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Solution
Question 2
In modern highly competitive business environment, an organisation strategic objectives represent high-level and measurable goals outlining organisation expectation of achieving by following elaborate/clear deadlines. According to CIPD 2023) strategic objectives assist an organisation in creating strategic roadmaps, initiatives and projects in alignment with organisation strategy and vision. They are hence short/long-term and articulated/unarticulated business objectives. In achieving organisation current strategic objectives, the role of head of people function is to influence organisation outcomes and performance. According to CIPD (2023a), head of people function is involved in ensuring that they oversee day-to-day business operations.
Agree
It is true that it is the responsibility of head of people function to ensure employment policies and practices support achievement of organisation current strategic objective. The rationale of this include;
Setting appropriate ground rules– As part of the policies and practices implementation, head of people function ensure that similar ground rules are there for all people in an organisation. According to Köchling and Wehner (2020), being in the same page means that employees appreciate the organisation/business practices and expectations. Often, this involve the head of people function engaging in creating and updating organisation structures for enabling organisation strategy. For example, in Saudi Aramco organisation, one of their short term objective is to increase current profits within a period of 6 months with 0.5% annually (Capex , 2024). To achieve this, head of people function has changed how performance review is carried out in the organisation. Initially, performance reviews was being pursued after every quarter. In the next six months, head of people function has made it a mandatory policy for monthly performance review of employees. In long run, head of people function in Saudi Aramco facilitated the change from divisional to hierarchical organisation structure. The outcome of this has been achievement of their long-term objective as a leader in global oil and gas industry. The organisation has recently posted $722 billion in profits (Fortune, 2024). This is more than any other organisation globally.
Reward and Recognition– A reward and recognition policy and practice entail a strategy established by organisations for recognising the employees for their input to success of organisation (Salah, 2016). In Gallup (2023) report, it highlighted that 85% of employees possess the believe that head of people function need to spot best working, offer good rewards and recognition continuously in a year-round basis. Hence, by head of people function ensuring that the policies are well communicated with clarity, employees engagement and commitment is enhanced hence achieving the organisation current strategic objectives. For example, in 2022, Saudi Aramco was involved in implementing flagship Safaniy Offshore Field within a period of one year (Equalocean, 2024). To ensure that this objective was achieved, the leadership teams came up with a digital reward and recognition platform as part of their policy. Through this, there was periodic nudges initiated by the Head of People Function to remind them on recognising the employees and appreciating for good work. As of April 2024, the project is 40% completed. Also, as part of the rewards and recognition, head of people function in Saudi Aramco has also facilitated use of AI in implementing transparency and fairness. As part of their short term objective of summer training program Tomooh program (Saudi Aramco, 2024), their head of people function has updated recognition trends, biasness, recognition made by the head and budget management.
Adhering to labour and employment laws– For an organisation to achieve their strategic objectives, employment policies and practices must be best aligned with a country labour and employment laws. For instance, CIPD (2024) argue that head of people function ensure that employers implement specific strategies pertaining to harassment and discrimination or accommodating people due to their disability. In UK for example, it is the responsibility of head of people function to ensure organisations adhere to Equality Act 2010 (Legislation.gov.UK, 2024). In Saudi Aramco, one of the organisation strategic objective is to improve on their social innovation. According to Fasi (2023) this is a strategy which enhance technology innovativeness, creation of high-value and promotion of sustainable business practices. As part of achieving this objective, the head of people function ensure that Saudisation policy is part of their policy and practice development. The policy ensure that the organisation transform the Saudi Arabian workforce and create employment opportunities for nationals as a major driving force for government policy. In particular, the organisation implements Nitaqat program which is associated with social development to achieve strategic objective of 2030 (Lucien et al., 2023).
Disagree
Despite of the areas of agreement that Head of People Function has a responsibility of ensuring employment policies and practices are always supporting achievement of organisation current strategic objectives, there are equally areas of disagreement. These are;
Maintaining a safe distance– In SHRM (2024) report which involved 1000 head of people practice in UK and C-suite executives, 95% of the respondents had noted the role is challenging to understand. The rationale of this is that the head of people professional function must be in a position of maintaining safe distance from their employees to ensure that they are making strong corporate decisions. The outcome of this include hindering a successful achievement of organisation strategic objectives. This is while at the same time being noted as operating outdated paradigms/perspectives pertaining to the function and perspective of the employees. In Saudi Aramco for instance, for the head of people function, they are normally operating in both onshore and offshore. As such, for their strategy such as expanding their operations, the leader must position themselves ahead of the rest to make complex and hard decisions. This makes the head of people function not popular contributing to failure of the employees to be committed to achieve the strategic objectives.
In summary, from the provided explanation, it is true that Head of People Function ensure that employee policies and practices are at all times supporting achievement of an organisation current strategic objectives. In the case of Saudi Aramco organisation, the best practice include head of people function ensuring they work in collaboration with all stakeholders for success in achieving strategic objectives. This is achieved through setting common ground rules for all the engaged employees, reward and recognition and also adherence to labour and employment laws. However, often, head of people function need to make critical decision which make them to distinguish themselves with the others hence a challenge ensuring organisation current strategic objective is achieved.
The position of Head of the People Function involves making sure that employment policies and practices are always in tune with an organisation’s current strategic goals, which is essential to secure the general success and longevity of an organisation. Firstly, the role of the Head of the People Function is very important in strategising and implementing human resource management strategies; this entails reviewing the organisations strategic direction and creating effective and efficient HR policies for the organisation (CIPD, n.d). For example, suppose an organisation wants to enter new markets. In that case, the Head of the People Function must ensure that talent acquisition and management prepares and identifies candidates with the right skills and abilities to support the expansion. Secondly, one of the key accountabilities within the context of the Head of the People Function is the recruitment and training of employees; this means, on one side, recruiting the right talent and, on the other side, ensuring that the employees are constantly trained to fit the needs of the organisation. Talent management leads to the acquisition and development of talents to sustain competitive advantages, innovation, and organisational sustainability. Thirdly, elements such as employee engagement and retention are particularly relevant to the realisation of the strategic goals of an organisation. According to Ramlall & Melton (2018), the Head of the People Function is accountable for the provision of people management that fulfills the dream of every employee as it relates to job satisfaction, work-life balance, and career advancement opportunities. Employees who are engaged are also likely to be productive, creative, and committed to the objectives of the organisation; therefore, in order to foster the right organisational culture to support the strategic direction of the organisation, the Head of the People Function must ensure that the HR practices put in place correspond to the strategies and goals of the organisation. Fourthly, the Head of the People Function has a significant responsibility and contribution to the organisation’s culture. A positive organisational culture motivates employee behaviour toward the achievement of strategic organisational goals, and it involves the adoption of values, including teamwork and responsibility. Furthermore, the Head of the People Function is required to address organisation change, ensuring that people are ready for change and have the necessary tools and skills to put the necessary practices into action. fifthly, the Head of the People Function must be responsible for compliance with employment laws and regulations to develop and implement policies that meet not only the legal standards but the organisation’s needs as well. For instance, the formulation of diversity and inclusion policies would serve to strengthen the organisation, brand it positively, and attract talented individuals, thus aligning with strategic objectives. Further, adopting proper risk management techniques minimises probable legal and financial risks within any organisation, thus enhancing its stability and sustainability. Lastly, the Head of the People Function can make significant contributions to the accomplishment of the strategic goals in performance management, which includes clarifying expectations, monitoring performance, providing feedback, and using objective performance management methods (Bryson & George, 2020). This helps to eliminate scenarios whereby employees spend most of their time engaging in activities that are not critical to the achievement of the strategic plan. Therefore, based on the above aspects, such as strategic HR management, talent acquisition, employee development, and organisational culture, I strongly agree that it is the role of the Head of the People Function to make sure that employment policies and practices always correspond with an organisation’s current goals and objectives.
At Saudi Aramco, the Head of the People Function is responsible for guaranteeing the alignment of employment policies and practices with strategic goals of the company. Based on the review of the main HR functions, such as talent acquisition, development, engagement, organisation culture, compliance, and performance management Saudi Aramco links its HR strategies to its business objectives to ensure organisation effectiveness and viability. The Human Resources Joint Venture Support Division (HRJVSD) has the important responsibility of monitoring and enabling the alignment of HR practices with the expansion and diversification strategies of the company (Nasser, 2018). This is done by clearly understanding the businesses needs and coming up with strategic and unique HR solutions. Moreover, the HRJVSD oversees recruitment and training procedures specific to new markets and joint ventures. For example, when Saudi Aramco entered downstream operations, HRJVSD came up with tailored training that would enable its employees to fit into the new project. This is important because it helps align human resource management with the purpose of building a competent workforce capable of executing strategic business goals, such as entry into new markets or diversification into new products. Regarding the human resource management, Saudi Aramco has also adopted strict recruitment procedures to make sure that talented personnel are recruited from all over the world. For instance, the company conducts its business in strategic cooperation with such universities as King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals to ensure the acquisition of highly qualified graduates (Aramco, 2024). Furthermore, for overseas recruitment Saudi Aramco actively takes part in international job forums. Also, due to the high value of skills development, the company encourage the training activities in various programs. For instance, Aramco Training Center presents a wide list of courses and certifications for the personnel to be covered in order to prepare them for the new challenges in the field. The company also has Aramco Overseas Company (AOC) Internship Program to offer young professionals International work experience. Moreover, Saudi Aramco adopts policies which are not only legal but also suitable for the company and its objectives. For example, the diversity and inclusion policies like Women Development Program help the company to improve its image and acquire qualified applicants. Saudi Aramco also has robust compliance management systems to address all compliance risks and strengthen legal compliance practices. Regarding performance management, Saudi Aramco sets goals and expectations and communicates them frequently to its employees and teams in order to achieve organisational objectives. For instance, the company employs a Performance Management System (PMS)
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