Human Resource Management (HRM)

1. Human Resource Management (HRM) What? • the functional area of an organization that is responsible for all aspects of hiring and supporting employees (e.g., providing and administering employee benefits). • all the activities related to the recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, retention, separation, and support of employees. • functions within a company that relate to people. Why? • is the effective use of human resources in order to enhance organisational performance. • the process of evaluating human resource needs, finding people to fill those needs, and getting the best work from each employee by providing the right incentives and job environment, all with the goal of meeting the needs of the firm. • applying human resources within complex systems such that people succeed, performance improves, and human error decreases. (Quelle: web definitions for HRM)

2. Effects of HRM • HRM-practices (especially job design and selection/ appraisal/training) better predict company performance than R&D, QM, strategy and technology (West, 2001) • Empowerment better predicts company performance than technology-based management practices (Patterson et al., 2004) • HRM-practices as cause and effect of company performance (Guest et al., 2003)

3. HRM from a work and organizational psychology perspective • Scientific foundation for HRM tools • HRM as a function penetrating the whole organization • Focus on working conditions as influences on human competence and motivation • Systematic linking of "fit human to task" and "fit task to human"

4. Task / Work process Satisfaction Motivation Organization as socio-technical system Performance Road map for HRM A

5. Personnel selection Satisfaction Motivation Personnel development Performance Performance appraisal / Compensation Leadership Team Road map for HRM B Task / Work process Organization as socio-technical system

6. Topics HRM B: Leading teams

7. Organization of course • HRM B provides 3 ETCS points (approx. 75-90 work hours). • Besides the lecture, the prerequisite for credits points and exam participation is the completion of a semester project in groups of 4 students. • The exam is written (1.5 hours; open book) and takes place the first week of the holidays. Overall grade: 30% project & 70% exam. • Material for each lecture by the previous friday on www.oat.ethz.ch.

8. Semester project • Choose one of four topics: • 1: Leadership assessment • 2: Best practice in HRM • 3: Pay for performance • 4: Promotion of employability • Work in groups of four - final product is written report (to be handed in by June 18) • Depending on topic chosen, project entails literature reviews, interviews/observations/document analyses in companies, group exercises • Selection of topics/assignment to groups: fill out sign-up sheet

9. 1: Leadership assessment Marius Gerber & Barbara Künzle • Assessment Center: Evaluation of personal characteristics based on behavior in realistic situations • Task: develop and test an assessment method for leadership based on a chosen theory of leadership • Methods: determine relevant personal characteristics related to good leadership behavior, create an assessment scenario and carry out an assessment

10. 2: Best Practice in HRMSabine Raeder & Johann Weichbrodt • Best practice: finding businesses with an excellent HRM (Swiss HR-Award), focus on practice, not results • Task: evaluate a company’s HRM and create a ranking list • Methods: create interview guidelines and conduct structured interviews with HR or general managers

11. 3: Pay for PerformanceHannes Günter • Pay for performance systems: potential for serious unintended negative results, but also for substantial performance improvements • Task: systematically evaluate an existing pay for performance system • Methods: interviews with system designers and employees; benchmarking using ProMES

12. 4: Promotion of EmployabilityAnette Wittekind & Daniel Boos • Employability: an individual’s chance of getting a job in the labor market; advantageous for employees, but also for employers (social responsibility) • Task: identify employability enhancement activities in Swiss companies • Methods: send out a questionnaire to Swiss companies and analyze the results

13. Sign-up sheet

14. "Benchmarking": Characteristics of HRM in successful companies(Pfeffer, 1998) • Employment security • Selective hiring • Self-managed teams and decentralization • High compensation contingent on organizational performance • Extensive training • Reduction of status differences • Sharing information

15. "Benchmarking": Characteristics of HRM in successful companies(Pfeffer, 1998) 1. Employment security 2. Selective hiring 3. Self-managed teams and decentralization 4. High compensation contingent on organizational performance 5. Extensive training 6. Reduction of status differences 7. Sharing information

16. "Benchmarking": Characteristics of HRM in successful companies(Pfeffer, 1998) 1. Employment security 2. Selective hiring 3. Self-managed teams and decentralization 4. High compensation contingent on organizational performance 5. Extensive training 6. Reduction of status differences 7. Sharing information

17. Formerly Today $ Legal contract $ + Goals Employee Firm Employee Firm t t + Goal achievement Job security Employability Employee Psychological contract Firm Employee Firm Hard Work Loyalty Hard Work Loyalty Work flexibility, Downsizing Legal and psychological contracts

18. Flexible working: Change from a traditional to a new contract? (Raeder & Grote, 2001)

19. Fit between expectations and offers – Employee perspective

20. (Non-)Fit of employer offers and employee expectations (Wittekind, Raeder & Grote, 2005)

21. (Non-)Fit of employee offers and employer expectations(Wittekind, Raeder & Grote, 2005)

22. Career orientations in Switzerland (Swiss HR-Barometer 2006, Grote & Staffelbach) Traditional career Independent career Disengaged career

23. Psychological contracts ... complement and super-impose legal contracts. contain reciprocal, though not necessarily correspon-ding expectations and offers between employee and employer. are derived from verbal agreements as well as from behaviors of contract partners and other members of the organization. The more corresponding and the more explicit the agreement the sounder the psychological contract. Psychological contract as leadership instrument

24. Using the psychological contract to handle employment uncertainties • Communicate and match reciprocal expectations and offers • Early, comprehensive information also on uncertain developments (individual and organizational) • Support employability through training, job design, and systematic career management • Distribute risks between organization and employee according to individual coping capabilities • Further organizational commitment which allows for flexibility and "thinking in options"

25. "Benchmarking": Characteristics of HRM in successful companies(Pfeffer, 1998) 1.Employment security 2. Selective hiring 3. Self-managed teams and decentralization 4. High compensation contingent on organizational performance 5. Extensive training 6. Reduction of status differences 7. Sharing information

26. Fundamentals of organizational design(Kieser & Kubicek, 1983) • Specialization: Distribution of labor, resulting in different kinds of work tasks • Coordination: management of dependencies among subtasks, resources, and people • Configuration: Structure of line of command • Delegation of decision authority: Distribution of decision authority regarding actions and decision rules • Formalization: Determination of rules and procedures, e.g. structures, flow of information, performance measurement/assessment

27. Organization as socio-technical system

28. Prerequsites for good team work • Adequate common task • Complexity higher than individual competencies • Clear performance criteria • Collective decision competence • Shared goal orientation • Positive goal coupling • Goal transparency and feedback • Adequate group composition • Different perspectives on the task • Shared language • Development of group rules • Adequate group size • Support for team development (form, storm, norm, perform) • Explicit handling of conflicts between individual and collective autonomy

29. "Benchmarking": Characteristics of HRM in successful companies(Pfeffer, 1998) 1. Employment security 2. Selective hiring 3. Self-managed teams and decentralization 4. High compensation contingent on organizational performance 5. Extensive training 6. Reduction of status differences 7. Sharing information

30. Integration of "fit human to task" and "fit task to human" • Strive for dynamic relationship between people and work to keep people and organization moving • Select people that want to and can develop = learning ability and willingness as important selection criterion • Personnel development via training and via work assignments that further learning • Support for lateral und vertical careers in systematic processes of selection and development

31. Fit task to human (focus in HRM A) • Job design • Job crafting • supports dynamic relationship between person and work if tasks are created that include autonomy and learning requirements

32. Job design as crucial measure for personnel development • Design of humane work tasks in order to further • health • competencies • personality • based on the psychosocial functions of work

33. The product of work is people • Relationship between work and leisure activities • no relationship - empirical finding only for subjective assessment by people themselves, especially for "identity threating work" (Hoff, 1986) • work changes leisure - most frequent empirical finding (e.g. Meissner, 1971; Leitner, 1993) • leisure compensates for work - empirical finding especially regarding compensation of strain (e.g. Bamberg, 1986) • Reciprocal relationship between intellectual job demands and development of intelligence (Schallberger, 1987) • selection effect (more intelligent people get more demanding jobs) and • socialization effect (demanding jobs further intelligence) result in • widening gap (for more intelligent people intelligence increases, for less intelligent people intelligence stays the same/decreases)

34. Fit human to task (focus in HRM B) • Personnel selection • Training • supports dynamic relationship if people are chosen/trained for motivation and capability to learn

35. Topics HRM B: Leading teams