In this chapter, the research conclusions would be presented first, including the model for performance improvement and some suggestions for the case company; and then the recommendations would be in the last section.
Conclusions
This research aims to explore the relations between the background of the workers before coming in to the company and their performance after they were hired. Develop a model for performance improvement by following the performance improvement process and identify the factors that can affect the performance, and then provide the countermeasures for improving the performance. Literature regarding the performance improvement was reviewed as the base of this research. In order to gain in-depth data for this research, the case-study research method was applied, including document review and semi-structured interviews. The categorizing analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the interviews, and coding system provided the systematic findings for the researcher to answer the research questions and develop a model for performance improvement.
Educational Levels, IQ Test Results, and English Proficiency Test Results
The findings from this research showed the relations between the educational levels of the engineers and their performance in the company. The engineers who have master degree seem to have more potential to improve their performance than the engineers having bachelor degree. In accordance with the findings, for the HR practitioner in recruitment & selection department, it is necessary for some specific job positions that need more creation and continuous improvement to search for the talent with master degree.
In the findings, it was shown that the engineers who had higher IQ test results didn’t have obviously higher performance. This finding echoed with the conclusion that McClelland (1973) claimed in his published article “Testing for competence rather than for intelligence” in 1973.
McClelland claimed that aptitude tests, which had traditionally been used by psychologists to predict performance, did not in-fact predict job performance (McClelland, 1973). In this case, for
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the HR practitioners, the IQ tests results used in the selection process cannot be seen as an absolute reference for the future performance.
The preliminary finding showed that engineers who have higher English proficiency test results have obviously higher performance. This explains why there are many companies now require TOEIC or TOFEL test results or English proficiency test in the process of interview, because the English proficiency test results can be the reference for the future performance;
though it’s not an absolute indicator, it still worthy for some value in the selection process.
Previous Performance in Schools
Previous performance in schools can be a very critical indicator for HR when choosing the right talent for the company. Especially for the job positions with managerial function, employees who had more participation in schools, including the clubs and students’ associations, tended to have more superior performance. On the other hand, the participation in schools as leaders can be the early-stage training of socialization and their interpersonal skills in communication and leadership. Moreover, they have more potential to improve their performance at work.
Orientation Training
Most of the people considered that the orientation training held by the company was very helpful for them to quickly adapt into the new working environment, be familiar with both internal and external environment, and build the connection with the colleagues or other employees. Based on the findings from the interviews, the training can increase the coherence for the company and build the trust from communication among the employees, and consequently lead to better performance at work. But, the effectiveness of the orientation training would be better if it could be held earlier when the employees just got into the company; in that case, they would be able to adapt the environment earlier and make the contribution at work.
On-the-Job Training
There were many articles showing that the training effectiveness has positive relations with the employees’ work performance. Dessler (2003) mentioned the benefit of training in his book, Human Resource Management,
For the employees, the benefits are the learning for new techniques or skills and the change of working behavior, knowledge and attitudes; for the organization,
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the benefits from training are the increase of profit and enhancing the quality of manpower and the competitiveness of the organization.
For the employees, if they receive enough on-the-job training related to their professional skills and assigned tasks, they have more tendencies to improve their performance. Moreover, the training can enable them to make the work-life balance, improve their communication skills and increase their learning speed.
A Model for Performance Improvement
Based on the findings from the document review and semi-structured interviews, a model for performance improvement was developed by the researcher, it was presented in Figure 5.1.
The model consists five parts: recruitment & selection, orientation training, on-the-job training, performance appraisal and performance improvement. First, in the recruitment &
selection section, the recruiters or human resource specialists can put more attention on the educational levels and English proficiency when selecting the talent for the job positions, and the previous leadership experiences in schools. Second, for human resource development department, they could arrange the orientation training immediate or not too long after the new employees get in the company; so that they could adapt into the new working environment with sufficient knowledge of the company. Third, more soft-skills training programs and sufficient communication among supervisors and subordinates are need for the internal training to keep the improvement of employees’ performance; more budget and equal chances for attending the external should be arranged since the external courses were considered very important for the employees to develop their skills. In the process of performance appraisal, clear and flexible performance goals should be discussed by the supervisors (managers) and the employees, so the employees can achieve the goals effectively. Since some of the employees mentioned that private emotions of the managers sometimes can affect the performance appraisal results, the researcher suggested that the HR department should provide extra management training for the managers to avoid biased judgments. Besides, fair proportions for the performance evaluation levels are also needed to keep the equity of the appraisal; otherwise, the unfair performance appraisal might discourage the employees to work harder. On the other hand, the organizational communication also plays an important role in employees’ performance improvement. If the relation between the
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employee’s and their managers are harmonious and the managers are willing to help and encourage the employees, they have more probabilities to learn and feel motivated.
Implications
Nowadays, due to the booming of new technology, the external environment has been changing very quickly, especially for industries like consumer electronics industry. Consequently, keeping the competitiveness became even more crucial for the organization, so the human resource department would not only have to recruit more talent but also develop the existing human resource. Performance improvement is necessary in human resource development, this research can contribute to the HR practitioners about the linkage between recruitment &
selection and employees’ performance and what can be the factors affecting performance improvement, so that they could adjust the system to be more effective and efficient for continuous performance improvement.
Recruitment & Selection
Based on the findings from this research, the engineers who have master degree did have more potential in improving their performance at work. Nowadays, many people try to pursue higher academic degree and the companies are seeking professional talent with higher educational level as well; this research showed that the educational level can be an indicator for future performance. For the recruiters in companies, paying more attention to the educational levels can also increase the effectiveness of selection for the job positions.
Orientation Training
The timing of orientation training is very important for the new employees. In the previous studies also showed about this point; many researchers had the consensus in their research that the orientation training should be occur to the individuals immediately after entering the organizations (Feldman, 1988). Since the orientation training is supposed to guide the new comers for the adaptation process in the organizations, if the orientation training can be held sooner after they get on board, it will be better for them to fit in the new environment and help them start working efficiently.
Most of the orientation trainings in the organizations focus on passing on the culture of the organization and introducing the regulations in the organization, and they are short of the flexibility for employees with different job positions and seniority. If the company can
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differentiate the orientation training based on the seniority and provide them specific introduction for their jobs, the new employees will be able to contribute to the organization with shorter adaptation period.
On-the-Job Training
There are internal training and external training provided by the company to develop the talent. Most of the employees are very willing to participate or attend the training courses, but it’s not absolutely that they can have the chances to join the courses. The chances for the employees should be equal, unless the training courses are specified for some kinds of job positions. Since attending training courses can motivate the employees to work harder and enable them to have a better work-life balance, it will be better for them to have equal right for it.
Moreover, the production and satisfaction will increase after they are motivated.
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is important not only for the organization but also for the employees themselves. For the employees, the performance appraisal is a way to check their effort and contribution. If their effort is recognized and appreciated, they will be motivated and encouraged to keep working with positive energy; if not, they might start to devote themselves in the work as much as they can. From the findings from this research, it was discovered that the forced distribution in the performance appraisal could make them frustrated from work, due to the lack of recognition for their effort. It might be necessary to keep the distribution for the performance evaluation levels, but it could be more flexible for different job positions or seniority.
The communication when setting the performance goals is also considered as a very critical part for improving employees’ performance. Some of the performance gaps are caused by the misunderstanding of the performance goals or the lack of flexibility for discussion, if they employees and their supervisors or managers can have consensus on the performance goals, the performance goals can be achieved possibly and effectively. The flexibility also includes the timely communication in the process of achieving the goals.
Organizational Communication
Good communication among the organizations is considered as an important factor for the organization to operate smoothly. In addition, smoother communication among the organization can enable the employees to be more willing to contribute to the organization or learn from the colleagues. Most of the employees they get along well with their supervisors or managers, but
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some of them think there are barriers between them. For the managers or supervisors who are more willing to help or interact with their subordinates, the employees tend to learn more from the working experiences and the performance seems to be better. If the company can provide some training related to organization communication, it might help to improve the performance of the employees.
Suggestions
In this research, the main purpose was to develop a model for performance improvement.
An overall structure and model for performance improvement has already developed. For focusing on the relation between the recruitment & selection and employees’ performance, future studies can concentrate on the reason why the English proficiency would have positive relation with the employees’ performance; in that case, the company can also design training courses related to it to develop the existing talent.
For orientation training, future studies can focus on design the structure for the orientation training based on the seniority of the employees, to increases the training effectiveness and also the production of new employees.
For on-the-job training, researchers can concentrate on what kind of training courses will be more helpful for improving the employees’ performance and design a learning map for the human resource development department to keep developing the talent in the company.
For performance appraisal, how to solve the issues about forced distribution in the performance appraisal system can be the future studies to avoid the inequality occurred in the process of performance evaluation.
Companies with different background and in different industries will have dissimilar performance management practices. This research was a case study of Consumer Electronics Company, a company from ODM industry, and the target samples were mainly engineers from different functions. Future studies can choose other industries, with other job positions, and then make the comparisons between different industries and job positions.
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Performance Improvement
Figure 5.1. A Model for Performance Improvement
Educational Levels
English Proficiency
Leadership experiences Recruitment & Selection
Immediate arrangement for orientation training
Flexibilities depends on seniority Orientation Training
Internal Training
Soft-skills training
Sufficient communication
External Training
More budget to apply
Equal chance to attend On-the-Job Training
Direct communication
Willing to help and encourage each other
Organizational Communication
Clear and flexible performance goals
Impartial performance evaluation
Fair proportion for performance evaluation levels Performance Appraisal
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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
績效改善模型的發展 訪談邀請函敬愛的前輩：您好！
冒昧在 您繁忙之際打攪，尚祈 您見諒、海涵。因為績效管理議題深深影響企 業員工和組織，特以「績效改善模型的發展」為主題，希望透過資深專家訪談的方 式，深入探討企業員工對於如何能實際改善員工績效的看法。獲得的結果，除了將 可提供作為人才發展和管理的實務精進參考之外，也可提供人力資源管理部門在招 募及甄選時較客觀的選才條件。
素仰 您豐富專業的實務經驗，本研究需要 您提供寶貴意見及建議。您的姓名
素仰 您豐富專業的實務經驗，本研究需要 您提供寶貴意見及建議。您的姓名