Two Discussion Questions, Respond To Classmates

 Please see attached file for instructions and Figures from book.

Weekly Lecture:

HR adds value to an organization by being an active participant in helping establish the strategic goals, crafting a viable mission statement and aligning its activities with the vision of the organization.  Additionally, HR can assist in establishing core values to ensure employees understand the organizational expectation of how to uphold themselves in the workplace.   Evaluating employees or performance management is one of the essential functions of HR.  Performance Management is the continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning their performance with the organizations goals (Dressler, 2013).  Another goal of performance management is to promote and improve employee effectiveness.  It is a continuous process where managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives or goals and his or her overall contribution to the organization.  Organizations need a performance evaluation process that manages performance which is in direct correlation to the overall organizational mission, vision and values.  Though this feedback should be provided in a formalized process, it should also be provided on a consistent basis and documented accordingly throughout the year.  This can take place during informal meetings and conversations with a supervisor and can be both positive or negative.  Furthermore, the performance evaluation plan needs to provide equitable rewards to employees with a good evaluation. Providing a reward system will also hold employees accountable for completing their job duties and responsibilities well.  Overall, an HR performance management plan should support and further the larger organizational goals.

Organizational change is another element utilizing the knowledge and skill of the Human Resources professional. Along with organizational change comes training and development of employees. Organizations that change and do not allow for further development of employees, will not be competitive.  Therefore, with organizational change should come organization and employee improvement.  Training and development provides a means for organizations to invest in their employees by increasing their skills and knowledge. An argument against training and development is that it takes an employee away from their current work responsibilities which can cost the organization time and money. However, this short-term issue is outweighed heavily by the overall benefits that training and development provide to the employee as well as the organization. For example, training and development will provide an improved skill and knowledge base to provide the employee the ability to perform their job better than before. It can also build employee confidence.  Confidence alone can increase employee performance and satisfaction. Lastly, training and development can provide the employee the means to grow within the organization.  Organizations need to remember that employees learn at different paces and should act accordingly during the training process.   

Overall, performance evaluation processes as well as training and development are key components to the employees and the organizations success.  Organizations need to have appropriate procedures in place to have a fair evaluation process as well as opportunities for training and development.

Please watch Performance Management (Links to an external site.), which will provide an overview on performance management.

References

Dessler, G. (2013). A Framework for Human Resource Management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Gregg Learning. (2016). Performance Management. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/UmKa4OVKT8I.