Human Resource Management - Australian Government - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management- Case Study Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 08th March 2013 Introduction There are key fears that have been raised regarding training transformations. Australian Government has currently put in place the Training Reform Agenda (TRA). The aim of this paper is to identify the requirements and suggestions that the Australian Government has put in place in addressing staff training and development, working conditions and affirmative actions. The paper has also analysed various steps for addressing staff issues. The paper has also formulated proposals for appropriate work performance and appraisal system and management of obstacles to change and facilitate the change process in Meadows. Australian Government policy requirements and suggestions for addressing staff training and development Training is the process where employees obtain new knowledge and skills in a given field of specialization. Development on the other hand is the process of acquiring behavioural skills such as communication and conflict resolution. Employee training and development can be formal or informal. The Australian policy on staff training and development requires that employees should have access to training, specialized expansion leave, staff rotation and support in undertaking external studies. This issue was facing the Meadows aged care facility. As a result, the facility’s Board of Management has resolved to recruit and develop its staff (Bartz, Hillman, Lehrer & Mayburgh, 1990). Respective company executives are required to ensure equality during staff training and development. They should also allocate sufficient funds to cater for training and development. Therefore, the Meadows care facility has put in place training and development strategies for all its staff members. Managers and supervisors are required to identify a skill base for purposes of training. They should also identify suitable training objectives and learning opportunities in order to ensure that employees achieve their objectives. Staff members should be coached, supported and evaluated on the basis of their effectiveness towards training and development. The Board of Management of Meadows care facility has introduced a work performance management and appraisal system. The Australian policy also requires individual staff members to participate actively in the training process. They should also identify and raise their training and development needs (Training & assessment resources, 2013). Staff members are also required to offer feedback to the supervisor or head of department on training. The Australian government also has policies governing the human resource departments’ position on staff training and development. For example, the human resource manager is required to organize for an induction program for all new staff (Cohen & Pfeffer, 1986). HRM manager should also ensure that all employees have access to an appropriate in house Training Program. The manager should also provide reports to the executive regarding training provided and funds consumed in the training and development process (Curtain, 1994). For example the Board of Management in Meadows care facility has prepared a report on staff management. The report is important in ensuring that Meadows obtains re-accreditation as a government supported facility. Australian Government policy requirements and suggestions for addressing working conditions The Australian Government has a different stand on the working conditions. The government has established statutory agency called Safe Work Australia. This agency works with the commonwealth and the state government to ensure that the working conditions are healthy and safe. Section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS) has approved the Code of Practice that was formulated to manage Australia’s work environment and services. The code offers guidance on how businesses should provide and sustain a healthy and safe work environment. For example, the code requires that there should be sufficient workspace, lighting and airing. Workers should also have access to facilities such as toilets and washing areas. Clean drinking water, personal storage facilities and change rooms should also be made accessible and available to all staff members. Therefore, the Meadows care facility needs to introduce change and ensure that these services are available to everyone (Dass & Parker 1999). Buildings should have evacuation or emergency plans and exits. Workplace entrances and exits should be secure as well as facilities or items entering and leaving the building structures. Aisles and walkways should be at least 600 mm wide and they should not have furniture or obstructive items. Exit routes should also be clearly marked by permanent white or yellow line. Mobile equipment such as forklifts and pedestrians should have separate entries and exits. This would reduce the risk of people being hit by moving items such as vehicles. Doors and gates that are operated with power should have safety devices to reduce the risk of people getting struck or trapped. Doors that have to be opened in an upward motion should have devices such as counterbalance springs in order to reduce the chance of them falling back. Therefore, the Meadows care facility should practise staff safety by ensuring that the building structures are strong and are installed with safety devices. The Code of Practice also requires that new building structures should adhere to the National Construction Code of Australia. For example, the code determines the number of toilets that buildings need to have. Additionally, workplace should be kept tidy in order to reduce injuries that arise due to slips and trips. Therefore, spills on floors should be cleaned as soon as possible, waste materials should be removed regularly and stored neatly. In order to maintain tidiness all through, workers should be trained in good procedures of house-keeping. There should be appropriate waste containers located conveniently and emptied regularly. The Meadows care facility needs to improve health and safety of the staff members by ensuring that workplaces are neat and clean. The responsibility to provide and sustain safe work environment and sufficient facilities may be shared between the concerned parties. For example, landlords or property can share the duty with a business that leases property. Therefore, the code requires that the concerned parties should consult, coordinate and cooperate with one another. For example Meadows care facility should coordinate and cooperate with the neighbouring community to ensure that safety and healthy working conditions are maintained. Company directors or officers are expected to ensure that their business operations comply with the WHS Act and guidelines. This means that they should ensure that their business operations use appropriate means and processes to provide and sustain a safe work atmosphere and sufficient facilities for workers. Meadows should operate in line with the regulations in place in order to improve its current management issues. Workers are required to reasonably take care of their health and safety. Therefore, they should not expose themselves to circumstances that can cause adverse effect on their health and safety. Workers must adhere to rational instructions and cooperate with any rational policy or system relating to health and safety at the workplace. Therefore, Meadows should cooperate and comply with the government’s requirements on staff management and efficiency. Work areas should be designed in a manner that provides clear space between furniture, fixtures and fittings in order for workers to move freely without injury or strain. This would also enable evacuation process in times of emergency quicker. Passages, aisles and workstations should have sufficient space. When allocating space it is important to consider the need to move around when working and the physical activities involved in performing a task. Heat and noise may necessitate increase for space as well as activities that include manual tasks or the use of sharp objects where risk of injury is high as a result of close working conditions. Meadows care facility should improve the condition its facilities such as offices and other buildings in order to ensure employee safety is maintained. Affirmative actions Affirmative action refers to an affirmative effort to promote the interests of previously underrepresented groups. This definition gives preferential treatment to women in order to rectify the past effects of discrimination (Agocs & Burr, 1990). Women continue being discriminated at the workplace. Additionally, women have a low representation at the managerial levels. These and many other factors have necessitated the need for creation of the Affirmative Action Act. The act applies to private organisations in the private sector that have more than one hundred employees. It also occurs to higher education institutions. The main aim of this legislation is to reduce sex discrimination from the places of work and to promote equal employment opportunities. As a result, the legislation’s target is to remove structural barriers at the workplace that result in women being paid poorly with little promotions. As a result, the act requires employers to establish affirmative action programs. The programs require that employers should do the following` (Kramar, 1998): Provide Equal Employment opportunities; Meadows should ensure that it offers employment opportunities without gender, race and religious discrimination. Assign responsibility to a senior officer; the facility should segregate duties and assign the most important responsibilities to more senior staff members Consult with trade unions as well as employees before making important decisions that affect the employees. Collect statistics to ensure that there is balance between an employee’s responsibilities and their qualifications. An evaluation of personnel policies and processes to ensure that efficiency and effectiveness is achieved at all levels Setting up of projections and objectives to keep an organisation on the right track Monitoring and assessment of the program to ensure that there are smooth operations within an organisation The Australian Affirmative Action Act also has an impact on the private sector. All the employees are covered in this sector. The private companies are required to offer annual reports and to adhere to minimal standards. Majority of the European countries such as the Netherlands and Britain undertake voluntary methodology by offering motivations to organisations that are ready to implement positive measures. In Canada, companies use the same reporting mechanism as in Australia. Therefore they use a compulsory reporting methodology. However, the companies involved are in conflicting associations with the government. This means that failure for companies to give Affirmative Action reports can lead to loss of federal government contracts. The United States established the use of contract compliance in companies as a means of implementing the affirmative action. However, this methodology allows no control over non-contracting companies (Guest, 1987). In United States, federal courts are authorized to enforce compulsory quotas on businesses found guilty of discriminatory activities. However, only a highly select group of companies are affected by court action. Therefore, the Australian legislation is more effective and efficient in covering the private sector and in establishing compulsory reporting and minimal standards. The Meadows old care facility is also required to write a proposal on how it would resolve its management issues. This is necessary in order for the facility to obtain re-accreditation as a government supported facility. The Australian legislation affects a wide range of employers but it has limited and weak sanctioning options. In order to strengthen the sanctions, the Australia introduced contract compliance in 1992. Therefore, employers that failed to adhere to the requirements of the Act failed to be considered for government contracts. The legislation is not in a position to obtain full compliance because it lacks standards to outline quality affirmative action platforms. The main motivation for companies to introduce effective Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) practices is to portray good citizenship and to embrace good business practices (Braithwaite, 1993). For example, the Meadows care facility has to adhere with staff management requirements in order to obtain government contracts. A proposal for appropriate work performance and appraisal system Meadows is an old-fashioned aged care facility that has had difficulty in recent years attracting new residents and staff. It has also been found to be in serious breach of government regulations on several occasions in the past year or so. Some of the issues facing the facility are: An aging workforce with the majority nearing retirement age Resistance to retraining Regular obstacles to change from staff members in most areas A culture of ‘leave it as it is as it has worked until now Low awareness of government regulation requirements New staff are ‘put through a test’ that amounts to bullying and harassment by the older staff It is important that Meadows addresses these issues for it to receive re-accreditation as a government supported facility. The Board of Management needs to recruit new staff to replace the aging workforce. This can be achieved by conducting staff recruitments or requesting for volunteers to join the facility. This will reduce inefficiency when it comes to executing various duties. Additionally, it will increase the pace at which the facility’s operations are executed. Staff training should be conducted on a regular basis. The Australian policy requires individual staff members to participate actively in the training process. They should also identify and raise their training and development needs with the management and offer feedback on the same (Curtain, 1994). The board should also adopt a culture of “leave it better than you found it”. This would help to change the current situation to a more efficient and effective one. The facility’s management should be aware of Australia’s regulation requirements. For example, it should be aware of the requirements of employment regulation policies such Affirmative Action Act, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Training Reform Agenda (TRA). The Board of Management should put in place rules against bullying and harassment of new staff by the older staff. It is also necessary to introduce work performance management and appraisal systems such as Rypple and Performance Multiplier. These programs have successfully been used in the banking and the motor vehicle industries. If they are implemented in Meadows care facility they can increase employee performance as well as help the management in conducting objective performance evaluation and appraisal (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2011). A proposal for managing obstacles to change and facilitating the change process In order to manage the obstacles to change and facilitate the change process in Meadows care facility the management should establish its own constitution or policies that are in line with the government’s regulations. This would ensure that the management conducts frequent training and new staff recruitments are conducted regularly. Additionally, the management should come up with a committee to govern the facility’s operations on its behalf. This would ensure that the policies that are put in place are not biased. Such a committee would also be impartial to handling and resolving staff complaints and issues that arise. Meadows care facility should also establish a procedure for handling staff members that violate its policies. This should be in line with the facility’s constitution as well as labour laws and government standards. A code of conduct can also be established in order to establish how staff members are expected to behave. This would reduce cases of new staff members being bullied by the older staff members. Additionally, it would reduce cases of staff members’ resistance to training. The facility should have an effective performance evaluation and appraisal procedure. This would ensure that well performing employees are rewarded and promoted accordingly. There should also be procedures for demoting or firing non-performing employees. There should be a department for projects that can organize and ensure establishments of new structures within the facility. This would ensure that the equipment and structures at the facility are sufficient and in good condition. Conclusion The Australian government has established various regulations to govern staff training and development. Some of these are identification of employee skill base, identification of suitable training objectives and learning opportunities in order to ensure that employees achieve their objectives, staff coaching and active participation of staff members in the training process. It is also a requirement that staff members should offer feedback on training and the management should organize for new staff induction programs. The Australian Government also has established working condition standards such as Safe Work Australia strategy and Section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS). These standards or policies have determined building standards, work environment conditions and health and safety standards. The paper has also analysed the Affirmative Action Act. The act has positive impact on women representation at the workplace, as well as on the private sector. Meadows, which is an aged care facility is the main basis of this discussion. Therefore, the paper has raised and addressed issues facing the facility as well as methods of improving performance management and efficiency at the facility. References Agocs, C. & Burr, C. (1990). Employment Equity, Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity: Assessing the Differences. International Journal of Manpower, 17(4/5), 30-45. Bartz, D., Hillman, L., Lehrer, S., & Mayburgh, G. (1990). A Model for Managing Workforce Diversity. Management Education and Development, 21(5), 321-326. Braithwaite, V. (1993). The Australian Government’s Affirmative Action Legislation: Achieving Social Change Through Human Resource Management. Law & Policy, 15(4), 327-354. Cohen , Y & Pfeffer, J. (1986). Organizational Hiring Standards. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31(1), 1-24. Curtain, R. (1994). The Australian Government’s Training Reform Agenda: Is it Working? Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 32(2), 43-56. Dass, P. & Parker, B. (1999). Strategies for Managing Human Resource Diversity: From Resistance to Learning. Academy of Management Executive Review, 13(2), 68-80. Guest, D.E . (1987). Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. Journal of Management Studies, 24(1), 503-521. Kramar, R. (1998). Managing Diversity: Beyond Affirmative Action in Australia. Women in Management Review, 13(4), 133-142. Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2011). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management with Connect Plus. New York, U.S.: McGraw-Hill Education. Training & assessment resources. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.training.nsw.gov.au/training_providers/resources/index.html Read More