1.5 Managing Performance through People
The definition used in this book is: Human resource management concerns all management decisions and actions that affect the relationship between an organization and its members.
There are many potential frameworks and one divides HRM into:
\- Human resource flow: the flow of people into, through and out of the organization
\- Performance management: how to control, monitor and motivate employees; needs a clearly understood and commonly shared set of goals
\- Work design: the way in which work is structured and organized
Job content is affected by the task technology, people and their skills, management policies and practice as well as supervision and management style.
There are different work system like a Control-based work system (narrowly defined jobs, specialization, pay for specific job, close supervision, almost no employee involvement, …) and Commitment-based work system (broadly defined jobs, rotation of employees through jobs/-multi-skilling, pay by skills mastered, self or peer supervision, high level of involvement, … example. Nokia)
\- Employee involvement: Representative involvement (e.g. trade union, consultative committee,…) or direct employee involvement (either involvement in the work itself or systems for directly informing and listening to employees like surveys or meetings).
And effective HR policy and practices can have an important effect on organizational performance.
\- Cost-effective: HR policy in terms of costs and benefits even though these benefits are harder to measure
\- Building human capital: employees are resources to be invested in and performance can be judged by looking whether they attract, keep and develop people. A competitive advantage increasingly rests on organizations’ ability to develop and retain their human capital.
\- Commitment and motivation: whether human resource policies and practice effectively motivate employees and secure their commitment to the organization and its goal.
\- Goal congruence: the extent to which human resource policy and practice generate a common purpose among organization members.
\- Ethical acceptability: social standards of fair treatment are enshrined in law; widely held standards of ethical behaviour
You need to look at HR from all stakeholders eyes.
HRM does not exist in a vacuum but is influenced by:
\- Labour market: depends on their reputation as an employer and the benefits they can offer
\- Task technology: the nature of the technology used for principal organizational tasks will have a significant effect on the way people are organized and managed.
\- Law and society
\- Trade union
\- Strategic goals: to be effective, HR policies need to fit the strategic goals and environment of the organization.
\- Organization culture: one important part is the assumptions and values about how people should be treated and managed
\- Leadership