Human Resource Management in Logitech Solutions - Case Study Example

?Human Resource Management Logitech Solutions is the company I am currently employed in. Logitech Solutions is a company providing IT solutions for small and mediocre businesses. They offer various services starting from software development to website design, networking services, selling computer hardware, software and database development. Their online store has over 10, 000 computer related items starting from laptops and desktops to networking accessories and a plethora of spare parts. All the products purchased from them are serviced and upgraded by the Logitech Solutions customer care team at regular intervals. Logitech Solutions has its Headquarters in London. It has over 20 branches spread all over the country with 200 staff working for them. They offer hourly technical assistance to fix minor problems in organizations, work on retainer contract basis when a business requires certain regular services like system maintenance and network administration and takes up individual projects and consulting advices too like website design and preparing estimates for major hardware purchases. Logitech Solutions has a CEO, a general manager and seven line managers who work under them. Logitech's HR department has 11 members who handle, hiring, administrating and the payroll of all its workers. Logitech solutions aim in expanding through improving. The company has over 150 clients and it is in constant lookout of fresh talent. They open a new branch every year, making their manhunt process a never ending loop. Logitech Solutions has well defined Human Resource Management policies according to which the HR department hires the best talent in the market, provide them with enough training and extract the best from them in their designation. It ensures every employee working for them grow along with the company both monetarily and intellectually. They achieve this by providing them regular assessment of their work, extra training when required, promotions and increments on a fixed interval. Task 1 a) Explain the difference between personnel and human resource management and discuss the HRM function in terms of its contribution to organisational purpose Modern day business environment gives ample importance to human resource management as people are considered as the greatest asset of any company. Personnel management and HRM both are connected with managing people. Personnel management deals with administrative tasks like payroll and dealing with contractual obligations. Personnel managers often act as mediators between the employees and the management and help in solving the employee grievances. HRM gained importance with the growth of modern organizations which view people as a resource. It aims in fulfilling the company’s objectives by taking of all the employees needs and motivating them to give their best. HRM manager’s duty includes increasing the return on investment or ROI by taking extra strategy oriented steps to get the best from the employees or rather select the best employees. Their work is strategy cantered rather than administration cantered (Pravin, 2010). (Sreenath, 2009) HRM is actually considered as a main organizational function which will continue to expand constantly and evolve into a main value adding area for any company. HRM education should be made widespread for this change to occur. HRM has space of extensive research. Personnel management on the other hand is considered as concept which has already started to disappear as HRM dominates many organizations. HRM can be considered as the next improved level of personnel management. b) Assess the role and responsibilities of line manager in your chosen organisation Line managers or front-line managers constitute the lower layer in the management hierarchy. Teams comprising of employees who do not have any managerial or supervising responsibilities report to the line managers. These front-line managers report to higher management, through their higher authorities or supervisors. For example, people taking direct calls from customers in Logitech Solutions customer care department report to their team leader who act as their line manager here and talk on their behalf to management. The line managers have various jobs like allocating suitable work to certain people, providing technical help, checking the quality of every subordinate working under them, measuring the operational performance of the team under them regularly and managing day to day issues. The role of line managers has increased considerably after Logitech Solutions decided to implement performance based increment rather than providing collective increment based on seniority. Line managers have an important role in making the HRM policies a reality as they act as the main mediators between the management and the employees. c) Examine the organisational environment that impacts the HRM function in your organisation, outlining the impacts of legal and regulatory framework of the country. Concepts like Michigan School Framework and Harvard Frame work ensure the smooth flow of employee management in many major MNC's (Salaman et al, 2005). HRM will generally boost organizational competency. This will in turn influence the employees to work better and the organization to gain a competitive edge over others (Lado A. A & Wilson C, 1994). Logitech Solutions also follows a similar framework. The organizational culture is very competitive and the HRM policies makes is even more fierce paving way for the company to get the best from all their employees and outshine its competitors. The organizational policy is very strict about absenteeism and meeting the deadlines. The HRM policies provide good rewards for every target met and small incentives like movie tickets and food and recharge coupons to employees who meet their target efficiently outperforming others every week. They make sure every employee who complies with the strict rules of the company is promoted to the next level every year. The HRM policy gives equal importance to isolate low performers and provide re-training to them at a regular basis. They ensure no stone is left un-turn when it comes to providing every help possible for the employees to give their best and meet the targets set by the company. The HRM policies do not interfere with the target setting or objective of the company directly but ensure the employees are provided every chance to meet the same. The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 eliminates all sorts of elimination in workplace. Every organization is required to frame their HRM policy in compliance to this act. The organisational environment in Logistics Solutions gives ample space for disciplinary actions and performance evaluations to be done by the line managers. This might pave way to misunderstanding and raise several voices among employees that they are discriminated. Effective communications regarding any action affecting a worker’s growth in the organization is a must to avoid such claims. Task 2 a) Discuss how important is the role of human resource planning in your organisation and outline the stages of the planning process Human resource management is quite important in Logistics Solutions as its progress develops on the way their staff’s works. The success rate of every project is directly attributed to the dedication the worker’s put into their job. Hence, HRM is involved while planning any major project in the company. The HRM executives are responsible for conducting fun activities which goes hand in hand with the gruesome schedule of the workers. For example, networking over 200 computers in a college will take two to three days time if a full team is deployed into the project. Once they finish the project successfully, the HRM will make sure they get an extra day off in the week to compensate for the three days work done. Similarly, online sales will see sudden increase during certain seasons. The employees are given proper overtime pay, pickup and drop facilities and their important needs are taken care of in such situations. HRM is involved with financial planning, and project planning closely to get implement such flexible strategies. In short we can say HRM acts as a passive observer of Logistics Solutions all major decisions. It takes stands whenever necessary like preventing one team getting overworked. The top management is very co-operative with them, no matter what their demands might be. b) Analyse the recruitment and selection process in your organisation comparatively with another organization and evaluate their effectiveness The recruitment and selection process in the company involves both external recruitment as well as internal recruitments. External recruitment is always used for entry level jobs and all promotions occur through internal recruitment to ensure the person managing the core processes is trustworthy and have a long lasting history with the company. External recruitment is a very expensive process involving lots of complex steps (Armstrong, 1984). Logitech Solutions keep advertising in all major media and is in close touch with several HR consultancies. The candidates shortlisted from the numerous applications reaching them are called for a telephonic interview, a written test and then a direct personal interview. A background check is done on them before the final interview. They are required to clear their training process which lasts up to 60 days before getting the order of employment in Logistic solutions. A recruitment procedure similar to Logistics solutions is deployed in many major IT companies including Sutherland Global Services. It is effective because, most of the screening is done through the telephonic interview which saves time and money. The training period provides an insight on organisational culture and the employees are free to quit before beginning if they feel the work pressure will be too much for them. Task 3 a) Using examples assess the link between motivational theory and reward A survey named “Motivation and Productivity in the Work Place” conducted among the managers indicated nearly 65% of the employees are motivated only by money. 29% of employee’s value work recognition as the next important motivating factor (Valencia, 2008). As the survey indicates monetary rewards are the most important motivating fact for any person. Simply talking an employee to work more without something extra will only increase discontent instead of dedication. Motivating the employees to work better involves various processes like talking them into giving extra, helping them out with the problems and creating a fun filled atmosphere for them to work (Porter et al, 2003). This is what HRM does exactly. It avoids boredom, indulges the workforce to do multi-tasking and acts upon grievances immediately making the employees feel wanted. b) Evaluate and discuss how your organisation determines pay using the process of the job evaluation and assess the effectiveness of the reward system in the chosen organization Every employee is provided a basic pay based on their educational qualification, plus overtime increment. The remuneration is usually at par with industry standards and covers all the benefits enlisted by the law. An automated system gives the employees their weekly module every Monday morning which they are expected to complete by the weekend. For example, the people working in the service section are required to complete one company’s regular service per day. If there is a delay in the work because some of their desktops had major issues, they are requested to work extra and fix the issue within time with extra pay. Individuals and teams have their interrelated targets. People who fail to achieve their target more than 4 times in month are given a verbal warning and extra training if necessary. If they continue to show low performance consistently for two consecutive months they will be give their first warning letter. People who are consistent in achieving their targets regularly for two consecutive months are given an extra increment. Similarly, the line managers rank weekly and monthly best performers based on the quality and the time taken to complete the work. These employees are entitled to get small perks then and there. Such immediate rewards boost the morale of the employees to a great extent. The recognition they get for their hard work make them work enthusiastically for the upcoming weeks and months too. c) Discuss how employee performance is measured and examine the methods used to monitor performance in the chosen organisation. The HRM policy of the company follows the renowned The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) HRM wheel structure. These enables every employee gets good work and personal life balance and ensure they are travelling in a path of continuous growth both position wise as well as financially (Thayer & Campion). Employee performance is measured in terms of the proportionality of target achieved, absenteeism, and conduct of the employee. The recommendation of their direct supervisors or line managers is also very important is determining their increment. Work assessment happens every six months. Employees who had achieved their target without any folly for all six months are marked O or outstanding. The number of best performance perks won per month gets them extra points. Good and mediocre employees are ranked E – excellent and A – acceptable. All employees are categorized within these three categories. Those who score the lowest in acceptable categories with warning letters will be terminated in course of time. Task 4 a) Examine the causes of termination of employment with an organization and discuss the exit procedures used by two organisation (your chosen one and another) The stringent employment laws of UK make firing a problematic employee much harder than hiring a good employee. Worker's without a contract can be fired at any time at the employers will. Those with a contract are obliged to get some warnings and clear indication regarding why they are being terminated (Porter et al, 1968). If an organization finds a particular employee acting discriminately against another, it has the right to terminate them. The employee can be terminated because of constant poor performance, breach of contract, proven security violations and showing low morale. Logitech Solutions will offer a verbal warning to the employees who indulge in such activities initially. They will be given three warning letters in case of breach of contract or showing low morale. HR personnel will talk to them and provide the necessary help to comply with the companies policies during this period. The employee will be terminated if they commit the same mistake for the fifth time. If an employee is known to sell company secrets to others illegally, they will be given one month’s notice and 15 days grace period to prove their innocence. If the employee is proven guilty they will be given a month’s salary and terminated. Their access to core data will be prohibited during this one month. In case of discrimination the company will give them two warnings and try to settle the issue with the affected party and the worker the third time. If the affected person demands further action, the company will abide by the Equality Act 2010 law. Similar exit practices can be seen in many major IT companies like Intel. Giving the employees three warning letter with two months gap for each will help them understand poor performance is not tolerated in the company and they get a picture of what is in store for them. If employees are found showing low morale like spreading unwanted gossips and sabotaging the image and opportunity of one employee to abhor their promotion or increment, the same procedure will be effective. It will help them realize the company monitors all their activities and there is very little room for them to commit the same type of mistake again. These rules and regulations are in compliance with the nation’s employee laws and the union contracts. b) Assess the impact of legal and regulatory framework when arranging employment cessation or termination The UK laws are very flexible when it comes to protecting the employee rights. No employee can be terminated for security breach or leaking information about the company, if they report there is some mishap occurring in the company (John, 1992). For example, an employee cannot be terminated because he reported to EPA about dumping dangerous toxic waste near the canteen endangering the security of the employees. Similarly they cannot be terminated based on age, gender or racial discrimination. Demoting a person, taking constant disciplinary activities against them, creating mental tension and driving the employees to resign themselves will come under constructive discharge which is still condemnable (John, 1989). The line mangers and other top management staff well proficient in the Equality Act 2010 laws and other employment laws of the country can avoid various issues which might occur regarding breach of basic rights when it comes to employee termination. The impact of the legal and regulatory framework in the company is very high when it comes to terminating an employee. However, Logitech Solutions try its level best only to retain employees rather than terminate them as they are in need of ample man power. They simply try to assign the employees to various projects and positions and let them perform in the area they are capable of providing their best. References 1. Armstrong, M 1984. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, Kogan Page Publishers 2. John, B 1989, Human Resource Planning, Universities Press Limited, India. 3. John G, 1992, Organizational Behavior, Understanding Life at Work, Harper Collins, London 4. Lado, A & Wilson C 1994, Human Resource Systems and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Competency-Based Perspective, Vol. 19. No. 4. 5. Pravin, D 2010, Human Resource Management, Dorling Kindlersley, India. 6. Porter L.W, Bigley G.A, Steers R.M, 2003, Motivation and Work Behaviour, McGraw-Hill, New York 7. Porter L.W, Lawler E.E, 1968, ‘Managerial Attitudes and Performance’, Understanding Industrial and Organisational Psychology: An Integrated Approach Harcourt Brace. 8. Salaman G, Storey J, Billsberry S 2005, Strategic Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, Sage Publicationss, London. 9. Sreenath S 2009, ‘Evolution of HRM’, Slideshare, Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://www.slideshare.net/sreenath.s/evolution-of-hrm 10. Thayer, P & Campion, M. Job Design: Approaches Outcomes, and Trade-offs, Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://carmine.se.edu/cvonbergen/Job%20Design_Approaches,%20Outcomes,%20and%20Trade-offs.pdf 11. Valencia, C 2008, ‘Motivation and Productivity in the Workplace’, Westminster, Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://www.westminstercollege.edu/myriad/index.cfm?parent=2514&detail=4475&content=4798 Read More