Strategic human resource management
Resource summary
This factsheet was last updated in July 2012.
What is strategic human resource management?
Strategic human resource management (strategic HRM, or SHRM) may be regarded as an approach to the management of human resources that provides a strategic framework to support long-term business goals and outcomes. The approach is concerned with longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching resources to future need.
This interpretation is drawn out in the CIPD book Strategic HRM: the key to improved business performance, which includes comprehensive coverage of the various definitions and approaches to HRM, strategy and strategic HRM.
As illustrated in this work, strategic human resource management is a complex process that is constantly evolving, with theory in this area a subject of ongoing discussion by academics and other commentators. Its definition and relationships with other aspects of business planning and strategy is not absolute and opinion varies between writers.
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- What is strategic human resource management?
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