Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and

providing direction for the people who work in the organization. HRM can also be performed by line managers. HRM is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. HRM is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization's goals and objectives. HRM is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. HRM is now expected to add value to the strategic utilization of employees and that employee programs impact the business in measurable ways. The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate value.

Human Resources evolved from personnel as the field moved beyond paying employees and managing employee benefits. The evolution made verbal the fact that people are an organization's most important resource. People are an asset that must be hired, satisfied, developed, and retained. Long a term used sarcastically by individuals in the line organization, because it relegates humans to the same category as financial and material resources, human resources will be replaced by more people and organization friendly terms in the future.

INTRODUCTION OF HRM

We often hear the term Human Resource Management, Employee Relationsand Personnel Management used in the popular press as well as by Industry experts. Whenever we hear these terms, we conjure images of efficient managers busily going about their work in glitzy offices. In this article, we look at the question what is HRM ? by giving a broad overview of the topic and introducing the readers to the practice of HRM in contemporary organizations. Though as with all popular perceptions, the above imagery has some validity, the fact remains that there is much more to the field of HRM and despite popular depictions of the same, the art and science of HRM is indeed complex. We have chosen the term art and science as HRM is both the art of managing people by recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision and rigorous application of theory that is required. As outlined above, the process of defining HRM leads us to two different definitions. The first definition of HRM is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This

covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and

management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier.

The second definition of HRM encompasses the management of people in organizations from a macro perspective i.e. managing people in the form of a collective relationship between management and employees. This approach focuses on the objectives and outcomes of the HRM function. What this means is that the HR function in contemporary organizations is concerned with the notions of people enabling, people development and a focus on making the employment relationship fulfi lling for both the management and employees. These definitions emphasize the difference between Personnel Management as defined in the second paragraph and human resource management as described in the third paragraph. To put it in one sentence, personnel management is essentially workforce centered whereas human resource management is resource centered. The key difference is HRM in recent times is about fulfilling management objectives of providing and deploying people and a greater emphasis on plannin g, monitoring and control .

IMPORTANCE OF HRM

It is a fact that to thrive in the chaotic and turbulent business environment, firms need to constantly innovate and be ahead of the curve in terms of business practices and strategies. It is from this motiv ation to be at the top of the pack that HRM becomes a valuable tool for management to ensure success. The Evolving Business Paradigm One of the factors behind organizations giving a lot of attention to their people is the nature of the firms in the current business environment. Given the fact that there has been a steady movement towards an economy based on services, it becomes important for firms engaged in the service sector to keep their employees motivated and productive. Even in the manufacturing and t he traditional sectors, the need to remain competitive has meant that firms in these sectors deploy strategies that make effective use of their resources. This changed business landscape has come about as

a result of a paradigm shift in the way businesses and firms view their employees as more than just resources and instead adopt a people first approach. Strategic Management and HRM As discussed in the articles on modern day HRM practices, there is a need to align organizational goals with that of the HR strategy to ensure that there is alignment of the people policies with that of the management objectives. This means that the HR department can no longer be viewed as an appendage of the firm but instead is a vital organ in ensuring organizational success . The aims of strategic

management are to provide the organization with a sense of direction and a feeling of purpose. The days when the HR manager was concerned with administrati ve duties is over and the current HRM practices in many industries are taken as seriously as say, the marketing and production functions. Importance of HRM for Organizational Success The practice of HRM must be viewed through the prism of overall strategic goals for the organization instead of a standalone tint that takes a unit based or a micro approach. The idea here is to adopt a holistic perspective towards HRM that ensures that there are no piecemeal strategies and the HRM policy enmeshes itself fully with those of the organizational goals. For instance, if the training needs of the employees are simply met with perfunctory trainings on omnibus topics, the firm stands to lose not only from the time that the employees spend in training but also a loss of direction. Hence, the organization that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods. In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) for every rupee or dollar spent on them. Unless the HRM practice is designed in this way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. And this does not b ode well for the success of the organization.

Human Resource Management is not just limited to manage and optimally exploit human intellect. It also focuses on managing physical and emotional capital of employees. Considering the intricacies involved, the scope of HRM is widening with every passing day. It covers but is not limited to HR planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and recognitions, Industrial relations, grievance handling, legal proced ures etc. In other words, we can say that its about developing and managing harmonious relationships at workplace and striking a balance between organizational goals and individual goals . The scope of HRM is extensive and far-reaching. Therefore, it is very difficult to define it concisely. However, we may classify the same under following heads: HRM in Personnel Management: This is typically direct manpower management that involves manpower planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, induction and orientation, transfer, promotion, compensation, layoff and retrenchment, employee productivity. The overall objective here is to ascertain individual growth, development and effectiveness which indirectly contribute to organizational development. It also includes performance appraisal, developing new skills, disbursement of wages, incentives, allowances, traveling policies and procedures and other related courses of actions. HRM in Employee Welfare: This particular aspect of HRM deals with working conditions and amenities at workplace. This includes a wide array of responsibilities and services such as safety services, health services, welfare funds, social security and medical services. It also covers appointment of safety office rs, making the environment worth working, eliminating workplace hazards, support by top management, job safety, safeguarding machinery, cleanliness, proper ventilation and lighting, sanitation, medical care, sickness benefits, employment injury benefits, personal injury benefits, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits and family benefits. It also relates to supervision, employee counseling, establishing harmonious relationships with employees, education and training. Employee welfare is about determining employees real needs and fulfilling them with active participation of both management and employees. In addition to this, it also takes care of canteen facilities, crches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. HRM in Industrial Relations: Since it is a highly sensitive area, it needs careful interactions with labor or employee unions, addressing their grievances and settling the disputes effectively in order to maintain pea ce and harmony in the organization.

It is the art and science of understanding the employment (union -management) relations, joint consultation, disciplinary procedures, solving problems with mutual efforts, understanding human behavior and maintaining work relations, collective bargaining and settlement of disputes. The main aim is to safeguarding the interest of employees by securing the highest level of understanding to the extent that does not leave a negative impact on organization. It is about establishing, growing and promoting industrial democracy to safeguard the interests of both employees and management.

PROCESS IN HRM

The following are the various HR processes:

Human resource planning (Recruitment, Selecting, Hiring, Training, Induction, Orientat ion Evaluation, Promotion and Layoff). Employee remuneration and Benefits Administration Performance Management. Employee Relations. The efficient designing of these processes apart from other things depends upon the degree of correspondence of each of t hese. This means that each process is subservient to other. You start from Human resource Planning and there is a continual value addition at each step. To exemplify, the PMS (performance Management System) of an organization like Infosys would different f rom an organization like Walmart. Lets study each process separately. Human Resource Planning: Generally, we consider Human Resource Planning as the process of people forecasting. Right but incomplete! It also involves the processes of Evaluation, Promotio n and Layoff. Recruitment: It aims at attracting applicants that match a certain Job criteria. Selection: The next level of filtration. Aims at short listing candidates who are the nearest match in terms qualifications, expertise and potential for a certai n job. Hiring: Deciding upon the final candidate who gets the job. Training and Development: Those processes that work on an employee onboard for his skills and abilities upgradation.

Employee Remuneration and Benefits Administration: The process involves deciding upon salaries and wages, Incentives, Fringe Benefits and Perquisites etc. Money is the prime motivator in any job and therefore the importance of this process. Performing employees seek raises, better salaries and bonuses. Performance Management: It is meant to help the organization train, motivate and reward workers. It is also meant to ensure that the organizational goals are met with efficiency. The process not only includes the employees but can also be for a department, product, service or customer process; all towards enhancing or adding value to them. Nowadays there is an automated performance management system (PMS) that carries all the information to help managers evaluate the performance of the employees and assess them accordingly on the ir training and development needs. Employee Relations: Employee retention is a nuisance with organizations especially in industries that are hugely competitive in nature. Though there are myriad factors that motivate an individual to stick to or leave an o rganization, but certainly few are under our control. Employee relations include Labor Law and Relations, Working Environment, Employee heath and safety, Employee - Employee conflict management, Employee Employee Conflict Management, Quality of Work Life, Workers Compensation, Employee Wellness and assistance programs, Counseling for occupational stress. All these are critical to employee retention apart from the money which is only a hygiene factor. All processes are integral to the survival and success of HR strategies and no single process can work in isolation; there has to be a high level of conformity and cohesiveness between the same.

PERSONNEL MGNT VS HRM

Personnel Management Traditionally the term personnel management was used to refer to the set of activities concerning the workforce which included staffing, payroll, contractual obligations and other administrative tasks. In this respect, personnel management encompasses the range of activities that are to do with managing the workforce rather than resources. Personnel Management is more administrative in nature and the Personnel Managers main job is to ensure that the needs of the workforce as they pertain to their immediate concerns are taken care of. Further, personnel

managers typically played the role of mediators between the management and the employees and hence there was always the feeling that personnel management was not in tune with the objectives of the management. Human Resource Management With the advent of resource centric organizations in recent decades, it has become imperative to put people first as well as secure management objectives of maximizing the ROI (Return on Investment) on the resources. This has l ed to the development of the modern HRM function which is primarily concerned with ensuring the fulfillment of management objectives and at the same time ensuring that the needs of the resources are taken care of. In this way, HRM differs from personnel management not only in its broader scope but also in the way in which its mission is defined. HRM goes beyond the administrative tasks of personnel management and encompasses a broad vision of how management would like the resources to contribute to the succ ess of the organization. Personnel Management and HRM: A Paradigm Shift ? Cynics might point to the fact that whatever term we use, it is finally about managing people. The answer to this would be that the way in which people are managed says a lot about the approach that the firm is taking. For instance, traditional manufacturing units had personnel managers whereas the services firms have HR managers. While it is tempting to view Personnel Management as archaic and HRM as modern, we have to recognize th e fact that each serves or served the purpose for which they were instituted. Personnel Management was effective in the smokestack era and HRM is effective in the 21st century and this definitely reflects a paradigm shift in the practice of managing peop le. Conclusion It is clear from the above paragraphs that HRM denotes a shift in focus and strategy and is in tune with the needs of the modern organization. HRM concentrates on the planning, monitoring and control aspects of resources whereas Personnel Management was largely about mediating between the management and employees. Many experts view Personnel Management as being workforce centered whereas HRM is resource centered.

Managing employee performance

Introduction Managing employee performance is one of the key drivers for organizational success in the present context of firms trying to adopt a resource centered view of the organizational. We have seen elsewhere that integrating HRM practices with those of organizational goals and strategy increase s the competitive advantages for the firm. Similarly, managing employee performance within the larger framework of organizational goals is critical for organizations that count people among their key assets. As we have been mentioning throughout, firms in the service sector that lay a lot of emphasis on people need to ensure that employee performance is managed in a holistic manner. The Role of the Manager The manager has a duty to ensure that his or her management of the employees is free of biases and pre judices. Its been the case across industries and verticals where the employees feel discriminated against leading to attrition, lower employee morale and in the extreme cases, lawsuits against the company. Hence, the manager has to walk the talk and not simply pay lip service to the companys policies on employee performance. During the course of working together as a team, there are bound to be instances where friction between the manager and the team and within the team manifests itself. It is incumben t upon the manager to ensure that this does not morph into a corrosive effect that threatens the very existence of the team. The Role of the Employee The above section looked at the role of the manager. The manager has a duty to manage the team effectively and so does the employee have corresponding responsibilities as well. Absenteeism, Shirking Work, A negative attitude and a blas approach to work are some things that the employee must avoid. It is helpful to the employee to know that once he or she is c ategorized as having an attitude problem, then it would be difficult for the employee to break the perception and perform effectively. This does not mean that the employee has to take whatever comes his or her way. The point here is that the employee must use the channels available for redressal instead of sulking at work if he or she has grievances about the manager. Organizational Focus

Though the role of the HR manager and the organization seems to be relatively small, it is a fact that organizational goals and culture play a very important part in ensuring that employee performance is managed to the benefit of the organization. Most of us have read about or heard the benefits of working for MNCs (Multinational Companies) in India. The reason why they are highly talked about is the perception among potential and aspiring employees that these companies treat their people well. Though the point here is not to belittle Indian companies, the objective of this section is to highlight the ways in which organi zations can shape the treatment of people in theory and practice .

Performance appraisal What constitutes the Performance Appraisal process ?

The performance appraisal process, simply put, is the time of the year when the employees are evaluated on their performance during the last six months or one year depending upon the timeframe that is set for the same. The performance appraisal process is conducted between the employee and his or her manager for the first round and subsequently between the manager an d the managers manager before going into the third round which involves the above people

excluding the employee but involving the HR manager as well. The various rounds that comprise the appraisal cycle correspond to the different stages of the process c ulminating in the final grading of the employee.

Appraise and Appraiser The most important round is the appraisal interview itself (we will discuss more about this in a separate article) between the employee and his or her manager. The employee who is being evaluated is called the appraise and the person (usually the manager) who is doing the evaluation is called the appraiser. The appraiser and appraise prepare themselves for this round by doing a self evaluation (by the appraise) and an objective evaluation (by the appraiser). This is the round in which the most important achievements as well as glaring failures on the part of the appraise are discussed threadbare and usually the employees role in the process is limited to this round. What is the outcome of the Appraisal Process ?

As outlined above, the outcome of the apprais al process is the grade that is decided for the employee as well as the salary hike or the bonus potential that is awarded to the employee. Typically, organizations divide the year in which the employees performance is evaluated into two cycles, one for d eciding the salary hike and the other for deciding how much bonus he or she gets for the cycle. In this way, organizations ensure that there is no overlap in grading the employee and a fair and balanced evaluation is the desired outcome though this does no t always happen in reality. Shortcomings of the Appraisal Process The successful completion of the appraisal process hinges on all the participants approaching the same with an intention to contribute positively instead of bringing personal biases and prejudices to the table. Management experts usually prescribe a set of dos and donts to the participants in order to have an harmonious process. However, as has been pointed out above, the process itself is not without its shortcomings and the expecting the participants to be rational and objective at all times is indeed difficult. Further, since most organizations decide the grades in a way similar to the b-school equivalent of Relative Grading instead of absolute ratings, an element of competitive rivalry c reeps into the process making some employees unhappy.

HR challenges Human Resource Management used to be considered as other conventional administrative jobs. But over a period of time, it has evolved as a strategic function to improve working environment, plan out human resources needs and strike a balance between the organization and employers in order to increase organizational productivity and meet organizational goals. Not to exaggerate but in todays highly competitive world it has gradual ly become one of the most important functions of an organization. It is really a huge challenge to understand the psychology of workforce, retain the best talents of the industry, motivate them to perform better and handle diversity while maintaining unity simultaneously, especially in countries like India, where it is still evolving. Globalization has resulted in many positive developments but it has left many concerns for HR managers. In todays tough world and tight job market, coordinating a multicultur al or diverse workforce is a real challenge for HR department.

Human resource managers are on their toes to strike a balance between employer and employees keeping in mind the recent trends in the market. They may find themselves in dire consequences if they are not able to handle the human resource challenges efficiently. To remain in business, human resource managers need to efficiently address following human resource challenges: Handling Multicultural / Diverse Workforce: Dealing with people from different age, gender, race, ethnicity, educational background, location, income, parental status, religious beliefs, marital status and ancestry and work experience can be a challenging task for HR managers. With this, managing people with different set of ide ologies, views, lifestyles and psychology can be very risky. Effective communication, adaptability, agility and positive attitude of HR managers can bind the diverse workforce and retain talents in the organization. Managing Change: Who wants to change their ideology or way of working? Neither you nor I. How can we expect others to change then? Bringing change in organizational processes and procedures, implementing it and then managing it is one of the biggest concerns of HR managers. Business environment is so volatile. Technology keeps changing every now and then. All thanks to globalization. Upgrading the existing technology and training people for them is a real headache for HR department. The success rate of technology change depends how well HRD can handle the change and manage people issues in the process. Retaining the Talents: Globalization has given freedom to working professionals to work anywhere in the world. Now that they have endless lucrative opportunities to work, hiring and retaining the be st industry talent is no joke. Maintaining harmonious relations with them, providing excellent work environment and offering more remuneration and perks than your competitors can retain and motivate them. Conflict Management: HR managers should know how to handle employee employer and employee-employee conflicts without hurting their feelings. Although it is almost impossible to avoid conflicts among people still handling them tactfully can help HR managers to resolve the issues. They should be able to listen to each party, decide and communicate to them in a convincing manner in order to avoid future conflicts. HR professional must be proactive with all strategies and action plans i n order to meet the changing needs of the organization. They must be thorough with the

basic functions of HR including planning, organizing, leading and controlling human resources. www.managementstudyguide.com/human-resource-management.htm

TQM (Total quality management)

History 1930s TQM history
The history of TQM starts with Elton Mayos Hawthorne experiements from 1927 through 1932. These experiments showed that workers participation in decision making improves productivity. In the 1930s, the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company studied lighting levels, workday lengths, and rest period lengths to maximize productivity. During the lighting level studies, researchers found that when the lights were brighter, worker productivity increased. However when lighting level was decreased worker productivity also increased. This change in behavior from the employees is now called the Hawthorne effect. It basically states that when workers are involved in studies or decision making, productivity increases

Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssCxgPI

1950s History of Total Qality Management

In the 1950s Edward Deming taught statistical methods and Dr Juran taught quality management techniques to the Japanese. Armand Feigenbaun wrote Total Quality Control. This became the first work that started many Total Quality Management theories. In 1954 Abraham Maslow created a pyramid of self actualization needs. In terms of work productivity, the lower levels of needs must be met prior to employees performing at higher levels. The needs in order are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Physiological which is to eat, sleep, and have shelter Safety which is to have economic and physical security Belonging which is to be accepted by family and friends Esteem which is to be held in high regard Self actualization which is to achieves ones best

Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssGq7Kq

1960s TQM History

In the 1960s Douglas McGregor formed the Theory X and Theory Y leadership models. A Theory X leader applies a negative approach to management. They assume most workers really do not like to work and try to avoid work. A Theory Y leader believes workers want to do a good job. They believe workers will offer solutions to problems and participate in problem solving events. An involved employee is a productive employee.

Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssOcN00

2000s History of Total Quality Management

In the 2000s, ISO revised ISO 9001 to focus more on business planning, quality management and continuous improvement. Other certification standards were created including AS9100 for aerospace, TS16949 for automotive, ISO 14001 for environmental, TL9000 for electronics, and ISO 17025 for laboratories. These standards all include the ISO 9001 elements Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssWG3kS

Key Concepts of Total Quality Management include

structured system for exceeding customer expectations system that empowers employees drives higher profits drives lower costs continuous improvement. management centered approach on improving quality

Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssbPv59

Benefits of TQM include

Improves competitive position increase adaptability to global markets elevated productivity superior global image eliminates defects significantly reduces waste. reduces quality costs Improves management communication raises profits drives customer focus customer loyalty reduces design time.

Read more: http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/TQM-History.html#ixzz1tssfbHGh

Relationship between TQM & HR

TQM pioneered by Edward Deming, is a broad-based systematic approach for achieving high levels of quality. Many leading companies such as Motorola, Cadillac, and Xerox, whose strategies require them to survive against the pressures of world-class competition, have implemented TQM. In strategic context, TQM is probably most accurately categorized as a tactic for carrying out strategies requiring high level of product or service quality. Essentially TQM pulls together a number of well-known management principles into a coherent and systematic framework. Through the systematic interaction of these principles, TQM has the potential to lead to increased quality. TQM principles emphasize:

Articulation of strategic vision Objective and accurate measurements Benchmarking Widespread employee empowerment and team building Striving for continuous improvement Emphasis on a systems view of quality that conceptualize quality-related activities as being highly interdependent Leadership committed to quality Great emphasis on customer satisfaction

TQM programs hae the potential to increase the importance of the human resource management function. Human resource management plays a major role in providing more systematic training, facilitating changes that empower employees, instituting team-based reward systems, and communicating to workers their role in quality. David Bowen and Edward Lawler have described the relationship between TQM and Human Resource Management as follows:

The importance of the HR side of quality equation provides HR department with golden opportunity. Quality can be the business issue that truly brings senior managers and HR executives together to move from just HRM to strategic HRM. A major role in the quality improvement effort puts HR in a position to contribute directly and visibly to the bottom-line, to add value to the companys products and services in the same way that other functions, such as sales, accounting, and production, add value.
Before the human resource function can make full contribution to TQM efforts, high quality must be assured within the function itself. Benchmarking provides a useful means of both evaluating the quality of human resource programs, activities and impact as well as a means of identifying areas in which resource should be concentrated. The following quotations by David Ulrich, Wayne Brockbank, Arthur Yeung describes practice:

Benchmarking HR practices provides the means of focusing attention on highest value-added HR activitiesthose practices which are more likely to be practiced by successful companies. Rather than fall into the trap of trying to do everything well and please everyone with insufficient resourceswhich results in no one being satisfiedHR professionals could use benchmarking to focus limited resources on critical activities.
One of the important impacts of TQM, from strategic HRM perspective, is that it places great emphasis on training. TQM maintains that error and mistakes, which detract from the quality of companies products and services, are predictable result of untrained workers, and therefore training must be provided. Consistent with the emphasis on measurement, in some companies that use TQM, training is evaluated with the use of control groups and experimental designs. In contrast to training, TQM is sharply at odds with conventional human resource practices in the area of performance evaluation. According to Deming, traditional performance evaluation systems are flawed because they are directed toward the individual instead of a team. Such systems are also focus on assigning blames for past mistakes instead of pointing out the direction for the future and may even detract from teamwork.

TQM Total Quality Management (TQM) is a strategy that embodies the belief that the management process must focus on integrating the customer driven quality throughout an organisation (Stah, 2002). It stresses continuous improvement of product quality and service delivery while taking into cognisance the reality that in order to achieve this goal, employee relations needs to be equally addressed, as the customer cannot get the satisfactory service delivery from illmotivated employees (Lewis, 2004) The philosophy underlying the implementation of a TQM strategy is to see organisational customers and clients as the vital key to organisational success. Organisations with TQM strategy see their business through the eyes of their customers and clients and then measure their organisations performance against customer/client expectations (Fran, 2002). It therefore follows that organisations that want to be successful with the implementation of TQM strategy must evaluate its operations through the eyes of its customers b y strengthening and exploring all avenues including the people (employees)that make up the organisational structure(Stah,2002). According to Balogun and Hope-Hailey (2008), strategy should be seen as a system/process, that should be able to engender in the employees a culture of total commitment to the vision and mission of the organisation, and thus, a functional strategy that embodies the collective contribution of various components that make up the organisational hierarchy should be such that compliment each other in the implementation of a strategy. For a strategy to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of an organisation, effective strategy implementation mechanisms should be put in place and one of the most potent ways for achieving this is by exploiting the internal capabilities of the organisation in the form of its employees as a veritable asset while encompassing various HRM initiatives, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward systems, performance appraisal , the need for enhanced employee voice systems , employee engagement and greater line manager involvement with management ,because they should be seen as a bridge between the employees and management for enhanced psychological contract, which will in turn facilitate greater employee commitment (Murphy et al, 2001). Quality products or services need not only to conform to consumers requirements; the product/service must be acceptable. Effective TQM strategy entails that the product/service must go beyond acceptability for a given price range. For example, rather leaving customers/clients satisfied that nothing went wrong with the product or service, a product/service should give the customers/clients some delightful surprises, or provide

unexpected benefits (Collard, 2001). This means, therefore, that product/service quality assurance requires more than just meeting customers/clients minimum standards. The level of product quality is the degree, to which a product/service is equal to or greater than customers/clients expectations, That is LPQ > CE Where LPQ = Level of Product Quality, and CE = customer/client expectation. Thus, for organisations who desire to have TQM strategy in place and make it work effectively, should as a matter of principle endeavour to be positively disposed to the idea of quality management philosophy in their organisation. According to Haigh and Morris (2002), quality management is an ingredient towards adequate quality delivery to customers .Quality management involves: management systems, delivery, quality, cost, technology and of course the employees, because according to Donaldson, (2001), no matter how perfect a strategy might be, it depends on people for implementation. All these various components of quality management when effectively harnessed will result in customer satisfaction; where the intention is not to stop at a point in the process of implementation, but rather a continuous improvement of the mechanism for a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), through the use of employees as organisations effective internal assets for a successful implementation (Haigh and Morris, 2002).This can be further understood with the diagram below.

FIGURE 1: COMPONENTS OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (HAIGH AND MORRIS,2002)

People

Dedication and commitment from the employees, by means of well established voice systems and employee engagement.

Adequate tools to do the work effectively and efficiently, an enabling environment, and training. Team approach to management policies and procedures for strategic implementation.

Quality

No compromise alternative when aiming at quality because the outcome will definitely tell , the customer knows it when he sees it

Delivery

Customers should be able to receive products/service, when they want it.

Management systems

Understanding variation and effective development of human resource capacity utilisation. Constancy of purpose and direction Preventing error margin rather than detecting errors in quality delivery Pride of workmanship Problem solving

Technology

This involves research and continuous development in terms of product/service design. Up to date with contemporary manufacturing and service capabilities.

Cost

Efficient and competitive production system for good products/services Continuous cost improvement for the benefit of the customers (customer loyalty) as well as other associated costs like overhead costs associated with running the organisation.

Thus, from the foregoing, a number of issues can be associated with the implementation of an effective TQM strategy, but as stated by Stanford, (2005) succour lies in the ability of managers to adhere to these under mentioned twelve elements:

Quality awareness Effective management leadership style Organising for quality improvement Creating a participative environment by means of employee involvement and participation and employee engagement.

Problem prevention and solving. Training for quality improvement

Involvement of every function(e.g. front line leaders) at levels Customer (employees as internal customers) and supplier involvement within and around the organisation.

Measurement of Quality performance Continuous appraisal of measurement system for sustainability. Recognition for achievement/excellence. Continuous improvement.

Although all these twelve elements may seem too tasking at the beginning, a committed manager will appreciate how mutually important and inter-related all these elements and their recognition is vital for a successful implementation of TQM strategy. Various proponents of TQM strategy see it from different angles, right from the early works of Crosby(1979,1984,1989), Deming(1986,1994), Feigenbaum(1991), Juran(1988), Juran and Gryna(1993)and Ishikawa(1985), but central to their beliefs and working methods, is providing quality delivery through people .TQM begins with education and ends with education, and so crucial is the role of the employee in seeing to its successful implementation, because, when employees are aware of what is required of them in the process through effective voice system and engagement, they become highly motivated and committed to its actualization, (Dale, 1994). TQM should go farther than production operations/activities and involve every employee in the organisation. More often than not, companies that have failed in the implementation of TQM strategy fail not because they desire to fail in strategy implementation but rather, because of the emphasis laid at the door step of the hard aspect of the organisation such as costs and production performance, thus living little or no significant room for the soft people centred values of an organisation which encompasses employee involvement, participation, commitment and engagement (Slerming, 2007). For TQM to be effective, managers have to take into proper perspective the relevance of the workforce that make up the organisational structure, as no organisation exists to carry out business operations/activities without employees (Carol et al.2006). People are the effective tools management can readily use in transforming /implementing strategic choices(Edwards, 2005) and as Guest (1987) puts it because they are the most variable, and the least easy to understand and control of all management resources, effective utilisation of human resources is likely to give organisations a

significant competitive advantage. The human resources dimension must therefore be fully integrated into the strategic planning process. The above quote by Guest (1987) is aptly correct and relevant, if organisations are to attain the goals and objectives required of them, so as to justify the huge financial commitment by owners of business like the investors (shareholders) and even joint stakeholders in the operations of the business, for example the suppliers, regulators, customers, employees and communities they operate, because apart from justifying what is expected of them, TQM as a strategy allows and build in the employees the following:

A decentralisation of decision-making responsibility to well trained problem solving labour force, that is , it provides an avenue for the employees of an organisation to participate in decision- making about how the business operates, and this can further improve relationships, develop trust and confidence as well as facilitate co-operative activity (Druker, 2008).

Methodologically improving the quality of all organisational processes and strategies from an internal and external customer perspective, because with TQM, it helps with building collective responsibility, aid personal development and build confidence, develop problem solving skills and also facilitate employees awareness of quality improvement potential, leading to behavioural and attitudinal changes(Farnham, 2000).

A combined emphasis on both incremental continuous total quality improvement and break through strategies, because TQM as a strategy encourages the employees to improve operating effectiveness as employees work in a common direction and thus, foster a change in management style and culture(Fullan,2003).

A reasonable focus on the customer, both in setting strategic objectives and in building organisational routines that link as many units and levels in the firms as possible to identifying and meeting customer needs, wants, desires and expectations, and this can only be achievable with the enhancement of employees morale within and around the organisation ,(Simons, 2000).

A linkage of reward and measurement systems, both formal and informal, to support these new directions, because TQM builds in the employee the ability to solve problems to be able to align his/her personal needs, wants and desires with that of the organisation (Green et al, 2003).

TQM AND EMPLOYEES: THE USE OF HRM PRACTICES AND INITIATIVES

Every employee in an organisation should contribute reasonably to quality improvement and satisfaction of customers/clients needs and wants (Collard, 2001). For

organisations that practice TQM strategy, the manufacturing department orientation, for example, towards lowest-cost productivity should synchronise with the marketing commitment to market quality products at acceptable prices. The idea that quality improvement is every employees responsibility should permeate throughout the organisation, so that advertising, human resource, order-processing, production, delivery, and other organic functional areas of the organisations business will be in harmony. This will eliminate or reduce the problem of sub-optimisation associated with departmental excellence at the detriment of organisational excellence (Aluko et al, 2000). The idea should be top-down and bottom-up approach policy by management so as to allow for open line of communication within employees and between management. One way of achieving this, is by means of HRM practices and initiatives in the implementation of the strategy through training, learning and continuous development of the employee, recruitment and selection, reward system, succession planning and engendering employee voice culture, where they will be allowed to air their opinion on ways of moving the organisation forward for better growth and development (Lewis, 2004),because according to Murphy et al,( 2001), an engaged employee is the satisfied employee ,and a satisfied employee, is happy and able to deliver and meet set targets. Professional development is particularly crucial for employees of any modern organisation that aims to be competitive in business, by satisfying the customers through quality delivery of products and services (Kremetik, 2004). Practices and initiatives of HRM is by no means, an invaluable instrument in achieving a successful implementation of TQM strategy. In order to be abreast with the current trends in the ever dynamic business environment, it is pertinent that organisations invest in their workforce who will see to the implementation of TQM as a strategy that allow employees the opportunity to be aware of new trends and development in their fields (Collinson et al, 2003). Purcell et al. (2003) research, established the link between people and organizational performance. According to Purcell et al. (2003), by providing employees with the necessary training, their skill and motivation levels will increase, thus leading to enhanced performance within the organization. There is the need for line managers to be actively involved and committed to the development of employees, to enhance a strategic development, say in the area of training, learning and development (TL&D) Garavan (2007). This is because, line managers are better placed to understand the needs of both organizations and employees, so, it is ideal for line managers to have

greater involvement, by aligning individual needs to organizational needs, so as to ensure that TL&D is more strategic, helping to encourage vertical integration (Kremetik, 2004). For organizations to fulfill their vision and mission, front line leaders have to ensure that employees are clear about their roles and how it fits with the overall organizational objective. This can be done by reinforcing the concept of the golden thread, Martin and Jackson, (2005) ensuring the strategic link is maintained. According to Morgan, (2000), organizations have to take into cognisance, the employee aspect of the enterprise, because, they enable it to thrive financially, through the services that they render. Hence, there is the need for open line of communication, at all levels within the organisation. For TQM to take firm root in an organization as a strategy that can contribute to improving performance of an organization through quality delivery of products and services, it has to be backed up with Ability, Motivation and Opportunity(AMO) as postulated by Purcell et al,2003; because when employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge to do their jobs, the result is commitment and discretionary behaviour which are necessary ingredients to achieve high performance and turn skills into effective action. TQM strategy can be enhanced when using the AMO model (Purcell et al. 2003) and here, employees must have the ability, opportunity and motivation required to enable them do their work effectively and efficiently. However it relies heavily on the role of line managers, and in this case, since line managers are responsible for people management, they have to get more involved with their employees development and provide them with the three important aspects of the AMO model. Trust and confidence, resulting from psychological contract are ingredients that are needed for a greater involvement of employees in the implementation of TQM processes. FIGURE 2 People and Performance Model (Purcell et al., 2003) From the diagram above, it highlights some of the main domains of HRM practice which are in the areas of training and development, performance appraisal, recruitment and selection amongst others. The link between these domains, when harmonized, will ultimately result in better optimization of human resources (employees) in an organisation. When the employees are given the necessary motivation and skills which they will acquire through the training and management development programmes by management of organisations, the staff will in turn be motivated and committed to give in their utmost best while seizing every opportunity to demonstrate to the management as well as customers of the organisation that a strategy that is people oriented and

participative to employees will promote growth and development in an organization, Purcell et al.,(2003),this of course will only be possible with effective collaboration with a functional line management. What this model tend to demonstrate, is that teamwork, opportunity to participate, pay satisfaction, open communication between management and employees, enhanced career development will give the employees a sense of organisational commitment, well motivated staff strength and job satisfaction which ultimately will lead to greater performance outcomes and effective human resources capacity utilization(Grant, 2008)..Organizations that allow their employees to practice their profession to the point of attaining the highest position available in the organization, will certainly get the best out of their employees, knowing fully well that climbing up to the highest position in terms of hierarchy will not be compromised as this practice is also embedded in TQM strategy (Donaldson, 2001).The psychological contract is the bond existing between the employer and the employees; it says much about the trust and cordiality that exist between both parties i.e. the employer on one hand and the employee at the other side (Druker, 2008).The psychological contract both fill the perceptual gaps in the employment relationship and shapes day-to-day employee behaviour in ways that cannot necessarily be discerned from a written contract, (Rousseau and Ho 2000 pp 476). According to Gyelan and Waldman, (2005), embedded in psychological contract is the inevitable reward of use of discretionary behaviour by the employees. Confidence building and trust in the management by the employees will bring about this development, in order for the workforce of an organization to be whole heartedly involved in the day to day operations of an organization. It is only in an atmosphere of camaraderie that trust and confidence can be established, Geary,( 2003); thus, for organizations to succeed with the implementation of TQM strategy, HRM practices and initiatives, that allow for an atmosphere of psychological contract to be entrenched in its body of policies, should be allowed to flourish, so as to facilitate the linkage between psychological contract and the use of discretionary behaviour.An employee that is allowed freedom of choice in using his/her discretionary behaviour as encouraged by the implementation of TQM by seeing the employee as the internal customer, and not necessarily adhering to all rules as directed by management hook-line and sinker, will definitely give his/her best to an organization, because the phobia of high handedness which inevitably leads to human resource capacity under utilization of employees and poor performance from above management when eliminated, will allow for greater performance from employees, Grant,( 2008) and thus,

the idea behind AMO(Ability, Motivation and Opportunity) as postulated by Purcell et al.,(2003) would have been achieved, because, within the AMO model lies the desire to see employees not being bossed into a tight corner of having to implement all that management of organisations have to say to their employees but having the freedom to exercise their innate knowledge, which of course can only be demonstrated and made manifest, when given the necessarily opportunity and motivation to do so.
THE ROLE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT TEAMS IN TQM STRATEGY

One of the major obstacles that have bedeviled the successful implementation of TQM is the non recognition of quality teams in organizations in the quest for a successful strategy that will lift the organization above its competitors (Stanford, 2005). Team effectiveness is crucial to the implementation of TQM because the development of people and their involvement in the operations of an organization through teamwork is very essential ,and for it not to be seen as such ,will only ruin the collective effort of inputs towards the actualization of a functional quality delivery strategy like the TQM(Lewis,2004) Quality improvement teams cuts across employees of organizations, representatives of customers and suppliers with a major objective of meeting the set target of achieving quality. In doing this, it is pertinent to note that certain criteria have to be fulfilled in order to get the desired result from a quality improvement team, since it embraces almost all the stakeholders that lay claim to a business, and these criteria, according to Geirhybein (2004) include choosing the leader and members of the team. In doing this, the team leader must: Possess effective Leadership Behaviour Possess the attributes of effective conflict management Should have the ability of encouraging innovation Have adequate knowledge of effective meeting management Manage and send out schedule of events and activities. Make certain that the team members are conversant with the modus operand i of team meetings/activities. Endeavour to make certain that meeting venues are secured well ahead of time. Engage in meeting with front line managers on favourable times for team meetings.

 Should be prompt and alert to time. Ability to record activities of team meetings in minutes as well as collation of data. Sets an agreed time for the next meeting as well as communicates minutes and ensure that action is taken for matters raised. Ability to identify training needs of the quality team in addition to be a good contributor and listener, and this can be achieved by being dedicated to the intended purpose of the team through effective commitment. Similarly, Geirhybein (2004) suggested what members need to have in order to be effective in quality delivery teams: Members must be willing, not forced or coerced to join a quality team for the fun of it. Members need to be passionate about what the quality team sets out to achieve at all times as the direct result of such commitment is the outright benefit of quality service. Members should be prepared to share their experiences with the team leader as well as among themselves, for the overall benefit of the team. Members should be able to buy into shared team vision Present in the members should be the spirit of natural collaboration Need to respect the views of other members when they speak, listen to them when they have issues to raise as well as, be able to communicate effectively with both the team leader and members. Members should equally be ready to take down minutes at the request of the team leader, be prepared to follow up actions when directed and never be afraid to say I dont understand when situations arise . Members need also to be able to contribute meaningfully to discussions on the floor during meetings as well as being effective listeners. Quality improvement initiatives AMO(Ability, Motivation and Opportunity) as exemplified in the work of Purcell et al.( 2003) can serve as a leverage for the implementation of a TQM system. can be strengthened by the basic application of principles of motivation, especially the the recognition of team achievements as against those of individual employees, for team efforts, are crucial in driving the process of TQM. The HRM department is in a vantage (Fran, (2002).

INSTITUTING TQM CULTURE IN ORGANISATIONS: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT People can be better managed to embrace TQM by institutionalizing TQM organizational culture in the employees, so as to be able to deliver quality products and services to customers, Collinson et al, (2003). Human resource management can play a crucial role in the implementation of TQM strategy. HR managers or practitioners are responsible for recruiting and selecting high-quality employees, the continuous training and development of these employees, and the creation and sustenance of reward systems. Therefore, TQM sees to the control of processes that are pivotal to the accomplishment of cultural changes often required for TQM to be successfully implemented, Haigh and Morris, (2002). Directing the TQM cultural development initiatives to the organisations conditions is important in subduing opposition According to De Wit and Mayers, (2005),. Engendering trust and confidence through an open interchange of purposeful ideas can help eliminate. This can provide the building block for all employees to be trained to see their colleagues in other divisions as equal internal customers to the organisation. This is another avenue for HRM to highlight this new outlook by example. Through this means, that is, focusing on satisfying the needs and wants of the customer first and foremost, HRM can institute A major function of HRMs expertise is its capability to scrutinize and provide assessment for employee attitudes. This expertise can be significantly essential in driving the process for a proper implementation of TQM, since getting it right from the onset (conceptualization stage) entails having adequate data/information about current performance level. Therefore, a preliminary action is to implement an employee assessment, targeting two prime areas. One requires the identification of the difficult parts of organizations current operations, where innovations in quality can have the most significant impact on an organizations performance level. The other part, targets the perceptions and attitudes of employees towards quality as a fundamental issue, so as to ensure that, the implementation of TQM can be revitalized, for better effectiveness and efficiency, Collinson et al.,( 2003). Achieving assistance from other divisions in an organization in the use of surveys to a great extent depends largely on their perception of HRM's position ensure that HRM is not having an over bearing influence on other departmental functions, but rather, to be seen as an important ally in making their own quality improvements. Achieving this status, can be accomplished in the participative nature of the TQM philosophy by involving other divisions in the organization, towards the development of the survey instrument to be used. This involvement begins the process of carrying each division in

the organization along, so as to see TQM as a strategy to be embraced by all employees of an organization (Haigh and Morris, 2002).
REFERENCES

Aluko, O.,Gbadamosi, I., Osuagwu, L., (2000) Business Policy and Strategy, Lagos, Remof Themes Publishers Antonioni, T., (2004) The Bounaryless Organisation: Breaking the Chain of Organisational

Structure, London, Pitman Publishing.

Balogun, J. and Hope-Hailey,V., (2008) Exploring Strategic Change, 3 edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Campbell, H., N., (2006) Management Theory and Total Quality: Improving Research and Practice
rd

Through Theory Development, New York, Free Press.

Cardy ,G., (2006) Employee involvement as a Pre-requisite to Reduce Workers Compensation

Costs, Review of Business, Vol.23, No.2, pp12 16

Cardy,G. and Dobbins, L., S., (2004) Corporate Management, Governance, and Ethics Best

Practices, Human Resource Management, Vol.32, pp 283 297

Carol. L. McWilliam,M Catherine, W., (2006) Implementing organizational change in health and

social services , Journal of Organizational Change ManagementVol.19, Issue 2 pp119

135,available online atwww.sciencedirect.com, accessed 8, June, 2009

Collard, R., C.,(2001) Total Quality: Success Through People, London, 1PM Collinson, H., Work Motivation, London, Sage. Collinson,M., Edwards, P. and Rees, C.,(2003) Involving Employees in Total Quality

Management, London, Department of Trade and Industry, available online at www.sciencedirect.com,

accessed 10, June, 2009

Dale, B.,G., (1994) Managing Quality, 2

nd

edition, London, Prentice Hall

Davies, M., B., (2007) Key Concepts in Social Research Methods, New York, Palgrave, Macmillan LTD De wit, K. and Mayers, J., S., (2005) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 4 edition, London, Routledge Donaldson, (2001) The Contingency Theory of Organisations, London, Sage Druker, J., (2008) Wages System, in White, G. and Druker, J. (eds) Reward Management: A
th

Critical text, 2 edition, London, Routledge.

Edwards, M.R., (2005) Employer and Employee branding: HR or PR? in S .Bach (ed.) Managing

nd

Human Resources: Personnel Management in Transition, Malden, Blackwell.

Farnham, D., (2000) Employee Relations in Context, 4 edition, London, CIPD
th

Fran,E.,H.,(2002) Not So Strange Bedfellows.Organisation and Total Quality Management:

Manage service Quality, Vol.5, No.1,pp 55 63, available online atwww.xperthr.co.uk, accessed 10,
June, 2009

Fullan, M.,(2003) Change Forces with a Vengeance, London, Routledge Garavan, T.N., (2007) A Strategic Perspective on HRD. Advances in Developing

HumanResources,Vol.9 No.1, pp 11-30.

Geary, N., (2003) Team working: a new dynamic in the pursuit of management control, Human

Resource Management Journal, Vol.13, No.4, pp16-26

Geirhybein, D., R.,(2004) Implementing Total Quality Management in Organisations,New York, McGraw- Hill Gomm, R., (2009) Doing a Successful Research Project, New York, Palgrave, Macmillan LTD Grant, S., (2008) Rewarding Excellence: Pay strategies for the new economy, New York, JossyBass. Guest, D., (1987) Human Resource management and Industrial Relations, Journal of

Management Studies, Vol.24, No.5, pp503 521

Gyelan,P.and Waldman, G.,(2005) Strategic Management:From Theory to Implementation, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann

Hackman, J., R. and Wageman, L. (2006) Total Quality in Managing Human Resources, Chichester, John-wiley
These free essays are NOT the work of our expert essay writers. We DO NOT publish the work that our experts produce anywhere. All of the essays in this section were written by students and then submitted to us to publish and help others. Thanks to all of the students who have submitted their essays to us. You should not hand in any of these essays as your own work. We do not condone plagiarism! If you need custom essays on your exact essay questions, then have a look at our essay writing service.

Haigh, B. and Morris, D.,S.,(2002) Cycles of Control: Worker Participation in Sociological and

Historical Perspective Sociology, Journal of Organisational Behaviour, Vol.11, No,3, pp 22-34

Haustein, H.M., (2005) Putting Total Quality Management to Work, oxford, Blackwell.

These free essays are NOT the work of our expert essay writers. We DO NOT publish the work that our experts produce anywhere. All of the essays in this section were written by students and then submitted to us to publish and help others. Thanks to all of the students who have submitted their essays to us. You should not hand in any of these essays as your own work. We do not condone plagiarism! If you need custom essays on your exact essay questions, then have a look at our essay writing service.

Juran, J., M., and Gryna, F., M., (1993) Quality Planning and Analysis, 3 edition, New York, McGraw-Hill. Kremetik, P.,(2004) "Development Training in the United Kingdom" , London, Venture Publishing Inc. PA Lewis, D., (2004) The Organizational Culture Saga from OD to TQM: The Leadership and

rd

Organizational Development Journal, Vol.17. No.1, pp 19 27

Mahew, D., R, (2004) Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 2nd edition, London, Thomson Learning. Martin, M. and Jackson, T. (2005) Personnel practice (4 edition), London, CIPD Meyer, C.,(2005) Learning in Organisations: complexities and diversities Journal of Organizational Behaviour Vol. 19, pp 665674, Morgan, O., (2000) Improving training effectiveness in work organizations, London, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Murphy, K., and Cleveland, M.,S.,(2004) How People Tick: A guide to difficult people and how to
th

handle them, Journal of Organisational Behaviour,Vol.19, pp67-84

Purcell,J., Kinnie N., Hutchinson S.,Rayton,B., Swart,J., (2003), Understanding the people and

performance link: Unlocking the black box, London, CIPD

Rea, L., M., and Parker, R., A., (2006) Designing and Conducting Survey Research, San Francisco, Jossy-Bass Redman, A. and Snape, T., (2005) Organising the Multinational Enterprise: an information-

processing perspective, Cincinnati, Ballinger Publishing co.

Rousseau, T., and Ho, M., (2000), The Problem of the Psychological Contract

Considered, Journal of Organizational Behaviour Vol. 19, pp 665674.

Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., and Lewis, P., (2003) Research Methods for Business Students,
rd

3 edition, London, Pearson Education LTD

Scheurich, J., J., (2007) Research Methods in the Postmodern, London, Falmer Press. Scholtes, P.R (2003) Boundaryless HR: human capital management in the global economy, London, Rector-Duncan Publishing Ltd.

Seddon, P., H., (2005) Organisational international Career Logics: a conceptual tool for analysing

organisational expatiation pattern and their consequences for the management of organisations, Thunderbird International Business Review,Vol.43, Issue 11, pp 121- 131.
Simons, K., J., (2000) The Realities of Human Resource Management, Milton Keynes, Open University Press. Slerming, J.M., (2007), Management: Development strategies for action, Reading, Addison Wesley. Smither, F., G., (2005) Rewarding Excellence: Pay strategies for the new economy,Journal of Organizational Change ManagementVol.19, Issue 2 pp119 135 Sparrohe, B., T., Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 7 edition, , New York, Jossy-Bass. Stah, M.,(2002) Management: Total Quality in a Global Environment, Massachusetts, Blackwell Publishers LTD Stanford, P., (2005) Employee Involvement and the Middle manager: Saboteur or scapegoat?,
th

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol.11, No.1 pp24-40.

Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S., (2008) Human Resource Management, 7 Edition, London, Pearson Education Limited.
th

Wexley, S., M., (2002)Organizational dynamics, Boston, Harvard Business School Press.

NEW NOTES
HRM and TQM Total quality management (TQM) has far-reaching implications for the management of human resources. It emphasizes self-control, autonomy, and creativity among employees and calls for greater active cooperation rather than just compliance. Indeed, it is becoming a maxim of good management that human factors are the most important dimension in quality and productivity improvement.

Involvement: A central idea of Human Resource utilization At the heart of the TQM is the concept of intrinsic motivation-involvement in decision making by the employees. Employee involvement is a process for empowering members of an organization to make decisions and to solve problems appropriate to their levels in the organization. The Lean (Toyota) systems, utilizing JIT techniques are more productive, smaller and more efficient, increases worker pride and involvement on shop floor. Define Employee Empowerment The dictionary definition of empowerment is to invest people with authority Empowerment should not be confused with delegation or job enrichment. Delegation refers to distributing and entrusting work to others. Employee empowerment requires that he individual is held responsible for accomplishing the whole task. The employee becomes process owner- thus the individual is not only responsible but also accountable. Employee empowerment requires that the individual is held responsible for accomplishing a whole task. Suggestion System Suggestion systems are designed to provide the individual with the opportunity to be involved by contributing to the organization. The key to an effective system is management commitment. It is the responsibility of management to make it easy for employees to suggest improvements. Stimulating and encouraging employee participation starts the creative process. Five Ground Rules for Stimulating and Encouraging Suggestion System are: 1. Be Progressive by regularly asking your employees for suggestions 2. Remove fear by focusing on the process and not on the person. 3. Simplify the process so it is easy to participate 4. Respond Quickly to suggestions and within specified period of time 5. Reward the idea with published recognition so that everyone knows the value of contribution. Why Training is important in TQM based organizations?

As, at the heart of TQM is the concept of intrinsic motivation-involvement in decision making by the employees, it means more responsibility, which in turn requires a greater level of skill. This must be achieved through TRAINING. Basic Steps of Effective Training Plans

The first step in training process is to make everyone aware of what the training is all about. Thoughts suggestions should be gathered. The second step is to get acceptance. The trainees must feel that training will be of value to them. The third step is to adept to adapt the program. Is everyone ready to buy into it? Does everyone feel they are a part of what is going to take place? The fourth step is to adept to what has been agreed upon. What changes must be made in behavior and attitudes.

What kind of Training be imparted to the employees? The type of training depends on the need of the particular company. The areas that should be common to all organizations training program is problem solving and communication skills. In addition to above areas, all members should receive training in quality awareness (TQM), statistical process control (SPC), safety, and technical aspects of job. The only difference among types of training is that some may be required more often and for greater length of times than others. Following chart is based on recommendation of Dr. Juran regarding the type of training to be imparted at different organizational levels. The areas recommended are indicated in green color:

The Performance Appraisal The purpose of performance appraisal is to let employee know how they are doing, and provide a basis of promotions, salary increases, counseling. Many supervisors look at appraisals as one of the unpleasant duties they must performance. Conversely some supervisors feel it a pleasant duty and can reveal how effective an employee is in contributing to the success of organization. Every effort should be made to avoid errors in performance evaluations. An unfair evaluation could cost an organization a valuable employee. Criticism on Performance Appraisal System The critics of appraisal system suggests that appraisals nourish short-term performance and destroy long-term planning. Another criticism states that individual appraisal destroys teamwork. If teams are to become a cohesive unit of all for one and one for all, then individual ranking would undermine the entire concept. A third concern is the assumption that an individual is responsible for all results. In reality results are frequently beyond an individuals control, such as processes and equipment. Deming has stated that 85% of the problems are the result of the system.

Last, there is a concern that appraisals are frequently based on subjectivity and immeasurable.

Dr.J.Edward Demming

The Demings Reservation about performance appraisal system The traditional performance appraisal system has been criticized as being counterproductive and unnecessary by Deming. He once stated, In practice, annual ratings are a disease, annihilating long-term planning, demobilizing teamwork, nourishing rivalry and politics, leaving people bitter, crushed, bruised, battered, desolate, despondent, unfit for work for weeks after receipt of rating, unable to comprehend why they are inferior Should individual performance appraisals be eliminated, as suggested by Deming? The answer is: This unlikely in view of historical and widespread use of human resource management tool. Rather than scrap performance appraisals, a number of practitioners have suggested that the performance appraisal system be improved. What should then be a good performance appraisal system? First of all, there should be a good relationship between the employee and appraiser. Employees should be made aware of appraisal process, what is evaluated and how often. Employees should be told how they are doing on a continuous basis, not just at appraisal time. The appraisal should point out strength and weaknesses as well as how performance can be improved. The performance must be based on standards that are developed and agreed upon by the appraiser and employee. And lastly, an employee should always be given an opportunity to comment on the evaluation, to include protesting, if desired. Compensation System

The traditional compensation systems have been based on: 1. Pay for performance 2. Pay for responsibility (a job description) Each of these are based on individual performance, which creates a competitive atmosphere among employees. If compensation criteria are focused exclusively on individual performance, a company will find that initiatives promoting teamwork will fail Compensation System in TQM Philosophy The TQM Philosophy emphasizes flexibility, lateral-communication, group effectiveness, and responsibility for an entire process that has the ultimate outcome of customer satisfaction. A team based compensation approach is Gain Sharing or Performance Bonus to all employees. It is a system of management in which an organization seek higher levels of performance through involvement and participation of its people.

INTRODUCTION
Total Quality Management The HR Problem

Total Quality Management (TQM) is now widely recognised as one of the major innovations in management practice over the last decade. For the most part, however, the principal contributions to the analysis of TQM and its operation have come from people in the Operations Management area (for example, Oakland, 1989, Dale & Plunkett, 1990, Dale, 1994). Arguably, this has led to a preoccupation with the so-called hard production-orientated aspects of TQM as opposed to its softer Human Resource Management (HRM) characteristics. This means that less attention has been focused on people-management issues such as appropriate supervisory styles, compensation/payment systems, teamwork, industrial relations and the implications for different managerial functions.

In recent years, TQM has been taken up by a number of HR writers who have seen it as an opportunity for the function to play a strategic role. Until recently the personnel profession appears to have been slow to see the implications for the function. This may have been because they saw it as refashioned quality circles (with which they had negative experience) or more likely because it was seen as essentially quality control/assurance and consequently regarded as a job for operations managers (Wilkinson, Marchington, Ackers & Goodman, 1992).

However, the past few years has seen both a shift in emphasis to human resource issues within the quality area and the growing interest of personnel specialists. The former reflects two factors. First, a shift from quality assurance to TQM with a consequent greater emphasis being placed on issues such as employee involvement. Second, growing evidence which suggests that TQM has major problems in the so-called soft areas (Plowman, 1990, Kearney, 1992, Cruise OBrien & Voss, 1992) and in particular culture, involvement and communication. According to Cruise OBrien and Voss: Quality depends on broad based employee involvement and commitment. New and innovative human resource policies were reported by managers in a number of organisations, but these were not often related to quality. . . . Divorce of human resources from quality, except in name, could seriously retard the spread of quality through the firm. (1992, p. 11) This would appear to present the personnel function with a window of opportunity, even if it has little involvement from the start of TQM. In this sense, the shift of focus to human resource issues may not have come about at the behest of the personnel people but because others have recognised a need for their involvement, albeit at a late stage. Thus, a number of writers have begun to identify the opportunities which TQM might offer for the function. Giles and Williams argue that Quality has a high personnel content. It gives strategic importance to policies and processes that personnel managers have traditionally considered to be their own patch (1991, p. 29) and thus quality management is pure strategy on a plate waiting for some personnel input (1991, p. 30).

WHAT IS TQM?
The problem of quality management is not what people dont know about it. The Problem is what they think they do know. . . . In this regard, quality has much in common with sex. Everyone is for it (under certain conditions of course). Everyone feels they understand it (Even though they wouldnt want to explain it). Everyone thinks execution is only a matter of following natural inclinations. (After all, we do get along somehow). And, of course, most people feel that all problems in these areas are caused by other people (if only they would take the time to do things right). (Crosby, 1979)
The TQM Approach

The major premise of the TQM philosophy is that quality, defined by Juran as fitness for use, is the key to business success and that this, rather than price or delivery, is the route to competitive advantage. Moreover, in addition to increasing sales and market share through quality improvements, TQM need not

lead to increased costs, rather costs are likely to fall due to a decline in failure rates, rectification, warranty costs, returned goods and a reduction in the costs of detection. TQM is concerned with building in rather than inspecting quality, with being the responsibility of all employees, rather than merely the responsibility of a specialist department. The benefits of such an approach are regarded as being potentially very significant. Dale and Plunkett (1994) estimate that quality costs in an organisation which is not committed to a process of improvement, range from 1014% of annual sales turnover. Thus for many, the most compelling argument for TQM is that it promises to increase long-term business performance and profitability (Dale & Cooper, 1992). Quality is seen not as an option, but as a business requirement in the face of growing competition. The origins of TQM are usually ascribed to Japans search for quality improvements in the l950s and its success in moulding ideas on quality into a coherent operating philosophy; by the 1960s this combined the ideas of Denning and Juran with the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC) and teamwork. In 1962 the first three quality circles were registered with JUSE (Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers) and the quality movement spread o the workers with the extensive use of SPC. Both Denning and Juran were interested in the wider implications of quality control, and argued that quality control should be conducted as an integral part of the management control systems (in contrast to its traditional role as a policeman function). This developed into the notion that prevention not detection was the key and the concept was one of managerial breakthrough (Juran, 1965) whereby continuous improvement was held to be the ultimate goal. Furthermore, management was charged with responsibility since 85% of failures were regarded as the fault of inadequate management systems. (Ishikawa, 1985). By the 1960s the challenge to Western markets led to the adoption of Japanese methods of production within the Uiited States. In the 1980s, TQM was taken up by many American companies and Europe followed suit with it. The European Foundation of Quality Management was founded in 1988 to improve the position of European industry in the world markets (Wilkinson, Allen & Snape, 1991).

Total quality is the application of quality assurance to every company activity, so that zero defects are achieved (or aimed for). Its characteristics are the application of good practice quality management principles, as popularised by the so-called quality gurus, principally the ideas of W. Edwards Deming (1986), Joseph Juran (1965), Philip Crosby. (1979) and Feigenbaum (1983). In essence TQM is a general business management philosophy, which is about the

attainment of continuously improving customer satisfaction by quality led company-wide management. This goes beyond the mere application of total quality ideas to the whole organisation and its management by any one business function, to being a new approach to corporate management itself (Wilkinson & Witcher, 1991).
Hard and soft aspects of TQM

TQM has both hard and soft aspects. The former emphasizes systems, precise data collection and measurement and involves a range of production techniques, including statistical process control, changes in the layout, design processes and procedures of the organisation, and most importantly the seven basic TQM tools used to interpret data: process flow charting, tally charts, pareto analysis, scatter diagrams, histograms, control charts and cause and effect analysis. TQM is based on the premise that all activities in a firm contribute to quality. Thus it is important that a firms activities and procedures are documented so that their effects for quality are understood by everybody. The emphasis on the hard aspects reflects the production orientation of many of the TQM gurus. The soft side of TQM gets a good deal less attention although it is by no means ignored. Hill (1991, p. 391) says while solutions to the technical issues of designing appropriate systems and procedures are fully specified there are lacunae in the treatment of social factors. Clearly there are implications for the workforce in the quality philosophy with the message that quality is everyones business, as firms are urged to move away from supervisory approaches to quality control towards a situation where employees themselves take responsibility. The soft side thus puts the emphasis on the management of human resources in the organisation and lays particular emphasis on the need to change culture. Thus, TQM has clear implications for human resources whether this he in terms of employees taking greater responsibility for quality (empowerment according to the quality gurus), having accountability for its achievement, or in terms of the introduction of teamworking principles into organisations. TQM appears to be consistent with a move towards human resource management, not only in the emphasis on employee commitment rather than compliance, and in the underlying unitarist philosophy, but also it identifies line managers as having a key responsibility for the management of people. Both TQM and HRM call for the involvement of top management, and in this sense can be seen as requiring a more strategic approach to the management of human resources. However, it is commonplace in the literature to point to the failure to adopt such a strategic approach (Wilkinson et a!, 1991).