Creating a Competitive Advantage in HRM - Assignment Example

? Unit 2 Assignment: Human Resources Management Section Although the terms human resource management and personnel management are often used interchangeably, they are not always considered to be identical. Personnel management is used to refer to any aspect of management that is involved with employment, training, safety, recruitment, departure or redeployment of employees (Cole, 2002) Human resource management can be defined as an approach to the management of employees which aims to create a capable and committed workforce through the use of techniques including cultural, personal and structural approaches. The purpose of this is to create a competitive advantage (Storey, 2007). For example, working in a retail firm, I noticed that teams always contained at least one male and one female, and never contained only people of a single ethnicity. In a workplace that was predominantly white, this must have taken considerable planning. It helped staff to serve customers from different cultures better, and was complemented by cultural training which focused on some of these differences in more detail. Human resource management has become a frequently used phrase, both in academic research and in organisation practice. The term is familiar world-wide, and is the subject of writing or research frequently. From 2000 to 2006 alone, the number of publications using the term “human resource management” increased by 427%. This result is substantial, given the field first began towards the end of the 1980s, and was thought that it would be short lived (Storey, 2007). Human resource management is arguably more important in modern society than it has ever been previously, as organisations experience change on a regular basis (Kaminski, 2000) and staff members no longer have strong loyalty to a given organisation, and move from one job to another more often. How a business undertakes human resource management varies substantially between one business and another, such as the provision of cultural training, or of upskilling members of an organisation likely to remain. Within an organisation that makes use of human resource management, line managers provide an essential link between employees and management. Line managers are often responsible for the implementation of human resource approaches with employees directly, and may be involved in guiding and coaching staff members, giving performance reviews and dealing with discipline. In some cases, they may also be responsible for recruitment and the selection of employees. Section 2 Potential employees for an organisation come from a range of different backgrounds, and possess varying temperaments, driving factors, objectives and long-term goals. Without the use of human resource planning, there is a high chance of employing staff members who do not share the objectives of the organisation or who decrease efficiency rather than increasing it. Human resource planning involves the use of multiple stages, including acquisition, utilisation, improvement and retaining the human resources of an organisation. The resources for this task vary depending on the extent that human resource management is occurring, but can include training for staff members, auditing, advertising and forecasting. The processes used for recruiting are not constant across organisation. For example, Sony processes a large number of applications and uses an online application, followed by situational judgement testing, telephone interviews and then assessment centres (Sony, 2012). In contrast, a business firm that I worked for asked for resumes from applicants then went through a series of interviews for each position, with the top candidates from each interview going onto the next one. The interview is an important selection technique, and is present in many different industries. This gives the interviewer the chance to work out whether the potential employee is suitable for the company, based on aspects such as their response to particular situations, their personality and their motivation. It is an effective technique, as it can reveal much more about the respondent than a recruitment form could. However, this approach has its limitations, as people are often aware of the types of answers that the organisation may be looking for, and adjust their answers based on this. An alternative selection method sometimes used is testing either the skills or the personality of the person. This approach can be more effective, because the individual does not know what details are being sought, and so is not able to provide answers designed to please. Another form of selection is to look at the references of the individual, and to determine how they were perceived in their previous roles. Selection itself tends to be positive for both the organisation and the individual, as it ensures that there is a good fit between them, making a long-term relationship more likely and decreasing the probability of future difficulties. Section 3 The evaluation of how effectively an employee is performing his or her role is a critical aspect of human resource management. It provides information about whether the employee is working to the required standard, and gives the information needed for disciplinary action or to attempt to improve the efficiency of the employee. Within an organisation, the pay that an individual gets can be determined by a number of factors. In my first job, pay was determined by seniority, over time as you worked for the organisation your pay gradually got raised through a combination of promotions and pay increases. Other organisations may determine pay based on the employees role or in response to how effectively the employee is performing, such as commission-based pay or pay based on the number of items produced in a factory. There are a number of systems that are designed to reward employees to work hard. One of these is performance-based pay, where employees that perform well are given pay raises. This approach is effective at increasing the effectiveness of an employee, as many may have little firm loyalty, and are working simply for the paycheque. However, a negative aspect of this is that a person performing well may come at the cost of another’s performance, or may require another to perform well. In both of these cases, the performance of the individual is not the only relevant factor. Another system is commission-based, commonly used in sales. This can increase the drive of employees to sell items, but can be bad in times of economic downturn, where they may be unable to make the money needed to live (Boice and Kleiner, 1997). Motivational theory predicts that efficiency can be increased by manipulating the environment so that individuals are encouraged and productive. Instead of forcing people to work, motivation theory focuses on making them want to work, and want to work to a high speed or standard. The use of rewards has the potential to provide a motivating factor, giving employees a reason to work well. There are many ways to monitor performance in an organisation, such as the measuring the number of products sold, using appraisal techniques to determine the effectiveness of individual employees or measuring the speed at which employees complete tasks. Section 4 Having effective exit procedures that observe the rights of employees is an important aspect of an organisation. This involves planning, using and controlling a specific path for employees to exit an organisation, whether it is by their own desire or because they are being fired. Another important aspect of this is determining why the employee is leaving the organisation and what went wrong in order to prevent the same thing from occurring again. One approach to an exit procedure that is used by a small business in the United Kingdom is a four-step programme. This consists of an interview, counselling, critical observation and an exit analysis. This strategy has a number of benefits. The interview helps to determine the reasons for the employee leaving, and also provides an avenue to discuss with them any problems that may have occurred during their time with the business. The next step, counselling is important from the employee’s point of view. It helps them to prepare for the next part of their lives, and to understand why they are being fired if this is the case. Critical observation involves a detailed examination of the employee in their last days at the organisation, potentially helping the organisation to understand how the employee interacts with others. Finally, the exit analysis provides important details about the events that occurred prior, during and after the employee’s departure. This standardised approach compares well to best practice, and is an effective approach. A second procedure is much briefer, and simply involves the use of an exit interview. This approach is not as effective, and does not conform as well to recommended practices. Redundancy is an important aspect for any organisation and can be difficult for employees, as some are selected to leave the organisation and others are not. There are different selection criteria that can be used. Some organisation select on the basis of seniority, in which case the last person hired is the first to be made redundant. One approach is to select a pool of employees who can be made redundant. For example, this could include where there are multiple people doing the same job, or where a staff member is not performing well (Jones, 2005). It is important to take skills of staff members into account, otherwise using seniority or another tool to choose staff may result in unskilled staff remaining while skilled or hard working ones are fired. References Boice, D. F. & Kleiner, B. H. 1997. Designing effective performance appraisal systems. Work Study, 46, 197-201. Cole, G. A. 2002. Personnel and human resource management, Padstow, Cornwall, Thomson Learning. Jones, R. 2005. Redundancy - making sure you get it right [Online]. Available: http://www.baineswilson.co.uk/pdfs/Redundancy%20-%20making%20sure%20you%20get%20it%20right%20-%20Dec%202005.pdf [Accessed August 4 2012]. Kaminski, J. 2000. Leadership and change management: Navigating the turbulent frontier [Online]. Nursing Informatics. Available: http://www.nursing-informatics.com/N4111/changemant.pdf [Accessed July 28 2012]. Sony. 2012. Recruitment process [Online]. Available: http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/european-graduate-programme/4/1 [Accessed August 4 2012]. Storey, J. 2007. Human resource management: A critical text, London, Thomson Learning. Read More