FYI: No other information is given for this question. Based on this information,
ID: 383876 • Letter: F
Question
FYI: No other information is given for this question.
Based on this information, answer the question in bold at the end of the materials given. Thanks!
To negotiate whether an employee should be retained or not, the CHRO can design the following line of judgement: Who: Attributes of the person being evaluated, whether they fit in with the core values of the organization or not. What: Skills of the person, i.e., specialized skills that can make a difference to the organization’s revenues should be considered.
Where; The geographical region in which they work and whether they are required there or not need to be evaluated. Why: Major cause for retention should be value-addition or potential for continued value addition to the organization.
How: Instead of using standard Key Performance Indicators (KPI), customized packages for valuable employees based on their unique contributions to the organization are a good place to start. “KPIs are intrinsically linked to a firm's strategic goals and are used to help managers assess whether they're on target as they work towards those goals (John, 2017)”. Since Netflix aims only at retaining A employees, managers at all levels should dedicate time to developing more A employees to keep adding value to the company.
As we see, the types of power the CHRO has for instance, with the positional power she can direct the company as per her own methods due to her designation. this power is very crucial as there are no HR policies in place, there must be a central figure who functions as the model figure to direct the HR functions of the company which usually work as per the model HR policies. Then the information power is where the employees coming in can expect to learn and look up to her as she has an in-depth understanding of the processes and clear about the path she wishes to take Netflix towards (Patty, 2014).
The Reward power adds to coercive power as Sharon has the power to retain a well performing employee as what is been envisaged by the company and with her power to take disciplinary action against anyone who isn't performing to the expectations, Sharon can strike the right balance of maintaining the best of talent. Sharon's people centric approach with her social power helps her exercise the above powers in the negotiation very smoothly as she can identify and select the best employees through negotiation and the incoming employee doesn't feel out of place.
Aiding to all these powers is her charismatic power which makes the employees listen to her, follow her advice or fear her for what she is rather than just her designation and hugely helps during negotiations as her exercising of any power doesn't come across as being impersonal or arrogant but a necessary action.
If an agreement is not reached, the CHRO should look outside for eligible candidates. BATNA stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. “BATNA, Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement term was introduced by Roger Fischer and William Ury in 1981. They proposed that, when negotiating a business agreement, we should work out, in the meantime, an alternative solution to the one currently discussed or agreed with the second party to the contract. This approach should secure us against signing an extremely adverse agreement or when the negotiation is unable to reach an acceptable goal by realizing an alternative approach (Seweryn, 2007)”. For this case the employees may choose to move to another organization where their specific skills will be valued more than at Netflix. ZOPA Zone of Possible Agreement for the CHRO is a probably an increase in perks or incentives that a valuable employee demands to stay back.
Netflix still seems to be working in a startup mode where the organizational culture is quite dynamic. Here every individual is expected to take ownership of his/her task and work independently for the best of the company and contribute constantly. This of course is how every company wishes of their employees but Netflix when it says it wants only the best of talent they are expecting them to start functioning and contributing from day one with not much emphasis on training or orientation which are usually part of the HR policies.
They even seem to be very indifferent of the employees leaving their company. When they say they don't want to put additional efforts in working with the remaining 3% and giving a chance for them to adjust to the new company and culture and that they would simply remove the people who they feel are not a right fit after hiring, shows their apathy towards humans as employees but just considering them as mere machines to do a task.
From what I have gathered so far about this case and the materials involved I have found behind all the organization's policy decisions lies with Sharon who happens to be the Chief Human Resources Officer. her decision is very important and the company wants to recruit only talented individuals in each department and expect A grade performance from each department they don’t believe that much in HR policies but they prefer to retain employees by negotiation (The Woman Behind the Netflix Culture, 2015).
The Company Chief Human Resources Officer Sharon is very talented and good at identifying top performers and talented employees. She does her best to retain talented employees by engaging in a severance negotiation. As discussed in the case, if an employee wants to leave the company, they retain that employee by negotiation. for example, Alice is an asset for the company as she has great knowledge of Excel, Sharon can reward Alice to stay back with Netflix to take advantage of her knowledge. Through negotiation, the company can retain good employees for organizational growth instead of investing in new recruitment and their training.
ZOPA and BATNA position for Alice
A brief definition of a ZOPA is “The zone of possible agreement is considered an area where two or more negotiating parties may find common ground. It is this area where parties will often compromise and strike a deal (Zone of Possible Agreement, n.d)”. ZOPA for Alice could be as follow; four months’ salary and incentives in lieu of notice, Exhaustive performance improvement plan with benchmarking against KPIs for 3 months, and Explore an alternative position at Netflix where her skills can be best utilized.
If Alice were to get fired, the following options would be unacceptable for her in a severance agreement: Agreement to refrain from joining Netflix’s close competitors for the next one year or more, and Accept the salary of two months’ or less in lieu of notice period. She should at least seek for a salary of four months.
Alice could offer the following options that could move severance negotiations toward her goal of keeping her position at Netflix; A salary and incentive plan for six months in lieu of notice, and Exhaustive performance improvement plan with benchmarking against KPIs for 4 months.
As for a BATNA for Alice, I find the following being an option; Alice could move the court in case of conflict and unmet conditions, look alternative job options, where she can assimilate with the culture and is respected for her skills, and Apply for a course with some renowned university.
Five Recommendations
five recommendations for Sharon Slade, Chief Human Resource Officer or CHRO in the negation between herself, as a representative for Netflix and Alice Jones, managing director of Netflix. Alice needs to improve on her performance for Netflix per the requirements of her Performance Improvement Plan or PIP which Jane Smith, the new executive who was brought in to Netflix from an outside company, has implemented. Sharon Slade is coming in after Alice has been working on the goals set by the PIP plan for approximately a month and we are helping Slade to negotiate how to go forward with the PIP or if Alice's employment should be eliminated. Netflix has a produce or move on attitude for their employees, so the PIP plan is new for Sharon. I feel that the recommendations for Sharon Slade could possibly be:
1.) See what happens after the three-month PIP has been enacted and give Alice, a loyal employee, the opportunity to improve and succeed in the goals set for the Performance Improvement Plan.
2.) Cut the deadline of the PIP plan down to two months instead of three. This will put the pressure on Alice, but also give her a chance which is what Jane Smith wanted to seemingly accomplish.
3.) Follow through with Netflix's produce or terminate position which will eliminate Alice's employment in the company, but can also under cut Jane Smith's position and possibly show Jane that her judgment calls and techniques are not desired in the changing world of the Netflix culture.
4.) Remove Alice from her current position as managing director and place her in another department within Netflix so as not to lose a loyal long-term employee.
5.) Slade can restructure the Performance Improvement Plan Smith has developed to be more intense and more specific to suit Netflix's culture of produce, apply your 110% and provide results or leave the company.
Questions; Develop four questions that could be asked of Alice Jones, senior Netflix executive, during an upcoming negotiation session.
Create questions that will obtain information about Alice Jones’ interests in the bargaining session. They should cover all four categories: open, closed, alternative, and leading, as defined below. Possible questions could explore Alice Jones’ short- and long-term career plans, personal interests, and any personal challenges she may be facing. In other words, you are trying to determine Alice Jones’ zone of potential agreement (ZOPA) and her best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA).
Open-Ended or Socratic Questions—Begin with who, what, when, where, how, and why. Example: “Why aren’t you taking some time off?”
Closed Questions—Can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Example: “Are you ready to begin?”
Alternative Questions—Offer the listener a choice with a few options. Example: “Do you want to start the meeting at 3:00 or 4:00?”
Leading Questions—Are aimed at soliciting a particular point of view. Example: “The new vacation policy is very fair, don’t you think?”
2. Make sure the parameters of your questions are within acceptable legal limits, e.g., avoiding topics such as age, marital status, any disabilities, religion, race, pregnancy-related questions.
3. Compare and contrast the value of each type of question and whether it will advance an integrative bargaining position.
4. Explain the possible impact of each question, including whether it would improve the likelihood of success during the discussion(s) and how it would be perceived. In other words, how will the questions be perceived? Will they seem manipulative? Fair? Biased?
Explanation / Answer
Questions:
1. Are you ready to give it a new try and solve the issues amicably?
2. Why do you think leaving Netflix and joining a competitive company would serve your purpose as this is run in a very efficient manner?
3. Netflix is planning to set HR policies, do you think that would be of any use and would cater to the needs of the employees?
4. Do you want to change your current position as managing director and work in another department within Netflix?
All these questions will advance an integrative bargaining position as these will allow both Alice and Sharon Slade to engage in an effective negotiation and would help to come to terms with each other. These would help in knowing Alice Jones’ short- and long-term career plans, personal interests, and any personal challenges she may be facing. These questions will be of huge importance and could even lead to an amicable negotiation between the parties.
The first question will be percieved as an offer by Alice and Slade would come to know Alice's preferences which would help in rest of the negotiation.
The second question would help in knowing Alice's short term and long term interests and would help in an efficient negotiation if some of them are taken care of by Slade.
The third question will develop Alice's interest in the company due to HR policies being adopted. This way Alice would be more comfortable working with the company as she would be assured that her rights are given due consideration.
The fourth question will help in knowing Alice's interests in the company and job she is doing. If she agrees to change her position and still work in the company, the company will not lose an honest and hard working employee.
All of these questions will seem fair to Alice as none of them seem to be overriding her choices and all of them are taking care of her interests and goals.
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