Strategic HR Practices in SHELL, CALTEX & PSO

Abstract

Global competition, economic recessions, rapid technological innovation and an increase in the number of white collared professionals, forced organizations to develop an integrated approach in achieving competitive advantage. Today, strategic planning is applied across various functional areas including human resource management as well. People who are seen playing and communicating together stay together. Inclusion is the name of the new game and empowerment is the vehicle, particularly when you have people with different cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, genders, value systems, behavior motivators, generations and so forth in your organization. The report mainly discusses how corporate transformations can bring about significant changes in the organizational cultures of the three oil marketing companies, namely, PSO, Shell and Caltex, and how strategic HRM has evolved in the companies to enable them to enhance their retail image and gain competitive advantage based upon their HR policies and goals. Despite the introduction of strategic HRM, there are a few concerns that need to be reviewed and may prove a challenging task for management. It has been found that strategic decision-making is susceptible to a degree of uncertainty, on account of the changing needs. Globalization and an increase in the educated and knowledgeable work force have led to an increase in employee expectations in terms of rewards, recognition and responsibilities. As employees play a key role in achieving an organization’s objectives, strategic planning needs to stress on policies that fit in with business goals and fulfill employee needs.