HRM Policy and Practice

 HRM POLICY & PRACTICE

It may be tempting to put off the task of writing up your official HR policies and procedures, especially if you manage a startup or a small business. You may have other, more pressing things to take care of – or maybe you just have a small team and want to keep things friendly and informal. But while trust between the employer and the employees is important, not having clear and transparent guidelines is guaranteed to eventually lead to misunderstandings. Don't wait for issues to arise to formalize your policies. Set out clear ground rules for your employees, protect your rights as the employer, and ensure your team stays on the same page.

Introduction

HR policies are continuing guidelines on how people should be managed in the organization. They defi ne the philosophies and values of the organization on how people should be treated, and from these are derived the principles upon which managers are expected to act when dealing with HR matters. A procedure spells out precisely what steps should be taken to deal with major employment issues such as grievances, discipline, capability and redundancy. 

Why have HR policies

 HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled. The aim is to ensure that any HR issues are dealt with consistently in accordance with the values of the organization in line with certain defined principles. All organizations have HR policies. Some, however, exist implicitly as a philosophy of management and an attitude to employees that is expressed in the way in which HR issues are handled; for example, the introduction of new technology. The advantage of explicit policies in terms of consistency and understanding may appear to be obvious, but there are disadvantages: written policies can be inflexible, constrictive, platitudinous, or all three. To a degree, policies have often to be expressed in abstract terms and managers do not care for abstractions. But they do want to know where they stand – people like structure – and formalized HR policies can provide the guidelines they need. Formalized HR policies can be used in induction, team leader and management training to help participants understand the philosophies and values of the organization and how they are expected to behave within that context. They are a means for defining the employment relationship and the psychological contract. 

Overall HR policy 

The overall HR policy defines how the organization fulfils its social responsibilities to its employees and sets out its attitudes towards them. It is an expression of its values or beliefs about how people should be treated. Peters and Waterman (1982) wrote that if they were asked for one all-purpose bit of advice for management, one truth that they could distil from all their research on what makes an organization excellent, it would be: ‘Figure out your value system. Decide what the organization stands for.’ HR Policies 989 Selznick (1957) emphasized the key role of values in organizations when he wrote: ‘The formation of an institution is marked by the making of value commitments, that is, choices which fi x the assumptions of policy makers as to the nature of the enterprise, its distinctive aims, methods and roles





Values expressed in overall HR policy 

Equity – treating employees fairly and justly by adopting an ‘even-handed’ approach. This includes protecting individuals from any unfair decisions made by their managers, providing equal opportunities for employment and promotion, and operating an equitable payment system.

 • Consideration – taking account of individual circumstances when making decisions that affect the prospects, security or self-respect of employees. 

Organizational learning – a belief in the need to promote the learning and development of all the members of the organization by providing the processes and support required. 

Performance through people – the importance attached to developing a performance culture and to continuous improvement; the significance of performance management as a means of defining and agreeing mutual expectations; the provision of fair feedback to people on how well they are performing. 

Quality of working life – consciously and continually aiming to improve the quality of working life. This involves increasing the sense of satisfaction people obtain from their work by, so far as possible, reducing monotony, increasing variety, autonomy and responsibility, avoiding placing people under too much stress and providing for an acceptable balance between work and life outside work. 

Working conditions – providing healthy, safe and, so far as practicable, pleasant working conditions. 

It may be difficult to express these policies in anything but generalized terms, but employers are increasingly having to recognize that they are subject to external as well as internal pressures that act as constraints on the extent to which they can disregard the higher standards of behavior towards their employees that are expected of them.





Specific HR policies 

The most common areas in which specific HR policies exist are age and employment, AIDS, bullying, discipline, e-mails and the internet, employee development, employee relations, employee voice, employment, equal opportunity, grievances, health and safety, managing diversity, promotion, redundancy, reward, sexual harassment, substance abuse and work–life balance.

Formulating HR policies

 HR policies need to address the key HR issues that have been identified in the organization. They must also take account of external influences such as legislation. The maximum amount of consultation should take place with managers, employees and their representatives and the policies should be communicated widely with guidelines on their application. The following steps should be taken when formulating HR policies. Formulating HR policies 

1. Gain understanding of the corporate culture and its shared values. 

2. Analyze existing policies – written and unwritten. HR policies will exist in any organization, even if they are implicit rather than expressed formally. 

3. Analyze external influences. HR policies are subject to the influence of UK employment legislation, EC employment regulations, and the official Codes of Practice issued by bodies in the UK, such as ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), the EOC (Equal Opportunities Commission), the CRR (Commission on Racial Relations) and the HSE (Health and Safety Executive). The Codes of Practice issued by relevant professional institutions, such as the CIPD, should also be consulted.

 4. Assess any areas where new policies are needed or existing policies are inadequate. 

5. Check with managers, preferably starting at the top, on their views about HR policies and where they think they could be improved. 

6. Seek the views of employees about the HR policies, especially the extent to which they are inherently fair and equitable and are implemented fairly and consistently. Consider doing this through an attitude survey. 

7. Seek the views of union representatives. 

8. Analyze the information obtained in the first seven steps and prepare draft policies.  

9. Consult, discuss and agree policies with management and union representatives. 

10. Communicate the policies with guidance notes on their implementation as required (although they should be as self-explanatory as possible). Supplement this communication with training .




What are HR procedures

HR procedures set out the ways in which certain actions concerning people should be carried out by the management or individual managers. In effect they constitute a formalized approach to dealing with specific matters of policy and practice. These describe the approach the organization adopts to various aspects of people management and define key aspects of the employment relationship. They serve as guidelines on people management practices but do not necessarily lay down precisely the steps that should be taken in particular situations. Procedures are more exacting: they state what must be done as well as spelling out how to do it .
It is desirable to have the key HR procedures written down to ensure that HR policies are applied consistently and in accordance with both legal requirements and ethical considerations. The existence of a written and well publicized procedure ensures that everyone knows precisely what steps need to be taken when dealing with certain significant and possibly recurring employment issues.

Capability procedure 

Some organizations deal with matters of capability under a disciplinary procedure, but there is a good case to be made for dealing with poor performance issues separately, leaving the disciplinary procedure to be invoked for situations such as poor timekeeping. An example of a capability procedure is given below.

Policy 

The company aims are to ensure that performance expectations and standards are defined, performance is monitored and employees are given appropriate feedback, training and support to meet these standards.

Capability Procedure 

1. If a manager/team leader believes that an employee’s performance is not up to standard an informal discussion will be held with the employee to try to establish the reason and to agree the actions required to improve performance by the employee and/or the manager/team leader. 

2. Should the employee show no (or insufficient) improvement over a defined period
(weeks/months), a formal interview will be arranged between the employee (together
with a representative if so desired). 

3. The outcome of this interview will be recorded in writing and a copy will be given to the employee.

4. At the end of the review period a further formal interview will be held, at which time:

5. Employees may appeal against their dismissal. The appeal must be made within three working days.

  • Disciplinary procedure  - A disciplinary procedure sets out the stages through which any disciplinary action should proceed.
  • Grievance procedure -  A grievance procedure spells out the policy on handling grievances and the approach to dealing with them.
  • Redundancy procedure  - A redundancy procedure aims to meet statutory, ethical and practical considerations when dealing with this painful process.



HR Information system (HRIS )

An HR information system (HRIS) is a computer-based information system for managing the administration of HR processes and procedures. Tannenbaum (1990) defined an HRIS as any system that helps an organization to ‘acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve and distribute information about an organization’s human resources’. Kettley and Reilly (2003) defined an HRIS as ‘a fully integrated, organization-wide network of HR-related data, information, services, tools and transactions’.

Reasons for introducing an HRIS

The CIPD (2007d) survey established that the top 10 reasons for introducing an HRIS were: 
 1. To improve quality of information available. 
 2. To reduce administrative burden on the HR department. 
 3. To improve speed at which information is available. 
 4. To improve flexibility of information to support business planning. 
 5. To improve services to employees. 
 6. To produce HR metrics. 
 7. To aid human capital reporting. 
 8. To improve productivity. 
 9. To reduce operational costs. 
10. To manage people’s working time more effectively.


The functions that an HRIS can perform

  • absence recording and management;
  • employee surveys
  • e-learning; 
  • expenses; 
  • job evaluation; 
  • intranet; manager and employee self service; 
  • online recruitment; 
  • payroll administration; 
  • pensions and benefits administration;
  • total reward statements; 
  • employee records; 
  • employee turnover analysis; 
  • equal opportunity modelling;  
  • HR planning and forecasting; 
  • knowledge management; 
  • manage diversity; 
  • metrics and human capital reporting; 
  • online performance management systems and 360-degree feedback; 
  • pay reviews; 
  • reward modelling.



Features of an HRIS 

The features of particular interest in an HRIS system are the use of software, integration with other IT systems in the organization, use of the intranet and provisions for self-service.

Use of software

 It is customary to buy software from an external supplier. There is a choice between buying a ‘vanilla system’ (lean ‘off-the-shelf’ system without any upgrades) or customize the supplier’s system to meet specified business requirements. Extensive customization can make future upgrades problematic and expensive, so it is important to limit it to what is absolutely necessary.

Integration 

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate all data and processes of an organization into a unified system with the same database. HR systems are not frequently integrated to this extent, although they often link payroll administration with other HR functions. As the CIPD (2005b) pointed out, integration of the HR system with IT systems in the wider organization so that they can ‘talk to one another’ will aid human capital reporting, comply with supply chain partner requirements, improve profitability, reduce headcount and deliver against economic criteria. However, many HR functions retain stand-alone systems, because they believe integration would compromise their own system, potential lack of confidentiality and the cost and perceived risks involved.

Intranet 

An intranet system is one where computer terminals are linked so that they can share information within an organization or within part of an organization. The scope of the information that can be shared across terminals can be limited to preserve confidentiality and this security can be enhanced by using passwords. HR intranet systems can be used for purposes such as updating personal details, applications for internal jobs online, requests for training, access to e-learning, administration of queries and communication .

Self-service 

A human resource self-service system (HRSS) allows managers and employees access to information and the facility to interact with the system to input information or make choices of their own. This can operate through an HR portal (a site that functions as a point of access to information on the intranet) that may be specially designed to produce a brand image of the HR function. This is sometimes referred to as a business to employees (B2E) portal.

conclusion

Workers respond best – and most creatively – not when they are tightly controlled by management, placed in narrowly defined jobs and treated as an unwelcome necessity, but, instead, when they are given broader responsibilities, encouraged to contribute and helped to take satisfaction in their work. It should come as no surprise that eliciting commitment – and providing the environment in which it can flourish – pays tangible dividends for the individual and for the company.

From control to commitment – Walton (1985: 77)

References

Kandola, R and Fullerton, J (1994) Managing the Mosaic: Diversity in action, Institute of Personnel and Development, London.

Mulholland, G, Özbilgin, M and Worman, D (2005) Managing Diversity: Linking theory and practice to business performance, CIPD, London 

Peters, T and Waterman, R (1982) In Search of Excellence, Harper & Row, New York 

Purcell, J, Kinnie, K, Hutchinson, S, Rayton, B and Swart, J (2003) People and Performance: How people management impacts on organisational performance, CIPD, London

 Selznick, P (1957) Leadership and Administration, Row, Evanston, Ill

CIPD (2005b) People Management and Technology: Progress and potential, CIPD, London 

CIPD (2007d) HR and Technology: Impact and advantages, CIPD, London 

Kettley, P and Reilly, P (2003) e-HR: An introduction, Report No 398, Institute of Employment Studies, Brighton 

Tannenbaum, S (1990) HRIS: user group implications, Journal of Systems Management, 41 (1), pp 27–32

Comments

  1. HR policies are designed to establish fair and consistent treatment of employees within an organization, but whether or not they are implemented without bias depends on various factors such as the culture of the organization, effectiveness of the HR department, and leadership commitment to creating a fair and inclusive workplace. Bias can exist in recruitment, promotion, compensation and benefits policies, and organizations need to regularly review and update their policies to identify and address potential areas of bias. This requires ongoing training and education for HR staff and managers and a willingness to listen to employee feedback and make necessary changes.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Manoj . You are correct . Human resources policies are guidelines for hiring, work processes, compensation, leave, training, promotion, work environments, termination and other important functions. HR policies also outline how an organization will treat its people and property. The employee performance. For example, if employees are satisfied from their organization, he or she performs well. Due to globalization business faces many challenges; different challenges can be defeated by HRM policies because HRM policies increase the satisfaction level of employees. Some reasons human resource policies are essential insofar as they: Help ensure employees get fair compensation. Outline acceptable standards of behavior in the workplace. Protect the needs and interests of employees.

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  2. This blog article provides a comprehensive overview of HRM policy and practice, highlighting its importance in creating a positive and productive work environment. The author does a good job of explaining the key elements of HRM policy, including recruitment, training and development, performance management, and compensation and benefits. The article also discusses the role of HR professionals in implementing HRM policy and practice and offers practical tips for ensuring its success. While the article could benefit from more in-depth analysis and examples, it is informative and useful for individuals looking to gain a better understanding of HRM policy and practice.

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    1. Thank you for your comment chamindu . The employee performance. For example, if employees are satisfied from their organization, he or she performs well. Due to globalization business faces many challenges; different challenges can be defeated by HRM policies because HRM policies increase the satisfaction level of employees.

      Delete
  3. Good article Nilushi. HR policies play a critical role in guiding how organisations manage their employees and ensure consistency and fairness in HR practices. By formulating HR policies that align with the organisation's values, culture, and external influences, organisations can create a positive work environment, promote employee engagement, and comply with applicable laws and regulations. Regular review and update of HR policies are essential to ensure their continued effectiveness and relevance in addressing HR issues in the organisation.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Lasni . HR processes refer to the fundamental strategies necessary to support the employee lifecycle and a positive employee experience. Each HR process follows an intricate pathway that demands strategic planning according to specific parameters and objectives . The Harvard Analytical Framework for HRM policy choices are: HR flow, reward systems, employee influence and work systems (Beer et al. 1984). These HRM policy choices result in desirable HR outcomes for organizations, such as retention and job satisfaction.

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  5. Hi interesting information, policies will provide confidence in the system.. HR policies offer managers and staff with written instructions on how to address a variety of employment-related concerns. They are crucial to the efficient and practical implementation of an organization's HR strategy. They also serve to strengthen the psychological contract and foster a positive organizational culture by providing consistency and openness for managers and employees.

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    1. Thank you for your comments Barathi . HR policies are a written source of guidance on how a wide range of issues should be handled within an organization. They include a description of principles, rights and responsibilities for managers and employees. In green HR, HRM policies are used to stimulate and support the sustainable use of resources and preserve the natural environment. Green HR focuses on the development, implementation and maintenance of all activities aimed at making staff members supportive and committed to sustainable goals.

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  7. Thank you for sharing this informative post on HRM policy and practice. As a non-HR professional, I found the insights you provided to be valuable and thought-provoking. It's interesting to learn about the various HR policies and practices that companies implement to ensure employee satisfaction and well-being (Lee et al., 2019). Studies have shown that employee satisfaction can contribute positively to organizational success and performance (Wright & Cropanzano, 2017). Your blog emphasizes the importance of these policies and practices, and I appreciate your efforts to promote employee well-being. I look forward to reading more posts from your blog in the future.

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    1. Thank you for your thoughts Praveen . HR management helps bridge the gap between employees' performance and the organization's strategic objectives. Moreover, an efficient HR management team can give firms an edge over their competition. Recruitment: One of the major responsibilities of a HR manager is to recruit personnel. HRM can be defined as the policies and practices required to perform the routines of human resources in an organization, such as employee staffing, staff development, performance management, compensation management, and encouraging employee involvement in decision making.

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  8. Hi Nilushi, I appreciate you for sharing a post with valuable insights on HRM policies and practices. The blog discusses HR policies and their importance in organizations. HR policies provide guidelines on how to handle HR issues consistently in accordance with the organization's values and principles. The overall HR policy defines the organization's values towards its employees, including equity, consideration, organizational learning, performance through people, quality of working life, and working conditions. Specific HR policies cover areas such as age and employment, bullying, employee development, equal opportunity, grievances, health and safety, managing diversity, promotion, redundancy, reward, sexual harassment, substance abuse, and work-life balance. Formulating HR policies involves analyzing the corporate culture, existing policies, external influences, identifying areas for improvement, seeking input from managers and employees, and communicating the policies widely.

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    1. Thank you for your information Hadhil , Human resource management practices can improve organizational performance through: Developing a psychological contract; Increasing motivation and commitment; Increasing employee skills and extending the skills base; Providing employees with extended responsibilities so that they can make full use of their skills . It helps create a more conducive work environment. Promotes Employee Development: It helps the employees in order to develop them in a full-fledged way. Ensures harmony between organizational goals and personal goals of employees: It makes sure that the employees work hard towards their goals.

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  9. Hi Nilushi really useful article that can use for HR professional beginners. HR has unique skills to guide people organization through implementing new change processes. They can also show their expertise in education and educating people through workshops, and creating practical exercises. Because practice only makes them perfect.

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    1. Very agree with your comment Gayan . HR policies are a written source of guidance on how a wide range of issues should be handled within an organization. They include a description of principles, rights and responsibilities for managers and employees. So practice only make them perfect .

      Delete
  10. The article emphasizes the importance of having clear and formal HR policies and procedures in place, even for small businesses and startups, to avoid misunderstandings and ensure consistency in handling HR issues. HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled and define the philosophies and values of the organization. The article suggests that HR policies should be formulated after gaining an understanding of the corporate culture and its shared values, analyzing existing policies, and taking into account external influences such as legislation. The article also provides examples of values that can be expressed in HR policies, such as equity, consideration, organizational learning, performance through people, quality of working life, and working conditions, as well as specific HR policies that can be developed in areas such as equal opportunity, discipline, grievances, and work-life balance.

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    1. Thank you for the comments Hansika . HR policies are a written source of guidance on how a wide range of issues should be handled within an organization. They include a description of principles, rights and responsibilities for managers and employees. Some reasons human resource policies are essential insofar as they: Help ensure employees get fair compensation. Outline acceptable standards of behavior in the workplace. Protect the needs and interests of employees.

      Delete

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