Relationship of Performance to Human Resource Policies - Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Reward Management Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction It is true that organizations are going through radical and rapid change. In the expedience to counter the challenges that this pose, a lot of organizations are putting in place structures with fewer levels and more dynamic modes of operating. Consequently manager find themselves having larger numbers directly linked reports which include more skilled and diverse employees, with an escalating number technical application and possessing professional. Human resource management has changed its function in the organizations over the past few years. Its functions has extended in considerable proportion and translated into a more pivotal role rather than only providing mere support for administrative paperwork. There has also been a chance in reference terms with the emergence of the term Strategic management of labour force becoming more of a household term in business circles. The correlation between improved performance in organization and the management of Labour force Paauwe refers to human resource management as an enabler of a variety strategic options. Enabling means that human resource main structure main goal is putting in place a working team with an elaborate level of dynamism or adaptability to facilitate a variety of strategic options. He shows the vital role played by the initially assumed department of human resource management. It is a well understood fact that the role human resource section in a given organization cannot be underplayed According to Paauwe (2004), management of human resource is pivotal and acts an essential role in the path of the organization meeting its set objectives and goals. This engraves high demand on the employees because they have to be excited and show eagerness to adapt, flexibility and change. Human resource management traditions will enhance the company’s results by replicating workers abilities as well as skills, enhancing attitudes that are positive, in addition, promoting high morale, and availing workers with extended duties to make them exploit fully their skills and abilities. These three causal courses from human resource management to performance avail a foundation for deciphering high performance or good practices. Many of the assertions are brought about the studies done empirically (Gerhart, Rynes, and Smithey-Fulmer, 2009). According to Gerhart, Rynes, and Smithey-Fulmer, (2009), human resource routines will change workers competences by means of authentic selected methods used to deploy aptly competent workers using elaborate training programs equip present workers. It is hypothesized that involvement of personal and group designs of work can translate the trading to social from economical. Development together with training, satisfaction and job security, superior pay, employee commitment, good working condition, and superior initiatives will be looked at as major human methods needed for quality results. Decentralized decision making may translate to managers being obsessed with instant outcomes that make human resource strategy less coherent and more fragmented. On common ground, firms go for conceptually simple, more quantifiable, more direct, more immediate, a category in which human resource measures often are found (Guest, 1997). Hendry (2003) notes that organizations are ready to forego outcome that are long run instead aim at short run performance advantage. Profitable characteristics may be the commonly used parameter as the key for financial measure. Among measures that are not money oriented, the percentage of dominance in the market is marked by a lot of firms to be the most essential aspect. Therefore the need to expand the dominance of the market will be the prevailing effect at and focal point of the measures that are not money oriented for example efficiency, output, flexibility, and dependability. In 1987 research done by a researcher known as Guest published his work, elaborating the importance of management of labour force. He portrayed management of labour force as the new approach to personnel management, putting more emphasis on its strategic contribution, the involvement of line management, its closer alignment to business, and basing on human resource management results like quality, dynamism, and commitment. The attainment of the labour resource product subsequently looked upon to add to variety of organization result that are positive results, that includes low turnover, superior job result, high effectiveness through the maximum used of employees, and low absence. In this perspective it is easy to interpret a variety of appeals than the perspective human resource management to practitioners and academics alike. The attractiveness of the aspect of human resource management increased to a considerable degree following the paper that is ground breaking published in the Management Academy Journal by Huselid where by he succeeded in demonstrating the relationship between the level of intricate human resource strategies and the prevailing value in the market for each worker amidst a variety of companies quoted publicly found in the United States of America. Many criticism and admiration have been sparked by the publication of these findings (Hendry, 2003). The essence of this essay is to show the supposedly correlation between performance and human resource management and the various criticism that have emerged following the publication of these findings. Many academics have had their interest aroused in the fraternity narrowing specifically on the correlation between human resource management and organizational results. In the expedient enlarging fraternity studying human resource management and its relationship to performance a variety of opinions have been arrived at forming its basis on sociology, the behavior of the organization, relation in the industry, organizational psychology, and economics special attention being given to the effect of the alternative combination functions of labour force applications on a variety of results obtained at the organizational together with individual grade of analysis. Development and training of workers, it is extensively asserted, is indispensible to those firms that are looking for a upper hand by means of a flexible and high skilled labour force as a main propelling factor responsible for superior results and adorable performance by. A more competent labour force may result in increased output. A motivated and superiorly trained labour force will reduce cost incurred during the overseeing of the work through supervision because they possess the required skills to evaluate their individual work. They can lead to minimization of the time machinery take to wear out since they are in the capacity to realize faulty points on the machinery and in many occasions they are able to administer corrective measures. A highly skilled workforce will multiply financial flexibility of because it easier to train them again due to their wide understanding capability of multitasks (Guest, 1997). A labour force that is technically empowered will more so provide management team with confidence in using advanced technology and providing workers with broad range for expedient adaptability to product requirements, method of production, together with technology. Within the present global climate that is highly competitive, effective production of even not technically intricate products benefit from technically empowered machinery that is being run by a labour force possessing a high degree of skills on the other hand is a precondition for sufficient choice of apt machine and its good use to the maximum. A responsible and well trained office labourers may enhance the efficient productivity of the company by means of preserving excellent rapport will suppliers and consumers, overseeing swift flow of manufacturing of materials and ensuring that exact recordings which result in products being produced in time and to satisfy the customer preference (Becker and Huselid, 2006). Management devotion to developing and training the workforce with the reason to enhance the quality of products and delivery of services and carries an importance that is symbolic and in that it is a herald to the labour force that the organization really values them. Such a herald boosts the motivation of the labour force and makes them more devoted to the organization. Nevertheless, companies in common instances are not prepared to take advantage of these benefits. Management recruits, selects, and train workforce under the jurisdiction of work place policies, expected needs alongside prejudices and norms embedded in the society, locality, the industry, and the nature of the firm. The skill structure that follows there after is established by reorganizing the obligation of work (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005). To a great extent the team of management is more inclined towards quantified and immediate labour economy uses and designs its man power basing on that approach, on the other hand being least concerned with the long term and somehow less quantifiable benefit they can reap from a policy which entails cultivating continuously skills in the workforce. Training and skills are among major challenges in case there is the introducing of technological transition observed in many organizations. Most organizations are in the habit of overlooking the essence of the presence of skills for the superior technology they bring to the organization. Crucial decision of using more finances to get superior technology is reached at assuming that the required skill to be applied on the new technology is already present it will not take time or be impossible or difficult to obtain. Apart from other human resource issues and training be mentioned preceding innovation, they are commonly not done in arrears, formalizing transition as opposed to making late adjustments as a problem solving event to counteract challenges in the courses of their occurrence. However pressure of manufacturing and production mostly does not permit organizations to engage in sending majority of the workforce for further training mutually preceding the needed skill (Becker, and Huselid, 2006). Performance management systems have come about emerging from the behavioural school of thought with the sole assumption that organizational performance is a function of control and predictability of employee behaviour. In another perspective is that if an individual was to put in place performance expectation, provide time to time feedback on advancement, ascertain the results placing alongside well elaborate standards, (more likely set by a customer) and establish a relationship between these results to reward systems, someone could considerably expect that the total of the individual efforts would automatically enhance organizational performance. The belief that effective design implementation and design of a performance management system will in the long run enhance organizational effectiveness and motivate employees is the basic reason availed for its expansive existence. Of less importance is the development and training of employees to meet dynamic business needs. This is the strength of this belief that makes it to be practiced in many organizations in the United States of America. According to Becker and Huselid (2006), the role of human resource function in implementing and developing performance management is primarily to convince top management that its introduction will have an important impact or effect of the performance of the organization. It is a prerequisite for it to show the channel to the top management, employees, and line managers generally. But it is not the function of human resource management arm to compel the organization into implementing performance management. Members of the human resource function can play a pivotal role in facilitating and leading project teams, in planning and implementing training and briefing programmes and in availing individual direction, coaching and counseling to line managers. In effect they may end up operating as internal consultants (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005). In one sense the human resource function is the responsible custodian of performance management on the behalf of the top management. It has to make sure that it is operating efficiently and effectively and it should portray some form of quality control for the purpose. The significance of thorough training for both individuals and managers in the skills required to carry out performance management effective and with great impact cannot be overemphasized. A lot, if not all, of those involved will not consciously have exercised the skills of objective setting, providing counseling, feedback and coaching (Becker & Huselid, 2006). Both Parties involved in the performance process will also require training and guidance in the use competences, the preparation of performance agreements and plans, rating, and completion of review forms. While some of these skills and procedures, such as providing feedback, rating, counseling, and coaching will mainly be exercised by the managers, the individual concerned also need to understand the part they have to play on the basis of an appreciation of whatever their managers are doing and the reason why they are doing that. Performance management is related to content that is the procedures for completing performance agreements and review forms. More importance is place on the process involved in setting objectives, using performance measures, defining capabilities, providing feedback, counseling and coaching. Training can be provided by formal courses or workshops (Francis and Keegan, 2006). Contrasting views In spite of the convincing evidence portrayed in a number of studies, a great number of others harbor a lot of criticism of the correlation between human resource management and performance. Fleetwood and Hesketh, for instance, argue that the evidence that has been gathered portraying a relationship between lack an elaborate and sharp conclusion on the matter. They further expound that statistical evidence or data in itself is not enough and that there could be am formed theory to give more weight and credibility to the assertion of there being a relationship between human resource management and performance. Another writer by the name Guest pin-pointed the same issue in his publication in 1997. He was skeptical of a theory not being included in the evidence presented, which to a great extent hindered a wholesome persuading interpretation of the researched and gathered empirical findings (Corby, White, and Stanworth, 2005). He highlighted the need of enhancing the impact of management of labour force on obtaining positive results by including a theory concerning performance, a theory relating to human resource, and finally a theory showing the relationship between human resource management and performance. Another writer called Legge was of the same position that the inclusion of a theory could have boosted the credibility of the empirical findings. The problem of relating human resource management and performance both in theory and practice is not at all occasioned by the assumption of employing human resource management to enhance organizational performance has problems from the on-set. Moreover the problem lies in how simplistic the perceptions are that forms the linkage. The assumption that human resource policies contain an upward impact on performance contrast with the performance of United Kingdom firms failing to take these human resource policies if they that good. Is it prompted by the awareness of the effect or the fact that they cannot be persuaded by such an impact? Besides in case they are persuaded by such effects why then are they reluctant to implement the approach? In economic social strategy in the manner found in Great Britain whereby competitive policy is commonly not centered on high-road human resource management and quality improvement and where firms tent to be operating on short term period, a balanced benefit approach may be to consider that human resource practices and organization success are related on the other hand such a correlation is likely to be two-way one as opposed to one-way cause relationship. Besides, such a relationship may be negative or positive (Paauwe, 2009). In summary we need to study in empirical manner the nature of human resource policies firms implement, whether they enhance positively to or impact adversely the performance of the organization; to what level the alternatives are limited by external and internal parameters; and whether there is a specific approach. Particularly researchers have notice the fact that most of the studies performed on the correlation were obtained from by quantitative data which generalizes everything. It is argued that employing other approaches such as case studies may be anxiously required in order to substantiate the coordinating points in the assertion and put more weight to it. Otherwise casual links between performance and human resource practices. A study has shown that change in organization work has been in the effort to do away with demarcations but not upgrading the skills of the workforce. Apart from that from that functional flexibility more often is not achieved by the acquisition of a high skilled caliber of workers. Training initiative in most cases accompanied innovation some which resulted to formal qualification while others were aimed at encouraging self-organization and changing behaviour. Firms also could improve productivity by work intensification, partially owing to downsizing or escalated production quality. For instance, the escalating profit in case of a company involved in printing was majorly attained by repeated decrease of managing level for every press and at the same time multiplying by two the level of production (Becker and Huselid, 2006). It has been observed that there was output increase in the year 1980s largely prompted by legislative means control the power of the trade union. Subsequent performance gains were attributed to employees’ phobia increased ability of management as opposed to an emerged co-operation spirit. A researcher has argued that output margins experienced in British companies in the year s of 1980s were attributed to the quick recovery of output with a substantial compressed work force after 1982, multiplied work intensity, and organizational structure of production and small changes in the technical structure. Work intensification is viewed as the main source of increased output as opposed to investing in human and plant resources. Consequently productivity advantage are not are not tagged on organizations putting in place good human resource strategy. Employee flexibility and commitment is assured by the market of labour parameters efficiently. The policy employing labour from outside on the temporal basis to make cost of labour cheaper and to subsequently decrease the power to bargain is the practice common in Britain (Paauwe, 2009). Conclusion Researchers on performance and human resource management have attempted to prove the important casual correlation between organizational performance and human resource policies and passionately argue that companies should put in place well elaborate human resource policies in order to gain a competitive advantage. Among other things, flexibility that is functional by investing in increased job satisfaction, training, employee commitment, and involvement, initiative that are quality are viewed as playing a pivotal role to economic performance that is sustainable. While acknowledging the important role played by human resource initiative to performance this essay has gone to great extent to elaborate the various criticism that delink any relationship of performance to human resource policies. It has been noted that although performance has been attributed to implementation of apt human resource policies, many firms are not willing to use this approach therefore proving the authenticity of the skepticism harbored about the relationship between the two. All in all we will find people who see a connection between the management of labour force and the success of the organization while some of the academics we see no relationship at all. As discussed in this essay we have many studies that disapprove the relationship existing between human resource management and the success of the organization. Bibliography Paauwe, J. (2009). HRM and Performance: Achievements, Methodological Issues and Prospects, Journal of Management Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 129-142. Becker, B. and Huselid, M. (2006). Strategic Human Resource Management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. Corby, S., White, G. and Stanworth, C. (2005) No news is good news? Evaluating new pay systems, Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 4-24. Druker, J. and White, G. (2009) Introduction: the context of reward management, in G. White and J. Druker (Eds.) Reward Management: A Critical Text, 2nd ed., Routledge, London, pp. 1-23. Francis, H. and Keegan, A. (2006) The changing face of HRM: in search of balance, Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 231-249. Gerhart, B., Rynes, S. And Smithey-Fulmer, I. (2009). Pay and Performance: Individuals, Groups and Executives, The Academy of Management Annals, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 251-315. Guest, D. E. (1997). Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8, 26376. Hendry, C. (2003). Applying employment systems theory to the analysis of national models of HRM, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 1430-1442. Paauwe, J. (2004). HRM and Performance: Achieving Long-term Viability, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Paauwe, J. and Boselie, P. (2005). HRM and Performance: What Next? Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 68-83. Becker, B. and Huselid, M. (2006) Strategic Human Resource Management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 898-926. Becker, B. and Huselid, M. (2006). Strategic Human Resource Management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 898-926. Read More