Performance of Serco - Effective Employment Scenario and Working Environment - Case Study Example

SERCO SERCO has been one of the most successful companies in the world in terms of business practices and also in terms of size of the employee in the company. In 2006, the largest business unit of the company has been opened up in the United Kingdom with more than 3000 employees and across almost 50 sites in the country. The business ethics of the company ranges from various social economical, and technological development in the Business Process Outsourcing activities of the company. But the employee structure of the business organisation has been one of the most crucial components behind the success story of the company. This business strategy of the company of creating the most efficient employee team has been helping the company to a great extent to achieve the desired level of goal1. This paper is aimed at providing a critical essay of business structure and policies of SERCO by describing one good aspect of the company and on the bad aspect in relation to the employment issue of the company. Employment issue The good effect The company has applied various business policies and strategies which have created good or favorable effects on the business environment of the company. Among these effects, the creation of large amounts of effective employment scenarios within the organisation has been highly significant. The strategy of employing large number of effective and efficient employees and team workers has been praised by many business experts. Currently there are more than 40, 000 employees working in the company. This large number of employees is providing quality services to public and/or private clients of more than 30 countries across the world. The large volume of team of the company is comprised of engineers, security guards, caterers and cleaners. The most important reason which had led the management officials and business leaders of the company to implement this policy of employing large number of working people in the organisation has been the desire to achieve highest level of revenue generation in favour of the company. Along with this, the plan of the business leaders and management of the company in achieving highest growth margin also helped the business organisation to achieve the desired level of successes2. These aspects are helping the company to a great extent to raise the level of customer satisfaction. The company was able to sustain the level of customer satisfaction and also to minimize the risk to the consumers. Engagement of large number of employees has been the heart of the company’s business growth. Clear internal as well as external business communication has been the most needed policy to sustain the improvements in the performance scenario of the business entity. Research and surveys on the employee engagement and on the desired level of improvements in the performances of those employees have been conducted by the managers. As a result of these surveys, various action plans have been implemented by the managers of the company. These action plans have been developed at local levels with the employees of the company. To achieve the highest level of success in terms of business management, the business managers of the company discussed all the potential action plans with their employees and all the potential as well as realized results have been discussed by those managers with the employees. All these discussions have been helping the company to implement further policies. These later policies have been implemented after acquiring collective agreement from all business management officials, business leaders and other employees of the company. These collective actions are largely part of the performance management objectives of the business managers of the company3. The company has realized the fact in order to achieve the desired level of success in the business domain, the key points of business must lie within the proactive identification, greater level of recognition and implementation of policies to publicize great performance of company’s employees. These management level discussions have been helping the company to achieve the desired level of results in the field of policy of higher revenue generation for the business organization. On the contrary, the employees have been encouraged to increase their level of performance in the company mainly because of the fact that their managers have been taking actions as an outcome of the survey. These effects have been creating improvements in the engagement scores of the company’s employees. As a result of these high engagements, in the first year of the survey the participation rate has been 56 percent which was increased to 71 percent within the next two years. Employees started to provide positive responses in regard to various questions asked in these surveys regarding the business policies and strategies used by the company. These questions included the clarity of roles of these employees, managers and leaders, contribution of these employees in the wider team and level of understanding of these employees in the process of fitting into the company’s vision and strategies. The most important evidence of success of the company has been yearly increment in these positive responses of employees. This has also been possible because of the fact that these employees feel that they have been playing the highly significant role in the process of success of the company and also they have been recognized valued in the business organisation for their contribution in the company4. These good aspects have been consistent with the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility by the company5. The bad effect: The most important bad effect of the policy of the company is generating large volume of workforce within the organization has been that fact this large volume of employees has joined the company from the public sector of the country. Significant amounts of employee compensation, very good employee benefits and good work culture environment has played the most important role in encouraging people to shift from the public sector to join the private sector. This has created the problem of reduction in the amount of goods and services produced in the public sector of the country6. The effective and better relationship between the employees and the company has reduced the effectiveness of trade unions within the organisation to affect the business decisions of the management and business leaders of Serco. This has reduced the bargaining power of the employees within the organization7. Also the law case between the company Lawson and Serco related to the employment rights in the organisation has been another important bad effect of the employment scenario in the company. The problem was related to the post-employment litigation. In this situation the place of employment has already been known, but it has not been possible for an individual to complain against the employer recruitment. In case of the debate between Lawson and Serco, this unfair dismissal provisions have been the most significant problem for the company in terms of its reputation and also in terms of future recruitment of employees8. The employment decisions of Serco violated the Employment Rights Act of 1996 and unfairly dismissed several employees from the company. These have negatively affected the employee satisfaction in the organization9. Conclusion Taken together, the performance of Serco in terms of creation of effective employment scenario and efficient working environment within the organisation has been mixed. Serco has been engaged in positive employment generation activities inside their core business scenarios. This is having profound positive impacts upon the working conditions within the organisation as well as on the level of customer satisfaction. These improvements are in effect increasing the business of the company and also the level of satisfaction of each and every agent associated with the company. These good effects are also increasing the level of social satisfaction of these agents. These are also making the company more attractive for the people all over the world to work for. Hence, large number of people from the public sector of the United Kingdom has been joining the company. However, in terms of the core business of the company, these policies have created detrimental effects on the development of the public sector’s production of goods and services which has further created obstacles in the growth process of the company. These policies have significantly reduced the popularity of the business organisation on one hand, and also the level of employee satisfaction on the other. Again, the debate between Serco and Lawson, the two companies in the United Kingdom, has created significant detrimental effects on the level of customer satisfaction of the company. These have ultimately reduced the significance of the company in the development of the business environment of the United Kingdom. These growing debates and lesser customer and employee satisfaction have been increasing the fear of the loss of market by the management officials and business leaders of the company by hurting the business environment of the company. If all these negative impacts are removed by the company then Serco will be able to become the one of the most dominant private companies in the world. References: Grayson, David, and Hodges, Adrian. Corporate Social Opportunity!: 7 Steps to Make Corporate Social Responsibility Work for Your Business. UK: Greenleaf Publishing, 2004 Hough, J. M. et al. Tackling Prison Overcrowding: Build More Prisons? Sentence Fewer Offenders? UK: The Policy Press, 2008 “HOUSE OF LORDS: OPINIONS OF THE LORDS OF APPEAL FOR JUDGMENT IN THE CAUSE”, 2006, March 20, 2012 from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd060126/serco.pdf MacLeod, David, and Clarke, Nita. “Engaging the Success: Enhancing Performance Through Employee Engagement”. A Report to the Government, 2009. March 17, 2012 from www.bis.gov.uk/files/file52215.pdf Moreau, Marie-Ange. Before and After the Economic Crisis: What Implications for the European Social Model? USA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011 “Serco – Living Our Values”, Serco Group LLC. March 17, 2012 from www.serco-goosebay.com/pdf/Living_our_values_tcm3-1930.pdf Read More