Building Quality Organizations - Assignment Example

Building Quality Organizations Name Professor Institution Course Date Building Quality Organizations Table of Contents Building Quality Organizations 2 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Question1. How Human Resource Management performs a key function in the strategic management of the organization and contributes to the organization’s optimum business performance 4 3.0 Question. 2 How Human Resource Management can enable the organization to achieve its strategic objectives by structuring the organization through planning, policies, practices and job design 5 4.0 Question 3. How the organization’s philosophies, structures and strategies can be applied in the workplace through appropriate recruitment, and induction programs. 7 5.0 Question 4. How training needs are assessed and developed and how future management potential is identified 8 6.0 Question 5. How the performance of an employee can be appraised and evaluated and how performance can be enhanced and managed. 10 7.0 Question 6. HR workplace issues that have affected the organization’s strategic goals and explain how it was addressed and the outcome of any action taken 11 8.0 Conclusion 12 9.0 References 13 1.0 Introduction Human resource management has been regarded as a factor of high performance and competitive advantage. Companies with effective human resource management normally have every employee longing to work for them. One of such companies is FedEx Corporation, which was ranked as the best company to work according to Fortune Magazine list of 2013 (Reynolds 2016). FedEx is an American company which deals with courier delivery services and has its headquarters in Tennessee. The Company was established in 1971 and has grown over the years and now employs up to 300,000 people who operate globally. In addition, the growth of FedEx Corporation is highly linked due to its effective HRM dubbed "People-Service-Profit" practice (Reynolds 2016). In this management philosophy, people come first because they are one the ones who provide service and enhance profits. In addition, observers have attributed FedEx Corporation exemplary performance to its effective human resource strategies such as selection, recruitment, workforce planning, training and development, job analysis and design, benefits and compensation, and performance appraisal (Stone 2013, p.34). Therefore, this report will discuss Human resource strategies in detail to demonstrate how they can be used to build a quality organization. 2.0 Question1. How Human Resource Management performs a key function in the strategic management of the organization and contributes to the organization’s optimum business performance Over the years, human resource departments have been stuck in their traditional administrative function which includes selection, recruitment, workforce planning, training and development, job analysis and design, benefits and compensation, and performance appraisal (Stone 2013, p.34). However, with competition and changes taking place in business markets, there has been a transition from human resource management to strategic human resource management. The transition has been prompted by an argument from experts that if HRM is to contribute to the effectiveness of organizations, it needs to be strategic, and HR strategy needs to be integrated with business strategy. It simply means human resource management performs a key function in the strategic management of the organization and contributes to the organization’s optimum business performance. Strategic management is always about getting the competitive advantage using resourcing and business environment. Therefore, Teena and Sanjay (2014, p.37) opined HRM performs a key function in the strategic management by aligning HRM strategy and organization strategy. HRM does this alignment through strategic planning; involving other departments to define the strategy and deciding on the resources needed to pursue such strategy. In its strategic planning, HRM department of FedEx Corporation has been involving other departments including marketing, sales, suppliers, finance and accounting, distribution in issues involving recruitment, training and development, analysis and design, benefits and compensation, workforce planning and performance appraisal to enable it align its operations strategy and organization strategy (Reynolds 2016). In the case of hiring, its means company picks a candidate against organization business strategy as opposed to job-specific requirement. Cohn, Khurana and Reeves (2005, p.62) stated that here HR department liaise other department to understand the kind of an employee they want and also looks at the market needs before making a decision to hire him or her. This process is known as strategic recruitment. Similarly, the practice is also done where HRM training and development is also aligned with organizational strategy. Company normally conducts research to understand the market before setting a strategy to increase their competitive edge. Therefore, HRM must help the organization achieve such status by conducting training and research based on organization strategy (Aguinis & Kraiger 2009, p.461). When the acquired knowledge and matches the task processes, optimum performance is easily achieved. 3.0 Question. 2 How Human Resource Management can enable the organization to achieve its strategic objectives by structuring the organization through planning, policies, practices and job design The world economy has created high competition as more companies join various global markets to increase their brand awareness and revenues. Operating in the global market is normally not easy as world markets are normally affected by various challenges which negatively impacts the performance of employees hence organization (Teena & Sanjay 2014, p.36). Companies which now have high performance like FedEx Corporation have often used Human Resource Management and its practices to enable the organization to achieve its strategic objectives by structuring the organization through planning, policies, practices and job design. The expansion of company into global market means to structure the company in terms of size so as to enable the company to serve its new customers effectively. The process can be achieved through Human Resource Planning. Stone (2013, p.79) defined Human Resource Planning as a practice of scientifically reviewing human resource prerequisites to make sure that the needed number of staffs, with the needed skills, abilities and knowledge are at the company’s disposal when required. This can be done by strategic hiring more qualified employees who understand market needs and posting them to work in new markets. Similarly, the company can train more employees on international operations management and post them to work in new global offices abroad. However, this process starts with projecting the number of customers in the new market and growth rate by conducting gap analysis. Werber and DeMarie (2005, p.253) posited that strategic Human resource planning which is aligned with business strategic planning enhances talent management and succession planning of the human resource. Aguinis and Kraiger (2009, p.455) argued that human resource planning done in the context of training and development ensures that the company will not lack expertise needed in different areas because they have planned well for talent management now and in future. Structuring can also mean downsizing and retrenchment through HR planning to cut cost of operation or to do away with redundant employees (Teena & Sanjay 2014, p.38). Human resource management can also use job design to structure and to achieve its strategic objectives. In the new economy, roles have changed and employees need to take up new or more roles for the company to remain competitive. Job design done on the basis of job content and material needed to carry out the job. For instance, FedEx Corporation IT assistants are allocated the job of locating luggage number of other details in the computer system before allowing the owner to receive it. Job design is done is done on the basis of task and behavior to ensure an employee is satisfied it job he performs. The process is done on argument by The Hackman–Oldham Model which holds that employees perform better if they understand the task and job-satisfied (Oldham & Hackman 2010, p. 463). 4.0 Question 3. How the organization’s philosophies, structures and strategies can be applied in the workplace through appropriate recruitment, and induction programs. Recruitment and induction programs mean a lot to the organization than just the process of increasing the number of employees and impacting knowledge (Institute of Leadership & Management 2007, p.27). It is through recruitment and induction programs that an organization like FedEx Corporation applies its philosophies, structures and strategies. Appropriate recruitment has moved from just traditional one which concentrated on a person who can fit the job to one who can fit into the organization. Therefore, currently HRM departments align recruitment and selection strategies with organizational philosophies, structures and strategies. The philosophy and strategies of FedEx Corporation are normally qualification in courier services, aptitudes or special skills and abilities, and innovation hence recruitment and selection should focus on these areas. In addition, the organization’s philosophies, structures and strategies can be applied based on the recruitment techniques. According to Stone (2013, p.87), the organization uses two technique to conduct recruitment and selection include internal and external methods. Among the two, it is internal recruitment and selection that highly impacts organization’s philosophies, structures and strategies. An internal form of hiring entails recruiting and selection of staff from inside the organization so as to fill vacant positions (Wood, Holman & Stride 2006, p.101). FedEx Corporation prefers internal recruitment in some situation where they highly want staffs who understand organizational. Brauns (2013, p.1407) posited that natural merit of internal recruitment is that employees within the company already understand the organization culture and structure. During Internal recruitment, FedEx Corporation often conduct employees performance appraisal to enable them gauge how the employee has understood company philosophies and goals and has contributed to towards realization of such goals (Reynolds 2016). External recruitment can also be used to apply organization’s philosophies, structures and strategies through processes like interviewing and psychometric testing. While Interviewing is used to know how a candidate understands the philosophies, structures and strategies of an organization, psychometric testing is used to understand the competence and behavior and how they match such philosophies, strategies and structure (Institute of Leadership & Management 2007, p.109). In addition, FedEx Corporation use induction programs to apply philosophies, structures and strategies of an organization. Induction program not only welcome the employee in their new organization but also inform them about company policy, goals and culture. 5.0 Question 4. How training needs are assessed and developed and how future management potential is identified According to Brauns (2013, p.1406), training and development implies to the practice of impacting knowledge, competence and skills on people to be able to do a specific task. Training has become very common among companies as they aim to have a competitive advantage in terms of effective human resource. Aguinis and Kraiger (2009, p.451) claimed that training and development has been assigned different names consisting of human resource development, learning, and management development programs. Deep analysis of these names actually portrays the needs of training. The training needs of employees or a company that lies on the objectives which include sustaining change, to impact a new organization policy, to impact organizational culture and to increase productivity, for skill development and job satisfaction (Jackson, Schuler & Werner 2011, p.109). Training needs are assessed by collecting data about the training which exist within the organization. FedEx Corporation often conducts collect data through interviews, performance appraisals, assessment centers and observations. The change in the business environment leads to task changes hence giving staff hard time as they always need to change the job design. For this reason, the HRM department normally sends their representative in organizational departments to collect data about task complexities and the need for training through management development programs. Reynolds (2016) opined that FedEx Corporation HRM officers walk in every department to interview or issues questionnaires for staffs to fill. From exercise, the HRM department develops or creates a training scheme which spells the need for such training, expected outcome, the consequence of not conducting training and people to the trained. Therefore, this calls for effective management development programs within the organization. Conducting performance appraisal is another way through which training needs can be assessed and developed (Cokins 2005, p.98). Average or low performance from the appraisal is always an indicator for need of training. Nevertheless, future management potential is identified by few training practice required by employees based on assessment (Aguinis & Kraiger 2009, p.467). When employees understand the market and are up to date with qualifications of the job, few training is required by the organization and staffs. The situation is an indicator of future management potential to do well. 6.0 Question 5. How the performance of an employee can be appraised and evaluated and how performance can be enhanced and managed. In current organizations, the importance of the performance has widely been discussed. Systems of performance management generally include the performance appraisal and the employee development is considered some of the important of HRM (Cokins 2005, p.123). Performance appraisal or evaluation is defined as a formal process which assesses the performance quality of an employee. This process enables managers to group employees into two categories including performers and non-performers. In the recent past, several methods have been discovered which can used to appraise the performance of employees. However, Werber and DeMarie (2005, p.257) some of these processes suffer major flaws making both managers and employees to frequently bemoaning about their ineffectiveness. Some of the methods the performance of an employee can be appraised include behavioral checklist, 360 degree appraisal, management by the objective and psychological appraisals (Elan 2014). Behavioral checklist measure or appraises individual performance based on behavior and is outcome is not compared to performance of other workers. On the other hand, Elan (2014) 360 degree appraisal which is popular involves collection of employees profile by both manager and supervisor to use it to measure the performance. In this process, skill set is also measured to understand whether the employee is competence enough. FedEx Corporation majorly use 360 degree appraisal in its employees’ performance management. At times FedEx Corporation has also used management by the objective to appraise employees. This process is considered modern and is conducted on the basis of an agreement between the employers and the employee. In this method, the manager and a staff agree on particular set objectives and a deadline to be appraised. Here the manager can easily know success and even failure. Elan (2014) claimed psychological appraisals on the other hand measures employees’ psychological traits, emotional stability, intellect and analytical skills. Psychological appraisals enable the manager to easily put employees in suitable teams. Some HRM experts argue that putting employees in a team setting can be used to improve and manage performance of employees (Cokins 2005). The argument is based on the fact that team environment provide support and motivation to perform better. Teams normally have members who are experienced and are competent and use such capabilities to influence and improve performance of other members. Training and development can also be used to improve performance (Aguinis & Kraiger 2009, p.461). In fact, FedEx Corporation highly uses this method to impact knowledge, competence and skills needed or a particular task. Furthermore, corrective action is undertaken on those whose ratings are low to ensure they are up to the high quality standard and match with the expected organization requirements. 7.0 Question 6. HR workplace issues that have affected the organization’s strategic goals and explain how it was addressed and the outcome of any action taken Compensation is one of the HR workplace issue that affect strategic goals of the organization (Brauns 2013, p.1406). Compensation was a major issue at FedEx. Compensation is a factor for motivation in organization. Employees who are highly rewarded for their labor derive motivation from it and even work hard to realize organizational and personal goals (Wood, Holman & Stride, 2006, p.101). In addition, compensation creates job satisfaction derived from inner feelings. Over the years, employees have gone to strike or down their tools due to unfulfilled promises of the payhike. At the same time, when organization has failed to get the right formula to use to compensate employees. The concern of both employees and employers could all be genuine. Employers reason that the cost of operation is already high in 21st century hence if they pay highly, the company may not get adequate profit. On the other hand, employees are claiming the cost of living is high, hence they need higher pay to sustain the situation. Compensation challenge has been fuelled by volatile economic condition facing global markets. As a factor of motivation, Cokins (2005, p.181) argues that companies must always get it right by remunerating well or risk getting high employees turnover or absenteeism which at the end affect performance. The company must look for various strategies to get high revenue and remunerate well. FedEx Corporation has resolved this issue using remuneration methods which are strongly based on performance (Elan 2014). The process has motivated other employees to work hard to earn good salaries. 8.0 Conclusion In this comprehensive research, the report has found that human resource management is the core concept of companies which performances well. The study of FedEx Corporation has shown that the company now performs well due to the fact that the CEO put more emphasis on human resource function like selection, recruitment, workforce planning, training and development, job analysis and design, benefits and compensation, and performance appraisal. However, the report has discovered that in this competitive business environment, performing these functions tradition as they used to be in the last three decades may not earn a company a competitive advantage. The report established that the competitive advantage, effectiveness and to build a quality organization lies in the alignment of human resource strategies and organization strategies. 9.0 References Aguinis, H & Kraiger, K 2009, Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organization, and society, Annual review of psychology. Vol.60, pp.451-474. Brauns, M 2013, Aligning Strategic Human Resource Management to Human Resources, Performance and Reward, International Business & Economics Research Journal Vol. 12, No.11, pp.1405-1410. Cohn, JM, Khurana, R and Reeves, L 2005, Growing talent as if your business depended on it, Harvard Business Review Vol.83, No.10, pp. 62–70. Cokins, G 2005, Performance Management - Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk, and Analytics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Darwish, T.K & Singh, S 2013, Does strategic human resource involvement and devolvement enhance organizational performance? International Journal of Manpower Vol.34, No.6, pp.674-692. Elan, R 2014, What are the different types of Performance Appraisal System? HRZone. Fabi, B, Raymond, L & Lacoursière, R 2009, Strategic alignment of HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs: a Gestalts perspective. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 7–25. Institute of Leadership & Management, 2007, Recruiting, Selecting and Inducting New Staff in the Workplace Super Series, Routledge, London. Jackson, S. E, Schuler, R. S & Werner, S 2011, Managing human resources, Cengage Learning Nankervis, E, Compton, R, Baird, R, Coffey, T & Sheilds, N 2014, Human Resource Management: Strategy and Practice, 8th ed, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne. Oldham, G. R & Hackman, J. R 2010, Not what it was and not what it will be: The future of job design research, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 31, pp.463-479. Reynolds, M 2016, Companies With HR Best Practices, Hearst Newspaper. Stone, R.J 2013, Human Resource Management, 4th ed, John Wiley & Sons Australia. Ltd. Teena, B & Sanjay, S 2014, SHRM: alignment of HR function with business strategy, Strategic HR Review, Vol.13, No.4/5, p.34-47. Werber,J & DeMarie, S 2005, Aligning Strategic HRM and Person-Environment Fit, Human Resource Review Vol.15, pp.247-267. Wood, S, Holman, D & Stride, C 2006, Human resource management and performance in UK call centers, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.44, pp.99–124. Read More