From Personnel Administration to Human and Organizational Capital Development - Term Paper Example

Report on Managing HR Services – Case Study Introduction This report outlines the issues and challenges that the management team at Technical Instruments faces and suggests a plan for coordinating HR functions across the organisation. This requires engagement with stakeholders so that their input is included in the planning process. A communication plan for engaging these stakeholders is therefore suggested. The report also includes methods for developing and monitoring human resources plans. Finally, the report suggests how to align human resources with broader business objectives based on the situation at Technical Instruments. 1. Issues and challenges that the management team at Technical Instruments faces The main problem at Technical Instruments is that after becoming well-established, the company grew rapidly and thus had little time for formal planning. In particular human resource planning has been lacking in the organisation and hence the problems that bedevil the company are related to poor management of human resources. The role of HR planning is to determine the human resources required by an organisation to achieve its goals (Armstrong 2006, p. 363). Due to lack of HR planning, Technical Instruments has encountered problems in getting skilled people for the jobs available; it has hired many recruits, many of whom eventually failed; and the rate of employee turnover has increased to 20 percent. These events have been associated with significant costs. The level of employee productivity has also dropped, meaning that the company’s production capacity has slowed. The company has also been embroiled in a legal battle with employee who has alleged unfair dismissal, meaning that the company does not have a fair dismissal policy. The company also faces the challenge of employees quitting to join other competitive firms which tend to have more promising career prospects. Although Technical Instruments has been offering good remuneration and good working and has therefore avoided employee unionisation, shopfloor employees have become more eager to join unions in recent times. This means that the organisation does not have an effective HR department to handle employee grievances such future remuneration, working conditions and career prospects. Finally, the company’s board of directors also indicated the human resources section of the organisation was considerably less well managed compared to the technical aspects of the company which still rated highly. 2. Planning and implementing a coordinated approach to HR functions across the organisation Technical Instruments needs to apply strategic human resource management in its HR planning process. This entails making decisions that define the overall mission and aims of the organisation, determining the most effective use of its resources, and designing and implementing the strategy in ways that produce the desired outcomes (Grobler & Warnich 2005, p. 6). For instance there is need to consider a wide range of strategies that will help to close the planning gaps in the work and workforce, and then select the best strategy that can be termed as the HR grand strategy (Rothwell & Kazanas 2003, p. 24). To begin with, Technical Instruments needs to have a HR department that will be in charge of HR planning, helping in the design of jobs and work systems, stipulating what workers do, interacting with workers to determine what they need, and evaluating how the various jobs in the organisation interface with others (Grobler & Warnich 2005, p. 7). According to Fallon and McConnell (2007, p. 15), the person heading a HR department should report to the organisation’s chief executive officer. This means that Technical Instruments’ organisational structure should be reorganised to include a HR Manager who reports to CEO J Palmer just like the other heads of Design and Quality Control, Manufacturing, Sales and Marketing, and Finance. The HR Manager should work with these other departments to look into each department’s staffing needs, remuneration and working conditions of employees. The HR department should also ensure that line operations advance the work of the organisation while staff operations support and enhance the operations of the company by making it possible to continue production as planned. To ensure that the HR department coordinates functions across the organisation, the department should be empowered to play its role since HR departments that have influence or power are respected and vice versa (Fallon & McConnell 2007, p. 24). 3. How to engage stakeholders Technical Instruments’ stakeholders include employees, customers, shareholders, customers, suppliers, finance companies, and the government. Since these stakeholders have different interests, it is important to have a communications plan that takes these interests into consideration. The following eight steps need to be followed to formulate a workable plan: i. Setting communication aims ii. Setting key messages for the organisation iii. Defining and prioritising key target audiences (stakeholders) iv. Setting additional critical messages which are appropriate for each target audience and their specific issues or concerns v. Developing effective communication strategies for each stakeholder group vi. Allocating budget responsibilities vii. Developing a periodic communications calendar viii. Assessing the results and modifying the plan accordingly The communications plan should identify all the stakeholders, the information they need, how frequently they need it, and in what format (World Batch Forum 2011, p. 145). It is also important to work out important themes together with stakeholders rather than assuming interest in all messages put forward (Hübner 2007, p. 230). Stakeholder thinking should also be used in the communication planning process by integrating stakeholders in ongoing communication processes and giving them voice – that is ensuring full stakeholder participation. For instance, the employees need to be informed that the HR department will be able to handle their workplace grievances in a better way than unions; the government needs to be informed that the aim of having the HR department is to improve employees’ working conditions and meting the requirements of employment law; and shareholders should be informed of the added value that the HR department will bring to the organisation. Focusing the communication process on the business concept especially when communicating to employees and shareholders leads to the construction of a much stronger identity (Hübner 2007, p. 231). 4. Methods for developing and monitoring human resources plans Developing HR plans i) Reviewing organisational HR strategic plans Since Technical Instruments has not had a HR department in the past, it should look into the plans laid out by each of the departments and evaluate how they align with the new HR department. Importantly, existing skills gaps should be noted. ii) Assessing internal and external workforce The HR department should assess external conditions and their influences on the company. For instance, it has been noted that employees leave Technical Instruments to join other more competitive firms. It is important to find out the all the factors that motivate them to leave. Internally, the HR department should assess the workforce capabilities and knowledge, skills and abilities of each employee to determine which employees are likely to be more productive. iii) Compiling HR planning forecasts This should include highlighting the demands for human resources and setting strategies to fill the demands. iv) Developing HR staffing plans and actions This should entail strategies for employee retention as well as turnover utilisation. The HR department should also identify recruiting sources means to get the most qualified personnel and define selection processes and actions to achieve this. Monitoring HR plans The HR department should have a human resources planning evaluator whose duties are to monitor whether the HR strategy will work or is working. The auditor will evaluate the HR department and determine how the existing HR plan is working in order to guide HR activities (Rothwell & Kazanas 2003, p. 137). 5. Aligning human resources with broader business objectives The objective of Technical Instruments is to develop a unique range of testing instruments and meet the market demand. Therefore, the target of the HR department should be to ensure that the organisation has skilled personnel to meet these goals. This implies using the appropriate channels to recruit and select the company’s workforce so as to get highly skilled individuals, and focusing on strategies to reduce employee turnover such as motivation, job enrichment and training and development to retain employees by enabling them to have a more promising career with the company. The HR department should also spearhead handling of employees’ grievances or dealing with unionised employees (if there are any) amicably to avoid cases such as unfair dismissal which the company has already experienced. Aligning the utilisation of human resources with an organisation’s goals is the most important aim that the HR department should strive to achieve. According to Bellingham and Campanello 2004 (p. 141), this goal can be achieved through competence and learning. Thus the HR department should have systems to evaluate and award performance such as job evaluations based on the levels of competency, customer satisfaction surveys and grade structures to define career ladders in the organisation (Armstrong 2006, p. 46). Reward systems are also necessary to motivate employees, which is also necessary for increasing performance, reducing employee turnover and increasing retention. These issues should be communicated openly throughout the organisation to ensure that all employees work towards meeting the organisation’s defined goals. The goal of the HR department in this case is to influence the outcomes of the strategy by partaking in planning and analysis. References Armstrong, M 2006, A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th edn, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Bellingham, R & Campanello, R J 2004, HR optimization: From personnel administration to human and organizational capital development, Human Resource Development, Amherst, MA. Fallon, L F, Jr. & McConnell, C R 2007, Human resource management in health Care: Principles and practice, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Grobler, P A & Warnich, S 2005, Human resource management in South Africa, 3rd edn, Cengage Learning EMEA, London. Hübner, H 2007, The communicating company: towards an alternative theory of corporate communication, Springer, New York. Jones, R 2010, Managing human resource systems 2nd edn, Pearson Education Australia, Melbpurne, pp 38-40. Rothwell, W J & Kazanas, H C 2003, Planning & managing human resources: Strategic planning for human resources management, 2nd edn, Human Resource Development, Amherst, MA. World Batch Forum 2011, The Wbf Book Series- ISA 95 Implementation Experiences , Momentum Press, New York. Read More