External and Internal Environments - Literature review Example

External and Internal Environments of Contents Background 3 Alternative Staffing Models 3 Potential Risks 4 Job Description 5 Employee Turnover 9 Benefits to Company 10 References 12 Background This project helps in creation of a staffing plan for a technology company that has currently won a contract to provide surveillance cameras for government agencies. Presently there are 170 employees engaged in the distribution and production of electronic devices. However, winning this new contract is definitely a big business accomplishment for the company because if the product development and distribution follows the planned trajectory then the company can work to provide the cameras outside the home state. This paper helps in understanding the dynamics that are required to recruit a line of staff that can support the business activities. Alternative Staffing Models There are many type of staffing models that can be used by employers in order to hire employees for an organization namely outsourcing, consulting firms, contingent workers agreements and traditional payroll agreements. Two alternative staffing models can be identified for the chosen organization namely the outsourcing model or use of contingent working contracts (Sharp, et al., 2012). Staff augmentation can be used as an outsourcing strategy and this will allow the organization to analyze the skill set of the existing staff and then hire workers required to fill in the skill gap. This model can be beneficial on numerous grounds the most important being it is a cost effective one as staffs are hired on a temporary benefits. Researchers have also identified the process is less risky compared to the process of complete outsourcing because in the later case the organization has to give up complete control over the day-to-day operations (Tayntor, 2001). Staff augmentation allows better control over the employees and meeting the additional requirements of the organization. In case of future growth more staff can be augmented to meet the company goals. The second model is contingent worker contracts which is another cost effective measure used by employer organizations to reduce operational cost of hiring staff. In this model, the workers receive slightly less compensation and health benefits compared to the regular workers which form a direct source of cost savings for the organization (Monk & Wagner, 2012). Use of contingent workers has also been reported to provide workforce flexibility to the organizations and enhances just in time production which in turn raises the overall efficiency of the workforce (Stickney, 2008). As the strategy is essentially a flexible one so robust future growth will also allow hiring of more workers. The surveillance cameras are launched for the first time in this maiden venture. It will take some time to observe that whether the venture is successful or not. Therefore, use of permanent workers on the payroll of the company or use of pure outsourcing can increase potential risk of giving up full control over the operations. This makes either staff augmentation or contingent workers as the chosen strategy. Potential Risks Managing cultural diversity in workplace and providing equal employment opportunities are of great significance to the human resource managers. In a research that was conducted by Bacchi (2000) it was found that major organizations have to present reports regarding work-life balance, gender equality and cultural diversity to appear as transparent to its stakeholders. The synthesis of the existing literature suggests that there are some legal issues that are recurring in the workforce management. The biases are gender bias, racial bias, religious bias and marital bias. In this case problems may arise in any of the parameters that have been described. Care should be taken to provide equal payment to all the new employees that are hired for any particular position irrespective of caste, creed and gender (Kleiman, 2003). In recruiting new candidates the employers can come across civil rights discrimination which stereotypical view about the candidate and discriminating on the basis of physical and behavioral traits may be considered as unlawful. There may be a violation of pregnancy discrimination act if the company does not desire to hire pregnant women and this is treated as an unlawful practice. Candidates should be judged only on the basis of skills to avoid this complication. Similarly, care should be taken not to violate the immigration reform act or the disabilities act which predicts candidates should not be discriminated on account of nationality or citizenship status and any form of physical disability respectively (Griffin, 2013). Finally, racial and religious rights discrimination act violations should also be avoided. The research conducted by Fiske, Lin and Neuberg (1999 cited in Bielby, 2000) had shown that the reduction of psychological bias in the recruitment process can be reduced by the use of series of steps. Firstly, a systematic analysis must be done on the basis of the requirement of the job by collecting all the relevant information. Secondly, all the candidates applying for the jobs should be evaluated based on their qualification, credential and experience only before reaching a final decision. Job Description In order to select the correct candidates for the job it is extremely important for the HR managers to perform certain functions so that they can conduct their duties correctly. This paper identifies three main duties that need to be performed before recruiting the candidates. Firstly, full information should be collected regarding any change that has occurred in the job description, the type of skills that is required in the new job and whether the job requires any particular type of technical skills. These functions are formally called analysis of the job role. Secondly, after completion of the job analysis it will be important to display the information through advertisements so that it can be viewed by all. This would require clear description of the skills, qualifications, experience that is expected of the candidates so that only the desired candidate fills out the application form. The advertisements should have a clear description of the job requirements, responsibilities, general information and job functions. Finally, screening of the candidates and matching of skills is the single most important function that must be completed by the HR specialists. Use of instruments like psychological testing of the candidates and use of computer software that matches competency of candidates to the requirements of the job are popular methods used by employers to screen the correct candidates nowadays. Proper background checks for employees are also important functions that must be done by the employer organization. There are openings for four major categories at presently. The number of vacancies, job title and job role are provided in the following table. Job Title Job Description Frequency of Review Assembly Technicians Must have the capability to follow the drawings of engineers. Must have the capability of product testing and performance testing. Should be competent enough to conduct checks on final products to ensure that they are defect free. Effective skills of inventory management regarding for prevention of inventory piling and just in time production. The job description needs to be reviewed monthly in order to check whether the inventory management requirements are being met or not. Also product quality must be ensured at smallest time intervals to meet standards. Certified Quality Control Engineer Should have the required skill set of testing and inspecting products that meet the expected standards of the company. Should have ample knowledge about electronic gadgets to ensure production quality can be maintained. Have a sound knowledge about statistical testing and link it to the manufacturing process. Have sound knowledge about dermit/unit, knowledge about x2 charts for explaining distributors and zone charting capabilities. The job description should be reviewed half-yearly by the senior management to find if there is any difficulty faced by the engineers. Support and cooperation should be provided to them to help them perform better. Contract Administrator Should have required knowledge about the preparation of contracts and their revision. Have a sound knowledge about proposal planning and contracts administration. Able to analyze the risks in the contracts and mitigate them. Sound knowledge about audit to track amendments and deviations from contracts. This review can be done just before revising a contract or planning a contract. Annual meetings may be sufficient to review as the work is not expected to change within the stipulated time. Office Support Paraprofessional Should be able to provide training and orientation to the selected employees. Should be capable to take responsibility regarding the free flow of information that is clearly understood by all. Uses feedback mechanisms to create an atmosphere of continuous learning in the organization. Half-yearly reviews will be require to understand the dimensions in which the employees are performing weakly and the dimensions in which they are performing strongly. Employee Turnover The issue of employee turnover is a common one that needs to be addressed by employers to prevent the loss of efficiency in workplace. High employee turnover are associated with increasing costs of the company in terms of renewed job searches. Additionally, the resignation of veteran employees from the job erodes the knowledge base and new employees hired to fill the position of the older employees often lacks adequate knowledge to perform the jobs. The research conducted by Ton and Huckman (2008) had shown that high employee turnover not only reduces the overall level of productivity of employees but also causes high level of dissatisfaction and low morale among the existing employees. This in turn, reduces the profitability of the company and affects overall customer satisfaction. It therefore follows that high employee turnover is a bad aspect for an organization and it should be prevented in every manner. The following three ways can be suggested in which employee turnover can be reduced. Firstly, as has been suggested by numerous researchers employee turnover can be managed significantly if the employees are highly satisfied with their jobs. This implies creating a challenging job environment and providing opportunities for the growth of the employees must be one of the basic agendas of the company (Firth, et al., 2004). The management has to ensure that job satisfaction of employees have to be guaranteed as low level of job satisfaction is strongly related to high turnover and low productivity among the workers. Secondly, another acceptable way to reduce high employee turnover is provision of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards based on the performance of employees. It has been observed that financial rewards contingent on performance of employees have always been a source of great motivation (Ongori, 2007). Researchers have also pointed out that non-financial rewards like provision of feedback for the work done, constructive criticism and appreciation of the work done are the key factors which increases the employee motivation had reduced their willingness to quit a job. For instance, the research conducted by Samuel and Chipunza (2009) had conducted an empirical research to find the most important variables of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and had found variables like provision of proper training and development programs, job security, financial rewards and engagement in the decision making process strongly motivates all employees. All these factors have also been found to have a direct link with job satisfaction. Finally, employee turnover can also be reduced by creating a culture of transparent communication in the work environment where the employees can have full access to any knowledge that is required by them. The research conducted by Huselid (1995) had shown that accessing knowledge about job or the organization as a whole makes employees feel important and their intent of leaving the organization for other jobs are also minimized as well. Sharing of all the information is considered as an effective collaborative effort taken by the organization to engage employees. It is believed that these measures are likely to reduce the chances of employee turnover and make them highly productive. Lower turnover is bound to improve the long-term productivity of the employees and it has been observed in works of numerous researchers. Benefits to Company The staff planning model that has been developed for the technology company is expected to meet the purpose of business expansion. Firstly, the alternative staff planning model that has been suggested are both suitable for the company as they are cost saving approaches allowing employee flexibility. Secondly, the steps that have been identified for selection of the employees are sound and the review of the job description process makes it a flexible one. Thirdly, the potential legal issues arising in the process has also been addressed. The formidable weights provided to the job analysis and screening is expected to provide the correct set of candidates for the job. Finally, measures to reduce the employee turnover are also likely to retain the best employees in the job thereby meeting the business goals and objectives. Following these planned steps of recruitment is likely to support the long-term business goals of the company which includes venturing outside the home turf. References Bielby, W. T. (2000). Minimizing workplace gender and racial bias. Contemporary Sociology, pp. 120-129. Firth, L., Mellor, D. J., Moore, K. A. & Loquet, C. (2004). How can managers reduce employee intention to quit? Journal of managerial psychology, 19(2), 170-187. Griffin, R. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of management journal, 38(3), 635-672. Kleiman, L. (2003). Human Resource Management: A Managerial Tool for Competitive Advantage Third Edition. New Delhi: Dreamtech Press. Monk, E. & Wagner, B. (2012). Concepts in enterprise resource planning. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Ongori, H. (2007). A review of the literature on employee turnover. African Journal of Business Management, 49-54. Samuel, M. O. and Chipunza, C. (2009). Employee retention and turnover: Using motivational variables as a panacea. African Journal of Business Management, 3(8), 410-415. Sharp, R., Franzway, S., Mills, J. and Gill, J. (2012). Flawed policy, failed politics? Challenging the sexual politics of managing diversity in engineering organizations. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(6), 555-572. Stickney, L. T. (2008). Contingent Workers and Competitive Position: The Effect of Contingent Worker Use on Organizational Performance. New Jersey: ProQuest. Tayntor, C. B. (2001). A practical guide to staff augmentation and outsourcing. Information Systems Management, 18(1), 84-91. Ton, Z., & Huckman, R. S. (2008). Managing the impact of employee turnover on performance: The role of process conformance. Organization Science, 19(1), 56-68. Read More