Search results

The purpose of this paper is to identify and share the specific factors that cause senior human resource (HR) leaders to lose their jobs. The paper will also provide readers with key lessons to help them improve their senior HR leadership talents and acumen while at the same time providing them with a checklist of specific questions that address the causes of termination.

In this paper, the authors will describe a leadership development process that they use to help senior HR leaders identify the causes of senior HR leadership failure. A focus group methodology is used so that senior leaders are able to share their experience and input in response to the question, “Based on your experience, what are the primary factors that will cause a senior HR leader to be terminated from their position?” In this paper, the authors will share what they have learned from these HR leaders having gone to this process with hundreds of senior HR leaders. The authors will also provide the readers with lessons based on their input.

Senior HR leader focus groups revealed a set of “failure factors” that included a lack of understanding of the core business model, inability to fashion an effective value-added HR strategy, poor working relationships with members of the senior leadership team, a marked lack of emotional intelligence, political factors and an inability to create best HR practices and leverage technology, among others. Participant leaders provided rich dialogue and discussion points that provide the readers with a better understanding of why senior HR leaders fail, and equally important, how to avoid HR leadership failure.

The basis for the findings stated in this paper is based on the content analysis of a convenience sample which may limit the generalizability of these findings. Having said that, the findings will provide the readers with a rich context for better understanding of the nature of senior HR leaders’ terminations.

The practical implications of this project provide the readers with any number of important lessons requiring application. From a senior HR leader’s perspective, the key lessons from this research provide them with a checklist of factors that need attention and forging and implementing an effective HR strategy and set of best practices. At the organizational level, these findings can serve as a needs assessment that can be used in senior HR leader selection, orientation and development.

Any time a paper provides guidelines that can help prevent senior leadership failure, there is a positive social effect for both organizations and individuals operating in these environments. The authors believe that the findings will provide the readers with effective guidelines to improve the overall effectiveness of senior HR leaders when properly implemented. Previous research makes it clear that when organizations have great HR practices, the quality of work life for organizational members moves in the right direction.

As a general rule, there is limited research on the subject matter of why leaders fail while antidotal information and literature abound. It is the authors purpose to provide the readers of Strategic HR Review, the relevant information based on the input of their fellow members of the C-suite so as to improve their performance and provide their organizations with the template for organizational HR success.

In this exploratory study, the relationships between the emotional intelligence (EI) of self‐directed teams and two dimensions of team interpersonal process team task orientation and team maintenance function were investigated using the five dimensional model of emotional intelligence measured by the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ‐i®) in a sample of thirty‐three work teams. Average team emotional intelligence scores were calculated by aggregating the individual emotional intelligence scores of each team member and dividing the sum by the number of team members. Regression analyses of team averaged emotional intelligence across all five sub‐dimensions of the EQ‐i® reveal significant predictive relationships between team averaged interpersonal EI and Team Task Orientation (r =.37) and team averaged interpersonal EI and Team Maintenance Functions (r =.31). Team averaged interpersonal EI predicted 10 percent of the variance in Team Maintenance Function while team averaged interpersonal EI and team averaged general mood EI combined to predict 16 percent of the variance in Team Task Orientation. Directions for future research are presented.

The purpose of this two-part paper is to explore the current practices being employed in the formal performance appraisal process in a cross-section of US service and manufacturing organizations. In this paper, the authors identify the current trends that emerged from this research study and the improvement opportunities that exist for organizations that currently engage in the practice of formally appraising their personnel.

The formal performance appraisal process, procedure, and rating form from 183 US organizations were reviewed by a three-person review panel and were content analyzed to identify current trends and opportunities for improvement.

This qualitative analysis revealed that the average rating procedure had been in place for 5.5 years, to serve a wide variety of purposes, identified critical gaps in training, made it clear that organizations employ a wide variety of performance criteria in assessing their people.

The biggest limitation of this research is the fact that a convenience sample of 183 organizations was employed as the basis for this study.

Data on the actual formal performance appraisal process of organizations are rather limited and this research provides critical insight into current practice limiting potential generalizability.

The social implications of this research suggests that organizations can do a much better job of equipping their leaders/employees to more effectively reap the organizational benefits of this key practice.

Research in this area is not prevalent so this is a descriptive research study that both researchers and organizations can use to further their knowledge in formal performance appraisals.

The purpose of this two-part paper is to explore the current practices being employed in the formal performance appraisal process in a cross-section of US service and manufacturing organizations. In this paper, the authors identify the current trends that emerged from this research study and the improvement opportunities that exist for organizations that currently engage in the practice of formally appraising their personnel.

The formal performance appraisal process, procedure, and rating form from 183 US organizations were reviewed by a three-person review panel and were content analyzed to identify current trends and opportunities for improvement.

This qualitative analysis revealed that the average rating procedure had been in place for 5.5 years, to serve a wide variety of purposes, identified critical gaps in training, made it clear that organizations employ a wide variety of performance criteria in assessing their people.

The biggest limitation of this research is the fact that a convenience sample of 183 organizations was employed as the basis for this study.

Data on the actual formal performance appraisal process of organizations is rather limited and this research provides critical insight into current practice limiting potential generalizability.

The social implications of this research suggests that organizations can do a much better job of equipping their leaders/employees to more effectively reap the organizational benefits of this key practice.

Research in this area is not prevalent so this is a descriptive research study that both researchers and organizations can use to further their knowledge in formal performance appraisals.

The increase in ownership and use of mobile-based devices among college students creates unique opportunities for faculty to develop highly engaging learning environments. With many educational institutions offering campus-wide Wi-Fi, students have the ability to use their mobile devices, including cell phones, tablets, and laptops for engaging with curriculum, specifically with leadership concepts. One method of engaging students is through the use of mobile-based polling, as an audience response system (ARS). Although most studies on the use of ARS in educational settings include traditional response system methods (e.g., clickers), emerging technologies have fueled interest in mobile-based polling. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that mobile-based polling has among students of leadership when used as an audience response system. A survey regarding perceptions of mobile-based polling was administered to students enrolled in undergraduate leadership courses with the purpose of understanding its importance on various aspects of student engagement. Results regarding their polling experiences indicated that students became highly engaged on three levels— behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. Additionally, survey responses suggested that students viewed mobile-based polling as viable for purposes outside of the classroom. Suggestions for using mobile-based polling for learning leadership concepts are also presented. The authors of this study not only present mobile-based polling as an emerging technology with advantages over traditional clickers, but as a pedagogical approach for increasing student engagement and as a tool for enhancing leadership skills.

The aim of this paper is to examine the motivations and benefits for pursuing or not pursuing the PHR and SPHR.

Using a sample of 1,862 participants, the study used multinomial logistic and hierarchical linear regression to test six hypotheses.

Participants pursuing SPHR were more likely to report intrinsic motivations pursuing certification, while PHR respondents were more likely to report extrinsic reasons. Other‐driven reasons were not significant predictors. Respondents not pursuing certification saw a lack of perceived benefits. Non‐pursuers of SPHR were concerned about time constraints. The pursuing and non‐pursuing groups did exhibit differences in their demographic and commitment profiles.

The sample is limited to only those professionals active in their local SHRM chapters. The data were cross‐sectional. Future research needs to address the validity of Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) certification and the lack of empirical research on the connection between certification and objective measures of job performance.

Results regarding perceived certification benefits suggest that organizations could run into retention problems if HR professionals continue to view marketability as the top benefit and view pay and promotion as unaffected by certification. The profiles of pursuers and non‐pursuers suggest that HRCI should target younger, less educated professionals when promoting the PHR and highlight increased marketability as the key benefit. Furthermore, HRCI should target those with high levels of affective commitment when promoting the SPHR.

The paper provides some of the first empirical evidence for why professionals pursue or do not pursue PHR and SPHR certification.

The purpose of this paper is to learn how managers make downsizing decisions.

Participants read a created organizational scenario and 25 hypothetical employee profiles and then chose five employees to lay off.

Older and minority applicants were chosen most often. No significance was found for performance. Rater group membership in race, gender, and age were significant predictors of layoff decisions.

Because the participants were in a controlled environment they may have disregarded other information often available to decision makers. The majority of the sample was students who may be unrepresentative of managers who make layoff decisions. The inclusion of managers who have made downsizing decisions was designed to help address this limitation.

An employer's use of personal characteristics in making downsizing decisions may ultimately affect the aftermath of downsizing.

This is one of the first studies to study the decision‐making process of layoffs.

The main purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the literature on best practices and propose a series of steps or practices that practitioners can use in developing and assessing their leadership development strategies and programs.

This is a review paper. An extensive literature review was conducted (by searching texts and business databases, such as ABIInform/Proquest, for “leadership development best practices”). Once an organization was identified, several criteria were used to decide whether it would be included in this study: independent analysts classified the practice as “best” in the leadership development area; leaders were “made” through integrated, multi‐mode programs that included top management support, systematic training, etc.

Six key factors were found to be vital for effective leadership development: a thorough needs assessment, the selection of a suitable audience, the design of an appropriate infrastructure to support the initiative, the design and implementation of an entire learning system, an evaluation system, and corresponding actions to reward success and improve on deficiencies.

The paper identified “best practice organizations” by reviewing the literature. While this is an acceptable method, it resulted in wide range of determining criteria.

The most important implication of this paper is practical in nature. Essentially, organizations can use the six stages identified in the paper to help them develop and implement effective leadership development strategies.

Leadership development has become a key strategic issue for contemporary organizations. There is considerable evidence to suggest that organizations that do not have properly structured leadership development processes compete in the marketplace at their own peril. Several organizations have reported successes with particular approaches, yet an examination of the literature reveals that the lessons emanating from these success stories are generally not presented in a holistic manner. This is the need that we address in this paper.