Human Resource Management - Milltown School - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Name Course Date Introduction Milltown School is one of the many schools that represent some of the short comings arising in different institutions as far as the issue of human resource management is concerned. The head teacher is said to have had any training about the running as well as the management of the issues in the school. The school has a total number of 200 students but the ratio of the teachers as well as the other employees is not proportional to that great number of the students in the school. There are six permanent, full-time teachers, a Head teacher, four teaching assistants and a Special Needs coordinator. There is a School secretary and a School Manager, whose job it is to manage all the finances of the school, on behalf of the Head and who also has to deal with all manner of staffing issues although the Manager does not have the title of 'Personnel Manager' that is, to all intents and purposes, what she does for almost every day of the week. She deals with sickness absence records, answers questions about contracts, manages the training rota, obtains cover for teachers who are off sick or absent on training etc. She has not received any training herself in any aspects of Personnel or HR Management; she has just had to 'pick it up as she goes along' Employment-related issues within Milltown School using existing HR theories The above description shows some kind of shortcoming as far as the issues of human resource management are concerned. There is great significance of management practices, the human resource management as well as industrial relations with reference to the employment relations is very important for the success of any given organization. In order for any manager to maintain a smooth and a good organizational culture, he or she should adopt some very important organizational theories (Armstrong 200). The theories that any organization will adopt must provide a strong link between the employees and the management. This means that they have to be structured in such a way that they provide great motivation and courage to the employees for the purpose of improving their working skills and productivity. In addition, the theories also must infuse some aspects of the organization like values, experiences attitudes and beliefs. This is because these organizational theories are the instrument that every organization uses to cause motivation among all of its workers and employees (Hannagan 46). These theories comprises of beliefs and ideas of which each and every member of that organization must comply with so as to achieve the objectives and the goals of that particular organization. This then means that the theories must be made in such a way that they are acceptable to all the members of the organization whether in the management or employee level. The school for instance has issues as far as the issue of division and specialization of roles are concerned. One of the most important aspects that should be considered in implementing organizational theory is the issue of behaviour patterns in the organization. This is the reason as to why most of the organization organizes for seminars and workshops for their employees so that they can be informed about the organizational theories the organization implements; this is a great advantage because it enables the workers to change their behaviour accordingly to be in line with the organizational goals and objectives which is not done in the school. This also enables their behaviour to add much credibility to their work as well as increase ethical value of the school hence adding its popularity hence giving it a platform for competition. It should be noted that any theory that an organization opts to implement, must be thoroughly scrutinized by the professions before critical decision about its creation is made (Becker & Huselid 69). This is to ensure that it works for the betterment of that particular school. A better strategic vision is therefore very important to ensure that all the cultural changes that are made are geared towards the wellbeing of the school. It is very sad that the school is expected to reduce its budget as well as consider terminating the services of some of the employees like the teaching assistances who have been very helpful in the school. Another importance of organizational theories is that it brings understanding between the employers and the employees. As a result, it then leads to development of loyalty and trust within the organization (Ulrich 97). If for example in a particular organization the team leader in a department does not cope well with the rest of the employees, then it means that there is need to investigate and find out the root cause of the problem. By doing this, the organization will be ensuring that the theories that have been set do not just benefit the organization but also are taking care of the welfare of the employees. Impact of these problems have on employee morale and, subsequently, on their performance The problems in the school that will arise as a result of the implementation o the requirement are many and will affect the morale of the employees or the teachers both the teaching and the non-teaching staff. This is because of the fact that there will be a reduction in the number of the assistance teachers. These assistance teachers were definitely playing a very great role in the school and the permanent teachers were able to teach effectively and efficiently because of the fact that they were helping. Their being reduced means that there will be a more work load for the permanent teacher and the remaining assistants. The problem will be that they will be working even harder and the pay is not even increased. This means that their morale will be reduced. Also they will be required to attend to a greater number of children in class than before making their work load even greater. This will bring the problem of the teachers not being very efficient and effective since they may be forced not to give more attention to the children who needs extra attention like the slow learners. Recommendations to Milltown School’s management in order for morale and performance to increase Change in whatever environment is very important because it is one of the most inevitable factors. Technology is changing, meaning the department in the education sector too needs to embrace changes in the ways in which they have been operating. Some cultural practices in the schools must be done away with other needs to be maintained or improved but most important also new ones must be utilized too. A school is one of services provider sector that need creativity in developing the changes as well as implementing these changes to the employees due to the sensitivity since the teachers deals with children and also they are the destiny shapers of the students (Budd 199). The changes are definitely not always gladly welcomed but they are very important hence the need for good leadership, dynamism, participation and involvement of all the members of the teaching and non- teaching staff department in every school. The Milltown school is under great pressure due to the fact that the authority requires it to make some changes which will allow it cater for a much lesser budget in the school. Specifically it is required to deal with the reduction of the assistance staff in the school and the number of students is still the same. It should be noted that this is a great deal of change that will be introduced in the school meaning the employees may have some resistances. However, it is the responsibility of the school to meet the needs and expectations of the authority who have demanded for the implementation. The views of the employees need to be changed so that they can be able to embrace the change. Change is as a result of some driving forces which actually call for the change. In this school, the changes are due to the authority demand and the law requirement. With all the driving and restraining forces there is a need for equilibrium to be struck or attained so that the change can be fruitful. The triggering forces both internal and the external must be dealt with so that the people can adapt to the changes to both the people who will welcome it as well as the ones who will resist the change. The changes in the department therefore need to go through a theory of change by Lewis Kurt namely the unfreezing phase, the changing phase and finally the refreezing phase. The aim is to ensure all economic forces; perception and change itself are adapted to. It is the role of the leaders to be inspired by some values like fairness, sincerity as well as honesty to be able to influence their juniors to adapt to change (Salder & Craig 145). The structure and the operation with reference to the employment systems relation of an organization differs depending on the type of organization. There are so many factors that influence the attitudes of the managers in dealing with the employees. The perception of the managers towards the workforce is the factor that greatly influences managerial behaviors in terms of the styles of management and their attitudes in dealing with the employees. The manner in which the manager in an organization treats the employees will influence their productivity towards the organization (Mullins 105). This is because they are likely going to react according to the way the managers react towards them. On the other hand, the managerial styles used by the managers will also greatly affect their behavior There are a number of issues that arise due to the employee management relationship. The perception could be positive or negative (Kaufman 88). This means that the attitude that the management as well as the styles of management that he managers uses will greatly contribute to the output of the employees in the school. There are three ways in which this will affect. It is very important for the management to recognize the human resource in the school, the importance of knowledge management and the importance of motivation and reward systems in the school. Human resource management is one of the most important activities as far as the success of any school is concerned. This is because it entails the management of the employees in the form of recruitment and management. It also deals with all the other issue that involves the employees in the school. Some of these issues are like the hiring, compensation, management of the employee’s performances, development of the school, wellness of the employees, motivation of the employees, training, administration communication and the employees’ benefits among others (Thompson & Martin 134). If in any school the above factors are well taken care of, then it is very definite that the school’s performance will improve. School’s performance refers to the status of the school measured in terms of its output. It should be noted that this output is because of the employees work. The more the employees work the better their work performance while the lesser they work the less the performance in the school. One of the ways of human resource management is through motivation. Through motivation, there can be a great deal of improvement in performance. Motivation has been defined as the combination of one’s desires as well as energy, which are all directed in achieving a certain goal. In other words, it is what causes a certain action to be taken. In order to influence people’s motivation then it means to get them to do what you actually want them to do. It should be noted that not all people are motivated by the same things to perform (Thad 211). This is whereby the issue of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation comes in. some people are motivated from within themselves while other have to be externally motivated through rewards and other things. In most cases an employee knows perfectly well what it takes to gave an excellent performance but still chooses not to give the best for reasons known best to him However, it has been discovered that it is the personal inherent problems. Rather than the challenges in the work place that interferes with ones ability to work and give better results (Terence 118). These motivational personal problems ranges from the pressure in the family, lack of the understanding of the effects of behavior to other people and personal conflicts. This means that if there is a problem existing between the employer and the employees then thee employer must seek the problem and then come up with a solution for the same. By doing this, the leader is trying to get facts right. However, if he gets the facts wrong, then there shall never be a lasting solution. Therefore, the leader should start by finding out what the employees should be doing and is not doing, then to go ahead and record. This means that the employer can be forced even to watch the employees as they work and try to range their standards. If we have to consider the Maslow’s hierarchy of need, then money is one of the motivating factors. Other motivating factors include praises, recognition, respect and sense of belonging. There is also need to check the past records and procedure and see if there has been some appraisals going on. Once the problem has been discovered, then the employer must work with the employees to make things better. Motivation, in this case comes in where, the employer or the manager gives a feedback to the employees. This is whereby he or she lets them know where they are doing right and where they are doing wrong. Feedback in this case should not be an occasional thing but must be done very often. In addition, another way of motivating the employees especially them that are required to do a lot of things includes helping them to set priorities (Peter 90). Conclusion The school will be faced by challenges but it is very important to note that motivation is vital in any school because it helps the employees to work harder and better, to get to be more reproductive and also to do a more quality work. Other importance of motivation in any school includes: putting the human resources available into action by ensuring that all the employees have had willingness built up, it also leads to efficiency improvement of employees hence increased productivity, cost of operation reduction and overall improvement in efficiency, it also enable an school to achieve all of it organized goals. This is because there is better resource utilization, better working environment, all employees are goal oriented. Another importance of motivation is that it helps build friendly relationships due to reduction of industrial conflicts by the employees, effective co-operation and prevention of employee resistance to changes in the school. Finally, motivations cause workforce stability. This is whereby, employees tend to remain in the same school simply because the fell appreciated and also part of the school’s management. To the individuals, motivation is important in helping one achieve goals, individual’s self-development, working in dynamic team and finally helps one be satisfied in their jobs Works Cited Armstrong, Michael. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th ed.). London: Kogan Page, 2006. Becker, Benard & Huselid, Mike. Strategic Human Resource Management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, 32, 6, (2006): 898-926. Budd, John . Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice. Cornell University Press, 2004. Hannagan, Michael. Management concepts and practice. England: Prentice hall, 2005.  Kaufman, Bruce. Theoretical Perspectives on Work and the Employment Relationship. Canada: Industrial Relations Research Association, 2004.  Mullins, Laurie. Management and Organizational Behaviour. New York: FT Prentice Hall, 2005. Peter, Fredrick. The practice of management. New York: John Wiley & sons, 2007. Salder, Peter & Craig, John. 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