The main goal for contemporary organizations is to increase productivity and a sustained nominative advantage without unfavorable impacts upon workers. Many authors on the subject of high performance would not draw divisions between high performance, people and culture. (Sandman, S. A. , Davenport, T. H. , Long, D. W. , Beers, M. C. ,1998). The objective of this paper is to reflect upon the high performance work organizations framework, evaluate if there is a link between HIP and sustainable organization performance and competitive advantages, considering a business case for WHOOP. What is High Performance Working?
In the past few years interest in high performance working has increased ND it is recognized as a potential to offer benefits to both employer and employee, as well as contributing to the economic performance, competitiveness. It is believed by many that important in the HIP is specifically designed approach to enhance the discretionary effort employees put into their work, and to fully utilize and further develop the skills that they possess(Belt, V. , Giles, L. , Campbell, M. ,2009). Interest in HIP has grown at the same time as increased attention is being paid to general issues about the quality of work.
There is progressive focus on seeking to create ‘better’ jobs and good working environments that offer mutual advantages to the individual as well as the employer. High Performance Working is defined as a general approach to managing organizations that aims to stimulate more effective employee involvement and commitment to achieve high levels of performance (Belt, V. , Giles, L. , Campbell, M. ,2009). HIP involves: -employee commitment and motivation which can be developed through effective appraisals, goal setting, feedback and reward; -empowerment; -engagement; -team-working; -involvement; -quality process.
Practice driving good performance ( http://performing. Com) CHIP What is WHOOP? Over last three decades, executives have looked to a multiple of management theories in search for blueprint for sustainable business success. In the current time, complexity brings a new perspective to many of the preceding theories. In the fast-moving, complicated and unpredictable circumstances , rather than continuing to reproduce and rely on success patterns from the past, organizations need to embark on a path of a self-renewal.
Rather than caring only about the needs of external stakeholders, organizations need also to recognize the symbiotic relationship between the ability to survive and achieve cuisines success, the health of the organism itself (culture), and the way in which employees are nourished and nurtured (Hellhole, L. 2005). High performance work practices are not radical ‘new practices’ and they are simply work practices that can be deliberately introduced in order to improve organizational performance. Those organizations that adopt Whaps are referred to as ‘High performance work organizations’ (Hypos). CHIP slides) Many of the personnel using and implementing Whaps would not necessarily see themselves as in the vanguard of modern management practices, but merely as implementing what they see as ‘common sense good practice’. High performance organizations recognize the need to move swiftly into new modes of operating more appropriate to the world we trade in today and they are also able transform their structures and working practices. A widely accepted definition of Whaps is that they are a set of complementary work practices covering three broad areas, which are sometimes referred to as ‘bundles’ of practices: 1 .
High employee involvement practices e. G. Self-directed teams, quality circles and sharing/access to company information, encouraging greater bevel of trust and communication between employers and employees through involving them more in the organization. 2. HRS practices e. G. Sophisticated recruitment processes, performance appraisals, work redesign and mentoring results in higher levels of skill linked to improvements in the quality of work and the services delivered to the customer. . Reward and commitment practices e. G. Various financial rewards, family-friendly policies, job rotation and flexible hours leads to higher levels of productivity and innovation. Some practices can impact on more than one area, for example, having flexible irking arrangements may enhance both employee involvement as well as employee commitment to the organization and level of Whaps adoption is linked to organizational performance. (Sung, J. , Gaston, D. 2005) Table 1: Sung and Station’s (2005) Definition of HIP Practices High Performance Working Practices High Involvement Human Resource Practices Reward and Commitment Circulating information on organizational performance and strategy Annual appraisal Performance pay for some employees Providing all employees with a copy of the business plan/targets Formal feedback on job performance from superiors Performance pay for all employees Staff Association Formal feedback on job performance from customers/clients Profit-sharing for some Internal staff surveys Reviewing vacancies in relation to business strategy Profit-sharing for all Staff suggestion Schemes Formal assessment tools for recruitment Share options for some Quality circles/total quality management Annual review of employees’ training needs Share options for all Self-managed or Selfridges teams Training to perform multiple jobs Flexible job descriptions Cross-function teams Continuous skills development programmed Flexible working ‘Awaken’ – specific efforts on continuous improvement
Structured induction Training Job rotation Work (re)design for improved performance Family-friendly policies Work diversity for competitive advantage Non-pay benefits Mentoring Benefits covering spouse or family members Quality assurance Main principles and systems of WHOOP High performance organizations concentrate on the “right thing” WHOOP expand strong cultures and practices, which attract good people to work for them and thus make them successful in their markets. Cultural attitudes and practices make these companies good at managing for change, developing and implementing live policies on diversity. Collins and Operas (1994) explain success of the “Visionary” companies, which change their strategies and their values , but they stick firmly to their core purpose.
They are able to differentiate between core and non-core, between what should never change and what should be open for changes. Visionary companies are also careful to select people who can work successfully within such a environments. High performance organizations conciliate different, potentially conflicting stakeholders needs Competitive pressures are driving even well established industries to cut down lead times and get products to market fast. In today’s marketplaces, businesses are usually only as good as they last results and investment analysts rarely look beyond actual and short-term financial projections to make their assessment of a company’s worth.
From a shareholder’s or financial analysts’ view the loss of jobs in order to improve the book value of a company makes sense, while to affected employees and the local community such decision can seem disastrous. Whilst longer-term sustainability of the firm may be important to employees, management and the community, it may be far less important to investors. Senior managers are usually caught teens the need to satisfy shareholders by driving cost down and increasing profitability, and needs of the organization and its employees. (Hellhole, L. , 2005) High performance organizations have customer-focused aim Successful organizations strongly focus on customers and their needs.
They invest to improve products and provide higher customer service, realizing that clients and their needs underpin organization’s existence. They concentrate on retaining customer loyalty as much as on attracting new customers. High performance companies exist to serve their customers, not their shareholders. High performance is strongly correlated to customer-focused purpose and when greater number of employees think is customer-oriented, then organization provides better customer service than its competitors. Customer’s needs in some ways are consistent: customer’s always want the highest-quality goods, when they want them, at the price they can afford.
However focusing on customers’ needs and preferences can be frustrating and costly, responding to tough competition means that the race is on to be first in the marketplace with new goods that will attract customers. Whilst many of theorists of high reference argue in favor of balancing different stakeholder needs for Richard Ellsworth in Leading with Purpose (2002) having clarity of purpose is essential to business success and the most effective vision for change is customer focused. Companies with customer-focused purpose: – found change easier to manage – had employees who recognized work as more meaningful – achieved much higher shareholders returns over long term – had strong cultures.
It is important to understand the customer’s world and build a customer-focused vision, which means that one change will lead to another as customers’ needs hang. High performance organizations value employees High performance companies know that their employees are their most important asset and invest accordingly in employees. Employees with opportunities for promotion, develop and grow, perceive their contribution is recognized. Employees who feel this way are more likely to rally round in bad times and to stick around in good times, which are main reasons why employers that invest in their people are more successful than those that hire and fire at will.
Jim Collins, in Good to Great (2001), suggests that truly ‘great’ companies end to exceed merely ‘good’ companies in terms of business outcomes, such as cumulative stock returns relative to the market. Greatness is not a function of circumstance but conscious choice, even though luck is still variable. Great companies practice timeless principles of good people management. For Collins, greatness is a process, which requires pushing consistently in an intelligent direction, with disciplined people, thought and action. Leaders are aiming to keep the right people ‘on the bus’, in the ‘right seats’ for a long time, because only when you have the right people on the board is it time to focus on the strategy.
High performance organizations aim for sustainable success over long-time Research carried out by Collins and Operas (Built to Last, 1994) suggests that success for commercial companies in the past, whether measured in terms of longevity, profitability or both, was definitely linked to their ability to establish themselves as a human community of successive generations of people. Human sustainability engaged developing the social capital of employees. High performance companies have a healthy culture and their employees are not asked to sacrifice or compromise their personal standards and values in order to achieve organizational objectives. The best companies set an example for employees to aspire to.
The bigger commercial wins are more likely to be achieved when employees feel committed to their organization, are well led, and have the skills and flexibility needed to build competitive advantage for the future (Hellhole, L. 2005). High performance organizations grow leadership Leadership is central in shaping issues such as the culture and expectations within an organization and it is also very important in both the conception as well as the development of a WHOOP. Leadership is crucial to identify the main business strategy and how Whaps might deliver results. However, once Whaps start delivering results, leadership goes beyond, becomes settled in the organization and can be seen everywhere. For example, leadership can be identified in all the self-managed teams.
The delegation of authority to make decisions, and the general commitment to organizational values, mean that the conditions are present for most members of the organization to exercise leadership. The final result is that innovation, problem-solving and collaboration occur anytime and anywhere. (Gaston, D. , Sung, J. , 2005) HIP and sustainable organizational performance According to Gaston and Sung(2005) the more Whaps an organization uses he more effective is in delivering adequate training provision, motivating staff, managing change and providing career opportunities. Also the more Whaps an organization uses the lower the staff turnover.
Suggested earlier three distinct bundles of HIP, namely: high employee involvement practices, human resource management practices and reward and commitment practices have significant correlations for sustainable organizational performance. All types of WHAP are collectively working together to improve organizational performance, e. G. All 3 categories of WHAP have a positive impact on motivating staff. However, for intensiveness, only Whaps categorized as human resource management or rewards and commitment would seem to be correlated with higher performance. These highlights the links between industrial sector and product market, the organization’s product strategy and the adoption of different WHAP bundles, where successful WHOOP needs to match the three factors appropriately.
Business case for WHOOP The body of evidence on the benefits of HIP and the weight of the evidence pointing to the positive link between HIP, performance and employee well- being is difficult to ignore. However finding and keeping the right people is the suggest challenge we face and the conclusions in the field of strategic human resource management is: people matter. The basic logic that HRS systems designed to acquire, develop, and motivate talented individuals have implication for firm performance (Mastership, J. G. , Guthrie J. P. , 2010). Gaston and Sun’s (2005) show a strong business case for adopting Whaps, pointing correlations, such as those between Whaps and motivating staff, managing change, effective teamwork, communication and greater job satisfaction.
The HIP is associated with company profits, sales and profitability and has a positive effect on a range f areas such as innovation, performance, teamwork, employee commitment, employee welfare, competitiveness, productivity and creating the flexibility necessary to adapt to change. The reality is that HIP offers a potentially important mechanism for improving organizational performance, employee well-being and competitive advantage over the long term and assuming implementation is right (Belt, V. , Giles, L. , Campbell, M. ,2009). Strengths and weaknesses of different methods of primary research Primary research is defined as factual, first-hand accounts of the study written by a person who was part of the study. The methods vary on how researchers run an experiment or study, but it usually follows the scientific method and it is typically original research (study. Com).
Several methods can be used for research: Interviews- useful method if personal information is required. It can be used in both quantitative and qualitative research. Interviews can be telephonic or face to face. Observation- can be collected through observing the people while working in an organization. Questionnaire- a statement that contains a series of questions that will be asked from respondents. Focus Group- five to eight embers sit together and discuss the problem and give their views related to problem. Surveys- sending mails of questionnaires to the respondents. Sampling- samples of new product are sold in the market to check the response of the customers.
There are two major types of research design: qualitative research and quantitative research and researchers choose methods according to the nature of the research topic they want to investigate. Qualitative research- is often used as a method of exploratory research as a basis for later quantitative research hypotheses. This type of research aims to investigate a question without attempting to quantifiable measure variables or look to potential relationships between variables. Quantitative research- systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships, relying on random sampling and structured data collection instruments. There are advantages and disadvantages to primary research. Advantages: Researcher can focus on both qualitative and quantitative issues.
