Intelligence Analysis Behavioral and Social Scientific Foundations (2011) / Chapter Skim
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12 Workforce Effectiveness: Acquiring Human Resources and Developing Human Capital--Steve W. J. Kozlowski
12 Workforce Effectiveness: Acquiring Human Resources and Developing Human Capital--Steve W. J. Kozlowski
Pages 271-308
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From page 271... ...
and implications of this shift for IC strategy and internal alignment. I will then discuss strategic HRM, which describes how the workforce can be aligned to help accomplish IC strategic objectives, and I will present a strategic HRM architecture for acquiring human resources and developing human capital.
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This chapter is intended to summarize lessons from research on organizational effectiveness that can be applied to improving workforce development and organizational learning in the IC. The Strategic Environment and IC Strategy As described by Fingar (this volume, Chapter 1)
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• Operate as a single integrated team, employing collaborative teams that leverage the full range of IC capabilities to meet the require ments of our users, from the President to deployed military units. With the NIS as a point of departure, I now turn to how the behavioral science literature on strategic HRM and HRM practices can be instrumental in achieving these IC strategic goals.
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Looking at the IC with limited insight from the outside, the IC strategy appears to conform roughly to the analyzer archetype, although the exact balance of exploitation and exploration is difficult to characterize. The reason this macro perspective is important is because strategic alignment has implications for HRM, meaning the types of human resources the firm seeks -- the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics, or KSAOs (e.g., personality, interests, and values)
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Workforce effectiveness is a product of selecting the right mix of individuals, based on their KSAOs, to create a pool of human resources consistent with the organization's strategic alignment, then to invest in human capital by developing and motivating the workforce so the organization can accomplish its mission more effectively than its competitors.
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The strategic capabilities perspective is future oriented and focused on fostering learning, motivation, and innovation. This shifts the view from one of just having the right pool of human resources to one of also being able to build human capital by investing in the development of the workforce to create unique capabilities.
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AN ARCHITECTURE FOR STRATEgIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAgEMENT Individual Differences People differ from one another on a wide range of characteristics. Individuals differ on demographic features (e.g., age, sex, race)
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Those investments yield an aggregate pool of human resources. From a systemic fit perspective, strategic HRM should target selection of individuals with KSAO profiles that are consistent with the existing organizational strategy.
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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAgEMENT PRACTICES Translating Strategic HRM into Action Human resources and human capital provide a basis for understanding the differences in resource endowments and capabilities that in aggregate distinguish organizations competing in a particular environmental niche. At the firm level, one can liken them to aggregate individual abilities or "can do" characteristics.
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. Many of these practices -- such as recruitment, selection, training, performance management, compensation, and work design -- have been used for quite some time, but only within the past few decades have researchers engaged in concerted efforts to empirically link HRM practices to indicators of organizational effectiveness.
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, there is a sufficient basis to conclude that HRM practices are a viable means to implement strategic HRM, develop the workforce, and enhance organizational effectiveness. 2 A meta-analysis quantitatively cumulates indicators of relationship or effect size, correct ing for statistical artifacts (e.g., measurement error)
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work design and teamwork. I focus on these four core activities because they are consistent with the strategic HRM architecture illustrated in Figure 12-1 and because they are based on well-developed methodologies and practices and/or they have an extensive literature and research foundation.
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Although there is some support for realistic job previews in the literature, meta-analytic evidence indicates that the effects are weak (Phillips, 1998)
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It is a systematic process to identify the important and critical task behaviors that comprise a job and the underlying KSAOs required for effective job performance. Many techniques can be used to generate job analysis data, which typically involves observing, interviewing, or surveying subject matter experts or job incumbents.
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By recruiting a large and diverse pool of applicants, assessing them with validated predictors, and then selecting the most qualified applicants, an organization can ensure that it is acquiring a high-quality pool of human resources. This HRM strategy has immediate and long-term pay-offs in terms of performance effectiveness.
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For knowledge workers, a traditional task analysis may be supplemented or replaced by a cognitive task analysis that traces cognitive operations, decision skills, and capabilities needed to perform the task effectively (Schraagen et al., 2000)
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If the material is not learned effectively, it cannot enhance job performance. Reactions and learning criteria are internal to training.
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. Although training will typically yield learning, it is of little direct value to the organization unless it also yields improvements in job performance or other relevant behavior changes (i.e., desirable behavior changes aligned with the targeted KSAOs)
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suggests it is not desirable for organizations to assimilate newcomers too quickly. Rapid socialization prevents newcomers from bringing in new ideas that can enrich the existing knowledge base; there is a fine balance between socialization and organizational learning.
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Because mentoring is valued for its many benefits, organizations including IC agencies have fostered formal mentoring programs by providing structure, guidance, and assistance to initiate and maintain such relationships. Evidence on the effectiveness of formal mentoring programs relative to naturally occurring informal mentoring is mixed (Finkelstein and Poteet, 2007)
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Performance Management and Incentives These high-performance work practices target the process of continual improvement of employee job performance and the linkage of incentives to motivate the achievement of work outcomes that contribute to organizational objectives. Aguinis defines performance management as " .
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Core elements of performance management include goal setting, feedback, coaching and development, performance evaluation, and rewards (Smither, 2011)
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Not unusually, incentives may be limited by economic factors or policy shifts, which undermine subsequent trust and, thus, the motivating potential of incentives in the future. Incentives are most useful when integrated into a well-developed performance management system.
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Work Design and Teamwork Work design and teamwork are HRM practices intended to enhance employee involvement, stimulate motivation, and leverage distributed expertise. Work design comprises " .
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, is also energizing this expanded interest. Researchers have studied small-group and team effectiveness for well over half a century, creating a substantial body of knowledge on team effectiveness independent of the work design literature.
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They are useful for workforce development and for developing effective ways for the organization to leverage its human resources and human capital. CONCLUSION Review Approach and Objectives The purpose of this chapter is to provide a concise summary of the scientific literature on developing an effective workforce.
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The specific HRM practices examined are those considered core activities -- recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and incentives, and work design and teamwork -- with respect to acquiring, building, and sustaining an effective workforce. Many other topics relevant to organizational effectiveness -- including leadership (Day, 2011)
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Finally, work design is well supported, and tools are available to analyze and implement work design changes. We know a lot about team effectiveness.
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That means capitalizing on the HRM practices reviewed previously and building an infrastructure to promote organizational learning. So, for example, the IC has developed performance standards (i.e., competencies)
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. These acts provide some basic actions needed to target desired human resources, locate key talent, and identify human capital to be developed.
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2006. Strategic human resource management: Where do we go from here?
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1996. Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource manage ment: Tests of universalistic, contingency and configurational performance predictions.
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1995. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance.
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1996. Improving labor productivity: Human resource man agement policies do matter.
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2006. A conceptual review of human resource management systems in strategic human resource management research.
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2001. Future work design and practice: Towards an elaborated model of work design.
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2011. Strategic human resource management.
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1996. Human resource manage ment, manufacturing strategy, and firm performance.
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