High-performance work system
Another approach to organisational change that notes the integration between organ¬isational strategy and the HRM system is the high-performance work system. As noted in earlier chapters, there is no one clear definition of this perspective. It is founded upon a resource-based view, is related to best practice, and has considerable overlap with the practices of high commitment management’31 and high commitment practices’32 The high-performance work system is a general description of an integrated set of system¬wide practices to achieve organisation-wide goals. Some of the main features are:
• flatter organisation structures, with wide spans of control encouraging autonomy, empowerment and delegation of responsibility to individuals and teams
• job design involving multiskilling, the optimising of the technical system, work pro¬cesses that encourage maximum interaction and flexibility among team members, and employee participation in planning changes in work equipment or design
• wide scale use of semi-autonomous or self-managed teams, with the objective of improving quality and competitiveness
• comprehensive employee recruitment and selection procedures
• extensive use of ongoing training and development
• employee participation in selection processes
• performance management systems
• skill-based or knowledge-based rewards systems, with pay for performance and profit- or gain-sharing systems linked to organisational goals.33
Regardless of the HRM paradigm adopted, the intention of a change initiative is to influence the performance of individuals in some way — that is, to alter the way organ¬isational members think, behave, interact, communicate, make decisions, reward, monitor, praise and coach’ so that these are consistent with the new strategic direc¬tions Supporting this intention are the HRM strategies designed to deliver it. So before we start our examination of how HRM strategies, policies and practices can help to translate the organisation’s vision into behaviours that deliver desired changes in the workplace, it is important to explore who carries the responsibility for the various aspects of employing human resource management as change levers at various levels in the organisation.
HRM roles
Much of the HR functions role in organisational change is in creating alignment, by developing HR strategies, policies and practices that support the process by which the organisation adapts to its environment and meets its objectives. However, the practice of human resource management is no longer ‘owned’ by the human resource function nor should it be. Increasingly, as HRM takes on a more strategic focus and central place in organisational change, accountability for adding value through people is being devolved throughout the organisation. This has required a redefinition and sharing of the HRM roles and activities by employees, line managers, senior executives and human resource professionals — by helping to plan for, design and implement initiatives that communicate, select, teach, coach, measure and reward the behaviour that is expected, and makes a major contribution to guiding the organisation and its members into a new shape and new ways of behaving.35
A number of writers have attempted to classify the various HRM roles and activities, and argue for a new set of HR competencies.36 Ulrich suggests that there are four key human resource roles and competency sets that add value in an increasingly complex environment. These four roles are described as strategic partner, administrative expert, employee champion, and change agent.37 The human resource roles pro¬posed by Ulrich also have significant overlap with those proposed by Dunphy and Stace'38 which require competency in human resource strategy, systems, line accountability and change consultancy, further research found evidence of two additional competency domains — culture management and personal credibility - and argues strongly for one other — strategic performance management.39 In recent research, using the resourcebased perspective, Lengnick - Hall and Lengnick Hall state that HR needs to move away from its traditional operational and bureaucratic focus towards the strategic imperatives of building capability, expanding boundaries and managing new roles. They propose four roles that are appropriate for HR management in the knowledge economy: (1) human capital steward, (2) knowledge facilitator, (3) relationship builder, and (4) rapid deployment specialist.401 While none of these categories is discrete (for example, significant overlap exists between the strategic and the change activities),
Inch s roles provide useful frameworks, because the responsibility for HRM and various aspects of change management at both a strategic and operational level is embedded across these roles, and employees, line management, human resource pro¬fessionals and senior management have involvement in various aspects.