Pragmatic Suggestions for improving the Practice of Strategic Human Resource Management: Perceptions from Top Management of Sri Lankan Listed Companies

Abstract

Practice of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is critical for the achievement of organizational objectives. There are several internal and external factors influencing the practice of SHRM. The purpose o f this study is to present some suggestions for improving the practice of SHRM as per the perception of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Heads of Human Resource (HR) o f Sri Lankan Listed Companies. The CEOs and Heads of HR for this study were drawn from a sample of 20 listed companies which were selected in order to represent each industry from a population of 288 listed companies o f Sri Lanka across various industry sectors. Qualitative data was collected through semi - structured interviews and data analysis was done through thematic analysis. The results of the thematic analysis reveal that there are several factors to improve the practice of SHRM in Sri Lanka. Four clusters of themes have been emerged in the analysis, namely, competency of Head of HR, positive top management attitude and support, support from the external parties, and positive internal system. These findings help to enhance the understanding of SHRM and can be applied to strengthen the practice of SHRM in Sri Lanka. These are original contributions to the Sri Lankan SHRM literature. The findings of the study support to fill the existing gap identified and provide some practical implications to professionals regarding practice of SHRM in the Sri Lankan context. Hence, this research may help policy makers of Listed Companies as well as other companies in Sri Lanka to identify ways in which they can improve the practice of SHRM.