Strategic human resource management

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Abstract
People are the assets on which competitive advantage is built, whether in the public or
Private sector, whether in the corporate world or in the world of education. In the
words of the latest theory on human resource management, people are an “inimitable”
asset. The one thing that competitor organizations’ cannot imitate is people and their
Skills. So human resource management and the practices associated with it have
become accepted by managers in all forms of organizations’ as one of the most
important strategic levers to ensure continuing success (Boxall and Purcell, 2003).
This is true in vocational education and training as much as in any other sector. In
recent years workforce development has become a key feature of the management of
registered training organisations (RTOs) in the VET sector. This paper will report on
the results of a recent project examining the current state of human resource
management practice in RTOs in Australia. The project takes a strategic approach,
and the research examines the links between human resource management and the
strategy of the organisation. The results of the project enable us to better understand
the development of human resource management in RTOs and make sound
recommendations about how RTOs can benefit from better management of people.


Introduction
People are the assets on which competitive advantage is built, whether in the public or
private sector, whether in the corporate world or in the world of education. In the
words of the latest theory on human resource management, people are an “inimitable”
asset. The one thing that competitor organisations cannot imitate is people and their
skills. So human resource management and the practices associated with it have
become accepted by managers in all forms of organisations as one of the most
important strategic levers to ensure continuing success (Boxall and Purcell, 2003).
This is true in vocational education and training as much as in any other sector. In
recent years workforce development has become a key feature of the management of
registered training organisations (RTOs) in the VET sector. This paper will report on
the results of a recent project examining the current state of human resource
management practice in RTOs in Australia. The project takes a strategic approach,
and the research examines the links between human resource management and the
strategy of the organisation. The results of the project enable us to better understand
the development of human resource management in RTOs and make sound
recommendations about how RTOs can benefit from better management of people.