Chapter 9: High-Performance Work Systems

High-Performance Work System

organization in which technology, organizational structure, people, and processes work together seamlessly to give an organization an advantage in the competitive environment

Five elements of a HPWS

Organizational structure, task design, people, reward system, and information systems

Organizational structure

the way an org groups people into divisions, departments, and reporting relationships

Task design

how details of organization’s activities will be grouped, whether into jobs or teams responsibilities

People

should be well suited to and prepared for jobs

Reward systems

encourage people to strive for goals

Information systems

enable sharing information widely

Outcomes of a HPWS

interesting jobs, high quality, innovation, knowledge sharing, higher profits

Conditions that contribute to high performance

teamwork, DEI initiatives, ongoing training is rewarded and emphasized; employee engagement, brand alignment, teamwork & empowerment

Bundle of HR practices

Skill-enhancing, motivation-enhancing, and opportunity-enhancing

Skill-enhancing

aims to ensure appropriately skilled employees; rigorous selections, extensive training

Motivation-enhancing

aims to enhance employee motivation; competitive compensation, promotion, development, security

Opportunity-enhancing

aims to empower employees to use their skills & motivation; flexible job design, work teams, information sharing

Strategy

set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance relative to competitors

Strategic HRM

pattern of planned HR deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals

Horizontal fit

synergy or complementarity among HR practices; consistency in the bundles of HR practices

Vertical fit

HRM practices designed in a way that enhances the human capital and role behaviors to the organizational goals/strategy

HRM audit

formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions, based on identifying key HRM functions & measures of business performance

HR Dashboard

display of a series of HR measures, showing the measure and progress toward meeting it

E-HRM

providing HR-related information over the Internet

Learning organization

supports lifelong learning by enabling employees to acquire and share knowledge

HR analytics

measuring the program’s success in terms of whether it achieved objectives and delivered value in an economic sense

Key features of a learning organization

continuous learning, shared, critical & systematic thinking, & learning culture