Human Resource Management and Performance in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, 2004-2005

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><br>This research project investigated whether investing in 'progressive' human resources (HR) practices appears to pay dividends in terms of corporate performance for small firms in the sectors the project covered. However, the degree to which this is true, and the size and significance of the effect, will vary according to a range of factors. <br>
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One of these factors is the strategy that the firm adopts. Broadly, it may be pursuing a 'high road' strategy of investing in progressive HR practices that tend to be associated with a greater degree of commitment and motivation amongst the workforce, as well as to both an increased ability and greater opportunities to work more productively. Hence such investment will tend to be associated with higher productivity and customer retention, and thus also profitability. <br>
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Alternatively, the firm may choose a 'low road', cost-cutting strategy. This appears to be especially so for 'older' small companies, who may turn to this approach as a 'strategy of last resort'. The effectiveness of HR policies and practices, therefore, will depend, in part at least, on the strategy being pursued by the company.<br>
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If a 'high road' strategy is consciously chosen, then the costs of investing in HR practices can be expected to be recouped through improved performance. However, in order to achieve this, HR practices need to improve commitment and motivation amongst staff, enhance skills, and provide opportunities to use them to increase productivity. For this to happen, HR practices should be introduced and implemented coherently, alongside appropriate organisational design. <br>
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The dataset produced by the project included a firm-level survey, and four case studies, for which a questionnaire from the <i>Workplace Employee Relations Survey, 1998</i> (held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under SN 3955) was used. See documentation for further details of methodology.<br>
<br><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br>Topics covered include:<ul><li>firm-level survey: characteristics of company; company performance; general workforce characteristics; recruitment, induction and training</li><li>employee survey: job characteristics and employment history; perceptions of company and workplace; representation at work; respondent's demographic characteristics</li></ul>

<P>摘要版权归英国数据服务（UK Data Service）及数据收集版权所有者所有。</P><br>本研究项目探讨了，在其覆盖的行业中，小型企业投资于‘渐进式’人力资源（HR）实践是否能在企业绩效方面带来回报。然而，这一结论的成立程度、影响的大小及显著性，会因一系列因素而异。<br><br>其中一个因素是企业采用的战略。广义而言，企业可能采取‘高路’策略，即投资于渐进式HR实践——这类实践往往与更高的员工承诺度、积极性相关，同时也能提升员工的工作能力并提供更多高效工作的机会。因此，此类投资通常与更高的生产率、客户留存率及盈利能力相关。<br><br>反之，企业也可能选择‘低路’（成本削减）策略。对于‘老牌’小型企业而言尤其如此，它们可能将此作为‘最后手段策略’。因此，HR政策与实践的有效性至少在一定程度上取决于企业所采取的战略。<br><br>本项目生成的数据集包含企业层面调查及四项案例研究，研究采用了《1998年工作场所员工关系调查》（<i>Workplace Employee Relations Survey, 1998</i>）中的问卷（该调查由英国数据档案馆（UK Data Archive，UKDA）保存，编号SN 3955）。有关方法论的更多细节，请参见文档。<br><br><br><B>核心主题</B>:<BR><br>涵盖主题包括：<ul><li>企业层面调查：公司特征；企业绩效；员工总体特征；招聘、入职与培训</li><li>员工调查：工作特征与就业史；对公司及工作场所的认知；工作中的代表权；受访者人口统计学特征</li></ul>