Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (HRM500)
Assignment #1 – Hershey’s Sweet Mission
Student: Cheryl L. Simpson
Professor: Dr. William Clampitt
22 January, 2012

Recommend the redesign of Hershey’s performance management system to appeal to the diverse groups that it employs. (Bohlander & Snell, 2004) High Performance Work System (HPWS) is defined as a set of management practices used to create an atmosphere within an organization where the employee has more involvement and responsibility. More precisely, HPWS has been defined by Bohlander et al (2004) as “a specific combination of HR practices, work structures, and processes that maximizes employee knowledge, skill, commitment and flexibility” (Bohlander & Snell, 2004). An approach that Hershey’s could use to appeal to the diverse groups that it employs would be to utilize knowledge workers, such as indicated by Noe et al (2011) in the case study in the form of mentoring. Noe et al (2011) defined knowledge workers as employees whose key contribution to the organization is specialized knowledge, such as knowledge of customers, a process, or a profession. Hershey has baby boomers that specialize in the knowledge of the customers and the process, and who are also enthusiastic about sharing what they know to the younger generation of workers, and subsequently fascinated by leaving a legacy. In order to address the younger generation’s eagerness for challenges, employee empowerment is also critical as part of the redesign process. Bohlander et al (2004) emphasizes that the ability for an employee to take part in the decision making process is considered to be one of the important essentials of an HPWS because it allows the employee to make decisions which can have a positive impact on their immediate environment, and in turn impacts the whole organization. This involvement