Table of Contents

1. A LITERATURE REVIEW OF STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT...........2

1.1. Summary of Literature................................................................................................2

1.2. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).....................................................2

1.3. Business Strategy.........................................................................................................3

1.4. Human Resource Outcomes........................................................................................4

1.5. Organizational Performance........................................................................................5

1.6. Relationship between Business Strategy and Human Resource Management............5

1.7. Relationship between Human Resource Management Systems, Human Resource

Outcomes, and Organizational Performance..........................................................................6

1.8. Reference list...............................................................................................................7

2. IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT..........................................9

2.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................9

2.2. Impact of Covid-19 on Human Resources and Recommendations.............................9

i. Working conditions.....................................................................................................9

ii. Staffing...................................................................................................................10

iii. Performance management......................................................................................10

iv. Training and career development..........................................................................10

v. Compensation management...................................................................................11

2.3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................12

3. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)..................................................14

The University of Malawi (UNIMA)...................................................................................................14

3.1. The Context...............................................................................................................14

3.2 The HR strategy and process..........................................................................................14

3.3 The HR strategy and content..........................................................................................16

3.4 Implementation and delivery in practice........................................................................17

3.5. The future..................................................................................................................18

 1. A LITERATURE REVIEW OF STRATEGIC HUMAN
RESOURCEMANAGEMENT
1.1. Summary of Literature
Today's businesses must maintain a competitive edge in a fiercely competitive market by
constantly raising the bar on their performance in terms of cost reduction and product/service
quality (Werner, Anderson and Nimon, 2019). Improving HRM is often cited as a way to
boost productivity in businesses by increasing efficiency within the organisation (Larsson
and Edwards, 2021). Human resource management (HRM) systems, according to recent
research, are driven primarily by business strategies (Kim, Vaiman and Sanders, 2022)
Human resource management (HRM) has been shown to affect both human resource
outcomes and organisational performance (Wright, 2020) The purpose of this report is to
provide a review of the literature on strategic human resource management (SHRM) to
define key concepts and describe the interplay between various SHRM-related variables.
(Roundy and Burke-Smalley, 2021)

OtherSeveral authors(van Donk and Esser, 2020; Poell, 2022; Motwani, 2019; Ahammad,
Glaister and Gomes, 2019; Arora, 2020; Lewis et al., 2021; Mello, 2019; Lundy and
Cowling, 2021; McKinnon, 2021; (Arora, 2020 and Collins, 2021) have centred their
strategic human resource by focusing much on: Human Resource Management (SHRM),
Business Strategy, Human Resource Outcomes, Organizational Performance, Relationship
between Business Strategy and Human Resource Management Relationship between Human
Resource Management Systems, Human, Resource Outcomes, and Organizational
Performance, these themes will be reviewed and analyzed in this report according to these
fifteen authors

1.2. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Based on the work of Van Donk and Esser, (2020), the term "Strategic human resource
management" (SHRM) is a strategic approach that moves the emphasis from HRM's
traditional focus on operational tasks like training and benefits to more high-level concerns
like organisational alignment and efficiency.
The shift in SHRM's origins from HRM to an organisational rather than an individual
perspective on HRM reflects its growing emphasis on HRM's role in bolstering corporate
success. The primary finding of the study was that there is no correlation between business
strategy and HRM and the performance of organisations

Lewis et al. (2021) Provided a clear definition of SHRM as "the pattern of planned
deployments and activities of human resources to enable an organisation to achieve its goals"
(p. 298)
The literature review revealed that human resource management systems as a whole have a
synergistic effect, so the focus of research has shifted from evaluating individual HR
practices to evaluating the systems as a whole. As a result, the organisational workforce does
not interact with a single practice, but rather with all practices as a systems
Based on this literature review, the author has defined strategic human resource management
as the process by which an organisation makes the best use of its people to meet its strategic
goals and gain a competitive edge
According to (Arora, 2020 collins, 2021), the three perspectives on HRM (universalist,
contingency, and configurational) developed by Mello (2019) are the most common ones
adopted by organisations. The universalist approach was viewed as the gold standard. The
configurational and contingency views were also deemed to be the most appropriate. The
question of whether there are universal best practices from which all businesses would
benefit if they were to adopt a single strategy could be debated from a universalist stance.
The best method for selecting practices may vary from one organisation to the next,
according to the contingency perspective. From a configurational point of view, one could
argue that certain setups are superior to others and produce better results.
1.3. Business Strategy
The primary approach taken by SHRM research is based on Glaister and Gomes,
(2019)concept of competitive strategies As discussed by the academic community, HRM
research revolves around the competitive advantages of businesses, which are realised
through the integration of HRM with overall corporate objectives

Business strategies can be broken down into three categories, as described by Glaister and
Gomes, (2019)

1) cost leader strategy, 2) differentiate strategy, and 3) focus strategy.

By adapting Glaister and Gomes's (2019) three-pattern framework, have created a strategy
for use in HRM research. Common SHRM practices include 2) quality improvement
strategies and 3) cost-cutting practises

A business strategy, as defined by a literature review, is "the pattern in which an organisation

positions itself in the market to gain a competitive advantage," and it includes, among other
things, the decision to innovate, improve quality, and cut costs

1.4. Human Resource Outcomes

Many academics have used the term "Black box" to describe the lack of clarity between
HRM and organisational performance, which is why Becker and Huselid (2020) identified it
as the theoretical and empirical challenge in SHRM literature and study. It has been
suggested by Dyer and Reeves (1995) that human resource outcomes are the primary output
of HRM systems and have a significant effect on the performance of the organisation.
Consequently, the study of HRM and HR outcomes is necessary for an understanding of the
connection between HRM and organisational performance (Wright et al., 2021). But there's
only so much you can do.

One of the most fascinating aspects of strategic HRM is the examination of human capital.
Human capital is the issue of how an organisation chooses to invest in its employees through
means like training and development and financial aid for higher education (in the form of
scholarships), as stated by Wright and McMahan (2021). Scholars have demonstrated the
impact of human capital on organisational performance via the accumulation of human
capital in organisations in empirical studies that employ human capital theory (

In the research on HPWS, the attitude and actions of workers have been highlighted as a
mediating factor). The hypothesis is supported by a plethora of research conceptualised by
combining the Resource-based view (RBV) theory, the Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity
(AMO) theory, the Human Capital theory, and the Behavioral perspectives

In the SHRM literature, many empirical studies have confirmed that HRM outcomes serve as
the "black box" variable mediating the connection between HRM and organisational
performance This is why the author defines HR outcomes as the result of HRM, which
includes human capital, employee attitude, and employee behaviour. (Lewis et al., 2021)
 1.5. Organizational Performance
As Motwani (2019) pointed out, when it comes to business policy, empirical research, and
organisational performance is the most important factor. Performance indicators for
executives in planning and controlling have traditionally focused on financial metrics like
return on investment (ROI) and economic value analysis (EVA).

Following are the four categories of organisational performance measurement proposed by

(Motwani, 2019) (1) The impact of human resource management practises on employee
attitudes and actions (such as job satisfaction and organisational loyalty) (turnover and
absenteeism) 2) The efficiency and cost-cutting of current operations The third and final
indicator is financial performance, which includes profit and loss. Fourth, the company's
stock price reflects its performance in the market.

Since most SHRM studies have focused on measuring performance in terms of profits or
market value, (Motwani, 2019b) also proposed a more holistic set of indicators that would
take into account both of these dimensions of success. The return on assets (ROA), earnings
before interest and taxes (EBIT) per employee (ROI), return on investment (ROI), Tobin's q,
and market value were all used as objective performance indicators. Subjective metrics
focused on things like how happy customers were with a company's offerings, how
innovative those offerings were, how the company stacked up against the competition, and
how well-known it was among its constituents. According to Lundy and Cowling ( 2021),
HRM research should focus on market-related performance indicators because these metrics
more accurately reflect the present value of an organization's cash flows.

Based on an analysis of the relevant literature, the author has identified three aspects of an
organization's performance: its market performance, its operational performance, and its
financial performance

1.6. Relationship between Business Strategy and Human Resource

Management
Businesses that choose to reduce costs must motivate their employees to put in extra effort,
according to ( Lundy and Cowling, 2021) reading on the relationship between strategy and
HRM. On the flip side, quality-focused businesses need to invest in efficiency training. As a
final point, businesses with an emphasis on innovation require their employees to make some
adjustments to the way they usually do things

Several empirical studies analysed by the author show a correlation between business
strategy and human resource management. Australian researchers Andersen et al. (2021)
found that HRM practices that align with business strategy have a positive impact on
organisational performance. Strategic human resource management planning should take into
account the business strategy, as Muduli (2021) argues. Human resource management
(HRM) initiatives that are grounded in an organization's overarching business strategy have a
significant impact on productivity, according to research on HRM in the Greek context.
Consequently, business strategy affects HRM skills and employee morale. Based on their
findings, Lundy and Cowling, (2021) conclude that Turkish businesses would reap the
benefits of a more aligned approach to HRM and business strategy in the areas of employee
skills development, employee motivation, and financial performance.

1.7. Relationship between Human Resource Management Systems,

Human Resource Outcomes, and Organizational Performance
The empirical literature on the relationship between HRM and business outcomes is
extensive (Arora, 2020) Human resource management is linked to better business results in
many empirical studies. Organizations across a variety of sectors have boosted their
efficiency thanks to high-performance work systems, as demonstrated by research conducted
by Huselid (2021). An increase in productivity and a better bottom line are just two of the
many benefits that result from a reduction in employee turnover. High-performance work
systems have been shown to increase profits by $3,814, increase sales by $27,044, expand
markets by $18,641, and increase turnover by 7.05 per cent compared to companies that
don't use such a system. According to Ichniowski et al. (2020), the Innovative HR system
had a significant effect on the productivity of the company as a whole.
Human resource management systems have been shown in numerous studies to have a
constructive effect on organisational climate and employee engagement. Better productivity
and overall effectiveness were the results of this. Human resource outcomes (like human
capital, employee commitment (Collins, 2021) ent, absenteeism, and turnover) are said
academics to play a pivotal role in the relationship between human resource management
systems and the performance of an organisation
 1.8. Reference list
Ahammad, M.F., Glaister, K.W. and Gomes, E. (2019). Strategic agility and human resource
management. Human Resource Management Review, 30(1), p.100700.
doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100700.

Arora, R. (2020). Role of Performance Improvement and Instructional Design in Strategic

Human Resource Management. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 5(1).
doi:10.21863/jshrm/2016.5.1.022.

Collins, C.J. (2021). Expanding the resource-based view model of strategic human resource
management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, [online] 32(2),
pp.1–28. doi:10.1080/09585192.2019.1711442.

Kim, S., Vaiman, V. and Sanders, K. (2022). Strategic human resource management in the
era of environmental disruptions. Human Resource Management. doi:10.1002/hrm.22107.

Larsson, A.-S. and Edwards, M.R. (2021). Insider econometrics meets people analytics and
strategic human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, pp.1–47. doi:10.1080/09585192.2020.1847166.

Lewis, P., Saunders, M., Thornhill, A. and Morrow, T. (2021). Strategic human resource
management: contemporary issues. Essex, England: Pearson Education.

Lundy, O. and Cowling, A.G. (2021). Strategic human resource management. London:
Thomson Learning.

McKinnon, R. (2021). An ageing workforce and strategic human resource management:

Staffing challenges for social security administrations. International Social Security Review,
63(3-4), pp.91–113. doi:10.1111/j.1468-246x.2010.01371.x.

Mello, J.A. (2019). Strategic human resource management. Singapore: Cengage Learning
Asia Pte Ltd.
Motwani, B. (2019). Perception of Professionals towards Effectiveness of Human Resource
Information System. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 4(3).
doi:10.21863/jshrm/2015.4.3.017.

Powell, R.F. (2022). Will Human Resource Development Become Too Important to be Left
to Human Resource Development Professionals? Employees and Managers as Strategic
Human Resource Development Stakeholders. Human Resource Development Review,
p.153448432210831. doi:10.1177/15344843221083192.

Roundy, P.T. and Burke-Smalley, L. (2021). Leveraging entrepreneurial ecosystems as

human resource systems: A theory of meta-organizational human resource management.
Human Resource Management Review, p.100863. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2021.100863.

van Donk, D.-P. and Esser, A. (2020). Strategic human resource management: A role of the
human resource manager in the process of strategy formation. Human Resource Management
Review, 2(4), pp.299–315. doi:10.1016/1053-4822(92)90003-9.

Werner, J.M., Anderson, V. and Nimon, K. (2019). Human Resource Development Quarterly
and human resource development: Past, present, and future. Human Resource Development
Quarterly, 1(1). doi:10.1002/hrdq.21340.

Wright, P.M. (2020). Rediscovering the ‘Human’ in strategic human capital. Human
Resource Management Review, p.100781. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100781.
 2. IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

2.1. Introduction
COVID-19 has shaken all organizations, creating a complex and difficult environment for
managers and HRM professionals who must find ingenious solutions to ensure business
continuity and assist employees in coping with this crisis, this report will focus much on how
covid -19 has affected the industry's human resource (Prins, 2022)

2.2. Impact of Covid-19 on Human Resources and Recommendations

HRM is concerned with the employment, management, and development of people within
organisations. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on it, posing significant challenges for
managers and HRM professionals. This impact and these obstacles are discussed concerning
strategic HRM and working conditions, as well as HRM functions, namely staffing,
performance management, training and development, and compensation management
(Kirilmaz and Simsir, 2022) t.

i. Working conditions
The working environment is "central to paid work and employment." They address working
time (hours, rest periods, and schedules), pay, and physical and mental demands at the
workplace.

The COVID-19 virus has significantly altered workplace conditions. The majority of
businesses require remote work to ensure business continuity.

For instance, Google's employees worked remotely until at least the summer of 2021,
whereas Twitter's employees can do so indefinitely. Despite this, employees who work from
home constitute a small portion of the total workforce. Manufacturing industries are not
suitable for remote work (Koirala & Acharya, 2020), and it cannot be applied to all job
positions, hence Covid 19 still poses a greater challenge to have an effective working
environment, thus affecting production.

Recommendations

In this situation, businesses whose operations prohibit these working conditions have two
options. Either require employees to be physically present while maintaining physical
distance and wearing PPE, or terminate them. (Bacha, 2021)) discovered that employees who
are unable to work remotely are more likely to be laid off. Due to the pandemic, HRM
professionals are urged to identify positions that can be performed remotely, in the physical
workplace, and those that require layoffs.

ii. Staffing
Staffing entails attracting, selecting, and retaining qualified individuals to achieve an
organization's objectives. However COVID-19 has led companies to modify their
organisational structure, which has also led, to layoffs, and work shifts, furthermore COVID-
19 has disproportionately impacted industries as some industries experienced a sharp decline
in business, prompting some to temporarily close their doors, leading to job losses as To
reduce expenses and maintain their businesses, organisations experiencing financial
difficulties as a result of the pandemic have eliminated more high-skill jobs than low-skill
jobs. Hence COVID-19 caused millions to be unemployed (VA, 2020).

Recommendations

With COVID-19, layoffs may be inevitable. HRM professionals must provide accurate
information to managers and employees hence Nobody knows if or when the pandemic will
end and Pandemic-growing businesses faced additional staffing challenges. Must choose
flexible employment and subcontracting in response to COVID-19.

iii. Performance management

Performance management is "a continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing
the performance of individuals and workgroups in alignment with the strategic goals of the
organisation... It is essential to ensure that employee performance is aligned with the
company's strategic objectives. Even during a crisis such as COVID-19, employees must
maintain their excellent performance. however, there have been challahs to measuring the
performance of employees due to covid-19 as the organizational structures have changed and
new policies have been outlined

Recommendations

In addition, the performance of employees during remote work depends on managers'

understanding of how and what is required to manage a remote team. Managers should devise
a new method for managing a remote team by establishing daily performance goals.

iv. Training and career development

Critical during pandemics is training. It helps employees develop necessary skills
(Akkermans, Richardson, & Kraemer, 2020); it raises awareness of COVID-19, reduces the
risk of virus transmission, and prevents mental health issues. COVID-19 has presented
significant obstacles to organisational career progression. According to some authors,
COVID-19 has caused a major career setback (Terry and Cigularov, 2021).'s study, which
was based on an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on career outcomes and aspirations
among a panel of 3,821 employees, employees feared losing their jobs shortly due to the
COVID-19 crisis. In addition, some of them anticipated missing out on a promotion they
would have received if the crisis had not occurred.

Recommendations

In this context, HRM practitioners should play a strategic role by supporting and training
these managers on how to manage a virtual team, so that they can support their team
members despite these difficulties and remote working challenges.

v. Compensation management
In compensation management, intrinsic and extrinsic employee rewards are considered. It
includes financial (base pay/bonuses) and non-financial benefits Employee motivation,
performance, and retention are affected by pay (Elsafty & Ragheb, 2020). According to
Elsafty and Ragheb (2020), COVID-19 bonuses improve employee retention.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, some nations have implemented policies that provide
financial assistance to employees and organisations and encourage them to comply with stay-
at-home orders. Short-term compensation, or part-time employment, has been adopted to
sustain the economy and safeguard business and employee employment. It entails offering
employees a temporary reduction in working hours to help businesses avoid layoffs
(Giupponi & Landais, 2020). These measures alter pay policies and strategies. Managers and
HRM specialists may face a challenging and complex environment. According to some
authors, paid sick leave may increase employee absences (Maclean, Pichler, & Ziebarth,
2020). It also reduces absenteeism due to illness (Schneider, 2020). This type of government
policy, such as paid sick leave, increases its implementation in industries where such benefits
have never been provided to employees (Maclean, Pichler, & Ziebarth, 2020)

Recommendations

To avoid losing employees' motivation after the pandemic, managers and HRM professionals
must consider how to sustain employees' intrinsic motivation, such as by increasing employee
autonomy.
 2.3. Conclusion
This paper focuses on working conditions and hrm functions, including staffing, performance
management, training and development, and compensation management. Recommendations
are also provided for how each function should be handled for improved human resource
management during the pandemic.

Reference list

BACHA, O.I. (2021). Lessons from COVID-19 - What the Virus has Taught Us. Düzce Tıp
Fakültesi Dergisi. doi:10.18678/dtfd.891171.

Kirilmaz, S.K. and Simsir, I. (2022). Bibliometric analysis of studies on HRM during the
Covid-19 pandemic. Pressacademia. doi:10.17261/pressacademia.2022.1538.

Prins, P.D. (2022). Employee silence tijdens Covid-19. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 25(2), pp.59–
82. doi:10.5117/thrm2022.2.prin.

Terry, J.D. and Cigularov, K.P. (2021). Living a Calling During COVID-19: A Resource
Gain Perspective. Journal of Career Development, p.089484532110506.
doi:10.1177/08948453211050654.

VA, D. (2020). Covid-19: Reflections on the Pathology Caused by Coronavirus COVID-19.

Vaccines & Vaccination Open Access, 5(3). doi:10.23880/vvoa-16000144.
 3. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)

The University of Malawi (UNIMA)

3.1. The Context
When it comes to social sciences and management, UNIMA is the best university in Malawi
(QS Malawi rankings, 2018). The quality of its research is as well-known as the effect it has
had on politics and society. Founded in 1976 for "the study and investigation of the concrete
facts of industrial life and the actual working of economic and political relations," the
school's mission has not changed; its graduates include the president of Malawi and
hundreds of two government officials

The UNIMA's 2020 Strategy lays out a roadmap of six strategic priorities, including
strengthening their position in the social sciences and education; leading globally in
innovative, international, interdisciplinary, and issue-oriented social science; diversifying
their current revenue streams, which total over MWK350 million; and developing the
university campus, including the construction of a new MWK120 million Global Centre for
the Social Sciences. Strategic planning for the year 2030.

The faculty and staff are primarily divided into 22 research centres, 23 departments, and 16
service areas, all of which report to Vice-Chancellor Professor Samson Sajid.

Other leadership staff of the university are Mary Mwanthunga, Director of Human Resources,
and John Mwatseteza, Head of Policy and Employee Relations, are responsible for
developing and implementing the HR Division's strategic and operational plans and activities,
respectively, at an institution with such high levels of academic and scientific research
excellence.

3.2 The HR strategy and process

Each department and function at UNIMA undergo a review of its purpose, activities, and
effectiveness every five years by the School's Senior Management Committee, which is
comprised of relevant academics and external experts. This was performed most recently for
the HR Division in May/June 2016, accompanied by a thorough audit conducted by the
School's internal audit function. This review led to the formulation of the division's current
"Strategic Plan for the Next 5 to 10 Years." This establishes six fundamental objectives and
pillars of 24 Strategic HRM Short-term operational activities and objectives in practice.
When he arrived in 2014, the HR Division appeared to be poorly regarded by the institution's
customers and users, consistent with the reputation of the sector as a whole and focused on
meeting immediate needs.

Mwatseteza and his group have been working diligently to solve this issue. In addition, he
has made it clear that he intends for UNIMA to play a pioneering role in the field on issues
such as pay parity and performance bonuses, all in service of the institution's pursuit of
academic and prestigious status. To advise departments on international staffing in a
workforce with such a global presence and monitor the impact of Brexit developments, the
Division has had to move and work swiftly in response to external changes. Mwatseteza says,
"We try not to change the strategy" to maintain the long-term focus required to retain and
improve a world-class workforce.

However, it became clear that HR needed to improve its engagement with its key
stakeholders, including senior managers who could provide insight and approval of strategic
priorities, as well as faculty and department heads who would be responsible for
implementing these priorities and policies. Consequently, the University now has a formal
structure led by the HR Committee, which serves as the primary forum for HR strategy
decision-making.

Mwatseteza is one of three individuals who are also members of the Senior Management
Committee. Additionally, the Finance Committee discusses major investments such as HR IT
systems. The HR Director provides an annual report to the University Council on the status of
strategic initiatives regarding human resources management. In 2015, Mwatseteza established
the HR Advisory Group (HRAG), which included senior management representatives from
all of the school's major functions and departments in addition to the COO and CFO (CFO).
In this role, you will advise on and approve proposals for implementing HR policies and
procedures, as well as monitor the effects of these modifications as they are implemented
throughout the year. Human Resources reported in their 2017 first annual review of strategy
and annual plans, "The HRAG is increasingly becoming a valuable meeting through which
the Division makes itself accountable to the school, but also seeks (and receives) direction
regarding priority work and the implementation of new policies." IES plays the role of an
impartial participant. It appears to achieve the unusual combination of macro discussion and
input into the delivery of the key items under each pillar, such as specifying what personal
details should be anonymized in the recruitment process to support improved diversity in
selection, and micro-focused discussion of the implementation details of HR policy, such as
what personal details should be anonymized in the recruitment process to support improved
diversity in selection. This formal structure is supported by regular Director meetings and
discussions, as well as the core HR (Business) Partner responsibilities of meeting with and
advising relevant managers.

3.3 The HR strategy and content

Similar to the School's strategy, the Human Resources Strategic Plan consists of six pillars to
coordinate and direct the Division's activities. The first pillar of the Strategic Plan is
"Delivering operational effectiveness and infrastructure," which continues the theme of the
significance of not only taking a long-term strategic perspective but also tying it closely to
shorter-term delivery and the HR function's capability and capacity to deliver.

HR will neither have the time nor the credibility to address a more strategic and influential
agenda unless routine HR systems and workflows are effective and efficient, and measures
are in place to demonstrate this, and unless HR staff can support managers and staff
effectively.

An HR Systems Optimization program is a crucial aspect of this pillar's improvement and a

standing item on the HRAG's agenda. It has supported significant improvements in HR
advice and supports online, the provision of timely and accurate workforce data on which
dependable progress metrics can be based, and a shift towards employee and management
"self-service" systems that departments appear to enjoy designing and operating. The Finance
Committee has supported and made proposals for substantial investments in, for instance,
learning and development and HR systems, in part due to the support of HRAG members.

This has also freed up HR staff time and resources to support more strategic activities, such
as, under the second pillar of 'Building an excellent workforce': providing a more 'executive'
service to top talent recruits and those coming into 'hard-to-fill' roles; improving training and
support for staff within the New Research Staff Career structure; and developing career
pathways for professional services staff who can attract salary levels from other sectors.
Developing and supporting career paths is a central theme across the pillars and a component
of the sixth pillar, 'Developing leadership and management capability, with a structured series
of internally and externally run programmes designed to significantly enhance senior
leadership capability. Innovative and industry-leading work is also evident in the third pillar,
'Enhancing reward, benefits and recognition,' which includes: modernising the School's
benefits package and now providing housing options to support high-profile recruitment; and
continuing to establish greater independence from sector-wide bargaining structures to more
strongly reward individual excellence and contribution in pay at the School.

3.4 Implementation and delivery in practice

Reading the HR Strategic Plan and listening to the HRAG discussion illustrates the extremely
practical and pragmatic approach taken by the UNIMA HR Division. The fifth pillar of the
Strategic Plan is "Providing grounded HR policy advice and support," which seeks to strike a
balance between cutting-edge policy and what is feasible in UNIMA's context. This is led by
the HR Partners, whose objective is to offer "proactive and pragmatic HR advice."

In a Higher Education context where some senior managers are also active academic
researchers in addition to being "full-time" managers, the just-described heavy involvement
of managers makes it much less likely that a significant HR policy/practice gap will emerge,
and seems essential. The juxtaposition of traditional academic liberties and more
contemporary models has generated conflict throughout the field. In this case, however, there
appears to be a good balance, and some of the human resources (HR) changes included in the
plans to support work modernisation aim to increase personal choice and flexibility, such as
in pension provision. When Sajid and Mwatseteza joined HR, some of its short-term
operational services, such as telephone response times, were not being met. This was the
initial focus of the Division's "back to basics" improvement initiative. Now that they have
been addressed, the broader set of HR objectives and longer-term requirements can be
addressed, and measures against them can be applied and monitored. As part of the 24-month
update on the HR Strategic Plan, the Division's annual HR quality survey of its users in June
2018 revealed that 65 per cent of the School was satisfied with the service they received from
HR, an increase of 25 per cent from 2016.

Eighty-five per cent of respondents agreed that they received quality advice, a 24 per cent
increase over the past two years. Unsurprisingly, at UNIMA, and now supported by the HR
Systems Optimisation programme, there are no clear metrics and measures of progress
apparent in the successful implementation of strategic and operational plans. As Mwatseteza
says, 'even in HR, what gets measured gets done. One of the recommendations of the 2015
Review was to develop a concise set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to improve the
effectiveness of the Division. Each pillar and theme now has defined monitoring methods and
intermediate (2.5 years) and final (five years) objectives and goals. So, for instance, on the
second theme of pillar six – a comprehensive learning and development programme for
research staff – the objective is to have regular programmes on transferable skills and
teaching effectiveness in operation by the midpoint, and 90 per cent participation in blended
learning by the end of the current plan. The objective for the second pillar's HR Systems
Optimisation is to launch and complete the e-recruitment, web view, and additional
functionality modules by the end of 2018, and to reach full completion five years later. In
addition to receiving updates on the progress of operational plans at each meeting, the HRAG
also receives a quarterly Workforce Scorecard detailing the composition and diversity of
staff, employee turnover, and workforce stability for all staff categories.

3.5. The future

Although Mwatseteza and Sajidu expect the pillars to be mostly still relevant at the end of
the five-year Plan period, they do anticipate that a new round of initiatives and activities will
be necessary by then. Their view is that the next version of the strategic plan will strike a
"balance between more updating and extension and some changes in content and emphasis"
(Sajid). Although they have made progress under the "Engagement and Wellbeing" pillar,
such as by encouraging the staff's increased awareness of mental health issues, they believe
that the agenda on this has developed rapidly externally and that this needs to be an area of
renewed focus now and in the future. Recent strikes over pension changes eUNIMAywhere
in the sector are illustrative of the levels of change and, in some places, disengagement that
can be apparent.

The HR User Surveys reveal rising satisfaction with 'Reward, benefits, and recognition' over
the past two years. However, they recognise that this is an area that needs more focus in the
next two years and the next Strategic Plan if they want to remain competitive in Malawi and
the global market for top academic talent. They also expect the already strong focus on
diversity and inclusion in an institution of this international stature to increase as a result of
combined economic and regulatory pressures. Mwatseteza believes that in the coming years,
metrics will shift their attention from the more easily measurable HR operational activities to
showing how the HR Division and its policies are helping to keep UNIMA at the top of major
international university league tables for research performance, student satisfaction,
commercial income, and so on.

3.6 Analysis and evaluation

According to Mwatseteza and Sajidu, the need for an HR strategy is exacerbated by the
challenges of an increasingly complex and unpredictable Higher Education environment, in
which multiple performance goals and stakeholder agendas must be addressed (e.g., to
improve the University's academic standing, 28 Strategic HRM In Practice increase its
commercial income and diversify its revenue streams, and so on). However, they stress the
importance of strategy as a process, as opposed to merely a set of plans, one that connects the
macro and micro levels, the long-term human capital development objectives with the short-
term HR operational activity and service delivery needs, and one that mobilises people to
carry out the plans. This allows upper-level management to shape and fund the activity, while
also inspiring greater levels of engagement and productivity among the lower-level
workforce. One other piece of advice that Sajidu and Mwatseteza would give to HR Directors
and policy leads who are trying to make a strategic impact is to shape and tailor your HR
strategy to suit the employer and to stay within 'the sphere of the possible for each institution.
This will help to ensure that "your HR policies are realistic and grounded" in your specific
setting. Human resource strategies at Cambridge University and UNIMA are different, as
they should be; however, their shared experience suggests that the method used to create and
communicate the HR strategy is just as crucial as the strategy itself.