CAPSTONE PROJECT ON HUDSON COLLEGE

(HUMAN RESOURCE)

SYED HIMANA ABDUL MALIQE (1801150013)

A CAPSTONE SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
STAMFORD INTERNATINAL UNIVERSITY

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ACADEMIC YEAR 2018
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CONTENTS
Page

CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………………………….i

INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………...1

CHAPTER 1 TALENT MANAGEMENT …………………………………………………2

CHAPTER 2 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ……………………………………………..8

CHAPTER 3 PERFORMANCE ENGAGEMENT ……………………………………...13

CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………..17

REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………..18
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INTRODUCTION

This capstone is based on Hudson College. Hudson College is a private liberal arts
institution located in Beacon, New York. There is a small number of students and employees
who feel the college lacks the necessary leadership to take Hudson to the next level. The board
of trustees, who traditionally have not meddled in human resource (HR) operations, are deeply
concerned about the rise in health care costs and have focused their attention on this and other
financial challenges facing the college (Steve Riccio, Ed.D., SPHR, SHRM, Hudson College).

Hudson has been challenged by the difficult economic climate, increased competition
among schools within and outside its peer group and external pressure from its key
stakeholders. The college’s current strategic plan, now in its fourth year, outline an ambitious
agenda focused on diversity and inclusion, a reenergized commitment to increasing the
school’s affinity among its alumni, and a multiyear capital project initiative that includes new
construction and renovations to support the academic and residential experiences for students
(Steve Riccio, Ed.D., SPHR, SHRM, Hudson College).

This capstone will cover the issues that Hudson College is facing, and solutions will be
provided to solve the issues. There are three main strategies that Hudson College will have to
adapt to solve the problem. Those strategies are; Talent Management, Employee Engagement
and Performance Management.
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Chapter 1: Talent Management

Hudson college is facing a consequence due to a wrong recruitment into the team. One
of the position that was turned over was the director of facilities, which was later filled by Brad
Tomlinson who had worked in a local hospital and had the capacity to take over the job. After
Tomlinson was recruited, the projects were a success, the campus was doing well, but there
were employees who were complaining regarding his supervisory skills. Fred Winters being
the vice president of campus operations called him in for a meeting and had a talk with him
regarding the concern of his employees who were under Tomlinson.

Winters talked to him about how his management style was making the employees feel
uneasy. Especially, Tomlinson being abrasive and unwilling to listen to their ideas. As Winters
was speaking, Tomlinson became defensive and rude. He also mentioned about not being able
to adapt to the style of work in Hudson College. From the meeting, it could be seen that
Tomlinson had an attitude problem as well as being disrespectful. He did what he thought was
right and didn’t want to listen to what others were saying. This made Winters worried about
the employees’ well-being. He also realized that he made a wrong hiring decision although
there was another potential employee.

There were also similar concerns from the senior officers regarding the recent
supervisory hires having difficulties in adapting to Hudson.

The implementation of Talent Management will provide solutions for these problems
that Hudson College is facing regarding the new hires.
Talent Management is the strategic management of the flow of talent through an
organization. Its purpose is to assure that the supply of talent is available to align the right
people with the right jobs at the right time based on strategic business objective (Steven
V.Manderscheid,Ed.D, n.d).

Figure 1.1: Talent Management Model.

Source: https://expert360.com/blog/talent-management-important/
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The figure A.1 represents the Talent Management Model. Although, there are various
models, the elements in the model can be categorized into five aspects: planning, attracting,
developing, retaining and transitioning (Mona Momtazian, January 6,2018).

By using talent management, a company is committing to hire, manage, develop and

retain talented employees. It is a business strategy that will ensure the attraction of top talent
in competition with other employers. The management strategy is to be aligned with company
strategy and over all organization needs to create a great workforce.

In Hudson College they will have to use talent management strategy and align it with
their organizations strategy and needs. If they did this before they hired the employees who are
having hard time transitioning and employees who are giving hard time to their superior like
Tomlinson, they would have had employees who are suited to be in that position rather than
the new employees who are unable to cope with the organizations culture.

In my opinion, before Hudson College starts hiring externally, they should look for the
internal talents that are within the organization. There might be employees who are capable of
taking over the higher positions that was turned over. The employees who have been with the
organization, understands the culture of the organization and knows what the people in the
organization and the organization needs. When hiring external people, they wouldn’t
understand the culture or the people in the organization as much as the internal people. To have
a successful talent management program, Hudson needs to cultivate the talent pool within the
college itself. This would be a great succession planning process. Succession Planning is the
strategy for passing on leadership roles and often the ownership of a company to an employee
or group of employees. It ensures that the business runs smoothly even after the significant
people have moved on to new opportunities, retire or pass away (Succession Planning. n.d).
Effective succession planning will support organization stability and sustainability. This is
accomplished by ensuring there is an established process to meet staffing requirements. If
Hudson College selects the talents internally, this will ensure that the employees are
experienced as well as trained. This will also make sure that the leadership roles that might be
turned over has a successor ready.

Hudson College has to plan for this succession planning keeping in mind about their
senior officers or supervisors who might retire soon or move on with something else. These
positions will need a successor who knows what he/she is doing and is able to understand the
company’s culture. They will have to first have to call for a meeting with the senior officers
and supervisors to bring forth the idea of succession planning and explain the implementation
of the plan. They must also be asked to put forth the names of employees they believe are
strong players with great potential in the organization. They will also have to document
competencies for these positions to clearly define job expectations and functions. This will give
an idea for the employee what they are required of if they are chosen to be the successor. This
will also make known the gaps that are there. After getting the employees name, the
organization must call these employees for a meeting regarding the succession plan and let
them know what position they are chosen for. Also, the organization must ask for the
employees’ opinion regarding this matter because they might not be really interested in the
position they have been chosen for or they might not want to be a leader at all. Asking the
employee’s opinion is very important because for their full cooperation in this program, their
consent is needed. The organization has to know their employees career goals and aspirations.
Once everything has been settled with the employee, their skills should be assessed by the
organization. The organization can use the Talent Management Matrix also known as 9-Box
Talent Grid, shown below.
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Figure 1.2: Talent Management Matrix.

Source: http://www.employee-performance.com/pdf/Build-your-own-nine-box.pdf

The Talent Management Matrix figure above is just one of the various types out there.
An organization can create its own grid according to its style. Using the Talent Management
Matrix will help Hudson College to map out the skills of each employee and their competency
in the positions they are offered according to the skills needed for the position. It will also let
the college know about the various skills that are within the organization which will help in
later stages when there are more positions that needs leaders, and these skills are required in
those positions. By also using this matrix they might discover that some employees might work
much better in different division than their current division. The College will also learn about
the gaps within the organization and will prepare to close the gaps. Hudson College can use
mentoring and coaching programs to close the gaps, so that the employees will be able to
develop themselves to have the skills needed to be successors of the required position.

This Talent Management Matrix can be a valuable tool if used right, but if used wrong
it might be damaging to the college. For example, when the skills of an employees are being
assessed and if the senior officers or the supervisors chose employees who they favor, but do
not have the potential or skills to be promoted to be a successor in the best grid while making
the actual employee who deserves that place to be placed elsewhere in the grid will make the
organization lose a talented person who could have brought positive changes within the
organization. This is halo effect which influences the employees’ performance rating. Another
would be the employees not being happy with how they are placed in the matrix because they
believe that they have much more potential than what a matrix can calculate.

Now the other question would be, what if an organization can’t cultivate talents
internally? What if they can’t find a successor internally? Then, the solution is to look for
talents externally. When looking for talents externally, an organization must choose carefully
and wisely. They can’t be in a hurry just because they will need a replacement. If they do that,
the whole organization will get into trouble sooner or later. They will have to do talent
acquisition externally to get the right people in to the organization. Talent acquisition is the
process of attracting, finding and hiring skilled human labor for organizational needs in order
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to meet labor requirements (What is Talent Acquisition. n.d.). Prioritizing talent acquisition is
significant to an organization because the right people are vital for the organizations success.

Figure 1.3: Overview of Talent Acquisition

Source: https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/80/recruitment-marketing-101

From the above figure, it can be seen that Talent Acquisition is not a simple recruitment
process but instead a complex one. In the first 3 stages, candidates will search about the firm’s
reputation and employee value proposition(EVP). They will search for the benefits that
employees get currently, the company’s culture, career and growth opportunities, etc.

The talent acquisition professionals should know how to find people and hire them. Not
only that, but how to use the recruitment marketing strategies, to engage in candidate
engagement and to create a successful candidate relationship management strategy.

Recruitment marketing is the process of nurturing and attracting talented individuals to

your organization using marketing methods and tactics (Kristina Martic. 30th November 2017.).
Recruitment marketing lets the potential candidates know that your company has opened up
positions and will trigger their interest in your company. This strategy will make the candidates
consider us as their next employers and will make them want to apply for our company.
Candidate engagement is basically a measurement of the feelings of the candidates
during the whole recruiting and hiring process. When the experience is bad, the candidates do
not want to apply to that company anymore.
It is required to create a successful candidate relationship because it will create a
positive candidate experience, manages candidate communities and maintains relationships
with candidates who were not selected due to not having the specific skills, but they have other
skills.

For Hudson college, they made the wrong hiring decision. They hired Tomlinson and
the consequences of hiring him were the employees not being satisfied with his supervisory
skills. Another problem was that the college didn’t create a candidate relationship. There was
another person, Glenn Saunders who interviewed for the same position and was a finalist, but
he was rejected because they believed that he was not experienced enough for the future
projects. Tomlinson looked more promising to them, so he was chosen. If they still kept in
touch with Saunders, they could have replaced Tomlinson, since Winter liked and thought he
would do a good job. Also, Winter could have avoided this conflict by bringing both the
employees onboard for the same position on a probation period. The probation should last for
3-6 months. After the probation, Winters could have picked the employee he thought would fit
the position the most as well as the organizations culture.
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Also, onboarding is important for the new employees. In Hudson College new
employees had difficult time transitioning because they were not used to the environment. For
both the senior level and the senior level employees. They did have an orientation, but it wasn’t
enough. Orientation is just a one-time event to welcome the employees to your company.
Whereas, onboarding is more of a strategic plan, series of event which also includes the
orientation that helps them to be successful in their daily job activities. Also, there should be
an orientation separated for senior level and junior level employees addressing the expectations
from them and also how the company will look after them. They should have separated
orientations because the expectations for the senior level and junior level employees are not
going to be the same.
During the onboarding process, employees will be properly introduced to their
department. They warm up to the culture and business objectives by participating with their
co-workers in the meetings and projects. Managers are supposed to have regular check-in
meetings with the new employee so that they will get comfortable in conversing with manager.
This way, they will gradually learn the process of their work and their responsibilities. They
will now know, how are approval processed and whom to ask permission from and other things.
Therefore, I think Hudson College has to go for the onboarding program instead of just the
orientation program. This will help the employees with smooth transition. They will get used
to the environment more and the senior officers checking on them will also make sure that they
are progressing well and on the right track.

One of the examples for Succession Planning is from Apple. Before Steve Jobs stepped
down as a CEO, he prepared his succession plan in the form of Apple University. Apple
University was founded in 2008, which has a leadership curriculum based on Steve Job’s
experiences. The purpose was to teach Apple employees how to think like Steve Jobs and make
decision that he would make. This was a digital curriculum. This shows that how they utilized
technology to create a leadership succession. Steve Job was also working hard to prepare Tim
Cook for the position of CEO. Tim Cook took on various operational roles including
manufacturing, distribution, sales and supply chain management before working with Steve
Jobs directly to gain experience on CEO role.
Apple has seen the importance of having a proper succession plan in place to ensure
that there are no problems when it comes to leadership in the company.

From this we can see that Apple chose its successor internally. Steve Job must have
mentored Tim Cook really well until he was satisfied with Tim Cook and was able to resign
from his position, executing the succession plan and naming Tim Cook as the CEO.

Figure 1.4: Framework of Succession Planning

Source: http://www.buscouncil.ca/busgurus/media/pdf/Succession-Planning-Model-en.pdf
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The figure above presents the framework of succession planning of an organization. It
identifies competencies and works that should be assessed, which will help develop and retain
a talent pool of employees. This in return will ensure that there is someone to take over the
leadership role of the critical positions.

To conclude, Hudson college recruiting internally would be a better idea and would not
cause problems like hiring the wrong person like Tomlinson. When there are internal
candidates who can be successors it’s better because they already know the company and its
culture. When they actually become the successor (qualified) for the position, they can have a
smooth transition unlike the new recruits who will have a hard time like mentioned in the case.
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Chapter 2: Employee Engagement
Hudson College was not on the list of “Top 100 Organizations of the State of New
York” for the first time in 5 years. This list was an excellent employee recruiting tool for
Hudson College. Not only that but it was also valuable due to providing the aggregate data of
employees’ responses to the applicant’s assessment survey. David Bridges the vice president
of human resources and risk management made a call to Janet Mullins who was the director of
resources to discuss about why they were not on the “Top 100 Organizations of the State of
New York”. Mullins said that she has been noticing a much lower score that in previous years
related to the collaboration across the campus. Also, one of the great concern was the working
relationship between supervisors and employees has always been a point of discussion, but a
greater concern was regarding the area of career development. Basically, Bridges said that they
all into the same theme and from this he can conclude that as a college they were not engaging
in enough conversation, per say conversations they must have.

To solve the problem Hudson is facing regarding the employees not being engaged,
Hudson college has to look at the Employee Engagement in general as well as build a proper
communication strategy to have a minimizing impact on the employees rationale regarding the
news of not being in the list of “Top 100 Organization of the State of New York”. Also, they
cannot only rely on the cultural assessment as a strategy to determine employee engagement,
they will need other strategies as well.

Employee Engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the

organization and its goals (Kevin Kruse, June 22nd ,2012). The concept of employee
engagement is often confused with satisfaction or happiness. However, the true definition is
deeper in meaning.

Figure 2.1: The Aon Hewitt Engagement Model

Source: http://www.aon.com/human-capital-consulting/thought-leadership/talent/aon-hewitt-model-of-
employee-engagement.jsp
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Employee engagement is defined as “the level of an employee’s psychological
investment in their organization.” (Aon Hewitt, n.d).
The above figure shows the Aon Hewitt Engagement Model. This model provides the complete
picture of the business impact of engagement, employee engagement and the factors of work
experience that lead to higher engagement.

Creating an engaged workforce is the most effective strategy that an organization can
do to implement to increase performance and sustainable long-term growth.

For Hudson College, the main issue is that the employees are not engaging in enough
conversations regarding the topics that should be addressed. Communication is crucial when it
comes to employee engagement. The State of the American Workplace: Employee
Engagement Insights for U.S Business Leaders report finds that “engaged workers are the
lifeblood of their organizations” (SHRM, Issue 2/2014). Without communication, an issue that
has happened will not be discussed because there was no news about it amongst the higher ups
in the organization. This also will make the employees feel that they are not being cared for by
the organization and sooner or later they will quit. Even if they do not quit, they will dread
coming to work.

Hudson College should have a communication strategy to communicate effectively

with its employee regularly so that they will get more engaged with what they are doing and
will understand the objective and goals of the college. They will also know their standpoint on
reaching this goal and objective. Although, Hudson College realizes that employee engagement
is very needed for success, they didn’t realize that the employees were not engaged until the
results for the “Top 100 Organizations of the State of New York” was released.
For Husdon College to have a proper communication strategy to build employee
engagement first they will have to check the whether the other factors that influences the
employee engagement is in order or are they using the right tool to increase the employee
engagement.

The surveys that Hudson College gives out to its employees are one of the significant
tool to solicit employee feedback as well as increase the employee engagement. The questions
should not be broad but specific for the employees to be able to truthfully comment on real
issues. This will also indicate the common problem that the employees are facing and could be
solved by having a meeting with the employees to come up with a solution for this problem.
John Jersin, CEO of Connectifier said that “Many people find that the environment (which they
knew nothing about before starting) doesn’t satisfy their numerous other needs and ambitions.
The outcome is that the company has an under-motivated employee, eventually need to replace
that person, and the employee spends a significant portion of his or her life being less happy
that he or she could have been. The solution to this messs is simple. In addition to talking to
candidates about the things that matters to them, we need to talk to them about why they matter”
(SHRM Overview: Employee Engament, SHRM, n.d). For Hudson College, they can have a
division meeting, and each division takes care of it employee. When the opinions are asked
from the employees, they feel empowered, trusted and respected thus the engagement
increases.
Also having only survey is not going to be enough for increasing the employee
engagement. Hudson College has to have a channel where the employees can raise issues they
are facing and give feedback. This gives the employee a voice which makes them feel
empowered as well as loyal to the organization. By doing this, employees know they can spell
out the troubles they have and the organization will take actions.
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Communication that Hudson college must implement is to check whether the senior
level officers and the supervisors are having proper communication with the employees and
coaching the employees that has been assigned to them. If they have not been having proper
communication with the employees and have not been valuing them, this would make the
employee not want to speak about their problems. A good leader would listen to the employees
concerns and will help to find a solution together with the employee. The leader will also
provide employee with every opportunity to use their strength. They recognize the
contributions the employees have made and seek for their ideas and opinions.
Hudson College also has to build a coaching program for the senior level offices and
the supervisors to have an active role in building engagement plans with the employees. They
should have a weekly meeting regarding the goals and achievements of the division, with the
employees attending the meeting.

The communication strategy that Hudson College has to use to minimize the impact on
employee rationale regarding the news not appearing on the list of “Top 100 Organizations of
the State of New York” is to have discussions with the senior officers and arrange a meeting
with the employees. If the employees find out suddenly about this news, they might start getting
stressed about the results and start to blame themselves for the results since they contributed to
the survey as well. They might start to feel unhappy which in return will affect the work they
do. For not having a toll on employee morale, I suggest Hudson College to distribute the results
in a transparent manner. They can use the below outline.

 Before the results become released the human resource and risk management
department must distribute the results to each division to give them a heads up regarding
the matter and get their feedbacks.
 David Bridges should also communicate with Sara Richards, the President of Hudson
College regarding this matter to get ideas and recommendation from her regarding the
proceeding. She should also give suggestions on how to tackle the issues in the survey.
 As for the senior officers, they should be spoken to after Sara Richards. They should
be given the information about the survey results and also Sara Richards point of views
regarding this matter. They should later have a meeting regarding this matter. They
should be discussing how to tackle this problem together, listen to the insights of the
senior leaders.
 After the results have been made public, there should be a combined division meeting
(Campus meeting) to bring this issue to light. Employees would have already seen the
results and be affected by it. This meeting should address the issue in the survey as well
as let the employees know that it is not their fault and if they have any complaints or
feedback they should come forth. Mind that, not all employees are going to be
comfortable speaking up in such a large meeting. To tackle this problem, there should
be a division meeting as well.
 Each division should have their own meeting regarding this matter so that the
employees will feel free to speak up. The meeting environment should ensure that the
employees feedback will be heard, and action will be taken to solve the issues.
 The last but not least, another meeting should be set up amongst the higher position
people to share the results (feedbacks and suggestions) in a confidential manner. This
meeting will let everyone know how each employee feels deeply about the issue and
how they want it to be resolved.

By using this communication strategy, I believe that the employee’s morale won’t take
a toll instead it will be saved because Hudson College has come forth to solve the issue and
their voices are being heard.
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According to the survey results below, the key initiatives that Hudson College should
focus on is the employee recognition. From the survey results it could be seen that employees
feel there is a lack of recognition.

Employee recognition is one of the key driving factors in employee engagement.

Figure 2.2: The Survey
Source: Case Study, Hudson College “Employee Engagement”

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of an individual or team’s behavior,

effort and accomplishments that support the organization’s goals and values (Keeping the right
people. n.d). According to the research done by SHRM, more than four out of five (83%) HR
professionals said employee recognition program had a positive impact on employee
engagement(SHRM research overview: Employee Engagement, SHRM, n.d). Employee
recognition is important because it lets the employees know that they are values and
appreciated. It improves the morale of the employees as well as enhancing the loyalty. It
increases the employee motivation and improves the employee retention. Also gives the
employee a sense of belonging in their place of work which in return helps to build a supportive
work environment.

Hudson College has to re-evaluate their employee recognition program if they had one
and if they didn’t, they must create one. It is important that the senior officers and supervisors
need to keep their employees happy, and one of that factor that makes them happy is the
recognition of their hard work. Like having a monthly or quarterly employee of the month is
not enough. As soon as you see the employee has given the result or is making something
happen, he or she should be appreciated in real-time. Also, the senior officers are supposed to
be specific on what they are appreciating the employee for. Just a thank you or well done is not
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enough because they have done so many things. Sometimes the thank you or well done
wouldn’t seem sincere even if the senior officers were sincere. Hudson College has to seek for
continuous feedback after they have started the program to notice any improvement since the
implementation of the program. One of the recognition ideas that might work with Hudson
College is that each division leader takes the responsibility to take the division out for lunch or
dinner when the division has outperformed the other divisions or have been successful with
their project. This also shows that the employees are being recognized for their efforts as well
as motivating the employees to do better. As for the divisions that didn’t do as well, the
employees should also be appreciated by thanking their efforts and letting them know that they
did a good job as well. This wouldn’t hurt their morale instead it will motivate them to do
better.

The image below presents in nutshell regarding the benefits that are sowed from
employee recognition program.

Figure 2.3: Employee Recognition

Source: https://www.blueboard.com/blog/employee-recognition-act-now-or-else
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Chapter 3: Performance Management
Elizabeth Guthry, director of the organization development in Hudson College has a
quarterly meeting with the employees and she mentioned regarding the performance appraisal
program. She asked the employees to be open with their supervisors regarding the challenges
they had faced during the year and encouraged them to contribute to their ideas for
improvement. Tanya Herring, one of the employees said, “I’m not saying a thing to my
supervisor” and Sam Gibbon said “Why Should I do that? It doesn’t do any good”. Herring
also hinted on the performance review process by asking why should she work harder, when
doing the bare minimum, keeping the job, still gives the same pay increase as everyone else.
The performance management process has not been changed much during the last several
years. Also limited funding has prevented any discussions regarding the implementation of
pay-for-performance system. Since there was a lack of change, employees have been
complaining regarding the flaw in the process.

Hudson College has to re-evaluate its performance management implementation style

because the employees are not happy with the current process. Performance Management is
the continuous process of improving performance by setting individual and team goals which
are aligned to the strategic goals of the organization, planning performance to achieve the goals,
reviewing and assessing progress, and developing the knowledge, skills and abilities of people
(Michael Armstrong, December 2017). The emphasis is on the improvement, learning and
development of the employees in order to achieve the overall business strategy and to create a
high-performance workforce. This includes the way managers evaluate the employees, how
employees evaluate their managers and fellow employees and how individual workers evaluate
themselves. Performance management is more than just assigning the rating. It is a continuous
cycle of planning, monitoring, developing, rating and rewarding.

Figure 3.1: Performance Management Cycle

Source: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/performance-management-
cycle/#url=Overview

The figure above presents the performance management cycle. In the planning stage
the employees and managers clarify the expected outcomes for a duration of time. Objectives
are set to channel their efforts in achieving organization objectives. Usually they do the
SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) objectives. This helps the
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employees to understand the goals of the organization, what needs to be done, why it needs to
be done and how well it should be done.
Monitoring is when the performance is measured consistently, and feedbacks are given
to the employees on the progress. Developing is when the employees skills are developed
through more training and work assignments. Rating is evaluating the employees performance,
summarizing it and assigning a rating of record. Rewarding is to provide incentives and
recognition of the employees for their performance. Also acknowledging their contribution to
the overall goodness of the organization.
Hudson College has to check whether they follow the cycle above effectively. If they
are not doing any of the steps properly, then there will be a flaw in the process

Performance management and performance appraisals are different, but performance

appraisals are part of performance management. Performance appraisal describes a process of
judging past performance and not measuring that performance against clear and agreed
objectives, whereas performance management shifts the focus away from just an annual event
to an ongoing process. Figure below presents the process diagram that provides a graphical
view of the major differences between the two processes

Figure 3.2: Graphical view of difference between Performance Appraisal and Management
Source: https://www.peoplestreme.com/what-is-performance-management

Also, Hudson College has to abandon the quarterly performance appraisal in favor of
regular monitoring and frequent feedback. This will engage the employees more with the goals
of the organization, create a better relationship with their supervisors as well as increase their
individual development. This type of continuous performance management has been adopted
by the leading organizations such as Microsoft, Deloitte, Adobe and General Electric. They all
abandoned the traditional once-a-year performance appraisals. The figure below is the typical
presentation of the continuous performance management cycle of the leading organizations.
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Figure 3.3: Continuous Performance Management Cycle of Leading Organizations

Source: https://clearreview.com/what-is-effective-performance-management/

Hudson college has to also implement to recognize and reward their employees.
Employee recognition and rewarding is a process where the organization makes the effort to
reward and award the employees for their achievement in work, which in return motivates them
to work with same passion. Employee recognition is acknowledging the employees efforts on
the contribution of the organizations success. Hudson College has to implement employee
recognition so that the employees like Tanya Herring wouldn’t have a problem talking to their
supervisors. To start with the implementation, there should be a meeting called with the
supervisors in each division. Supervisors should understand what is being done and the reason
for it. They should be agreeing to take part in it, because they will be the one engaging with
the employees the most. In this program, one of the most important thing is communication.
The supervisors to employees and employees to employees should be able to communicate
freely between each other. They should be able to give feedback to each other for development
in their skills as well as in relationship. They can use the 360 degree feedback tool if they must,
but face-to-face is always a better choice.

To boost the motivation of the staff and to also let them know they are being recognized,
incentives are important in the part of the mix. According to Maslow, human action are directed
towards goal attainment (Maslow, A. H. 1943.) He suggested that “people are motivated to
satisfy needs”( Maslow et al., 1998). Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs can be presented in the
hierarchical pyramid as the figure below. The five stages can be divided into deficiency
needs(D-needs) and growth needs (B-needs).

Figure 3.4: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
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Deficiency needs happen due to the lack of satisfaction hence motivates people to meet
these needs. Psychological needs, the lowest level on the hierarchy includes the necessities
such as food, water, and air. After they have been satisfied, moves on to the safety needs.
During emergencies this stage becomes the pre-dominant step. Once these two levels are met,
it moves on to Belongingness and love needs which means that having relationships (intimate
or just friendship) becomes significant. After this level has been met, then the next level is the
esteem needs. This stage includes the need for recognition from others, achievement, and self-
esteem.
After these four levels has been met, it moves towards the highest level which is self-
actualization being the growth needs. In this stage, the behavior is not driven or motivated by
the deficiencies but instead the desire for personal growth. It is when the person wants to
become everything he/she is capable of.

Hudson College should use the Maslow’s Hierarchy as a base when rewarding their
employees. It can be used to identify the level of needs at which the employee is in. Then, the
needs should be addressed to be a drive factor for motivation. If the basic needs such as
psychological or safety needs are not met, then the organization won’t be able to move up into
the hierarchy unless those needs are fulfilled. Also, not everyone will have the same sets of
needs. So, by having this theory in mind, Hudson College can tailor the reward programs that
will suit the employees needs.

There are two types of schemes that employers can choose from to reward the
employees and to let them know they have been recognized: monetary incentive and non-
monetary incentive scheme.
In the monetary incentive scheme, employees receive a financial reward when they
have achieved a goal or exceeded expectations. Usually monetary incentive is cash, but in
some organization, it includes stock option or profit-sharing.
The non-monetary incentive scheme, it’s a bit more complex. Employees can be able
to get merchandise, travel, experiences, gift vouchers or cards. Sometimes employers can get
creative with what they want to give to the employees, like leaving early on the days they don’t
have work, extra annual leave. This in return gives the result of employee having higher
perceived value.

For Hudson College, both the schemes should be followed taking in account the
employees needs. The schemes will depend on the budget and objectives of the Hudson College
as well as what will truly motivate the employees. Not every employee is going to like the same
thing. Some employees might prefer the non-monetary incentive than the monetary incentive.
There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, Hudson College has to look at what the
employees really needs and give incentives accordingly.
 17
Conclusion

To conclude, Hudson Colleges problems can be solved by using strategies in human

resource. Talent management strategy should be used to avoid problems with the hiring
process as well as new employees transitory phase. Employee engagement strategy should be
used to engage employees in the organization, so they can bring fruitful results to the
organization. Performance Management should be used to show employees that they are being
recognized and reward them accordingly by looking at the organizations budget as well as the
employees needs.
 18
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