “fit ”

betwee n HRM’s systems , procedures an d practices and what various li ne

depart ments needed.

Introduction

The import ance of HRM (Human Resource Management) in improving performance

is well documented.1Bas ed on a year long study analyzing the H RM practises at more

than 400 companies, Watson Wyatt developed a Human Capital Index (HCI) which

outlined 30 key HR M practises which contribute to shareholder value. These 30 prac-

tises illustrate the importance of: (i) recruiting excellence, (ii) clear rewards and

accountability, (iii) collegial and f‌lexible workplaces, (iv) communications integrity,

and ( v) the pr udent use of res ources in i mplementing HRM policies and practises.2

Other studies highlight the i mportance of strategie s, motivation, and selection and

development pra ctises in improving performance.3

There is an on-going debate on what specif‌ic HRM practices or combinati on of

practices should be used in improving organizational performa nce.4It is possible to

assess a conf‌iguration or a ggregation o f HRM practices on perf ormance5rather than

reviewing the effects of ind ividual practices.6Some researchers adopt a behavi oral

Public Personnel Management Volume 40 No. 3 Fall 2011 193

perspective in s uggesting that valued employee behaviors are an important source of

performance.7Other s suggest that HRM pract ices are contingent on t he “f‌it” between

the HRM system and the organizational strate gy.8

The “f‌it” perspective is prominent in the strategic human resour ce management

literature which sugge sts that the HRM func tion has to be aligned to assist the for mu-

lation and implementation of an organization’s strategies and priorities. The nature of

the “f‌it” between HRM and strat egic objectives is very s pecif‌ic and idiosyncratic in a ny

organization.9As such, H RM processes for recruiting, selecting, trai ning, evaluating

and rewarding employees might de pend on the nature of the organizatio n’s objec-

tives. A str ategic objective like improving c ustomer relations would need to be

supported by HRM policies, programs, practice s, skills, and behaviors which encour-

aged client or customer relations.

“Fit” can be def‌ined internally or externally. Ext ernal f‌it relates to programs, activ-

ities and st rategies that the or ganization develops to respond to the exter nal

environment. Internal f‌it might focus on how organization al and HRM systems are

connected and are useful to e ach other and to internal clients.

This paper illustrates how an HR Scorecard was used in facilitating a better “f‌it”

between HR’s prac tices, behaviors, and skills and organi zational strategi es and obj ec-

tives in two public service organizations. In this sense, thi s project focu sed on

improving the inter nal “f‌it” of HRM to other organizati onal units. The pu rpose was to

assist HRM staff realign their practices in being he lpful to line managers.

Strategic HRM and Organizational Fit

The idea of “f‌it” unde rlies numerous individual, group, or org anizational framew orks

that suggest that one organizational part should be consist ent with the needs,

demands, goals, objectives, and/or str ucture of another.10 I nherent in most applica-

tions of “f‌it” is the assumption that organizations are more effective if the various parts

of an org anization “f‌it” well together.11 I n str ategic HRM, researchers suggest that a

strategy should f‌it with thre e generic variables: (i) HRM p ractices, (ii) employee ski lls,

and (iii) employee behaviors.12

A model of strategic HRM t hat promotes “f‌it” would s tart with a def‌inition of the

organizat ion’s visi on, mission , and strateg ies, and an exam ination of in ternal

resources, (strengths and weaknesses) and exter nal developments (opportunitie s and

threats).13 Given an organization’s strategies, the process involves assessin g the

strengths, weaknesses, opportuniti es, and threats related to HRM. In this model,

HRM’s role is in providing practices and people with skills and behaviors t o imple-

ment the various strategies.

In much of the literature on achieving “f‌it” between strategy a nd o rganizational

systems, scholars assume that HR M departments can quickly adju st their functio ns and

easily implement new practice s.14 However, most admin istrative systems are held in

place by numerous forces, including written rec ords, regul ations, uni on contracts and

employee ex pectations. As a result, there is likely to be a great deal of structural iner-

tia in refocusing HRM to bet ter “f‌it” with an organization’s strategies and objectives.15

Public Personnel Management Volume 40 No. 3 Fall 2011194