Chapter 8

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

The efforts of organizations to succeed and thrive financially have

been difficult due to the inconsistency of Human Resource Management
(HRM) policies and practices that often make little logical sense and that
destroy trust in an overwhelming number of organizations 1. Top
Management Teams (TMTs) and organization leaders focus on quarterly
balance sheets but miss the importance of longer-range priorities that add
value and improve their firms’ position to compete based upon quality
rather than simply on low cost 2. The result, according to an abundance of
research, is that an alarming number of companies have been unsuccessful
in tapping the potential of the employees who make their products and
deliver their services3.

1
Pfeffer, J., (1998). The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting
People First. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
2
Christensen, C. M., (2016). The Innovator’s Dilemma: Why New
Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston, MA: Harvard Business
Review Press.
3
Clifton, J. & Harter, J., (2019). It’s the Manager. Omaha, NE: Gallup
Press.
 In this chapter we examine the struggles of TMTs and organization
leaders specifically associated with their inability to understand, establish
guidelines for, and oversee their HRM systems in establishing aligned
programs and policies that engage employees. We introduce ten current
deficiencies occurring in many 21st century corporations in creating
effective HRM systems, explaining how those shortcomings undermine
employee engagement, commitment, and trust. Following that
introduction, we cite recommendations from highly regarded experts who
have identified changes necessary in addressing the problems that so many
organizations have failed to adequately address. We conclude with
encouragement to TMTs, organization leaders, and Human Resource
Professionals (HRPs) to incorporate these recommendations.

Why Today’s Organizations Struggle

Although some economic indicators suggest that the world

economy has begun to revive from the 2008 fiscal crisis and the global
COVID-19 pandemic, there is nonetheless powerful evidence that all is not
well in the modern corporation. The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer is just
one of many studies that confirms that trust in leaders is disappointingly
low4 and the worldwide Gallup research report affirms that leaders and
managers have been off track in generating employee commitment and
loyalty5. Behavioral scholars, business experts, and academic researchers
have placed the blame on the misguided thinking of TMTs, short-term
decision-making, and the ineffectiveness of employee managers and
supervisors to be credible6.

Our premise is that employee engagement, while ultimately the

responsibility of a company’s TMT, is often the result of inadequate,
insufficient, and incapable HRPs and their inability to achieve the goals,
objectives, and purpose of HRM in today’s extremely challenging global
environment. While we do not in any way absolve TMTs of their failure to
provide adequate direction for HRM staff, we suggest ten critical
deficiencies in HRM systems that erode the effectiveness of organizations

4
Edelman, (2021). “Edelman Trust Barometer 2021,” found online on
April 20, 2021 at 2021-edelman-trust-barometer.pdf.
5
Clifton & Harter, (2019), op. cit.
6
The list of critics is plentiful but the final responsibility for the success or
failure of organizations lies with an organization’s leadership. See Schein,
E. H. & Schein, P. A., (2016). Organizational Culture and Leadership (6th
ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
in engaging employees. Each of those ten deficiencies is now briefly
summarized, with accompanying comments as to why those HRM
shortcomings fail to engage the employees of today’s corporations.

1. Misguided Understanding of the HRM Mission.

It is well established that HRM is a staff function

that exists for the purpose of achieving an organization’s
strategic goals7. Unfortunately, some well-intended HRPs
fail to recognize the full extent of what it means to fill that
staff role for the TMT. The common approach is to
promote “flavor of the month” HRM programs that sound
good but that fail to support their organization’s strategic
priorities8. This revolving turntable or “lazy Susan”
approach to management fads conveys to employees that
organization leaders do not have a clear understanding of
what is needed to achieve company success. When the

7
Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D. & Cardy, R., (2014). Managing Human
Resources (8th ed.). New York: Pearson Publishing.
8
Best, J., (2006). Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
 HRM mission is not aligned with the corporate strategy,
the underlying values implicit in the differences between
the two are also in conflict.

2. Lack of Personal Preparation.

Because TMTs may not appreciate the strategic

contribution that HRM can make to achieving an
organization’s objectives, the individuals selected to
manage the HRM function are sometimes pulled from
clerical staff and asked to serve in a management role for
which they lack personal preparation9. The HRM
profession requires a broad combination of skills that
range from interpersonal competence and emotional
intelligence to statistical expertise and a knowledge of
psychometrics10. Unfortunately, fewer than one-third of
HRPs have had academic training to prepare them for their
profession. Lacking a combination of high-level skills and
9
Caldwell, C., (2018). “Transforming a Discipline: The Evolution of
Human Resource Management” in Human Resource Management: A
Transformative Perspective. C. Caldwell, C. & V. Anderson, (Eds.)
Hauppage, New York: NOVA Publishing, Chapter 2.
10
Gomez-Mejia, et al., (2014), op cit.
 knowledge, those who work in HRM are limited in their
ability to engage employees in a work context.

3. Ineffective Employee Selection.

Hiring world-class employees is essential for

creating a competitive company11. . . but most HRPs lack
the ability to recruit, assess, and retain those outstanding
individuals12. The ability to identify the “flair factors” that
differentiate the best employees for key positions eludes
most HRPs who typically do not understand the foundation
principles of testing and selection or appreciate how flair
factors are determined13. The consequences of ineffective
hiring and promotional practices are severe and often
11
Collins, J., (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap
. . . And Others Don’t. New York: HarperCollins.
12
Caldwell, (2018), op. cit.
13
Caldwell, C, Beverage, M., and Converse, P., 2018. “Selecting for Flair
Factors: Improving the Selection Process.” Business and Management
Research, Vol 7, No. 1, pp. 1- 9 and available online at
http://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/bmr/article/view/12892/797
5.
 result in creating dysfunctions that hamper a company’s
success and create havoc within organizations 14. The
impact on organizations often results in the best employees
leaving the organization and less productive employees
remaining.

4. Incompetent Employee Onboarding.

Onboarding new employees and orienting them

within an organization is typically done poorly 15 – and has
been made more difficult with the advent of virtual
relationships where online, Zoom, and email
communications are a weak replacement for face-to-face
relationships16. Failing to socialize and prepare employees
adequately for new responsibilities is a foolish choice that

14
Caldwell, (2018), op. cit.
15
Caldwell, C. &Peters, R. (2018). “New Employee Onboarding –
Psychological Contracts and Ethical Perspectives.” Journal of
Management Development, Vol. 37 Issue 1, pp. 27-39 and available online
at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/JMD-10-2016-
0202.
16
Morgan, N., (2018). Can You Hear Me? How to Connect with People in
a Virtual World. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
 is repeatedly made and that results in a waste of money,
increased turnover, and decreased respect for company
leaders17. Poor onboarding makes a new employee’s
transition more difficult but also creates problems for that
employee’s colleagues and associates as well18.

5. Failure to Understand Value Added.

Individuals who self-select to become HRPs often

choose that profession because they are comparatively
weak in their analytical skills and mistakenly believe that
their financial shortcomings can be glossed over 19.
Plainly, today’s HRM personnel must fully understand
value added and use that understanding in helping
employees to improve their ability to contribute to a
company’s financial success. Because the world of work
has become increasingly competitive, HRPs must be
experts about understanding how financial decisions and
long-term financial consequences interact in advising
17
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z., (2010). The Truth about Leadership: The
No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
18
Ibid.
19
Gomez-Mejia, et al., (2014), op cit.
 TMTs20. By being able to coach employees about how
their performance affects their companies’ bottom line,
HRPs also build greater employee understanding about
how they can improve their performance and personally
benefit as well.

6. Misaligned Policies and Practices.

One of the classic errors made in organizations is

to adopt HRM policies and practices that conflict in their
values and purposes21. The most common example of that
mistake is to create a competitive zero-sum compensation
system in an organization attempting to build collaborative
cooperation22. Each HRM program, policy, and practice
must reflect both the core values and strategic objectives
of that organization. The failure to align a company’s
HRM policies and practices inevitably results in a mixed
message to employees and creates ill will toward

20
Ibid.
21
Pfeffer, J., (1998), op. cit.
22
Ibid.
 colleagues, supervisors, and the organization’s
leadership23.

7. Ineffective Training and Development.

Understanding how training and development

programs equate with long-term organization priorities is a
necessity in the modern corporation24. Creating a culture
that constantly involves employees in improving their
skills and in understanding how they can provide better
products and services is a critical factor in a world where
changes in technology and in customer requirements are
ongoing25. HRPs have the responsibility to help
organizations to document the benefits achieved by
training and development programs and to assist their
TMTs to make that assessment based upon long-term
priorities. Training that is focused only on improving
short-term outcomes often misses the mark in enabling a

23
Ibid.
24
Senge, P. M., (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the
Learning Organization (2nd ed.). New York: Image Books.
25
Ibid.
 company to accomplish outcomes key to long-term
success26.

8. Unwillingness to Confront Issues.

HRPs must be the eyes and ears of an organization

in gathering information, interpreting its meaning, and
identifying for the TMT the nature of the organization
work climate and the needs of employees 27. When
necessary, HRPs must be willing to confront issues with
employees – but also with managers, supervisors, and
leaders who need to understand and appropriately respond
to those issues28. HRPs must combine the refined skills of
interpreting employee responses with an awareness of the
implications of employee concerns on organization
productivity and the achievement of important objectives 29.
If HRPs fail to effectively confront these issues, the
underlying factors will continue to fester until they erupt
as major issues.
26
Ibid.
27
Gomez-Mejia, et al., (2014), op. cit.
28
Ibid.
29
Goleman, D., (2005). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More
than IQ. New York: Bantam
 9. Barriers to Build Employee Trust.

HRM systems, policies, and practices are

perceived as credible when they are effectively integrated
and when they convey to employees the message, “You
are important and valued assets30.” The failure to convey
that message consistently destroys the ability of HRPs to
be perceived as trustworthy. Employee handbooks written
by attorneys to “protect the company” and the morally
suspect “employment-at-will” doctrine are just two
examples of how many HRM systems destroy trust and
convey to employees an entirely different message 31.
Although the clear evidence overwhelmingly confirms that
creating high-trust cultures leads to high performance,
most HRM systems fail in encouraging their TMTs to
establish such cultures32.

30
Pfeffer, (1998), op. cit.
31
Caldwell, (2018), op. cit.
32
Pfeffer, (1998), op. cit.
 10. Inadequate Research Abilities.

The inability of HRM staff to become subject

matter experts about state-of-the-art issues in their
profession is well documented and reflects the reality that
so many HRPs are poorly prepared for their profession and
its complex responsibilities33. Although it is a
disappointing reality that HRPs lack the ability to maintain
a cutting-edge understanding of best practices in their
profession, that fact is nonetheless real – even if it is
disturbing. HRM staff must also be involved in
researching a myriad of other issues in order to be
effective business partners for busy managers and
supervisors. Lacking this skill set, most HRPs are unable
to make the contribution to their organizations upon which
they depend to maintain their companies’ effectiveness.

33
Gomez-Mejia, et al., (2014), op. cit.
 These ten HRM deficiencies are common in organizations of all
types. Despite the fact that the HRM profession has made great strides in
the past several years, it is nonetheless true that HRM professionals are
often woefully unprepared and unable to perform at the level required for
their companies to succeed in a global market place34.

Addressing these Deficiencies

34
Ibid.
 There are no instant solutions for addressing these ten
deficiencies35. The problems associated with the limitations of HRM
systems are deep-seated and will take major changes to resolve.
Nevertheless, those changes are badly needed if businesses are to be
successful in creating high levels of employee engagement. Although the
Society for Human Resource Management and other professional
organizations have made a concerted effort to upgrade their profession and
increase the training available to HRPs, the root causes of the problems are
far more significant than a professional organization can address alone.
Acknowledging the difficulties facing the HRM profession and its
shortcomings, we respectfully propose five recommendations that we
believe can exponentially increase the public profile about these
deficiencies.

1) Address the HRM competence problem in major

graduate schools of business.

Brilliant academic scholars like Stanford’s Jeffrey

Pfeffer, the University of Michigan’s David Ulrich, and
business experts like Jim Collins and Diane Mills have
35
Caldwell, (2018), op. cit.
 acknowledged the problems facing the HRM profession.
Despite the fact that improvements have been made, the
plain truth is that the problems facing organizations in the
21st century are, in large measure, due to the failure of
leaders to motivate and engage the employee work force.
Unless and until HRM issues become a significant priority
in the business schools of major academic institutions –
including the most prestigious of those institutions – little
is likely to change for the profession in teaching business
students the critical skills and knowledge required to
improve the quality of HRM systems in today’s
organizations. Moreover, unless curriculum changes are
made to emphasize the importance of the HRM function,
MBA graduates at these schools will be unlikely to fully
involve HRPs in guiding their organizations36.

2) Create a public/private sector partnership

sponsored at the federal level to address upgrading the
HRM profession.

36
Mintzberg, (2005), op. cit.
 Under the aegis of the federal government, a series
of special partnership projects need to be established
together with representation including elected members of
congress, major corporations, professional associations,
small business, employee unions, and HRM experts to
create demonstration projects to revitalize and upgrade the
HRM profession. These projects should be conducted
with the purpose of increasing HRM standards and
providing guidelines for employers for HRPs and for the
conduct of HRM at a world class level. The challenges
facing business require a collaborative effort and, without
government support and business participation, the
necessary changes are unlikely to be made.

3) Expand research conducted by SHRM and other

professional groups about HRM issues.

Assisted by funding from the federal government

the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
and other professional organizations should initiate
extensive expanded research about the many HRM issues
that need to be improved to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of businesses of all sizes. That research
should be integrated with input from the entities who are
involved with the other recommendations of this proposal
and should be assisted by world class academic scholars.
This research should include funding academic journal
research and the associated publication of HRM academic
and professional journals. Researching these issues and
providing evidence regarding the findings are necessary
elements in improving the likelihood of achieving lasting
change.

4) Increase governmental sponsorship for HRM

scholarships and funding for HRM faculty chairs.

Inasmuch as public and private universities are

struggling financially, the federal government should play
a major role in increasing the number of HRM
scholarships at public and private universities –
particularly where those scholarships involve students and
faculty in applied research in partnership with the
businesses served by those academic institutions. Because
full-time HRM chair positions are necessary to conduct
and oversee the development of improved courses of study
and research, the federal government should also fund
multiple HRM faculty chairs at those academic
institutions. Government involvement and financial
support are necessary elements inasmuch as universities
have been adversely affected financially over the past two
decades.

5) Involve state and city governments and

associated organizations in creating programs
supporting HRM.

State, county, and municipal governments should

collaborate with academic institutions, businesses,
employee groups, and other related parties in creating
programs within their jurisdictions that increase the
effectiveness of HRM systems at businesses within their
boundaries. Those governments should provide tax
incentives and other forms of incentives and support for
participants who are part of the effort to improve the
quality of HRM in order to encourage such projects.
Addressing the needs of individual communities and the
 businesses located within them should be a priority in
order to improve the businesses within those same
jurisdictions.

We encourage decision makers in universities, government,

businesses, union organizations, and other important stakeholders to
consider these five recommendations – and to adopt these
recommendations on a timely basis.

The Challenge

The growing evidence has made it clear that successful business

organizations are dependent upon the active participation, engagement, and
contributions of the employees who work for those companies 37.
Employee engagement reflects the degree to which employees trust the
leaders, managers, and supervisors with whom they labor – and that trust is
far below what it needs to be for employees to be fully engaged 38. Unless

37
Clifton & Harter, (2019), op. cit.
38
HRResearch Institute, (2019), op. cit.
current trends are reversed, businesses will continue to struggle to obtain
the commitment of their employees.

Employee engagement can be substantially enhanced when the

deficiencies of HRM systems are thoughtfully addressed and HRPs are
more effectively prepared to perform the complex duties of their positions.
The task of upgrading the quality of HRM systems and their staff members
will not be easy – but the task is both possible and necessary for employee
engagement efforts to be meaningful. Although the ultimate responsibility
for employee engagement lies with an organization’s TMT and the
relationships established by its managers and supervisors 39, it is also true
that HRPs and HRM systems need to be immediately upgraded if 21 st
century businesses are to compete successfully in the complex global
market place.

39
Clifton & Harter, (2019), op. cit.
REFERENCES:

Best, J., (2006). Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Caldwell, C, Beverage, M., and Converse, P., 2018. “Selecting for Flair
Factors: Improving the Selection Process.” Business and
Management Research, Vol 7, No. 1, pp. 1- 9 and available online
at
http://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/bmr/article/view/12
892/7975.
Caldwell, C. &Peters, R. (2018). “New Employee Onboarding –
Psychological Contracts and Ethical Perspectives.” Journal of
Management Development, Vol. 37 Issue 1, pp. 27-39 and
available online at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/JMD-10-
2016-0202.
Caldwell, C., (2018). “Transforming a Discipline: The Evolution of
Human Resource Management” in Human Resource Management:
A Transformative Perspective. C. Caldwell, C. & V. Anderson,
(Eds.) Hauppage, New York: NOVA Publishing, Chapter 2.
Christensen, C. M., (2016). The Innovator’s Dilemma: Why New
Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business Review Press.
Clifton, J. & Harter, J., (2019). It’s the Manager. Omaha, NE: Gallup
Press.
Collins, J., (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the
Leap . . . And Others Don’t. New York: HarperCollins.
Edelman, (2021). “Edelman Trust Barometer 2021,” found online on April
20, 2021 at 2021-edelman-trust-barometer.pdf.
Goleman, D., (2005). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More
than IQ. New York: Bantam
Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D. & Cardy, R., (2014). Managing Human
Resources (8th ed.). New York: Pearson Publishing.
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z., (2010). The Truth about Leadership: The
No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Morgan, N., (2018). Can You Hear Me? How to Connect with People in a
Virtual World. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Pfeffer, J., (1998). The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting
People First. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Schein, E. H. & Schein, P. A., (2016). Organizational Culture and
Leadership (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Senge, P. M., (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the
Learning Organization (2nd ed.). New York: Image Books.