Ihrm4032 Human Resource Management- Training Assessment Answers

Questions 

The Case Study

You have just been appointed to work as HR Manager for Palermo Safe Storage, an organisation which, despite its mission statement of ‘Our people are our future’, operates with a range of personnel and development policies which pay little heed to employees’ rights or needs at work. You find, for example, that wages and salaries are below the national average, that employees are required to work overtime at short notice, that several staff have been dismissed for trying to establish a trade union! Health and safety rules are frequently ignored, recruitment and selection procedures are haphazard and ad hoc, and training is non-existent.

You approach the chief executive and explain that personnel and development practices are out of line with the mission statement and that something needs to be done. She shrugs her shoulders, saying that this has not caused any problems in the past. Nobody has complained to her and, anyway, she runs a successful organisation.

In the end you persuade her to let you make a presentation to the board.

Prepare a report which you will present to the executive board of the company based upon what you would do to improve the situation with Palermo Safe Storage. You should use the tasks below as your basis for the report.

Tasks :

1. Explain the meaning of HRM and the HR function and why it is important within the organisation. In doing so, explain how HR strategies and practices fit within the overall business objectives.

2. Demonstrate the purpose of HR Planning and how this can be useful in finding the right skills and competencies for the business.

3. Explain how Training and Development contributes to improving the overall performance of the organisation.

4. Explain the process for managing change within the business and its global external environment. Use a HR change model to illustrate your argument.

5. Identify the ways in which the organisation can take account of employment legislation within its HR practices.

6. Suggest ways in which the organisation can take advantage of globalisation to add value to the business and sustain its future growth.

Answers

Introduction

The aim of this report is to learn about the human resource management and its importance of the business organisations. The company on which the discussions will take place is Palermo Safe Storage. As we know that the workers are the relevant part of every organization like Palermo Safe Storage (Wong, 2013). The actual need is to analyze the potential of the employees and allocate them the correct task and position so that the most productive outcome can be achieved.

The other motive of human resource management is to achieve the goals of the company. In order to perform all the factions in well manner, the company has to make a separate department of human resource management. The study will discuss about the requirement of HRM with a better understanding of the organization and its structure (Knowles, Holton III, and Swanson, 2014). This will result in contribution of the human resource in the company. in this report, the functions or HRM, their roles, HR planning and policy making, training and development of employees, change management, legislation of the employees, impact of globalization on the human resource policies, etc will be discussed.

1. HRM and the HR function

The human resource management has different meaning and definitions such as the human resource management are a department in the company that helps in effective and prominent management of the workforce and staff of the company. It is directly associated with the human asset of the company  as it helps in dealing, administration, training, recruitment, training, and many other activities related to the same. It is a division that is particularly designed for the employees who are working in the company (Littlejohn, and Foss, 2010).  There are various types of functions done by the HRM department of the company like recruitment, management, direction, etc. for the people who work in the company.

HRM plays a vital role as it ensures the deals the effective deal taking place with every individual who is related to the organization. It makes a balance between the strategic management, business strategy, policy making, etc. there are many functions that can only be managed by the HR department of the company which are very much required in Palermo Safe Storage. As they are facing serious issues related to the satisfaction of the employees working with the company. The human resource department plays most of the managerial functions, operative functions and advisory functions (Kolb, 2014).

Functions of human resource management

Managerial functions

Human resource planning- It is related to the planning f the workforce  within the company
Organizing- The process of organizing is related to the systematic management of the human resource
Directing- The direction, guidelines, ways, motivation, etc. activities are come under the process of directing (Penuel, Fishman, Cheng, and Sabelli, 2011).
Controlling- The process of controlling refers to management control and keep eye of the productivity and performance of the employees and to bring improvements in the same.

Operative functions

• Recruitment and selection
• Job analysis and job design
• Performance appraisal
• Training and development
• Wages and salary administration
• Welfare of the employees
• Maintenance of the employees
• Relation with the labor
• Personnel research
• Personal record of employees and employers

Advisory functions

• Advised to the top level of the management
• Advised to the departmental heads of the business organization

The aim of explaining all the functions is to explain that these all function can help Palermo Safe Storage to ring improvement in the same by applying all the functions in the human resource department of the company (Huselid, and Becker, 2011). They can make strategies and policies that can fit with the overall objective of the business organization.

2. The purpose of HR Planning

The purpose of HR Planning and its usefulness in to find out the right skills and competencies for the business organisation like Palermo Safe Storage that is facing major problems in the same due to the missing of Hr planning. It helps in promoting the business plan and organizational strategy of the management. The planning includes effective human resources, help in creating talent, efficient and effective base of the employees, etc. that leads in the overall success (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, and Baer, 2012). The planning of the human resource management is very positive as it helps in constructing bridge between the desired goal and the future goals. It is effective and efficient as it focuses on the overall growth and makes policies that do the same.

Understanding Human resource

The human resource management is related to the management of the employees and their well being. The planning of the human resource helps in finding matching employees that help the company Palermo Safe Storage to find right candidates to the right place at the right time (Jackson, Renwick, Jabbour, and Muller, 2011).  As the growth and development take place in Palermo Safe Storage, they require more staff to line up all the necessities.

The forecasting of the demand of human resource

The relevant part that the human resource planning for plays is forecasting of the demand which is futuristic in nature. The Palermo Safe Storage have to analyze the direction in which the company is heading whether its sales, profits, etc. then the need is to take the new staff according to the future needs. It helps the company to meet the demands and to employ relevant employees. This can also help in the financial success of the company as human resource help to achieve the set targets (Scullion, and Collings, 2011).

Being proactive

The suggestions for Palermo Safe Storage is to become little proactive as it will help to recruit and select the employees who can cope up with the customers, sales, willing to work, etc. (Ployhart, and Moliterno, 2011)

Finding balance

The planning human resource management will help in bringing balance between the efficient employees and effective employees. The balance in the company can also be done by having a balance in the input and output in the company. Palermo Safe Storage is facing major problems with the human resource as there is zero balance with both the services and the work done by the workers (Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland, and Gilbert, 2011). This is the reason they remained unsatisfied.

3. Training and development

The training and development in Palermo Safe Storage will be very helpful as it will guide the employees to work in a better way. It will then increase the productivity of the company and the performance of the employees. The process of training and development is a planned and systematic effort that can be done by the Hr of Palermo Safe Storage that will aim to achieve the goal and targets of the company (Alfes, Shantz, Truss, and Soane, 2013). The aim is to improve the skills and knowledge, to change the attitude of the employees, to change the behaviour, to increase the potential, to boost the performance and productivity, etc. the process of training is also known as slow motivator as it motivates the employees to work better. It not only helps the Palermo Safe Storage but also the employees who are working with them. There are many things that can be achieved only by the process of training and development of the employees that is

• High morale of the employees which can be achieved by training and it helps in motivations and increase in the confidence
• The lower cost of production is also achieved as the process of training, eliminates risk of failure and loss. It is due to the fact that trained people make less mistakes and it will boost the economic conditions, avoiding the waste, etc. (Mendenhall, 2012)
• It also helps in lower the turnover as training gives a sense of safety and security t the employees Palermo Safe Storage which is one of the major problems with this company.
• The process of change management can takes place when the employees received effective training and manage the change by understanding the change and adopting the same in their lives. In this way, the employees of Palermo Safe Storage also take interest in the process of change management, new situation, emerging conditions, etc.
• It helps in giving recognition, enhance the sense of responsibility, increase in the pay, promotions, transfers, etc. (Shuck, and Wollard, 2010)
• Training is something that provides satisfaction to the employees it enhances the personality and the process of growth and development take place. The employees feel happy as they think that they have achieved a position in the company. it broaden the opportunities  and career growth of the employees
• It also helps in bringing quality and availability of the staff (Aguinis, Boyd, Pierce, and Short, 2011).

4. Change Management

The process for managing change within the business and its global external environment will play relevant role in Palermo Safe Storage.  They can use a HR change model to bring effectiveness in the process of change. The role of Hr in the change management is bringing as they are the one who are responsible in brining the changes and then effectively implement those changes in the entire company (Kaufman, 2012). The Hr helps in facilitating changes by analyzing the need for the change and then evaluating the capacity of the employees to accept the changes. The Hr department plays a key role in the change management program.

The first role played by Hr in the management of change is to recruit and select certain employees in the company who can adopt changes easily and who think out of the box.

Many companies hire employees and look for those individuals who can think non-linearly and in unconventional ways (Huselid, and Becker, 2011). It will help Palermo Safe Storage to recruit the right people who can take the organization in forward direction. This is the only key to apply changes in the company. the company Palermo Safe Storage can also hire a separate tea for the change management and change agents , people managers, change detectors, etc. who tackle with the changes. At last, it can be said that the Human resource are required to be the most supporting part of the company. They play an integral role in the organization to apply the change theories (Stahl, Björkman, and Morris, 2012).

The biggest model of change is given by David Ulrich according to which there are many ways through which changes can be adopted. There are four main agents that re Hr business partner, change agent, administration expert and employees advocate. They help in effective implementation of the changes.

5. Employment legislation

The ways in which the organisation can take account of employment legislation within its HR practices.

There are employement standards that use be followed by Palermo Safe Storage as they are compulsory (DeNisi, Wilson, and Biteman, 2014). They are the laws of workplace that are required by legislation. They help to cover many aspects of the employement that is

• Minimum wages
• Meal breaks
• Minimum daily pay
• Hours of work
• Payment of the earnings
• Overtime
• Statutory holidays
• Vacation pays
• Annual vacation
• Leave from work
• Termination
• Resolving the disputes
• Maternity leave
• Weekly day of rest
• Keeping records
• Deductions
• Sexual harassment
• Parental leave
• Probation periods
• Definition of employees

The HR policies that are required to be developed in Palermo Safe Storage are must be compiled with the employee legislation and standards offered by the regulations. They are the minimum standards that are required to be managed by the company. The employers are free to manage and develop the policies and also the practices that can enhance and provide better standard that allow the law in the company (Greenwood, 2013).

6. Globalization

There are various ways in which the Palermo Safe Storage can take advantage of globalization to add value to the business and sustain its future growth. There is shortage of talents in the domestic nations.  The process of globalization helps in bringing the talent to the country and hires them. It helps both the companies and the employees to explore changes and innovation. There are chances that in international market company can get more intelligent, talented and low cost labor. It can be big opportunity for Palermo Safe Storage as they can have efefcive and efficient labor is low cost than before. The third reason due to which globalization help the company Palermo Safe Storage is the technological progress. There is progress in the international countries which can be introduced in their own company (Wong, 2013). This can help in brining updated and latest technology in the company.  Though, there are various challenges and issues faced by the globalization but it has positive factors that can help Palermo Safe Storage in solving their issues.

Conclusion

The conclusion for this report is that human resource is not left as backroom or supporting department. Instead of this, it has changed into one of the major department for each and every company like Palermo Safe Storage. As the HRM department was not too effective of this company, the same has faced lots of problems and issues. HRM also helps in the strategic development and management as it focuses not only on the employees but also on the organization. The practices of HR suggested and discussed in this report will help the company to have better management of the workforce in their company and other business organization also.

Palermo Safe Storage has an Hr department but there is a need to bring effectiveness and efficiency by applying all the human resource planning, theories, approaches, legislation, standards, etc. to the business organisation. The company needs to manage the hr department and all the employees by best practices so that the goals can be achieved prominently. Indeed, if the company Palermo Safe Storage wants to attain their objectives, it is very imperative that their HR departments must evaluate and analyses the issues and problems so that improvements can bring. They must apply theories of effective change management and train the employees so that they can adapt the changes easily.

References

Aguinis, H., Boyd, B.K., Pierce, C.A. and Short, J.C., 2011. Walking new avenues in management research methods and theories: Bridging micro and macro domains.

Alfes, K., Shantz, A.D., Truss, C. and Soane, E.C., 2013. The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international journal of human resource management, 24(2), pp.330-351.

DeNisi, A.S., Wilson, M.S. and Biteman, J., 2014. Research and practice in HRM: A historical perspective. Human Resource Management Review, 24(3), pp.219-231.

Greenwood, M., 2013. Ethical analyses of HRM: A review and research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(2), pp.355-366.

Huselid, M.A. and Becker, B.E., 2011. Bridging micro and macro domains: Workforce differentiation and strategic human resource management.

Jackson, S.E., Renwick, D.W., Jabbour, C.J. and Muller-Camen, M., 2011. State-of-the-art and future directions for green human resource management: Introduction to the special issue. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(2), pp.99-116.

Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.

Kaufman, B.E., 2012. Strategic human resource management research in the United States: A failing grade after 30 years?. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(2), pp.12-36.

Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F. and Swanson, R.A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.

Kolb, D.A., 2014. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT press.

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Mendenhall, M.E., 2012. Global leadership: Research, practice, and development. Routledge.

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Ployhart, R.E. and Moliterno, T.P., 2011. Emergence of the human capital resource: A multilevel model. Academy of Management Review, 36(1), pp.127-150.

Scullion, H. and Collings, D., 2011. Global talent management. Routledge.

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