Discussion Two: Application: After reading the case study about the organization HSS in the module included in this course for this week, do the following:

Write a memo to the CEO of HSS in which you justify HR's role in drafting a strategic plan. The report should be written using language the CEO will understand and can relate. The document should be complete enough to convince the CEO of the importance of the HR function being part of the strategic plan at HSS.

It is important for you to locate and include academic sources (at least two) that support the content in the memo. You must show the reader that what you assert is accepted practice at other companies or organizations. You may use a word document if you like or provide your proposal in the content of your response window.

CASE STUDY:

Module 1 Case:

Module 1: Linking Human Resources Management to the Strategic Plan

Your instructor may ask you to respond to one or more the case scenarios below. If your instructor does not ask you to respond to these case scenarios, you can still respond on your own to help you study for the course.

Human Solutions Software, Inc.

You have just received exciting news. You have been appointed to be the new human resources manager for Human Solutions Software, Inc. (HSS).

Located in Maryland, HSS is a fairly new firm that started two years ago when several software developers and business people got together to develop simplified software for organizations to keep track of their human resource functions. Initially there were five part-time employee/owners, but HSS soon secured several government contracts that had a cumulative worth of over $10 million, and a number of corporate contracts also are pending. By the end of the first year HSS had 35 employees and in the next year added another 30, plus several individuals they contract with to do specific tasks during high-demand periods.

During these first two years, the human resource functions have been handled primarily by one of the original founders, who has a degree in accounting and management. He has consulted at times about human resource functions with a general-practice attorney whom the company keeps on retainer to answer legal questions. Almost all of the company's founders agree that the company needs a human resource professional to manage their human resource functions.

About half of the company's employees are computer professionals and about half are clerical, management, and marketing people. The organization is run by the five founders and is incorporated with those five comprising the board of directors. Although there is an officially designated president, management decisions are usually made by consensus of the five founders.

HSS has been projected to grow quickly in the next few years, with a total of 100 employees in the next year and more than 200 employees in five years. These figures are not backed up by anything concrete, however; they are merely guesses. Most of the founders are beginning to realize that they need a strategic plan and a more formal decision-making structure. Hiring you as the human resources manager is one of the first steps to a more formally organized company.

In-Depth Scenario 1

There is debate among the founders at HSS as to the role the new HR department should play in decision-making and in strategic-plan development. The founder who has been taking care of human resources functions says that HR needs only to keep track of pay and benefits, so there is no need for HR to be involved in decisions about the future of HSS. Another of the founders says she thinks that HR should play a big role in future planning for HSS and that HR should also be providing support for training and motivation of employees as well as a way to evaluate employees' performance.

At the end of your first week at HSS, the founder who wants an expanded role for HR comes into your office and closes the door behind her. She asks you to draft a memo justifying why HR should be involved in the strategic-planning efforts and outlining the different roles HR can play

in the management of HSS. She also tells you about how the founder who managed HR in the past fought against hiring you because he thought you were overqualified to manage the "limited" HR needs of HSS.

Part 1

Write a report in which you justify HR's role in drafting a strategic plan. The report should be clear enough so people will read it, but complete enough to convince the founders of the importance of a professional HR function being part of the strategic plan at HSS.

The founder who wants an expanded role for HR is concerned that the other founders might see your report as self-serving, so she sees it as important for you to find and use other sources that support what you say in the memo. You must show the founders that what you say is accepted practice at other companies.

Part 2

The founder also wants you to make a presentation to the board based on the above report, so you must prepare PowerPoint slides and any appropriate charts and graphs to support HR's role in strategic planning.