Strategic Human Resources Management in Organizations: A Logical Exploration of the Nature, Process and Rationales

Increasing changes stemming from globalization, information and communication technology, scarce resources and competitions have attracted the attention of many scholars in strategic human resources management. Human resources play pivotal roles in effective and efficient functioning of organizations. In the face of growing competition among organizations over limited resources and market, organizations can only gain competitive advantage via strategic management. Thus, the strategic roles of human resource management in the long term viability of any profit or nonprofit making organization cannot be under scored. The study systematically examined the nature, process and rationales for strategic human resources management in organizations. The methodology of the study is qualitative and descriptive. Relevant materials on strategic human resources management were generated through secondary and primary sources and subjected to contextual-descriptive analysis. The study shows, among others, that strategic human resources management is a source of competitive advantage strength for organizations and has considerable impacts on the bottom-line of the employees and organization performance. It is a core managerial role which is at the centre of organizations’ key to success since it ensures that the organization remains competitive and has comparative advantage over its competitors in the market. Hence, the study advocates the institutionalization of strategic management of human resources in organizations to enhance competitive advantage, productivity, quality and service delivery.