Evidence-Based Practice in Human Resource Management

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the idea that all professional procedures must be founded and conducted based on logical evidence. That may appear appealing at first glance, but the notion has proven contentious. Since the formal presentation of evidence-based pharmaceutical in 1992, the following practices have moved to related health professions, education, administration, legislation, open arrangement, engineering, and other sectors (Wieten 2018, p2). There are various types of applications and information for evidence-based practice in the department of human resource management. For example, organizational data can serve as an analytics tool that reflects various triggers for inefficient financial distribution of employee incentives or their frequent absence from work when properly processed (Nair 25). Behavioral analysis allows you to create more productive teams in the workplace by tracking employee interactions through intervention (Falletta and Combs 55). Finally, practical expertise is outsourced and involves third-party experts who have experience in solving various problems.

Importance of Data in Decision Making

In general, it can be assumed that information leads to knowledge. It is the foundation upon which commerce partners base their decisions. These decisions are not made solely by upper management. Instead, individuals make daily decisions about the entire organization, which explains the importance of access to precise information at every level (Dash et al 2020, p2). On the other hand, information is rarely valuable in its raw form; companies must prepare and display data in a way that works on the appropriate levels to ensure that clients can use it legally. The latest analytics tools make this process a lot easier, but data still has to travel after being accessible across the company for a while (Walsh et al 2020, p2). If the information accuracy levels are inadequate at the beginning of this stage, the necessary knowledge will be lost, leading to poor consequential decisions. The data must be up-to-date due to the rather high speed of current business processes, which have accelerated significantly due to technological progress during the pandemic and earlier. Time is becoming a critical indicator of competitiveness, shortening the period for hiring, onboarding and managing human resources. Analytics in HR must be ethical, as current companies must comply with the requirements of social responsibility. Employees have the right to personal space, privacy, therefore, the use of evidence-based practice should always have reasonable limits of confidentiality. Finally, organizations should only use hard data, as HR decisions can be radical in the context of an individual employee. An error in the calculations that led to the dismissal is unacceptable, therefore, all data must go through various control systems.

Types of Data

Qualitative data mainly defines the given characteristics or qualities of data. This type of data is not precise and can be hard to measure and analyze (Raskind et al 2019, p33). It often includes descriptive words and is examined by their given patterns and meaning, which can be done through coding, allowing data categorization through analysis. Quantitative data, on the other hand, is data that can be counted and quantified on a numerical scale. This data can be analyzed using statistical software like SPSS and Excel (Rahman et al 2021, p301). The use of questionnaires, conduction of interviews, and observations are methods used to collect qualitative data (Buschle et al 2021, p2). Controlled experiments, conducting of interviews, and controlled experiments are the most common methods of collecting quantitative data.

Organizational Decisions

Every business has its set of rules and regulations which are needed to be followed by its employees. These rules and regulations are the basis of how the company runs its day-to-day operations. Employees should always strive to follow all the policies to achieve the businesses’ goals and expectations (Shahid 2018, p62). In case of any mistakes or errors in the businesses’ operation, the given rules and regulations will be used to correct the mistakes (Ng et al, p734). All the decisions made following the company’s policies are expected to comply with the law hence being ethical and just. When rules and regulations are well followed, there will be little or no mistakes made, reducing the risks involved in the business.

For example, negligence and a large number of gross errors began to affect the financial performance of the company and the manager needs to take action. First of all, in this case, it is necessary to temporarily suspend the employee from work, if it is known because of which employee the company is suffering. Then follows the collection of evidence, even if everything is very obvious in the situation. Such an event will allow the leader to be confident in the event of a trial, as well as to make the most informed decision regarding the rudeness of the misconduct. Finally, you need to make an appointment with the employee and explain the problem, suggest a way out of the situation. If necessary, additional corrections should be made to the corporate process to avoid such misconduct in the future. Sources of evidence in this case would be emails, phone calls, financial statements as the primary reason for looking at information about an employee’s performance, and other data that may be evidence of work productivity.

Range of Customers and Shareholders

Internal stakeholders in an organization are people who are directly involved with the business in its day-to-day operations. They are related to the organization by employment, ownership, or even investments in the company (Boaz et al 2018, p2). External stakeholders are not directly working with the company but are somehow affected by the companies activities. They range from the communities and governments to trade associations. Professionals influence stakeholders and clients in a variety of ways: their influence is consistent, they show through their actions the need to interact through profit or scarcity. According to the combination of the transformation theory and the reinforcement hypothesis, confident actions of professionals, dictated by experience, can influence a much wider group, which is formed by stakeholders and clients. By clearly communicating the scarcity aspects, either there are no alternatives of the same level available to customers, or due to the availability of the service in question.

Creating Value

Value creation is the concept that inspires one to consider starting a business in the first place. In the long run, value creation sets one apart from their competitors by providing quality goods as well as services to customers (Climent et al 2021, p355). By creating a unique brand, one is able to secure and maintain customers who come again and again to buy or get one’s products. Value creation is essential to both the customers and the stakeholders of the business (Rygh 2020, p49). Most companies give back to the community through charity which is beneficial to the people living around the companies location. The firm pays tax to the government and dividends to the shareholders. Employees get jobs and salaries from the company to benefit from working for them. Customers get quality products, and products are brought closer to them hence easily accessible. If the quality of the product is already at its maximum, then the professional will improve the service, supplementing it, for example, with a loyalty program. Such programs represent a certain benefit for customers, while the company benefits from stability. In addition, these programs can be used as the main message of marketing campaigns. Another example would be branding, which is the association of a company’s activities with symbols such as a logo or slogan. An organization can participate in charity, saving the environment, meeting the requirements of sustainable business development, thereby not even directly affecting the company’s operations. Therefore, professionals thus influence first of all clients.

Role of Fellow Workers

The top management in an organization is tasked with setting the goals and expectations of the company. The setting of expectations by these employees helps the junior employees know and understand what is expected of them. Motivating fellow employees can be a good way of improving their productivity and overall performance (Echebiri et al 2020, p4). Leading by example is a form of showing the other employees what to do to achieve maximum productivity and performance (Sonmez Cakir et al 2020, p2). Working as a people professional can significantly improve the diversity and inclusivity of an organization through the incorporation of diversity training. Moreover, outlining a well-organized annual or monthly plan for all employees will serve as an efficient stimulation in achieving specific goals. Besides strictly formal procedures, thematic conferences and additional meetings promote employee engagement and commitment to their organization.

Use of Social Media

Social media allows employees to take a mental break. According to the PRC poll, this was the most common reason employees use social media at work. Taking a mental break from work regularly is not something that should be discouraged (Lee et al 2020, p3). Many bosses now allow employees to take short, infrequent intervals while working. Social media has some adverse effects like posting embarrassing photos taken from the place of work, posting classified information, and discrediting fellow employees and employers on social media (Babu et al 2020, p61). Either way, considering the role of technology nowadays, it would be more efficient to use it to the company’s advantage. Therefore, the use of social media should also be governed by the company’s ethical standards to avoid conflicts with employees’ privacy. Professionals can implement the use of social networks in the workflow to combine leisure with useful activities for the company. For example, employees can spread the brand of the company through their social networks, analyze the market, solutions in the social networks of competitors, thereby contributing to the activities of the marketing department.

How to achieve Customer Focused Attitude

Asking for customers’ feedback helps improve their service delivery, making the experience suitable for other customers. Customers use customer service channels like telephone lines and chatbots to ask questions to companies; one should be careful to note customers’ most asked questions and their needs (Andersen et al 2020, p44). Following the proper procedure to help customers will enable one to be efficient in their service delivery. Finally, one should always be ready to learn new trends and ways of doing things since customers may suggest a different way of doing things than the normal one. It is important here to draw on Commercial Drive and Situational-Decision Making approaches to create value based on the talent strategy, while using evidence from each specific context. Both approaches emphasize customer satisfaction as the basis for successful strategy implementation and, according to the second approach, are open to new ways of interaction and information exchange.

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