Human Resource Management Practices and Performance

This assignment delves into the crucial role of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in influencing organizational performance. Students are tasked with examining various HRM practices, such as talent management, knowledge sharing, and employee engagement, and analyzing their impact on key performance indicators. The assignment requires a critical evaluation of the literature on HRM and performance, considering both theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. It also encourages students to apply these concepts to real-world examples and discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by organizations in implementing effective HRM strategies.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Organizational Behavior
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Topic of the essay: “Work groups need to be skillfully managed if they are to be
productive. Just putting people together does not guarantee success.”
In today’s world, the global market competition is the major element to explain the
organizational strategies; as a result, the industrial economy has witnessed to pass toward to the
economy of knowledge. As stated by Armstrong and Taylor (2014) the competitive market is
getting developed day by day and it is becoming immensely difficult for the management of
business organizations to sustain their growth and profitability. All the contemporary scholars
are actually aware of the fact that by witnessing various advantages and disadvantages in the
competitive work environment, the management can try to adapt to the competitive conditions.
In most cases these types of efforts are centralized on human resource management as it is seen
from last 20 years after the emergence of strategic human resource concepts. This essay focuses
on the fact that to generate maximum productivity and profitability, the management of the
organization should effectively manage them. It can be said that Organizational Behavior is the
study where within the workplace, individuals and group of employees abide by an
interdisciplinary drawing on a number of disciplines like sociology or psychology. It is worth
mentioning that behind the success of any business organization, HRM becomes the key
contributor. Proper Organizational behavior helps the management of the organizations to
achieve success within a short span of time. Apart from that the behaviors of the employees of
the organizations is a key to achieve effectiveness of the HRM practices within the organization.

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It is a matter of fact that if HRM practices are adequate within the workplace, the employees
would have a better moral and level of motivation to work. Various other studies prove that the
anxiety can influence the positive relationship among the person organized fit and HRM
practices and person-job fit (Veloso, Tzafrir and Enosh 2015). That indicates that though HRM
practices are seen as adequate within the workplace, the individuals with higher level of anxiety
might not develop a better sense of fit with the job and the organization. Nowadays, the
managements of the business organizations are heading towards creating a competition among
them encroaching more customers and the market increase the sales and many more. As stated
by Ożgo and Brewster (2015), the rapid changes regarding globalization, information system and
various other factors are causing higher competition in the global market, making it difficult for
the organizations to sustain their profitability. As stated by Armstrong and Taylor (2014) various
organizations are getting driven by the market pressure to set their targets in their performances.
In this context it is worth mentioning that some of the goals or targets are reducing the company
liabilities, increasing the customer base, increasing the achieved market percentage, introducing
innovative products and improving the qualitative factors of the products, increasing the sales of
the organization and many more. It is a matter of fact that these targets or goals can only be
achieved by implementing proper HRM policies and sustaining proper organizational behavior
within the workplace.
It can be said that Organizational Behavior is the study where within the workplace,
individuals and group of employees abide by an interdisciplinary drawing on a number o
disciplines like sociology or psychology. It is worth mentioning that behind the success of any
business organization, HRM becomes the key contributor. Proper Organizational behavior helps
the management of the organizations to achieve success within a short span of time. Apart from

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that the behaviors of the employees of the organizations is a key to achieve effectiveness of the
HRM practices within the organization.
The major issue that is affecting the organizational behavior nowadays is the rapid
globalization. In this way, in many organizations, in the workforce a mix culture is seen. For an
example, in a multinational organization, in the workforce there can be employees from various
religious and cultural backgrounds and that can potentially bring in various issues within the
workplace. As stated by Ożgo and Brewster (2015), every organization has a particular culture
and the organizational culture is somewhat responsible for the level of performance of that
particular organization. Thus from the last couple of decades, the studies of organizational
culture has immensely been popularized among the scholars and business leaders world-wide.
A team of a business organization can be described as a small number of individuals who
has the complementary skills that are used to serve a common purpose. There are some
advantages and disadvantages of working as a team in the organization and there lies the
importance of HRM in an organization.
One of the major advantages of working as a team is the amount of motivation an
individual receives from the team members to perform better. It is a matter of fact that when an
individual feels that the other members of the team are dependent on him for the completion of
the task, he or she would naturally become motivated enough to take out the task (Veloso,
Tzafrir and Enosh 2015). When the individual employees gather as a team, various skills and
experiences can be showcased by the individual employees in order to attain the objectives of the
team. There might be presence of some individual’s skills among the employees under a team;
such as leadership quality, good planners and thinkers, individuals who can execute the tasks

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well and many more. According to Mansour, Heath and Brannan (2015) another major aspect of
working as a team is that in this way, the individuals who are relatively new in the workplace,
can gain huge experiences by working as a team and from the colleagues with whom he or she
work as a team.
The major disadvantage of working as a team can be seen when a conflict of interest rises
in the team. As opined by Armstrong and Taylor (2014) this is very likely that sometimes a
person has to sacrifice his personal goals in order to achieve the goals of the team and this can
bring in several disruptions in the team (Katou, Budhwar and Patel 2014). Apart from that there
can be occasions when some individuals can feel that they are not getting enough opportunities
to speak and express their decisions regarding some issues and this can lead to a clash of egos in
the workforce. There lies the importance of effective HRM in the workforce, so that the
employees can work incessantly with high level of motivation to achieve the set goals by the
management.
In today’s world, the way of executing tasks has rapidly changed and thus the
managements of various business organizations tend to adapt to the changes of the way of
performing tasks in the workplace in order to keep the workforce motivated. It is seen that the
way before the managements used to manage the workforce that might not be feasible to
continue in this changing environment (Rees and Smith 2017). With time, the needs and the
elements that can satisfy the employees have changed a lot. Apart from that, technological
advancements, knowledge management and the outsourcing of jobs are immensely influencing
the changing needs of the employees. As opined by Glaister et al. (2017) the management needs
to work on their style of motivating the employees in order to keep them motivated and loyal

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towards the organization. Apart from these there are various factors like age, culture and gender
that influence the level of motivation in the workplace.
As cultural differences are a major influence in manipulating the level of motivation
among the employees and as it can effectively lower the bond among the employees, in today’s
world, the HR managers should keep in mind this fact and act accordingly. Hofstede came up
with his cultural dimensions that have become a major tool for the management of various
organizations. the five dimensions of Hofstede includes Small vs. Large power distance,
Masculinity vs Femininity, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Weak vs Strong uncertainty
avoidance and Long vs Short term orientation.
Small vs large power distance refers to how the society manages the inequalities and also
the extent to that the members who are less powerful in the organizations expect and accept that
the power is distributed unequally (Jamali, El Dirani and Harwood 2015).
Masculinity and femininity dimension depicts the roles and behaviors that are distributed
according to the gender of the employees. In masculine culture individuals value the
assertiveness, value competitiveness and the accumulation of wealth and various material
possessions. On the other hand, in feminine cultures individuals tend to value relationships and
the quality of the life.
Weak and Strong uncertainty avoidance refers to the level of need of a proper structure.
Cultures which are of lower uncertainty avoidance often tend to accept changes and risks; apart
from this these cultures prefer flexible rules and regulations.

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Individualism vs. Collectivism refers to the behavior towards the community. It can be
said that the degree to that the employees are integrated into various groups or they are told to
look after themselves and to self actualize (Rees and Smith 2017).
Long vs. Short term orientation refers to the fact that how much the society values long
standing, like opposing to the short term, values and traditions. The cultures which have a long
term orientation, place a major importance on the family, social obligations and discipline.
Thus it can be said that if in the workforce there are presence of various cultures that can
to some extent affect the bonding of the employees and the level of motivation and loyalty of the
general employees towards the organization. As stated by Mansour, Heath and Brannan (2015),
it should be the duty of the HR managers or the business leaders to keep in mind these aspects of
the cultural dimensions to accurately manage the workforce, in order to generate maximum
productivity along with the profitability for the business organization.
Motivating the workforce is one of the most essential duties of the management or for the
business leaders (Katou, Budhwar and Patel 2014). For business organizations, the workforce
can be seen as the nucleus of the organizations, thus it can surely be said that a motivated and
loyal workforce is the asset of the organization. The managers and the business leaders thus
should stress on keeping the employees motivated. As disclosed by Rees and Smith (2017) there
are several theories of motivation that are majorly helpful for maintaining the level of motivation
in the general workforce.
In this regard, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is essential to determine the needs of the
employees, and it is a proven fact that if the managers want to keep the employees motivated,
their needs or the requirements should be met by the authority of the organization. In his

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hierarchy of needs, Maslow kept psychological needs in the bottom portion that includes basics
like food, water, rest and warmth in the workplace. Then in this hierarchy comes the
requirements of safety of the employees (Mansour, Heath and Brannan 2015). After securing the
psychological needs, requirements regarding safety and security come first for the employees of
the organization (Katou, Budhwar and Patel 2014). When the safety needs are met, the
management of the business organizations should satisfy the needs of the employees related to
belongings and love interests, like making friends or having good relationships with the co-
workers. When the requirements regarding belongings are met, the employees want to satisfy
their needs of esteem. When all the basic requirements get satisfied, the employees want to
satisfy their self esteem needs, like feeling of accomplishment and the prestige in the workplace.
As opined by Glaister et al. (2017) when all the above needs gets satisfied, the employees intend
to self actualize their potential and that includes several creative activities in the workplace. In
his hierarchy, Maslow showed that if these needs get satisfied the business leaders can
effectively manage the level of motivation in the workforce.
From the discussion above, it can be perceived that to maintain harmony and motivation
in the workforce, it is the duty of the business leaders to understand the individuals. The
management should understand the fact that every individual has specific values, attitudes,
behaviors and attributes. As stated by Rees and Smith (2017) the management should not
stereotype them at any cost and they should not judge someone with respect to the other
individual’s attitude or attributes. To measure the level of performance of a single employee the
management can judge the individual attributes, work effort and the support provided by that
employee for the business organization (Glaister et al. 2017).

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In this context it is worth mentioning that Vroom’s expectancy theory separates effort,
performance and final outcome. The term expectancy here is referred to as the belief that
enhanced effort in the workplace leads to increased productivity. For an example, it can be said
that if an employee after getting motivated gives more effort in the workplace, naturally can
expect a major increase in the productivity (Jamali, El Dirani and Harwood 2015). To ensure this
increase in productivity within the workplace the resources has to be available, the individual
employees should possess the needed skills and the employees should get the essential support
from the higher authorities.
From the entire discussion above it is evident that the role of Human Resource
management is enormous to sustain the productivity and the growth of the business
organizations. As opined by Armstrong and Taylor (2014) the HRM should be able to
strategically manage individuals as they are the major resources of business organizations.
Managing the workforce includes recruiting and hiring professionals for the organization and
coordinating the benefits of the employees along providing proper training for development
purposes. HR managers are not the workers of the business organizations; they are the
consultants (Jamali, El Dirani and Harwood 2015). HR managers generally gives advises to the
managers and other individuals of the organization regarding the issues related to the workforce
and how they can effectively manage the workforce.
Thus to conclude, it can be said that to successfully sustain the growth and productivity
of the business organizations the role of the HR managers in undoubted. It is a matter of fact that
only staffing individuals together in the workplace cannot generate the desired output or
productivity. The employees should be managed strategically in order to generate the maximum
output for the organization. Effective HR managers always suggest various strategies in order to

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increase the level of commitment among the employees and this process initiates with the
process of recruitment. Apart from these the HR managers helps a lot in developing a
competitive advantage that includes building the capacity of the business organization so that it
can provide a range of services to the target customers. In order to build an effective human
resources, the business organizations compete with each other while making a talented pool of
workers. Thus it can surely be said that at all the levels of the business organizations, the
managers and the business leaders along with HR professionals work together in order to attain
harmony and positive attitude in the workforce in order to secure the growth and productivity of
the business organization.

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