Plans and Policies for an Organization Undergoing Change or Innovation - Essay Example

PLANS AND POLICIES FOR AN ORGANIZATION UNDERGOING INNOVATION Plans and Policies for an Organization Undergoing Change or Innovation Name Course Instructor Institution Table of contents 1. Executive summary………………………………………………………………………3 2. Managing Innovation or Change………………………………………………………..3 3. Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..5 4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………..................................8 5. References:………………………………………………………………………………10 Plans and Policies for an Organization Undergoing Change or Innovation Executive summary It is factual that many organizations, companies, and institutions have embraced the concept of Human resource management (HRM) as one of the vital pillars for success. For an organization, that is undergoing innovation or enormous change, a radical and variant dimension of human resource management philosophy and procedure must taken against the status quo. The Human resource management theory postulates that the main goal of human resource management is to help an organization to attain its strategic goals by attracting, maintaining employees and to manage them effectively. It is of essence that when an organization is on the platform of change or innovation, it means that the prospects have changed in terms of goals or rather the targets have escalated and therefore the approach of Human resource management must change to conform to proposals and also comfortable for the employees. This paper discusses various strategic Human Resource Management plans and policies for an organization that is undergoing change or innovation. Managing Innovation or Change Innovation is a very important process for the growth of a business, and therefore proper innovation management is required in any organization or business for that matter. There are important steps followed in managing innovation. One of the steps is to understand that the path from an idea to market needs to be in stages. The number of stages is optional, but the three basic stages are generating the idea, concept demonstration, and investing to obtain the benefits from the market. A good innovation management recognizes these stages and manages them differently as per the requirements. But equally important is to manage the entire process in its totality and avoid the stages from becoming independent and operating as separate silos (Anand, Gardner& Morris, 2007). Innovation management is managing the innovation supply chain, and the basic reason for innovation is the need for change. From a management perspective, only two types of innovation are relevant: ‘inside-the-box’ and ‘outside-the-box’, depending on the degree of change required and the business process to be adopted. Inside-the-box innovation is incremental innovation in products, processes, and services to support and develop existing businesses (Chesbrough, 2003). It operates at product strategy level, is fully executed within a business unit, and this type of innovation is a ‘must do’ activity, required by any business. Outside-the-box innovation is game changing innovation to create change for strategic reasons or in response to changes in the business environment. It is a corporate activity and operates at company strategy level. Game changing innovation is not a reality, but a strategic choice and the CEO needs to decide whether and how to use this tool to achieve the required changes Innovation needs both creativity and investments. Creativity needs openness, freshness, and willingness to say yes; it thrives on a bit of chaos. Investments need discipline, sound analyses and willingness to say no. The element of chaos gives innovation a bad reputation amongst the CEOs who equate chaos with the absence of control and good management. Separating the different stages and keeping creativity, analyses, discipline, etc. Where they belong is an essential part of innovation management (Ferlie, Fizgerald, Wood, & Hawkings, 2005) Managing the innovation supply chain in line with the specific characteristics of each stage and maintaining the cohesion and momentum in the whole chain is the first challenge of the innovation manager. The second task for the innovation manager is to ensure that the tollgates between the stages are properly controlled. At each stage the innovative idea has to meet certain specific criteria and deliverables and these have to be assessed by the custodians of the tollgate. For game –changing innovation managing the tollgates is part of corporate management. The third role of innovation manager is to optimize the value of innovation portfolio in relation to the innovation (Smith, & Tushman, 2005). Recommendations As a Human resource consultant my first recommendation and reference point for any suggestions for a company, which is undergoing change is the tenets entailed in the best fit, or the contingency approach to Human resource management. The approach posits that human resource management and practices can improve performance for an organization if there is a close vertical fit between the human resource management practices in the organization and the company's strategy (Subramanaim & Youndt, 2005). This link facilitates a close coherence between the Human resource personnel processes and policies with the external market or business strategy of the organization. As a consultant, I will critically analyze the organization’s development strategies, mission and vision and try to come up with HR policies and practices which I will map onto. This mapping that I will firstly work on is critical because Strategic human resource management especially in this case of an organization which is undergoing change or innovation is obviously directed at achieving new organizational objectives. During the mapping process that I have ascribed above, I will take the initiative to research on or study workers' habits, their needs, tastes and so to help me to predict their (workers) possible actions and movements and the impact that my policy recommendations these will have on the organization. The objectives that I must work on as baseline for my recommendation and policy suggestions is that, my effort must translate into improved organizational performance as indicated in the change and innovation charter of the organization. The polices must also lead to improved employee commitment to their jobs and responsibilities; they must result in low levels of absenteeism and staff turnover, enhanced efficiency and quality for employees output; also policies must facilitate productivity by recognizing skills. Some of the recommendations that I will put forth and the key issues that I will address include aspects of employment and job security. It is important to note that the nature of employment security for an employee in any organization is directly proportionate to his or her commitment, efficiency and other measurements for a job that is assigned to him or her (Wischnevsky & Damanpour, 2006). In cases where the employment security of the employees is uncertain to them, they tend to lax on their responsibilities because they are oblivious of their fate and they are not psychologically comfortable. My policy recommendation to this organization, which is undergoing change and innovation, is to look into this issue by establishing a procedure whereby they can engage employees who have been working in the organization for longer period on permanent terms or better conditions. Performance for each employee can be another methodology to be used in enhancing employment security, whereby outstanding performers are offered better terms in respect to employment security so as to enhance motivation and address the issue. Extensive training is another aspect that the organization must embrace (Wischnevsky & Damanpour, 2006). There should be regular refreshing sessions and recaps so as to keep the employees on course in terms of product or service knowledge, new developments in the market, and competitor and also act as an opportunity whereby they can air their views and opinions about the organization performance and the rest. Compensation and benefits is also another critical area that must be addressed because it is the heartbeat of every employee in any organization and consequentially it greatly determines employee performance. Employees should be rewarded according individual output and performance in that the organization must come up with a comprehensive schedule whereby individual effort and commitment to his or her work is captured. The organization should establish a commission platform whereby when an employee exemplary performs beyond certain target level he or she is entitled to a certain percentage of commission or bonus. High pay also should be benchmarked on the company’s performance, status differentials should be minimized, and this initiative will enhance motivation and productivity in employees, which is in tandem with the spirit of change, and innovation, which is undergoing (Wischnevsky & Damanpour, 2006). Sharing information within an organization is indeed a very critical ingredient in the process of moving the organization or company forward. Information include the new developments within the organizations for instance performance index of the organization for example profit or loss margins, promotions, transfers among other because this phenomenon will create a family like set up which facilitates cooperation and coordination within the organization. The organization according to me, therefore, should open up communication avenues for instance establish notice boards, email platforms, brain storming sessions so as to give an arena for information sharing. Human resource management is mostly centered on the general management or the human resource but in my opinion and in regard to this organization, there should be establishment of self managed teams whereby a certain number of employees or section is relatively allowed to look after their issues by a proxy supervisor who is appointed by the management among them. This strategy will enormously efficient the general management because the employees will feel comfortable and even be at ease to express their issues to their colleague than knocking the door at the Human resource office (Van Der Meer, 2007). Regular performance appraisal for all the employees is another strategy that I can recommend to this organization because I strongly belief that it’s a human resource management practice that is very useful in ascertain who is who among the employees in terms of performance. The organization is bent on the philosophy of change and innovation and therefore non-performers in this context should be eliminated and the parameter for such a course is by the use of performance appraisals (Tegarden, Sarason, Childers, & Hatfield, 2005). The organizational culture is also another aspect that must be looked into so as have a better comprehension of the people in the organization in terms of work formula, their opinion which are crucial for the success in the implementation of the new policies. There should be co-operation between the human resource office and other top-level management team to embrace these recommendations and give the necessary support that is essential Tegarden, Sarason, Childers, & Hatfield, 2005). These support mechanism include such actions as coming up with incentive portfolios revision of the compensation rates among other requirements that needs finance. This will create an organization’s Human Resources Management (HRM) platform that act as reference point in deciding the staffing needs of an organization (Taylor, & Greeve, 2006). For instance, whether to use independent contractors or hire new employees to fill these needs, in recruitment and training of the best employees, nurture high performers, guidelines in dealing with performance issues, and ensuring that its personnel and management practices of the organization conform to various regulations. Conclusion To implement the recommendations that I have enumerated above, there must be suitable frameworks within the organization, which will facilitate the adoption and integration of these policies. The implementation strategy in this respect of an organization which is undergoing tremendous change and innovation should be mapped on some fundamental factors which include the size of this organization for instance if it a big some of the policies can be implemented in departments. 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Knowledge combination and experience in innovative teams”. In:  Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 723-740 Tegarden, L.; Sarason, Y; Childers, J. & Hatfield, D. (2005) “The engagement of employees in the strategic process and firm performance: The role of strategic goals and environment”. In: Journal of Business Strategies. Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 75-99. Van Der Meer, H. (2007) “Open Innovation – The Dutch Treat: Challenges in Thinking in Business Models,” In: Creativity and Innovation Management, 16, 2 (June), pp. 192-202. Wischnevsky, J. & Damanpour, F. (2006) “Organizational transformation and performance: An examination of three perspectives”. In: Journal of Management Studies. Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 104-128. Read More