Human Resources and Organisational Structure - Example

Human Resources and Organisational Structure Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction In a small business, it is always expected that a small group of people should actually be available for carrying out different operations and more especially those that require special attention. In order to help the business maximize its efficiency, organizing this staff is considered paramount. This is especially important in making sure that all tasks are attended to with very minimal labor as possible. While doing staff organization, having an appropriate structure, is considered paramount. This is because all departments within the business will be to link and work together for a common objective. At the same time, a good organizational structure is likely to make sure that every staff is involved in the process of making important decisions especially those that affect them and at the same promote effective communication to workplace which is considered paramount for the success of the business. With this in mind therefore, this report is purposed to presenting a detailed analysis of Boilmaker Company owned by one entrepreneur by the name john on how he has gone to address the process of orgnisation for maximum production. For specific areas of the report are to be addressed and they include: 1. The organizational structure of John’s Company 2. How communication can be improved among the workshop staff 3. Staffing for efficiencies 4. Possible benefits of employing the external coach to the business 5. Contingency plans for the company The organizational structure of John’s Company Based on the size and the number of employees the company has, the current organizational structure is not justified. Companies can be organized in different ways based on the nature of business, industry, size of the company and the number of employees. If the company has relatively large number of employees perhaps over 100, it’s expected to have different structure from the one that has less than 25 employees for examples. The purpose of having an organization structure is to promote easy management and coordination of various functions within the business. In other words, the organization structure is used as a strategy to cause harmonization various processes and functions. Further, the organizational structure of the business is the company’s skeleton and it’s important in defining the roles and functions of each department to the company and they fit into the organizational goals and objectives. Currently, John’s Company has got 16 employees who work as tradesmen plus himself making a workforce of 17 persons. Among the 16 employees, 5 of them are manager. In this case therefore, the ratio of the management to staff ratio is about 1 to 3. This for the business means that most of the roles are duplicated which some can be combined for maximum efficiency. This is actually very small ratio. According to Gulati & Puranam (2009), in a business where the management has a team that almost plays similar roles, the recommended management employee ratio is 1:15. The organizational in this case therefore should have addressed the issue of the size of the workforce that is present and the exact number of managers that will be effective. This is actually because majority of the staff are doing almost similar jobs. This could have helped reduce the number of managers perhaps into two maximum. This could have been done by combining different roles and responsibilities and also have significant number of staff work under a particular employee. With this kind of structure, it is expected that the business will have long bureaucracies for doing different activities or have various schedules and programs delayed. This is because the roles will not be easily defined as there will be always conflicting responsibilities. Take the case of the workshop, the staff is not clear on whom they should take instructions from between the manager and his two supervisors. This is a problem that has been attributed to act of taking vary views roles and responsibilities and assigning them to different authority points. With this regard therefore, it is clear that the organizational structure of the company is so big even though the workforce is very small. This makes it very difficult to clarify roles and responsibilities for various groups (Smythe 2007). How communication can be improved among the workshop staff Given the competitive environment that businesses are operating in today, different organizations are yearning for different strategies that they can have a competitive edge in the market. If you try to study those companies that have come out to be very successful in the business environment, it is very certain that you will find out that the ability to compete is not about the products or services that they are able to offer, by the ability to communicate on what they have and are doing both internally and externally. Communication in an organization is therefore considered very instrumental in any organization that is planning to excel. Communication within an organization can play very vital role in the prosperity of the business. This is because it ensures cohesiveness among the company workers, company teams, and management and among the management members (Steyn 2003). Communication in an organization apart from facilitating cohesiveness and coordination, is also important in communicating goals and objectives and what is expected of each person and the kind of support the members expect from the management in order to perform their specific roles and responsibilities. With this regard therefore, communication is considered paramount for any company that is trying to outdo the rest and remain successful in the industry (Gregory 2008). John’s Boilmakers Company despite the kind of motivated and hardworking employees it has is one such company that is experiencing a challenge with its communication. Communication problem at John’s company has been noted to exist in the workshop. Ted is the manger in charge of the workshop and under him he has two supervisors namely Matt and Dave. The work of Matt is to organize day-to-day activities in the workshop, while Dave is responsible for managing employees working at off-site workshops. On the other hand, Ted who is expected to play a managerial role in the workshop department is also expected to communicate directly with the supervisors to know what is happening and what the department is trying to achieve (Gregory 2008). However, this is not the case at John’s Company as is not clear on what are the roles of the managers and his two supervisors. This has continued to cause lot confusion as to who the employees should get communication or instructions from. It is expected that if the trend continues the performance will of the department will be compromised as delays are evident in the near future as cooperation will not be easy (Steyn 2003). Even though communication has been identified in the workshop, there is also likelihood that communication problems may be experienced at other levels of the organization including managerial level, team level and individual level. With this in consideration therefore, the following suggestions are considered to bear fruits in improving communication at John’s Company: 1. Communication between individuals: Communication among individuals is expected to ensure that there is proper communication among the staff as a whole. At this level communication is considered important in making the staff understand the company values. At this level, the company’s role is to work on creating an environment that is free for communication and that employees are allowed to discuss issues that affect them in general in case they feel they are not adequately handled at the management level. Further, the management must seek to encourage the staff to be very conscious about their own skills and abilities in communication as this will help them communicate any underlying that they face. Finally, at individual level communication can be improved creating awareness of what is happening in the organization. For example, presenting information in a clear and respectful would help greatly in having the information create meaning to the recipient (Gregory 2008). 2. Communication between the management and the company staff: At this level the communication is between the management and the company employees. At this level to make sure that communication is effective, quality communication must be considered. For example, the manager’s communication should be combined with examples which the staff should follow. In the case of John Company, the management must seek to explain to the staff on how communication should be done. For example, clarifying how, when and who should communicate what, will help greatly in improving communication in the company (Gregory 2008). 3. Communication within teams: Different teams are established to accomplish specific purpose. The cohesiveness of the team members depends greatly on how communication is done. To improve communication among the teams, there need to be a principle rule that is acceptable by everyone and that must be complied with. For example, at John’s Company communication within teams may be improved by agreeing how often communication should be done which can be done either daily, weekly or monthly and the context in which it should be done either informal or formal (Steyn 2003). 4. Communication between teams: This is communication is important in making sure that all teams within an organization are working together for a common goal. Communication at this level is also important in making sure that information that is critical for the other teams is communicated properly. To improve on this for example, the company must have established ground and standard practices that should see that right information is communicated at all times (Gregory 2008). 5. Every one as a member of one group: At this level of communication every individual stands the right to get the right information and at the right time. At this point therefore, the leader of the organization is expected to ensure that beneficial information is made available for every member of the larger organization. However, to achieve this outcome at John’ s Company, there is need to create an environment that gives an opportunity to each access information and share information with others in an exciting way. For example, communication about daily tasks may be done in a relaxed and fun way (Steyn 2003). Staffing for efficiencies Workforce planning is an important aspect of any business. This is because it is used to ensure that the company has got the right number of staff and adequate skills and competencies. This responsibility however, lies with the Human Resource Management (HRM) team. According to George (2005), it is recommended at least once every year, the HRM takes a study on the workforce to understand the right number that should be recruited and the existing skills gap. It is at this point that management can identify that rightful number of employees is maintained for maximum efficiencies. Overstaffing in an organization actually occurs when the business has more workforce than it ought to have. What this means to the business, is that some of the staff will be underutilized and thus creating an extra cost for the business (Conklin 2005). Taking the case of John’s company and look at the way the organizational has been designed it is more than evident that some functions have been overstaffed and perhaps this is the reason as to why the business is having some inefficiencies. As stated earlier, the company is still small and yet with a very large number of managers. For a company that has got 16 employees to have five managers, it beats logic and falls way below the efficiency point. This is because many of the roles are duplicated. To start with, at John’s Company the workshop department is one such function that has been overstaffed. For example, under Ted who is the manager of the workshop there are two supervisors: Matt, who was in charge of the day-to-day work of the workshop and organized the rest of the team; and Dave, who was in charge of the work that was done off-site. This is one point where I feel the company has real compromised its performance. Under difficulty economic times, I think the workshop should be restructured in such away that both the work done by Matt and Dave is combined and taken care of by one supervisor. This is to mean that the supervisor that whoever will be in charge of day-to-day work of the workshop would also be in charge of the work that is to be done at the off-site. Further in the company, it has been established there is also a managerial department that is in charge of the labor hire business headed by Craig. Given the hard economics times, Craig could be assigned the role of Ted as a workshop manager docket. Since the workshop manager is also overwhelmed with the work he is doing especially in quoting perhaps of his age, I believe that one person from the tradesman could be assigned the job of quoting job but serve under Craig as a new workshop manager and labor hire business (George 2005). In summary, this report is recommending that the function of the workshop manager and the hire labor business be combined to one. On the other hand, the role played by Matt and Dave should be combined to one but under the workshop and labor hire business manager. The person to be assigned with this role will also be required to play the role of organizing the right person for a particular job. On the same docket a position also need to be created for the post of quoting person under the workshop manager. This restructuring, will lead to a new organizational chart as shown below. Diagram 1: Proposed new organizational chart Benefits of hiring an external coach Hiring a coach is an important thing that a company can do. Coaching helps impart new skills to the staff which can help them improve on their performance and productivity in various jobs. However, the decision lies on the process to determine which coach to use. In that case the management may need to decide whether to use an internal or an external coach. However, this will be determined by a number of factors which include cost associated, skills required and the motivation of the employees. Hiring an external coach however, outdoes the internal coach in a number of ways and it accrues so many benefits to the company. The benefits associated with hiring an external coach include: existence of confidentiality in data collection, diversity in skills and expertise, time management and passion (Brooks & Wright 2007). High level of confidentiality: An internal coach while trying to collect data and any other relevant information about the performance of various functions is likely to be biased since more often not he is so much aware of what is happening. However, the goodness with the external coach is that, the work will start from scratch and the chance that more and very important data is to be collected, is very high. This in a great deal will help the company identify all areas that need coaching (Brooks & Wright 2007). Diversity in skills and expertise: No doubt that if the company decides to higher an external coach, there is a possibility that new skills and expertise are likely to be imported in to the business. There is because hiring external coach allows for competitive recruitment which is founded on the person’s capabilities (Feldman & Lankau 2005). Time management: In many occasions, many of the companies tend to use their CEOs for coaching. However, this approach is demanding with regard to time as much of it will be lost to coaching. The concentration on core activities in such situation is likely to go down (Feldman & Lankau 2005). Passion: The external coaches are expertise in the area and like their jobs. What this means is that the external coach will always be motivated to do their work (Brooks & Wright 2007). Recommended contingency plan for the company A contingency plan for any business is very important to have by any business. This is because it provides for those activities or actions that will be taken in case there are certain events that are likely to occur and cause interruption to the normal operation of the business (Cerullo and Cerullo 2004). In the case of John’s Company, the following are the recommended contingency action plans: Laying off of workers Laying off some workers involves the process of reducing the size of the workforce through retiring some of them. This is especially recommended when the business is low and cannot sustain the existing working force (Cerullo and Cerullo 2004). Relocation Relocation involves moving the business into a different place more especially when it emerges that the risks especially those that are natural such as earthquakes, fires, floods and collapse of mines become so rampant (Pitt and Goyal 2004). Investment in expansion plan strategies Investment requires that the company pump in more resources to the business with the intention of increasing its capacity to deal with increasing demand. Expansion may include opening up new business branches to deal take service close to the customers (Pitt and Goyal 2004). References Brooks, I. & Wright, S. (2007). A survey of executive coaching practices in New Zealand. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 5(1), pp. 30-40. Cerullo, V. and Cerullo, M. (2004). Business Continuity Planning: A Comprehensive Approach. Information Systems Management Journal, 6(13), pp. 70-78. Conklin, J. (2005). Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Feldman, D. & Lankau, M. (2005). Executive coaching: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management, 31(6), pp. 829-848. Gregory A. (2008). Competencies of senior communication practitioners in the UK: An initial study, Public Relations Review, 34(3), pp. 215–223. Gulati, R. & Puranam, P. (2009). Renewal through reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies between Formal and Informal Organization. Organization Science, 20(2), pp. 422-440. George, G. (2005). Slack Resources and the Performance of Privately Held Firms. Academy of Management Journal, 48(4), pp. 661-676. Pitt, M. and Goyal, S. (2004). Business continuity planning as a facilities management tool, Facilities, 22(3/4), pp. 87-99. Smythe, J. (2007). The Chief Engagement Officer. Farnham: Gower Publishing Limited. Steyn, B. (2003). From strategy to corporate communication strategy: A conceptualization. Journal of Communication Management; 8(2), pp. 168–183. Read More