My company is SHRM the last 3 slides are the companies h history. The phase instructions are at the beginning let me know if you have questions or concerns. I want 8 pages complete
Unit III Annotated Bibliography
make sure its your own work and watch out for spelling errors and grammar errors. Please read the Chapter review.
Book Reference: Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Balkin, D. B., & Cardy, R. L. (2016). Managing human resources (8th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133953718
Instructions
In Unit IV, you will write and submit a research paper that focuses on the following elements:
- the role that human resources has in upholding legal responsibilities of an organization,
- current equal employment opportunity laws,
- differentiation between management of diversity and affirmative action, and
- challenges in managing a diverse work team and examples of how the management of a diverse team can be improved.
In preparation for your research paper (due in Unit IV), you will conduct research and locate four articles to support your paper. Using the CSU Online Library, locate at least four peer-reviewed journal articles, one that supports each of the points listed above.
Submit a two- to three-page annotated bibliography of the four articles you will be using to support your research. Include an explanation of why the sources were selected and how they are of value to the topic. Use APA style for your annotated bibliography.
Resources
The following resource(s) may help you with this assignment.
Chapter 4
Managing Diversity(Please Read)
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
One of the greatest challenges facing organizations today is managing workforce diversity in a way that both respects the employees’ unique attitudes and promotes a shared sense of corporate identity. This chapter explores the issues that are intrinsic to diversity management. In the United States, as abroad, the design and implementation of HR programs cannot ignore the diverse nature of the workforce. Thus, by the end of this chapter the reader should have a better grasp of diversity issues and how to handle them successfully.
What Is Diversity?
Diversity simply refers to human characteristics that make people different. The sources of individual variations are complex, but they can generally be grouped into two categories: those over which individuals have little or no control and those over which individuals have more control. Unless effectively managed, diversity among employees may have a negative impact on productive teamwork. Affirmative action is not diversity management. Affirmative action emerged from government pressure on business to provide greater opportunities for women and minorities. Managing diversity is an outgrowth of natural or environmental trends such as demographic changes and international competition. Moreover, diversity is considered an asset in terms of improving organizational functioning and reflecting the customer market.
A. Why Manage Employee Diversity?
It is a potential source of competitive advantage.
B. Affirmative Action versus Managing Employee Diversity
There is a growing awareness that a key factor in corporate performance is how well nontraditional employees can be fully integrated and work effectively with one another.
C. Demographic Trends
The face of the workforce is changing rapidly and soon the majority groups will be minorities.
1. Diversity as an asset. Firms must begin to see diversity as an asset. Diversity can improve organizational functioning by stimulating greater creativity, better problem solving, and greater system flexibility, which allows for a broader scope of information and set of skills that may be applied to a variety of situations.
2. Marketing concerns. Most successful firms realize that effective management of diversity can lead to better marketing strategies for a global population.
D. Diversity as Part of a Corporate Strategy
Many companies incorporate diversity into their corporate strategy instead of just a set of HR practices. Larger companies create a position called chief diversity officer to manage diversity.
II. Challenges in Managing Employee Diversity
Diversity offers opportunities as well as challenges. The challenges include appropriately valuing diversity, balancing individual needs and group fairness, dealing with resistance to change, ensuring group cohesiveness and open communication, avoiding employee resentment, keeping the focus on performance, retaining valued performers, and maximizing opportunity for all employees.
A. Diversity versus Inclusiveness
Inclusiveness is replacing the term diversity because it is more focused on bringing people together as opposed to just a set of programs related to diversity.
B. Individual versus Group Fairness
It can be a struggle for organizations to balance the needs of individual employees while maintaining fairness for all of the employees.
C. Resistance to Change
Although diversity is becoming a necessity for organizations, individuals may experience initial resistance to change, which can create roadblocks for diverse groups.
D. Group Cohesiveness and Interpersonal Conflict
As organizations become more diverse they experience more creativity and better problem-solving ability but they may also experience more conflict, as differing opinions can create interpersonal friction.
E. Segmented Communication Networks
Segmented communication channels create three major problems: the organization cannot capitalize on the perspectives of diverse employees if they remain confined to their own groups, it is difficult to establish common ground across various groups, and women and minorities often miss opportunities for not being part of the mainstream communication network.
F. Resentment
Forced change often leads to resentment as opposed to acceptance.
G. Retention
Lower job satisfaction caused by the glass ceiling among minorities can lead to higher resignation rates and a loss of valuable talent for the organization.
H. Competition for Opportunities
As minority numbers continue to grow, the competition for jobs and opportunities becomes much stronger, which can result in rising tensions among minorities vying for the same positions.
III. Diversity in Organizations
Diversity, such as race, ethnicity, and gender, tends to have a major impact on how people relate to one another. In this section, groups that are most likely to be “left out” of the corporate mainstream are described and discussed. Not all persons within these groups are “left out” and one individual may belong to several of these groups, thus limiting group-based descriptions.
A. African Americans
African Americans face two potential problems in firms. The first is explicit, intentional racism and the second is less educational preparation than whites; but there is new information suggesting these trends are changing.
B. Asian Americans
Although Asian Americans are well represented in the technical field and higher education institutions, they are underrepresented in top corporate positions.
C. People with Disabilities
People with disabilities face four major problems at work: social acceptance, being seen as less capable, organizations fearing to put them in positions with responsibility, and an overestimation of the cost of accommodating individuals with disabilities.
D. The Foreign Born
Although Americans tend to view immigration as a problem only in the United States, it is a global issue, with 200 million people working outside the country they were born in.
E. Homosexuals
Being gay is not considered a protected class and only a few states have anti-discrimination laws.
F. Latinos (Hispanic Americans)
Latinos face a number of concerns in the U.S. workplace, and they include language barriers, cultural clashes, and racial discrimination.
G. Older Workers
Starting around age 40, but increasing after age 50, employees encounter a number of barriers that may block career advancement.
H. Religious Minorities
In some cases religious differences can lead to tension among employees, particularly if members of one religious group feel they are being treated unfairly. Organizations must learn how to navigate this touchy subject.
I. Women
Women encounter a number of different issues that may account for wage differentials and lack of upward mobility. They include biological constraints and social roles, a male-dominated corporate culture, exclusionary networks, and sexual harassment.
IV. Improving the Management of Diversity
Organizations that have made the greatest strides in successfully managing diversity tend to share a number of characteristics. These are a commitment from top management to valuing diversity, diversity training programs, employee support groups, accommodation of family needs, senior mentoring and apprenticeship programs, communication standards, organized special activities, diversity audits, and a company policy holding managers accountable for diversity management success.
A. Creating an Inclusive Organizational Culture
The shared values, beliefs, expectations, and norms prevalent in organizations are likely to have a major influence on the effectiveness of human resource management policies, and the management of employee diversity is particularly sensitive to this culture.
B. Top-Management Commitment to Valuing Diversity
It is unlikely that division managers, middle managers, supervisors, and others in positions of authority will become champions of diversity unless they believe that the chief executive officer and those reporting to the CEO are totally committed to valuing diversity.
C. Appraising and Rewarding Managers for Good Diversity Practices
Many companies now explicitly provide or withdraw incentives to managers depending on how well they fare on diversity incentives.
D. Diversity Training Programs
Supervisors need to learn new skills that will enable them to manage and motivate a diverse workforce.
E. Support Groups
Some employees perceive corporate life as insensitive to their culture and background, perhaps downright hostile. To counteract these feelings, some companies are including support groups.
F. Accommodation of Family Needs
Firms can dramatically cut the turnover rate of their female employees if they are willing to help them handle a family and career simultaneously.
G. Senior Mentoring Programs
Some companies encourage senior managers to identify promising women and minority employees and play an important role in nurturing their career progress.
H. Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are similar to mentor programs, except that promising prospective employees are groomed before they are actually hired on a permanent basis.
I. Communication Standards
Certain styles of communicating may be offensive to women and minority employees. To avoid these problems, organizations should set communication standards that take into account the sensitivities of a diverse employee population.
J. Diversity Audits
Often the root of an employee diversity problem is not immediately evident. In these instances, a diversity audit may be necessary to uncover possible sources of bias.
K. Management Responsibility and Accountability
Management of diversity will not be a high priority and a formal business objective unless managers and supervisors are held accountable for implementing diversity management and rewarded for doing so successfully.
V. Some Warnings
Two potential pitfalls must be avoided if diversity management programs are to be successful. These are avoiding the appearance of “white male bashing” and avoiding the promotion of stereotypes. At the very least, management should continually emphasize the positive aspects of capitalizing on employee diversity by framing it as something that must be done to gain a competitive advantage and that it is in the best interest of all employees. Also, managers must realize that they cannot draw conclusions about a particular person based simply on his or her group characteristics. Differences between individuals within a given group are almost always greater than the typical differences between two groups.
A. Avoiding the Appearance of “White Male Bashing”
Organizations should continually emphasize the positive aspects of capitalizing on diversity by framing it as something that (1) must be done to gain a competitive advantage and (2) is in the best interest of all employees.
B. Avoiding the Promotion of Stereotypes
A potential danger in diversity programs is the inadvertent reinforcement of stereotypes and the belief that one can infer characteristics about an individual based on group memberships. Training and other diversity initiatives should promote inclusiveness as a way to unite people rather than see them as members of a particular group.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter examines the aspects of HR law and regulations. The goal is to identify and discuss the laws themselves and how best to comply with them and do what is best for the organization. The chapter unveils why understanding the legal environment is important and the context in which HR regulation occurs. The chapter further explores the challenges to legal compliance. It ends with ways for the effective manager to avoid the pitfalls in the equal employment opportunity (EEO) legal environment.
Why Understanding the Legal Environment Is Important
Understanding and complying with HR law is important for three reasons. It helps the company to do the right thing, it helps to realize the limitations of the HR and legal departments, and it limits potential liability.
A. Doing the Right Thing
Compliance with the law is the right thing to do. The primary requirement of these laws is to mandate good management practice. Operating within these laws has benefits beyond simple legal compliance. Discriminatory practices not only create potential legal liability, but also lead to poor employee morale and low job satisfaction, which can lead to poor job performance.
B. Realizing the Limitations of the HR and Legal Departments
If managers make poor decisions, the HR department will not always be able to resolve the situation. Nor can a firm’s legal department solve problems created by managers. The function of the legal department is to try to limit damage after it has already occurred.
C. Limiting Potential Liability
Considerable financial liabilities can occur when HR laws are broken or perceived to be broken.
II. Challenges to Legal Compliance
A dynamic legal landscape, complex laws, conflicting strategies for fair employment, and unintended consequences are among the challenges confronting managers attempting to comply with HR law.
A. A Dynamic Legal Landscape
In addition to the many HR-related laws that have been passed, there have been a myriad of opinions handed down in court cases that have affected the HR legal environment. The legal landscape is changing quickly.
B. The Complexity of Laws
Each individual law is accompanied by a set of regulations that can be quite lengthy. Nonetheless, the gist of most HR law is fairly straightforward. Managers should be able to understand the basic intention of all such laws without too much difficulty.
III. Conflicting Strategies for Fair Employment
Society at large, political representatives, government employees, and judges all have different views regarding the best ways to achieve equitable HR laws. The goal of EEO legislation and government is fair employment. Two main strategies of achieving fair employment are discussed: “blind” hiring practices and affirmative action.
A. Unintended Consequences
It is very common for a law, government program, or an organizational policy to have numerous unanticipated consequences, some of which turn out to be quite negative. The challenge to managers is to anticipate and deal with both the intended and unintended consequences of law.
IV. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
The laws affecting HRM can be divided into two broad categories: equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws and other laws. The major EEO laws cut across nearly every aspect of managing human resources. They include the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The other laws tend to be more specifically focused. They include laws governing union activities, safety and health, and so on.
A. The Equal Pay Act of 1963
This law requires the same pay for men and women who do the same job in the same organization. The law specifies that jobs are the same if equal in four areas: effort, skill, responsibilities, and working conditions.
B. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
1. General Provisions: This mandates that the employment decision not be based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The idea of a protected class was introduced in this legislation.
2. Discrimination Defined: There are two types of discrimination, disparate treatment and adverse impact (also known as disparate impact). Disparate treatment occurs when individuals are treated differently because of their membership in a protected class. Adverse impact occurs when the equal application of an employment standard has an unequal effect on a protected class. Two important court cases are discussed: Griggs vs. Duke Power and Albemarle Paper Company vs. Moody.
C. Defense of Discrimination Charges
The McDonnell-Douglas test and the four-fifths rule are techniques used to establish that discrimination may have occurred. There are several well-established defenses organizations can use to protect themselves from charges of discrimination. The following defenses are discussed: job relatedness, bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ), seniority, and business necessity.
D. Title VII and Pregnancy
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires employers to treat an employee who is pregnant the same way as any other employee who has a medical condition.
E. Sexual Harassment
The types of sexual harassment are quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment. Failure on the organization’s part to investigate a sexual harassment complaint can result in employer liability if the case goes to court. The consequences of this can be very costly to the company.
F. The Civil Rights Act of 1991
Congress believed that the Supreme Court was beginning to convolute the original purpose of the CRA of 1964. In response to this Congress passed a set of amendments to reaffirm and protect the rights of individuals in protected classes. Some of the most important aspects of the new legislation included a clearer definition of who bears the burden of proof, making quotas illegal, and allowing plaintiffs to sue for compensatory and punitive damages.
G. Executive Order 11246
Issued by President Johnson, it prohibits discrimination against the same categories established by Title VII but goes beyond Title VII by requiring all government agencies and organizations with contracts of $50,000 or more with the federal government to create affirmative action plans to promote employment diversity.
H. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
This prohibits discrimination against people who are 40 or older. The large majority of ADEA complaints are filed by employees who have been terminated.
I. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The ADA has three major sections. Title I contains the employment provisions. Titles II and III concern the operation of state and local governments and places of public accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores. ADA applies to all employers with 15 or more employees and prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. This definition and its parts are broken down into greater detail.
- Individual with disabilities are people who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially affects one or more major life activities such as walking or speaking.
- Essential functions are job duties that every employee must do or must be able to do to be an effective employee. Marginal functions are job duties that are required of only some employees or that are not critical to job performance.
- Reasonable accommodation is an action taken to allow disabled employees to work for the employer.
J. The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973
This is a precursor to the ADA of 1990 but it only applied to federal contractors. It required them to have an affirmative action plan.
K. The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1974
Federal contractors are prohibited from discriminating against Vietnam-era veterans and must create an affirmative action plan to promote employment decisions regarding this protected class.
V. EEO Enforcement and Compliance
The executive branch of the government is responsible for the enforcement of EEO Laws.
A. Regulatory Agencies
In order to accomplish this, the executive branch establishes regulatory agencies. Such agencies enforce EEO and other laws, attempt to resolve complaints, issue regulatory guidelines, and require organizations of 100 or more employees to file reports (EEO-1).
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has three major functions. The first is to investigate claims. If the claims are found valid the second function of the EEOC is to negotiate among the parties to reach a settlement that avoids a trial. This is called conciliation. The third purpose is to litigate on the behalf of the wronged individual if conciliation is not possible.
- The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is responsible for monitoring compliance with laws and executive orders that apply to the federal government and its contractors. Many of the regulations written by the OFCCP are very similar to those issued by the EEOC.
B. Affirmative Action Plan (AAP)
AAPs are required of government agencies and many federal contractors. There are three steps in an AAP. The first is a utilization analysis, which describes the organization’s current workforce relative to the pool of qualified workers in the labor force. The next step is creating goals and timetables for correcting an underutilization, and the last step is to create an AAP, which describes exactly what action will be taken. AAPs can result in reverse discrimination, which has received attention in the courts recently.
VI. Other Important Laws
A. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
This act was intended to reduce the inflow of illegal immigrants to the United States. The law mandates employers only hire people legally allowed to work in the United States.
B. Immigration Act of 1990
This act was created to make it easier for skilled immigrants to enter this country.
C. Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988
The Drug Free Workplace Act requires federal contractors to attempt to ensure their workplaces are free from drug use. Employers are required to educate employees and to prevent illegal drug use.
D. Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
This act protects the rights of people who take short-term leave from private-sector employers to engage in military service. It also protects military personnel from discrimination in employment practices.
VII. Avoiding Pitfalls in EEO
Almost any decision made by a manager that affects a worker’s employment status can be challenged in a court of law. In most cases, sound management practices will not only help managers avoid EEO lawsuits but will contribute to the organization’s bottom line. Five specific management practices are recommended: provide training, establish a compliant resolution process, document decisions, be honest, and ask only for information you need to know.
Chapter 4
Managing Diversity
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
One of the greatest challenges facing organizations today is managing workforce diversity in a way that both respects the employees’ unique attitudes and promotes a shared sense of corporate identity. This chapter explores the issues that are intrinsic to diversity management. In the United States, as abroad, the design and implementation of HR programs cannot ignore the diverse nature of the workforce. Thus, by the end of this chapter the reader should have a better grasp of diversity issues and how to handle them successfully.
What Is Diversity?
Diversity simply refers to human characteristics that make people different. The sources of individual variations are complex, but they can generally be grouped into two categories: those over which individuals have little or no control and those over which individuals have more control. Unless effectively managed, diversity among employees may have a negative impact on productive teamwork. Affirmative action is not diversity management. Affirmative action emerged from government pressure on business to provide greater opportunities for women and minorities. Managing diversity is an outgrowth of natural or environmental trends such as demographic changes and international competition. Moreover, diversity is considered an asset in terms of improving organizational functioning and reflecting the customer market.
A. Why Manage Employee Diversity?
It is a potential source of competitive advantage.
B. Affirmative Action versus Managing Employee Diversity
There is a growing awareness that a key factor in corporate performance is how well nontraditional employees can be fully integrated and work effectively with one another.
C. Demographic Trends
The face of the workforce is changing rapidly and soon the majority groups will be minorities.
1. Diversity as an asset. Firms must begin to see diversity as an asset. Diversity can improve organizational functioning by stimulating greater creativity, better problem solving, and greater system flexibility, which allows for a broader scope of information and set of skills that may be applied to a variety of situations.
2. Marketing concerns. Most successful firms realize that effective management of diversity can lead to better marketing strategies for a global population.
D. Diversity as Part of a Corporate Strategy
Many companies incorporate diversity into their corporate strategy instead of just a set of HR practices. Larger companies create a position called chief diversity officer to manage diversity.
II. Challenges in Managing Employee Diversity
Diversity offers opportunities as well as challenges. The challenges include appropriately valuing diversity, balancing individual needs and group fairness, dealing with resistance to change, ensuring group cohesiveness and open communication, avoiding employee resentment, keeping the focus on performance, retaining valued performers, and maximizing opportunity for all employees.
A. Diversity versus Inclusiveness
Inclusiveness is replacing the term diversity because it is more focused on bringing people together as opposed to just a set of programs related to diversity.
B. Individual versus Group Fairness
It can be a struggle for organizations to balance the needs of individual employees while maintaining fairness for all of the employees.
C. Resistance to Change
Although diversity is becoming a necessity for organizations, individuals may experience initial resistance to change, which can create roadblocks for diverse groups.
D. Group Cohesiveness and Interpersonal Conflict
Patient-Centered Medical Homes
Instructions:
Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) offer many benefits to patients, and are valued by providers and insurers, as well.
For this assignment, you will research and assess the past, present, and future role of PCMHs.
- In an opening paragraph, define and concisely describe a PCMH.
- In a second paragraph, explain the history of PCMHs.
- For the body of your paper, explain the present structure and impact of PCMHs (approx. 500 words).
- In a closing paragraph, explain the future role of PCMHs. Include relevant research to support your viewpoint.
- Include a minimum of two scholarly sources on a separate reference page; APA format should be followed throughout.
High-speed rail
Instructions
Employ: Research Process
Evaluation Title: Research
This course requires the completion of a major research paper (8 to 10 content pages, not including the title, abstract and reference page) for the final assignment. In order to do this, the writing must be in a style appropriate for an academic discourse community and the references should be academic references. At least five of the articles must be located in the Herzing University Library
This week’s assignment builds on the unit 4 assessment and completes the gathering of reference materials.
- Begin with the introduction to the paper which should include the thesis statement.
- Submit a minimum of 7 primary resources and 3 secondary resources, for one of the following topics (In Unit 4, 3 primary and 2 secondary resources were submitted-please highlight these resources in the new document)
- 3D Printing
- High-speed rail
- Stem Cell Research
- Crowdfunding
- Complete the literature review for each of the resources identified
- Include the APA reference page
The literary resources and introduction should be in APA format.
All citations and references should be in APA format.
MGT312T Week 5 Knowledge Check SCORE 100 PERCENT
Question 1
Mission statements represent the reason that an organization exists.
True
False
Question 2
Artifacts include an organization’s acronyms, manner of dress, and myths and stories told about the organization.
True
False
Question 3
In the encounter phase of organizational socialization,
employees’ values, skills, and attitudes start to shift as the new recruit discovers what the organization is truly like.
recruits anticipate realities about the organization and the new job.
people master critical tasks.
individuals resolve competing role demands.
individuals anticipate the organization’s need for someone with their skills and abilities.
Question 4
_______ are specific behaviors used to deal with a stressful situation.
Tertiary appraisals
Coping strategies
Secondary appraisals
Escape strategies
Primary appraisals
Question 5
Organizational climate is defined as the set of shared, taken-for-granted, implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments.
True
False
876
Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.Based upon the organization that you identified as well as your readings, continue your organizational change analysis by discussing the following points:
Write a review of the failed change effort.
Provide an analysis of the factors that inhibited the change effort.
Discuss the potential consequences if the effective change is not adopted.
Use the LIBRARY or the MGMT Doctoral Library for help.
Option #1: Using Problem Solving to Address Challenges week 4
Option #1: Using Problem Solving to Address Challenges
Leaders of organizations are charged with solving problems every day. Think back to an organizational challenge or decision in your company (or in one that you wish to research). This should be a decision that the organization’s leaders made. Address the following in a paper:
- Provide a brief history/background of the organizational challenge.
- Explain how the problem was resolved, using the steps from the problem-solving process presented in this module. If certain steps were skipped, name them and explain why.
- Consider how you/the organization might have approached the problem differently. Again, use the steps from the problem-solving process.
- Hypothesize whether the approach might have had a different outcome.
Assignment Requirements:
- Your paper should be 4 pages in length, not counting the required title and references pages.
Stage control cycle and project termination
Write a page answering the following questions.
Explain the generic for stage control cycle and how it is useful for understanding, controlling, and monitoring projects.
Present and discuss the various methods for project termination. If possible, use examples from your real life experience as a project manager or project team member.
Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.
TOTAL REWARDS IN PRACTICE- SLP 4
Address the following questions in a question-and-answer format; that is, state the question and then answer it in detail.
The Background readings for this module explore the premise of how contingent workers, who have become a key foundation of the U.S. workforce, are compensated. In this assignment, compare and contrast the various aspects of how contingent workers are compensated compared with conventional workers. As you undertake this comparative analysis, address the following:
- How does the employment of contingent employees affect an organization’s business, its HRM responsibilities, its overall costs, and its organizational culture?
- In your educated opinion, should the compensation of contingent workers be the same (on a pro-rated basis) as conventional, full-time employees doing the same work? Discuss, bringing in both the strengths and challenges this approach presents.
- How would you, as the CEO of the company, create a sense of engagement with the infusion of contingent workers in a workplace that historically consisted of conventional, full-time employees?
Use at least 2 library sources and/or background readings to help strengthen and support your 3-page response.
Online Source
Total rewards components and work happiness in new venturesGulyani, Gaatha; Sharma, Tanuja.Evidence – Based HRM; Bingley Vol. 6, Iss. 3, (2018): 255-271. DOI:10.1108/EBHRM-12-2017-0063PDFDownload PDFCiteCiteEmailPrintAll Options
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of total rewards components (monetary, material and non-monetary) on happiness of employees working in Indian technology-based new ventures. Further, with the theoretical lens of social exchange theory, the mediating role of work engagement between total rewards perceptions and work happiness relationship has also been evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 201 employees working in Indian technology-based new ventures was conducted. Structural equation modeling was utilized to measure the proposed theoretical model. Regression analysis was conducted to test the direct effects of the hypothesized relationships. Sobel test and bootstrapping analysis were utilized to test the indirect effects of the proposed hypothesized relationship.
Findings
The findings supported the hypotheses that employees’ perceptions of total rewards have a significant impact on employee work engagement and happiness at work. However, individual component of total rewards, i.e. monetary rewards, demonstrated an insignificant impact on the employee work happiness. Work engagement was positively related to work happiness and fully mediated the relationship between total rewards perceptions and work happiness.
Practical implications
Special attention should be given to enhance the material and non-monetary rewards, specifically strengthening the feeling of appreciation, learning and growth opportunities and improving feedback functions. Given the challenges of new ventures (productivity and efficiency of talent), management of total rewards mix should be considered as the main concern of human resource (HR) managers and management (founders). The paper also provides important implications for designing a reward system that enhances employee productivity and efficiency in the unstructured and ambiguous work environment of new ventures.
Originality/value
The present study has significant contributions to the HR, entrepreneurship and positive psychology literature. It is an attempt to understand the association between total rewards components and work happiness via mediating mechanism, i.e. work engagement in new ventures. It also extends research in the entrepreneurial context. The emergence and growth of new ventures in India has meant a growing importance for understanding employees’ needs and expectations and guaranteeing their happiness. The findings of the study contribute to social exchange theory, Vroom’s expectancy and self-determination theory. This research is also a rare investigation of employees’ perspectives in an entrepreneurial context.
Full Text
1. Introduction
India has emerged as the third largest start-up ecosystem globally and is expected to grow by 2.2 times till 2020 (NASSCOM, 2016). Although, new ventures (also called start-ups or young firms) are enablers of innovation and economic progress, their success during their first years is uncertain as they face competition from established firms and the liability of newness challenge (Boso et al., 2013). As new ventures struggle to grow and achieve success, motivating and engaging talent is also a challenge and therefore developing innovative strategies to attract, engage and improve the productivity of employees that can contribute to their survival (Leung et al., 2006). A critical area in human resource management (HRM) that has been seen to affect an individual’s motivation to join, learn and stay with the firm is compensation and rewards (Medcof and Rumpel, 2007). Since new ventures adopt an informal HRM function, they have fewer choices available in terms of compensation options (Bau and Dowling, 2007) and view their rewards system through “total rewards” perspective. The holistic view of total rewards includes both monetary (all monetary payments-pay, benefits, etc.) and non-monetary (learning and growth opportunities, feedback and appreciation for work, etc.) rewards (Heneman and Tansky, 2002). Research works measuring various components of rewards and its motivational effects are largely based on formal and structured work environments and have overlooked its influence in young firms (Pajo et al., 2010). Therefore, studying motivational effect of holistic view of reward system in an informal and unstructured work environment, such as present in new ventures would help newly founded businesses to manage their talent effectively (Khoreva et al., 2017).
Additionally, Baron and Hannan (2002) highlighted that in the highly uncertain and ambiguous work environment of new ventures, few people typically need to cover all business functions resulting in high degree of workload and greater stress negatively affects their productivity at work. Keeping employees happy can boost their productivity as well as work efficiency and new ventures cannot deliver good services from unhappy employees. Moreover, the positive psychology field has asserted the need to the study the pursuit of employee happiness and betterment issues in the entrepreneurial settings (Vo, 2016).
Happiness refers to the feeling of frequent positive affect and a sense of work and life satisfaction (Hofmann et al., 2014). Huang (2016) documented that individuals’ happiness has a positive effect on individual performance, as happy employees remain enthusiastically involved in different tasks of the organizations. Within work happiness literature, various components of total rewards have been linked to happiness such as employee income (Oishi et al., 2011), meaningfulness at work (Golparvar and Abedini, 2014), learning and growth opportunities (Rego and Pina E Cunha, 2009), etc. However, little empirical evidence on work happiness as an outcome of total rewards components (Latukha, 2016) in new Indian ventures has been found. The study, therefore, aims to bridge highlighted gaps.
Additionally, work engagement literature has been conceptualized as a mediating mechanism and is embedded in three dimensions: vigor, absorption and dedication (Schaufeli et al., 2002). Organizational rewards model assumes employee engagement as a driving force of the employees’ positive attitude at work. This driving force may assist employees to overcome the stress and burnout at workplace and feel happy for the accomplishment of assigned task (Saks, 2006; Crawford et al., 2014). However, little empirical evidence exists that examines work engagement as a mechanism through which job resources (total rewards components) affect employee work attitude (i.e. employee work happiness). Therefore, the research question addressed in the study is as follows: RQ1.
How do perceptions of total rewards components influence employee happiness at work?
The purpose of this study is to examine the conceptual and empirical linkages between total rewards components and workplace happiness. In addition, the study also aims to evaluate the role of work engagement as a mechanism via which the perceptions of job resources (total rewards) affect employee work attitude (work happiness).
2. Need and rationale of the study
In today’s competitive world of work, human resource (HR) are assumed to be a key source of an organization’s survival and success. Specifically, in new ventures, each individual contributes to its survival and success (Glaub et al., 2014). However, studies in entrepreneurship (new ventures) domain are skewed toward the topics of firm’s growth (Edwards and Rahman, 2016). Therefore, highlighting employee perspective in the unique and dynamic working environment of new ventures would be a contribution in the field of HR and entrepreneurship literature.
Furthermore, past evidence suggests that substantial research works have been done on rewards and its consequences in context of large organizations (Thomas et al., 2017) with little focus on young firms. The compensation models developed in the context of large firms are not necessarily applicable to young firms (Bau and Dowling, 2007). A few studies have highlighted the motivational effect of rewards in informal and dynamic work environment of new ventures. For example, Bau and Dowling (2001) investigated the impact of financial and non-financial incentives on employee motivation to join German software start-ups. Park et al. (2014) have studied the impact of monetary and non-monetary rewards on innovation of technology-based new ventures of France. There remains a sparse research studying consequences of rewards in informal work environment of new ventures in India (Park et al., 2014).
Moreover, employees in organizations of different countries have shown preference of different reward components for happiness (Dolan et al., 2008). Research reveals that the employees of western countries feel happiness if their work is interesting, whereas employees in India feel happiness at obtaining secure jobs (Omar and Noordin, 2015). Therefore, the findings of existing literature suggest that components of total rewards that influence employees’ happiness are context based. There is considerable amount of literature existing on employees’ happiness in western context (Pan and Zhou, 2013). These studies reflect the understanding of reward system and its impact in those specific countries. Despite the appreciation and continuation of linkages between various components of rewards and work happiness, there remain very few research works that have examined work happiness as an outcome of holistic view of rewards (monetary, material and non-monetary rewards) explicitly, especially in an Indian context (Latukha, 2016). Therefore, the present study would be an important contribution to the Indian entrepreneurship and positive psychology literature.
In addition, while investigating the research in the areas of reward management and work happiness, Bakker et al. (2012) found that there is a need to study the relationship between work engagement and work happiness as both variables affect employee productivity and their intention to stay in an organization. Although, literature exists that has examined work engagement and work happiness relationship independently, there is a lack of empirical evidence that has investigated this relationship in Indian firms together (Malinen et al., 2013; Bakker and Oerlemans, 2014).
3. Theoretical framework and development of hypotheses
3.1 Total rewards
According to Chen and Hsieh (2006), rewards include everything that employees recognize as fair return in exchange of the efforts and time spent at work. Organizations offer rewards as an appreciation of certain behavior in the form of financial and non-financial incentives after the accomplishment of assigned tasks (Danish and Usman, 2010). Total rewards include both monetary (all monetary recognitions) as well as non-monetary (learning and growth opportunities, appreciation for work, etc.) rewards (Heneman and Tansky, 2002).
3.2 Total rewards categorization
Prior studies on rewards have categorized total rewards in various ways. According to Milkovich and Newman (2005), total rewards or total return on efforts can be divided into two major categories such as total compensation and relational returns. The first category includes direct as well as indirect pay and incentives. The second category includes recognition, challenging work, job security and learning and growth opportunities. According to De Gieter et al. (2006), total rewards categorization includes three major categories such as financial rewards, material rewards and psychological rewards. The first category includes all monetary payments. The second category includes material rewards such as benefits, training and growth opportunities and finally the third category includes psychological rewards such as recognition.
Intrinsic motivation of employees and identification with the goals of the organization play a significant role in newly founded organizations rather than in established firms (Brown and Medoff, 2003). Employees working in new ventures put more emphasis on congenial working environment, interpersonal work relations and team atmosphere compared to other aspects of the workplace (Sauermann, 2017). Therefore, consistent with the above arguments, we find the total rewards categorization recognized by Hulkko-Nyman et al. (2012) as monetary, material and non-monetary rewards as the components of total rewards.
3.3 Work happiness
According to Youssef and Luthans (2007), work happiness refers to the extent to which individuals experience positive affect and satisfaction at work. Pryce indicated that happy employees get faster promotion, get more support from supervisors and co-workers, generate innovative ideas, accomplish assigned task faster and perform task enthusiastically (Pryce-Jones and Lutterbie, 2010). Although, organizations face challenges to assure that their employees are satisfied and happy, Bakker and Demerouti (2014) indicated that the goal of creating positive feelings among employees can be achieved through an effective job resources program (i.e. total rewards system).
Past evidence suggests that employees feel positive about the workplace when they receive material rewards (e.g. training facilities, benefits, career growth opportunities, etc.), social rewards (e.g. good relationship with colleagues) (Abid et al., 2015), non-monetary rewards (e.g. positive feedback, participation in decision making, job security, etc.) (Carpentier and Mageau, 2013) and monetary rewards (e.g. pay rise, etc.) (Oishi et al., 2011). While, they feel unhappy if organizations do not recognize their efforts (Danish and Usman, 2010).
Furthermore, the theoretical underpinning for this study is derived from social exchange theory (SET) (Blau, 1964). When organizations provide adequate job resources (monetary, material or non-monetary rewards), employees become willing to contribute in terms of their knowledge and skills (Bujacz et al., 2014). They feel that the employer is concerned for their welfare and this satisfies people’s psychological need of belongingness (Devloo et al., 2015). This, in turn, may lead to experiences of positive affect and happiness. Accordingly, on the basis of the above arguments and theories, it may be assumed that new ventures providing job resources, such as total rewards components (monetary, material and non-monetary), may predict employees happiness at work.
Thus, we hypothesize that: H1.
Perceptions of total rewards components will be positively related to workplace happiness.
H1a.
Perceptions of monetary rewards will be positively related to workplace happiness.
H1b.
Perceptions of material rewards will be positively related to workplace happiness.
H1c.
Perceptions of non-monetary rewards will be positively related to workplace happiness.
3.4 Total rewards perceptions and work engagement
According to Strom et al. (2014), employees’ engagement level varies according to their perceptions of the return they receive after accomplishing work. Thus, it can be expected that employees will be more likely to involve in the work if they perceive a greater amount of benefits (job resources) for their task performance. Maslach et al. (2001) have documented effects of the lack of employee rewards such as stress and burnout. Accordingly, appropriate employee rewards are essential for enhancing the engagement level of employees at work. SET also suggests that when employees assess or perceive their employer as being invested in their welfare, through adequate resource allocation, i.e. rewards (job resources), they are more likely to reciprocate through positive work outcomes such as work engagement.
Hulkko-Nyman et al. (2012) studied the influence of total rewards’ elements on employee engagement at work. Many research works in the past have studied the relationships between various components of total rewards and employee work engagement, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge previous research works have not studied the relationship of total rewards’ components and work engagement in an unstructured work environment of new ventures.
Thus, we hypothesize that: H2.
Perceptions of total rewards will be positively related to experiences of work engagement.
3.5 Work engagement and work happiness
According to Schaufeli et al. (2002), work engagement includes three dimensions. The first dimension includes vigor which means mental resilience while working. The second dimension includes dedication which means experiencing a sense of achievement and being strongly involved in work. The third dimension includes absorption which means being fully focused on the work. Past research demonstrates that when employees receive rewards in the form of autonomy, appreciation for work, learning and growth opportunities, they are more likely to be enthusiastic and spend extra efforts in achieving the assigned tasks (Bakker et al., 2014). It creates the enthusiasm to learn new skills, increases their energy to action and meet set targets, which helps them produce a wide range of possible solutions, and subsequently enhances their sense of accomplishment. When individuals experience a sense of achievement at work, they tend to experience positive feelings of pride and enthusiasm that may boost their happiness levels (Baranik and Eby, 2016). Self-determination theory also supports the above argument that happiness is experienced when goals are reached or needs are fulfilled (Ryan and Deci, 2000).
Based on the above, we hypothesize that: H3.
Work engagement will be positively related to workplace happiness.
Discussion Board 2 Summer
How can a new business model become a competitive advantage for an organization?
Response should not exceed one (1) page, double-spaced.