Human Resource Solutions for Temporary Workers in Car Shows - Coursework Example

Human Resource Solutions for Temporary Workers in Car Shows 1. Introduction Much debate has prevailed all over the world on the status of workers, particularly as the number of temporary workers has been increasing. In “What is the difference between a full-time, part-time and casual employee” (2005), Australia has the highest number of temporary workers in the world behind Spain. Permanent employers work an average of 38 hours a week in Australia. More than 25% and less than 30% of the Australian workforce is casually employed, and at least one fourth of the male forces are in temporary jobs. Female workers in temporary jobs have increased during the course of years. The temporary workers in Australia have a reasonable amount of time to work and the time spent is always less than 38 hours a week when compared with the permanent workers. Furthermore, temporary workers usually work in the services segment as they have more seasonal components like the hospitality industry, and so on. Temporary workers are given fixed contracts in which they are to be termed as temporary workers in all countries. In Australia, to qualify as a temporary worker, a contract of 12 months is needed, as stated by the OECD (2007). The aim of this essay, therefore, is to discuss the various dimensions of the employment relationships that can be identified in regard to the temporary employees working at car shows and to understand job analysis and human resource planning activities that may be used for more efficient staffing practices at future car shows. 2. Categories of employment relationships The employment relationship is considered to be complex in nature. There are many different categories of employment relationships in the form of casual employee, permanent employee, trainee, apprentice, agency workers, and junior employee. Temporary workers in a car show may be directly recruited or come from a job agency. These temporary job agency workers may consider themselves as permanent because of their relationship with the agency and because they may have been doing the same set or sequence of work with the same employer for a long time. 3. The Dimensions of work 3.1 The Economic Dimension The temporary workers for the car show may be working to further the objectives of the company in return for reward. Riley (2001) states that the contract is worded so that if the employer refuses to pay, the employee can stop work, and if the employee refuses to work, the employer can terminate the work. The norm is that the workers will be paid on a daily basis until the work is over. If it is a skilled job, the temporary workers will earn more money. 3.2 The Psychological dimension Hughes and Palmer (2007) state that the psychological dimension refers to the fact that the employee is expected to arrive at the stipulated time for the car shows, does the assigned job for the employee, and does everything possible to make the car show a successful event. The workers may not be sure of their future once the car show is over and will be aware that their future hinges to a large extent on their work performance. This can add stress to the work of the temporary employee. Motivation may also be a factor, especially knowing that the car show will come to a close. 3.3 The Legal Dimension Regini (2000) states that the temporary workers in the car show are not considered as employees, and many of the contracts are taken forward in oral form. Many of the legal protections that the permanent employees enjoy will not be there for the temporary workers. Regini (2000) informs that temporary contracts have a limited duration and will automatically end after the expiry of the proposed date; such contracts are commonly used for temporary workers in car shows. In most European countries, the temporary workers may not be given a written contract and the collective bargaining power is minimal due to the non-availability of unions (Armingeon, 2006), 4. The Job Design Each employee is expected to do something for the organization; however, there are some things that are needed by the employees. The individual job design from the temporary workers’ point of view of the car show has to be understood in detail. Job design means the structuring of work in an efficient manner so that the work gets done [Edward E Lawler, J Richard Hackman, Stanley Kaufman,1973]. The job depth means how much freedom the temporary worker will be given to undertake a task and how many tasks the worker has to complete to finish a job (broadly termed as job range). More job depth for the temporary worker means that the worker has more autonomy; however, the reality is that the temporary workers rarely receive any amount of autonomy. More job range means that the temporary worker will be made to perform a wide range of activities. Some factors can affect job design; for instance, the ability of the temporary workers has to be considered before assigning a job to them. This can be considered as one form of ergonomics in which the jobs are given to suit the employees so that the jobs are performed effectively. 5. The concept of Job Redesign Marius (1997) affirms that temporary workers will be given new assignments without going to the depth of the job at hand. This may be in the form of job rotation, with employees switching between various roles and multi-tasking in which the temporary employee is made to work on different areas of expertise. Although flexibility can be brought by temporary workers in the car show, it has to be seen whether they are really enriched by the organization or seen as a buffer to the shortage in supply of skilled workers. 6. Human Resource Planning Human resource planning means that the organization needs to ensure that the right kinds of people with efficient skills are available to meet the organizational objectives. Proper planning is essential so that the right candidates fill the positions that are open. The appropriate people can be found from within the company or recruited from outside the company. Forrier and Sels (2003) divide human resource planning into three time horizons: short-term, which is usually for a year; intermediate, which is usually for two years; and long–term, which is usually for more than two years. Short-term human resource planning should take into consideration the long-term benefits of employing staff. This is also applicable when temporary work is assigned to a person in a car show. A clear linkage between human resource planning and strategic planning should exist to meet future demands, and this has to be communicated clearly by the people who matter in the organization. The business plan should predict what jobs will be created in the future and what jobs will be eliminated. The human resource plan of the organization should increase the applicant pool by attracting different talents from different areas with educational skill sets, improving the qualification of the employees, increasing the time spent by the new employees in the company, and decreasing the time spent by the employees not interested in the company. This principle should be followed when taking on temporary employees for the car show. The company should take measures to retain and grow with these temporary workers. When it comes to intermediate and long-term planning for recruiting personnel, the organization should develop a model for the factors that will increase or induce demand. The organization should be able to predict the future requirements in a cohesive manner. Wooldridge (2005) contends that lower and middle level managers indulge in creating a demand model which is passed on to the top management of human resources. Steps should be taken by the organization so that the top management follows a unified policy for a long period of time, irrespective of the fact that top management may change. 7. Job Analysis Conger and Kanungo (1988) explain job analysis as the ability to do a job effectively. Skills are required, that is, the experience that is gained in the job, knowledge about the existing job, and the competency needed to do the job effectively. Conger and Kanungo (1988) continue that an effective staff policy has to be maintained by the organization so that certain issues can be avoided. There is global competition for getting and retaining customers as well as for getting and retaining talent. Skilled workers are decreasing in number; therefore, there will be competition for these. Moreover, employees will be less loyal to their firms, which in turn need to be fast to change. Temporary workers in the car show should be considered as ideal talent that can drive the organization forward. Conger and Kanungo (1988) state that an effective staffing system should be in place so that the organization will have a clear idea about the candidates needed, the qualifications needed, screening the candidate, and making the right hiring decisions. The staffing requirements should be kept in mind with the organization’s business plan that is it acting on, and the existing resources should be used fully. Furthermore, equal employment opportunity (EEO) should be provided. Job evaluation is another process that has to be done carefully, as recommended by Iverson (1996). This process compares a job with other jobs in terms of the value and the benefits to the organization. In addition, the basic wage of the employee is fixed based on the job evaluation. The performance of the employee is benchmarked using a job evaluation process that takes into account the job valuation. The reputation of the employee is not a factor; however, the way employee does the job is a factor. Mayer (1995) reports that the key areas of job evaluation are the activities of the work, the interaction with other workers, the physical and mental makeup needed by the employees for the job, the job working hours, and many other factors including punctuality. Temporary workers of the car show should be also given flexible working hours, keeping in mind the overall objective of the organization and the work at hand. The basic remuneration should also be fixed in tune with the market rate, as temporary employment is not necessarily a charity service. Job analysis depends on the size of the organization in terms of its employees and the market size, the complexity of the jobs and tasks undertaken, and the willingness of the organization to spend time on these factors. An expert workshop will help to know more about the problems being faced by the temporary workers of the car show. Interviews and questionnaires can also help to obtain deeper insights into how the temporary employees’ work can be improved on. Finally, a proper job description should exist for the temporary job workers in the car show and the workers should be ideal for the job and task at hand. Recruiting temporary workers cannot weaken the organizational principles related to the people specification and job description. 8. Conclusion Proper steps should be taken to ensure that good candidates who can be turned into assets for the organization are recruited for temporary work in car shows. It is people that run and change the organization. Proper planning and policy should therefore be earmarked for workers, which should be done by keeping future trends in mind. Although the context of the essay is Australia, this policy works all over the world. References Applebaum, S & Marius Grigore, M 1997, ‘Organizational change and redesign’, Journal of European Industrial training, vol. 21, pp. 51-62. Armingeon, K 2006, ‘Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Post-Communist Nations. A Comparison with Established Democracies’, Paper presented at the Conference of Europeanists, Chicago, March 2006. Bertola, G 1992, ‘Labor turnover costs and average labor demand’, Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 10, pp. 389-411. 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