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workers who reported flexible and supportive workplaces and some degree of aurnomy also had higher levels of psychological empowerment, organisational commitment and ultimately higher levels of performance as rated by their immediate supervisor. Indeed, many employers have sought to enhance the appeal of technology- oriented work and to gain concurrent improvements in performance. Fof example, performance monitoring has been widely criticised for its pervasiveness, and research has shown that excessive use of monitoring causes stress for employees and has ethical implications. It has been suggested that, if used for developmental, rather than punitive, purposes, performance monitoring can be positively associated with employee wellbeing.77 A study of 223 telecommunications customer service employees found that self-managed work teams resulted in improved customer service and sales performance when compared with traditional job design. Moreover, a study of over 2000 call centres across 16 countries by Hlman, Frenkel, Sorensen and Wood found that job discretion was negatively associated with quit rates and labour costs. The authors concluded that the autonomous teams provided the opportunity for employees to share knowledge and to learn from each other, to develop more effective sales strategies. Similarly, research has found that the implementation of high- involvement work processes in call centres, which/emphasise employee participation in decision making and systemic relationships between technical, social apd other organisational elements, leads to improved employee commitment, employee empowerment, job sayfsfaction and ultimately greater individual performance. Mills and Culbertson argue that, on balance, high-involvement practices are associated with employee empowerment. Furthermore, employee empowerment benefits organisations through more satisfied and committed employees. Employees perceive that the organisation cares about and values them. In particular, it has been found that having control over one's work methods and processes, a low level of performance monitoring, and a supportive team leader are the most significany predictors of employee wellbeing in call centres. 60 While research on call centres continues, it appears to date that this is not a radically different form of work; effective call centre management requires a sound understanding of job analysis and job design, in the context of HR management. Finally, alliances/partnerskips (quadrant four) represent human capital that is unique but not of high strategic value to a firm. Exmples include legal or management consultants. The configuration of HR practices, typically, has a collaborative approach, as partnership selection may be based on past relationships, and it may seek to maintain ongoing relationships to apply desired specialised skills. The development of effective HR configurations across a workforce is possible and it can bring substantial success to an orgazlisation. For example, Davey is a 70-year-old Australian company that has developed a stream of groundbreaking and award-winning water pumps. It is interesting to note that the organisation is quite small, with 276 employees, as people sometimes assume that such initiatives are only feasible for larger firms. The company has fostered a culture of innovation by supporting investment and viewing product development as a priority. The company headquarters and factory moved to a spacious, purpose-built site in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. This significantly improved the flow and exchange of ideas and feedback between the 170 staff there. The managers emphasise the need to continually share information, raise questions, gather feedback and accept suggestions from staff from different parts of the organisation and from customers and end users.2 High-involvement work processes (also see high- commitment HRM) management approach that emphasises employee engagement, participation in decision making, and systemic relationships between technical, social and other organisational elements. ETHICAL SCENARIO Consultancy: 'Fast Cars' rental facility There are 30 staff working for Fast Cars, as well as a CEO, an HR manager and an accountant. Staff turnover is at 15 per cent every month and many of the employees have recorded numerous motor vehicle offences and some even boast criminal records. According to the HR manager the majority of staff are in the age range 20-30 years. There are 28 male employees and two females on staff. The HR manager said. It is difficult to find staff ... most people who walk in the front door will be given a job ... even if it's only for a week. The HR manager appeared to be almost resigned to the idea that there was no solution to the turnover problems or the standard of staff employed. continued 202 2 Buildi human irce management systems continued A very ad hoc and casual level of training is provided for new employees. Basically, new employees are assigned to an employee who has worked in the organisation for longer than 1 week. Therefore, a new employee could possibly be trained by someone who has not understood the procedures and potentially could be training the new staff member in ways contrary to normal practice. This also raises the issue of workplace health and safety training. The HR manager explained her rationale for not providing orientation and ongoing training: When you have the level of turnover we have here you stop trying to provide the right training ... we just get them in and keep them as long as possible. An issue for any existing employee who might remain in the organisation for any length of time is that they generally have their requests for training and development denied. One reason is that there are always several staff members away on sick leave or a number who just fail to turn up for work. After observing the staff, many daily practices were identified as being inappropriate, unethical and in some cases dangerous. For example, at the reception desk there were two girls, and each had inappropriate photographs, with discriminatory captions, pinned to noticeboards at their work stations and computer screensavers that were clearly offensive. In the car park six attendants were responsible for cleaning and parking recently returned cars. Within a 1-hour period it was observed that two of the attendants reversed the cars at such a high speed they caused damage to the vehicles. The attendants stepped out of the vehicles, showed no concern and found their actions humorous. Staff then recorded the damage on the previous driver's paperwork. Clearly clients would be unsuspecting until they received notices in the mail and debits on their credit cards. The CEO and the HR manager cited turnover as the rationale behind why they turned a blind eye to these practices. The quality of employees; their recruitment, training and development; and appropriate and ethical practice are paramount in this case scenario. CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1 What kind of advice would you give to the HR manager of these employees? 2 What do the employees and their managers need to learn about appropriate (without discrimination) and ethical practice