People Management and Leadership - Research Proposal Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP RESEARCH QUESTION Continuously changing global marketplace increases competition not only for market share but also for talent. The increased competition makes it critical that organisations compete for high-level talent since competitive advantage is often created through leveraging human capital. The executive leader must understand the fundamental motivators of employees and principles of how to manage human resources in order to attract and retain employees. Effective HR management systems should generate talent acquisition and retention (Bernthal & Wellins, 2006). Research conducted by Bernthal and Wellins (2001) indicates that 82 percent of all organisations have a hard time finding qualified leaders. Their research suggests that there is a need for effective management systems. The lack of effective HR management systems due to their implementation depending largely on organisational leadership constitutes the main reason behind this research. This research aims to answer the following question: what is the relationship between organization leader’s understanding of HRM and the development of HR management system, particularly in the areas of hiring, employee engagement, retention and engagement? INTRODUCTION The strategic partnership between leaders (development of talent) and human resource management (processes that are used to develop talent) is vital to the development of depth in the talent pool (Huang, 2001). Human resource professionals must be able to provide (a) diagnostic assessment; (b) strategic leadership; (c) process, data, and technology management; and, (d) network building (Kesler, 2002). These four fundamental areas help to create the framework that will support the creation of HR management systems in an organisation of any size. From the critical perspective, many organisations still underestimate the importance of HR management systems for their respective businesses. The organisations that do not have HR management systems in place will have to scramble to find talented individuals that are willing to move into positions within an organisation that do not have a clear and distinct HR management system. Although many may accept positions within an organisation based on monetary rewards, this will not trigger long-term commitment (Kohn, 1998). Organisations that can offer an individual the ability to clearly see opportunities for advancement (Baldiga, 2005) have a distinct advantage by initiating motivation and retention devices (Taylor, 2003). The need for executive leaders to understand how effective management systems can be used to motivate talent to stay in organisations is growing. Often organisations focus on developing reward systems in order to motivate, retain, and enhance quality of work. However, no scientific research has shown a distinct and sustainable increase in quality of work or retention based solely on a reward system (Kohn, 1998). In other words, the reward decreases interest and negatively effects behaviour. The link between perception and retention exhibits the need for businesses to establish effective HR management systems that are efficient in order to attract, develop, and retain talent (Kaplan-Leiserson, 2005). The need for the development of effective HR management systems in organisations is a primary reason for this qualitative research. This study delved into the impact executive leaders’ perceptions of HR planning had on the development of HR management systems. The goal of the study is to uncover the impact the executive leadership had on the development and implementation of HR management system. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Problems that need to be addressed in organisations regarding HR management include: (1) the impact of the leader’s perception of HR management on the development and use of a HR management system; (2) the intrinsic job satisfaction levels that need to be developed to retain talent, (3) the motivation element inherent in career path development of employees, (4) leadership development; (5) the importance of employee engagement. The purpose of this study is to understand the link between the executive leader’s perception of HR management and the development and use of a HR management system. The process of hiring is to be examined to find the impact of the leader’s perceptions on this concrete variable. After discussing the leader’s perceptions of HR planning through a semi-structured interview, the human resource manager is also to be interviewed to discuss the impact these perceptions on the development of hiring, career path development, and retention tools that are parts of HR management system. Objectives established for this research include the formulation of answers to the following problems: (1) How do executive leaders describe the impact of their perception of HR management on the overall development of HR management systems? (2) How do executive leaders, human resource managers and senior managers describe the impact of the executive leader’s perception of HR management on hiring processes? (3) What impact does the use of HR management and career path development have on retention levels within the organisation? (4) How do executive leaders describe resource allocation? PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW Different organisations while implementing their strategic vision of businesses pursue different HRM objectives: to create trusting environment highlighted by cooperation and openness, to gain new market share and reaches targets, to achieve operational efficiency, to look for new opportunities and welcomes new challenges, and many others. The executive leader sets the direction (Kesler, 2002) for the development of all systems including human resources within the organisation. Executive leaders do allow human resource professionals to impact the choices if a strategic partnership has developed and the HR professional has proven their worth through services offered. In fact, it is critical that the human resource professional be involved in the development of a career path system (Feldman, 2001; Buckingham & Volburgh, 2001). Human resource is the hub that connects all other departments within the organisation and, therefore, has a better understanding of all aspects of the organisational talent. Research literature (Flood et al., 2000) contains arguments on the true impact of the executive leader on the organisation. In large organisations, it is often tied to shareholder value; but in small organisations, it becomes more difficult to identify. According to upper echelon theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984), executive leaders have a substantial impact because of the decision-making authority that their position grants them within the organisation. Luoma (2000) advocates the use of capability-driven HRD to focus the organisational process. Capability-driven HRD is based on three primary premises: (a) human behaviour is a critical source of sustained competitive advantage, (b) HRD must focus, not on past or current performance, but instead on the future capabilities needed to achieve long-term strategic objectives, and (c) HRD is a primary key to successful execution of strategic objectives. Job retention refers to the ability to keep employees. Unfortunately in today’s fast-paced global marketplace, many employees are being actively recruited from current positions with offers of signing bonuses that cut financial ties to their current organisation. In fact, research (Arthur, Khapova, & Wildercom, 2005) suggests that in today’s changing environment where there are few boundaries in career expansion, traditional objective ways to measure career success are not useful. Evans (1992) discusses the need to develop career management programs that increase loyalty to the organisation. Developing leaders creates a form of loyalty throughout the organisation and connects different functional areas through the use of career development. Career development is used “to build durable linkages between separate units or functions, initially complementing formal structure and control but ultimately lightening it” (Evans, 1992, p. 91). Evans (1992) research shows a link between career development and the building of loyalty within the organisation. Building loyalty is a fundamental component of creating retention levers. Although career development programs offer a way in which to build loyalty, it is also a critical factor in creating new and needed skill sets within organisations (Griffin, 2003). METHODS A qualitative approach is particularly useful for this research because of the nature of the inquiry. The purpose of this research is to find the meaning and impact of the executive leader’s perceptions on the development of effective HR management system within the organisation. Qualitative research is a strong choice addressing researched problem, because it allows to develop a clearer picture on of how the leader’s perception impacted the concrete variable of hiring, managing and retention processes. For the purpose of the study, a set of criteria is to be developed to create a homogenous sample. The sample consists of seven businesses in the service industry. The selection process requires many calls to multiple businesses to find interested organisations. The seven organisations with three participants each (n=21) provides rich data that begins the exploration into the phenomenon of the impact of the executive leader’s perception of HR management on the development of HR management system. In addition, semi-structured interview is used as the major instrument to gather the data on the research questions. The interview process concentrates on understanding the participant’s experiences in relation to the topic, details related to experience, and the meaning derived from experience that impacts the current complexity of the HR organisational system (Seidman, 2006). RESEARCH TIMETABLE CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 7 Days CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 20 Days CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION 30 Days CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 14 Days CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 10 Days CHAPTER VI: REFERENCES AND APPENDIX 10 Days REFERENCES Arthur, M. B., Khapova, S. N., & Wildercom, C. P. M. (2005. Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 26(2), 177-202. Baldiga, N. 2005. Opportunity and balance: Is your organisation ready to provide both? Journal of Accountancy, 199(5), 39-44. Bernthal, P. R., & Wellins, R. 2001. Leadership forecast 2001: A benchmarking study. In Executive Summary [Electronic version]. Pittsburgh, PA: Development Dimensions International. Bernthal, P., & Wellins, R. 2006. Trends in leader development and succession. Human Resource Planning, 29(2), 31-41. Evans, P. (1992). Management development as glue technology. Human Resource Planning, 15(1), 85-106. Feldman, D. C. 2001. Career coaching: What HR professionals and managers need to know. Human Resource Planning, 24(2), 26-36. Flood, P. C., Hannan, E., Smith, K. G., Turner, T., West, M. A., & Dawson, J. 2000. Chief executive leadership style, consensus decision making, and top management team effectiveness. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 9(3), 401-420. Griffin, N. 2003. Personalize your management development. Harvard Business Review, 81(3), 113-120. Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. 1984. Upper echelons: The organisation as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 193-206. Huang, T. 2001. Succession management systems and human resource outcomes. Internal Journal of Manpower, 22(7/8), 736-748. Kaplan-Leiserson, E. 2005. Senior succession. Training & Development, 59(1), 10-11. Kesler, G. 2002. Why the leadership bench never gets deeper: Ten insights about executive talent development. Human Resource Planning, 25(1), 32-44. Kohn, A. 1998. Challenging behaviourist dogma: Myths about money and motivation. Compensation & Benefits Review, 30(2), 27-37. Luoma, M. 2000. Developing people for business success: Capability-driven HRD in practice. Management Decision, 38(3), 145-153. Seidman, I. 2006. Interviewing as Qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (3rd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press: Columbia University. Taylor, C. 2003. The tides of talent. Training & Development, 57(4), 34-39. Read More