Best fit concept in human resource management practices

Business Management -- Human Resource Issues and Practices

Best Practices in Relation to the Concept of Best Fit for the Organization

In general, the concept of best practices is applicable throughout modern business management and administration. In principle, it is a systematic method of objective analysis through which organizations can identify optimal practices that are conducive to maximum output and profitability given the initial parameters and resources available to the organization (George & Jones, 2008).

However, the concept of best practices cannot be applied in a vacuum; rather, it must always take into full account and incorporate organizational values and the stated objectives of the principals and of the organization (Robbins & Judge, 2009). In that regard, what may indeed be defined legitimately as best practices in one organization may not necessarily be appropriate in another, notwithstanding the fact that the two entities are identical in their industry, organizational structure, and product or work output (Robbins & Judge, 2009).

That is mainly because best practices encompasses more than elements capable of strict empirical analysis or valuation. In many respects, the defining values established by each organization and its strategic vision will dictate the manner in which it pursues its long-term goals (George & Jones, 2008). Therefore, best practices must also reflect those determinants and cannot possibly operate independently or the same way in different organizations (George & Jones, 2008; Robbins & Judge, 2009).

Evaluation of Substantive Human Resource Suggestions

Even before reaching the most important issue of compatibility of best Human Resource practices in this case, it is necessary to address the substantive quality of the other suggestions and initiatives raised by Sue. Specifically, Sue argued for a more thorough and comprehensive background check of prospective employees; that is a suggestion that is likely a candidate for a universal element of best practices within virtually any professional or other business organization. However, Sue's other principal suggested appears to make much less sense.

Sue's belief that new prospective hires can be better evaluated through cognitive testing rather than through college performance seems to contradict contemporary vies about the ways that human talents and abilities manifest themselves through measurable behavior. If anything, college performance is widely acknowledged as a better indicator of career potential than raw cognitive intelligence, certainly much more so than the reverse (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008). Generally, the set of college students who have the ability to channel their superior cognitive skills into productive directions is a subset of all college students who have the requisite cognitive abilities. Moreover, sustained high academic performance demonstrates specific qualities that are useful in the professional realm that many individuals possessing superior raw cognitive ability may lack (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008).

While that issue is not directly relevant to the issue of best practices, it does provide one measure of Sue's comparative lack of experience and professional intuition and it should play at least some role in the prism through which her superiors can evaluate the degree of autonomy Sue deserves and expose the various limits on her current level of understanding of all of the issues that pertain to decisions within her professional purview.

Appropriate Resolution

Had Sue been more sensitive to the needs of her organization, she might have approached management on the topic of employee development through educational assistance before broaching that subject with employees. Creating the expectation on their part without first inquiring into the feasibility of the concept from management's perspective was irresponsible. She should not have assumed that what constituted an element of best practice in one organization necessarily was a best fit for another (George & Jones, 2008).

As to the value of the suggestion itself, it would probably have been a much better fit if it were introduced as a merit-based perk rather than a right automatically enjoyed or expected by all employees of the firm. In that format, Sue's idea could have been used as a performance incentive while providing some of the (undisputed) potential benefits with respect to employee development. But instead of creating an unrealistic expectation in relation to organizational resources, the benefit could have been targeted to those employees who demonstrated the best potential to benefit the organization through their career development. To the extent such a program was achievable given the organization's resources, that might very well have developed into a best practice within that particular organization.