HR Policies on Recruitment and Selection - Essay Example

HRM Policies: Its Importance to the Competitive Strategy of Companies and the High Performance of Employees Introduction Nowadays, there is no doubt that the business world is constantly changing at a fast pace. In this manner, Morfeld (2003) stresses that what may be applicable now may no longer be appropriate a year from now. This is partly because of the increasing role that technology plays that is seen to constantly redefine the nature of work in all aspects of the business world. Because of this, the so-called strategic staffing has become of vital importance to ensure the success and survival of a company in a certain industry despite being in the midst of an intense competition. Morfeld (2003) however, notes that despite the popularity of the aforementioned initiative, the activities of human resource managers, specifically workplace staffing, can be described as tactical at its best. The author notes that these strategies are in fact, reactive as managers usually scramble to fill in a vacant position upon the resignation of an employee, as an example. HR Policies: An Essential Part of Strategy Although the abovementioned is at times, unavoidable, Human Resource generalists believe that there are effective ways to use human resource policies to enable a company to deliver strategy and high performance. This strategy usually entails the full support of the corporate leaders. In the same manner, effective HR policies also imply changes within the processes and procedures of the company in order to become successful. Finally, it is also of vital importance to demand commitment and cooperation in all levels of management in order to ensure that a company drafts and implements effectual HR policies. HR seems to have taken a more strategic role in the enterprise – an apparent paradigm shift. The focus on the synthesis of HRM practices and policies with strategy has been depicted as a paradigm shift from an administrative to a strategic thrust or goal (Thomason 1991). Unlike traditional personnel management that is characterized as reactive, parochial, and concentrates on rank and file employees, HRM is proactive in finding and setting up practices and policies which are consistent across all organizational policy areas (Miller 1989; Schuler 1991). The HRM orientation makes it imperative for personnel practices and policies to respond to enterprise needs (Schuler 1991). In addition, HRM considers employees as valued strategic resources instead of merely being overhead cost. A core goal of HRM is the effectual management of people within the enterprise – when done, this is expected to garner competitive advantage (Kamoche 1991; Miller 1989). In comparison with traditional personnel management which regards employees as passive , HRM perceives people as strategic assets who should be developed to realize their utmost potential (Kamoche 1991). HR Policies on Recruitment and Selection Procedures related to recruitment, for example, according to Cooper and Robertson (2003) is an integral part of quality management. According to a research conducted by Michaels and his colleagues (as cited in Cooper and Robertson 2003), recruiting and keeping good people is a prime driver of a certain organization’s competitive advantage. The aforementioned research points out that compared to product innovations that only produce short-term advantages, recruiting and selecting the best people for the workplace of a certain organization positively affects the corporate image, thus influencing the experiences of the customers. Hence, Cooper and Robertson (2003) claims that the survival and growth of the organization heavily depends on attracting and recruiting the best people. At the same time, this may need to motivate them in applying their talents to positively affect the organization. However, the supply and demand of human resources are influenced by a lot of factors, not just the availability of the so-called suitably qualified employees. According to Cooper and Robertson (2003), the projected shortage of skills only show that the right people who possess the right skills in order to enter a certain industry is decreasing. As a result, organizations who wish to incorporate recruitment policies and selection procedures must ensure that they adapt to the changing nature of the workforce (Cooper and Robertson 2003). As earlier mentioned, the recruitment and selection procedures adopted by organizations are an essential part of their practices related to the total management of their quality. As a result, human resources managers are expected to play an important role with regard to the attainment of their organization’s quality goals. It is in line with this then that they must come up with selection procedures in order to obtain the best recruits that could satisfy the demands and requirements of their customers or clients. Thus, it is in doing the aforementioned that the quality of the applicants and recruits are not only reflected on the finished product or service being provided by the organization but the quality and efficiency of their selection processes as well (Cooper and Robertson 2003; Morfeld 2003). The alignment of HR policies with the aims of the organization to ensure their competitive advantage can make a significant difference between making a profit and sustaining a loss (Pratt & Bennett 1989). Aside from this however, the following are the benefits that an organization may receive from its adoption of effective HR strategies across the phases of recruitment and selection; training and development; and retention: (1) reduced absenteeism; (2) reduced employee turnover; (3) increased job satisfaction; and (4) increased organizational commitment. The aforementioned benefits, according to (Pratt & Bennett 1989) are without a doubt, obtained only if the right HR policies across these phases, are in place. Yet another example on the important of correct recruitment and selection policies to attract the right people for the job, Roberts (1997) believes that an organizational culture could be improved. According to this particular author, business leaders are calling for the change in the culture of their organization in order to get their employees do what they should, in the manner they are expected of in order to ensure survival, success and growth during the era of intense competition. Because of the lack of such people, companies are spending too much on the development of programs that are geared towards the improvement in the behavior of the people as well as to solve their problems with regard to misplaced people who, in the first place should have never been selected (Roberts 1997). Aside from this, Roberts (1997) also notes that time, effort and money have been spent on unnecessary jobs that should have not been filled as well. In line with this, the adoption of effective recruitment and selection policies and practices have been considered to be of vital importance in order to bring about improvements to the performance of the business (Compton and Nankervis 1991; Billsbery 2007; Kubr n.d.; Pratt and Bennett 1989). Effectual HRM policies as a means by which the competitive advantage of a company is ensured is even more important to those belonging to the service industry (Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar 2008; Morfeld 2003). According to Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar (2008), service employees are very important in ensuring that service excellence and productivity are effectively delivered. Because they are at the front-line, they are expected to be fast and efficient in terms of performing operational tasks. Aside from this, they are also expected to deal with their customers, more specifically in a friendly and helpful manner. As a result, human resource managers of organizations in the said industry must be able to set up policies to recruit, select, develop, and retain employees properly in order to ensure that the latter are working according to the goals of the company (Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar 2008). In aligning the HR policies and procedures of a company with their overall strategy, McMahon (2008) proposes the use of the 7-S framework developed by McKinsey. This particular framework is said to be the reason behind the success of Japanese companies. The following are the so-called 7S as well as the areas that needed to be review under the said factor: (1) Shared Values – what the organization stands for and what they believe in; (2) Strategy – the manner by which the organization allocates its scarce resources in order to achieve their goals; (3) Structure – the changes incorporated into the structure of the organization in order to accommodate the strategies of the company; (4) systems – the processes and procedures that help managers in determining what the work should be done; (5) style- the manner by which managers behave in order to achieve their goals; (6) staff- the number of people in the workforce and the manner by which they could help in achieving the goals of the organizations; and (7) skills- the skills needed by the members of the organization in order to deliver the desired results. Without a doubt, HR policies and procedures are very critical to an organization, Cornelius (1999) discusses. As a result, these policies must no longer be left to only guesswork alone. Yet another example on recruitment and selection is given by Carroll (2008). According to Carroll (2008), three kinds of assessments are commonly used by companies in order to aid their recruitment and selection processes. First, is an assessment test that asks the candidate to state how well they think they can perform (Carroll 2008). Second is the use of an assessment test that would ask other people to evaluate the performance of the candidate (Carroll 2008) Last, an assessment test is also used to observe the candidate directly. Through the use of these tools to aid the recruitment and selection procedures would help the company in ensuring that they “get it right the first time” thus, the hiring of the right people would eventually bring about positive benefits to the company (Edenborough 2005). Dale (2003) also gives paramount importance to the use of a competency framework in order to attract the right people for the job and consequently develop them. This is one of the two approaches in recruitment (Fellows 1999; Roberts 1997), which should adequately be supported by HR policy. The first approach gives more importance to the person, thereby given the name “person approach” while the second one, as mentioned prioritizes the competency of the candidates (Fellows 1999). For Dale (2003) this approach can serve as a profile by which the target audience may refer to. As a result, this particular framework must include the following: (1) descriptions of the required attainment; (2) achievements; and lastly, (3) the abilities and aptitudes. Cornelius (1999) also gives importance to ensure that diversity practices are applied through effective HR procedures in recruitment, development, and retetion. According to this author, it is through the successful management of diversity that a competitive edge is promoted as the best people are recruited and retained for the job irregardless of their ethnicity, age, gender age or other characteristics. This could also beneficial to organizations in terms of having a diverse pool of talent to choose from for promotion purposes (Cornelius 1999). HR Policies on Performance Management HR policy can also be used to promote a culture of open feedback, which is a facet of performance management. Feedback should be provided to the employee on his progress in attaining his objectives, and ultimately, those of the company. Feedback can encompass verbally telling an employee how he is doing, placing a chart on a wall, or displaying a certain color of light when the employees work pace will result in goal attainment and a different color of light when the pace is too slow to attain a particular objective. Feedback enhances performance optimally when it is positive and informational rather than negative and not constructive (Green, 2000; Goss, 2000). In contemporary times, organizations have realized that supervisors see only some aspects of an employees behaviour. For example, a manager might see only 30% of his staffs behaviour; the rest is seen by those he interfaces with. These include customers, peers, and support staff in other parts of the enterprise. Moreover, the staff might behave distinctly around her supervisor than these people. Subsequently, to get a better view of the staffs performance, these other sources should be asked for feedback. The buzzword for using several sources to evaluate performance is 360-degree feedback (Gruner, 1997). Sources of important data include supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers, and self-appraisal. According to Conway and Huffcutt (1997), there is often very little concurrence in the way that two supervisors rate an employee or that a supervisor and a peer might evaluate an employee. Moreover, supervisors whose self-ratings agree with others ratings tend to be better performers than supervisors whose evaluations are not consistent with these other parties (Witt, 1996). Getting employees warmed up through the management of performance is commendable, but it is not adequate. Once employees are initially motivated, the manager has to assist each one establish and attain higher objectives. Motivation can be a practical means in goal setting by specifying the targets that will get employees out of their complacency. This again, may be done through a good performance management policy. With goal setting, each employee is assigned a goal, which might be a specific quality target, a particular quantity of output, or a combination. For goal setting to be optimal, the objectives themselves should have some qualities. First, they should be concrete and specific. Setting more specific subgoals can also enhance performance. Moreover, an effectively set goal is high but realistic (Managing People, 1999). HR Policies on Compensation Management HR policies may also be used to accord sufficient and equitable pay for employees. Research on compensation and sense of equity have of late been broadened into distributive justice and procedural justice. Distributive justice is the perceived fairness of the actual decisions made in an organization, whereas procedural justice is the perceived fairness of the methods utilized to reach a decision. Employees who think that decisions were not made objectively tend to be less motivated with their jobs. To enhance perceptions of procedural justice, enterprises should be open about the manner in which decisions are reached; take time to develop fair policies and procedures; and give feedback to those who might not be satisfied with decisions (Rosseau 1990). Based on equity theory, employees who perceive they are being treated well and with fairness will be more satisfied with their jobs than those who do not perceive such fairness. The same is applicable in motivation: employees who feel that they are not being treated fairly will feel less motivated than those who uphold such a feeling (Green 2000). Thus, organizations must strive to build and maintain a culture of performance-based rewards to cultivate a sense of internal equity in compensation. The extent of inequity that an employee has when he feels he is not compensated well seems to be a function of whether the employee chose actions that resulted in this condition of underpayment That is, if he chooses to work harder than others who are paid equally, he will not feel shortchanged, but if he is pressured into working harder for the same compensation, he will be dissatisfied. Victor Vrooms expectancy theory pertains to three things: (1) valence (value placed on the expected reward), (2) expectancy (belief that efforts are linked to performance), and (3) instrumentality (belief) that performance is related to rewards. Porter and Lawler used Vrooms theory by suggesting a model of intrinsic/extrinsic motivation. Individuals are extrinsically motivated if they do something they find interesting and from which they get satisfaction. Moreover, people are extrinsically motivated if they do the task because they are satisfied with the concrete rewards that go with it (George & Jones 2005). HR Policies and Employee Relations Employee motivation is an outcome of a good inducements-contributions balance. Employees must see a constant favourable balance if they are to remain members. The motivation to perform is a much more complicated psychological contract between the person and the enterprise involving perceived options, perceived outcomes of these choices, and individual objectives (Mcdonald & Makin, 2000). Companies are compelled to accord employee p motivation if they wish to be competitive. HR policy in training may also be used by a company to its advantage. Any manager should know how to utilize and combine as many needs, factors, modes of reinforcement, and outputs into their relations with employees as may be necessary to motivate their employees (Goss 2000). A manager can become a good motivator by knowing two things well: first, which tool or level of motivation will work for each and every employee, and second, how to motivate and communicate effectively with the use of positive reinforcement. Management practices which can serve as effective reinforcers include self-esteem work shops, flexible work set-up, dovetailed benefits packages, individual and team performance-based reward systems, etc. Employees are unique in terms of their motivating factors (Goss 2000). The managers lookout should be to determine motivational drivers of each individual or group in order to promote a motivational climate. This will help him in creating a conducive working environment towards productivity and job satisfaction (Robbins 2003). HR Policies and Communication HR policies may also be used to enhance communication within an organization. For example, HR policy may instruct team briefings are done on a daily basis where department managers are expected to provide comprehensive updates in their respective areas. These may include information on previous months target achievements, sales, significant customers, and complaints, as examples. There are evaluation measures that allow constant, strict progress monitoring of performance at the department level. Motivation can be utilized to enhance employee performance and productivity, and this can be done through constant, objective communication and exchange of feedback. Employees can be motivated to do their work better, that is, driving their work performance for the better, and working more effectually to allow for increased productivity. One means is to exchange information (such as profit and loss or quality of service) on how the employee’s department is faring in comparison with others in or out of the organization (Byars & Rue 2000). Resource-Based and Best Practice Models of Strategic Human Resource Management To further illustrate the topic covered by this research, this portion shall highlight the importance of both the Resource-Based and Best Practice Models of Strategic Human Resource Management. According to Wright and McMahan (1992), the resources of a certain firm must possess resources that: (1) add positive value to the firm; (2) unique or rare among current and potential competitors; (3) imperfectly imitable; and (4) cannot be substituted with another resource by competing firms in order to guarantee the company’s attainment of a competitive advantage. Hence, it is because of this that the HR policies and procedures must be effectively established in order to guarantee that the most appropriate human resources are chosen for the company. Aside from the foregoing, the researcher also notes that the principles enunciated in the previous paragraphs also adhered to the best practice model of Strategic Human Resource Management. Based on this particular perspective, the best practices of the company with regard to the manner by which they recruit and select their employees positively affect their competitive advantage (Wright and McMahan, 1992). Thus, it can be clearly posited that the proper establishment of HR policies and procedures is of paramount importance to strategic human resource management as perceived from both the resource-based and best practice models. Conclusion HR policy may be used by companies to drive towards competitiveness. Sound recruitment policy may ensure that the right people are matched to the right jobs. 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