Human Resource Management
Human resource management (HRM) is all about managing the employees but sometimes one must question whether only the organisations benefit. Historically the mission statement of organizations and businesses has been to reach the goals of the entity such as profits for shareholders or the best product possible. After all, organisations whether they are for profit or not, must remember that the employees are not only resources; they are also human beings. Reading the titles of some of the handbooks and papers published with advice for human resources managers can raise this question because the topics indicate discussions of what is best for the organization. In the last two decades a shift in the trend of taking employees for granted has become more and more obvious. Mature and sophisticated HR managers and the directors of their organizations are beginning to see the link in employee satisfaction and a successful business. Therefore a change in performance appraisals that include feedback from the employees could strengthen the process of reaching organizational goals. The differences between the older human resource model and the more contemporary Ability, Motivation and Opportunity (AMO) model have been discussed. The three general criteria used for measuring performance are explained. Personnel appraisals are evaluated from both the perspective of the organisation and the employee in order to explore the hypothesis. The following hypothesis has been used as a focus of the discussion. If performance appraisals only serve the needs of the organization then the needs of employees will be neglected which can be detrimental to the organisation.
Performance is a Complex Behaviour
A person trying to understand the relationship to the employees taken by Human Research Management models may take away the wrong impression. By quickly reviewing the titles first few lines of relevant articles the main focus of HRM seems to be whether or not employees (a) add value to the organization (du Plessis, Nel, Struthers, Robins & Williams, 2007) (b) fit within the organizational goals (OPM, 2001; Business, 2012; Workforce, 2011) and (c) provide satisfactory customer service (Performance, 1997). Advice is even available for managing the performance management systems (Pulakos, 2004). Employee satisfaction is not obvious in the HRM manuals. On the other hand, employee engagement is linked with employee satisfaction and closely linked to an organisation’s success. (Business 2012) And employees in some cultures are welcome partners in setting objectives and organisational goals. (Atkinson and Shaw 2006)
The meaning of performance needs to be discussed in order to evaluate whether or not an organization is served by employee appraisals. Performance is a complex behaviour and not easy to measure like a weight or a volume. In order to discern measurements more easily during appraisals the concept has been subdivided into three general categories. Performance is based on the three main concepts of employee behaviour, goal achievements and competence. A theory that has had a strong influence on contemporary performance appraisals is the AMO theory.
AMO theory takes into account the three concepts of Ability, Motivation and Opportunity to participate as they pertain to “high performance work systems” (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005, p. 38). The AMO theory is a high involvement-high performance work practice (HIWP; HPWP). According to Paauwe and Boselie (2005, p. 5) the theory has become one of the most popular and has appeared in over 50 percent of peer reviewed research articles on HRM theory after 2000. The resource view is in some ways the basis for the AMO theory which has a more modern perspective. The resource theory assumes that employees are human resources that can be managed and groomed to add value to a company. Firstly value is added to human resources when a company invests in training and skills workshops and other strategies for developing employees’ skills. Secondly human resources can be manoeuvred to display appropriate behaviour. (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005, p. 11) AMO is an extension of the resource theory which respects employees more and also gives them more responsibility.
Three criteria that are helpful to use as touchstones for evaluating performance are traits behaviours and outcomes. (Marchington and Wilkinson 1996) A trait can be thought of as a personality trait that identifies characteristics in a person like reliability and having leadership skills. Behaviours are those active and passive ways an employee meets the daily challenges of their workload. An active behaviour may be the way the person negotiates with teammates to meet a project’s goals. Two opposite types of passive behaviours are the ability to listen well and, on the other hand, a tendency to bully people. The third trait is an outcome that can be counted or easily measured such as how may products per day have been produced or how many errors have been noted.
Performance can be rewarded or forced to change. In order to decide to react positively or negatively to an employee’s performance three goals need to be evaluated. The abilities an employee uses during each workday can be measured by task outcomes such as their competencies, skills, knowledge and job-specific traits. Other abilities such as their cognitive ability, values and belief systems can be assessed with testing and during interviews. A person’s work ability is also a function of their past work experience and their expertise in a subject. An employee’s degree of motivation impacts their performance and is measured as discretionary effort. Discretionary effort is the difference between how an employee performs on the job compared to their personal job performance potential.
The work environment is the third factor that impacts performance (along with ability and motivation). A work environment is the factor most likely to impact the employee negatively challenges are created that are impossible to overcome. The types of challenges can be the materials available to complete a task, the duration of a project, management’s relationship with labour and the process design are all external influences. Personal competencies of an employee can be observed from whether their management style is successful or not. Leadership traits are positive and so is an ability to work within a team.
Historically the work of employees has been appraised and then they have been rewarded by gaining more salary or pay. A negative appraisal could result in a probationary period and even being fired from a position. As the world has rapidly grown more complex so has the perspective of employees and how they fit best inside an organisation. Now the human resource officer needs to be able to look at an employee with less judgement and more understanding. External as well as internal factors that affect performance are expected to be taken into account.
A contemporary performance appraisal form will look much different from those of a few decades ago. The HR officer can be expected to compare an individual’s performance to the company’s strategic goals and to the departmental goals. Also the individual can be expected to discuss their personal professional targets and how they measure the successes and/or failures in their personal projects. The personnel officer and the employee can discuss together whether the measurements show a positive or a negative progress. After that assessment the appropriate discussion could turn to how the employee can improve their activities within the parameters expected by the organisation. An appraisal that invites the input of the employee is far more complex than a simple positive or negative measurement which impacts the employee’s income or job situation.
Using a simple performance management cycle can enhance the way an employee’s performance can be measured. Torrington and Hall (1995) have offered a simple but practical performance management cycle that has become the basis for many plans. Planning performance, supporting performance and reviewing performance are the three foundational columns of the cycle designed by Torrence and Hall (1995). Planning is much different than directing performance because more than one person can be part of planning but a director oversees and directs performance. An employee should be a part of the appraisal when the planning approach is chosen. A review of an employee’s job description can be eye-opening for both parties because sometimes the biggest problems could grow from the simple assumption that a common understanding exists of the job description. A planning session also gives the employee a format for explaining whether external factors are affecting their performance, maybe they don’t have enough resources such as computer time.
Performance appraisals are critical for the smooth running of any organisation. A match or a mismatch between the goals of a company and how the activities of individual impact those goals can be discerned during appraisals. Individual performance can either enhance or detract from the company’s targeted goals. Performance appraisals are a good way to keep everyone working towards the same target which saves both time and money for the organisation. The meeting during an appraisal is also an opportunity to resolve any misunderstandings or dissatisfactions.
In an important way the human resource manager is the key to the success of any organisation. The person in charge of the hiring is also closely involved in managing those employees. The HR manager has an important role to play in making sure the organisational goals are met by the people who are performing the processes necessary to reach organisational and operational objectives. The role of the human resource manager is not to dictate management procedures or even to make sure they run on schedule. An HR manager must be absolutely confident about the goals they have set for the human resource management department. At the same time they also need to be confident enough to show some flexibility. Human resources have needs to be met on organisational and departmental levels as well as on the individual employee level. Therefore an HR manager needs to be prepared to facilitate the goals of the organisation by coordinating and supporting the employees. Some might claim that an HR manager must own the HR management processes but in reality a willingness (a) to share ideas and (b) to embrace a variety of ideas are much better choices.
Conclusion
The hypothesis presented in the introduction assumed that if performance appraisals only serve the needs of the organization then the needs of employees will be neglected which can be detrimental to the organisation. The research has show this to be the case but only because high performance work practices modelled from AMO theory have taken the place of the old fashion theory that employees are resources to be manipulated and groomed. An important outcome of new theories has been that HR managers take it for granted that both internal and external forces are influencing an employee’s performance. A poor performance may seem like a bad attitude or poor work habits when in fact external problems cannot be overcome by the employee. When the HR manager invites the employee too take part in the appraisal important facts may energy that require actions that the employee is not authorized to make. Performance is based on complex behavioural concepts. An HR manager needs to understand the behaviours that can be evaluated in performance appraisals and organize a specific plan to address the issues in a performance evaluation. The performance management cycle stresses the point that planning is one of the top three steps that repeats during the cycling. The other two are supporting and reviewing performance. The importance of regarding these three performance values as being combined in a cycle is because the cycle needs constant review and tweaking. The research is demonstrating how feedback from employees during performance appraisals gives a more accurate understanding of the employees’ on-the-job abilities. Handled correctly the inclusion and consideration of the employees’ input can strengthen the processes in the organization and enhance the profitability and/or the quality of product.
References
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