Human Resources and Needs Analysis - Etisalat Company - Assignment Example

HUMAN RESOURCES AND NEEDS ANALYSIS Human Resources and Needs Analysis Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade/Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 05, 04, 2011 Human Resources and Needs Analysis Etisalat Company Part 1 Description of company’s goals as well as its activities Etisalat Company is a corporation existing inside the Gulf companies for telecommunications. It is a United Arab Emirates provider of mobile telephone services among other telecommunications services. “The company was set up in the year 1976 being the first one to introduce mobile telephones in the region of Middle East” (Taylor 2). Etisalat is a world recognized organization following its stature as a joint stock company with high rank market capitalization activities. The company carries out its activities within its relatively large structure of organization. It has extended its networks to offer telecommunication services all over the Middle East region and has introduced branches in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Among its other activities include operations in the most extensive network of the region involving direct link of up to one hundred and eighteen destinations with a strong international network that reaches up to four hundred and fifty destinations. It is actually the largest internet hub of the region and also acts as the regional hub for all intercontinental systems of cables. Etisalat also engages in activities like e-voice services offering, e-mobile, e-connect, e-capacity, e-broadband and Emix-IP Transit Services (Taylor 3). The human resources and development division of the company is dedicated towards fulfillment of the following goals and objectives: The department in conjunction with the management of the company is dedicated to ensure delivery of wholesale services that are of high quality in a comprehensive portfolio and extend the reach of mobile operators, carriers and ISP’s globally. Among the target activities include offering a range of fixed line services over the next generation network as well as enable the users of mobile phones to access a number of services and applications such as 3G, GPRS, Black Berry among other applications. Another goal is to ensure that internet users experience value additions like free and fair anti-virus programs as well as anti-spam programs. Other value additions anticipated include achieving expanded mailboxes and upgrading the speed of the broadband connection (Taylor 8). Existing organizational chart for Etisalat Company Description of the existing organizational structure The type of existing organizational structure for Etisalat Company is known as a hierarchical structure of organization. “Each organizational entity in the company is subordinate to another single entity except one entity which is the top most entity (chief executive office)” (Burgess 51). The company practices an organizational structure with extinct and clearly defined position levels in form of a hierarchy. According to the company’s arrangement, there are various levels of power starting with singular power groups at the top followed by other power levels below it. This organizational structure fits because the structure clearly defines each and every member, their level, power as well as their immediate bosses and subordinates. In this way, there is less contradiction over reporting channels and responsibilities. Every member knows who to report to and whom he/she expects a report from. The power reduces from top to bottom of the organizational chart with the CEO being the top most level and the subordinate staff being the lowest level as demonstrated in the above organizational chart (Burgess 53). How the existing structure works In terms of communication, members of the above existing hierarchical organizational structure of Etisalat Company chiefly communicate by means of their immediate superiors or bosses as well as their immediate subordinates. The company finds this structure useful for its mode of communication since it reduces communication overhead. This is useful in a way that any flow of unwanted information can easily be limited by the top most positions (Orr 62). “Span of control or management is the number of subordinates each entity can effectively manage and control and more subordinates under one entity indicates wider span of control” (Taylor 18). In terms of span of control, the organizational structure works in a way that every entity in the structure is responsible to take control over the immediate subordinate entity below and controlled by the immediate entity above it. It is the CEO who holds control over the entire company for a span of agreed period which may be renewable or not. Therefore, the span of control for the company widens from the lower levels to the top most levels where the top levels have a greater number of subordinates and it reduces from the top levels to the lower levels. Management style is a term that describes how decisions in a company are made as well as the relation with the subordinates. It is actually an overall method of leadership employed in a company. In terms of management style, Etisalat’s hierarchical organization structure employs an autocratic style of management where decisions are made by the top most positions including the CEO and the board of directors under the chairman. The decisions made are then delegated to the immediate subordinates who also delegate them to their subsequent immediate subordinates with close supervision (Buchman, 116). Existing internal factors that affect the company Managerial decisions forms one of the factors and it relates to control or planning for the company as well as organizing company activities. The decisions related to managerial decision affect the company because they trigger several reactions from the lower levels of the organizational structures. Some managerial decisions such as opening of new branches encounter a lot of opposition from the junior staff for fear of being reshuffled. Culture is a factor that also affects the company. This is because the culture of the company in terms of vision and mission to reach worldwide population without limit by matter or distance is sometimes faced with challenges like failure to meet the goals set. Such a situation of failure to adhere to the mission and vision of the company affects the internal performance of the company. Another internal factor is attention to detail. This affects the company because its policies are geared towards caring for each detail such as follow up for customers by calling them and offering them other suitable services like provision of feedback to their complaints. Failure to adhere to this is seen as a draw back to the company performance (Taylor 13). Existing external factors that affect the company Competitors or competition forms one of the factors. In the Egyptian market, Etisalat encounters competition from similar service providers like GSM Vodafone. In the United Arab Emirates, the company faces stiff competition from Integrated Communications Company (PJSC ‘du’) and other small upcoming telecommunication companies. Competition is an external factor that affects the company because the competitors strive to own the larger portion of the market or subscribers who are the customers. Loosing subscribers to competitors reduces profits and general performance of the company. Governmental issues also form one of the factors. The government is keen and has its own policies that must be adhered to by the company. Such policies are rules and regulations that can directly or indirectly affects the profits of the organization among other financial issues. For instance, taxes forms one of these issues and this affects the pricing of the services offered by the company. High taxation by the government makes Etisalat to incur higher production costs leading to reduced realization of profits in its service offering. In Egypt, the company reduced its prices following the government’s move to reduce taxes paid by the telecommunication companies. Unlike wise, the Emirate government raised taxes for telecom companies and Etisalat was really affected. Its costs of production increased forcing the company to raise the prices for its services. This condition came as result of emergence of many telecommunication service providers in the market. Shareholding is another external factor that affects the company. “UAE government owns most of the shares amounting to almost 60 percent of the total shares leaving 40 percent to the public” (Taylor 15). Wrangles, conflict of interests and involvement of share holders in decision making really slows down the decision making process and the running of the company due to failure to easily agree. This derails important management steps and implementation of fundament policies and strategies thus leading to reduced performance. Future internal factors likely to affect the company Style of management is one of the future internal factors. The existing management style is an autocratic one and is likely to elicit reactions from employees who are likely to advocate for a more democratic style of management so that they can also be involved in the process of making decisions in the company. Such reactions and oppositions are likely to affect the performance of the company in future if not well managed. Another internal factor that is likely to affect the company in future is the outcome orientation. The current outcome orientation for Etisalat Company is low mainly because it focuses on profits only as its major outcome. But due to upcoming competitors who are interested in the same market segment, the company is likely to be affected by this low outcome expectation. Unless the company widens its outcome expectations to include other aspects like customer expectations (pampering the expectations of the customers), it is likely to loose a lot of customers to competitors with wider scope of outcome orientation. In-service training and motivation is also another internal factor that is likely to be encountered by the company. The company needs to put in place measures that will enable internal training of staff member to equip them with appropriate knowledge and skill to enhance their performance. Failure to adhere to this will lead to poor handling of work challenges, lack of innovations, poor work stability, lack of aggressiveness among workers and poor team orientation (Bagchi 43). Future external factors likely to affect the company Technological issues is forms one of the major factors. “The world of technology and innovation is constantly changing and is it becoming difficult to predict when, why and how technology is going to change” (Bagchi 45). There are projections that relate to future technological advancements in GPRS, TV Mobile, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) and other sectors like video calling, high speed internet, 3.5G push Mail, multiplayer gaming, voice and massaging and other local based services. The company has to plan and accommodate all these future expectation to avoid being out-competed by determined competitors. The second factor expected in future relates to competition. The Etisalat’s competitors are likely to gather or combine efforts against one common enemy which is Etisalat. This is expected to happen because Etisalat happens to be the biggest threat to all other upcoming companies. When the competitors combine efforts, the company is likely to loose customers to these companies and will not be able to gain them back. This will diminish performance leading to closure. This factor need to be put into great consideration by coming up with other alternatives to counter its effects. Lastly, the company is likely to face strict rules, regulations and polices from the government following emergence of many telecommunications service providers in the market. The government is likely to increase taxes for telecom companies and this is likely to affect the outcomes of the company especially in terms of performance (Bagchi 47). Part 2 Restructuring need analysis Organizational structure change and justification By application of alternative dispute resolution method (ADRM), the two main ideas for changing the structure for the organization are as follows: Changing the existing management style is the first idea. I propose that the management style should be changed from the existing autocratic to permissive style of management. A permissive style of management is a democratic management style that allows for participatory decision making process. This kind of management style is likely to ensure making of decisions that reflect the interests of the entire company. Currently, the autocratic management style only allows the management to make decision independent of other junior staff members and this deprives the rest of the employees from the sense of belonging. The decisions made are considered to fit the few individuals holding high ranked positions without considering the rest of the employees. Democratic system of management will ensure involvement of all members in decision making and this will instill a sense of belonging to all members. Members will get motivated and the performance is likely to increase (Hamer 27). Another idea for change is on span of control. The power of control should be evenly distributed and not concentrated at the top like the current system holds. Powers should be delegated to all levels of the organization so that all members can be able to carry out their duties autonomously. An entity should be given powers that it can comfortable manage and handle. For instance, some of the powers and responsibilities held by the board of directors and the CEO should be shared among other management levels at the department so that the top management can be relieved from such duties to avoid overburdening them. Even distribution of power ensures effective and efficient service delivery to customers and reduces wrangles over positions and status (Hamer 33). Therefore, the organizational structure for the company should be changed from the existing hierarchical to the new matrix structure of organization. The new organizational chart Justifications for the new organizational chart Changing the type of organizational structure of the company to a matrix type of organization will allow pooling of people with similar skills for different work assignments. For instance, all customer care providers will be in one customer care department under the customer care manager and at the same time engage in other projects and subsequently report to the project manager while under the customer care department. This allows the workers to work under several managers to accomplish their job thus enhancing performance outcome. This is not possible with the existing hierarchical structure where each entity is only allowed to report to an immediate entity above it and at the same time receive reports from an immediate entity below it. There is no flexibility of duties in the existing organizational structure which can only be solved through the new matrix organizational structure (Hamer35). The structure is also likely to benefit the company because it allows the team members to readily share information across task boundaries. The new structure also allows for specialization and this is important as it allows for increased depth of knowledge among members and career progression as well as development. The system will also allow individuals or employees of the company to be selected based on the needs of the upcoming projects and not based on the ranks. This structure will actually be viewed as a complete new environment for the company bringing together various project teams that are dynamic and capable of viewing problems from different perspectives as specialists thus enabling appropriate, viable and reliable resolutions/ recommendations (Hamer 37). Human resources gaps that need to be filled in the new structure and their justifications The first gap that needs to be filled in the new structure is workforce planning. Since the new structure allows for specialization and team membership, work force planning is necessary to place the right number of individuals with right experience, skills and competencies in the right jobs. This should also happen at the right time. Filling of this gap by the human resources will enhance best performance outcome and output from workers since every worker is well fitted in his or her area of profession. This calls for resources input (additional resources in the HR) to be able to carry out this duty effectively. However, as much as the resources need to be added, the potential outcomes are much positive to cover for the required resource input. Workforce planning also enables strategic focus on the goals and objective of the company as well as what it takes to accomplish them. Filling of this gap will also make it each for the HR to carry out work force analysis for purposes of training, awards and identification of problem areas or gaps in the workforce (Weiller 122). The HR also needs to employ the business partner model to fill the gap on company stability and competitiveness. “The HR needs to be more strategic and build on strategic relationships with other service providers” (Weiller 125). If this gap is not filled, the competitors are likely to use it as a weakness to out-compete the company by making alliances against the company. Following the current and expected intense competition in the telecommunication industry, this strategy will be effective to enable the company remain effective, efficient as well as competitive. Among the gaps in the strategic planning include employee commitment and focus, change management and other strategic actions. If all this gaps are filled, the company is likely to experience a smooth running with continual improvement in performance and customer satisfaction (Weiller 126). Another gap that needs to be filled is on centers of excellence which involves priority and focus. The HR should invest resources to provide for internal consulting quality that will enable arriving to solutions for advanced HR problems. Currently, the new structure can only solve local problems and must outsource consultants to help in resolving unique or advanced problems of HR. If this gap is filled by introducing centers of excellence inside the company’s HR, most problems will be solved internally by internal consultants and will remain within the company unlike when the external consultant are consulted. Also, the knowledge and skills gained after solving the problem will remain inside the HR department unlike when the external consultants are involved. With this in place, problems of HR are solved quickly and there will be reduction in cost for external consultants. The internal image of the HR is likely to be positive since it is directly related to major management issues (Raylard 112). Lastly, the HR should fill the gap for the need for self service as well as e-HR. Technology is growing and the new structure need to keep up with technology in order to remain effective and cut down on expenditure of resources like time, energy and space. Introduction of self service model will make it possible for most of the transactions and answers involving HR to be posted in the intranet. This will help free up generalist time and at the same time make employees, managers and other organization’s members more self sufficient. The transactions that may need HR assistance are done on the intranet and answers provided without physically visiting the HR department. On the other hand, e-HR will make HR transactions fast and paperless, cheap as well as globally capable. This prevents work overload on the HR since most of the decisions are shifted to the management. E-HR will also enable the new structure to hire employees and other work force online thus making the recruitment, selection and general employment process faster and paperless (Raylard 117). Part 3 Job position description The current existing position in the company that I feel need to be changed is the chairman of the board position together with his deputy. “Currently the board chairman chairs the directors’ board and in his absence the vice chairman who is also a member of the board of directors takes over and chairs the board” (Taylor 11). The CEO may attend or not attend board meeting of the company but receives reports of board meetings from the board chairman. As it currently exists, the board members (Directors) need to pass through the deputy board chairman before accessing the board chairman himself. The protocols are just too long from the departments to the top CEO and I feel that some positions between should be scrapped off (the position of the person chairing the board). I feel that such a hierarchy is long and unnecessary for a profit orientated organization (Hewitso 131). In my opinion, I feel that this position (Board chairman) together with its assistant should be scrapped off and be replaced with deputy chief executive officer (deputy CEO) position. When this change is implemented, the CEO will be chairing the board of directors and in his absence, the deputy CEO should chair the board of directors and then give a full report to the CEO since the CEO is involved in many other external affairs of the company. On the other hand, the board should only report to the deputy CEO if the CEO himself is not available. In cases where the CEO is fully available, all the directors including the vice CEO who is also a member of the board of directors should directly report to him. This will reduce power levels and will bring the management close to other members or levels of staff. Job analysis for the customer care attendant position Job analysis enables us undertake a systematic study of the ongoing activities within a job. “It actually deals with the duties of a job position, the tasks, responsibilities as well as answerability of a job position” (Cronshaw 39). In addition, analysis of a job examines details surrounding job position inclusive of the abilities, expertise and understanding required by workers to adequately perform duties under the specified position. In this case, I will employ a method of job analysis called observation to analyze the position of customer care attendant. The other method that I will employ is individual interview method. Among the issues I will be observing and interviewing include the qualifications necessary for the position, the immediate boss for the position as well as the duties, responsibilities and tasks expected to be performed by the employee holding the position. I will also observe the flexibility of the position in terms of shifts and reshuffles with other staff members (Hewitso 153). I believe the method of observation is suitable for job analysis of this position because it will enable me as the analyst gets first hand information as well as knowledge concerning this job position. The interviews that I will carry out with individual customer care attendants will enable me get first hand information as well. However, with direct observation, errors such as omissions and exaggerations are eliminated. Direct observation will also enable me experience and see the working environment for customer care attendants together with the tools and equipments they use as well as their relationship with other employees. Complexity of this job position will also be within my analysis focus. On the other hand, carrying out interviews with individual customer care representatives or attendants will enable me get their sentiments, comments as well as compliments concerning the job. I will be able to gauge their attitude and know the tactics they use to comfortably accomplish the expectations of their seniors. I will also be able to know the challenges as well as threats surrounding the job position (Cronshaw 46). The observation method will be most effective since this position involves some degree of movement by the customer care attendant to attend to various needs of the customers and make consultations, seek assistance as well as referral of complicated customer acre issues. Since the customer care services are directed towards customers who are allocated a short period of service time, I will be able to observe a lot within this short duration of time and this will enable me learn a lot about the job. These research methods are easy to use, involve less calculation since the data is qualitative and consumes less time. First hand information and feedback is provided immediately (Hewitso 167). Results for the customer care attendant/representative job analysis The results are as follows: Customer care representative position falls in the customer care entity that falls in HR department in the company. Among the activities carried out by the customer care representative include attending to customers with various complaints and making sure that they get or access appropriate assistance from appropriate personnel or department. They do this by directing the customers to respective places where they can be assisted. The position holder directly reports to customer care supervisor who works directly above him. The qualifications for the position include good communication skills, good personal interrelation skills and good understanding of morals and ethics. The customer care representatives are recruited by the HR department with minimum academic qualifications (must be a graduate from a recognized university in UAE) and are adequately subjected to training for a period of two years. Those who pass the test are officially recruited as qualified customer care representatives. In the training, they are basically taught on matters concerning the company, their job descriptions and expectations. They are also trained on how to carry out their duties. In a summary statement, I found this position to be complex requiring exercise of perseverance, patience and observation of morals, ethics as well as good relations/communication skills especially when dealing with stubborn customers. The position is not flexible as only trained members are able to handle and attend to customers as required. According to my findings, the position holders’ seem not to enjoy the job terming it as demanding, long working duration and full of temptations especially when dealing with rebellious customers who can cause provocation. Once trained and endorsed, the job holders stated that the job is not complex. Recommendations and justifications based on the findings The company should employ more customer care representatives to ease job burden for the existing position holders. This is because most of the customer care attendants are working for longer hours serving overwhelming number of customers. Employment of more staff in this position will help relieve the existing employees from working for longer hours and this will enhance service delivery to the customers. More employees will set short working shifts and workers will be able to deliver their best to customers (Raylard 223). The company should invest most of the resources in the customer care department so that the customer care representatives can deliver their best to customers in terms of serving customers’ interests. All customers are the most vital and crucial part of the company and are the only source of income. They need to be given best services so that the company can retain them and attract others. This is only possible if the company will put in place the necessary technology like customer care call centers and other service provisions that will serve the interests of the customers even at a distance. Resources should also be invested to give more training to customer care representatives especially in terms of handling customers and communication skills which prove to be of great challenge (Raylard 224). Lastly, flexibility of this job position should be enhanced. This is by training other staff members to be familiar with the expectations of this job position so that they can relieve the customer care representatives if urgent need arises. This is because the positions are very crucial since they involve the most fundament part of the organization (customers) and can not stay vacant. On the other hand, customer care representatives should be trained to perform other duties in the company to be able to relieve themselves from monotony of the job (Raylard 226). Works cited Bagchi, Tett. “Business regulations in the United Arab Emirates.” Business review 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print. Buchman, Ellien. “Analysis of management styles, structures and charts for organizations.” Business review journal 1.6 (2001): 111-118. Print. Burgess, John. “Organizational management and structure.” Business management journal 2.1 (2008): 51-59. Print. Cronshaw, Steven. Functional job analysis: A foundation for human resources management. Erlbaum: Mahwah, 2009. Print. Hamer, Peter. Organizational restructuring and need analysis. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006. Print. Hewitson, Mark. Job analysis methods. Chicago: Johns Hopkins, 2004. Print. Orr, Tamra. Types of Organizational Structures. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005. Print. Raylard, Marry. Organizational studies and human resource management. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2006. Print. Taylor, Brandy. “The complete detailed study on organizational management and organizational analysis: Etisalat Corporation.” Organization’s review journal 12.3 (2009): 1-19. Print. Weiller, Robert. “Identifying gaps in HR strategy.” Human resources analysis journal. 9.6 (2007): 121-137. Print. Read More