HRM Management
...designed to prepare for promotion. 6. Performance appraisal compares an individual's job performance to standards or objectives developed for the individual's position. Low performance may prompt corrective action, such as additional training, a demotion, or separation, while high performance may merit a reward, such as raise, bonus, or promotion. Although an employee's immediate supervisor performs the appraisal, the HRM department is responsible for working with upper management to establish the policies that guide all performance appraisals. 7.Promotions, transfers, demotions, and separations reflect an employee's value to the organization. High performers may be promoted or transferred to help them develop their skills, while low performers may be demoted, transferred to less important positions, or even separated. Any of these options will, in turn, affect human resource planning. Section 4 Environmental changes require a number of reactions by organizations trying to meet their strategic goals. Because so many of these reactions involve human resources, HRM is feeling the pressure. In the rest of this lmit, we will see how HRM can analyse environmental pressures and then evaluate its effectiveness in meeting these pressures. HRM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES Researchers at the Harvard Business School have proposed a broad way of lUlderstanding human resource management that takes HRM beyond the narrow connotation of planning, selecting, training, and appraising. Figure 8-2 ~dicates how external stakeholder interests, such as lmion interests, and situational factors, such as local labour market, can influence HRM policies. These policies naturnlly have consequences for the organization itself - consequences that, in turn, affect both the environment and the organisation. For example, many people are forecasting a labour shortage in the United States for the late 1990s. If this proves true, then business strategies must take this fact into accolUlt. Some labour-intensive activities may have to be transferred to other colUltries, or, alternatively, executives may have to lobby for a liberalization of immigration laws. Additionally, industries will be affected differently by a labour shortage. Companies may have to adopt a variety of new reward systems and even new ways of dividing and sharing work. Such considerations provide clear evidence that the HRM process cannot be divorced from strategy - the overall direction of the Ģinn. The most important point to remember, however, is that unless HRM policies are influenced by all stakeholders, the organisation will fail to meet the needs of the stakeholders in the long and will fail as an organisation. THE FOUR Cs MODEL To evaluate the effectiveness of the HRM process within an organisation, the Harvard researchers have proposed a "four C's" model: competence, commitment, congruence, and cost effectiveness. Examples of questions related to each of the four C's, and some methods for measuring them, are given in the following list. 1. Competence. How competent are employees in their work? Do they need additional training? Perfonnance evaluations by managers can help a company detennine what talent it has available. To what extent do HRM policies attract, keep, and develop employees with skills and knowledge needed now and in the futln'e? 2. Commitment. How committed are employees to their work and organization? Surveys can be conducted through interviews and questionnaires to find answers to this question. Additional infonnation can be gained from personnel records about vollUltary separation, absenteeism, and grievances. To what extent do HRM policies enhance the commitment of employees to their work and organization? 3. Congruence. Is there congruence, or agreement between the basic philosophy and goals of the company and its employees? Is there trust and common purpose between managers and employees? Incongruence can be detected in the frequency of strikes, conflicts between managers and subordinates, and grievances. A low level of congruence results...