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Gap in Intended and Implemented HR policies in FCI
Neha Sharma
Neeharika Shetty
Aditya Gupta
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 2
Abstract
Historically, Human Resource Departments have always fought for their existence and worked
hard to prove their purpose. Therefore, it becomes essential for HR departments to increase
employees’ knowledge of and adherence to formal company policies in order to ensure that the
implementation of these policies translates into achievement of the company’s strategic goals.
For the present study, the gap between intended (measured as written policies) and implemented
(measured as policy knowledge and adherence) training and conduct regulation policies of the
Food Corporation of India (n=54) was measured to see if there was a significant gap across
various demographic variables. The methodology was largely adapted from Khilji & Wang’s
(2006) study. Results showed that the largest differences, although not statistically significant, in
the gap between intended and implemented policies occurred when the participant was female,
over the age of 35 or from the Finance and Personnel departments. The Operations department
had lowest gaps for both training policies and conduct regulations, whereas the Personnel
department had the highest gap for training policies. As this was an exploratory study, further
detailed investigation is likely to provide a clearer picture of the reasons for the existing gap.
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 3
Introduction
Given managers' primary concern with achieving competitive advantage, the human resource
(HR) function has consistently faced an uphill battle in justifying its position to organizations
(Wright et al., 2001a). The field of strategic human resource management (SHRM), therefore,
has grown quite steadily since the mid 1980s. Dessler (2011) argues that strategic HRM means
making and implementing practices and policies of human resource that generates the behaviors
and competencies of employee that the organization requires to gain its strategic goals.
Boxhall and Purcell (2000: 186) state that most SHRM research has been consumed with a
contest between two models. One model the 'best fit' (also commonly referred to as the
Contingency approach) argues that HR strategy will be more effective when it is appropriately
integrated with its specific organizational and environmental context. Baird and Meshoulam
(1988) argue that HR activities must fit 'externally' to the competitive environment and strategy
and also 'internally' to each other. The other and more popular model 'best practice' (commonly
referred to as the Universalist approach) argues that all firms will be better off if they adopt the
same best HR practices (Pfeffer and Veiga, 1999).
Although there has been a recent trend to incorporate a Contingency perspective in analyses of
HRM and organizational performance, empirical evidence provides mixed results. Some studies
have shown a large and significant positive relationship between good HRM and improved
organizational performance, while others don’t. One factor that potentially contributes to varied
findings is the tendency of researchers to explore HRM at the top management levels or within
HR departments, which at best captures only the intended human resource (HR) policies and
ignores implemented HR practices.
For the purpose of our study, by 'intended' HRM we mean the practices formulated by
policymakers, whereas 'implemented' HRM refers to the employees’ knowledge of and
adherence to the same. According to Khilji and Wang (2006), implementation is an appropriate
setting to explore HRperformance relationship because paradox and contradictions appear to be
an accompanying feature of HRM and often a gap exists between intended HR practices and
those implemented. Gratton and Truss (2003) have argued: 'A key message is that the bridging
from business goals to employee performance requires not only policies but also a determination
to act, as seen through actual practice’.
Several authors have argued that achievement of organizational objectives relies heavily upon
employee behaviour (Delery and Doty, 1996; Jackson and Schuler, 1995). Since HRM can either
motivate or demotivate employees, if an organization is able to implement practices that
encourage positive employee behaviours, then higher satisfaction and improved performance are
probable; in an organization where the HRM demotivates employees, there is less likelihood of
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 4
the same success. This distinction implies much more than a specific type of HRM. It is the
ability of HRM to motivate employees that proves to be a necessary condition for improved
organizational performance. Thus, the onus of various studies ought not to be on what
appropriate HR practices are, but upon ensuring that HRM results in achieving appropriate
outcomes. It is important to investigate implemented HRM in addition to intended HRM since
the former impacts employees' behaviour, motivation and satisfaction much more concretely and
directly.
For our study, we chose FCI mainly because we did not find any other studies on Indian
organisations. We also thought it would be interesting to look at the gap in a public sector
organisation. Specifically, we looked at the conduct regulations and training policies. When we
spoke to HR department, it seemed that there was a discrepancy in implementation of conduct
regulations amongst men and women. Therefore, we decided to look at it in further detail. For
training, we felt that it should be an ongoing priority for any organisation. FCI, like most
organisations, had adopted elaborate requirements for assessing employees and their jobs to
determine training needs. Hence, we wanted to see if these requirements were actually being met
by the employees.
About FCI
th
The Food Corporation of India was setup on 14 January 1965, under the Food Corporation Act
of 1964. It is one of the largest corporations in India and probably the largest supply chain
management in Asia (Second in world ) . It operates through 5 zonal offices and 24 regional
offices. The Delhi office is located at Barakhamba Road and has a staff strength of about 800.
Unlike successful PSUs such as ONGC and Coal India Ltd., FCI is not a profitmaking PSU.
Review of Literature
● 'Intended' and 'implemented' HRM: the missing linchpin in strategic human resource
management research
Shaista E. Khilji and Xiaoyun Wang (2006)
We argue that inconclusive findings in the SHRM literature regarding the relationship
between HRM systems and organizational performance may result primarily from
methodological weaknesses and a failure of researchers to distinguish between HR practices
intended by the organizations and those actually implemented. Rather than relying upon a
single respondent per organization as is the norm, we contrast reports of both managers and
nonmanagers from inside and outside HR departments to highlight differences between
intended and implemented HRM. The findings, arrived at with the help of 195 interviews,
508 questionnaire responses and several company documents, support our expectation:
implemented HRM may be substantially different from intended HRM; consistent
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 5
implementation increases employee satisfaction with HRM, which is positively related to
organizational performance. The current study thus highlights new factors that require
attention in developing HRperformance analyses and also suggests that a mere imitation of
HRM in the hopes of improving organizational performance creates no value. It is crucial
that HR departments and managers remain committed and supportive to the development of
effective HRM systems by focusing upon actual 'implementation' within their organizations.
● Gender Differences in Further Training Participation – The Role of Individuals,
Households and Firms
Claudia Burgard
Using the SocioEconomic Panel (SOEP), this paper investigates the determinants of training
participation in Germany, distinguishing between selfinitiated and employerinitiated
training. Selfinitiated training is considered as being a decision within households rather
than purely individual. Therefore, in addition to standard training determinants, information
on one’s own and partner’s time use as well as on the partner’s personal background and his
job are taken into account. The results indicate that there are hardly significant gender
differences in the determinants of selfinitiated training while employerinitiated training of
women and men appears to be determined by different factors. A decomposition analysis
identifies time use variables, besides job characteristics, as important factors determining the
gender gap in employerprovided training participation
Hypothesis
1. There will be a significant difference in the gap between male and female employees of FCI.
2. There will be a significant difference in the gap between FCI employees above and below the
age of 35.
3. There will be a significant difference in the gap between the Operations, Finance and
Personnel departments of FCI.
4. There will be a significant effect of total work experience of the employee on the gap between
intended and implemented policies in FCI.
5. There will be a significant influence of the demographic variables on the overall gap between
intended and implemented policies in FCI.
Methodology
Sample
Participants were obtained through the Human Resources Department of the Food Corporation of
India using the convenience sampling method. FCI is a 50 year old Government of India
organisation that was set up under the Food Corporation Act of 1964.
The sample comprised 54
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 6
individuals currently employed at FCI, 85% males and 15% females. The mean age of
participants is 37.94 years. The average years of work experience is 13.58 years and the average
years of employment at FCI is 12.02 years. [departments]
Tools
Two questionnaires were used in the study, to collect the data. The questionnaires were framed
by the researchers, based on the policies of the organisation under study. One questionnaire
focussed on the conduct regulation policies and the other looked at the training policies. The
items were close ended and participants were asked to mark ‘Agree’, ‘Disagree’ or ‘I don’t
know’ for the statements in both questionnaires. Since the measures were constructed
specifically for the study, validity and reliability of the questionnaires was not established.
However, since the items were based on the written policies of the company itself, they had
validity.
Design
The design of the present study was adapted from the first part of Shaista E. Khilji and Xiaoyun
Wang’s (2006) research. The study used a selfreport method to obtain data which was analysed
using correlational techniques. The study mainly looked at the existence of a discrepancy
between the intended HR practices and the implemented HR practices in a company, and to
understand and explain the gap if it exists.
Procedure
The company’s Human Resource Department was contacted to check if they were willing to
participate in the study. Once they agreed, we looked at all the policies that the company HR had
put in place. Then, we narrowed it down to two types of policies, i.e., conduct regulations and
training. The questionnaires were then created based on these policy documents and given to the
HR department, who further distributed it to the employees. The consent form and demographic
form were given along with the questionnaires. The researchers were present when the
participants filled out the forms to help them if required.
Results & Discussion
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 7
Regression analysis was done on the data using the R programming software.
We used simple linear regression for independent models and multiple linear regression for
integrated model.
The following results are measured against a “gap” observed for every participant. The total gap
was summed across 29 questions, and scored over a maximum possible gap of 290 points on our
survey. Every question indicating a discrepancy with the formal policy or answered as “I don’t
know” contributed 10 points to this total.
In addition to measuring the the gap for every variable in relation to the total gap score, we
studied some variables (sex, age, and department) as a function of the two policies: Conduct
Regulations (Table A) and Training Policy (Table B).
Estimate Std. Error tvalue pvalue
Female 158.04 8
Fig. 1: Boxplot representing distribution of gap scores
The sample comprised of 8 females and 46 males. It must be recognized that the number of
females that participated in the study was less than what is desired for statistical analysis. This
model studies the impact of sex on the total “gap”, not controlling for any other variable. These
are singleton results and must be interpreted with caution. Table 1.1 depicts this model. Males
scored 21.33 points lower than females. This implies that the gap between intended and
implemented policies was lesser for males at a significance level of 22%. Even when we
compared the gap on the 2 types of policies under study, we found that men seemed to
outperform women, slightly more on the conduct regulations. Thus, overall, male employees
seem to be more aware of and follow the conduct regulations and training policies.Figure 1
shows the distribution and median scores for both females and males. As seen from the plot, the
distribution of scores for males is wider than that of females.
Prior research that has looked at gender differences in training mainly focused on differences in
participation and dropout. Following the theory of human capital (Becker, 1964), training
investments result in higher productivity and higher income of workers. Another key prediction
of the theory is that men participate more often in training than women due to their larger
horizon of returns which arises from longer average time spent in the labour market. Institutional
circumstances, i.e. family policies regarding public child care provisions and traditional gender
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 10
roles can also help explain this gap. Further, gender segregation might cause a gender training
gap because women may work predominantly in occupations that require less onthejob
training. Lastly, employer discrimination can induce different training participation rates
between the sexes. Earlier studies often find an advantage for males in training participation
which could be due to the fact that women’s working lives usually have been shorter and
discontinuous compared to males’ because of child rearing and household responsibilities.
For the conduct regulation policies, we did not find any prior research explaining gender
differences. However, an interview with the AGM of the HR department revealed that the
attendance and punctuality policies were not strictly followed for women employees, whereas
action would be taken against male employees for the same. The explanation was that they
wanted to make it easier for women to balance their work and personal lives. It didn’t seem to
matter to the management whether women when, if they showed up or what they did with their
time in the office. Even the employees felt the same way. The women were not seen as
particularly productive or contributing, which is a possible reason for the gap in training as well.
This culture is in tandem with the results.
However, it cannot be concluded that a gender gap is due to discrimination.
2. Age
Estimate Std. Error t value Significant at level
The sample comprised of employees ranging from 20 to 59 years of age. For our analysis we
divided the group into below and above 35 years old as both these subgroups had almost equal
number of participants. The results indicate that, overall, employees over the age of 35 scored
19.56 points more that employees below 35 years of age. When we looked at the two
questionnaires separately, being above 35 was linked with increase in gap in conduct regulation
score by 26 points, which was very significant. With gap in training policies, the linkage was
weaker in significance and effect. Although there was no prior research to back this finding,
going by the perceptions of the organisational culture in government organisations, it appears
that being an older employee implies a disregard for conduct regulations and training. In the
public sector, at least in India, an older employee generally means a more senior employee. This
is true even in our sample. Additionally, tenure and total work experience were very highly
correlated, implying that for almost all employees, FCI has been their only employer. It is
possible that the lack of serious repercussions on senior employees, for violating conduct rules,
leads to employees’ lack of motivation to know these rules or follow them. With training, it is
possible that older employees’ feel a stronger sense of job security due to which they don’t see
the need to improve their skills. In the public sector, managers have registered lower amount of
satisfaction with the prevailing promotion policy, as they allege the ignorance of meritorious
work performance in favour of seniority in job tenure (B.K. Punia & Luxmi, 2005). This could
result in decreased participation in and awareness of training sessions, workshops and relevant
policies. Thus, a welldirected policy has to go beyond solely increasing overall participation
rates of further training. It is important to know details about training participation behavior of
different subgroups of employees (Burgard, 2012).
As this is an explorative study, the available information is not sufficient to satisfactorily
understand the gap. To get a more comprehensive understanding, the employees could be
interviewed, communication patterns could be studied or a more specific questionnaire could be
used.
3. Department
Department Sample Size
Operations 13
Personnel 15
Finance 26
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 12
Table 3.1: Sample size of different departments
Estimate Std. Error tvalue P value
from training are not. This was done because the organisation could not afford for the able
employees to be absent from the office for the duration of the training programme.
As stated before, this was purely an exploratory study and there is no concrete research available
to understand the findings. Further research will help get a clearer picture.
4. Total Years of Work Experience
Estimate Std. Error tvalue pvalue
Table 4.1: Impact of work experience on total group
Fig. 3: Total Gap (Yaxis) as a function of Years of Experience (Xaxis)
Gap in Intended and Implemented Policies 14
When we set out to discover the impact of tenure on the total score, we found that tenure and
total years of work experience had a very strong correlation of 0.93. This implied two things:
1. Most of the participants had joined FCI very early in their lives as working adults.
2. Years of work experience and tenure overlapped and and had too much collinearity to be
considered as separate variables.
For this reason, tenure was subsumed under years of work experience and this was regressed on
the total score.
Years of work experience ranged from 0 to 40 years. The analysis revealed that the gap score
grew in 3.03 point increments with every 8 years added to the total years of experience (08,
816, 1624, 2432, and 3240) at a significant level of 21%. This suggests that older employees
seem to be less aware of and follow conduct regulations and training policies, which was also
observed in Hypothesis 2. However, this result is not very significant.
With regard to training, one of the major perceptions employers have of older workers is that
they are resistant to change, or unable to adapt to new technologies. (Taskforce on the Aging of
the American Workforce, 2008). It is well documented that older workers are often denied access
to training (ArmstrongStassen & Templer, 2005) and affirmed by the Sloan Center’s national
study on this subject. Employers were more likely to report offering onthejob training and
career counseling to earlycareer and midcareer employees (PittCatsouphes, Smyer,
MatzCosta, & Kane, 2007). Therefore, the older workers’ gap in training could be explained by
the high cost of training required to train them in new technologies, or their own inflexibility and
resistance to change.
As discussed previously, in the Indian public sector, seniority comes with tenure, and invariably,
with age. It would seem that an increased (although not very significant) gap in knowledge of
and adherence to conduct regulations with more years of experience is a result of a lack of
serious repercussions on senior employees, for violating conduct rules.
5. Integrated Model
Estimate Std. Error tvalue pvalue
Fstatistic: 2.196 on 3 and 50 DF, pvalue: 0.1
Table 5: Effect of all demographic variables on gap
After running simple linear regression models for each of the variables chosen for the study, we
integrated all the significant variables, i.e., sex, age, and department in a multiple linear
regression analysis to obtain a holistic picture of the effect of various parameters on the total gap,
in relation to each other. This integrative model is more complex and provides a nuanced
understanding of the various ways in which the variables interact with one another and produce
an effect.
It was found that the impact of tenure and work experience on gap had very poor significance
when other variables had been controlled for. They deteriorate the quality of the model and have
thus been omitted.
This multiple linear regression model was found to be significant at the 10% level collectively,
and revealed the following:
● Being above 35 increases gap by 21 points. This was found to be extremely significant at the
8% level. This result is a 2point increase on the result obtained by the independent model for
age. This analysis reveals something more about people above the age group of 35 that more
women than anticipated by the previous model belong to this age groups, and/or more people
above the age of 35 than suggested by the independent model may belong to Personnel and
Finance departments.
● The gap score for males reduced further in the integrated model from 21 to 27 points. This
was found to be significant at the 11% level. This result further points out to the likely
possibility of males belonging to the operations department and/or being below the age of 35.
● Operations employees have a gap smaller by 17 points. In the independent model, this gap
score was smaller by 2 points (19 points). Other variables in the model, such as being a
female and/or being above the age of 35, would have contributed to this increase in the gap
score.
Conclusion
Min 1st Quarter Median Mean 3rd Quarter Max
Table 6: Distribution of total gap
The above table sheds light on the distribution of the total gap score. The total gap ranged from
60 to 255. The median was found to be 165, and the mean 162.2.
Limitations and Future Research
Our project was ambitious given the limit on time and resources. We acknowledge these
limitations and hope to rectify them and further build on this research in the future.
One of the limitations that we’d like to address in future is interviewing participants to better
understand the reasons for their responses and supplement quantitative data with qualitative
analysis. We would also aim to cover other policies in subsequent projects and see how the gap
differs across all sections of the HR policy. Obtaining representative samples vis a vis gender,
department, age, and other variables also features on agenda for future work. Another important
limitation of the present study is that reliability and validity of the tools were not established
prior to data collection. Lastly, we would like to make comparisons with the private sector and
see how the results differ from public sector organizations.