In order to link the workforce activities to the strategy of an organization strategy, Human Resource Management is the best way. HRM is frequently referred as Strategic HRM. The main driving force of an organisation is resources. There are usually two types of resources which are considered in the organization that can be tangible or intangible. Finance, company’s place, employee’s etc are the tangible resources while intangible resources include goodwill or repute of an organization, capabilities of an employee. As for a organization both types of resources are very important but considerable edge over the other resources is gone to human resource or workforce. it is independent resource while the other resources are dependent . As the human being every one has different talent and capabilities from others so the employees in any organization are different from each other in this regard.(Mathis, Jackson:2007)
HRM has several goals:
To fulfil the requirements of the business and management
There should be a link of human resource strategies / policies towards the business objectives.
To find different methods for human resources to “add value” to an organization.
To help a business get the loyalty of employees to its morals, goals and objectives.
In simple words the HRM is defined as employing, maintaining and compensation the people in time with the job and organizational need. Human Resource Management is a managerial function which usually concerned with hiring, motivation and maintaining people. Its main focus in any organization is people. (Stredwick, 2005)
“Intangible resources are very important to an organization as they contribute much more than the tangible resources to total value of the asset of an organization” (Grant, 2005)
To get the competitive advantage over its competitors training and Development of employees is a strategic tool that an organisation uses. In general education is “mind preparation” while training is the systematic development of the knowledge ,skill capabilities and attitude needed by an employee to fulfil the requirement of the job and development is the growth of the employees in the sense of their understanding and awareness of the job performed by them.
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn” (Albert Einstein, 1879 – 1955)
“Learning without thought is labour lost. Thought without learning is intellectual death” (Confucius)
By giving proper and effective training and development and keeping the focuses on the desired outcomes is a key function of the human resource management. Any organization that has Innovation and having a competitive advantage over competitors, it is only possible with the help of capable employees supported by strong information and understanding about their field of interest. Of course during the training and development program, cost and time investment is critically important for the smoothly running of operations during the way of the project. (Holt: 1993).

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According to Baldwin et al ,1994 reported that it is an experienced by small and medium firms that if they have skilled labour it is one of the most important factors contributing to their growth. In order to be successful in a global market, an encouraged, stimulated, happy and skilled labour which a small firm needs that can generate at low costs.
Importance of Human Resource:
Flexibility and adaptability is fundamental for the human resource to own. As the circumstances changes with the passage of time, so the management program of their training and development for the development of employees should take this feature into concern as well.
According to Dransfield, 2000 human resource management is very important and mainly it is due to the capabilities and skill of the people and best utilisation of resources by the organisation in the way they want to.
People/ Workforce as a key Resource of any organization:
The most important activities in any organization are workforce planning. People are the most important key factor of any organization. TO build up a team of expert, skilled and specialised individuals is also a key function of the human resource management.
It starts with the analysis of the strategic position of any organization. The desired outcome of this analysis is then feed into a forecasted demand and supply of the labour for the organization. At the end of this analysis the establishment and execution of a human resource plan which man aim is to force plan how Strategy feeds? (Vernez: 2002)
How a workforce demand forecast?
In order to get an accurate forecast of the workforce size there should be proper planning to put the human resource together. Main key factors are;
There should be a demand between existing and new products or services
What part of an organization is disposed off or what product closure.
Introduction and implementation of new technology
There should be cost reduction programmes.
Any merger, Acquisition, joint venture, partnership. (Vernez : 2007)
How a workforce Supply forecast?
The main point for the estimation of supply is the existing workforce. So it is possible of any organization to make a forecast of the workforce size and ultimately this can be compared with the strategic needs of any organization, which results is “workforce gap” (that’s mean a forecast of too few or too many employees). The main role of the HRM is to fulfil this gap. (Vernez: 2007)
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT AS SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:
Knowledge capital through training and development as a source of competitive advantage but how any organization can get it?
Knowledge Capital:
Know how that comes from information, learning, skills and experiences of the people of any organization. It is the most important point of the human resource capital.
“The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage” (Arie de Geus: 2002)
Competitive Advantages:
“Knowledge worker productivity is… (The) only real competitive advantage in a global Economy” (Drucker: 2007)
A Competitive advantage is an advantage of an organization over its competitors which it gets by offering customers big value , either by giving them higher services or benefits or by lower prices that justifies. Every Organization derives competitive advantage through training and development. In any organization there is a greater stability, elasticity and ability for growth. At least two years training contributes towards the employee’s stability. Employees become more efficient and effectively participate towards the growth of the organization. The employees become more versatile in operation by training and they can be transferred to any type of job. So there is surety of flexibility as well and growth will bring prosperity which will affect the yearly profit of the organization.
However by training the accidents damages and scrap of the equipment can be avoided or can be minimised. If the employees are well trained by the organization the complaints absenteeism can be reduced. (Wilson, John: 1999)
Example:
Apple is a multinational organization that designs and markets electronics, computer software, ipod, iphone, laptops etc.
Training programs of APPLE:
The training programmes of the apple have an aim to facilitate their employees to build up their skills and abilities.
1. Educator has Professional development:
Apple offers a broad range of professional growth workshops. In order to produce and bring out digital content for their classes they are intended to give faculty talent and self-confidence. They engage media assignment as to generate creativity and there is teams collaborating in and out of class. Each workshop is lead by ex- educators and is fully adapted for their establishment. (Apple’S DVD Studio Prio web site: www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro)
2. IT has Professional Services:
With your IT Department for a planning of implementation of new technology the apple professional team participate. Even team can handle those proposals over time. (Apple’S DVD Studio Prio web site: www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro)
3. iLife, iWork and pro application certifications:
In order to prove their abilities and expertise at creating digital content such as movies, music presentation and much more , the students and educators are awarded by associate -level certification in iLife or iWork. (Apple’S DVD Studio Prio web site: www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro
4. Programmes like Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server and service certifications:
To avoid the troubleshoot Mac OS X or to implement a Mac OS X.
Server – based system, apple does offer training and certification
Courses and programmes.
It offers an update version of iPhone development training course that includes full coverage of iPad development. Another 5 days course is conducted for the introduction of iPhone and iPad development.The two other courses are in the queue
ANSIC Programming
Objective -C for beginners.
The trainer choose their classes what they need and these classes are taught by two well -known and highly regarded iPhone developers Jonathan Lehr, founder of About Objects, and Aaron Morse, developer of numerous hit iPhone apps including TapDefense, and Trenches. (Apple’S DVD Studio Prio web site: www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro)
Challenges faced by HRM:
There are few challenges which are facing by HRM:
1. Globalization:
As there is no right or wrong way to run any organization, many organizations have taken initiative to improve HRM in their own organizations. Success of any organization depends on the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Globalization is a biggest challenge for HRM because of the change in technology every day. (Shermon, 2004)
2. Cost and Investment:
As the training given by the organization, the organization should spent time and money on it. And sometimes after training the employees do not stay within the organization this is the biggest challenge faced by the organization and every organization should allocate its specific budget for the training and development of the employees. But when the organization obtained the outcomes according to the needs and requirements than this cost and time worth it.
“The expense on the training of the employees will be a recurring advantage for the enterprise for a long time to come which will be in the form of increased efficiency of the employees” (Singla , 2000)
3. Keeping Pace with Rapidly Changing Technology:
As in the era of globalization, with the passage of time Technology is also changing rapidly which has become a severe problem for the human resource management to cope with. In order to be update with the market, the training and development program should be updated according to the need of time and market condition. (Haines: 1999)
4. Uncertainty:
Future is uncertain so the market situation is always unpredictable and to keep the employees up-to-date with the current market situation, it needs a complete study of the current business situation.
5. Retention of the employees:
The Big problem faced by an organization is to retain their personnel after their training and development programmes. The competitors always try to take their assets of the organization. (McKeown, 2002)
6. Product Life Cycle:
As this is a new modern technology era and due to globalisation the changes occurs so quickly that you should need to keep your employees up to date by giving them training programmes and workshops or short courses because the life cycle of any IT related program is very short.(Stark , 2005)
7. Diversity:
According to Thomas,1992 “proportions of workplace diversity include, but are not limited to: age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”
The innovative ideas can be brought only by the diverse body of talent so the success of any organization depends on it. With the mixture of the talents any business opportunities can be attracted by an organization more rapidly and quickly in this globalisation era (Cox, 1993), which must be the most important organizational objectives.
Differentiation:
Core benefits are the benefits which are the expectation of the customers that they will receive it from the product. So the main thing of any organization is that “what is important to the customers”. Theses are the benefits which all of your competitors will offer to the customers in order to be differentiated from its competitors. (Armstrong, 2006)
HR Planning & Linking Corporate Strategy through Training and Development:
This is a vital function of HR and if it is neglected it might put organization in financial trouble as Rothwell, 2001 said “the lack of integration between human resource management and strategic business planning processes is increasingly acknowledged as a major source implementation failures”
So importance of the linkage strategy between corporate strategies when proper training is given with relevance to the company’s corporate strategy. Each organization has a corporate goal and plan while the plans include HR objectives. So during training and development program, these objectives should be focused to the employees.
Strategic Human Resource Training and Development:
1. Strategy:
Human resource management can deal any aspects of the organization which will affects such as employees training, hiring development etc. Strategic HR management is a proactive management of people. Basically it improving everything from hiring to the employees training programs to techniques and discipline.
2. SWOT:
There should be SWOT analysis during the training and learning process. This analysis looks at the internal organizational strengths and weaknesses and external factors which are opportunities and threats. These are most important strategic factors as to organization’s future.
3. Cost Benefit analysis:
During the training and development of the employees there should be some cost benefit analysis that there should be some strategies to measure the best utilization of resources and lower the cost for up scale attributes. With the new product development it always entails significant costs. These are not only sunk but also fixed. As cost is the main concern of any managerial part.
4. Issues of the people:
For the achievement of the organizational goals, the people, practises are all purposeful. The issues between people can be resolved b giving them proper training and development.
Building Innovation Potential:
Knowledge creates knowledge and while it is in the process it brings competitive advantage which leads to innovation. According to Dan Remenyi, 2001 said “creativity is typically considered as the basis for innovation, and innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization”
The ability to think about of any new idea is called Creativity. This includes the ability to basically it an ability to rethink an old idea and innovation is a process to put that ideas into process. (Bundy, Miles: 2002)
For the survival innovations are must for the organizations. Any organization to prove itself in the marketing must bring some innovation and creativity in its business
Example of Innovation and Creativity:
Apple’s finished goods are not only differentiated by excellence but they are innovative and cutting edge. Consistent investment in R&D creates innovation. The company is excellent in order processing and delivery.
Creativity Innovation and Design— Apple
Apple, Inc – Innovative Products are iPod Nano, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPod Shuffle.
Any successful organization must incorporate all three in order to get the competitive advantage. When one company makes creativity than it will lead to the innovation of the other organization
new iPhone Design:
Any initial idea is creativity while design comes through this idea. While through information that developed the product or service is design and creativity is just n idea to put into process. Innovation also brings competition in the market.
Recommendation:
It is highly recommended that training and development programme is an integral part of human resource management roles and responsibilities.
There should be some activities which are highly recommended.
Training & Learning Courses
Workshops
Certification
Highly demand development courses
Planning should be according to the needs and demand of any organization. There should be set up budget for training and development of the employees of any organization. But in order to be up to date with the globalization changes in the market /industry training courses and workshops should be highly recommended because innovation and creativity would only be possible if the organization has up to date knowledge and trained its employees according to the demand of the customer and for the competitors as well.
Conclusion:
In order to get the objective and goals of any organization it is highly required by any business to have the complete and detailed process of planning and study work of its training and planning programmes. The employees should be trained by proper training and development programs in order to get the competitive advantage in the market or industry.
So it is the management part or wok not to waste time and money and utilize these resources properly in order to get the desired output.
As earlier discussed that innovation, creativity, sustainability and differentiation is the integral part oh human resource management. If the training level should be up to that point that could enhance the capabilities of any employees and they have the confidence to overcome any worst situation in more efficient manner.
Psychological there might be pressure and financial distress but at the end training is long lasting with the satisfaction and demanding product in the market.
For the longer life of any organization specially in the globalize world it would only be possible if its products and services are according to the requirements of the customers and have some competitive advantages like Apple which is only possible by the training and development programmes of the organization.
So conclusively, focussed, broad and meaningful training of the employees is the main soul of any organization.