Abstract
Summary of the Research Proposal
With every single day that passes in an organization, there are changes, developments, and challenges, which enhance the knowledge and skills that humans have within this field and its main purpose. Human resource offices are responsible for finding the best candidates to fill a certain job or position in order to develop a company (Smith & Mazin, 2011). After finding or hiring the right people, the HR office is tasked to monitor factors such as internal developments, factors, and issues that may affect the progress of the project as a whole.
The aim of this study is to explore the factors that responsible for enabling individuals to generate the best techniques, technologies, and strategies that would ensure the success of a project structured organization. In order to complete this study, the proponents will present a gap analysis between the passive and active methods, which affect the beginning, progress, and completion of a project.
Introduction
In today’s world, according to Simmons (2011), the completion of the goals of a certain project or organization lies in the orderly set of steps, which starting from hiring the right people, disseminating the information clearly, maintaining efficiency, evaluating employee performance, and achieving success.
If we find out the factors and environment in which people are able to work effectively with security then the completion of this study will contribute much not only to future researchers but to existing project organizations and companies. Abraham (2013) explained that some firms turned to government entities and international organizations for assistance in developing human resource management as a whole. The contribution of these huge sectors focused on economic stability and the factors of production to amplify human labor. Other ideas were introduced, such as different HR technologies, to assist humans and to record important information using technologies. This idea promoted project control, which is important for a project to achieve its objectives and goals (Boroughs, Hunter, & Palmer, 2012). According to Wilkinson in 2012, organizations have taken many actions to facilitate the accuracy of individual work and group work within a project. It’s important to keep track of several issues and development within a working area to be aware of the matters in need of resolving. Bradberry (2015) stated that the main reasons that employees quit include being overloaded with work, being unappreciated, having passive employers, having problems with hiring people, employers’ failure to interact with the employees, and the lack of respect. Almost 2 million employees in America quit due to issues with the managers, leaders, and bosses in a company. The number of people voluntarily quitting is increasing yearly (Hall, 2013). It is a fact that sometimes, employees share the same perspective towards an HR department, which is in-charge of keeping the working environment active and productive. In this regard, an employee’s eagerness to work is fueled by HR’s initiative (Kehoe & Wright, 2010).
In this regard, this paper presents a research proposal for determining the best practices in HRM, particularly with regards to employee hiring and employee motivation, with the overall goal of contributing to the literature on strategies for improving organizational performance.
Purpose of the Study
Statement of the Problem
This study will determine the effective features of human resource management for a project structured organization. A gap analysis will determine the right techniques and strategies for human resource management to engage in for an organization to achieve its goals.
Literature Review
In an organization, a “project” is defined as a set of activities and standards that need to be monitored and fulfilled on a daily basis for the completion of a certain project (Wilson, 2014). A project structured organization is different from common companies that hire employees to do certain jobs. It would be a challenge for the HRM department to hire or choose the right people for a job. Project structured organizations establish a set of projects, rules, or standards even before the project itself commences.
One of the problems with hiring people is choosing consistent people to do the job. Some individuals may appear eager and passionate during the time of job hiring, but after a while, they tend to be passive and unreliable (Balzac, 2013). According to Kirpal (2011), one way to resolve this issue is for HRM departments and managers to promote flexibility. Flexibility is developing employees in a productive manner in order to help them multi-task or adapt to the practice of multi-skilling. Employers or HRM should encourage employees to adapt to multi-tasking skills in order to improve productivity. To be more specific, the idea of psychological flexibility needs to be implied to all employees by the HRM. Psychological flexibility refers to the ability to stay focused on the work and still easily adapt to any changes or alterations (Nevanpera et al., 2013).
One must also consider the factors to help employees grow for the sake of the project or organization. What are the possible features that would make someone work harder? This is all about motivation. In 2012, Burton explained two types of motivation; one is financial and the other is non-financial. The concept is easy to understand. Some employees are eager to work because of the compensation or reward that awaits a job well done. On the other hand, others find encouragement from employers who are open in terms of direct-interaction and motivation on a daily basis. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards to employers is the same. Both of these conditions result in employees giving their full effort for the project or organization. Non-financial rewards are mostly recognition from co-workers and managers for a great job performance (Yousaf et al., 2014).
Previous studies reveal that people are reluctant to fulfill their work if managers don’t show any recognition or appreciation. This issue needs to be tackled immediately and project organizations need to focus on the right methods for engaging employees. According to Macey et al. (2011), there are four components to the feeling of being engaged; urgency, being focused, intensity, and enthusiasm. These four components are essential, especially for employees in project structured organizations who are difficult to replace. An individual may have the right amount of skill and knowledge to complete the job, but without motivation, they will surely feel passive and may resort to procrastination and weak job performance.
When it comes to hiring job applicants, the traditional way of meeting with the employer is still active these days. However, with the introduction of online-hiring, there are several programs and websites where employers can search for and hire people. Online hiring is almost similar to hiring people face-to-face (Matthews, 2011). Applicants have access to the internet all the time. As such, employers post job vacancy descriptions on famous job sites. Project management focuses on growth within a corporation (Newton, 2015). Project management programs are also introduced to enable people to interact with each other, discuss work progress, and present ideas through the internet. Zoho projects and Webex are just examples of project management tools that can be used by HRM for interviewing interested applicants. The question is whether online interviews or face-to-face interviews are more ideal.
A HRM office or department should focus on implementation. It is true that using the internet is convenient and fast, but the level of conversational productivity might not be the same as in face-to-face conversations. On the other hand, these project management tools can be used by everyone in a company like the HR employees, managers, and regular employees. These project management tools are also able to help people keep track of schedules and work developments. An HRM office may find these tools useful with the feature of being able to keep records of individuals. Instead of doing a task manually with a pen or a paper, HR employees can manage and keep track of information electronically.
There are many factors to be considered in this review. The first is whether financial or non-financial rewards are better; the second is whether the HRM department prefers online or face-to-face interviews.
Theoretical Framework
Hypotheses:
The following are some hypotheses that have been developed:
H1 – Financial rewards are better than non-financial rewards in motivating employees.
H2 – Non-financial rewards are better than financial rewards in motivating employees.
Objectives:
The following objectives of this study will be based on the gap analysis below.
1. Determine whether financial rewards or non-financial rewards are a better way to motivate employees to work harder.
2. Determine the ideal or better way of hiring applicants and evaluating the developments within an organization or project, that is whether project management systems or face-to-face interactions are better.
This study will then help HRM perform their tasks and in a way that improves employee management for the sake of the organization’s development. To sum it up, the objective of this study is to determine the best methods to use in keeping the workplace productive.
Research Design
The target population of this study consists of employees of major project structured organizations or big companies that are active. HRM employees are also included as the respondents prior to determining the better way of hiring applicants and evaluating project developments. The proponents may conduct interviews of employees with the use of self-structured open-ended questionnaires in order to gather data on the employees’ experiences. This will be followed up with a survey distributed to 150 – 200 respondents. A self-structured questionnaire is ideal because the research can include all the questions needed. It also enables the information to be presented easily (Phellas, Bloch, & Seale, 2011). Data should be presented in detail, including all the information and answers provided by the respondents in order for the conclusion to make sense. For example, it should include opinions regarding why some employees prefer financial over non-financial rewards and vice versa. The credibility of this study lies within the details that lead to a solid conclusion.
The respondents of this study will consist of employees of a certain project structured organization that is currently in progress. The respondents may answer a survey to determine if they prefer money and gifts over recognition.
The independent variables in this study will be the form of reward. First is the financial rewards, which are material gifts or money; the second is the non-financial reward, which include recognition and appreciation.
Independent Variables Dependent Variables
Which is a better reward to ignite motivation between the two independent variables?
With the results of this framework, HRM staff all over the world will have an idea or a tool to increase motivation in order to improve employee performance.
Gap Analysis
There are several factors that need to be considered. The first is the framework indicated earlier. Most people would probably choose financial reward over non-financial because of their needs. Money motivates people. The problem to consider is that after the reward is given, the employees might return to a passive state. In non-financial rewards, people take pride in the recognition and appreciation they receive from others. They consider it a physical and psychological booster at the same time.
In considering the better way to conduct an interview or project management within a certain project or organization, face-to-face interaction is a direct and engaging way to exchange ideas and opinions. On the other hand, project management systems or tools are flexible with their features like a virtual calendar that will keep one updated of important meetings, developments, and milestones. These tools also have programs to help people users organize and present their reports. In short, face-to-face interaction is better in terms of productivity. On the other hand, project management systems and tools are better if individuals, especially HRM employees, are required to record important information about the development of a certain project or background information of employees. These project management tools will also allow individuals to interact with people in remote locations to discuss important matters for the project or organization. For example, HRM employees can seek advice regarding how to manage a team of employees from psychological experts who are in a far location. The HRM department should also consider that there are potential job applicants who are perfect for a job but who are located in a far location. E-meetings can be set up within days, enabling the scope of an HRM department to expand worldwide and have access to an increased number of job seekers.
References
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