Rewarding Knowledge Workers

2011 ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Sofiane Sahraoui
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Intellectual Assets ◽  
Primary Focus

In a business environment characterized by digitization, globalization, mobility, workgroups, immediacy, and disintermediation (Tapscott, 1996), organizations have become ever more reliant on delivering maximum value to their customers to keep competitive. Knowledge workers using computing and communication technologies produce intangible goods and services. They represent the primary leverage through which organizations maximize the value offered to their customers. Leveraging the intellectual assets of knowledge workers should be the primary focus of planning processes where customer service systems are designed along with accompanying IT solutions. Knowledge work will require new forms of management and, implicitly, a new strategy for human resource management (Collins, 1998). Consequently, human resource management is increasingly trying to reinvent itself around the emerging concepts of knowledge work and core competencies (Lawler, 2000).

Investigating knowledge workers’ productivity using work design theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 822-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Moussa ◽  
Mathew Bright ◽  
Maria Estela Varua
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Design ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the suitability of job and work design theory for investigating knowledge workers’ productivity. The review is a response to recommendation and adoption of the motivational human resource management approach by a number of knowledge management researchers. The authors show that the existing literature on this topic overlooks key criticisms of HRM job and work design theory itself. The authors suggest modifications. Design/methodology/approach The paper proceeds by outlining knowledge management researchers’ arguments rejecting the application of traditional measurement approaches to investigating knowledge workers’ productivity. The review develops to examine the various arguments for adopting work design theory and considers the key contributions and critiques in this field. Drawing on the insights of key HRM work design critics, the paper concludes by offering suggestions for a model suitable for examining the drivers of knowledge work productivity in process. Findings The principle finding is that Morgeson and Humphrey’s (2006) Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) stand as the most conceptually consistent and methodologically considered human resource management work design theory. However, this model must itself be modified to include a category of organizational contextual work characteristics. For application to the filed of knowledge management, WDQ must also be expanded to include knowledge sharing, role breadth self-efficacy and employee well-being as key work design mediators and outcomes. Research limitations/implications Greater consideration needs to be given to the distinction between knowledge sharing as a work design mediator and as a work design outcome. Morgeson and Humphrey themselves note that the “common method variance” problems arising in psychometric research have been reduced but not completely eliminated from their model. Practical implications Survey instruments based on the recommended model potentially provide a valuable means for understanding and enhancing productivity in a variety of knowledge intensive service industries. The pronounced benefit of this model is that it is applicable in cross-industry and cross-occupational contexts, unlike many existing knowledge worker productivity models. This is an advantage, given the centrality of the inter-connectivity of different types of activities and industries in knowledge work. Social implications Work design prioritizes employee motivation and support and links this to the quality of work and the well-being of clients. The benefits of well-designed knowledge work extend well beyond the generation of specific innovations and macroeconomic productivity improvements. Originality/value Job design and work design theory have been applied in the field of knowledge management. However, the applications have largely overlooked key critiques of the established models in the human resource management literature. The paper fills this gap. Its original suggestions for modifying Moregeson and Humphry’s (2006) WDQ reflect the authors’ in-depth analysis of the literature.

Mina makes the most of human‐resource management

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Panagiotakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Strategic Human Resource Management ◽  
Employee Empowerment ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Conditions Of Employment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how strategic human resource management has transformed the fortunes of three Greek micro‐enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explains the problems faced by Mina mini‐market, Franco leather manufacturing and Yiannis Hair Care, and how they overcame them.FindingsThe paper highlights the key role that training can play in improving product quality and customer service and setting a struggling company back on the track to success.Practical implicationsThe paper reveals that training can go hand in hand with new bonus schemes, employee empowerment and better conditions of employment.Social implicationsThe paper details a number of approaches that small companies can adopt to help them to survive in a challenging economic context.Originality/valueThe paper recounts how three Greek micro‐businesses have achieved organizational change against the background of difficult economic circumstances.

scholarly journals Creating service excellence through Human Resource Management practices

1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Browning
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Service Excellence ◽  
Human Resource Management Practices ◽  
External Relationships

Service excellence has become a critical source of competitive advantage for organisations. This article focuses on the interaction between the frontline employee and the customer and the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in sustaining service-orientated behaviour. The nature of the relationship between HRM and service behaviour is also explored, focusing on three possible intervening variables - commitment to customer service, job competence and organisational identification. The implications of this relationship for business managers are highlighted and it is suggested that to achieve service excellence, managers need to focus as much on their internal relationships with employees as they do on their external relationships with customers, as their contribution to organisational performance is inter-linked. Directions for future research in redefining HRM practices and determining the nature of the link between HRM and service-orientated behaviour are discussed.

Strategic human resource management and knowledge workers

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 683-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen T.T. Teo ◽  
Bhavini Lakhani ◽  
David Brown ◽  
Teemu Malmi
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Strategic Human Resource Management

scholarly journals Employee Reward Systems in Organizations

ECONOMICS ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Dragana Došenović
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Successful Performance ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Basic Theme ◽  
The Given

Summary Employee rewarding is one of the activities of human resource management concerning the management of money, goods and services that employees receive from their employer in exchange for their work. Given that a properly designed reward system is one of the conditions for a stable business, successful performance of work activities and the achievement of set objectives in each organization, the basic theme of this paper is the employee reward system, with a special focus on different elements of it. The purpose of this paper is to describe the role and significance of the observed system and to draw attention to its role in employee’s motivation. Based on the given analysis many conclusions have been drawn. It has been proved that a properly designed employee reward system has many advantages for the organization, which emphasizes its importance.

The Benefits of Using Technology in Human Resource Management

2010 ◽  
pp. 1566-1573
Author(s):  
Emma Parry
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Hr Function

The use of technology within human resource management has grown considerably over the last decade with the majority of organizations now using some form of HR information system (HRIS). For instance, in Europe, Watson-Wyatt (2002) found that 70% of the organizations surveyed used the Internet or Intranet to deliver HR services to employees with most respondents planning to enhance substantially their e-HR capabilities over the two years after the survey. In the UK alone, survey research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in 2005 showed that 77% of organizations used an HRIS. Research from Cranfield School of Management in 2003 found an even higher proportion of companies using HRIS at 82%. An HRIS can perform a number of functions from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that an HRIS can undertake increases. The use of HRIS can provide a number of benefits to the HR function, line managers, and the wider organization. On one level, the use of technology has been shown to lead to faster, more accurate and more efficient processes, and reduced HR costs. Technology can also be used to provide HR information and to enable managers and employees to perform simple HR tasks themselves. On another level, the use of HRIS to reduce the administrative and transactional burden on the HR function can lead to a change in the structure of HR and allow the function to play a more strategic role in the organization. The reasons behind an organization’s introduction of an HRIS may vary considerably from the need to facilitate efficient processes or cut costs, to improve communication and customer service, or the desire to create a shift in the role of the HR function from one that is mainly administrative to one that is more strategic. This chapter will discuss the potential impacts of technology on HRM in terms of the possible rationale behind the introduction of an HRIS. The chapter will draw on the past literature on HRIS as well as on case study research conducted by the author in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Parry, Tyson, Selbie, & Leighton, 2006) to examine the possible components of a business case for HRIS and the benefits that such systems can potentially offer to an organization.

The Benefits of Using Technology in Human Resource Management

2010 ◽  
pp. 522-529
Author(s):  
Emma Parry
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Hr Function

The use of technology within human resource management has grown considerably over the last decade with the majority of organizations now using some form of HR information system (HRIS). For instance, in Europe, Watson-Wyatt (2002) found that 70% of the organizations surveyed used the Internet or Intranet to deliver HR services to employees with most respondents planning to enhance substantially their e-HR capabilities over the two years after the survey. In the UK alone, survey research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in 2005 showed that 77% of organizations used an HRIS. Research from Cranfield School of Management in 2003 found an even higher proportion of companies using HRIS at 82%. An HRIS can perform a number of functions from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that an HRIS can undertake increases. The use of HRIS can provide a number of benefits to the HR function, line managers, and the wider organization. On one level, the use of technology has been shown to lead to faster, more accurate and more efficient processes, and reduced HR costs. Technology can also be used to provide HR information and to enable managers and employees to perform simple HR tasks themselves. On another level, the use of HRIS to reduce the administrative and transactional burden on the HR function can lead to a change in the structure of HR and allow the function to play a more strategic role in the organization. The reasons behind an organization’s introduction of an HRIS may vary considerably from the need to facilitate efficient processes or cut costs, to improve communication and customer service, or the desire to create a shift in the role of the HR function from one that is mainly administrative to one that is more strategic. This chapter will discuss the potential impacts of technology on HRM in terms of the possible rationale behind the introduction of an HRIS. The chapter will draw on the past literature on HRIS as well as on case study research conducted by the author in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Parry, Tyson, Selbie, & Leighton, 2006) to examine the possible components of a business case for HRIS and the benefits that such systems can potentially offer to an organization.

Human Resource Management and Knowledge Work

2009 ◽  
pp. 124-143
Author(s):  
Sue Newell ◽  
Maxine Robertson ◽  
Harry Scarbrough ◽  
Jacky Swan
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Knowledge Work
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