Hum an Resource M an agement Pr actices

M any rese archers over the period h ave identified different HRM pr actices by different n ames.
Rese archers v ariously refer to cert ain sets of HRM pr actices  as “best pr actices” or „high
perform ance‟ (Huselid, 1995) „sophistic ated‟ (Golh ar  and Deshp ande, 1997; Hornsby  and Kur atko,
1990; Goss et  al., 1994; W agner, 1998) or  as “profession al” (Gn an  and Songini, 2003; M atl ay, 1999).
Pfeffer (1994; 1998)  argued the most  appropri ate term is „Best HRM pr actices‟. However,  according
to Ch andler  and McEvoy (2000) one of the lingering questions in HRM rese arch is whether or not
there exists  a single set of policies or pr actices th at represents  a univers ally superior  appro ach to
m an aging people. Theories on best pr actices suggest th at univers ally, cert ain HRM pr actices either
sep ar ately or in combin ation yield improved org anis ation al perform ance.

 A number of lists of „best pr actices‟ h ave been produced; Guest (1999) drew up the following list.

1. Selection  and the c areful use of selection tests to identify those with potenti  al to m ake contribution.

2. Tr aining,  and in p articul ar  a recognition th at tr aining is  an ongoing  activity.

3. Job design to ensure flexibility, commitment  and motiv ation, including steps to ensure th at
employees h ave the responsibility  and  autonomy fully to use their knowledge  and skills.

4. Communic ation to ensure th at  a two-w ay process keeps everyone fully informed.

5. Employee sh are ownership progr ammes to incre ase employees‟  aw areness of the implic ations of

their  actions on the fin anci al perform ance of the firm.

Redm an  and M athews (1998) in  a study  also identified  an HRM bundle of key pr actices th at support
services org anis ations;

1. C areful recruitment  and selection, for ex ample, „tot al qu ality recruitment‟, „zero defects
recruitment‟, „right first time recruitment‟.

2. Tr aining  and le arning

3. Extensive remuner ation systems for ex ample bonuses for st aff willing to be multi-skilled

4. Te am working  and flexible job design

5. Employee involvement

6. Perform ance  appr ais al with links to contingent rew ard systems.

The 3cTER fr amework of HRM pr actices which w as developed by S axen a  and Tiw ari (2009) through
ex amining the HRM pr actices of le ading IT comp anies like T AT A, Infosys  and Wipro in Indi a
identified culture building, c areer development, compens ation
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 and benefits, tr aining  and development, employer-employee rel ations  and recognition through
rew ards  as import ant HRM pr actices.

Delery  and Doty (1996) identified seven str ategic HR pr actices th at  are rel ated to over all
org anis ation al perform ance;

1. The use of intern al c areer l adders

2. Form al tr aining systems

3. Results-oriented  appr ais al

4. Perform ance-b ased compens ation

5. Employment security

6. Employee voice

7. Bro adly defined jobs

However, the best known which w as produced by Pfeffer (1998 a) n amed the following pr actices.

1. Selective hiring

2. Employment security

3. Self-m an aged te ams

4. High compens ation contingent on perform ance

5. Extensive tr aining

6. Reduction in st atus differences

7. Sh aring inform ation

In  a not able rese arch work c arried out by  Appelb aum et  al, (2000) who investig ated the links between
high perform ance work systems  and perform ance in  a m ajor study of 44 m anuf acturing sites in steel,
 app arel  and medic al equipment between 1995  and 1997; they identified three types of generic people
m an agement pr actices which they thought were critic al to org anis ation al perform ance. Pl acing more
emph asis on recruitment, selection  and le arning, they opined th at skill enh ancing pr actices  are
import ant bec ause ch anges in work org anis ation  are only effective if employees h ave  adequ ate skills
to t ake up these opportunities. Motiv ation enh ancing pr actices  are critic al bec ause even if it is
 assumed th at employees h ave the skill  and opportunity, it is essenti al th at they h ave the motiv ation
in order to t ake up these opportunities. Fin ally, involvement enh ancing pr actices  are concerned with
designing online work systems  and offline involvement  activities so th at employees h ave the ch ance
to become involved  and p articip ate in decision m aking.

There is  a strong indic ation th at the key to  activ ating wh at is c alled the „People-Perform ance link
lies not only in well-cr afted „bundles of HR pr actices, but in their conjunction with  a powerful  and
cohering org anis ation al vision  and corpor ate le adership together with front-line le adership‟s  action
 and use of discretion ary power. Previous studies h ave shown th at implementing HRM pr actices is  an
import ant me ans through which f avour able outcomes c an be promoted; Guest (2002) h as  argued th at
the imp act of HRM on perform ance depends upon worker‟s response to HRM pr actices, so the imp act
will move in direction of the perception of HRM pr actices by the employee.

It h as been proven th at the presence of strong recruitment  and selection pr actices, promotion al
opportunities, griev ance resolution mech anisms, flexible benefit pl ans, employee responsibility,
 autonomy  and te am work were found to rel ate positively to org anis ation al commitment while
compens ation cuts were neg atively  associ ated with org anis ation al commitment (C aldwell, Ch atm an
& O‟Reilly, 1990; Fiorito, Bozem an, Young & Meurs, 2007; Gould-Willi ams & D avies, 2005:
Heshizer, 1994).  Also promoting org anis ation al commitment is s atisf action with  and perceived
 adequ acy of c areer development, tr aining opportunities  and perform ance  appr ais al (Kuv a as, 2008).
Rese arch into the rel ationship between HRM  and work eng agement though sc anty shows th at job
ch ar acteristics such  as  autonomy, t ask identity, skill v ariety, t ask signific ance, the job  and feedb ack;
job resources (feedb ack, soci al support  and supervisory co aching);  and org anis ation al resources like
 autonomy, tr aining  and technology h ave  a positive imp act on work eng agement (S al anov a,  Agut
 and Peiro, 2005; Sch aufeli & B akker, 2004; S aks  and Rotm an, 2006).

HRM pr actices  are  argued to initi ate positive exch ange rel ationships especi ally when m angers  are
 able to provide evidence of consider ation  and concern for needs of the individu al worker (Gould-
Willi ams, 2007). There seem to be no  agreement on wh at constitutes HRM pr actices. Over the ye ars,
rese archers h ave proposed v arious lists of pr actices; however, there is no  agreement on wh at or which
qu alifies  as  an  aspect of HRM. It is worthy to note there  are some pr actices th at form the core of the
v arious proposed lists of pr actices. Nine of these pr actices  are selected for this study b ased on their
signific ance in the liter ature reviewed, their imp act  and me asur ability.

2.4.1 Recruitment  and Selection

„Recruitment which is the process of gener ating  a pool of c ap able people to  apply for employment to
 an org anis ation  and selection which is the process by which m an agers  and others use specific
instruments to choose from  a pool of  applic ants  a person or persons more likely to succeed in the
job(s) given m an agement go als  and leg al requirements‟ Br atton  and Gold (2007, p 239). Recruitment
 and selection c an pl ay  a pivot al role in sh aping  an org anis ation‟s effectiveness  and perform ance, if
org anis ations  are  able to  acquire workers who  alre ady possess relev ant knowledge, skills  and
 aptitudes  and  are  also  able to m ake  an  accur ate prediction reg arding their future  abilities.
Perform ance improvement is not only  a result of well functioning system but  also depends on effective
hum an resource str ategies th at succeed in recruiting  and m aint aining  a committed  and motiv ated
workforce ( Al- Ahm adi, 2009)