Introduction
When it comes to how to improve business performance as a whole, there are a variety of arguments linking HR practices to firm performance in the academia. One of the most remarkable is the notion of ‘best practice’ or ‘high commitment HR practices’ (HPWS). In the best practice thinking, a single set of HR practices can be universally applied into any workplaces and will definitely enhance workplace performance. Literatures have used the term ‘high performance work system’ and ‘high involvement HR practices’ synonymously (Harzing & Pinnington, 2011).
There is no single agreed definition of best practice or these synonymous terms. Essentially, literatures advocating for the best practice have focused on universalism in HRM by identifying best bundles of high commitment HR practices and how these can lead to better performance. The list of HR practices involved in high-commitment paradigm can be summarized as: (1) employment security and internal labour market; (2) selecting hiring and sophisticated selection; (3) extensive training, learning and development; (4) employment involvement and participation, work voice; (5) self-managed terms or team working; (6) high compensation contingent on company performance; (7) performance review, appraisal and advancement criteria; (8) reduction of status differences; (9) work-life balance; (10) grievance system; and others. Universalists argue that all companies will see performance improvements as long as they implement some or all of above practices. More specifically, this bundle of HRM generates expected outcomes through influencing the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO Theory) of employees (Applebaum, 2000). But on the other hand, universalism in HRM has also attra...
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...organisations’ specific internal and external context. The formulation of HR practices should take account of a wide range of factors. Thirdly, the complexity of implementation of best practices increases the uncertainty of outcomes. Best practice can be highly fragile, considering the notion that the contextual obstacles, the commitment of line managers and the perception and reaction of employees toward HR activities can all limit the effectiveness.
To sum up, although the universal applicability of a single bundle of HRM enjoys some evidence support the linkage between best practices with better establishment-level outcomes in many cases and can provide for basic architecture and sources of HRM, it is still problematic with certain critiques and limitations. A larger range of contextual factors needs to be taken into consideration when enacting HR practices.
Employees with poor training, poor education or poor work ethic may not be a good fit even at low wages. The strategic partner type is continuously defining the strategic narrative of the company, it past, present and future. The administrative expert focuses on people and company issues. The Employee champion reinforces the employees’ voices throughout the organization. Disappointed employees must have a way to speak up and be heard either through employee engagement surveys or round table forums and not have fear of retribution. The change agent type quickly make changes and has a bench mark to show how what has improved and how it is effective. In short, there is a synergistic relationship between all four HR best practice types: strategic partner, administrative expert, Employee champion and Change Agent.
It is recognised within the majority of large organisations the importance of having and fostering the HRDNI process. The point of a HRDNI is to consider what is working well, what needs improving, what content needs to be covered, and any examples of bad practice. For the HRDNI process to be effective, it has to meet several objectives, including integrated into the strategic plan, estimate the human resource demand, estimate the current supply, determine any discrepancy between the two estimates (Gatewood & Rockmore
Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.library3.webster.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX1700400026&v=2.1&u=edenweb_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w. Dessler, G. (2011). The 'Standard'. Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Whether an organization consists of five or 25,000 employees, human resources management is vital to the success of the organization. HR is important to all managers because it provides managers with the resources – the employees – necessary to produce the work for the managers and the organization. Beyond this role, HR is capable of becoming a strong strategic partner when it comes to “establishing the overall direction and objectives of key areas of human resource management in order to ensure that they not only are consistent with but also support the achievement of business goals.” (Massey, 1994, p. 27)
The traditional administrative role of human resource practices is a thing of the past and new roles for HRM are emerging at an alarming rate in the 21st century. HR is increasing its support for business goals and objectives while at the same time becoming strategic business partners. Challenges for the 21st century include, changing roles, shifting demographics, and globalization. In order for HR to stay current, they must adapt and make necessary changes in retraining, alternative work schedules and technological advancements. Then, these successes have to be analyzed and evaluated for effectiveness.
The findings strongly suggest that the importance of leaders in making HPW the approach of choice is critical. The willingness and desire of leaders to make a difference, to produce excellence and to do this through people, are the hallmarks of HPW. Human Resources (HR) colleagues and operational managers then help to put these ambitions into practice, a process that can be greatly assisted by a coherent HR strategy. HR functions can help in a range of ways but especially in terms of helping to resolve problems and...
Ulrich, D., Younger, J., and Brockbank, W. 2008. “The twenty-first century HR organization.” Human Resource Management, 47, pp.829-850.
It seems that HRM is so crucial to the organization, for what it does has nearly covered all aspects of the business – from strategic planning to the training and development, but unfortunately, its importance has not been accepted by everyone. As proposed by Morton, C, Newall, A. & Sparkes, J. (2001) there are three different views of HR function within the...
“Hr is shifting from focusing on the organisation of the business to focusing on the business of the organisation” (Zulmohd 2011). David Ulrich points out four distinctive roles of HR which makes the organisation most effective and produce competitive advantage. He planned to change the structure of HR function and build HR around roles. The four key HR roles identified by Ulrich, one HR business partner/strategic partner – aligning HR and business strategy which plays an important role in setting strategic direction. It builds strategic relationship with clients and strategically manages the development of the workforce. The second key role is administrative expert which creates and must deliver effective HR processes made to tailor business needs. It also involves managing people and HR related costs. To continue to the third key role, change agent which understands the organisations culture, and takes the responsibility to communicate those changes internally and gain its employees trust. The final key role identified by Ulrich is employee advocate which is a core in HR role represents employees and helps to improve their experience, protect employees’ interests and confirm strategic initiatives are well balanced. Employee advocates must also “ensure fair, ethical and equitable people processes and practices.” “David Ulrich’s HR Model is about defining the HR roles and
The third stage in HRM development which began in the late 1970?s and early 1980?s was the realisation that effective HRM could give an organisation competitive advantage. Within this stage HRM is viewed as important for both strategy formulation and implementation. For example 3M?s noted scientists enable the company to pursue a differentiation strategy based on innovative products. At the competitive stage, then, human resources are considered explicitly in conjunction with
Iveta, G. (Mar. 2012). Human Resources Key Performance Indicators. Journal of Competitiveness. Vol. 4, Issue 1. Retrieved from http://www.cjournal.cz/files/89.pdf
Human Resources Management (HRM) Interventions relates to the idea of improving an organizations overall performance and efficiency by improving the members (individuals and groups) performances, commitment, and flexibility. According to Beer et al. (1984), this is often a relevant intervention technique when organizations are facing increased international competition. They see the value of HR investments as a way to improve organizations competitive advantages. Further, they establish that HRM policies have long-term consequences and immediate organizational outcomes. These policies should include the overall competence of employees, the commitment of employees, the cost effectiveness of HRM practices,
Human Resource Management (HRM) is fundamentally another name for personnel management. It is the process of making sure the employees are as creative as they can be. HRM is a way of grouping the range of activities associated with managing people that are variously categorised under employee relations, industrial/labour relations, personnel management and organisational behaviour. Many academic departments where research and teaching in all these areas take place have adopted the title department of human resources management. HRM is a coordinated approach to managing people that seeks to integrate the various personnel activates so that they are compatible with each other. Therefore the key areas of employee resourcing, employee development, employee reward and employee involvement are considered to be interrelated. Policy-making and procedures in one of these areas will have an impact on other areas, therefore human resources management is an approach that takes a holistic view and considers how various areas can be integrated.
Introduction A comprehensive Human Resource Management Strategy plays a vital role in the achievement of an organisation’s overall strategic objectives and visibly illustrates that the human resources function fully understands and supports the direction in which the organisation is moving. A comprehensive HRM Strategy will also support other specific strategic objectives undertaken by the marketing, financial, operational and technology departments. In essence, an HRM strategy’s aim should be to capture the ‘people’ part of an organisation and its medium to long-term projection of what it wants to achieve, ensuring that. It employs the right people, those have the right mix of skills, employees show the correct behaviours and attitudes, and employees have the opportunity to be developed the right way.
The High Performance Work Systems can be very relevant in an institution of higher education based on the fact that in modern days there is increased competition in organizations and each wants to be the best in the industry. Adopting this system is advantageous because it enables the institution to be in a better position to handle challenges that may arise. Implementation of the system will see the institution advance technologically; creativity and innovativeness are also likely to be experienced. Other benefits of HPWS include high quality services, better risk management.