Question 1: Human Resource Management Practices and High Performance
Firstly, it has to be mention that Jennings understood the importance of the HRM practices in the formation of the company’s performance and competitive advantage and devoted significant time to the maintenance of these features on a high level. Nonetheless, the significance of the performance of the human resources was firstly identified by Davidson, like the ability to spot the interdependence between the quality of the products and the competence of the employees contributed to the increase in sales and development of the stable client base. Nonetheless, it remains evident that the top management of WeaveTech believes in the importance of the human resource management practices while paying active attention to the company’s success, the establishment of the relevant competitive advantage, and the ability to stay competitive on the market..
Another potential driver for the maintenance of the high performance and creation of the competitive advantage is total quality management. In this instance, the know-how and skills of the employees have to be constantly developing due to the necessity to correspond to the customers’ needs. In this instance, utilization of this strategy helps the company to create the image as being able to provide the customers with only high-quality products with assistance on continuous improvement and well-established corporate governance. In this instance, TQM emphasizes the significance of maintenance of the control, the importance of the expertise of the human resources, and generation of the distinct competitive advantage such as the products of the highest quality in the sector.
Performance-based pay is another potential determinant of the company’s success in its market segment. It remains evident that this feature contributes to the cultivation of the maintenance of the high quality in the organization. The understanding of this dependence underlines the significance of the quality of the work among the employees and their ability to contribute to the overall organizational performance and the company’s success on the market.
The establishment of the particular doctrines results in high performance, as the principles of hiring the competent personnel and reducing unqualified workforce result in the high organizational performance, distinct competitive advantage, and production of high-quality products. In this instance, the decrease of the unqualified personnel reduces the risks of losing the leading positions on the market and market share. This aspect also contributes to the production of high-quality products and effective goal setting in the organization to improve its performance.
Another attribute is the Managerial Performance Appraisal System contributes to the efficient goal-setting among the managers and establishment of the particular working paths. It makes managers set and establish the objectives and goals effectively to find the relevant approaches to reaching the common organizational goal. This feature defines the distinct competitive advantage as being a high-quality producer in the field.
In the end, it remains evident that a combination of all Human Resource Management practices contributes to the development of high performance and efficiency and creating a high competitive advantage. HRM is an essential company’s feature, which determines the flow of events in the organization and its success on the market due to the interdependence between the quality of the products and the competences of the workforce. In this instance, these HRM practices have to be implemented simultaneously to reach higher results and organizational performance, as they are highly interdependent and aimed towards the same goal.
Question 2: A Performance Appraisal System
The performance appraisal system was one of the tools, which was implemented by the company to encourage the high performance in the organization by introducing the dependency between the quality of the products and the performance of the organization. Nonetheless, the Performance Appraisal system has some advantages and disadvantages due to its controversial nature.
One of the benefits is the ability to recognize the common goal of the organization and devote time to finding a systematic solution to the problem. In this instance, the company is able to achieve higher performance due to the understanding that each worker has a particular contribution to the process. Nonetheless, the primary drawback is the inability to motivate the workers individually, as they are constantly considered as a part of the group. In this instance, it might affect the performance and success of the overall organization since the high performance is not able to deliver satisfaction to the individual contributor, who is an important part of the system. It could be said that in this instance, the employees lack the individual development plans, and this risk is associated with the lack of the personal motivation to complete the tasks effectively. Consequently, this aspect might affect company’s KPIs and revenues per employees. However, the company eliminated the presence of this issue by introducing the quick firing system.
Another benefit is the increase in the attention to the hiring process of the personnel with the right set of skills and expertise. It could be said that the existence of this approach contributes to the development of the corporate culture due to the high emphasis on the company values during the interviews. Moreover, it defines the ability of the company to deliver high-quality products to the customers and define the quality of the services as a key competitive advantage due to the essentiality of choosing the right personnel. In this case, the company eliminates the risks related to the inability to meet the expectations of the employees, as the values are well established during the process of the interview. This aspect eliminates the future risks of the organization related to the lack of the expertise.
Another feature is relevantly functioning firing system in WeaveTech. Nonetheless, the presence of this feature contributes to the creation of the strong corporate culture within the organization and maintenance of the skilled personnel on the high-level. Nonetheless, the primary drawback of this policy is the usage of the ability to fire as a psychological instrument to maintain the quality on the high level. Consequently, an active implementation of this element might result in the development of the particular concerns among the employees and result in the decrease of the revenue per employee.
In conclusion, the establishment of the coherent appraisal system contributes to the development of the positive attitudes in the organization and the ability to understand the individual contribution to the company’s success. Nonetheless, the primary benefit is the ability to establish the understanding of the individual contribution to reaching the common goal and organizational performance. However, it is evident that the particular weaknesses have a tendency to exist due to the lack of individual motivation towards personal goals and presence of the psychological concerns among the employees of the organization. Despite having positive intentions, not taking into account the weaknesses might result in the decrease of market share and quality of the products.
Question 3: Compensation System at WeaveTech
WeaveTech has chosen to create the particular compensation system to maintain the employees motivated and connected it to the performance of the organization in order to stay competitive on the market. The necessity to tight the compensation system to the performance indicators of the workers contributes to the development of the attitude of devoting significant time to work and paying high attention to the quality of the products due to the necessity to correspond to the principles of the Total Quality Management.
Nonetheless, in this instance, the employees received the wage per hour, which was assigned to them in accordance with the completed hours during the shift. However, it has to be mentioned that the final salary consisted of wage and the bonuses and extra payments based on the successful performance and ability to meet the goals of the organization. In this instance, the interdependence allows assessing the employees’ ability to focus on the organizational goals and pay attention to the maintenance of the quality of the products on the high level.
The performance-based salary was calculated based on the individual KPIs of the employee and his/her ability to match the expectations and goals of the top management. In this instance, meeting organizational or group goals was one of the drivers, which defined the amount of compensation of the individual employees. It could be said that final payment is dependent on the employee’s ability to comply with the established KPIs, which cover the important features such as the revenue per employee and the product quality.
The defined formula assisted in the relevant calculations of the employees additional compensations for the ability to meet the desired goals. It could be said that this dependence allows increase the quality of the work and motivate the employees and management to reach the common goals of the company and improve its organizational performance. In this instance, the presence and development of the right KPIs determine the quality of the processes and contributes to the establishment of the coherent assessment system, which allows the company to maintain the competitive advantage by having the skilled and determined workforce.
Nonetheless, the transparency and relevance of these formulas are hard to determine while establishing a sufficient compensation system, which is based on the KPIs. However, in this case, the operational performance is the only feature, which has to be taken into account, as it contributes to the establishment of the relevant payments. The ability not to pay attention to the personal relationships between the workers underlines the clarity of the provided compensation and the absence of the influence of the interpersonal relationships between the management and employees. Lastly, this fact contributes to the avoidance of risks and conflict situations within the company.
In conclusion, it is evident that the existence of the regular salary and the compensation system, which is based on the KPIs, contributes to the understanding of the company’s success on the market. In this case, the quality of the work remains on the high level due to the ability of the employees to pay attention to reaching the group and organizational goals. Consequently, it defines the level of motivation among the employees and increase their levels of productivity and efficiency. It could be said that the goal setting based on the operational performance helps avoid misunderstandings between the managers and employees while receiving the extra payments.
Question 4: Ethical Concerns
It is evident that the top management has to take into account psychological concerns of the employees while performing the significant reduction of the workforce, as they might negatively affect the performance of the overall organization due to the inability of the workers to accept the alteration and necessity of the reduction of the workforce for the company’s survival. Furthermore, some ethical concerns have a tendency to exist due to the different perceptions of layoffs among the top management and the employees. The evaluation of the potential risks assist in understanding the employees’ attitude towards the layoff and determine the efficient layoff strategies.
It is evident that the concerns of the human resource management are not only related to the compliance with the laws but also with the ability to face the potential challenges related to the psychological concerns among the employees. One of them is the necessity to explain the reasons for the layoff, as from the employees perspective, this action is considered differently. In this case, the announcement of potential layoff might result in the lack of desire to meet the organizational goals since a significant percentage of personnel will be diminished. The necessity to take this concern into account will help determine the efficient way of understanding the employees’ attitudes and establishing the coherent approach to lay off without damaging the reputation of the company.
Another issue is Jenning’s personal attitude towards the managements, which might complicate the decision-making in the organization due to the excessive knowledge about their personal needs, health issues, families, and career plans. In this case, personal attitudes to the particular employees might negatively affect the relevancy of the decision-making. It remains evident that the ability to evaluate carefully the characteristics of each employee will contribute to the avoidance of the prejudice. Paying high attention to the personal needs of each manager might result in the rise of the negative attitudes among the employees’ and managerial team. Consequently, not taking into account this factor might result in the rise the question of the ability to comply with the ethics and provide relevant decisions for the staff reduction.
Additionally, it is hard to not to underestimate the significance and commitment of each employee while determining the layoff. In this case, the characteristics of each manager have to be carefully evaluated before establishing the final decision. The inability to assess the characteristics of the management might result in the misunderstandings among the workforce and develop negative attitudes about the company. Not taking into account this ethical concern might result in the misunderstanding among the workers and decrease the quality of the products.
In conclusion, it could be said that these ethical considerations have to be taken carefully into account and evaluated due to the potential risks related to their presence. In this case, the absence of prejudice and substantial evaluation of the characteristics and KPIs of the management team will determine the efficient flow of events and help avoid misunderstandings within the company. In this instance, it is apparent that Jenning has to avoid his personal appeal to the particular managers and reduce the managerial force according to their personal skills.
Question 5: Three Possible Solutions for Downsizing Program
In the end, the downsizing is the reaction, which has to be implemented carefully due to the inability to predict the reaction of the employees. In this instance, the downsizing remains a necessity due to the economic situation in the world and necessity to enhance the position of the organization on the market. In this case, several solutions tend to exist to establish the sufficient downsizing without damaging the reputation of the organization. Furthermore, the careful assessment of the employees’ characteristics should be established to avoid negative attitudes within the organization and determine the right people, which have to be fired.
Firstly, one of the goals of the downsizing is the necessity to choose the right employees for reduction. Another aspect is establishing a trusting relationship with the employees to avoid the misunderstandings in future within the organization. In this instance, one of the solutions is to determine, which employees have the lowest KPIs and do not show high motivation in contributing to the company’s success. In this instance, the downsizing can be implemented rapidly, as the numerical data about the KPIs is highly available and can be easily assessed. In this case, the quality of the production will remain on the same level as only the number of employees with the lower level will be reduced.
Secondly, the analysis of the particular characteristics of the employees might help determine their potential and efficiency in the organization. In this instance, it could be said that the appraisal score evaluation is one of the solutions, which will help evaluate the employees and determine what employees have to experience the layoff. In this instance, high attention has to be played to team playing, communication skills, commitment, and technical knowledge. It could be said that these features will help maintain the company’s success at the high level, as the managers pay high attention to the organizational goals and relationship with the other group members to maintain the quality of the products.
Lastly, a combination of the KPIs and the evaluation of the employees’ characteristics might be the most efficient solution as it will provide the qualitative and quantitative data about their performance. In this case, the top management is able to acquire a full image of the employee and determine his/her potential and contribution to the company’s success and maintenance of the competitive advantage. It could be said that this analysis provides careful evaluation, and 20 % of the employees can be easily chosen after combining the results of both evaluations.
In conclusion, all three approaches propose the solutions to the successful and effective downsizing of the management team. Nonetheless, the third solution is the most applicable one, as it provide the evaluation of the qualitative and numerical indicators of the managerial skills. In this case, the prejudice can be avoided and the effective downsizing with keeping the talented personnel can be rapidly implemented. In the end, the communication between the employees and management have to be carefully established to explain the possible reasons for the layoff and the essentiality to fire a particular employee.