Organizational Human Resources - Case Study Example

? Organizational Human Resources Introduction No one can escape the change. Be it an individual or an organization. Change is unavoidable. Some of the major organizational objectives can be tagged as growth, stability, survival, etc. In order to achieve the objectives the management has to forecast changes and find out ways to implement those changes to ensure organizational development. Business managers are the catalysts for such changes are known as ‘change agents’. The managers must take the responsibility in indentifying the areas of change, creating a mechanism for adaption of change by motivating and guiding the members in the process of the adaption of the change. However an overall organizational diagnosis must be conducted to identify the needs and the areas of change. Organizational change can be defined as the initiative by the mangers to keep a constant creative, innovative and intelligent watch over the environmental forces and to audit the impact and influence on the business concerned and to find out action programs to find out appropriate strategies to maintain balance between the two different forces, controllable as well as non-controllable. The study has been conducted in lieu of analyzing the key areas of changes, dealing with the factors providing resistance to changes and the process of overcoming the changes. The study has been conducted by keeping Diamond Express, Inc and the organizational scenario of the company in mind (Goswami, 2010, p. 105). Background of the Study Diamond Express, Inc. is a two years old customer sales and service company. It has 150 employees. Very recently the senior management has hired a new HR manager to develop a fully functional human resource department. This is a key strategic move considering the near future expansion plans of the company. Identifying Areas of Change The HR functions of the organization is scattered among individuals. This consists of some employees belonging to the administrative position looking after paper works and a management team looking after HR issues. Considering the mentioned landscape of the organization the key challenges of the newly appointed HR manager has been summed up. One of the major challenges to be faced by the manager is to achieve centralization. HR functioning is a very much core and specialized area. Therefore the company must have a fully functional HR department to look after the core areas. Therefore the manager may hire some HR executives to look after the core areas such as recruitment, payroll processing, performance management, etc. Also these executives act as a touch point to various departments. The employees looking after the admin work can also be a part of the HR department forming HR and admin division. This recommendation has been provided based on the assumption that the organization has the budget to afford recruitment new executives. Another challenge to be faced by the new HR manager is to keep a high morale among the employees. The hiring of a new manager may make some the employees to raise a few eye brows. This may lead to negative organizational grape vines lowering the moral of the employees. This may create insecurity among the employees and lead to attrition. Therefore the best way to avoid such unwanted circumstances is to communicate properly with the employees to build an environment of trust and employee engagement to ensure retention. As the management as well as the HR manager wants to achieve organizational change it is imperative for the employees to understand the role and responsibilities. Therefore the Hr manager must make sure that detailed Job descriptions are prepared across the all departments. The HR manager should entrust the responsibility to the executives looking after different departments. The executive should carry out a job interview for specific job holders to prepare a detailed and appropriate job description. Along with job description the employees should be provided the KRA or key result areas, so that the employees can understand the parameters based on which they can be judged. In order to ensure change and achieve the future organizational objectives it is important that each and every body should know how they performed in the past. This will not only help the employees identify strengths and areas of development, but also help the employees to understand how they could contribute towards the success of the organization in future. One the major problems faced by the organization has been attrition. Therefore to diagnose the problem the Hr manager should ensure that there is a structured salary, increment and recognition system. It should be made clear to the employees that the increments would be performed based on the findings of the performance management system. Also to motivate the employees there would be existence of reward and recognition system. This would include both monetary as well as non monetary rewards. During the meeting with the employees and managers, some key players could be identified by the HR manager. Those employees could be granted Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP). During the meeting with the employees the HR manger may find out that there is a need for training, especially for the people who are at constant touch with the customers. For, example customer services reps and sales & marketing professionals. Hence, the corporate team may identify a relevant training partner to impart training. The training could be provided in small pilot batches. Elements of Diagnosis Plan Probable Results Proper JD and KRA Better understanding of roles and responsibilities Proper Internal communication Credibility and Trust Well Designed Performance Management System Helps the employees to identify strengths and weaknesses Salary, increment and recognition system Acts a motivating factor ESOP Retention of key players Training and development Increases effectiveness and efficiency Factors contributing to the resistance to change By nature human beings are resistant change. As a result, introduction of new procedures or systems may create uncertainty and resistance to the change among the employees of Diamond Express, Inc. The following diagram presents a probable factors leading to the resistance of change. Overcoming the barriers to change The newly appointed HR manager of the firm may use the three step model proposed by Kurt Lewin, a prominent behavioral scientist to overcome the barriers to change (Bhattacharya, 2009, p. 225). Unfreezing : This is the first step in the change process. During this process the manager should make the memebers of the organization about the desired changes and the need for the change. This phase helps the employees to clean the old customs and traditions and behaviors and encourages to strart with a fresh look. According Kurt Lewin’s froce field analysis the two forces operate in an organization’ The driving force and the restraining force. The changing forces are known as the driving forces and the forces against the change are known as restraining forces. The driving forces look to direct the orgnization away from the status quo equilibrium and the restraining forces hinder the movevememnt from the present the equilibrium. Therefore the newly appointed HR manager should look to make the driving forces stronger and the opposing restraining forces weaker. Movement : Through the unfreezing process the memebers of the organization recognize the need and importance for the change. During the movement phase the employees prapere for the change Refreezing: By the process of refreezing , the newly acquired values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, etc. get frozen and at this setp the new begavior becomes a normal way of life. At this step, the new pattern of behavior, which is permanent in nature and contibually reinforced. Conclusion Diamond Express, Inc is on the brink of going through a much required organizational change. In the modern day competitive environment each and every organization has to go through certain degree of changes for the survival or to achieve some organizational objectives. In the study Diamond Express, Inc is looking to go through the process of change to achieve expansion and growth. However change doesn’t happen overnight. Therefore even before going though the change the newly appointed HR manager must identify the areas requiring change. That is to ensure successful change the organization must conduct an organizational analysis to conduct organization diagnosis. This will help the manager to identify the key pressure points. According to the scenario some of the probable pressure points could be lack move centralization in the HR department, high attrition rate, lack of motivation among employees, need for tainting, etc. Once that goal is achieved the next should be to identify the foccees working as a resistance to change. AS discussed in the study by mature the people are resistant to change as it may disrupt the status quo. Therefore the manager must ensure proper communication to convey purpose of the change. It must also be communicated that the change is for the betterment of the people and the organization on a whole. Kurt Lwein’s three step model has been proposed to counter the resistance to the change. References Goswami, R. (2010). Organizational Behavior. India: Matrix Educare. Bhattacharya, D. (2009). Human Resource Planning. India: Excel Books. Read More