Human Resource

Management Theories
Part III

August 14, 2021

Submitted to: Gloria Almarez Bumanglag

Aaron Dale N. Villanueva

anvillanueva.amlc@gmail.com
I. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT SKILLS

People management skills are important to employers because they show that you can successfully
manage a team. If you have people management skills, an employer can trust that you oversee and
manage a team towards a common goal. You’re more likely to have developed communication and
conflict resolution skills that can help a company achieve.

A. MANAGING CHANGE

Managing change means managing people's fear. Change is natural and good, but people's
reaction to change is unpredictable and can be irrational. It can be managed if done right.

Managing the change process

Although there are many types of organizational changes, the critical aspect is a company's
ability to win the buy-in of their organization's employees on the change. Effectively managing
organizational change is a four-step process:
1. Recognizing the changes in the broader business environment
2. Developing the necessary adjustments for their company's needs
3. Training their employees on the appropriate changes
4. Winning the support of the employees with the persuasiveness of the appropriate
adjustments

As a multi-disciplinary practice that has evolved because of scholarly research, organizational

change management should begin with a systematic diagnosis of the current situation in order
to determine both the need for change and the capability to change. The objectives, content,
and process of change should all be specified as part of a change management plan.

Change management processes should include creative marketing to enable communication

between changing audiences, as well as deep social understanding about leadership styles and
group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, organizational change
management aligns groups' expectations, integrates teams, and manages employee training. It
makes use of performance metrics, such as financial results, operational efficiency, leadership
commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change in order to
design appropriate strategies, resolve troubled change projects, and avoid change failures.

B. LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Effective leaders have the ability to communicate well, motivate their team, handle and
delegate responsibilities, listen to feedback, and have the flexibility to solve problems in an ever-
changing workplace.

Leadership skills (LS) are the strengths and abilities individuals demonstrate that help the
oversee processes, guide initiatives and steer their employees toward the achievement of goals.

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 LS are an essential component in positioning executives to make thoughtful decisions about
their organization's mission and goals, and properly allocate resources to achieve those
directives. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate
effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment, and creativity.

C. SELECTION INTERVIEWING SKILLS

The objective of a selection interview is to establish the extent to which a candidate is suitable
for a job. This means finding out how well a candidate’s level of knowledge, skills and attributes
fit the requirement for the job.

Selection interviewing is a skilled process, unfortunately, many practitioners and hiring

managers over-estimated their ability in this process thereby resulting in some common
mistakes. These include hiring an unsuitable candidate because the selection is not sufficiently
objective and the process is too “feel” based.

On the other hand, some took a lot of effort and are very strict with selection criteria hoping to
find the perfect candidate. This resulted in an unnecessarily long time and effort to find the right
candidate which may not exist.

Preparing for the interview

The first step in preparing for an interview is to get yourself acquainted with the job description
in the following areas:
1. Knowledge - What are the relevant knowledge the candidate needs to know to carry out
the job?
2. Skills - What are the right skill set in order for the candidate to perform the job?
3. Attributes - What types of behavior required to perform the job?

Once you have set out the criteria, you should now read the candidates’ resumes and other
information available to you. This will allow you to identify any questions about the candidate’s
career.

In order for you to achieve a consistent outcome for your interviews, you need to structure your
interview to field the same questions to all your candidates. This will allow you to effectively
identify the strength and weakness of each candidate’s answer to your questions.

Structured Interview method

A structured interview is based on a well-defined framework with which there are
predetermined questions. At Alchemy, we focus on a candidate’s career progression and
aspiration to identify overall patterns in their career choices. Additionally, you will assess for
knowledge and skills capabilities through a series of specific questions designed to demonstrate
proven skills sets. All candidates should be asked the same questions and the answers will be
scored through a matching matrix system.

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 Conducting the interview
A good interview is a structured conversation with a purpose. The purpose is to use the
opportunity to understand the candidate by questioning and assessing whether he/she can
demonstrate suitability against the various criteria. It is recommended to structure it into parts.

Finalize the selection

In order to ensure a structure and impartial process, you will assess each candidate against the
same questions for all. You will rate all the candidates according to knowledge, skills and
attributes using a matching matrix that you have developed. From the matrix, you will then
select the candidate that scored the highest in terms of matching percentage. If the scores
among candidates are very close, you have to make a view based on which candidate is more
likely to fit the job and company.

D. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Performance management (PM) is the process of ensuring that a set of activities and outputs
meets an organization's goals in an effective and efficient manner. PM can focus on the
performance of an organization, a department, an employee, or the processes in place to
manage particular tasks. PM standards are generally organized and disseminated by senior
leadership at an organization and by task owners, it can include specifying tasks and outcomes
of a job, providing timely feedback and coaching, comparing employee's actual performance and
behaviors with desired performance and behaviors, instituting rewards, etc. It is necessary to
outline the role of each individual in the organization in terms of functions and responsibilities
to ensure that PM is successful.

Benefits of performance management

Managing employee or system performance and aligning their objectives facilitates the effective
delivery of strategic and operational goals. Some proponents argue there is a clear and
immediate correlation between using PM programs or software and improved business and
organizational results. In the public sector, the effects of performance management systems
have differed from positive to negative, suggesting that differences in the characteristics of
performance management systems and the contexts into which they are implemented play an
important role to the success or failure of PM.

For employee performance management, using integrated software, rather than a spreadsheet-
based recording system, may deliver a return on investment through a range of direct and
indirect sales benefits, operational efficiency benefits, and by unlocking the latent potential in
every employee workday (i.e., the time they spend not actually doing their job). Benefits may
include:

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II. LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT SKILLS

Learning and development (L&D) is one of the core areas of Human Resource Management. L&D is a
systematic process to enhance an employee’s skills, knowledge, and competency, resulting in better
performance in a work setting. Specifically, learning is concerned with the acquisition of knowledge,
skills, and attitudes. Development is the broadening and deepening of knowledge in line with one’s
development goals.

The goal of L&D is to develop or change the behavior of individuals or groups for the better, sharing
knowledge and insights that enable them to do their work better, or cultivate attitudes that help them
perform better.

A. MANAGING CONFLICT

Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing
the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and
group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in an organizational setting. Properly
managed conflict can improve group outcomes.

There are five key styles for managing conflict:

1. Forcing - using your formal authority or power to satisfy your concerns without regard
to the other party’s concerns
2. Accommodating - allowing the other party to satisfy their concerns while neglecting
your own
3. Avoiding - not paying attention to the conflict and not taking any action to resolve it
4. Compromising - attempting to resolve the conflict by identifying a solution that is
partially satisfactory to both parties but completely satisfactory to neither
5. Collaborating - co-operating with the other party to understand their concerns in an
effort to find a mutually satisfying solution

B. HANDLING PEOPLE’S PROBLEM

When someone shares problems with you, remember that it is not always an invitation to help
the person to solve it. Often, the other person just wants to vent, and you need do nothing
more than nod and attempt to show genuine empathy and understanding. Some good
responses are, “That sounds difficult,” “How frustrating,” or, “That would upset me, too.” These
validating responses are usually much appreciated when accompanied by active listening, with
no further action typically necessary.

When you attempt to solve someone else’s problem by giving advice or offering action,
remember that you don’t want to rob the other person of the opportunity to use their own
skills. Letting others solve their problems gives you a chance to work on your listening and
empathizing skills. You don’t have to be attached to outcomes of others’ situations, since you
didn’t provide any hopes, promises, or directions.

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