Report on Strategic Human Resource Management in Implementing Total Quality Management at Bajaj Steel Industries Ltd., Nagpur

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In recent years, the strategic contribution of Human Resource Management in order to meet organization’s overall aims, been widely acknowledged. In most cases this meant that the management has changed their methods of how they are working with their personnel policies.

Human resource management acts as a strategic partner for the organization. It contributes to the company´s achievements by translating all of the overall strategies into human resource practice.

Some Intellectuals argue that TQM often fails because it may only focus on TQM statistical tools (the Hard side of TQM) while ignoring critical human resources variables (the Soft side of TQM)( Wilkinson 1994). According to a number of writers these human resource variables may include the following (Blackburn & Rosen 1993; Bowen & Lawler 1992, Cardy & Dobbins 1996: Costigan 1995: Wilkinson, Marchington, and Dale 1993):

- Helping to devise the strategic plan around quality

- Service as a change agent to help transform the organisational climate to a culture of quality

- Transforming individual job analysis to team analysis describing broad, flexible team activity statements

- Recruiting applicants with realistic previews of working in a quality oriented organisation

- Selecting employees with the quick ability to learn TQM tools and the interpersonal skills to participate in quality terms

- Training quality teams in TQM tools and teamwork

- Training team leaders and managers in coaching and facilitating skills

- Informally mentoring employees in TQM skills

- Creating communications, such as newsletters and videos , about quality

- Designing performance evaluation and reward systems that focus on quality improvement and customer satisfaction

- Devising career development programs that emphasize skill breadth and cross functional career moves

- Creating surveys to measure employee involvement in and satisfaction with quality initiatives

- Working with unions to enhance labour management partnering efforts in quality improvement

- Improving safety and enhancing the physical workplace to improve the quality of working life

The Eight Principles of Quality Management

The ISO 9000:2008 standards give an eight fold path of principles related to the Quality concerns for an organisation

Principle 1: Customer Focus

Organisations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations

Key benefits:

- Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and fast responses to market opportunities.

- Increased effectiveness in the use of the organisation’s resources too enhance customer satisfaction.

- Improved customer loyality leading to repeat business.

Applying the Principle of customer focus typically leads to:

- Researching and understanding customer needs and expectations.

- Ensuring that the objectives of the organisation are linked to customer needs and expectations.

- Communicating customer needs and expectations throughout the organisation.

- Measuring customer satisfaction and acting on the results.

- Systematically managing customer relationships.

- Ensuring a balanced approachbetween satisfying customers and the other interested parties (such as owners, employees suppliers , financers, local communities and society as a whole).

Principle 2: Leadership

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organisation . They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving organisation’s objectives.

Key Benefits:

- People will understand and be motivated towards the organisations goals and objectives.

- Activites are evaluated, aligned and implemented in a unified way.

- Miscommunication between levels of an organisation wiil be minimised.

Applying the principle of leadership typically leads to:

- Considering the needs of all interested parties including customers, owners, employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole.

- Establishing a clear vision of the organization's future.

- Setting challenging goals and targets.

- Creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels of the organization.

- Establishing trust and eliminating fear.

- Providing people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability.

- Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing people's contribution

Principle 3: Employee Involvement

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization's benefit.

Key benefits:

- Motivated, committed and involved people within the organization.

- Innovation and creativity in furthering the organization's objectives.

- People being accountable for their own performance.

- People eager to participate in and contribute to continual improvement.

Applying the principle of involvement of people typically leads to:

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