Term Paper on "Strategic Management of Human Resources Performance"

Term Paper 6 pages (1823 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Strategic Management of Human Resources

Performance management in an organization is a vital function of successful business. Managers therefore need to ensure that all personnel are encouraged to perform at their best possible level at all times. Because the process of performance management involves people, it can be a varied and complex issue. Different people for example will be motivated by different means. It is therefore advisable to create several systems within the organization in order to encourage the maximum amount of people to perform at their highest level. To create such systems, a variety of structures are available to the business manager. In general, the integration of these should help the personnel within a business to operate individually as well as in teams.

At the basis of all performance management systems is the company's corporate strategic goals. Management should therefore ensure that all personnel are thoroughly informed regarding the strategic goals of the company. Each member of staff should also be clearly aware of his or her duties towards the achievement of these goals. Once this knowledge basis is in place, specific performance management systems can be created.

Performance and development reviews are often used in a top-down process. An employee's performance, potential and development needs are recorded and used for the implementation of programs to make any improvements where they are necessary. This can be an interactive process, in which the employee is given the opportunity to raise concerns and identify his or her own performance and incentive needs.

Learning and development are two very important aspects of performance management. In the rapidly changing world of business and the information explosion, managers are obliged to keep abreast of the newest developments at all times. Employees are then to take part in this process by being enrolled in learning and development opportunities. These need to be targeted towards the specific tasks they perform within the company to ensure that performance remains optimal. Most organizations have learning and development opportunities available as part of their standard performance management system.

Performance reviews can be integrated with the learning aspect, as the former will reveal specific needs in terms of the latter. The learning process can then be divided into organizational, team and individual learning. Performance reviews themselves can form part of the individual learning structure, as individuals are made aware of areas needing improvement. In this way, an individual employee learns and develops for the benefit of the company. Learning and development programs are an important way in which talents and leadership skills can be developed and retained within the company.

Coaching is a further important tool in creating a targeted performance management system. It is highly integrated with the review, learning and development aspects, and is generally the responsibility of the line manager. It furthermore plays an important role in individual personal development plans, where each employee takes responsibility for his or her own performance and learning for the benefit of the company.

As mentioned above, a company's strategic goals and objectives play a vitally important part in creating performance management systems, because it is the quality of performance that determines whether these goals and objectives are reached. Goals are a guideline to determine an individual's performance within a company over time. Goals generally comprise targets to be met and tasks to be completed by a specific date. What is most important, is that these goals need to be defined clearly for all involved. Managers and personnel need to agree on target dates and specific tasks on the way towards reaching the goals specified.

Objectives are then used as guidelines for performance standards to be met by each individual in the company. In defining standards, specificity and attainability are important.

Managers should ensure that all employees are aware of the necessary standards at all times.

Integrated with performance standards and company goals, many companies also use competences and competencies in order to create a performance management system. Competences refer to skills needed to perform well in the specific work. Competencies refer to behavior necessary for competent performance. Workers should therefore ensure that their behavioral tendencies correlate well with the competences needed to raise their competency standards. Measurement also forms an integral part of competencies and competences.

Once an employee is aware of the standard to be met in terms of competence and goals, measurement provides feedback in terms of how well the employee performs, and where improvement is needed. Measurement then acts as a platform from which the employee can monitor and improve his or her performance. Such measurement is targeted towards the specific competences and competencies needed in each specific division of the company.

Compensation in terms of salary is also often used as an incentive for increased performance and development. There are several ways in which a company can approach this issue: performance-related pay for example is used to compensate workers for high quality performance. This usually occurs in the forms of bonuses or raises.

Competence-related pay is a more progressive compensation objective, rewarding levels of achievement that an employee reaches. This therefore relates to increasing an employee's status within a company by means of promotion. Employees can also be rewarded collectively via team-based pay, while contribution-related pay is a reward for a combination of results, competence, and past performance. Monetary compensation is often seen by many managers as a primary motivator for top performance from employees. And indeed, few employees would decline a salary increase. All of the above can then be integrated according to the company's needs, and the needs of its employees, in order to achieve top performance at all levels and reach company goals, while also integrating them with strategic human resource management. Performance management is inseparably integrated with strategic human resource management, because it focuses on the workforce. In order to motivate the workforce to perform better, human resource management strategies are essential. It is very important, therefore, to maintain relationships in the workplace that are conducive to increased performance. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished, the most important of which is communication.

As mentioned above, performance management is complicated by the fact that human beings with widely varying personality traits, competencies and work descriptions. Managers therefore need to be careful when implementing performance management systems. This is where this issue connects with strategic human resources management thinking. Firstly, managers need to ensure that every person within the organization is willing to take ownership, or responsibility for his or her work and performance. The changing philosophies behind management and the workplace dictate that workers should be empowered to manage themselves. In this way, managers are then free to perform their duties in a more effective and targeted manner. The way in which employees take ownership has to occur with sufficient leadership and monitoring, however. Individuals should therefore be thoroughly informed regarding the benefits they will gain from performance management, and also regarding their part in the process of helping the company reach its goals. Managers and employees should also understand that performance management is a tool for the improvement and benefit of all within the company. Demonstrating this with bonuses and raises can be a very effective method of motivating employees, especially those with a tendency towards negative attitudes.

Other ways in which people can be managed to match both their competences and competencies for optimization in the workplace is via examples from management. Managers need to display the attitudes and behaviors that they expect from their employees. In this way, the impression is created that the company as a whole is subject to the same set of rules and paradigms.

Communication is a vital aspect of human resource management. Management should also recognize that change bring about an increase in employee stress and uncertainty levels, and that communication is especially important during such times. Establishing new or expanding existing performance management systems therefore need to be broadly discussed before it is implemented. Such discussions can occur in both formal and informal settings. Formal meetings can for example be supplemented with a system of open communication between managers and employees, where employees are allowed to raise any concerns they have in private meetings with managers.

In terms of human resources, performance management should then be integrated, involving not only business-related aspects, but also issues of people management, individual, and team performances. Particularly, performance improvement should then be complimented with human resource issues such as development and managing behavior. Individuals should be encouraged to maintain good working relationships with their fellow employees as well as with managers. It is only from this basis that work satisfaction can be accomplished, which is then a further basis for performance enhancement. The process is therefore a holistic, integrated one of complex relationships between the needs of the business, of teams, and of individuals in the workplace.

Performance management in terms of human resources then focuses on creating a culture of continual improvement, training and development for the optimal results in reaching goals. In… READ MORE

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