Small-Scale Qualitative Project Write-Up
Effects of Human resource Management Practices on Employee Performance
Section 1: Foundation of the study
Introduction
Employee performance refers to the level of output per employee in doing a certain task
in an organization. In a general perspective, the performance of each employee is vital to the
growth of most organizations. In the modern world, the level of performance of every
employee translates to the overall organizational performance. Therefore, for the performance
of the organization to be at a high level. The individual employee’s performance should be at
the highest level possible. Consequently, the significance attached to employee performance
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
cannot be diluted by some other factors that reign in the work environment. Lastly, the
outstanding talent that depicts a high level of individual employee performance will never go
undetected.
Background of the problem
Employee performance is a significant aspect that influences the growth of many
corporate organizations. In the modern world of business organizational management. It has
become seemingly important to look at the issue of employee performance from a modern
perspective that regard the aspect to be a crucial and integral part of a functioning organization.
Due to the nature of seriousness attached to the aspect of employee performance. There has
been increased research that seems to seek answers that have to some point been answered and
to some point not even close to being answered. Therefore, there has been an insufficient
amount of literature concerning employee performance that necessitates the need for research
to be carried out that will bring in information that would be helpful from a practical point of
view. Hence, research was conducted on the effects of Human Resource management on
employee performance.
Problem Statement
Employee performance is finding out whether a person carries out his assigned task to
the letter. It is done through job evaluation in the designated job station. For effective
employee performance, human resource management is an essential to achieving this intent.
The term Human Resource Management is defined as the overall supervision and monitoring of
employees in an organization for the achievement of the organizational objectives and
realization of employee performance (Batt & Colvin, 2011).
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
It is important to note that employee performance has an impact on the overall
performance of an organization. The implementation of human resource management provides
a means through which employers can monitor the input offered by their employees and
provide a basis for the administration of the workforce needed for the achievement of the
organizational goals.
Purpose Statement
The sole purpose of this research or rather a study is to understand the effect of Human
Resource Management practices on employee performance. This includes importance and
effects of implementing this methodology in an organization. Human resource management
ensures the proper administration of staffs and increment employ commitment and effort in a
particular firm.
The essence of implementing human resource practices is to ensure the proper
management of employees within an organization and to ensure that production output is at its
maximum. The human management resource activities in an organization include performance
appraisal, career management, training, reward system and recruitment.
It is essential to create a framework that aims at providing guidelines for Human
resource management practices to improve employee performance and output. It is worth
noting that comprehending these effects outlined enables the management team to invest in the
workforce and enable the workers to realize the corporate goals of the organization. Moreover,
it assists in providing a basis for investing in the workers appropriately.
Theoretical framework
The research was conducted in finance corporate entity that implemented human
resource practices in its organization. The information provided herein offers an acute analysis
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
of the research. It also provides an in-depth scrutiny of the various methods used in collecting
the data and also managing and analyzing the collected data.
It also offers a precarious analysis of the methodology implemented by the organization
in implementing the various human resource practices and their effects on the organization as a
whole. The research also outlines suitable human resource management practices that can be
implemented in an organization to provide the best results in the management of staff and hires
in any organization.
A highlight of the research is that the participants of the research did it voluntarily. The
methods used in conducting the research included oral interviews, open-ended questionnaires
and an analysis of the reports of the organization. The actual research process took a period of
two weeks and was conducted by ethical means.
First of all, the employees were interviewed orally with the motive of discovering the
human resource practices employed by the organization. Moreover, they were provided with
open-ended questionnaires that offered a means of collecting necessary data relating to the
practices implemented. At this moment, the staff had a means of expressing their views and the
impact of the policies used in human resource practices.
Through the research, an analysis can be withdrawn from the process highlighting
several issues that are of concern to the organization. The data collected from the various
research methods showed that the organization implemented several human resource practices
as a means of managing their workers. This included rewarding systems to workers, career
management, and training. The implementation of these practices showed a varied nature of
effects from individual performance to the overall business output.
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
It was realized that the rewarding systems motivated employees to perform better thus
increased competitiveness among the employees. Individuals who provided the better output
and conducted themselves properly while adhering to the objectives of the organization were
rewarded for their efforts. This motivated the other members to improve their efforts to
improve on their status quo. Though this practice is very credible, it creates a sense of pride
among the rewarded which undermines the rest of the staff. The result is hostility among the
staff at various levels which in turn discourages cooperation among the staff.
Training of talents among the staff creates a sense of belonging since the trainees are
put to task with the responsibility of attaining the corporate objectives. This practice is suitable,
for any organization since training such individuals increases their level of professionalism
while conducting their duties (Bratton et al., 2012). This increases their performance levels due
to the acquired skills and induced attitude through the training process. The reports collected
from the firm showed that 83% of the trainees showed better performance that yielded better
output. Despite its performance credibility, corporate training proved to be difficult to
implement fully since it requires a lot of funding especially in the case of team building.
Coding and Theme Analysis
The qualitative analysis is necessary after the preparation of the interview transcript.
Thematic coding will be the form of qualitative analysis that will involve the identification and
recording of the texts or images that are linked to the specific themes (Joffe, 2011). In this case,
the information will be categorized to create a framework of thematic ideas relating to it. Coding
of the interviews will make it easier to retrieve the coded labels for further analysis and
comparison (Vaismoradi et al, 2013). The interview concerns the research on the relationship
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
between the college behaviors and actions in while considering past experiences and memories
in high school. The interview questions include the following.
- What are your most outstanding memories in high school? 2. How did it make you feel
about the school? 3. What are the memorable experiences with the students either pleasant or
unpleasant? 4. Do you recall any unpleasant smell associated with your high school? 5. What are
the memorable visual images about your high school? 6. Are there outstanding images between
your college as compared to your high school? 7. Has the high school experiences compare to
those in college? These are some of the questions used to interview the sample population in the
research study. The responses to the questions were categorized to either be events or persons.
The code 1 and 2 were used to represent the negative and positive responses respectively. The
answers given were coded to be visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile or unclear
depending on the question’s structure. The respective codes used would be 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e and
1f for the nature of the answer given. The alphabetical letters would be used to categorize the
level of agreement e.g. A for agreeing, D for disagree, SA for strongly agree and also SD for
strongly disagree. The percentage of agreement was also considered when it came to the
categorizing of answers given after the interview (Vaismoradi et al, 2013).
The working process was followed in development and evolution of the coding system.
In this case, identification and coding of the themes would be made possible and
easier(Joffe,2011). Defining of the coding categories is the first step undertaken e.g. the
respondents will either be classified as male or female. The same definitions are used in coding
of similar interview materials. Assigning of category symbols will be necessary when it comes to
analyzing the qualitative data (Decuir et al, 2013). The color, letter or the geometric shape may
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
be used. The assigned symbol will indicate both the answer category and also the question
dimension. The measuring reliability that is closely related to the percentage of agreement is
crucial when it comes to the development of the codes. The sources of unreliability will be easily
detected by proper checking of the interview transcript. The level of agreement or disagreement
will be considered while developing the codes for the responses given (Decuir et al, 2013). The
procedure followed would start at fully describing the different types of responses and later on
the analytical coding of the interview data. Making of records about the ideas and the thoughts
relating to the codes of the interview is necessary. Accurate numbering is crucial in the
generation of the coding system (Vaismoradi et al, 2013).
The open coding system was developed in categorizing of responses acquired for the
interview. The accumulation of the variables will lead to the emergence of the themes. The
questions would be labeled 1 to 7 with sub-categories of the questions named as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 e.g.
for question one. An example is a response to the question, Are there unpleasant smells associate
with your high school? The yes represented by 1 and No represented by 0 would be used. The
value two would represent the code for non-response. The female and male will be categorized
as F and M respectively. The coding of the data to get the themes will mainly involve the
breaking down of responses given into first level concepts or the second level categories (Decuir
et al, 2011). Categorizing of the chunks of data will make it easier to interpret data and also
efficient analysis.
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
References
Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., & Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human
resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated
mediation model. The international journal of human resource management, 24(2),
330-351.
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Batt, R., & Colvin, A. J. (2011). An employment systems approach to turnover: Human
resources practices, quits, dismissals, and performance. Academy of management
Journal, 54(4), 695-717.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave
Macmillan.
DeCuir-Gunby, J. T., Marshall, P. L., & McCulloch, A. W. (2011). Developing and using a
codebook for the analysis of interview data: an example from a professional
development research project. Field Methods, 23(2), 136-155.
Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(1), 3-13.
Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294.
Joffe, H. (2011). Thematic analysis. Qualitative methods in mental health and psychotherapy:
A guide for students and practitioners, 209-223.
Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource
practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Management, 39(2), 366-
391.
EFFECTS OF HRM PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H., & Bondas, T. (2013). Content analysis and thematic analysis:
Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Nursing & health sciences,
15(3), 398-405.
