Managing human resources in small organizations: What

do we know?
Melissa S Cardon
, a,
,
Christopher E Stevens
b

, 1,

a
CASE Weatherhead School of Management, 10900 Euclid Avenue, P! ""#, Cleveland, $% &&10', (SA

b
CASE Weatherhead School of Management, 10900 Euclid Avenue, P! ""0, Cleveland, $% &&10', (SA
Abstract
While much of our )no*ledge concerning traditional %+ topics ,e-g-, recruiting, compensation, or
performance management. in large firms ma/ also appl/ in small or emerging organi0ations, evidence
suggests that ne* ventures are different and that management of people *ithin them ma/ not clearl/ map
to management *ithin larger, more established organi0ations- 1his paper revie*s e2tant research on
managing people *ithin small and emerging ventures and highlights additional 3uestions that have not
/et been addressed- $ur revie* suggests that as scholars, our understanding of the %+ issues important
to small and emerging firms is limited- While *e have begun to understand ho* these firms should hire,
re*ard, and perhaps even motivate their emplo/ees, *e lac) much of the theor/ and data necessar/ to
understand ho* small and emerging firms train their emplo/ees, manage their performance, promote or
handle organi0ational change, or respond to potential labor relations and union organi0ation issues- 1he
e2isting literature presents an often4confounded relationship bet*een si0e and age, bet*een the issues
important to small firms and the issues important to /oung ones- 5iven the potential earl/ %+ decisions
have to impact the organi0ation6s do*nstream success, it is important that *e understand ho* these
functional areas of %+ ,as *ell as their integration and evolution. affect small and emerging firms, and
ho* the %+ decisions made during the formative stages of firm development impact the firm6s long4term
goals-
7oes 8our $rgani0ation 9eed a
%uman +esources Management
S/stem:

9ovember, "01"
1here are a number of s/stems available to help organi0ations trac) human resources data- We
spo)e *ith a number of organi0ations and found that the field is segmented into multiple areas,
*ith applications dedicated to managing recruitment, hiring, training, emplo/ee records,
time)eeping, benefits, compensation, and m/riad other issues- Man/ higher4end %uman
+esources ;nformation S/stem platforms are mar)eted as all4inclusive, but are e2pensive
enough to be out of the reach of most small and mid4si0ed organi0ations- Anecdotal evidence
also suggests that no one s/stem can trul/ e2cel across ever/ area of %+ data-
;n fact, most organi0ations *e spo)e *ith that *ere using %+ s/stems had individual s/stems aimed at a particular
area of human resources, and some *ere using multiple s/stems- 1his approach isn<t ideal, ho*ever- Several front4
line %+ staffers *e intervie*ed noted that the/ found dealing *ith multiple data entr/ points inefficient, and *ished
their different %+ s/stems interacted *ith each other more seamlessl/=especiall/ since these s/stems are meant to
be time4savers-
1he four areas *hich nonprofits might consider using an %+ s/stem to manage include pa/roll, trac)ing emplo/ee
data, recruiting and hiring, and performance management and training-
A fe* organi0ations *ere e2perimenting *ith using technolog/ as part of the emplo/ee training and revie* process-
$ne is loo)ing at investing in specific performance management soft*are to help her emplo/ees reach performance
goals-
Several other nonprofit %+ staffers *ere also interested in this area=the/ voiced frustration *ith the paper4based
revie* s/stems currentl/ used b/ their organi0ations, and said the/ felt that integrated soft*are could help advance
the performance revie* process from an annual or biannual event to an ongoing conversation bet*een emplo/ees
and their managers- ;deall/, this performance management soft*are *ould also accommodate the internal and
e2ternal trainings emplo/ees undergo as part of its functionalit/-
At *hat point in an organi0ation<s lifec/cle does it ma)e sense to invest in an %+ management s/stem: As in all
soft*are decisions, consider /our o*n needs and resources *hen ma)ing this call, but for ver/ small nonprofits, it
probabl/ doesn6t ma)e sense to bu/ a dedicated s/stem to manage fe*er than a handful of emplo/ees-
1he e2perts *e spo)e to differed in their opinion of ho* much bigger an organi0ation needed to be before it did-
Some said that conventional %+ *isdom=*hich maintains that a full4time %+ person should be brought on board
once an organi0ation reaches 100 staff members=also applies to human resource s/stems- $thers felt that smaller
organi0ations could reap benefits from these s/stems, since staffers in charge of %+ in addition to other areas *ould
theoreticall/ be able to more easil/ >uggle multiple duties-
$ne thing the/ all agreed on *as that %+ policies should be up4to4date and easil/ accessible for all emplo/ees, a
goal *ithin reach of most organi0ations- ;f /our organi0ation delegates human resources data to the e2ecutive
director, operations director, or an/one else *hose plate is alread/ full, good data practices can help them manage
human resources=its most valuable asset=more successfull/, avoiding their burnout and staff frustration-
1o read the full article for free, visit http?@@***-ideal*are-org@articles@)eeping4trac)4/our4people4po*er4hr4and4
technolog/4nonprofit4*orld-