Human Resources: Developing High Performance - Essay Example

Human Resources: Developing High Performance Working Briefing Paper Submitted By: Abdullah ***** Number: ****** ****** People Management, Challenges and Choices Subject Code: ******* Business Management University of ******** Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Background 2 Aim of the Report 2 Previous Knowledge 3 Areas of Focus 4 Additional Information 5 Sources of Information 5 Structure of the Paper 7 Bibliography 8 Abstract Developing high performance is an extremely essential aspect of the business. This report highlights a brief about the previous knowledge on the subject and includes a clear discussion of the major focus on the topic, i.e. performance related pay. A complete research has been conducted and a clear discussion of the concept has been discussed in the paper. Also a highlight of the various sources used and the structure for the final paper has been included in this paper. Background Developing high performance working is a very essential for every business. This report is very essential as it allows for a clear display of how I would react as a manager for essential situations in a real working world. The topic chosen for this is developing high performance working of the employees in an organisation. This briefing report is very essential as it highlights how I would react as a manger and what steps I would need to take to ensure high performance working. The areas that will be covered are vast. Developing high performance working among employees can be done with the use of various techniques and a number of different tactics by the managers. This report will include aspects like performance related pay and possible reasons why employees tend to be de – motivated and why they perform poorly. Aim of the Report Here the main aim of this assignment is to provide a clear and concise understanding of ways to develop high performance among the employees within the companies. Through this assignment, a better and more focus has placed created on the topic. The main aim of this report is to bring out the knowledge that I already have on the topic of developing employee performance in the company. This includes knowledge in terms of literature. Also this report also includes the research methodology which will be used for this research. Previous Knowledge I have had a fair knowledge on this topic. Since developing high performance in employees is a topic which is necessary for every manager, and has always interested me a lot. My area of interest has been majorly on the performance related pay and performance appraisal. This has been my focus of interest as appraisals are inevitable and it is universal in nature. As said very rightly, “… a basic human tendency to make judgements about those one is working with, as well as about oneself” (Sandler, & Keefe, 2003). Performance appraisal can be called an ancient art. Performance appraisal was started as a simple method to provide income justifications, i.e. to explain if the salary drawn by an individual was justified or not based on their performance (Archer North, 2006). This was a consideration since the human tendency to judge others work and performance created a lot of problems related to the motivation, ethics, legal ruling etc. at workplaces. To ensure that the appraisal systems were just, lawful, fair and accurate, performance appraisal was introduced. One of the common factors those interest employees, employers and the government equally is the most essential element of employment – Pay. Pay affects the employers because it is an expense borne by the business and employee performance matters a lot to the business. Also this factor affects the employer’s ability to recruit and retain labour force of quality. Employees are affected by pay as it is the only source of income it also sets the standard of living and measures a value for the performance and value of service. Lastly the government is affected by this since it directly affects the macro economic stability like employment, social economic development, inflation etc. There are a number of different basis on which pay to an individual is decided. One of the oldest forms of pay is Performance Related Pay this is discussed in detail in the next few parts (Sriyan de Silva, 1998). Performance Related Pay refers to pay scheme used to measure individual performance in the company. It can also be used to measure group or organisational performance. The main objectives of introduction of performance related pay were to increase motivation in employees to perform better, increase the self esteem of employees, provide better understanding of the job description and functions, create better communication amongst the participants, encourage employees to be self motivated, and help improve the institutional manpower planning Also performance related pay helps to contribute to overall performance and productivity, along with motivating employee to work better by linking the pay to the achievements of target rather than the length of service. It also helps recognise the achievements of individuals and identifies the under performers, thus creating fairness in pay (Sriyan de Silva, 1998). Areas of Focus The area of focus for this paper is mainly to understand how employees can be motivated. This is majorly because pay plays a very important role in the performance and motivation level of the employees. Key areas of the study are to analyse the how the performance can be managed i.e. the Appraisal systems, and the major challenges that are faced by these systems. Also aspects of why the employee performance is low are discussed. Additional Information The main argument that will be made in the report will be the need for the performance related pay and how these affect the company performance in whole. Additional information like the introduction of the performance related pay and other aspects like how this has been introduced in the organisation is also discussed. Further which the objectives of the performance related pay will be discussed in detail. A brief of the various types of performance related pay will also be discussed. Sources of Information 1. Archer North, 2006, Introduction: Performance Appraisal, Accessed on 21 March 2009, Retrieved from http://www.performance-appraisal.com/intro.htm 2. Becker, B.E., Huselid, M.A., and Ulrich, D., 2001, The Hr Scorecard: Linking people, Strategy and Performance, March 2001, 1 edition, Harvard Business School Press 3. BERR, 2005, High Performance Workplaces - Because people mean business, 15 September 2005, Accessed on 21 March 2009, Retrieved from http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/europe-dti/high-performance/page26171.html 4. Boselie, P., Paauwe, J., and Jansen, P., 2000, Human Resource Management and Performance, October 2000, Accessed on 21 March 2009, Retrieved from http://publishing.eur.nl/ir/repub/asset/52/erimrs20001030163917.pdf 5. Buchanan D. and Huczynski A., 2004, Organizational behavior, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Essex 6. Gilley, J., Quatro, S., Hoekstra, E., Whittle, D., Maycunich, A., Gilley, J.W., Quatro, S.A., and Whittle, D.D, 2001, The Manager as Change Agent: A pratical Guide to Developing High Performance People and Organisations, 2 July 2001, Basic Books 7. Great Systems, 2008, How to Develop a high Performance Work Culture, 24 March 2008, Accessed on 21 March 2009, retrieved from http://www.greatsystems.com/hpculturebook.htm 8. Grote, D., 1996, The complete guide to Performance Appraisal, 20 December 1996, 1 edition, AMACOM 9. Jones, S.D., and Beyerlein, M.M., 1999, In action: Developing High Performance Work Teams, Volume 2, 1 June 1999, ASTD 10. Jones, S.D., Beyerlein, M.M., and Philips, J.J., 1999, Developing High Performance Work Teams, American Society for Training and Development 11. Locke, Edwin A., ‘Personnel Attitudes and Motivation’, Annual Review of Psychology, 1975, Vol. 26, p388 12. Podmoroff, D.B.A., 2005, 365 Ways to Motivate and Reward Your Employees Every Day: With Little or No Money, 30 September 2005, Atlantic Publishing Company 13. Sparrow, P., and Hiltrop, J.M., 1994, ‘European Human Resource Management in Transition’, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead 14. Weightman, J., ‘Managing People’, 2nd edition, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2004, CIPD Publishing, London Structure of the Paper Since developing high performance is a very vast topic, hence I have chosen to concentrate on performance related pay. The paper will begin with a clear meaning of pay, following which clear discussion of problems and issues of performance related pay will be discussed. This will lead to the providing the various types of performance related pay and the why it should be chosen in a company. Hence the final report will include a clear discussion of the Human resource management and performance, and how they are related, the appraisal systems, challenges faced by the appraisal systems, poor performance, and lastly the high performance practices in the UK. Summary This report has included a clear discussion of one of the most important aspects of performance of employees in an organisation, i.e. performance related pay. I have a strong knowledge of the topic and have conducted quite a lot of research on the topic. This report highlights the current knowledge and also provides for a plan for the final report. Bibliography Archer North, 2006, ‘Introduction Performance Appraisal’, Accessed on 21 March 2009, Retrieved from http://www.performance-appraisal.com/intro.htm Sandler, C., & Keefe, J., 2003, ‘Performance Appraisal Phrase Book: The Best Words, Phrases, and Techniques for Performance Reviews’, 1st November 2003, 1st edition, Adams Media Sriyan de Silva, 1998, ‘An introduction to performance and skill based pay systems’, 13th July 1998, International Labour Organisation, Accessed on 21st March 2009, Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actemp/papers/1998/srspaysy.htm Read More