New Models of High Performance Work Systems - Equality Authority

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Part 4Exploring New Models of High PerformanceWork Systems4.1 Introduction 374.2 Outcome measures 374.3 HPWS Model 1 –High Performance Through StrategicHuman Resource Management 384.4 HPWS Model 2 –High Performance Through SHRMand Partnership 384.5 HPWS Model 3 –High Performance Through DES and FWS 40 >4.6 HPWS Model 4 –High Performance Through SHRM,Partnership, DES and FWS 41Part 5Conclusions 41Part 6References 45
ForewordIrish-based manufacturing and servicescompanies operate in an environment ofintense globalised competition, where manyexternal factors impact on the viability oftheir enterprises. In this challenging climate,time and again we see inspirational examplesof companies safeguarding their futurethrough successful innovation – not onlyin the design and implementation of newproducts and services, but in workplaceinnovation – improving the processes andsystems for organising and managing work.It is increasingly apparent that one of thekeys to successful organisational performanceis the people within the organisation, andthe management systems that harness theirtalents and capabilities. New Models ofHigh Performance Work Systems breaks newground in our quest to understand the natureof high-performing organisations, focussingon key elements of workplace innovation– employee involvement and participationand equality and diversity systems.Drawing on a detailed survey of 132 mediumto large companies in Ireland, the researchexplores how the management policies andpractices that are found in both multinationaland indigenous Irish firms are related toorganisational performance. The findings onceagain underscore the fact that companieswith higher levels of productivity, innovationand employee retention manage theirorganisations in ways that are demonstrablydifferent from the average company.This analysis of High Performance WorkSystems (HPWS) examines some of thekey components of the ‘Workplace of theFuture’, as set out in the National WorkplaceStrategy (2005). These include approachesto workplace partnership (or employeeinvolvement and participation systems),and proactive management of diversity (orequality and diversity systems). The researchallows us to move beyond the realm ofexpert opinion and case study, to firmly andquantifiably establish the business case forHPWS. The results highlight that the gains inproductivity and innovation levels associatedwith HPWS represent far more than merelyinteresting statistical findings: in starkeconomic terms, the order of magnitudecan, for many companies, be the differencebetween success and failure.This research helps us to understand morefully the nature of the differences betweenhigh-performing and average-performingcompanies. The report reveals that highperformingcompanies in Ireland areconcerned with managing a range of issuesthat include the management of employeeinvolvement and participation, and ofdiversity and equality systems. The researchestablishes the quantifiable and positiveimpact of equality and diversity strategies andof employee involvement and participationon labour productivity, workforce innovationand employee turnover. These findingsclearly reinforce the business imperative for
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