Relationship between theory and practice in human resource management - Essay Example

A Critical Account of the Relationship between Theory and Practice in Human Resource Management INTRODUCTION Human Resource Management has been defined as a strategic approach towards the management of the organization's assets. It is theoretical but can also be applied practically. 1 Difference between Theory and Practice in Motivations In order for employees to improve their output, they have to be motivated. Motivation in itself takes many forms. But motivation must be seen to be taking place practically than just by the word of mouth. The human resource practitioners must understand the fact that different human resource persons are motivated by different motivators. As others may be motivated by better pay, others would be motivated if the working environment is conducive. Therefore it is important to understand the nature of each employee for motivation to be practically enhanced. Their areas of interest need be identified and motivation geared towards improving that area. The human resource practitioners can on a continuous basis give out questionnaires asking the employees questions such as: - where the management made improvements within the organization's area they fell should be improved etc. These should then be acted upon by management. By doing this the employees feel that they are part and parcel of the organization and this finally motivates them. Management should go to the extent of rewarding good performer in monetary terms, in kind e.g. through promotions etc. This would make everyone in the organization to work harder and achieve higher results. Other areas where motivation can be better shown in practice include better health and safety - No one likes working in unhygienic and unsafe conditions. Management should protect the employees from hazardous conditions. The health and safety at work Act 1974 as explained by Howells and Barnett, 1982 stipulates the relevance of maintaining health and safely in the working place. It is therefore not enough to tell employees by word of mouth to maintain health and safety but instead to put certain mechanisms in place including workshops on health, installing fire extinguishers in working places etc. 2 Motivation can also be enhanced through career development and training. It is not also enough to accomplish this theoretically. Practically the training and development must be seen in motion. Employees should be asked through their seniors to identify their training needs after which resources are set aside for training. This should then be related to promotions in the work place because employees will see the essence of training. Off -the job exercise and motivations: - Motivation can be further enhanced practically by managers through annual leaves by employees as this allows them to relax their minds Theory and Practice of Management Performance Management and Appraisal Performance management is the close monitoring of employees' results overtime. Appraisal is the rating on the performance. 3 It is not enough to theoretically apply performance management and appraisal. Performance appraisal starts with targets which the management has set. These should neither be too low nor too high. The employees would be rated on what they have achieved as compared with the expected/ targeted results. Not only should the final results be measured but also the time span at which they have been achieved. Clock cards should be introduced in the organization to indicate at what time they reported and the time they left, since idle time affects the level of performance achieved. The performance of one individual can also be checked by another. This is the system referred to as internal checks. It is mostly applied in written work -pieces where on employee peruses through the other's work. It also gives an employee the opportunity to learn from others thus improving his own performance and output. Performance management should entail getting feedback from the clients/ customers or any other stakeholders of the organization. Suggestion boxes can be placed along the corridors where these clients can deposit their satisfactions or lack of it. It is from this information from third parties that the organization can use to appraise employees' performance. Such information would include quality of goods and services, comments on the merchantability of the company's goods etc. Performance can also be measured graphically whereby trends are observed in output, number of days an employee attended job in a given period; number of reports produced etc. A good management is that which evaluates these performance trends and advices staff accordingly. 4 Performance within the organization is not conclusive. It should be compared with the industrial average. Performance management should not be confined in individuals alone but should be looked from the organization as a whole in terms of ratio analysis, where different ratios are used to measure performance in absolute terms. Industrial and trend analysis should also be carried out. Trend analysis measures performance of the organization over time. The appraisal should only be restricted on the company. The human resource practitioners should establish whether there is any correlation between human resource and the general performance of the organization as a whole. Performance on industrial analysis as it measures performance of an organisation relative to the industrial average/ norm. Again the human resource practitioners should determine how the human resource can be better used as a total of improving the firm's performance vis--vis that of the industrial average. 5 It has been found that human resource researchers have added an impetus on performance and appraisal. That focus must be on how to improve performance in the organization mores so through human resource. For this to be executed the human resource should be developed through adequate training and development. Training is important in that it adds skills and improves on better ways of doing a job. The job is also done within shorter period of time. Quality output is enhanced and wastages avoided through a trained workforce. Lastly, management must relate performance with recruitment and selection. The recruitment and selection criteria greatly affect performance. Incorporating fresh graduates in the organization will inject new flow of ideas to the organization. They must ensure then the recruitment exercise must be free and fair and free from bias/favour but purely base on merit. Effective recruiting brings employment opportunities to the attention of persons with abilities and skills appropriated to job specifications. Management can also adopt realistic recruitment exercises as a means of managing performance in the organization. Realistic recruitment tries to provide the job candidate with all pertinent information includes positive and negative factors. In this way, new employees have more realistic expectations which results in higher levels of job satisfaction and less premature turnover. HRM practitioners are people who are supposed to be proficient in the management of the affairs of the organization. They provide services to all customers i.e. planning recruitment and selections, employee rewards, motivation managements of change etc owing to their skills in human resource management. 6 They design their operational techniques in a way that the ultimate results fit with the organization's requirements. For instance during the recruitment and selection process, the human resource practitioners' role of theory and practice can be distinguished as follows: Theoretically (1) Requirements are defined: - Here job descriptions and specifications are laid down. Each job's requirement in terms of human resource skills, qualifications, age, terms and conditions of employment are specified. The number of candidates required is specified distinguishing between the number of new recruits and those that are to replace vacant positions. Job descriptions set out detailed information concerning the job, what the job is desired to achieve and its main tasks. The need for training and development are then sough depending on the nature of the job. Job specification lays out what is required from the candidate for example the level of education and skills, qualifications to be attained/ possessed, experience etc. 7 Apart from these theoretical layouts towards recruitment and selection, the human resource practitioners must be seen employing more practical approaches like: - Testing the professional, technical and other academic qualifications of the candidates before they are recruited. This can be achieved by way of aptitude tests, written interviews and inductions. In order to test competences reference would have to be made to their previous working places in order to get a more reliable overview of their competence. Experience would have to be practically determined by comparing his/ her overall results to those expected by the organization; close supervision to monitor performance and the ability to work without much guidelines Employees must be able and wiling to cope with the organization's culture whose aim is to give members as sense of identity, encourage commitment to organization's mission goals and give organization a good image. 8 In exercising the practical competency - based recruitment it is important for human resource practitioners to avoid setting of too high targets which may end up de- motivating employees. Under- stating the same also need be avoided. Apart from the work- based competences, the recruiters must also be subjected to other tests to determine if they are behaviourally competent. These include:- 1) Ability to communicate effectively both written and oral communication. 2) Ability to relate well with other workers in the organization. 3) Ability to adhere with management changes- They must be flexible to the dynaminism of management. 9 (2) Selection Selection is the process of choosing from a pool of applicants the person(s) best meeting job specification i.e. choosing from among candidates the most suitable ones. The following steps must be followed when practically doing the selection exercise. (a) Interviewing These must be done in order to seek clarifications multiple interviews may be held to minimize bias and get more objective results. The human resource management on practice must observe certain ingredients on the part of the interviewer. He must plan for the interview. In management, for anything to succeed, it must be planned for. Secondly they review the job specifications and job description. This enables them to know the type of relevant questions to ask i.e. what to look for. The interview can take the form of structures i.e. standard procedures and techniques are used. The questions are asked in the order which they appear. They can also use semi -structured interview technique which uses both structured questions and open - ended questions. 10 (b) Testing Theoretically, this is not done. But practically candidates are tested in terms of intelligences, personality, etc to determine/predict their probable success as managers or workers. Assessment Centres This is a technique for selecting and promoting people for jobs in management. The objective is to measure how a potential manager will act in typical managerial structure. In an assessment centre the candidates take part in a series of exercises. During this period, they are observed and assessed by a panel of experts consisting of psychologist and experienced managers. They may be counselled regarding their career paths and areas which need development. The activities may take up to three days. The members participated in role playing, simulations, case analysis, group work and testing. 11 Reference Checks Here the information provided by the applicant is subjected to some reference like enquiring from previous schools, employers, academic advisors, friends and banks etc. If negative information is obtained, interview the applicant again or reject him. Physical and Medical Examination Medical check- ups help to ensure that the person is physically capable of fulfilling job requirements. They are also required for insurance purposes. Then the final decision of hiring or not hiring is done by the people who conducted the interviews and letters of offer given to successful applicants. All these procedures show management in practice as concerns recruitment and selection. Diversity Management Diversification means expansion of the organizations activities. Management must diversify their operations in order to reduce risk and increase returns. Diversification is a complex technique since identifying the best portfolio/ mixtures/ combinations of projects is a difficult task that needs practice. In diversity management and when put into practice, the difference from its theoretical context is that human resources managers must move a step further into finance and accounting. 12 References Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (1999): Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Houndmills: Macmillan Cole, G.A (1997): Personal Management - Theory and Practice, Gosport, Great Britain, Ashford Colour Press Dale, M. (2001): The Art of HRD: Developing Management Skills , Vol. 3, New Delhi, Crest Publishing House Greenberg, J & Baron, R.A (2003): Behaviour in Organizations, 8th Edn, New Jersey, Prentice Hall George, J.M and Jones, G. R. 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