Importance of Effective Human Resource Management
Question:
Describe about the performance management system.
Every position in a corporate environment holds integral roles and responsibilities that need to be performed in a prudent manner. Human resource is the major factor of production in any organization. Effective management of human resource is the most fundamental aspect for a company to run smoothly and progress well in the future. The intense competitive environment in the modern world has made it indispensable for the individuals involved in an organization to organize their work and serve in their best possible way.
The studies conducted by several critics convey the opinion that an organization is able to enhance its level of productivity and the quality standards of the production only when the business concern can ensure better performance from its employees. Improvisation and healthier evaluation of the performance of the employees working in a particular company is of utmost importance in an organization. Performance management of the workforce is therefore highly associated with the Human Resource management of any company. Al Ariss et al (2014) opine that the Human Resource Management department of the companies are thus increasingly becoming important to bring integration at the workplace between the workforce and the leadership. As and when there is integration in an organization, the performance level of the employees in an organization would increase to a very high level.
According to Craft (2013), Performance management is such a field that involves the managers but also the indulgence of the HRM strategies, the managerial department of the organization and the employees themselves. In case of the performance management system, it has to be taken into proper consideration that the strategies of the performance management should not be implemented for bringing forth the weakness or drawbacks of the working staff. Rather the performance management system should encourage the betterment of the abilities and skills of the employees (Baran et al. 2012).
The role or the designation of an individual working in an organization helps to articulate or describe the job of the particular individual. Job descriptions are very essential in an organization. During the very moment of recruitment, the individuals are made aware about the roles or the responsibilities they will have to perform in accordance with the aims of the organization. The description about certain jobs makes it possible for both the employees and the employers to analyse the responsibilities diligently and thereby serve accordingly (Menz 2012).
The outline of the roles provides the individuals with the accurate knowledge of the goals of the organization. They will be able to anticipate the results or the performance levels, which are expected from them.
Appropriate job descriptions enable the manager of an organization to understand and evaluate the performance standards of the employees in accordance with the goals of the firm (Kehoe and Wright 2013). Therefore, it is a very vital role for the manager to take into account specific roles and responsibilities of the individual employees and devise methods to develop and upgrade the accomplishment of the organizations.
Performance Management and Employee Evaluation
Rolstadas (2012) opined that many departments in a business firm remain engaged with various kinds of activities that aim at a common end. The manager or the supervisor of that organization undertakes the responsibility to supervise and integrate the functioning of all these departments. Although the HRM or the Human Resource Management department as well as the workforce of the organization are equally responsible for maintaining and enriching the levels of performance in the company, it is the manager or the supervisor of the concerned company who remains accountable for entire process. As for instance, in case of an IT sector company, there are different departments or employees having specific designations who are working upon various projects (Mollick 2012). There are project managers for different teams, team leaders of particular teams, quality assurance executives and executives or senior leaders who are responsible for the proper execution of the projects completed by various teams.
Quinn et al. (2014) argue that the project managers of different teams have their own responsibilities, the quality assurance executives who possess the role of checking whether the quality of the services rendered by different teams is satisfactory or not. The members of specific teams are allocated with the roles of implementing their knowledge into the completion of several projects of the client companies in a proper way. Finally, the senior executive leaders undertake the final evaluation of the projects and approve their final execution. Thus, the manager of this particular IT sector company possesses the chief responsibility of managing or administrating the functioning of all the departments of the company.
A few instances based on the views of some of the critics are the following:
- Accenture, being one of the well-known multinational companies, implements the policy of ongoing performance reviews rather than focusing upon the annual raking programs. They have organized internal applications to record the day-to-day performance of the employees.
- The policy adopted by Google for the management of performance as reported by Larry, the co-founder of Google and now the CEO of Alphabet is to coach and assist the workforce, instead of dictating them as the traditional methods involved.
In accordance with the views of Quinn et al.(2014) and some other researchers, management of the diverse requirements of the employees and other factors of production and strengthening the overall performance remain the major concerns of the managerial department. The manager should organize meetings with the leadership of the firm and decide upon the programs and the policies that can be implemented in order to develop the latent skills of the workforce. After conducting such meetings, the manager has to make an in-depth study of different aspects in terms of the welfare of the employees that can boost up the organizational commitment towards. This should lead the manager to summon regular short-term meetings in order to make the individual employees aware of their daily performance strategy. He needs to convey the reviews upon the roles of the employees and simultaneously demand their feedback. Based on the feedback, the manager is required to develop the appraisals for the individual employee both on monthly and yearly basis.
Subramanian and Ramanathan (2012) opined that the results of such short-term meetings carried out by the manager with the employees, should be discussed with the leadership of the business organization. The manager and the higher authority together can take major decisions for the incorporation of the training and career development programs that can assist in the fortification of the skills and talents of the employees. This will help in keeping the workforce allied to the goals of the business concern. As and when the employees will be able to realize that the company is concerned about their well-being, they will be automatically directed towards the objectives of the company. The presence of the performance management system is integral in order to make the managerial department of the organization recognize, measure and reward the activities of the employees. It is an usual fact that the business concerns, especially the managers as well as the employees dread the annual performance reviews or appraisals. Often the companies do not undertake the appraisals of the employees judiciously, thereby discouraging the consumers. Such disputes ask for ongoing or regularised performance review and management, which can help ultimately in conducting annual reviews quite judiciously, thereby achieving employee retention. According to Stone (2013), the major processes that are necessary for achievement of the astute performance management structure on the part of the manager or supervisor of a firm are the following:
- The management of a company should link its set aims or goals with the available infrastructure of the organization, as well as with the skills and knowledge of the workforce. Moreover, the goals of the company should remain allied to those of the aims of the workforce. The employees of the firm must be able to identify their objectives with those of the firm’s.
- The employees of an organization should be intimated the details regarding the short-term and long term developmental plans of the company, how those plans can be achieved and about the more immediate needs. In accordance with such plans, the employees should be given the desired training so that they can enter the entire growth process (Turner 2014).
- The manager needs to plan a course of action, which is required to be a two way process. The performance management always should in involve both the management of a company as well as the employees. It is the duty of both. This asks for the presence of proper direction from the administrative or the managerial department and incisive focus towards and dedication of the employees towards the accomplishment of the set goals. Furthermore, this should be an ongoing procedure, then only the company will be able to assess and present reviews upon the performance of the employees at short intervals, thereby opening a greater scope for the workforce to improve themselves.
- Provisions or arrangements should be made by the manager in association with the HRM or the Human resource management department of the firm for the evaluation of the employees and their roles. According to Rothaermel (2015), reward and recognition of the individual employees, acknowledging them through organizational programs are very necessary as incentives to make them improve upon their work. However, at the same time disciplinary measures should be also undertaken as a part of the performance appraisals programs.
- The meetings that will be conducted by the manager should involve individuals from all the departments, so that a better work culture is developed. The members of various departments can share opinions and adopt new means to widen their roles and achieve excellence in specific fields.
- The manager should converse in an informal way with the employees, and try to know various issues and their grievances if any. He or she should be available to coach the employees in precise fields that are felt necessary by the manager and the leadership.
- Ensuring a continuous development of the company is very important. Moreover, the manager has to be aware of the specific fields of interests of the individual employees and thereby allocate such tasks to them in which they can express their dexterity. This will enhance the interests of the entire workforce of the firm.
The researches undertaken in this particular field earlier focus upon the point that as and when the manager of a concern is unable to perceive the means that can develop the situation of the employees and make them achieve their own aims along with those of the company; the company’s growth will face a setback. Lack of communication between the manager and the workforce, greater recognition and impact of the hierarchical positions within the firm and corruptions among the authorities of the company are the highly probable factors behind the failure of achieving successful performance management system.
Conclusion:
The performance management system, creation a team work culture, or team spirit, astute appraisals of the employees and thereby assuring the development of the business concern are the duties that are not only confined to the managerial department of the firm. e HRM or the HR of a business organization also holds the duty to recruit right individuals for specific positions, giving them proper training. Besides, the employees are also responsible for being judicious towards the company, and render supportive strength.
References:
Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W.F. and Paauwe, J., 2014. Talent management: Current theories and future research directions. Journal of World Business, 49(2), pp.173-179.
Baran, B.E., Shanock, L.R. and Miller, L.R., 2012. Advancing organizational support theory into the twenty-first century world of work. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(2), pp.123-147.
Craft, J.L., 2013. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 2004–2011. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(2), pp.221-259.
Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Management, 39(2), pp.366-391.
Menz, M., 2012. Functional Top Management Team Members A Review, Synthesis, and Research Agenda. Journal of Management, 38(1), pp.45-80.
Mollick, E., 2012. People and process, suits and innovators: The role of individuals in firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 33(9), pp.1001-1015.
Quinn, R.E., Bright, D., Faerman, S.R., Thompson, M.P. and McGrath, M.R., 2014. Becoming a master manager: A competing values approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Rolstadas, A. ed., 2012. Performance management: A business process benchmarking approach. Springer Science & Business Media.
Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. McGraw-Hill.
Schiuma, G., 2012. Managing knowledge for business performance improvement. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16(4), pp.515-522.
Stone, R.J., 2013. Managing human resources. John Wiley and Sons.
Subramanian, N. and Ramanathan, R., 2012. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process in operations management. International Journal of Production Economics, 138(2), pp.215-241.
Turner, J.R., 2014. The handbook of project-based management (Vol. 92). McGraw-hill.