The topic I selected that is a particular interest to me is learning and development. Learning and development relate specifically to strategic human resources management because it's a tool that ensures employees learn the knowledge, skills and abilities that may be required for current and future performance. Having different training programs readily available to at a company will help to develop employees for supervisory and leadership roles.

Traditional approach will focus more on short-term, administrative tasks like basic orientation, have emphasize on efficiency, control and standardization and will view employees as resources needed to complete specific tasks. Strategic approach will focus more on long-term to have an alignment between workforce capabilities and organization goals, make HR decisions into an overall business strategy and will view employees as assets to be developed for sustained organizational advantage. The traditional approach ensures day-to-day operational stability while the strategic approach ensures that the HR practices are contributed directly to business growth, innovation and competitive positioning.

An example of a real-world traditional approach is calling the customer care centre for information and when that person answers it's a whole script, then they will log your issue or book an appointment for you base on your request. You are only able to receive support during business hours. An example of a real-world strategic approach is where a company has invested funding for some employees to become Certified HR Professionals which will them to become more knowledgeable and for upward mobility in the organization.

The strengths of traditional approach are that it provides you with a clear structure and standardization for basic job functions and its cost effective for short-term needs. The weaknesses for traditional approach are reactive rather than proactive and it may reduce employee engagement since development opportunities will be minimal. The strengths of strategic approach are it builds employee engagement, retention and loyalty and it aligns talent development with long term goals. The weaknesses of strategic approach are there may be a risk of misalignment if the business strategy changes rapidly and it will require significant investment in time, money and leadership commitment.

Response to the below statements regarding the above discussion post.

Offer and support an opinion regarding the colleague's strength or weakness.

Make a suggestion to your colleague about how to capitalize on a strength or overcome a weakness.

Expand on your colleague's posting.