The major project for the course is a Human Resource PowerPoint. Students will p
ID: 379443 • Letter: T
Question
The major project for the course is a Human Resource PowerPoint. Students will prepare a PowerPoint to be submitted at the end of the course. The project must include work in one of the areas listed below. Work will count for about 25% of the final grade.
Human Resource Management:
Human resource management is an important part of an organization’s success. Today’s businesses face a changing world of external and internal pressures that require more flexibility in recruiting, training, and keeping employees than ever. The ability of organizations to adapt to changes depends upon the resources it has available, and human resources are the most valuable organizational resources. The basic aspects of human resource management include staffing, selecting and promoting employees, management development, employee training, conducting performance appraisals and reviews, creating flexible compensation benefit packages and incentives, and monitoring worker relations. This paper will examine the aspects of human resource management and demonstrate the increasing necessity of effective human resource management to the success of a business.
Areas (Select 1)
Compensation and Benefits
Examples of items to cover
Payroll administration
Job evaluation
Time and attendance management
Medical/dental benefits
Leave time eligibility, application and administration
Merit pay design
Stock option
Profit sharing
OT authorization compliance
Faster performance review for merit recommendations
Benchmarking profit sharing with competitors
Automatic paycheck deposit
Eligibility for employee stock option plan (ESOP)
Labor Relations
Examples of items to cover
Absenteeism
Conflict dispute resolution
Discipline/termination/dismissal
Discrimination
Harassment
Health
Interpersonal communication
Outplacement
Safety
Union negotiations
Drug and alcohol
DFSS process design for discipline/termination/dismissal
Job design and negotiation for outplacement
Website development for executive communication with employees
Discrimination and harassment compliance audit and monitoring
Legal Issues
Examples of items to cover
Firing
Privacy of personal information
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Employee handbook publication
Accurate tracking of FMLA eligibility with secure internal website
FAQ section of employee handbook for answering common queries
Organizational Development
Examples of items to cover
Career and succession planning
Change management
Communication programs
Competencies
Diversity
Employee satisfaction
Job design – telecommuting
Leadership
Organizational culture
Performance improvement
Workplace planning
Company-wide employee satisfaction survey via internal website, publication of results and posting of ongoing improvement plans and results
Identification of needs of diverse workforce
Workgroup design for customized customer service delivery
Electronic performance review for consolidation of reviews from remote sites
HR Staffing and Selection
Examples of items to cover
Contingent workers
Employee contracts
Exit interviews
Recruitment
Relocation
Retention
Selection
Outsourcing
Security and background checks
Increase job posting hit rate
Design of job posting templates for recruiters
Increase retention using exit interview information
Decrease number of days to respond to applicant
Use of technicians for some functions performed by engineers
Decrease use of full security checks when not necessary
Training
Examples of items to cover
Design and development
Delivery
Training evaluations
New employee orientation
Management training and administration (internal certification)
Compensation for external education
Improved learning module design with self-evaluation sections
Catalog of available modules for self-learning
Workplace Health and Safety
Examples of items to cover
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Insurance claims
Drug expenses
100% use of off-site safety audits
Approved generic drug list
You should select one area from the above list that reflects a program or practice in your current or previous place of employment. For example, for Area 5 HR Staffing, you might select a structured interview guide or examine the steps in the selection process; for area VI Training and Development you might focus on the challenges associated with transfer of training in your organization and develop a strategy to enhance transfer. Work in the selected area should include the following:
1. One slide can be a narrative or problem statement describing the background, major issues, practices, and problems/challenges based on personal knowledge/experiences, observations, and/or interviews.
2. One slide should include a copy of any materials or active link in reference to the program or practice. For example, a list of the steps in selection; a copy of the interview guide; the performance appraisal form or a copy of the policy etc. Note: Materials will be kept confidential by the instructor and will not be shared with others.
3. You should look for material that provides strategic direction concerning how to address the problem or challenge you have identified in #1 above. Attach a copy of the articles (PDF format, hard copy, or active link.)
4. Provide an evaluation of the program or practice in light of your knowledge of the topic gained in the course, readings (this is your opportunity to synthesize and apply knowledge, and you should provide evidence of your ability to audit the HR function). Discuss how this program or practice supports the organization's strategic objectives. Based on your evaluation, provide recommendations for the improvement of the effectiveness of the program or practice.
5. Should include between 15 and 18 (maximum) slides and 30 Point font.
Compensation and Benefits
Examples of items to cover
Payroll administration
Job evaluation
Time and attendance management
Medical/dental benefits
Leave time eligibility, application and administration
Merit pay design
Stock option
Profit sharing
OT authorization compliance
Faster performance review for merit recommendations
Benchmarking profit sharing with competitors
Automatic paycheck deposit
Eligibility for employee stock option plan (ESOP)
Labor Relations
Examples of items to cover
Absenteeism
Conflict dispute resolution
Discipline/termination/dismissal
Discrimination
Harassment
Health
Interpersonal communication
Outplacement
Safety
Union negotiations
Drug and alcohol
DFSS process design for discipline/termination/dismissal
Job design and negotiation for outplacement
Website development for executive communication with employees
Discrimination and harassment compliance audit and monitoring
Legal Issues
Examples of items to cover
Firing
Privacy of personal information
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Employee handbook publication
Accurate tracking of FMLA eligibility with secure internal website
FAQ section of employee handbook for answering common queries
Organizational Development
Examples of items to cover
Career and succession planning
Change management
Communication programs
Competencies
Diversity
Employee satisfaction
Job design – telecommuting
Leadership
Organizational culture
Performance improvement
Workplace planning
Company-wide employee satisfaction survey via internal website, publication of results and posting of ongoing improvement plans and results
Identification of needs of diverse workforce
Workgroup design for customized customer service delivery
Electronic performance review for consolidation of reviews from remote sites
HR Staffing and Selection
Examples of items to cover
Contingent workers
Employee contracts
Exit interviews
Recruitment
Relocation
Retention
Selection
Outsourcing
Security and background checks
Increase job posting hit rate
Design of job posting templates for recruiters
Increase retention using exit interview information
Decrease number of days to respond to applicant
Use of technicians for some functions performed by engineers
Decrease use of full security checks when not necessary
Training
Examples of items to cover
Design and development
Delivery
Training evaluations
New employee orientation
Management training and administration (internal certification)
Compensation for external education
Improved learning module design with self-evaluation sections
Catalog of available modules for self-learning
Workplace Health and Safety
Examples of items to cover
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Insurance claims
Drug expenses
100% use of off-site safety audits
Approved generic drug list
Explanation / Answer
Introduction:
From the Human Resource perspective given in the question, I would like to cover the following:
1) List the factors influencing worker motivation that are under managers' control
As a manager, when it comes to managing my staff who are of different personality types - like the one mentioned in this problem of balancing between staff who enjoy socializing with co-workers to those who simply 'punch in and punch out'. I follow two fundamental work rules based on Process and People lever.
For Process Lever - As I need to ensure everyone's work contributes to the overall deliverable for the team and to the end customer while dealing with such staff with different personality types, I go with divide and rule model. I may not be able to really mingle everyone. However, by assessing their strengths and weakness, I'll be in a position to classify their knowledge, skill and attitude levels and utilize them appropriately to deliver the expected results.
People Lever: From the people perspective, I follow different motivational techniques for different staff. I go by their individual motivational needs. I've learned this from Maslow's hierarchy of need-based motivation.
Employees will perform better in the organization provided their current stage and what level of motivation they have etc., are being considered before they are engaged in the work. There are 5 stages of motivation. Among these 5 stages, an employee might be lying in any of the stages. They are,
Physiological needs which address the basic need of an employee like food, clothing & shelter. Eg: An employee, who is having challenges in meeting some of these 3 needs, may not really focus on other things that are essential for his deliverables.
Safety Needs is the second stage that talks about basic Security and Safety features where they are protected well in the work environment. Eg: Woman safety at the workplace is a significant measure that organization needs to look at to protect them so their contribution to their work doesn’t get interrupted.
Social Needs is the third stage where an employee wants to be part of various different groups within the organization. An employee will be thinking about this only when the first two needs are fulfilled. Eg: An employee willing to be part of Fun committee and sports team etc., in an organization that contributes to employee engagement initiatives.
Esteem Needs typically occurs to someone who had spent a considerable amount of time in their career and reached a situation of self-motivation where external factors don't really motivate this person instead he/she feels active within self due to various accomplishments they had over years. Eg: A seasoned manager who had spent around 30 years working and achieved various different things where no external reinforcement is required.
Self Actualization Need is at the peak of the motivational pyramid where after achieving everything that is required in life, the person reaches this stage that he has seen everything that he is supposed to be seeing in his/her life and starts preaching others about life. Eg: A 60-year-old person after his retirement who has achieved everything in life which is called Nirvana and not necessarily the first four stages pleases him any longer...
Conclusion: In our situation, set of staff who enjoy socializing with others might be in the 3rd stage of Maslow's hierarchy. Others who might not mingle with rest of the staff might be in the 4th or 5th stage of Maslow's hierarchy. Performance should not be confused with the individual personality types. With the combination of both Process and People lever technique that I described above, I as a Manager will be able to have a balanced approach with all my staff without favoring one style over the other.
2) Define Human Resource Management:
A human resources department is a vital factor in employee well-being in any organization. HR functions include employee payroll, compensation and benefits, hiring, and aligning everything with state and federal tax laws.
The role played by HR department within an organization: Different roles played by HR department are as follows… It starts with an HR Executive Director who is directly responsible for Corporate Governance, Organizational policies and procedures, departmental oversight, appraisal systems and fair practices, collective bargaining etc., Under the Executive director, there shall be three key functions:
The above-mentioned categories include Clerical Model, Counseling Model, Industrial Relations model, the control Model, and the Consulting Model...
Ways in which HR support managers/supervisors as they seek to lead and supervise employees:
The majority of the HR activities performed these days are more focused on operational activities. Very few Strategic activities are performed. This is predominantly because of the controllership maintained by the leadership team. HR comes under the lens of the overall Head of the department or the process. Like other functional teams, viz., IT, Facilities, Infrastructure, HR also a part of the functional teams which is headed by a General Manager of the asset group. Strategic activities are initiated and directed by the top leadership and accordingly, operations group initiate and execute them.
Effective human resource practices are imperative elements to any organization because of the following... Human Resources are the key ingredients of an organization. When it comes to any company, the two financial elements are cost vs revenue. While categorizing various costs, Equipment, Buildings, tools, process, and procedures etc., are fixed costs. The variable component is the human cost. This is fundamentally essential because the revenue element for the organization is generated through this human cost. Rest of the elements can be managed very effectively just by planning and organizing them. The only element that needs to be monitored, trained, controlled etc., is the human factor. Without the human cost, an organization cannot generate revenue. Rather than giving importance to rest of the factors like building, facilities, infrastructure etc., when an organization follows the right human resource practices, these other factors are taken care on its own without any issues. While following the appropriate human resource factors, staff's motivation needs and basic hygiene factors are well-taken care. In turn, when those human elements interact with other factors like machines, equipment, facilities, buildings etc., these factors are well-taken care. In the balance sheet of the organization, Human beings are included as the intellectual assets of an organization. Hence following effective HR practices is always a better competitive resource than other factors like buildings and equipment.
3) Explain how a firm's human resources influence organizational performance:
Ways in which HRM lend to the company's success:
Human Resource Management plays an instrumental role in channelizing many aspects that are interlinked in an organization. There could be various functional departments in an organization viz., Production, Finance, IT, Marketing, Operations etc., For all these departments, people play a major role. To make sure those employees are managed and lead appropriately with fairness, integrity, trustworthy, appropriate compensation, clear reward mechanism etc., HR plays a critical role and the database maintenance of it is stored in HRIS. HR is a department that starts with an HR Executive Director who is directly responsible for Corporate Governance, Organizational policies and procedures, departmental oversight, appraisal systems and fair practices, collective bargaining etc.,
Under the Executive director, there shall be three key functions that lend to the company's success... They are,
The significance of HR communication during Organizational Change:
Changes to the business are inescapable… When there are customers constant changing demand, organizations need to position them self in a differentiating their strategies which is inevitable.
It modifies based on the customer demand, customer behavior, market situations, risks of new entrants; competitor’s strength etc., In order to support these strategic initiatives of the business, the leadership needs strong support from their middle managers, the entry-level managers and from all the employees.
We cannot have an objective to achieve this without a clear modification to the culture of an organization. Cultural change in the organization is related to Behavior of their employees, thought process of all the staff during change management process, acceptance criteria etc., In order to understand the culture shift in an organization; let us see the following example... When we look at modern organizational conditions, diversity is the first and the foremost area that companies bring in from the organization's cultural perspective.
Learning organizations transcend political boundaries and organizational change cultures in multiple different ways. For example, a start-up organization will go through various different complex situations in their business as setting up Operations that is responsible for customer deliverables is the most important requirement for any business. When that is initiated, other aspects pertaining to people, availability of raw materials from suppliers, processing procedures, availability of standard operating procedures, guidelines, quality standards, checks and balances for the accuracy model, sales & marketing, customer-facing teams etc., need to be an integral part of the core functions that looks after each other in various different modes for their individual deliverables.
In my organization, cultural change is managed in the following ways… For the understanding purpose, let us consider the following business situation. Executive Board Members have decided to sell the organization to a private equity firm. How does this change get communicated to staff? For a Public Limited organization like mine, Leadership team need to announce the change in public with what is the change, why are we making the change, when/how/to whom etc., details to be made available. This is a huge change and this is likely to have an impact on people due to various different HR related people policies. First and the foremost thing, my organization did is to ensure people do not panic about their job security. This was addressed by the chairman in the town hall organized by all staff. Later they announced the changes step by step on various aspects how it makes sense for the company to sell its portfolio to a different private equity firm. How some of the disadvantages that we had in the parent organization is overcome by bringing this change etc., were clearly explained to staff.
In Performance Appraisals and Compensation, the Scope of survey refers to the set of the target audience who evaluates organizations performance on various categories like People, Performance, Process, Stakeholders etc., The factors that affect the scope of the survey are as follows:
Employee Satisfaction: This is also referred as ESAT which is one of the significant factors for organizations having highly talented and productive workforce. Staff who are stressed, will not be productive and they are likely to be unhealthy and their motivation levels are low.
360 Degree Feedback: Performance evaluation of an individual from his/her supervisor, peers, cross-functional managers, team members, functional staff etc., Such feedback gives holistic picture and development of staff.
Talent Development & Training: Providing ongoing training, refresher training, need-based training, job enriching training are some of the key factors of developing talents through training.
The salary, wage, reward or compensation agreement is based on the key business levers which are also called the key performance indicators (KPI’s) of the business. It covers major elements linked to performance and the corresponding merit, pays for performance, contingent pay, staff compensation, and benefits, initiatives on employee engagement towards rewards mechanism.
Reward process also focuses on the pay scale, normalizing pay, approach towards pay increase, evaluation of job code in line with the job description and providing flexible benefits option for the employees. Some of the methods for adjustment for wages while providing the compensation offer are as follows…
Base pay administration: This is the process of decision making on employee pay scales with fairness approach and grading mechanism. This involves compensation market study, which comprises of categorizing employees under below market range, on par and above market range.
Variable or Contingent components: This is also called variable pay component which is composed of performance, ranking, qualitative and quantitative metrics, individual competence, individual and team contribution, knowledge, skill, attitude, initiatives, vintage details etc., The contingent pay enables progressiveness by adding them to the base pay range. Mostly Contingent pay rewards as a quarterly or annual bonus as a component of Incentive. Seldom it is also used as a retention strategy in some organizations.
Employee benefits: This includes other flexibilities like paid leaves, sick leaves with pay, insurance coverage, flexible benefits like leave travel allowance, car fuel, and maintenance allowance, medical allowance, Education and Professional development schemes, food coupons, conveyance, house rent allowance, telephone reimbursement, children education allowance, pension schemes etc.,
Manager effectiveness: This is measured by the extent to which the manager achieves the organizational goals and objectives. In addition to this, Manager's effectiveness is also measured based on certain organizational values like Partnership, Trust, Innovation, and Performance. Some of the elements of these values are as follows:
Trust - Upholds high standards of behavior that others can follow, Demonstrates consistency between words and actions, Treats employees fairly and with respect.
Partnership - Removes obstacles that prevent the team from getting things done, Treats others in the organization as partners and not as competitors, Connects ideas, information and resources to maximize scale and impact
Innovation - Creates an environment that supports experimentation and curiosity, Challenges the team to think and act differently, Encourages employees to speak up and share their ideas
Performance - Holds employees accountable for their behavior and performance, Communicates clear priorities, Delivers timely, candid and actionable feedback, Recognizes people for their contributions and performance excellence, Demonstrates a genuine interest in employees’ career and development.
4) HR initiatives to cope with workplace changes and trends such as a more diverse workforce, the global economy, downsizing, and new legislation:
Promoting a diverse workforce for Business to succeed:
Workplace Diversity refers to an inclusive environment at work locations where employees, operations members, project members, suppliers, vendors, customers etc., who are the key stakeholders of the business are not discriminated with the background of one's culture, race, skin color, physical appearance etc.,
Organizational cross culture is a function of values, norms, belief and various different assumptions that group of people follows in an organization. These shared norms possess a great deal of influence over the people in an organization and this governs various aspects like dressing, responding, behaving, job performance, following some systematic guidelines etc., Each individual in the team will have different norms and values for themselves. Some of those to understand the team culture are,
My thoughts in accepting and incorporating differences in a cross-cultural & diversified workplace:
The issues fundamentally appear in situations where one fails to see other in their perspectives. For example, in a situation where the manager of India and China doesn’t seem to be in sync with each other’s opinion. Each of them does not seem to understand other person's cultural values, norms, and behaviors. Some of the team strategies that overcome the Cultural issues, diversity issues and stereotypic behaviors are as follows:
By developing the team through this 3-way process of Mapping, Bridging and Integrating, teams shall start functioning without any diversity issues that arise due to culture, geographical location etc., and also sometimes without the dependence of the local manager within the region as they will be equipped to work along with the multicultural diversified staff.
To improve organization's climate for diversity:
In order to improve the climate for diversity, Business shall focus on Affirmative Action and cultural changes in the organization when it comes to diversity. An affirmative action is an act that favors people who tend to be affected by discrimination or unfairness. Its policies are those in which an institution who engage in an effort to improve opportunities for traditionally expelled groups in America. The focus is always towards education & employment. From the perspective of higher education, affirmative action refers to admission policy where they provide equal opportunity to access education for the people who were historically underrepresented for women and minorities.
It allows diversity is in place. Supports deprived persons with advancing. Acts as a boost to underprivileged students as it secures equality for all races. It breaks color oriented discrimination and encourages hard work and study. It is really required to recompense minorities due to several decades of slavery. It allows students of minority community enroll for higher education. It encourages equality at work locations and social places…
Aging of the workforce: Aging of the workforce impacts the HR practices in several ways. Age oriented discrimination, its impact, Reverse Age discrimination and the corresponding Employment Act is described below…
From the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), all companies need to train their staff in fundamentals of ADEA. Once employees understand some of its fundamentals, the likelihood of such discrimination is very less in an organization. People would be highly conscious about their formal and informal communications. Also team leaders, managers shall continue to promote employees of all age groups in their teams. When a candidate qualifies for a position, irrespective of the age, they should be hired for the position. The diversified workplace is a good example of an organization that does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of age.
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