Introduction
1.1. The concept of Human Resources Management:
Organizations are dynamic and organic entities, where the work force controls and influences the operational and competitive dynamism of the very company. Business houses cannot work in isolation. On the performance and the efforts the employees depends the success or failure of the organization. Human resources constitute the most important and decisive & strategic asset of the organization. The functioning and the quality of the work of these employees have to be carefully and consciously pruned, nurtured and conditioned so that their performance helps the organization in achieving its goals and market targets.
"Human resource management is defined as strategic and coherent approach to the
Management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who
Individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives" (Armstrong, 2006, p - 3). Owing to this, human resource is the most valuable of all the organizational assets (material, financial and technical), the proper management of this becomes a very challenging and strategic internal function. In almost all the organizations a separate section / division / department of executive level officers are vested with this high responsibility of managing human resources of organization. Organizations take special care and supervision of this human capital. Of all the processes of human resource management, the observation, measurement, evaluation and correction of their working assumes great importance. This process is unanimously called as performance management. The responsibility of performance management is a crucial work of human resource managers.
The present dissertation studies and analyzes the roles and responsibilities of human resource managers with special reference to their work as performance managers.
1.2. Hypothesis:
The role of human resource managers' is a crucial one. Performance management is an important process of work efficiency, Human resource managers have great role in performance management and in that process they face problems and they can be solved.
1.3. Aim:
The aim of this dissertation work is to make a critical analysis of the role of human resource managers with special focus on their duties in organizational Performance Management. The work intends to highlight the significance of performance management in the activities and responsibilities of Human Resource Managers and discuss the dynamic aspects that underline the task of performance management in organizations. In all this dissertation work is an attempt to better understand the dynamic linkage between HRM and performance management.
1.4. Objectives:
The above given aim of the dissertations is achieved in the order of the following objectives:
Reviewing the full theoretical spectrum of the HRM studies and Performance management concepts
Undertaking a secondary research of the existing research studies, reports and publications.
Presenting an analysis of the research study (secondary research) done along with the comparison of the points noted in literature review and arriving at concluding observations on the research question.
Chapter - 2
Research Methodology
The present research work of analyzing the contribution of HR Managers to the performance management activities within organizations, is carried on, in order to bring out and discuss important dynamics that are involved in the job of performance management. in this process the duties and responsibilities of human relations managers, the significance of performance management in organisations, establishing how important is the role of hr mangers in achieving the organisational objectives, especially while dealing with the employee performance and how line managers at the lower levels of organisation handle the performance related aspects of employees under them. In the way, the present work tends to highlight the general problems which the Hr managers confront while discharging their crucial duties, and by studying various research studies and scholarly articles find out the courses of solutions.
2.1. Research Design:
The present dissertation is based on the principles of secondary research methodology. the requirements of the present research question can be met by following the procedures of secondary research, because the analysis of contribution and significance of HR managers in the area of performance management can be done properly if the existing literature in this respect along with the study of few important research papers, conference papers and journal articles.
the present research uses the core methods of secondary research that include collection of information from existing published reports, published text books, research papers and conference articles and statistics.
Fundamental advantages of the secondary research are the collection of necessary data is easily available, gives opportunity to the researcher to make a detailed study of the existing researched work in the specific area of academic importance. The process of comparing the findings and observations of many scholars on a specific topic is enabled by this method.
Here the secondary research is employed so as to clearly bring out the role and importance of the Hr managers in the successful functioning of the organisation and their special role in regulating and streamlining the contribution of employees towards attainment of organizational objectives. The methods of primary research which advocate the making use of surveying and interviewing methods do not help in bringing out the real aspects of performance management done by HR managers in organizations. Therefore for the purpose of present research study the methods of secondary research methodology are chosen. While following the secondary research the study includes extensive referencing of many important academic research and scholarly publications which focus on different important aspects of the research question. The study of existing work in done in two parts, one as part of review of relevant Literature and research analysis. The researcher decided to integrate the study findings from academic text books as well as other sources like journal articles and presentation papers.
2.2. Process of research analysis:
The new found knowledge from the secondary research, the study of formal reference sources and other published scholarly works, are put to right evaluation and analysis while keeping analytical focus on the requirements of research question. The different aspects of the research hypothesis that are found in various literary sources are closely studied in order to bring out the solutions to the research topic. the principle observations of the research done are presented in a coherent manner so that the research outcomes are high in comprehension.
Chapter - 3
Literature Review and Secondary Research Study
3.1. Basic components of HR: The HR System:
According to Armstrong (2006, p - 7), the Human Resource System consists of the following core aspects / components - "HR Philosophies, HR Strategies, HR Policies, HR Processes, HR Practices and HR Programs". He says, Human resource philosophy consists of the core and guiding functional principles and values on which the organization's HR management team functions. Human resource strategies are the operational directions that guide the work of human resource management in organization. HR policies are the frameworks through which the earlier stated principles, strategies and values are put to real implementation. These HR policies are implemented by means of certain clear procedures. HR managers adopt and use different custom tailored management practices to handle workforce performance.
3.2. The HR Activities:
According to Mathis and Jackson, (2007), the core activities of Human resource Mangers vary from organization to organization, but there are few common and compulsory activities which they have to dispense. They are "staffing, talent management, total rewards, risk management and worker protection, employee and labour relations, strategic human resource management and equal employment opportunities.". According to them, all these Human resource Activities are not isolated from each other but are closely interrelated and mutually influential.
The task of Strategic Human resource Management focuses on the upkeep of the organization core principles and fundamental values. Here the managers are expected to foresee and sense the future demands of the market and ready with the solutions that help the organization stay ahead in the steam hot competition of the open market.
Work force has to be properly managed in the way in which all the diversified worker population in the organization should be given an equitable work structure and division. Under staffing activities, the human resource management team concentrates on recruiting the ably qualified and sufficiently competent employees while keeping in consideration, the organizational objectives and core principles / values.
After recruiting the employees, they have to be formally inducted into the organization with the communication of the objectives of organization. The human resource managers have to clearly prepare and implement the career paths of employees within the organizational hierarchy along with a clear employee roles and responsibilities. Human resource managers have to take care of the working conditions in the organization and provide for the flawless protection system for the safety of employees. Further, the Human resource managers have to pay special attention in maintenance of healthy relations with employees. This reduces the risk of operational incongruence. Last but not the least, the work and performance of all the employees in various capacities have to be continuously and closely watched while comparing against the work commitments. This HR activity is a more important one and is called performance management.
The classical school of managerial studies clearly demarcates the core tasks of Human Resource Managers as Planning, Organization, Coordination, Control, Motivation and Communication. The HR managers devote most of their time for the execution of these managerial executive tasks. Though the proportion with which these are implemented may vary from company to company but the core ideals of these remain operationally constant. Of all these core HR tasks, it is the motivation of employees in organization that takes most of the attention of the HR managers. Here the HR managers have to indulge themselves continuously in the regular supervision and conditioning of the functional performance of the individual employees as well as the work teams. The cardinal responsibility of HR managers is in the area of proper management and nurturing of the employee work output quality and quantity. The alignment of the worker performance exactly with the corporate objectives is the most challenging task of HR Managers. Thus, performance related executive activities form the core of the responsibilities of HR managers in organizations.
According to Ferguson and Reio (2010), the functionality of Human Resource Management takes as inputs employee skills and employee motivation. As provided by them, (Hsieh, 2004) explained about four types of external motivators which are solely monetary based, they are : specific skill payment, pay based on performance, seniority based on pay and finally pay based on work position. Further, they identified the following Human Resource Outcomes - Job Performance and Firm Performance. It is largely accepted that the firms performance largely and significantly depends on the defining employee performance. The idea here is that these two are closely interrelated and co-influential. And the job performance largely depends on the effectiveness of the Human Resource Management system. Thus it can be established that, properly managed Human Resource system drives in the effective performance of the organization.
3.3. Barriers to effective Human Resource Management (HRM):
The task of Human Resource Management (HRM) is highly dynamic managerial and executive activity in any organization. This is because the task of Human Resource Management (HRM) managers involves interaction with the employees who work at different levels of the organization. It is the bound duty of the HRM executives to align the performance of the employee with the organizational objectives and goals. But, since human beings are involved, the work of Human Resource Management (HRM) executives won't be much easy. Many barriers stand tall in the way of effective implementation of the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies. According to Kane, Crawford and Grant (1999), there are three important barriers to effective Human Resource Management (HRM) implementation. They are as follows. The first one is about the low priority which top management of the organization attaches to the Human Resource Management (HRM) activities and decision making. The second barrier to effective Human Resource Management (HRM), according to them is the low level of adequate knowledge of the Human Resource Management (HRM) formal work procedures, processes, activities and practices which the HRM executives and officers possess. And the third barrier to good Human Resource Management (HRM) is the poor knowledge in correctly anticipating the future repercussions of the implementation of various HRM decisions and policies in the organization. These problems are of potential significance to both to the top management of the organization and also to the Human Resource Management (HRM) managers and executives. These barriers highlight the need for the continuous improvement of the HRM practices in organizations.
3.4. Human Resource managers as change agents:
Human Resource Managers in any type of organization are commonly considered as the agents of change with in organization. Since the organizational performance is the larger manifestation of the individual employee performance, the task of Human Resource Management (HRM) executives acquires critical importance among all other internal operations of organizations. The Human Resource Managers are entrusted with the duty of continuously checking for the new requirements of change in the normal business operations of organization. The ability of Human Resource Managers is reflected in the promptness with which they notice potential sources of change requirement, devising right strategies and HRM strategies to manage the needed change and helping the employees in smoothly getting adjusted and changed to suit the situations.
In the opinion of Francis (2003), Human Resource Management (HRM) duties' main locus and focus is to be on ensuring enhanced levels of employee / worker performance and functionality, guiding positive change in the organization, maintaining and nurturing the high valued human resources with utmost care so that neither the much needed operational standards at work nor the inter - personal flexibility and smoothness is lost. In his opinion Human Resource Management (HRM) officers work is largely of executive nature where in they are at the helm of ensuring that the employee performance to the maximum possible level meets the organizational objectives and goals.
According to Doorward and Benschop (2003), Human Resource Management (HRM) activity is an important task and is equally a difficult one, since it involves the task of positively stimulating and motivating employees to change their work attitudes and operational habit to suit to organization's requirement. The main focus area of these Human Resource Management (HRM) executives would be to eliminate the status - quo mind set of the employees and instil in them smoothly and amicably the much needed flexibility. They felt that the Human Resource Management (HRM) can make very significant and indispensable contribution to the cause of better direction to the organization's work force and thus leading to successful overall performance of the firm. Further, in their research article they are of the view that the Human Resource Management (HRM) approach considers the human beings as human resources and thus looks at them as one of the modes of production / factors of production. This means the workers at different capacities are considered as resourceful sets of special capabilities, skills, abilities and personal attitudes which work in organization in combination fro the successful realisation of big organizational goals and objectives.
But a critical evaluation of this line of thought gives an impression that, this is an utilitarian view because, here, employees are seen as abstract entities which can be inorganically managed to make their efforts walk in tandem with the organizational requirements. This line of argument calls for a moral / ethical / ecological perspective in the Human Resource Management (HRM) activities, where in the employees be seen as organic and dynamic entities of the organization and are the most valued living capital assets of organization.
3.5. Human Resource Managers and Line Managers:
Human Resource Management is invariably an executive activity having a lot of gravity. It is the Human Resource Management Executives, who are responsible for the taking care of all the aspects of performance of employees in various departments in organization. Where as the Line Managers are the employed at the lower levels of organizational hierarchy and are normally in charge of the employees who do not have any special managerial roles and responsibilities. The important work assignments of line managers are they deal with worker management, management of operational costs, supervising the quality of output and measuring the functional performance and efficiency of employees at those lower levels (CPID, 2010).
The work of Human Resource Managers is large and all encompassing. It is these HR managers in charge of management of performance in the organization who bring in constructive and lasting changes in the efficiency of employee work output. Their executive work of handling the performance related matters in organizations can not be paralleled with any other position of executive importance. The work of line managers is rather restricted and is operational only at the micro level in the organizations. It is largely argued in scholarly circles of management studies is that the duties of Human Resource Managers have to be devolved to the line managers for the better performance of organization. The advocates of this concept argue that due to the close relation and operational and functional proximity which these line managers have with the actual work force in organization, they are the right and competent ones to implement most of the Human Resource Management related policy decisions and strategies. But some scholars are of the opinion that the proposed devolution of HRM activities and responsibilities to Line managers may prove to be detrimental. The reason which they site is, the primary and basic responsibilities of Line Managers are essentially to focus on reaching the production targets. Here it is argued that the line managers are not adept in handling the staff productivity which is largely the area of expertise of Human Resource Managers. In addition to these there are also questions raised on the capability of Line Managers to manage and objectively motivate employees in aligning their performance exactly with the corporate objectives and aims. So it is proposed by some to devolve few choosy responsibilities to Line Managers while taking care that they continuously function with close association of mainstream Human Resource Managers. The idea here is that the delegated functions are to be implemented with close systemic and complementing training by HR managers (Whittaker and Marchington, 2003).
3.6. Involvement of Line Managers in HRM:
The opportunities and operational duties and responsibilities that can be devolved to line managers in organizations have been the items of hot scholarly and industry level practical debates. The functional and controlling proximity of the line managers in the organisations is viewed as a good place to effectively implement the Human Resource management decisions and policies. This is considered and chosen as an important component of the present dissertation work.
It is practically accepted that, there are many formal and informal issues involved in the engagement of line managers in the implementation of the Human Resource Management policies and decisions. Important issues that form part of the core of the concept of delegating HR powers and duties to line officers are the questions on the ability and competence of these lower level officers in the execution of Human Resource Management (HRM) activities and strategies. In the classical managerial line of thought, the high responsibilities of planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling and motivating, are entrusted on the executive officers with in organizations. In the organizations the tasks and duties of Human Resource Management (HRM) executives are considered to be of immense importance for the accomplishment of the organizational goals and objectives. It is because they are at the helm of controlling, motivating and nurturing the most valuable capital asset of the organization - the Human Resources (employees). But, it is strongly thought by few that, practically a little of their formal role burden may be delegated to line managers. Since there are serious doubts over their capabilities to do these duties on the expected lines of qualitative implementation, Hunter and Renwick (2008), proposed that, formally prepared and written modus operandi must be set in place to guide them in dispensing their duties. This, they feel can even help in the executive Human Resource Management (HRM) managers to check and change according to the needs which situations and conditions warrant. Since the outlook and the perspective which the line managers hold and the perception with which they implement those Human Resource Management (HRM) policies vary greatly and accordingly does the Human Resource Management (HRM) outcomes. Here they suggested that it is the important duty of the formal Human Resource Management (HRM) managers to regularly and closely monitor and observe the work of line managers especially in the implementation of the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and decisions. Where every they notice or come across any deviation from the formal Human Resource Management (HRM) strategies and plan procedures they have to step in and correct them so that their work successfully contributes to the achievement of organizational objectives. This is necessary because the line managers are not specialists and proficient in Human Resource Management (HRM) activities, duties and priorities. They even suggest that, because of this reason, the Human Resource Management (HRM) managers have to concentrate on the work done by the line managers by regular training and operational guidance. So it is expected that they work in close relationship with continuous improvement of the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices.
One other strong reason that is normally put forward by the proponents of the idea that the HRM role be devolved to line managers, is that this addresses any Human Resource Management (HRM) problems / concerns at the source stage itself and to stop their further spread to other parts of the organization. Some scholars in their academic reports on this issue are of the opinion that Human Resource Management (HRM) managers job in the organization is the most crucial one and mostly, the practical situations warrant them to act as change agents. In meeting these performance requirements and expectations, few and selected set of Human Resource Management (HRM) related duties may be devolved through right designing of work division and devolution to the line managers, and this should be closely and regularly reviewed (Renwick, 2003).
3.7. What is performance management? :
Close supervision of employee functional performance is a crucial responsibility of Human resource Managers. Armstrong, (2004, p - 1), defines performance management as a "Strategic and integrated process that delivers sustained success to organizations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of individual contributors and teams". Without the continuous improvement of the worker functionality and performance, the quality and work standards of organization cannot be positively met. The basic meaning of performance management concept lies in the idea that, actual, routine performance needs continuous conditioning and reorientation for improved and efficient work out put by employees. For this the human resource managers are expected to undertake continuous supervision and evaluation of skills and capabilities of employees.
According to Armstrong and Baron (2005), the Performance Management life cycle consists of 4 stages, Planning, Acting, Monitoring and Reviewing. Planning includes defining the functional responsibilities of employees at various levels while paying attention to organizational objectives. This establishment of duty frame works is essential for proper measurement and supervision of work done by employees. Under the stage of Acting, the prior set work procedures are supposed to be strictly followed while doing the work by employees. The manager's duty is to closely and regularly monitor the employees' performance. Their performance and work quality has to be measured against the set work targets and made a final review and suggestions for improvement of quality and quantity.
3.8. Significance of Performance Management:
According to Cokins (2009), without the managerial focus on the performance of employees and identifying the need for correcting and improving it, the organizations slip down to become obsolete ones and lag behind in competition. This is because employee's performance is the core of organizational performance. He says that performance management is needed for proper implementation of well structured organizational policies and strategies. For him, it is the performance management that drives in efficiency and improvement. Performance management helps in reducing the risk of unfulfilled organizational goals and objectives. Continuous monitoring of performance by human resource managers enables the proper handling of supply chain functions also.
3.9. Core Principles of performance management:
The strategy which is adopted for implementing performance management differs from organization to organization. But there are 5 key principles of Performance Management given by, Paladino (2007). These five principles of performance management intend to work as a clearly laid road map for optimally integrating all the Human resource processes that are related to managing the performance of the employees. First principle calls for establishment of a separate department or division for performance management within the organization with a separate office administrative setup of its own. Only after this is setup, the other performance management principles can be implemented. The second principle is the managers have to communicate the organizational goals and objectives to the employees and refresh that at regular intervals. This act helps in reorienting and proper directing of the performance of work force and avoids and deviation. The third principle is to manage the organizational managerial strategy. The Human resource managers have got many crucial executive roles and responsibilities which span to almost all the activities of organization. For this they are involved in the continuous evaluation of the organizational strategies and policies. The fourth principle is to regularly evaluate and increase the efficiency of employee performance. This is a very significant duty of the Human resource managers which is related to supervising, studying, correcting and enhancing the performance of employees at different levels of hierarchy. Here the human resource managers have to focus more on deviations of performance from the prior set work standards and focus on rectifying / correcting them. The final and the fifth principle are about proper handling of organizational knowledge and promotion of best practices among the employees.
All these five key principles of performance management form the core of an effective performance management system in any organization. All these principle activities have to be implemented with a right level of optimal integration. One important requirement of their implementation is the human resource managers' continuous interest and involvement in these activities. Thus it is understood, what is the level of significance the role of human resource manager commands within organization.
In the opinion of Brumback, G. B., (2003), there are four cardinal principles of performance management in the organizations, which are given as below:
Tall Performance
Accountability
Responsible Accountability, and
Performance Management.
In his scholarly opinion, these four principles are very instrumental in guiding and pruning employee behaviour with in organizations.
According to Holloway, Jacky (2009), the common and general themes on which the performance managers base their work in organizations are, making use of multiple measures that are designed to measure and quantify performance and other aspects of functionality with in organizations, strategically focusing on the improvement of employee efficiency, implementation of both hard and soft methods of output management to suit the organizational objectives and finally substituting the old top down approach of performance management with a more open and transparent system of efficiency - output study.
3.10. Performance Management process:
According to Bacal (1999), the process of performance management includes the following works. The human resource managers / performance managers have to make frequent and regular visits to work places and closely observe the work of the employees and check for any deviations and sub standard performance by any of them. The mangers have to collect on spot data about the work of employees and they have to be compared with the standard work procedures established by the management earlier and which are communicated to the employees at the beginning. Important data that can be collected at this stage is about the actual work turnout time, the quality and quantity of the work output etc. These details have to be put to serious discussion in the performance review meetings with employees and commit them to improve the work situation to suit organizational requirements.
3.11. Human Resource Management (HRM) and Performance Management:
Of all the activities of the Human Resource Management (HRM) executives, the task of proper management of performance of the workers under various departments and across the organizational hierarchy is unanimously accepted in industry circles as the most valued and most important job. According to Baptiste's (2008) research in the academic area of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Performance Management, the important policies and decisions of HRM have to be implemented in conjunction with each other so that the performance of the employees and the performance of the performance at large is maximised. In his research work, he found that the employees bring with them a specific and unique set of skill which if managed properly have the sure potential to support the successful functioning of the organization. He explains that the workers' combined capabilities and interests have to be directed to best suit the organizational functional requirements. Thus he concluded in his research work that the human resources if tactically and strategically managed play a significant role in the augmentation of the competitive advantage of the organization.
Across all the organizations that work in various functional domains, the role of the Human Resource Management (HRM) executives is for sure agreed as the indispensable one and of the duties of the HRM managers, the task of performance management is of strategic important. This is because the organizational performance is the larger ramification of the employee performance. And the onus here is on the Human Resource Management (HRM) executives to carefully and positively stimulate and motivate it. The Human Resource Management (HRM) executives are expected to continuously engage themselves in the exploration of any possible deviations from the pre set work practices and work standards and device plans and policies for the enhancement and improvement of the work quality of the employees. The organizational change and the organizational behavioural change which the HR managers drive in need be very smooth and not rebellious or extra rude. Since, the employees are human beings they have in them many dynamic behavioural patterns which need to be carefully, purposefully and objectively motivated to support the improvement of the organizational performance.
Kasturi, Orlov and Roufagalas ( 2006 ), in their research on HRM systems and performance management tried to find resourceful answers to few very important questions concerning HRM strategies - like, are there any core universally acceptable and adoptable principles and practices of Human Resource Management (HRM) which if optimally and objectively implemented would lead to the sure improvement in the performance of the industry? They tried to work on that research topic with the help of the Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm ( given by Weber ). In their study they found that in the present era of globalisation, the HRM activities have taken the front seat in strategically influencing the profitability and prosperity opportunities of organizations. In their work they highlighted a newly developed strategic HR orientation index, which involves work force planning, recruitment, operational training, remuneration and performance evaluation. This index focuses more on the concept of return on investments and assets of the organization in addition to some other organizational performance measures.
It is widely accepted that the fine system of Human Resource Management (HRM) is key to effective and productive performance of any organisation.
Fig. 3.11: Ideal HR Practices. (Theriou, Chatzoglou, 2008).
3.12. Role of human relations managers in performance Management:
In the organizations the responsibility to handle the performance related dynamic lies in the hands of Human resource managers. According to Gilley & others, (2001), managers in organizations are ordained to act as change agents. The duty of conditioning and pruning the work performance by employees is their core domain of activity. The dynamic competitive environment in which the organization are now functioning necessitates continuous overhauling of the entire work structure within the organization. The managers are needed to bring in a high sense of fortitude for quality output, which is possible only with the regular efficiency improvement process implementation. Without change and quality improvement, organizations become obsolete and lag behind in the steam hot competition. So stay ahead, the managers heading the human resources have to be very conscious of the work dynamics of employees and keep a steady and constant eye on efficiency enhancement.
According to Roos, Fernstrom and Pike, (2004), the rightly and optimally managed human resource in the organization helps it achieve cutting edge competitive advantage in the open market. With the arguments in their article, the core idea they are trying to drive home is that, it is the Human Resource Managers and their actively indulging functionality that normally runs across all the component departments of the organization, is the crucial aspect of aligning the employee performance - individually and in teams to the core competitive strategy of the company. So such critical and significant is the role of Human Resources Managers in the organization, and especially in the area of performance management. The basic theme which is forwarded here is that the Human Resource Management is an executive duty in organisation and it positively and constructively contributes to the regulation and management of performance of employees in the organization.
According to Gibb (2001), the operational characteristics of the HR staff themselves is also very crucial in the overall management of the company performance. For this he in his research article came out with a list of few items that are important in assessing the capabilities of the Human Resource Management (HRM) staff / executives. They are as given below:
"Approachability,
Helpfulness,
Respecting Confidentiality,
Knowledgeable,
Customer focussed,
Providing H & S advice,
Providing terms / advice,
Prompt,
Providing general advice,
Maintaining records,
Implementing policies,
Managing recruitment,
Managing absence,
Managing appraisal system" (Gibb, 2001, p. 325 - 326).
Othman, Ghani and Rasidah Arshad (2001), expressed in their research paper on Human Resource Management (HRM) that, the global business environment is fast changing with ever increasing dynamism and enhanced need for continuous improvement of performance of the organizations. They are of the opinion that to with stand the steam hot competition in the market, the companies have to gear up the capabilities of the Human Resource Management (HRM) staff / executives to assist the organization to get adapted to the changing times smoothly and productively. In their research paper they forwarded the idea that the Human Resource Management (HRM) section and its staff must focus or lay operational emphasis on the optimum usage of the all available Human Resources in the organization to best serve the firm's business and competitive targets and objectives. They clearly put in their research work that these days the Human Resource Management (HRM) is no longer a traditional and conventional system that lays its prime focus on just personnel management. Now the operational domain of the Human Resource Management (HRM) executives has underdone wide expansion, where in they play many key roles in organization by proactively establishing proper HR policies and strategies that help organizational performance at its various levels of hierarchy positively move towards the organizational core objectives and gaining much needed competitive advantage. In their research work they even highlighted one scholarly suggestion, that for obtaining the strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) - fit in the organization, the Human Resource Management (HRM) executives have to be positively involved in the strategic decision making process. The idea that is behind this is to have an organic fit between the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies, strategies and HRM implementation and practice.
3.13. Common problems of Performance Management implementation:
Reluctance of employees to change is the major and important stumbling block in the work of performance management by human resource managers. The normal human nature generally found to be adept in avoiding any supervision of work and request for improvement. This status quo nature is the prime irritant in the work of human resource managers. The Human Resource Management (HRM) executives who are involved in the task of guiding and augmenting the performance the work force and thus helping improve the performance of the organization at large have to devote most of their time for the motivation of the employees to align their performance to the organization's functional standards and objectives. The status quo nature and the change resisting nature of employees become the common and serious stumbling blocks in the successful implementation of the Human Resource Management (HRM) strategies. The organizational behaviour of employees the main source of concern in the entire work of the HR executives.
Chapter : 4
Research Analysis
In the preceding chapter the researcher attempted to study and understand various aspects which are related to the academic concepts of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the performance management in organizations. It is well known that of all the concepts that underline the managerial studies, it is the stream of Human Resource Management (HRM) studies that take most significance. HRM executives in organization are the highly valued officers and on them is entrusted the high valued responsibility of proper management of Human Resources of the organization. Of all the functions of the Human Resource Management (HRM) staff, the close and careful regulation and improvement of the organizational performance by way of proper management of the work of employees at various capacities. Functional contributions of Human Resource Management (HRM) staff are very decisive in the larger competitive advantage of the organization. The secondary research done for the purpose of the present dissertation also found one important aspect in the working of the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in the organization. It is related to the role of line managers in the implementation of the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and decisions. Some research papers whose findings are discussed in the present work strongly advocated the devolution / delegation of the duty of execution of HRM plans to the line managers in the organization. The proponents of this line of thought are of the strong opinion that the line managers, because of their operational proximity to the lower level work force can effectively implement the Human Resource Management (HRM) decisions. Since they closely associated with the lower level work force, it is expected that they play key role in the regulation and management of the performance of the employees. Further, owing to the fact that the line managers are the key functionaries at the micro level of the organization, all the formal and standard work practices and procedures are well known to them and thus it becomes easier and simpler to handle all the work / performance related dynamics of the employees. But another line of thought related to this concept advocates that, it is not practically advisable to delegate the work of implementation of the HRM policies to line officers. The reason that is given for this is, the line officers are proficient in the pure functional aspects of work and are not well into the dynamics of management of the work force. They argue that since the task of dealing with employees in the matters that are related to work efficiency and performance, this needs a special set of inter personal skills and strong convincing capability along with a strong motivating character. In the opinion of those scholars, only the pure Human Resource Management (HRM) executives , who are objectively trained to properly handle all the personnel related aspects of the organization. Only the pure functional and work related knowledge is not sufficient for the right management of the work quality and efficiency of the employees. The secondary research of the related text book and research papers on this concept of HRM and performance management commonly advocated that the work of execution of the HRM decisions can be delegated to the line managers selectively. But this should be implemented in a system where in the actual and formal Human Resource Management (HRM) officer work in continuous close association with the line managers to whom the work of HRM is devolved. Further, it is also found in the way of the present research study that the idea of providing / arranging for the regular training the lower level line managers by the actual HRM executives would also help in continuously improving the quality with which the HRM policies are implemented. This coordinated close working of the line managers with the HRM staff helps the organization to attain better levels of functional performance by its employees.
The review of all the related literature on the research question and the studying of the research papers and journal articles as part of the secondary research unanimously highlighted the fact that the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) is of critical significance to the successful functioning of the organization and that the role of HRM officer is of high value. The duty of the HR managers is of executive nature and their contribution is of strategic significance to the competitive advantage of the organization. It is understood from all the studying of the literature and research texts, it is strongly comprehended that the duty of HRM executives in organization is of highest importance and their executive duties directly influence the chances of prosperity of the organization in the open competitive market. And especially, the job of conditioning and regulating the performance efficiencies and deficiencies of the work force is the core functional domain of the HRM staff / managers.
Chapter - 5
Conclusion
The present research work, to the maximum level of its functional scope worked towards achieving all the research objectives which were set out clearly in the beginning. Important objective of the current dissertation work is to undertake a secondary research, by way of review of the relevant literature along with scholarly research papers, web sources and journal articles by managerial academic stalwarts, is duly done, and the findings of the research study and review of literature are closely studied and analysed in the light of the research topic. With the present dissertation effort the researcher could gain immense knowledge on many diverse aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM) and performance management concepts. The academic knowledge of the researcher got enriched because of the deep research of the relevant scholarly literature. The present work is sought to be a logical continuation to the academic research in the streams of Human Resource Management (HRM) and performance management.
