Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisation Behaviour Theories Frameworks - Coursework Example

?Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organization Behavior Theories Frameworks Introduction Organizations are instituted to gain growth and development. This is phenomenal with both profit making and non profit making organizations. These growth and development however do not come by accident. They come as acts of well calculated achievement. Considering the fact that all organizations are made up of components, it cannot be denied that the harnessing of the roles of all components of an organization goes a long way to ensure that the needed growth and development is never denied an organization. Having said this, it is very important to point out that one component of all organizations that has a lot of contribution as far as guaranteed growth and development is concerned is the human resource base of the organization. For this reason, it is always important to have an effective human resource management policy in place in all organizations. Many analysts and expects in management have said that human resource of organizations are well managed when human resource management is allowed to be made an integral part of the organization behavior of the organization (Org Behavior, 2011). The enactment of HRM and Organizational Behavior contemporary themes in the management of individuals in contemporary organisations Theoretically, Heathfield (2011) explains that human resource management is a broad spectrum of professional mandate that has to do with anything that deals with the handling of people (human resource). As far as the people are concerned, human resource management caters for “compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training” (Heathfield, 2011). Human resource management has been given a theoretical framework by the Business Ball (2010) whereby it is related to the psychological contract. It is said that “The Psychological Contract' is an increasingly relevant aspect of workplace relationships and wider human behavior.” This means that human resource management is considered a necessary phenomenon not just because of the fact that it is needed to lead to the growth and development of an organization but then because it is needed to be in place to protect the basic relationship that needs to exist between the human workforces in the organization. This makes human resource management an aspect of organizational management that is needed to have a more permanent basis. It is in this regard that human resource management has always been discussed along the lines of organizational behavior – because organizational behavior has a more permanent stake in all organizations. Organizational Behavior has been explained as “the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations” (Clark, 1998). This means that organizational behavior can lead to a better comprehension of the type of human resource management that should be in place at a workplace or a given organization and this is the reason why the two concepts are always treated hand in hand. Assumptions underpinning the way in which HRM and organizational behavior theories and frameworks have been propagated Rank (2011) notes that human resource management and organizational behavior has existed with humankind since time immemorial. The only difference is that these two phenomena of management has been through a lot of changes and transitions. The good news is that handling of both human resource management and organizational behavior has been improving with time. There is indeed exists a chain of assumptions underpinning why and how theories and framework of human resource management and organizational behavior all came about. Rank (2011) attributes the conception of the two theories and framework to the emancipation of human rights such that the need to promote the wellbeing and welfare of all people - regardless of whether they are employees or employers was deemed necessary. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2011) on the other hand elucidates that propagation of the two theories and framework started because of the achievement of growth and prospertity for organizations was seen as something that could not be forced but could be achieved when carefully planned and evaluated policies were put in place. It is in line with this that Rank (2011) outlines some of the components of human resource management as “planning, implementing, and managing recruitment, as well as selection, training, career, and organizational development initiatives within an organization.” The Changing Landscape of HRM and Organizational Behavior Rhetoric As noted early on, both human resource management and organizational behavior have been through a lot of changes over the years. Undoubtedly, most of these changes have been an improvement on what already existed such that it can be said that there have been positive changing landscape of human resource management and organizational behavior rhetoric. As many as five of these changing rhetoric has been identified by Edinburgh Business School (2008).These changes include changes in stress management and well-being at work. It is explained that a lot more managers are beginning to gain an understanding for employees to work in an atmosphere that is free from all forms of psychological inadequacies. For this reason, the way is paved to ensue that workers do not work under any form of stress. This is achieved through means like allowing for enough rest in-between working hours, making way for healthy socialization and taking of leaves. The second change has to do with the application of contemporary theories of motivation. Today, motivation has been identified not as‘expenditure’ but an ‘income’ in disguise (Knoster, Villa & Thousand, 2000). This is to mean that once money is invested in motivating workers, employers do not loss in anyway but this money quickly works its way into benefiting the organization because the workers tend to have a psychological mandate to work hard to make up for the motivation they receive. The third rhetoric change concerns organizational control and reward system. Here, a distinction is drawn between motivation and reward from a point where reward is seen as a mandatory benefit that workers receive whereas motivation is not mandatory. The fact that rewards are mandatory not withstanding, employers of today are giving the phenomenon more attention and actually integrating it into the entire organizational behavior of their organizations. This is because issues on reward account for some of the highest reasons why one employee will leave one company for the other. Again, there are a lot of labor laws that protects the need for issuance of right reward system. Further more, there is a change in the area of job design and employee reaction to work. This change basically has to do with the realization of the need to assign the right job to the right person through comprehensive job design analysis to ensure that employees have the right attitude, qualification and reaction to take up a particular position. In the past, employers were only concerned about academic qualification and working experience. This did not give the needed change because most employees were later found not to possess the right attitude and reaction towards work (Hackman & Oldham, 1975). For this reason even though they had the knowhow to work, they did not have an inner motivation to give off their best. Last but not least, there is the change the understanding of work group dynamics and group based problem solving. This new and rhetoric change in human resource management and organizational behavior tackles human resource management from a corporate perspective rather than from an individualistic perspective. This is indeed a step in the right direction because with the grouping essence of organizations and companies having networking branches and working with several employees, it is necessary that a team spirit that is devoted at ensuring that employees can fit perfectly into the network is developed. Significance of the HRM and organizational behavior theories and frameworks in assisting managers coping with internal and external complexities of business environment Managers of businesses and organizations in today’s economic world are not only faced with internal complexities but external ones as well. This means that they do not just have to deal with their human resource within the framework of their establishment but they have to deal with other stakeholders such as customers and shareholders. Luckily, theories of human resource management and organizational behavior ensure that managers achieve benefits that spans across both internal and external complexities. Since the inception of human resource management and organizational behavior principles and theories, several organizations and companies have benefited greatly from them. This is because the two theories play very significant roles in the general running of companies and business. First, human resource management and organizational behavior leads to the reduction of organizational conflict. Even though some reviewers hold the view that organizational conflicts have their own positive sides (Ackroyd, 2002), there is no denying the fact that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. For instance organizational conflict leads to tension and acrimony at the workplace. Through a well harnessed organizational behavior and human resource management process, employees and employers establish very cordial relationships that ensure that such acrimonies and tension are eradicated. Secondly, and effective human resource management plan and organizational behavior leads to increased motivation among employees. This is achieved because through a very vibrant human resource management, all employees are stationed at sections of the organization where they can work best. By extension, their performance improves and this creates room for them to receive both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from their superiors. Again, a well human resource management and organizational behavior are effective in assisting managers to cope with internal and external complexities in the business environment in the sense that there becomes an improved employee-customer relation. This way, managers are assured that customer relationship is catered for in disguise. The complexity whereby customers decided on changing their choice of companies they do business with therefore becomes eliminated. Finally, managers have very little to worry about the growth and development of their businesses if they have a workable human resource management and organizational plan in place. This is because Ackroyd (2002) explains that both human resource management and organizational behavior are directed towards creating an environment that is welcoming for improved productivity and so the automatic growth of the business cannot be denied. HRM Initiatives and accompanying Organizational Behavior Tools to measure accomplishment In all organizations and institutions, there are specific human resource management initiatives and programs that go on. Because these happen as often as possible, there are sometimes termed as organizational routines. Again, because these human resource management initiatives are used in such a way that they have become an embedded part of the organization, they are also classified as part of the organizational behavior of the various organizations and institutions. Three of these human resource management initiatives are discussed in the following sections. These initiatives are recruitment, training and 360 degree performance management feedback system. As the initiatives are defined and explained, their accompanying organizational behavior tools that are used to measure their achievement shall also be discussed. The need to measure whether the aims of the initiatives have been achieved is very necessary because that is the only circumstance under which organizational leaders can know whether their human resource management practices are yielding any results. Recruitment Day in and out, the need to fill vacancies in companies, organizations and institutions arise. Employee turnover, promotion, retirement, dismissal, study leave and bereavement are among the reasons and causes of vacancies. Once the vacancies are created, the next available human resource management act to take is recruitment. Casper (2011) quotes Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Cable, 2003 who define recruitment as involving “the utilization of organizational practices to influence the number and types of individuals who are willing to apply for job vacancies.” In organizations round the world, there are different organizational behavior practices and tools that are used when the need for recruitment arises. These tools ensure that the recruitments done are effective, appropriate and result oriented. Some of these tools include the advertisement of vacancies, conducting of interview before selection and placement. Over populated applicants is a potential problem. It is therefore advised that during the advertisement of vacancies, human resource managers have a lot to do to ensure that the recruitment process matches what the organization is looking for. For instance there should be factors such as the need to include non-native workers. In such a situation, advertisement is best done through media that has wider coverage. For organizations whose duties are localized such as social care workers, advertisement needs to be localized and publicized beyond means that will attract people who do not understand the needs of social work to be done. During the interview section also, there are a number of factors to consider. For instance the interviewing should not be handled by only one person because this will defeat the goal of efficiency. Above all, recruitment procedure must be undertaken within the confines of the laws of the nation to ensure that regulations that protect potential candidates such as laws against discrimination and biases are not infringed. Training Training comes in right after the recruitment is complete. Recruitment completes with the selection and placement of the most appropriate candidate at post. Whether newly appointed staff have previous experience or not, training is always necessary to under take. Nadler (1984) explains that “training is defined as learning that is provided in order to improve performance on the present job (Nadler, 1984). It is for the point echoed by Nadler that training should be universal – everyone on the staff and under the watch of the human resource manager needs improved performance. As a form of organizational behavior, training comes in several forms and at different times. For instance there is on the job training off the job training. On the job training involves the training of staff whiles they are still at post. This is ideal for fresh graduates and people taking up a kind of job for the first time. There also exists in-house training and out-of-house training. In-house training involves staff receiving training right at the premises of the organization or company. Out-of-house training involves staff receiving training out of the premises of the company. Out of house training may come in different forms including conferences, seminars and workshops. Further education also best fit as out of house training. The potential problem associated with any successful training program has to do with funding because human resource managers often have different categories of human resource to train. 360 degree performance management feedback system Without effective feedback system, it is impossible for staff, who form the core constitutes of the human resource base of the organization to have a fair idea of how they are performing at post. By 360 degrees, reference is being made to a feedback system that centers on every aspect of the organization and captures every single individual within the organization. Management feedback has been defined as the collection of data on the performance of workers and reporting back to workers on how their performance is envisioned by management (Konadu, 2009). The biggest challenge that human resource managers are likely to face in undertaking a comprehensive 360 degree performance management feedback has to do with third party reporting. Third party reporting is the situation whereby the manager has to depend departmental leaders or other leaders in the organization to report to them. The reason why this may lead to a problem is that there could be condoning and conniving to distort the actual picture of performance of workers. Expected influence of HRM practices and organizational behavior on organizational performance The definition of human resource management will be revisited as “Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization” (Heathfield, 2011). Having identified this, the real influence that human resource management practice can have on organizational performance can easily be traced. Without much research, it can be established that when human resource management practices are well carried out, it is only the right person who will take the right job. This means that the situation whereby round pegs are put in square holes will be avoided. As soon as this perfectly fixing distribution of organizational roles is done, performance can be enhanced because there can be an assurance that it is masters of specific fields who will be working. Again, organizational behavior can influence organizational performance in the sense that organizational behavior will determine the regulated conduct of operations at the work place. This means that the concept of haphazard, impromptu and unformed changes will be minimized. This way, there will always be smooth and effective surfing of organizational functions and duties. When such uninterrupted way of delivering service is achieved, there is sure to be improved performance in the organizations. Conclusion The growth of any organization is crucial on human resource management and organizational behavior. As a matter of fact, these two phenomena are cannot be overlooked in a modern day organization that is focused on growth. The best way to ensure their influence and benefit however has to do with the tactical harnessing of the two principles. As much as possible, managers must come to a stage where human resource management is seen as part of the organizational behavior that exists in the given organization. As there seem to be a universal debt crisis lingering on most nations with an accompanying effect on businesses, some of these basic principles of management; thus human resource management and organizational behavior should not be underestimated in the least sense. REFERENCE LIST Ackroyd S., 2002, ‘Organizational Conflcit’ Accessed November 23, 2011 Business Ball, 2010, ‘the psychological contract’, Accessed November 22, 2011 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2011, ‘History of HR and the CIPD’, Accessed November 16, 2011 Civil Service Bureau of the United Kingdom, 2002, ‘Human Resource Management Good Practices’ Accessed November 20, 2011 Read More