Organization Behavior Strategic Management of Human Resources

Human resource is considered as the most precious asset for business organizations. The financial performance and growth in the industry heavily depends upon the way an organization's employees perform at the workplace (Edwards 2003). A dedicated and committed workforce contributes towards a high level of operational excellence and market competitiveness. Therefore, it should be among the top priorities for an organization to manage its human resource in an effective and efficient way (Rose 2004).

Strategic Human Resource Management deals with formulating policies and procedures for getting the best work from employees, implementing different techniques to motivate them, and assessing the future human resource requirements at the workplace (Saxena 2009). This paper explains the strategic human resource management policies of one of the World's Top software companies -- Adobe Systems Incorporated. These policies are required to meet the current human resource requirements of the organization as well as developing future plans to incorporate with its Mission and Vision statement. The paper also presents a set of recommendations on how Adobe can bring improvements in its human resource management practices in the short as well as long run.

ADOBE SYSTEMS: INTRODUCTION

Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American-based MNC mainly deals in providing software solutions for personal computers and businesses. It was founded in 1982 as a software company in California and quickly developed as one of the top market leaders in software and IT industry of the World. The Vision of Adobe Systems is to digitalize the whole world with its highly advanced software solutions and programs (Adobe 2012).

Since its inception, Adobe has introduced a number of innovative software for personal and business use. Its major product offerings include; Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PostScript, Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, Adobe Digital Marketing Suite, Adobe Connect, Adobe Premier, etc. (Adobe 2012). Adobe has also engaged itself into servers, web-design, and web-hosted services. Due to its highly exceptional performance and a great contribution to the IT World, Adobe has won numerous awards and recognitions. The Fortune # 1 Computer Software Company in the World, the Forrester Research Voice of the Customer, Top 100 Best Global Brands, etc. are some of the recent recognitions Adobe has marked in its name (Adobe 2012).

THE STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE Management AT ADOBE SYSTEMS

Adobe employs almost 10,000 people from different fields and regions. Managing such a large workforce requires the implementation of a well-developed and effectively integrated strategic human resource management plan at the workplace. Adobe has instituted a comprehensive HRM policy which helps in the recruitment, development, and management of its employees in a well-organized way (Adobe 2012).

Adobe believes that employees are its biggest resource that develops innovative software solutions for its customers and enable it to compete in the market with its full competencies. The following sections explain the best HRM Practices that are implemented by Adobe to manage it human resource effectively:

Core Values that support the Strategic HRM Policies and Practices:

Adobe has defined a set of Core Values that provide a framework for the Board of Directors to formulate its strategies and policies according to the Organization's Vision and Mission statement. These Core Values also help the Top Management in defining procedures to implement those strategies and policies as per the set objectives. The whole organizational setup stands on the four pillars of Core Values that are communicated to its employees, customers, and major stakeholders (Adobe 2012).

Adobe System employees are committed to follow these core values and institute them while they perform and behave inside and outside the workplace. Genuineness is one of the top qualities of Adobe employees (Adobe 2012). They are committed to serve the Organization's customers with integrity, dedication, and respect. This core value truly represents a strong organizational culture at Adobe Systems Inc. (Robbins, Judge, & Sanghi 2007).

Professional Development:

As per the internationally accepted HRM theories and models, organizations should train and develop their employees in such a fashion that they explore growth opportunities within their working environment themselves. Professional development can be carried out through on-the-job or off-the-job trainings (Schuler, Dowling, & De Cieri 1993). At Adobe, employees are regularly taken through professional development workshops and training sessions through which they learn the most effective ways of performing their job responsibilities.

Through Meeting Collaboration Tool, Adobe engages its employees into different professional development programs; including personalized training, brainstorming, one-to-one exchanges, etc. The Individual Development Plan (IDP) helps the managers in finding the best employee-job fit...

Employees and middle level managers are required to undertake e-Learning courses which help them in enhancing their job knowledge and being well-equipped with the latest technological trends in the industry. Moreover, managers are required to undertake leadership development sessions in order to master the best HRM techniques employed by the World's top organizations (Adobe 2012).
Moreover, Adobe has taken an initiative in the form of Educational Reimbursement Program which is helpful in developing skills and competencies of the newly recruited individuals. The Managers also arrange Function-Specific job trainings on periodical basis in order to improve the job-related skills of those individuals whose performance is lower than the set standards (Adobe 2012).

Current and Future Human Resource Needs, Roles and Responsibilities:

Adobe has expanded its business network to various geographical areas and related IT operations. Due to its continuously increasing size of the business, Adobe has to recruit more human resource on periodical basis. The recruitment and selection of human resource is done by keeping in view the current operational requirements at the workplace. In the short run, Adobe may not have to recruit a large number of employees. This is because it has recently launched its web-hosted and web-design services in which it invested a considerable sum of its profits (Adobe 2012).

Therefore, it will not be feasible to invest in restructuring or redesigning of HRM policies and recruitment processes in the short and medium run (Taylor, Beechler, & Napier 1996). While in the long run, it aims to recruit the best talent from the market on regular basis. In the future, when its business network will expand to more geographical locations, it will have to hire Parent Country Nationals (PCNs), Host Country Nationals (HCNs), and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) to work on its international projects (Harvey & Novicevic 2001). It will make the employee recruitment and development process much more complex and costly for the Organization (Deery, Plowman & Walsh 1997).

Recommendations to bring Strategic HR changes and improvements:

In its recruitment and selection processes, Adobe should seek to explore the hidden talent within the candidates that can mold themselves in its culture and contribute towards its success and prosperity (Gennard & Judge 2006). The selection should be purely on merit which will bring to picture the real talent from the industry. The newly hired employees should go through a training and development session before they are placed in their job positions. It will help in judging their potential and interests in a particular area within the organization. Thus, they can be placed in a better job position than the one for which they were recruited (Williams & Smith 2006).

Secondly, the new employees should be motivated to adopt the organizational culture and values as soon as they enter the organizational setup. They should be made to learn the common beliefs and thoughts that are shared by the Adobe employees within and outside the workplace (Crossan & Apaydin 2010).

Managers should keep the workforce motivated towards the organizational goals and objectives. They should express strong leadership qualities in order to keep the employees as one Unit and resolve any issue and conflicts in a friendly manner. Moreover, Adobe should provide competitive salary packages and non-financial benefits to its employees so that they remain loyal, motivated, and committed towards their job (Haile 2002). To improve the performance level, employees should be trained for multiple job positions and responsibilities but keeping the major focus towards enhancing the knowledge of their current jobs (Ashamalla 1998).

Communication Strategy at Adobe Systems:

Effective communication is the need for Today's business environment. Adobe has instituted a strong communication policy to converse its messages and notices to the shareholders, customers, employees, and the community it serves. For employees, Adobe has implemented a couple of communication channels within its organizational setup. The Vertical downward communication channel is used by the Top Management to communicate its policies and procedures to all the organizational members while the Vertical upward communication channel is used by employees to give their feedback to the Leadership (London 2003).

The most effective communication strategy implemented by Adobe Systems is the coordination between middle level managers and the lower level employees. The managers and supervisors get actively involved in the professional development of lower level and unskilled employees. They fully cooperate with these employees in their learning stage and guide throughout the training sessions and workshops (Burnes 2007).

At the end of each training session, the managers get feedback and suggestions from these employees so that significant improvements can be made in the way Adobe develops and trains its human resource. However, there is no system by which…