Human Resource Management: - Essay Example

Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Successful management of any organization requires effective performance management. Proper employee management is disciplined approaches that bolsters and meliorate a business organization’s objectives into the staff and down to specific employees. It is then followed by patterned reviewing to enhance necessary changes that are expected to be adopted by the employees. The process of managing employees to help the organization meet set goals is a continuous exercise. Dr. Allen TX explains that this process entails making an effort to make align the performance of employees to contribute to the success of the team that will translate to the overall success of the company goals (Allen 423). It is a fact that continuous improvement of individual employees automatically results in the improved success of the organization. Modern work activities take a lot of people’s time. Therefore employees spend more time at their work places. Employees always strive to make a difference by positively contributing to the success of their organization. To meet their goals, employees have to work as a team by having shared goals with clearly stipulated targets. The company can only achieve this by managing the employees effectively after laying down objectives and aims. The management of the organization needs to formally set up the frequency and procedures of managing employees to achieve success as far as Bergman is concerned (Bergman 409). The general standards of enhancing performance include setting company objectives where the company establishes what has to be achieved and the duration it should take to accomplish the same. This should be followed by the necessary training and development. The management has to make sure that the employees have the right skills for the duties allocated to them. Companies in this case ought to provide support to the staff where it is needed. The journal on high performance work practices illustrates that management of employees to achieve success is a continuous process hence progressive review of how the employees perform becomes essential at this stage (A High Performance Work Practices Taxonomy. Para 5). This paper analyses what proper management of employee means to the success of the company. By reviewing journals and articles of scholars who have researched in this field, it looks at the theories that are related to managing people as well as the benefits that accrue to the company when it manages its employees well. The scholars who present differing opinion on the importance of managing people to help in meeting goals are also considered. Theories of employee management Scholars have dedicated a lot of their time to study on the relevance of effective employee management to realize company goals. However, Douglas McGregor is mentioned by Atkinson Hall to have contributed a lot to this by postulating the XY theory (Atkinson 661). William Ouchi also introduced Theory Z. An American psychologist Douglas McGregor proposed the X-Y theory that is very famous in the management and motivation of employees. According to Azmat Fara, it gives a form of management that draws a lot of positivism (Azmat 81). When properly applied, the theory becomes fundamental to organizational growth while at the same time enhancing the performance culture in the organization. According to McGregor, the management that uses theory X is destined to get poor results while the more aggressive and responsible managers who are inclined towards success will always apply theory Y. The latter allows the employees to grow and develop. Their growth is a direct recipe for the growth of the organization. The failures of theory X relate to its authoritarian style of leadership. It is characterised by people resenting work and will look for any slight opportunity to either avoid or abscond it. The inducement for people to work comes from threats. The employees develop a culture of being directed to avoid work. Theory Y applies a participative approach of management. Bryson Alex believes that the effort in work in this style of leadership makes work very natural and is taken as play. Among the virtues used in this form of managing people includes employees undertaking self-control in addition to taking self-direction (Bryson 3). All this is done towards achieving company objectives. The employees work with minimal supervision. Employees are committed to work and take responsibility for anything they do. Conflicts within the organization are solved creatively with a lot of ingenuity and imagination. The general characteristics of an X theory manager include being intolerant, arrogant, elitist, detached and do not involve participation. Theory Z was developed by William Ouchi and is commonly called the Japanese style. Fujimoto and Hartel identify that the theory combines what is good from theory Y and the modern Japanese management (Fujimoto & Hartel 29). This style believes in trusting and giving enough freedom to the employees. The theory operates on the assumption that employees are always loyal and draw a lot of enthusiasm in working as a team. The two scholars hold that the striking difference with the XY theory is that while the latter concentrates on the management and motivation, theory Z puts its focus on attitude and responsibilities of the employees (Hartel & Fujimoto 18). The excellent ideas given by theory Z ought to be combined with McGregor’s X-Y to make sure that employees positively contribute to the attainment of the company goals. Drivers of managing people well Various scholars including Bryson Alex insist that the survival and success of any organization relies on the performance of employees. The staff ought to comprehend the goals of the company, the roles towards the attainment of the set goals, understand both individual and company levels of performance and how they rate against competitors in the industry (Bryson 3). Proper management of employee performance is paramount in the relationship between the staff and company managers. It is an essential tool in enhancing effective communication and in the process promoting trust and individual development of employees. Managing people in a good manner is central to having the employees concentrate on their work. A committed employee values his or her job and shows loyalty to the departmental managers and believes in team work. This will be known according to Lincoln Guba when evaluation is conducted (Guba 63). They also perform other duties beyond what is stipulated in their contracts provided it helps in the development of the company in one way or the other. In order for a company to convert its staff to become engaged employees it must have leadership that has the ability to align company visions and goals to individual players. The managers must also adopt a participatory approach that will empower the employees. Krippendorff Klaus explains that communication channels also ought to be clear so that the junior staff can express their dissatisfaction without being victimized (Krippendorff 51). The company must also have standard operating norms that apply to all the staff. This creates uniformity as employees are treated equally. Benefits of managing people well Hosking Western in his journal on Human Resource Management states that proper management of employees benefits the managers, the company and employees. A better approach leads to increased performance in the organization. Regular reviews also enhance continuous improvement hence the performance of the company cannot be static (Hosking 12). Effective employee management gives direction to the company. This begins by the company setting objectives and goals. The time frame within which the company targets need to be accomplished is also stated. The importance of managing the staff well is realized when the overall aims and missions are broken down to departments and then to the particular employees at their respective workstations. Clear ideas of the expectations are spelt out to every member of staff. Smaeton David when analysing high performance management avers that communication is central to the performance within organizations. Irrespective of whichever mode is chosen either the bottom-up approach or the top-down system, proper management of people opens up these channels. In most cases the top-bottom approach is applied by the managers to issue instructions and guidelines while the boot-up style is used by the employees to give feedback. (Smaeton176). Both approaches as instructions have to be give and at the same time the feedback is necessary as it helps the management to take corrective measures where necessary. Effective management of people gives the best opportunities for the organization to identify areas that need improvement and makes sure that problems that arise are amicably resolved. These views are held by authors from Institutional Logics and Institutional Pluralism Centre (Institutional Logics and Institutional Pluralism 114).Unity and harmony are key to the development of team work in any organization. When the management aligns employee goals to the overall company objectives, it becomes easy to identify areas where the staffs have deficient knowledge and skills. The information collected during performance appraisal will be used to develop training and development schemes. Managing people encompasses employee motivation. Under this category rewards whether monetary or other forms of recognition are used to motivate the staff. Motivated staffs increase their efficiency output thus the company succeeds in meeting its objectives. Conclusion Managers do not have an alternative to effective management of people if they have to steer their companies to meet the objectives. The company exists to make profits and the only way to make sure the employees improve their efficiency. It is also clear that the two theories associated with employee management play a central role to any organization that needs to succeed. Quoting from Rage against Self-replicating Machines, Ouchi and McGregor have contributed a lot to the field of managing the employees to get the profits that companies set out to get (Rage against Self-replicating Machines 263). Considering the drivers of employee management is important. They are the perquisites that the company must have so as to have employees who are committed to their work. It is only when the workers are committed that the company will enjoy the benefits of increased efficiency output. When the benefits of performance management are assessed, it is clear that motivations together with having managers who know what is good are the key components of successful employee management. Therefore, Plowman David in his radical change understands that success of any company depends on the way its managers will handle their employees (Plowman 532). Works Cited Atkinson, Hall. The role of gender in varying forms of flexible working. Gender, Work and Organization. 2009. 16: 650–666. Print. Allen TX (2001) Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2001. 414–435. Print. Azmat, Fara. Organizational Justice of Work-Life Balance for Professional and Non- Professional Groups in Australia. Journal of Management and Organization.2013: 77-83. 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