Employee Relationship Management Practices in IT Sector: An
Empirical Study
Ms. Jayasheela Patil1 and
Dr. D. Masthan2
1Assistant
Professor, Vivek Vardhini
School of Business Management, Hyderabad.
2Principal
Consultant, Centre for Leadership Research and Development, Hyderabad
*Corresponding Author E-mail: jai_siddu@rediffmail.com;
masthand@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
This
research paper on the subject of Employee
Relationship Management Practices attempts to conduct a focused amount
of research to answer the question about the various employee relationship
management issues in IT sector and their impact on the productivity. It focuses on the current definitions of
employee relationship management, important theories that relate employee
relationship management and its effect on productivity.
The
success of a software organization depends on project managers’ competency to
successfully lead the team towards the achievement of goals. So they must have proper bonding with the
organization and competency for giving results.
The study delves to assess the effect of employee relationship
management practices and its impact on the satisfaction, morale, motivation and
performance levels of the project managers.
The study followed a descriptive correlation study with a sample of 50
project managers related to different IT companies that were selected through
convenience sampling method. A
structured questionnaire was used as a data collection tool and data were
analyzed by the SPSS tool. Findings of
the study showed that majority of project managers were satisfied (50%-75%)
with the existing practices in their organizations and agreed that good
employee relationship management practices will surely have a positive impact
on their morale, motivation and performance.
The
study reveals that with the proper implementation of ERM practices in the
organizations surely will have competitive advantage. It was also observed that there was a direct
correlation between ERM practices and employee motivation.
KEY WORDS: Employee Relationship Management, Competency, Satisfaction,
Morale, Motivation, Performance and Competitive advantage.
INTRODUCTION:
Lot of change has been occurred in the
organizations over decades. Increase in
the awareness level of employees, impact of various cultures brought sea change
in life style of employees and their attitude.
But this could affect either job satisfaction or motivation level of
employees. There may be various
intangible factors responsible for this, apart from the already developed ones
by the scholars. Till now managements
have tried their best to enforce various mechanisms which improves employee
satisfaction, morale, motivation and performance of employees. But this could not work beyond one particular
point.
The organizational development activities
also did not work much. Today, all
organizations, irrespective of their nature of business, wish to move from
performance management to contribution
management by maximizing strengths. In
this endeavor, they strive to push themselves beyond limitations. Hence, organizations found a solution to
their problems with Employee Relationship Management strategy, which is as old
as business management practices.
STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM:
The IT employees have various employment
opportunities and it’s their choice to work with any organization. Because of stiff competition in the market
and high demand for experienced professionals, the IT sector constantly faces
the problem of talent crunch. Experienced
employees leave the organizations for simple reasons. This problem could be
effectively tacked by properly designed and implemented ERM practices. This
interesting relationship has prompted the researcher to initiate this study.
NEED FOR THE
STUDY:
This study was done to assess impact of
employee relationship management practices and its impact on the satisfaction,
morale, motivation and performance levels.
The study throws light on whether the current ERM practices are
effective in enhancing employee job satisfaction, morale, motivation and
performance levels. The findings of this study would help the IT organizations
in properly planning their future ERM practices. This study would also help the IT companies
in devising more comprehensive ERM practices.
OBJECTIVES OF THE
STUDY:
Ř To study the effect of ERM practices on
overall employee bonding and organizational citizenship.
Ř To analyze the relationship between ERM
practices and employee satisfaction, morale, motivation and performance
levels.
HYPOTHESES:
Following hypotheses was framed to find out
whether the employee relationship management practices truly enhanced employee
job satisfaction, morale, motivation and performance levels.
1) There is no significant association between
ERM practices and employee bonding.
2) There is no significant association between
ERM practices and organizational citizenship.
3) There is no significant association between
ERM practices and employee job satisfaction.
4) There is no significant association between
ERM practices and employee morale and motivation.
5)
There
is no significant association between ERM practices and performance.
SAMPLING DESIGN:
The researchers adopted convenience sampling
method for this study. 50 project
managers belonging to various IT companies were selected as sample for the
study. A structured questionnaire was
used as a data collection tool and data were analyzed using percentage method
and correlation co-efficient technique.
ANALYSIS AND
DISCUSSIONS:
The selected sample showed 78 percent (39) of
project managers belonged to the age group of 31-35 years. The second leading age group category was
seen in 25-30 years with 16 percent (8) and least category was that of above 40
years with 6 percent (3). This shows
that majority of the organizations have young project managers. The sample was
almost equally divided on gender, with 50 percent each being males and
females. It is evident that both the
genders share equal opportunities as project managers in these selected IT
companies. In the qualification
category, the sample consisted of majority of respondents being graduates (B.Tech, 42) with 84 percent and few, as post graduates (8)
with 16 percent. As per Table-1, study
reveals that maximum number of respondents felt ERM practices help in enhancing
organizational bonding and Table-2 reveals that majority of the respondents
were of the opinion that current ERM practices help in enhancing organizational
citizenship.
Table-1: Showing the percentage
analysis of ERM about overall employee bonding
|
Factors |
Frequency |
Percent |
|
Highly Enhances |
43 |
86.0 |
|
Moderately Enhances |
5 |
0.1 |
|
Does not Enhance |
2 |
0.04 |
|
Total |
50 |
100.0 |
Table-2: Showing the percentage analysis of ERM about
organizational citizenship
|
Factors |
Frequency |
Percent |
|
Highly Enhances |
41 |
82.0 |
|
Moderately Enhances |
5 |
0.14 |
|
Does not Enhance |
4 |
0.08 |
|
Total |
50 |
100.0 |
HYPOTHESES
TESTING:
Ho: There is no
significant association between ERM practices and employee job satisfaction.
Results from Table-3 indicate that null
hypotheses can be rejected; as it is statistically proved that there was
significant association between ERM practices as an independent variable and
employee job satisfaction. Hence, the HR
managers at IT organizations should be diligent in planning and implementing
ERM practices.
Ho: There is no
significant association between ERM practices and employee morale and
motivation.
The results of Table-3 show that the null
hypotheses can be rejected; as there was significant association between
independent variable ERM practices and employee morale and motivation. Hence, the ERM practices should become one of
the important HR strategies of organizations.
Ho: There is no
significant association between ERM practices and performance.
The results of Table-3 show that the null
hypotheses can be rejected; as there was significant association between
independent variable ERM practices and employee performance. Hence, the organizations can use ERM
practices in the area of performance management too.
Table-3: Showing the Correlation between
independent variables and ERM practice
|
Employee Relationship
Management Practices |
Correlation Value |
Statistical Inference |
|
ERM practices enhance employee and employer
relationship |
0.294 |
P<0.05 |
|
ERM practices enhance employee job
involvement |
0.291 |
P<0.05 |
|
ERM practices help in conflict management |
0.274 |
P<0.05 |
|
ERM practices help in proper
upward/downward communication |
-.389 |
P<0.01 |
|
ERM practices increase employee morale |
.239 |
P<0.05 |
|
ERM practices enhance employee motivation |
.249 |
P<0.05 |
|
The motivational factors truly contribute
to the increase in productivity |
.219 |
P<0.05 |
|
ERM practices have any impact on employee
job satisfaction |
-.257 |
P<0.05 |
|
The organizational cultures have any
impact on ERM practices |
0.249 |
P<0.05 |
|
Employee bonding and organizational
citizenship are the result of effective ERM practices |
0.274 |
P<0.05 |
CONCLUSION:
Employee relationship management
aims to create a partnership between the organization and its employees rather
than considering merely the transactional relationship. An organization should value the employees
more than any other resource, as they are the pillars of support. Findings show that majority of project
managers are satisfied with the existing practices in their organizations and
agreed that good employee relationship management practices will surely have a
positive impact on their morale, motivation and performance levels. As the study reveals correlation between ERM
practices and employee motivation, the organizations should identify and
implement more effective ERM practices to have competitive edge. Hence it is
concluded that as ERM practices have direct impact on the employees, it is
indispensable for the organization to implement effective ERM practices to get
better productivity.
FUTURE
SCOPE FOR RESEARCH:
In research, one investigation
leads towards the other. The researcher
has taken up this study in one sector.
The same study can be extended to the following:
1)
To study the relationship between demographic factors of employees
and ERM practices of the organizations.
2)
To study and compare the impact of ERM in any two organizations.
3)
The need for the ERM practices in manufacturing organizations can
be studied.
4)
ERM practices in PSU’s can be studied.
5)
A comparative study of the organizations which have implemented/
not implemented ERM can be done.
6)
A study of effects of before and after the implementation of ERM
can be done.
REFERENCES:
1.
Brad Federman (2009), Employee Engagement, John Wiley &
Sons.
2. Hristos Doucouliagos & Patrice Laroche,
(n.d), Efficiency, Productivity and Employee
Relations in French Equipment Manufacturing, available from
3. http://nancy-universite.academia.edu/PatriceLaroche/Papers/92433/Efficiency_Productivity_and_Employee_Relations_in_French_Equipment_Manufacturing
(accessed 1 November, 2011).
4.
Saksenan, R.K. (2009),
Employee Relationship Management, Kalyani Publishers
5. Sriyan de
Silva (1997), The Changing Focus of Industrial Relations and Human Resource
Management, available at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actemp/downloads/publications/srsirhrm.pdf
Received on 18.10.2012
Modified on 04.01.2013
Accepted on 20.01.2013 © A&V Publication all right reserved
Asian J. Management 4(1): Jan.-Mar. 2013 page 63-65