Strategic leadership assignmenton the strategic human resources management and its changing landscape in organizations

Question

Task: Critically analyze the significance of Strategic Human Resources Management and its changing landscape in organizations. Critically discuss the impact of Human Resources Management activities on the Organisational Performance.Evaluate various leadership styles and practices in organizations. Plan how to implement change in an organization by writing a strategic leadership assignment.

Answer

Introduction
The strategic leadership assignmentfocuses on strategic leadership and human resource management practices in H&M. H&M is a retail company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden (H&M, 2022). The company sells fast-fashion products, namely clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The company operates through various stores in different countries across the globewith more than 120000 employees. In light of the covid-19 outbreak, the company implemented several changes in its operation. The mission of the company is to “drive long-lasting positive change” in order to improve living conditions through investments on people, communities by incorporating innovative ideas. The vision statement presented by H&M states that the company is focused on leading the change towards circular and renewable fashion maintaining the fair terms and equality.

Figure 1: H&M logo
(Source: H&M, 2022)

According to a Statista report in the strategic leadership assignment, the company experienced significant fluctuations in its sales volume over the last few years. The sales volume of the company decreased significantly from 24339.19 million US dollars in 2019 to 20159.43 US dollars in 2020 (Statista, 2022). The reason for the decrease can be traced back to the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic across the globe.

Figure 2: Sales of H&M
(Source: Statista, 2022)

Figure 2 depicts the fluctuations in sales volume for H&M over the years from 2007 to 2021. It can be observed in thestrategic leadership assignmentthat, even though the company has been experiencing an increase in sales volume from 2007 to 2017, the sales volume significantly dropped with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. The sales volume for the company in 2020 was significantly lower compared to the previous year. The revenue earned by the company in 2019 amounted to $24.8 billion which marked an increase in revenue over the previous year (Statista, 2022).

Based on a Statista report in thestrategic leadership assignment, it can be stated that the operating profit for the company increased significantly to 1.78 billion US dollar in 2021 over the previous year (Statista, 2022).

Figure 3: Operating Profit of H&M from 2009 to 2021
(Source: Statista, 2022)

Figure 3 in thestrategic leadership assignmentillustrates the operating profit of H&M over the past years. It is evident that the operating profit increased in 2021 over the previous year signifying growth for the company. The HR team of the company plays a significant role in improving the performance of the organisation through its activities. The HR team is responsible to recruit new employees based in their competence that best suit the organisational requirements. Further HR team is significant in developing the skills of the employees through training sessions. In addition the HR team is entitled to ensure that the employees are compensated adequately in order to retain the employees in the long run.

Literature Review of the strategic leadership assignment
Concept purpose and function of HR management
As per the views of McMackin and Heffernan (2021), human resource management involves the practices concerned with the hiring, managing and training of the workers. It is observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource management of an organisation becomes responsible for incorporating policies and putting them into effect. For instance, the HRM department of H&M stages “People Engagement Pulses” which permits the workers to voice out their opinions. This initiation includes an online survey that deals with the worker engagement, diversity, culture and inclusion (Hmgroup.com, 2022).Human resource management effectively manages the workers within a workplace in order to attain the organisational goals and to reinforce the organisational culture. On the contrary, Priya and Sundharesalingam (2022) opine in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource department undertakes the duty to manage the performances of the workers along with initiating learning and developmental programs for them. For instance, the HRM department of H&M has the objective of offer all the workers with right to feel good when operating in the organisation and renders them with the environment which is free from the any form of discrimination (Hmgroup.com, 2022).They ensure that the workers are rendered with quality training and arrange compensation and benefits for the workers.

Human resource management as per thestrategic leadership assignmentacts as an instrumental role in acquiring the pool of talented workers and developing the employee retention rate. However, the HRM ensures that a healthy balance is maintained between the requirements of the employees and the satisfaction and profit of the organisation (SHRM, 2022). They ensure that the workers are sufficiently knowledgeable and have the necessary skill to conduct their job roles with perfection. According to McMackin and Heffernan (2021), the primary functions of human resource management involve the designing and analysis of jobs. Moreover, human resource management as per the strategic leadership assignmentassists in bridging the gap that exists between the performance of the workers and the company's strategic objectives.Besides, the H&M establishes spaces to increase the voice of the workers through the “employee networks” termed as “Employee Resource Groups or Colleague Resource Groups” in USA (Hmgroup.com, 2022). These groups have the aim to promote diverse workplace and through these groups workers can build community and render valuable input to maximise the diversity.

As per the views of Priya and Sundharesalingam (2022) in the strategic leadership assignment, human resource management performs various functions within the organisation, which include hiring and selecting the appropriate candidate and assisting the workers in planning their careers. They ensure that the organisation can perform their best both at the strategic level as well as in service delivery. On the contrary, McMackin and Heffernan (2021) state in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource management productively recognises the performances and dedication of the workers and rewards the workers for their enhanced job performances. The department's rendering of rewards includes growth and career scopes, bonus, job security, autonomy, incentives and others.

According to Priya and Sundharesalingam (2022) in thestrategic leadership assignment, the HRM ensures and guarantees worker participation as well as communication and keeps the workers informed regarding various organisational topics. For instance, the HRM of H&M, supports inclusion and diversity and believes these too be ever changing topics. HRM of H&M showcases their commitment to the “ongoing reflection” promotes education as well as corporate cultural awareness to support the workers (Hmgroup.com, 2022). They also undertake the responsibility of establishing and incorporating the health and safety rules and regulations within the system.

Staffing, development and compensation HRM activities in the strategic leadership assignment
The duties and responsibilities of human resource management are noted in thestrategic leadership assignmentto have been changing dramatically. The HRM plays a strategic role in the recruiting of appropriate candidates. They create a framework in order to recruit workers that encompass the organisational objectives. As per the views of Austet al. (2020), the human resource management performs a wider range of responsibilities so as to assist potential candidates in overcoming their organisational challenges. For instance, HRM department in H&M are trained so as to comprehend “why” and “how” they should shape diverse team and the way they can establish internal as well as external “talent pipelines”. They also have the aim to expand their diversified recruitment and to maximise their representation (Hmgroup.com, 2022). They effectively manage job postings and evaluate applications from potential candidates as per the strategic leadership assignment. On the other hand, they also evaluate and examine the resumes and schedule the upcoming recruitments (Factorialhr.co.uk, 2022). The human resource management within the organisation conducts the interviews and undertakes the duty to train the newly selected candidates.

According to Pombo and Gomes (2018), the HRM initiative activities through which they can develop the present knowledge and the skills of the workers. They establish effective and productive learning and developmental programs with the assistance of which the workers can enhance and acquire necessary knowledge related to the jobs. Similarly, H&M creates the learning paths in order to review the present thinking as well as the best practices on topics including the unconscious bias, cultural competence, accountability and others.
According to Taamnehet al. (2018) in the strategic leadership assignment, human resources are represented by the intellectual capital that helps the company to gain a competitive advantage. It has been stated that human resource management includes recruiting, training, appraisals and compensation of the employees through effective practices. Further, human resource management includes providing health and safety benefits to the employees, followed by justice and establishing labour relations. It has been stated in the strategic leadership assignmentthat human resource managers play an important role in selecting the appropriate employee for the organisation and conducting the recruitment process to comply with the formal requirements of the organisation. The human resource managers select employees based on their skills and experience that best suit the objectives of the organisation (Taamnehet al. 2018). In addition it can be said in the strategic leadership assignment, human resource managers form an integral part of the organisation in determining the compensation of the employees and ensuring that they are compensated at the correct time. Moreover, the human resource managers arrange training sessions for the employees to develop their skills in accordance with the organisational requirements (Taamnehet al. 2018). Further, the HRM focuses on promoting justice and ensuring health and safety benefits in order to facilitate positive relationships between the employees. Thus human resource management is essential for organisations to facilitate their functions better.
For instance in the strategic leadership assignmentH&M human resource management team conducts training sessions for the newly recruited as well as the existing employees to develop their skills and competence thereby achieving competitive advantage in the operating market. Further, the HRM team is entitled to ascertain appropriate remuneration to the employees based on their skills and designation thereby compensating the employees adequately.

Contribution of HRM activities to achieving organisational objectives
According to Sabiuet al. (2019) in the strategic leadership assignment, human resource management practices are aligned to the strategic improvement of the employees who are dedicated and competent in the organisational framework. Further, it has been stated that human resource management practices are a unique approach to employee management in accordance with the strategic goals of the organisations. The human resource management team works in collaboration with the organisational leaders to recruit skilled and experienced employees who are capable of meeting the organisational objectives. Further, the human resource management team arranges training sessions for both the existing as well as the newly recruited employees to improve their skills and knowledge, thereby enhancing their competency (Pombo and Gomes, 2018). Further, it has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat trained and skilled employees are likely to deliver better quality performance, thereby increasing the productivity of the organisation. For instance it can be further depicted that H&M seems to focus on to train their employees in order to enhance the productivity level. Additionally it is further ensured that H&M has induced less turnover rate of employees thus it has helped the company to become one of the fashion giants across world.Thus, it has been stated in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource management team is a significant contributor to the organisation's success. The trained and competent employees are capable of meeting the organisational objectives better compared to the unskilled employees.

On the other hand, Pombo and Gomes (2018) stated in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource management team plays a mediating role between the organisation and its employees by representing the organisational functions in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Further, it has been stated in the strategic leadership assignmentthat as the business needs are rapidly changing, the HRM team has to work in accordance with the changes to achieve the organisational objectives. It has been stated that the human resource management team focuses on the health and safety aspects of the employees, followed by employee compensation. Moreover, the HRM team ensures that the employees are treated with justice and are provided equal opportunities in the organisational framework (Sabiuet al. 2019). The human resource policies are designed in the common interest of the organisations as well as the employees. Implementation and practice of these policies help to provide mutual benefits to both the organisation as well as the employees. It has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the employees who are satisfied with their needs of safety and health aspects and are compensated with a dignified remuneration tend to work with dedication, thereby improving the overall organisational performance. This, in turn, helps to meet the strategic objectives of the organisation in due course. For instance the human resource management team of H&M focuses on recruiting skilled and experienced employees. As a result the employees are capable of delivering higher productivity for the company to improve the organisational performance. Moreover, the quality products and services provided by the employees enable the company to gain a competitive advantage in the operating market.

A paradigm shift in various perspectives on strategic HRM affecting contemporary HRM issues of organisations
According to Barišiet al. (2019) in the strategic leadership assignment, as a result of transit from traditional human resource management to strategic human resource management practices, the human resource management team faces several challenges. Technological advancement and adoption of modernised technologies are one of the major challenges faced by the human resource management team. Further, other challenges in contemporary HRM include effective talent management and incorporation of corporate social responsibility in the organisational policies to meet sustainable development goals in the long run. It has been stated in the strategic leadership assignmentthat cultural transformation in organisations resulting from strategic integration, organisational agility and change in leadership creates significant challenges for the human resource management team (Austet al. 2020). It has been further determined that H&M has also initiated the program called LEAD that is learn, educate, accelerate and develop that has helped the employees in their career progression. Further, the change in demographic trends with increasing population has created the existence of four to five generations in the workforce. This, in turn, has initiated the need to incorporate diverse policies for the workforce based on their age. Thus it has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the transition from traditional human resource management practices to strategic human resource management practices has created numerous challenges for organisations. However, Austet al. (2020) stated that the paradigm shift from traditional human resource management practices to a sustainable human resource management model has been prominently challenging for organisations. The shift in focus from organisational productivity to achieving sustainable development goals through organisational activities has been significantly challenging for the human resource management team. Further, the HRM team in the modern-day business has to ensure that not only the organisation is earning profit but also society and the customers are benefiting from the organiastions' activities (Barišiet al. 2019). For instance H&M invests a huge amount of money to achieve sustainable development goals. This in turn attracts the stakeholders to engage with the company to buy the products of the company. The sustainable development strategies undertaken by the company mentioned in the strategic leadership assignmenthelps to achieve stakeholder satisfaction thereby earning higher return on investments through increased sales volume and higher revenue. The competitive market necessitated the consideration of gaining a competitive advantage to sustain in the long run and meet the corporate social responsibilities. This, in turn, has required change in the human resource practices and policies through market research which is both time and money-consuming.

Leadership Styles and Practices
The leadership theories prevalent in the modern-day business framework include “The Great Man theory, behavioural theory, trait theory, transformational leadership theory, and situational leadership theory, contingency theory of leadership and transactional leadership theory” (Mango, 2018). In the strategic leadership assignmentstudy behavioural leadership theory and transformational leadership theory have been discussed.

Behavioural leadership theory states that an individual can develop leadership qualities through knowledge and skills acquired in the process of career development (Lee et al. 2020). Further, the transformational leadership theory mentioned in the strategic leadership assignmenthighlights that motivation and inspiration help to develop a positive relationship between the leaders and the subordinates, thereby transforming the subordinates' perspectives (Woloret al. 2021).
H&M's leadership framework includes inspiration, feedback and motivation (H&M, 2022). In this context, it can be stated that the company undertakes transformational leadership theories as well as the behavioural theory of leadership in the organisational framework.

Figure 4: Leadership Theories
(Source: Self-created)

Transformational leadership theory mentioned in the strategic leadership assignmentconsiders employee motivation and aims to inspire the employees (De Oliveira Dias et al. 2022). Transformational leadership focuses on improving the performance of the employees through motivational activities(Lee, 2021). Further, transformational leaders tend to present examples to inspire their subordinates to deliver better quality performances. Moreover, transformational leaders undertake training programs to improve the skills and expertise of the employees, thereby motivating them to work with dedication. Transformational leaders avoid punishing their subordinates for their poor performance; instead, training them to improve their performance through effective skill-building sessions. Further, transformational leaders guide their subordinates throughout the business process to monitor the progress of the employees (Lee, 2021). These leaders provide feedback to their subordinates regarding the areas of improvement to improve the quality of work they deliver. Further, transformational leaders constantly engage in guiding their subordinates to improve their performance in the long run. In addition, the transformational leaders identify the employees with exceptional performance and recognise them by highlighting their performances to the higher authorities. Moreover, the employees with extraordinary performances are rewarded by the leaders to recognise their performances (Mango, 2018). It has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat transformational leadership theory is significant in developing a positive relationship between leaders and subordinates. Further, transformational leadership helps to motivate the employees, thereby enhancing employee engagement within the organisational framework.

H&M undertakes transformational leadership and hence is significant in motivating the employees, thereby improving their performance of the employees (H&M, 2022). Further, the company would be beneficial by introducing rewards and recognition for the employees with extraordinary performances, thereby enhancing employee engagement. H&M would be able to develop a positive relationship between the leaders and the subordinates through transformational leadership within the organisational framework. An enhanced employee engagement as per the strategic leadership assignmentrefers to increased dedication and commitment of the employees towards work (Lee et al. 2020). Thus enhanced employee engagement is directly related to better productivity and performance of the organisation. Further, motivating the employees would contribute to employee retention in the long run. This, in turn, would help to prevent employee burnout and employee drainage to the competitors in the market. Further, the employee turnover ratio of the company would significantly decrease, thereby complying with the strategic human resource management needs.

Behavioural leadership theory is based on the assumption that leadership qualities can be acquired through effective skills and knowledge (Woloret al. 2021). A behavioural theory of leadership can be practised by collecting feedback and encouraging communication between subordinates. Further behavioural theory of leadership aims to support the subordinates through their activities in order to improve their performance. In addition, the behavioural leaders assign a strict timeline for the deliverables in order to increase the pace of work of the employees. However, the quality of performance of the employees is focused simultaneously on the pace of the work. This, in turn, results in improved efficiency of the subordinates. Further, the behavioural leadership theory emphasises that the tasks of the organisation need to be assigned to the subordinates based on their skills and interest (Mango, 2018). In this strategic leadership assignmentcontext, the leaders need to constantly monitor the performance of the subordinates to identify their skills and abilities. The leaders are likely to maximise productivity by assigning tasks based on the skills of the subordinates. H&M considers delegation of responsibilities in the leadership aspects (H&M, 2022). This is one of the significant aspects of behavioural leadership. The company emphasises assigning tasks to its employees based on their skills, competency and knowledge. This enables the company to maximise the productivity of the employees and improve the overall performance of the organisation (Mango, 2018). Thus it can be observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat effective leadership theories are significant in improving organisational performance, thereby meeting the organisational objectives in the long run. Further, the leaders of the company support the subordinates and the team members throughout their tasks to ensure that they deliver better quality performances. Moreover, the leaders of the company focus on improving the efficiency of the subordinates through continuous guidance and support.

The prevalent leadership styles in modern-day business include “authoritarian leadership, coaching, transformational leadership and strategic leadership. (Al Khajeh, 2018)". The authoritarian leaders make business decisions based on their views and opinions and exclude any opinions of their subordinates. The authoritarian leaders instruct the course of action to their subordinates and expect them to follow the instructions (Gandolfi and Stone, 2018). These leaders are observed in the strategic leadership assignmentto be commanding and hence are insignificant in providing job satisfaction to the subordinates. Further, this leadership style leads to poor morale among the subordinates and is ineffective in improving organisational performance.

Figure 5: Leadership Styles
(Source: Self-created)

In addition, the coaching leadership style focuses on mentoring the subordinates in a team to improve their performance and productivity (Gandolfi and Stone, 2018). Further, this leadership style in the strategic leadership assignmenthelps the leaders to encourage effective communication between the team members as well as the leaders. The coaching leaders emphasise the growth of the subordinates, thereby contributing to the success of the subordinates. Thus coaching leadership style is an effective leadership style prevalent in numerous organisations.
Further, transformational leadership in the strategic leadership assignmentfocuses on improving the performance of the employees by driving them to move out of their comfort zones (Al Khajeh, 2018). The transformational leadership style emphasises on emotional intelligence of the leaders as well as the subordinates, thereby motivating the subordinates to improve their performances. Further, the transformational leadership style considers that recognising and rewarding the employees for extraordinary performances are likely to motivate them. Thus transformational leadership is significant in improving the performance of the subordinates.
The transactional leadership style is based on the principle that the employees necessarily need to deliver exceptional performance in order to meet their job targets and be eligible for rewards (Al Khajeh, 2018). Transactional leaders tend to appreciate their subordinates to motivate them to deliver better performances beyond their minimum target. The roles, responsibilities and targets are highlighted to the subordinates by the leaders; however, this leadership style mentioned in the strategic leadership assignmentis often demotivating for the employees who tend to deliver based on their needs rather than the company’s needs.

Based on the above leadership styles listed in the strategic leadership assignment, it would be beneficial for H&M to adopt a combination of coaching and transformational leadership style. As per the strategic leadership assignmentthe leaders at H&M need to mentor their subordinates to improve their skills and competence. Further, they need to guide the subordinates throughout the business processes to ensure that the quality of performance improves constantly. Further, the leaders at H&M would be beneficial by incorporating a transformational leadership style within their organisational framework. The leaders would be able to maximise productivity and improve performance by motivating their subordinates (Al Khajeh, 2018). Rewards and recognition of the subordinates would enable the leaders to motivate the subordinates, thereby enhancing employee engagement. This, in turn, would significantly improve the productivity and performance of the organisation, thereby meeting the organisational objectives.

Change Implementation Plan
The modern-day business framework experienced a significant need to change its business operations with the outbreak of the world pandemic covid-19 across the globe (Rosdiana and Aslami, 2022). It has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the outbreak of covid-19 and the increasing rate of transmission across the globe were followed by several restrictions imposed by the governments of different countries. The government imposed restrictions focused on the mandatory social distance among the citizens of the country.

This has been necessary to prevent the transmission of the disease to the wider group of residents in a country. Further, a country-wide lockdown was announced across the globe, and as a result, the organisations had to shut down their usual activities on the business premises immediately without prior notice (Hussain et al. 2018). This, in turn, disrupted the business functions immensely, and the organisations experienced significant losses in terms of sales, revenue and profit earned in the specific financial year. Moreover, the prolonged lockdown restrictions and effects of the pandemic resulted in significant losses on the part of the organisations even in the following year. It has been observed in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the small-scale organisations faced an existential crisis, and several small-scale organisations were permanently closed down.

However, large-scale organisations and multinational organisations sensed the need to implement changes in their business framework in order to ensure continuity in business operations and sustainability in the long run (Rosdiana and Aslami, 2022). The implementation of changes within an organisational framework can be elaborated in the strategic leadership assignmenton using Lewin’s change management model.

Figure 6: Lewin’s Change Management Model
(Source: Self-created)

According to Lewin’s change management model, the implementation of change undergoes three significant stages (Bhattacharyya, 2020). The three stages are namely “unfreeze, change and refreeze", which need to be followed while implementing changes within the organisational framework. In the process of implementing changes in the strategic leadership assignment, both the human resource management team as well as the business leaders, play significant roles. It is in collaboration with the human resource management team and the business leaders that the changes can be successfully implemented.
The unfreezing stage is the initial stage of change management within the business framework. In the unfreeze stage, the need for change has to be recognised (Ratana et al. 2020). Further, the factors that need to be changed have to be determined in the unfreezing stage. Moreover, the employees need to be encouraged to replace the existing behaviour and attitudes and accept the changed behaviour and attitudes. Further, the management of the organisation as per the strategic leadership assignmentneeds to ensure that the employees are adequately supported in order to replace the existing attitudes and behaviour (Hee et al. 2019). In addition, the management needs to discuss with the employees the plan to implement changes within the organisational framework. This would help the management to understand the doubts and concerns of the employees regarding the organisational transformations.
With the massive outbreak of the world pandemic covid-19, multinational business organisations experienced a significant need to implement changes within the organisational framework (Ali and Anwar. 2021). H&M has been no exception as per thestrategic leadership assignmentto the scenario considering the covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government. The government imposed restrictions on social distance, and the lockdown disrupted business operations to a great extent. In order to ensure continuity in the business functions, H&M would need to change the mode of operation. In this regard, the company introduced a one-year work-from-home policy for the employees. As the employees had to shift from a work-from-office environment to a work-from-home environment, several changes immediately followed.

The human resource management practices had to be changed significantly in accordance with the new business framework (Gunjal, 2019). The company needs to provide equipment to establish the work-from-home business environment. Further, the human resource management team of the company as per the strategic leadership assignmentneeds to encourage the employees to replace the existing mindset regarding work and adopt the new way of work. In addition, the human resource management team would have a critical role in guiding the employees through the process of change. Moreover, the employees of the company need to be supported by the human resource management team in order to avoid any inconvenience while adopting the new way of work (Gunjal, 2019). The employees need to be consulted to understand their doubts and concerns about the new business framework. Further, the human resource management team needs to incorporate new policies in accordance with the government-imposed restrictions.
The human resource management team as per thestrategic leadership assignmentneeds to incorporate additional leaves for the employees who are infected with the covid-19 disease (Burnes, 2020). As the employees would not be present physically at the organisation's premises, the human resource management team needs to decide on a common medium of communication to facilitate communication between the employees and the leaders. Moreover, the human resource management team needs to focus on the emotional well-being of the employees resulting from home isolation (Burnes, 2020). In this context, the human resource management team of H&M needs to incorporate special virtual programs that would enable the workers to reduce stress and anxiety resulting from a work-from-home scenario.
The second stage of Lewin’s change management model is the “change" stage. In the change stage of the strategic leadership assignment, organisations need to plan the changes and the process of implementing the changes (Terziev et al. 2020). Further, organisations need to plan the method of executing the changes. In addition, organisations need to implement the changes within the organisational framework. The employees need to be guided and trained to learn new concepts and incorporate the same into their business activities (Terziev et al. 2020).

H&M needs to follow the same steps in the change stage to bring about changes within the organisational framework. The human resource team needs to convey the best medium of communication to the employees, thereby facilitating effective communication between the employees and the business leaders. The company would be beneficial by undertaking the Microsoft team as a medium of communication (Odor, 2018). The software would enable the leaders and the employees to communicate through video communications. Further, the leaders in the strategic leadership assignmentwould be able to conduct team meetings using the software, thereby avoiding business disruptions resulting from a lack of communication. In addition, the human resource management team needs to define the ideal time for conducting team meetings in order to avoid interruption in the daily course of activities. Further, the human resource team needs to plan the additional leaves to be allocated to the employees suffering from the infectious disease (Cragg and Chraibi, 2018). The additional leaves would enable the employees to recover from their illness without any loss of pay, thereby maintaining their well-being. Further, the human resource management team of H&M needs to convey to the business leaders to check on the health conditions of the employees and their families as a courtesy and concern gesture. This would make the employees feel important and prioritised, thereby enhancing employee engagement amidst the transforming business framework (Cragg and Chraibi, 2018).
In addition to strategic leadership assignment, the plans need to be implemented by the human resource management team, which necessarily needs to be followed by the employees and the business leaders (Daniel, 2019). The employees would be entitled to raise a complaint in case of any deviation from the newly implemented human resource policies and practices. Further, the human resource management team needs to provide extended support to the employees to learn the new concepts and procedures. The employees as per the strategic leadership assignmentneed to be supported to learn the new technologies that would be incorporated into the virtual framework of the business (Cragg and Chraibi, 2018). In this strategic leadership assignment, the human resource management team needs to arrange virtual training sessions to help the employees learn the new procedures of the organisation.

Further, the human resource management team of H&M needs to arrange specialised virtual sessions for the employees beyond their work hours to reduce stress and motivate them to continue with convenience. This, in turn, would help the HRM team handle the emotional and psychological well-being of the employees efficiently that results from home isolation (Daniel, 2019). Further, the HRM team in the strategic leadership assignmentneeds to ensure that the implemented changes are practised by the employees and the business leaders. It would be beneficial for the HRM team to collect feedback from the employees belonging to all the organisational hierarchy to understand that the changes are practised. The final stage of Lewin’s change management model highlights the “refreeze" stage. In this stage, the organisations ensure that the implemented changes are reinforced and stabilised (Odor, 2018). Further, the organisation integrates the changes into the usual way of work. The organisation develops means to sustain the changes in the long run, thereby ensuring success through the implementation of the changes. Moreover, the organisation celebrates the success achieved by implementing the changes in the organisational framework.

In this stage of the strategic leadership assignment, H&M needs to ensure that the implemented changes have been adopted by the employees as well as the business leaders. Further, the human resource management team ensures that the changes are practised by the employees, thereby achieving stability (Burnes, 2020). As the employees get accustomed to the changes, they would be able to practice the changed operations with convenience. This, in turn, would enable the company to stabilise its business operations by implementing the changes.
In addition, the human resource management team of H&M needs to integrate the implemented changes into the usual business activities. This, in turn, would help the company to increase the efficiency of the employees by incorporating the implemented changes (Burnes, 2020). Strategic leadership assignmentwould further help the company to meet the organisational goals and objectives, thereby achieving success. It is essential to stabilise and integrate the changes into the business operation to avoid disruption in the business continuity. The human resource management team would be able to handle the changes efficiently as the changes are stabilised within the business framework.

Further, the human resource management team needs to develop means to sustain the change. As the changes have been incorporated, the human resource management team plays a significant role in sustaining the changes (Terziev et al. 2020). The changes can be sustained through regular practice followed by collecting feedback from the employees. The feedback in the strategic leadership assignmentwould enable the human resource management team to improvise the operations based on the needs and concerns of the employees as well as the business leaders. Sustenance of the changes is likely to help H&M to achieve success and ensure business continuity amidst the adverse pandemic situation. Moreover, the organisation considered in the strategic leadership assignmentneeds to celebrate the success achieved by implementing the changes (Gunjal, 2019). A celebration of success would motivate the employees to function by practising the implemented changes. Further, a celebration of success would make the employees feel efficient and responsible amidst the stress and anxiety resulting from home isolation (Terziev et al. 2020). The human resource management team of H&M would be beneficial by conducting recognition seminars using the virtual medium to celebrate the success achieved. This, in turn, would encourage the employees to work with convenience in the changed business framework.

Conclusion and Recommendations
In the above strategic leadership assignment, it can be concluded that the outbreak of the world pandemic covid-19 necessitated the implementation of changes within the H&M organisational framework. The human resource management practices needed significant changes following the operational changes. The shift from working from office premises to a work-from-home scenario needed significant attention to employee well-being as well as business continuity. The leaders of the company play an important role in executing the changes implemented by the human resource management team. Thus it can be concluded in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the leaders, as well as the human resource management team, need to work in collaboration in order to implement changes.

Based on the study, the following recommendations would help the company to function without disruption ensuring business continuity.
The company should undertake a combination of transformational leadership style and coaching leadership style. This combination in the strategic leadership assignmentwould enable the company to motivate the employees and train them to improve their skills and competency, thereby improving the productivity of the company. Further, the overall performance of the organisation would improve as a result of this leadership style.
It is recommended in the strategic leadership assignmentthat the human resource management team should enhance concern about employees' emotional well-being.
Employees' performance is directly related to their emotional well-being of the employees. The human resource management team should arrange motivational workshops to reduce the stress and anxiety of the employees, thereby improving their emotional well-being of the employees. A care and concern approach mentioned in the strategic leadership assignmentwould help the organisation to enhance employee engagement, thereby achieving the strategic business objectives.

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