The purpose of strategic human resource management activities in an organization.

2. Based on the Article given above, it states explicitly that “There is widespread acknowledgement that finding the right framework to recruit, retain and manage human capital resources remains one of the toughest challenges to growth and continuity for organisations and governments in the GCC”.

3. Choose an organization of your choice, preferably the organization where you are working (or) worked (or) familiar with in the GCC region.  Understand the chosen organization’s objectives and understand the working procedures of the organizations related to the HR management.  Give out clearly the chosen organisation’s goals and objectives.
4. State the SHRM activities pertaining to recruitment, retention and management of important human capital resources in the chosen organisation and assess the purpose of such SHRM activities in the organisation.

(c) Finally, evaluate the contribution of SHRM of the organisation, towards      achieving and meeting the chosen organisational objectives and goals.

      (AC 1.2: Assess the purpose of strategic human resource management activities in an organization) and (AC: 1.3 Evaluate the contribution of strategic human resource management to the achievement of an organization’s objectives).

   

AC 1.2: Assess the purpose of strategic human resource management activities in an organization.

Oman Arab Bank is an Omani financial organization that has a set of goals and objectives that can be based on its activity in Oman or in the Gulf area. Oman Arab Bank has main goals including the following ones:

1. Delivering a healthy successful increase in the revenues in addition to reach good growth levels with the same quality in services and assets.
2. Investing in human capitals as well as in infrastructure as it is believed that individuals are the main assets that form the bank's identity of trust and accuracy.
3. Sustaining the market position and reaching new heights via focusing on recognizing and developing the bank's talents.
4. Facing the differences in the economic climate in Oman and the whole area.
5. Sharing in Oman's important projects in both public and private sectors.
6. Outperforming the competitors in the market of SME financing and other technologies related to the banking services as a part of a transformation plan in the bank.
7. Enhancing the customers' services and adding channels for physical and digital service delivery by the use of new modern banking technologies such as the bank's new digital banking platforms.
8. Having a big role in corporate social responsibility field in Oman by sharing in different CSR activities and charity participation programs and social events.
9. Sharing in the prosperity of Oman and helping in raising the economy of the company.
10. Helping young people in Oman through the different projects and systems of the bank.

There are also a set of objectives of the bank as they can include the following:

1. Helping employees who need to have better career by giving them training and rewarding systems that can retain them and reduce their turnover rates.
2. Giving managers the chance to be strategic managers especially those HR managers as this can help in achieving the bank's strategic goals on the long run.
3. Having the best ATM machines and online banking services in Oman.
4. Achieving a good level of customer satisfaction by ensuring the best services and the best client employees' relationships that provide all comfort and information for clients of the bank.
5. Increasing the different services provided for clients according to what they really need.
6. Having a good level of employees' satisfaction through ensuring a good level of communication in the organization and understanding the needs of employees.
7. Making good use of the organization's capabilities and investing in its human resources by different ways.
8. Raising the levels of employees' engagement and empowerment in the bank.

Oman Arab Bank is implementing different SHRM activities relevant to recruitment, retention and managing important human capital resources as the bank HR management is applying multilevel strategic recruiting which is according to Walsh, Sturman and Longstreet, (2010) recruiting the most useful talents to the organization and this can be based upon the needs of the organization, the type of business and the organizational goals required to be achieved in addition to the requirements of the job itself. OAB depends on adapting new practices in selecting the employees who can be best useful to the organization such as online recruiting that gives a wide variety of opportunities for many talents and at the same time, the bank has modern HRIS that can be used in selecting the most useful talents based on analyzing their profiles and matching them with the needs of the bank based on a very secured level of database usage and the bank has strategic human resource professionals who realize how to select the most effective talents who can achieve competitive advantage to the bank and who are creative enough to add profits to the bank. OAB has decision makers who believes in investing in the bank's human resources and that they have to be a part of the bank and a main asset for getting profits as they depend on strategies for maintaining sustainability of employees' retention by applying a special retention program based on employees' recognition and reward system that tends to empower employees and provide them with good leadership opportunities that can change their career based on their work in addition to ensuring a communicative work environment for all employees fairly and equally to understand their needs and problems. OAB depends on SHRM as a tool for raising its profitability and gaining the most benefits from the bank's human resources by following a set of practices related to SHRM for managing its human resources such as applying structured techniques for facing the challenges that may employees face in maintaining creative and innovative ideas and suggestions that can help the bank in addition to different empowerment and engagement activities that encourage employees to present their best for the welfare of the bank and the bank is also following a transformational plan that tends to apply transformations and changes on all three levels of the organization which are the individual level, the team level and the organizational culture level. The purpose of SHRM in Oman Arab Bank is effective enough to bring in success to the bank in many areas such as employees' retention as the bank depends on SHRM activities and practices in retaining the best employees and reduce turnover rates and the bank depends on a very strong group of employees who are considered as an asset for the bank. The bank also tries to differentiate in SHRM practices by making research to realize the best of them and train employees and managers to apply them. SHRM activities' purpose in the bank are in need for being clearer than its current status as all employees should realize how SHRM can add success to the bank and what it is really doing to provide them with the best and most effective work environment and this can be done through meeting, training sessions and discussions with employees.