Business Strategy Role of Work/Life Programs in Business Strategy

Strategic Analysis

Strategic Implementation

Human Resources

Social Costs and Benefits

Work/Life Programs

Dependent Benefits

Working Conditions

Leaves

Human Resources Policies

Role in Business Strategy

Significance of Work-Life Programs for Employees and Organizations

The business strategy is influenced through multiple channels including human resources. The developments of innovative practices in offering employee benefits and maintaining a healthy organizational culture is notable technique. The management of organization takes advantage of high performing employees by offering work-life programs. The outcome of increased performance is achieved by offering multiple benefits to employees with regards to the work and non-work related issues. The notion that satisfied employees are essential to increase retention of experienced and high performance workforce is an important benefit for business strategy considerations (Wang & Verma, 2012). The organizations plan their growth and expansion in consideration with the workload and capacity of the employees to appropriately perform their tasks. The offerings of support provided to the employees through development of human resources police incorporating work-life benefits are discussed in the following sections. The role these plays in business strategies is the central focus of the research.

Business Strategy:

Business strategy is denoted as a process which is central to its core mission. The organizations practice a number of techniques to develop their mission, objectives, and goals. The mission provides a brief about the existence of the business. It is essential to define the core purpose of an organization. It provides an overview of its products, services, and values. The strategy is developed to fulfill the organizational mission. The strategic objectives provide specific standards and mile stones the business is presuming to achieve its mission. The goals of a business also possess significant strategic importance. The overall goal is set as an objective the business peruses to achieve. The goals are aligned with the overall objectives. The businesses develop strategic, tactical, and functional goals to achieve their strategic objective. The alignment of goals with the strategy and mission is important. The tactical and functional goals play a significant role in achieving overall strategic objectives.

The strategy is comprised of three distinct stages of a strategy including corporate, business, and functional level strategies. The corporate strategy is developed to cater the overall business direction and means to achieve the strategic position aimed in the mission of the business. The business strategy is also called send layer of strategy. It is regarding the operations of the business in accordance with the corporate strategy. Finally the third layer of strategy is developed in order to facilitate the direction of functional achievements. The functional achievements are important element in improving business performance. It is aligned with the business strategy and as a result compliments the corporate strategy (Campbell, Stonehouse, & Houston, 2002).

Strategic Analysis:

Strategic analysis is also an important element for devising and improving corporate strategy of a corporation. The analysis is conducted to assess the current and future position of the business in accordance with its mission. The business performs strategic analysis in two dimensions. The internal and external environment of the corporation is analyzed to understand various aspects related to the business. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis is a useful technique used to incorporate findings of internal and external analysis (Helms & Nixon, 2010).

Internal Analysis:

The internal analysis of the business is sought to understand the internal environment of the business. The processes, practices, and business performance is assessed. The assessment of internal environment provides a unique understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the internal processes. The analysis is also significant in identification of issues related to business operations. All major elements of the business are analyzed and results are recorded for incorporation in the final assessment to take strategic decisions.

External Analysis:

The external analysis of the business undertakes a thorough assessment of micro and macro environment of the business. It assesses the industry environment to provide awareness for significant trends and future outlook of the business segments. The external factors including political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal are analyzed in conjunction with the business and its position.

Strategic Implementation:

The strategic implementation is a process which is devised on the basis of results gathered during internal and external analysis. The businesses also seek support of multiple tools and techniques to evaluate the best options to devise a strategy for achieving certain objectives. The process of strategic implementation requires eight significant steps to be fulfilled (Ram, Montibeller, & Morton, 2010). The first...

Third stage is accomplished through internal changes and next step is planning for strategic goals. The fifth step is regarding the changes in its business approach towards all stakeholders. The sixth stage involves internationalizations of the business, and seventh significant stage is regarding the assessment of the impacts of such strategy. The final stage is referred to the continuous reassessment of the internal and external environments to evaluate the relevance of strategy in changing environments (Campbell et al., 2002).
Human Resources:

Human resources are also a significant factor in developing business competitiveness (Pfeffer, 1996). The business are managed and handled by humans. Thus it requires achieving a high degree of conformity and evaluation of human resources. The availability of required human resources as well as the quality provides a significant advantage for the business. The significance of human resources is also defined in terms of their quality, satisfaction, and the organizational support provided to perform according to the requirements (Campbell et al., 2002).

Social Costs and Benefits:

The cost and benefits analysis is a notable tool used to assess the value of the cost paid for certain elements. It is usually a financial analysis term. However it is observed that its applicability to evaluate a number of other benefits and costs is helpful. The organizations operate in societies requiring creating value for the environment in which they operate. The social cost and benefits also refer to creating employments, batter working conditions, and clean environment. The cost of social factors can be the declining salaries, inflation, and inappropriate working conditions (Campbell et al., 2002).

Work/Life Programs:

The role of human resources in organizations is increasing with the passage of time. The recognition of personal issues unrelated and related with work environment plays a significant role in the employee's performance. The organizations started to acknowledge these issues as relevant to their performance. The performance of an employee is dependent on the work related factors as well as the personal factors. The businesses provide support for their employees through providing adequate work environment. However the personal support required to perform is also plays an adequate role in improving employee's performance (Sirgy, Reilly, Wu, & Efraty, 2012).

The Work-Life programs are designed to provide an employee with appropriate support the development of human resources polices to create effective organizational environment, culture, and working conditions. The non-work related benefits are provided in the form of leaves and dependent benefits. These programs provide an opportunity for employee to create a balance between work and personal life. These programs also facilitate employees to perform according to the organizational requirements through providing these benefits to help fulfill work and non-work related obligations.

Dependent Benefits:

The benefits for employees regarding their dependents include several facilities. The program incorporates numerous options including child care facilities, elder care facilities, and weekend vacation programs. Furthermore the health insurance provided by the employer is also extended to cover the family of employees. The organizations also develop these facilities within their facilities or provide a subsidized service through third party contracts. The child benefits sometimes also include educational support up to a certain years. The healthcare, child education, and elder care programs are commonly present in all Work-Life programs (Tariq, Aslam, Siddique, & Tanveer, 2012).

Working Conditions:

The corporations aiming to provide work-life programs incorporate techniques to facilitate employees with the flexible working conditions. These conditions provide flexibility to employees for choosing the suitable hours of work. It allows the employees to take their required time slot for work. The program also facilitates the completion of work hours in certain days through overtimes, and weekend working. Job sharing is also a useful technique to offer appropriate working conditions. The flexibility in work can also be created through telework, work from home, and compressed working hours (Tariq et al., 2012).

Leaves:

A number of leave options are provided to accommodate employees for improved work-life balance. The approach to provide retirement schemes and phased re-entry has a long-term effect on employees. The businesses also provide a significant amount of maternity and paternity leaves. The legal provisions for these leaves are also applicable in a number of developed countries. The annual and contractual leave entitlements are not included in these leave options.

Human Resources Policies:

The organizations prepare a number of programs for their employees to provide food at facilities including benefits ate cafeterias and subsidized lunch. The availability of exercising and gym facilities provides additional support to maintain health of the employees. These are offered either at the offices or through third party contracts with gyms. The skills of…