Different Approaches to Strategic HRM - Essay Example

? DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO STRATEGIC HRM by + Case Study: Organisational Development Introduction Organisation development has been viewed by several scholars as a field of Human Resources Management that is still growing. This field draws its foundation from both social and behavioural sciences. Practitioners of organisational development base their study on humanistic method to delivery of sustainable performance and organisational change management. Organisation Development (OD) enables organisations to provide sustainable performance or improvements by using people. This implies that people (employees) form key components of an organisation development intervention. Thematic Analysis As presented in this case study, the Company "cockpit for you" is struggling with multiple problems, which it has to solve in order to achieve its short-term and long-term objectives. The thematic areas that have negative influence on the company should be critically considered by the management in formulating the strategic policies. This is core in organizational development because, if the influences emanating from the thematic areas are not addressed properly, the company risk loosing the targets it sets to achieve. In this regard, the areas include the following. First, restructuring of a company is not easy since the company has to spend a lot of money in consulting for the best option that it should adopt. Moreover, the situation becomes worse if the restructuring is hurriedly done without formulating and following the procedure (Armstrong 2006, p. 27). Considering the latest restructuring measures in the company, the modes of operation and employee relations changed, prompting the workers and management to adjust to the new production system. The alterations also led to changes in the company’s niche market, which affected the overall sales of the products in the market due to stiff competition. The little competition that the company experiences also influences the operations in the organization. This is because limited competition reduces the probability of engaging in creativity and innovation in the production and the delivery of services (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p. 77). In fact, it is mainly through competitive business practices, which could enable the workers innovate new ways of manufacturing its products. Lack of healthy competition seemed to promote monopoly in the production of goods in the company and could lead to price fluctuation (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 102). The other area that has negative influence on the organization is the fact that it has a bad reputation as an employer compared to the others operating in the region. For instance, it pays its workers poor salaries, making it less attractive to employees and job seekers. This problem of poor pay for the employees reduces their motivation, thereby interfering with the production of quality goods and low returns due to poor sales (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p. 79). Currently, many people are attracted to quality products that guarantee them better utilities and value for their money. As pointed out in the case, the company is still very marked, and owner-initiative and creativity of the employees are not valued or even blocked. This aspect is very detrimental to the success of the organization because the practice limits the workers’ participation in decision making (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 108). An employee whose ideas are valued would be motivated to propose for better means of production and service delivery, thus being able to contribute positively in an attempt to fulfil the company goals. In the organization, there was a corporate culture that the employees and the management identified with (Legge 2005, p. 105). Essentially, it is the organizational culture that defines the relationship among the workers, management and stakeholders and the attitude towards work (Cole 2006, p. 32). Since the existing corporate culture was characterized by sluggishness, lethargy, owner orientation and rejection of innovations, it had negative influence on the quality and quantity of production. In this regard, the workers could propose better and efficient ways of production, but such proposal could be rejected by the company owner if the clash with his/her personal interests and ambitions. This could have adverse influence in the company operations and might derail its ambition to pursue success (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 111). Another area that could be controversial to the operations of the business is lack of management expertise, particularly in terms of leadership skills and expertise (Legge 2005, p. 124). This could pose a negative influence in the leadership and pursuit of its objectives and affect the overall productivity. In this case, poor management practices affects communication and the implementation of the strategic policies, which the organization intends to adopt. Furthermore, it reduces the level of efficiency in the production system and a recipe for failure (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p. 84). After the acquisition of the entity by the American Company, its managers were accused of being insensitive to the plight of the workers. This is another aspect of the company that might have contributed to the negative influence in its production. A leadership with low self esteem cannot drive the company to its success because it lacks the appropriate skills to forge a desirable relationship between the workers and the owner of the company. Appropriate measures are essential in promoting the cordial relationship that could itself lead to the workers motivation (Cole 2006, p. 57). For example, the company should encourage creativity, increase wages and allowances, formulate policies that improve working conditions, and promote exchange programs between the organization and others, which produce and sell similar products in the market. Apparently, those are some of the best practices the organization ought to embrace to prevent the negative affects from interfering with the internal operations in the company. There was also conflicting information from a section of the employees that could have had negative affect in the company. For example, some workers claimed that the leaders had not given them specific instructions to avoid making decisions. This raises the concern whether the lack of innovation and creativity resulted from the workers’ inability or the management’s ignorance to advice the employees on the right course (Armstrong 2006, p. 87). The responsibility to carry out innovation is vested on the employees and their managers because the use and monitor the system respectively, on a daily basis and could easily identify the loophole in the production and recommend for improvement. Therefore, whether the management encouraged innovation or not, it was imperative that the employees had a role to play in proposing for changes in the production system that could aim at improving efficiency (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 122). Theoretical Analysis The theoretical aspects critical to the case study include motivation, communication and innovation. Despite the individual ownership of the company, the leaders have to relate to the employees and other stakeholders so that they pursue a common goal for which the company was initiated to achieve. As a personal investment, its acquisition could be done informally without involving all the employees, whether they would be aggrieved or not. Motivation and Staff Development In business, staff development is the most important way of motivating the workers and could improve the quality of the products and efficiency of the production. A motivated worker has the highest passion and self esteem in performing his or her duties in line with the organizational culture (Greene & Kirton 2005, p. 40). Although some employees could be recruited based on their experience and knowledge in the particular field, one’s technical skills could be developed through in-house training, seminars and expertise exchanges (Greene & Kirton 2005, p. 51). Motivating the workers through training is an essential empowerment practice that develops the staff and makes them adjust according to the market trends. Staff development should be a continuous process of increasing the employees’ technical expertise in one’s area of specialization (Mullins 2006, p. 39). Other than the knowledge acquired through formal training, the personalized and intensive on-duty training that is all inclusive is necessary since it equips the worker with practical skills to solve the challenges, which might come on his or her way during the work (Mullins 2006, p. 41). The company could learn from the success stories of other companies that have put in place workable staff development policies and have achieved remarkable success. Communication The success of a company in fully implementing its strategic policies also depends on the type and efficiency of communication. Adopting the latest communication tools and media is an essential initiative that the company has to consider if it has to make a meaningful step in fulfilling its goals (Kew & Stedwick 2005, p. 74). For example, the company may use the social media, internal memo, emails, and telephone/handsets in disseminating information. These are faster and accurate means of sending and receiving information regardless of the distance. Innovation One of the key assumptions of achieving efficiency is the extent to which the workers are capable of innovating new ways of performing their duties (Hughes 2006, p. 26). Since innovation involves improving the existing techniques used in production, any company that prioritizes it would literally become efficient and successful. Innovation will help the company saves time and resources, while at the same time improves the quality and quantity of production (Hughes 2006, p. 28). Recommendations and conclusion In conclusion, the most important recommendation for the company is that it should focus on staff development. This will make it have employees who understand the nature of production and market variables for decision making. In making sure that the company succeeds in this initiative, it should invest in, and put strong emphasis on intensive staff training and skills development. The company should also organize special training seminars for all the workers either at once or in turns. This could help the company compensate for the skills shortages internally without outsourcing from other countries. In essence, hiring technocrats is a very difficult exercise, thus developing the local skills and talents would be a cheaper option for the company, and may help it get competent managers, technical experts and consultants. Therefore, it is believed that this would lead to self-multiplying effects in the operation because the current serving managers and technicians would be encouraged to take the trainings seriously. The same encouragement would be extended to the general employees to further develop themselves professionally or in their respective productions and specialization areas. The second recommendation would be to ensure that the company improves on information flow by adopting new and faster means of disseminating messages. Here, the company could use social media, emails, memos, and phone calls to pass the information to the end users because such methods are fast, efficient, affordable, and accurate. The other important recommendation for the company "cockpit for you" is to make sure that it motivates the workers, allow flexibility and employee initiatives. Apparently, these were cited as lacking in the company and could have contributed to its dismal performance. In motivating the workers, the company could apply incentives such as salary increase, improving the working condition and safety, recognizing and respecting the workers. These aspects could improve the workers’ interest in their duties and could lead to increased production in terms of quality and quantity. The working schedule has to be flexible to suit the employees and the employer. This could enhance the relationship between the workers and their master, which is a requirement in the organization. Usually, stringent schedules demoralize the employees and affect their concentration at work. This leads to poor quality of the output. Therefore, the company should be flexible enough to cater for the needs and wishes of the employees. The company should encourage employee initiatives and reward the worker who presents an innovative approach to the production. Innovation is the key to enhancing efficiency and improving the quality of the products. Therefore, although "cockpit for you" is individually owned, it should be open to innovative ideas that the worker might have observed during his or her tenure in the company. The personnel department has the responsibility formulate the most ideal policies, which could promote the operation efficiency. In this case, the department could set up a new personnel evaluation system for the management of the company affairs. Therefore, using a project management plan with the associated tasks of human resources, the managers could plan for the project in this manner. References Armstrong, M 2006, Strategic HRM: A Guide to Action, Kogan Page, London. Beardwell, L & Claydon, T 2007, HRM: A Contemporary Perspective, FT/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. Blyton, P & Turnbull, P 2006, The Dynamics of Employee Relations, Palgrave, New York. Cole, G 2006, Personnel & HRM, Continuum Publishing, London. Greene, M & Kirton, G 2005, The Dynamics of Managing Diversity, Elsevier, Oxford. Houldsworth, E & Jirasinghe, D 2006, Managing & Measuring Employee Performance, Kogan Page, London. Hughes, M 2006, Change Management, CIPD, London. Kew, J & Stedwick, J 2005, Business Environment: Managing in a Strategic Context, CIPD, London. Legge, K 2005, HRM: Rhetorics & Realities, Palgrave, New York. Mullins, L 2006, Management & Organisational Behaviour, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. Read More