Employee Relations Killing Time - Case Study Example

Employee Relations - Killing Time It costs thousands of dollars to hire and train employees. How do managers attract top talent that supports the corporate culture' How do they keep these employees engaged' After investing in this talent, how can managers keep them from taking all that training and moving on to another company' Greengard and Byham (2003) suggest hiring for attitude. While resumes present degrees, experience and skills, "they're only part of the overall picture" (p. 56). The Women & Infant's Hospital seeks employees who are compassionate, diplomatic, energetic and confident, and Southwest Airlines looks for energy, humor, team spirit, a strong work ethic and self-confidence. These companies do not discover these characteristics on a resume, so they employ "behavior-based interviews and in-depth analysis of candidates" (p. 56). Southwest gathers a group of job candidates in a room and observes how they interact. They ask them questions that will reveal personality traits. Consistent feedback is a key element in keeping employees stuck to their respective jobs. Messmer (2004) recommends that this feedback should go both ways and recommends that managers ask employees open-ended questions to provide an opportunity to express their opinions. Employees today will change jobs many times during their careers. Waterman, Waterman, & Collard (1994) confirm this in their article, "Toward a Career Resilient Workforce" when they say lifetime employment is a thing of the past. They suggest that companies must enter a "new covenant" with their employees where they create self-reliant workers. These workers are continuous learners and they keep pace with change, take responsibility for their own careers and are committed to the company's success. Talent management is a function of HR that needs identification of true talent and retaining of employees who work within their instinctive levels, let alone show prowess which is best suited for meeting the desired needs of the HR function. The role of the government in such an exercise is all the more significant since it has to realize that its role is significant right from the onset. The relationship between the organization and the government is one of a symbiotic one since the organization has to recognize the talent pool which is available and the government needs to make viable conditions for them to exist and work in the best manner possible. The role of HR thus is to liaison these activities in the best interests of the organization as well as the linkage that it has with the government. This helps the overall mission and vision basis of the organization and helps develop the objectives on a long term basis more than anything else. The need is to realize that talent management can truly play a pivotal role at exploiting the weaknesses present within the prevalent system and look to play upon the strengths which could be drawn from the linkages brought forward by training regimes of the organization helped and facilitated by the governmental ranks. A conflict within an organization can take place due to differing personalities of the employee and the manager or in their attitudes that lead in their linkage with each other. This could also happen due to their norms and behaviors which might not be liked by any one party (person) and thus lead to a conflict of thoughts, ideas, actions and eventual behaviors towards each other. There is a degree of power when we speak of the manager in terms of the same over his subordinate or the employee who is working under him in a direct or an indirect capacity. Different conflict handling styles include avoidance of the conflict in the first place which will ensure that the two persons within the organizational set up remain at peace and understand each other's personalities. Example is that of subordinate not taking harsh words of the manager at all and just adhering to his instructions. The second one is that of accommodating where each of these persons would accommodate the personality traits of each other and thus listen to one another. This can lead to understanding which can be reached between the two of them. Example is that of a manager understanding that the employee comes in late on Thursdays and thus living up with the problem nonetheless. The third conflict handling style encompasses collaboration which asks them to shed their differences and work in unison with a common goal, preferably of the company, in mind. Example is that of working on a single project even though there is a huge clash in the personalities of the employee and the manager so that there is betterment in the company's ranks. The fourth conflict handling mannerism is that of compromising where each of these can just forgive and forget and thus move on for the betterment of each other's relationship amongst the organizational set up. Example is that of understanding which is reached between the two in the organizational set up and not fighting for each other's egoistic attitudes. The last one is forcing which can make matters even worse since it could even be of physical and at times verbal nature. This is the least desired of the five conflict handling measures. The example for the same is the hitting of the manager on the subordinate's shoulders forcibly to show him that he is angry. This paper looks at the manner in which an organizational employee was forced out of his office by his manager and the manner in which it was carried out is discussed in an elaborate manner. It pinpoints the basics related with handling such cases as well as fathoms the rationale behind employees wasting their time on job despite repeated warnings by the management. The motivation aspects are also looked into as well as the attitudinal shifts that are experienced within the employees, managers and just about everyone working within the domains of the office place. An effort has been made to come to terms with the understandings related with the employee relations as well as their unison which mars the disciplinary basis of the organization in essence. How the organization copes with this problem is thus suggested in the following paragraphs. The case scenario pertains to Brimley Financial Service (BFS) where the employee under examination is Tim Fraser, a Product Sales Assistant recruited for the last 2 years. His supervisor, Maxine Salter is the one who catches Tim Fraser surfing websites that are unrelated with his work ethics and thus the whole problem starts to unfold. Since the employees have been dedicating a lot of time to non-work activities, it is duty bound upon the HR department to seek some measure. The role of HR in this saga is of immense importance since it has to pave the way for such measures within the realms of BFS. In fact HR department is the sole decision making authority as per the compliance of the new code of ethics within the workplace and it alone could issue official notes of extreme magnitude like dismissal from the job, suspension and so on and so forth. No other authority within the office domains could fire an individual and that too when he/she is working in his space/cabin. Maxine, since being the supervisor of Tim decided to take the law in her own hands and issue suspension 'then and there' for Tim. This was uncalled for. She had no right to ask Tim to leave the office since she was as much an employee of BFS as Tim was and hence her moral duty would have been to report the matter to the HR department and thus seek a quick solution. Asking Tim to vacate the office and come back at a later date for an official hearing is not in line with the ethics of the office place and Maxine must be answerable for the same. There is a set procedure that needs to be followed and one should believe that Maxine acted on emotions more than reasoning. More than anything else, she took law in her own stride and took a quick decision to 'send off' Tim, much to the amazement and astonishment of Tim's work colleagues. There is absolutely no denial in the fact that whatever Tim and his work colleagues were doing was also wrong but then they had been led into doing a wrong in the wake of Maxine's actions and immediate dismissal from the office, on the part of Tim. The work colleagues started to comprehend that this not only happened with Tim but in essence it has happened with them as well as they are very much a part of the organization's working code. Thus what is needed now is to have a clear cut understanding as to what exactly the work colleagues come to discern and how they translate their emotions and feelings to the HR department in the most apt manner possible. They must also pay heed to the fact that their actions need to be in line with BFS's code of ethics and working regulations and also that they cannot cross their set limits. Surely they can protest to save Tim's skin but they need to do so in a manner that can only be remarked as legal and valid, from all angles. Code of ethics is the code taken or applied by any company, profession or field which guides in the working and controlling of that corresponding work area. The code of ethics gives an overview of the responsibility and steps taken for the betterment of the working bodies. There are some codes, for which there are no penalties if any violation occurs. With respect to a business point of view, a code of ethics is usually a proper testimonial of the corresponding business organization containing its rules and issues. It is not astonishing that there is a large variety of code of ethics. Codes of ethics are written by different cluster of people for different cluster of people. Each cluster of people has its own reasons and goals on setting these codes. The Code of Ethics is made up of two components: Part I = Principles and Part II = Rules. The Principles report expressing the moral and qualified models in common terms which are needed to be displayed in the professional activities of Board designees. Though the Principles are objective in nature, they are actually made in order to give direction for Board designees. The Rules, on the other hand, supply handy instructions originated from the belief in Principles. The Rules express the "standards of ethical and professionally responsible conduct expected of Board designees in particular situations" Thus within the domains of BFS, it is pertinent to comprehend the fact that just about everyone needs to comply with the code of ethics that the organizations speaks loudly of. This would mean that all the actions and inactions taken by Maxine are not in line with the HR practices and thus an immediate answer must be received on her part. The hearing of Tim would indeed be done since he would also present his side of the case and present his point of view. He would surely be given time and space to make his perspective clearly spelled out in front of the decision makers of BFS. The work colleagues of Tim would also be allowed to attend this hearing and if need to be they would be asked to testify, be a witness of or suggest to the jury as to where the error might have arisen within the whole case by any party - Tim or Maxine. However this is a decision that needs to be taken by BFS and no one else than its HR department gets to know what is going to happen within the future as far as this scenario is concerned. However one thing could be remarked here and that is the manner in which the whole case would be discussed is of utmost significance to future circumstances of similar nature and hence BFS needs to make itself very clear that it will live up in front of its principles, rules and indeed the code of ethics that it has devised, one that has to be practiced day in day out within the organization. Now coming back to the notion as to how this dispute could have been solved in a much better and effective manner, one needs to understand that whatever Maxine did was not correct and the same should not have happened at all had she acted smartly and told the HR department. What HR department in return would have done was to issue an official warning note which would have mentioned Tim's logs of the websites that he visited (obtained from the IT department) as well as a written copy of complaint from Maxine, his supervisor. He would have been asked to submit his reply to the HR department within a certain period of time and hence all official handling been done in the most correct manner possible. It would not have catapulted to such extreme measures where a supervisor literally suspended her subordinate by sending him out of the office and thus making a scene in front of one and all as well as disturbing the office environment and turning Tim's work colleagues against the actions taken by Maxine. More so, the role of the HR department is done that needs to be checked upon properly here as well since this department is not handling the employee affairs in the most apt manner possible. It would have asked for time logs from the IT department of each and every employee as well as checked which websites they were visiting within their office timings and how much time they were imparting on each and every website. It is a known fact now that killing time was the intention behind visiting such websites and wasting time is a serious problem that BFS needs to understand. The implications for the same needs to be checked upon before commenting any further. Since the employees of BFS believe that they could get away by wasting time, the top management at the helm of affairs need to ask their own selves questions like "are the employees not motivated enough in their job'" and "are they not honest with their own selves'" These questions would give them an idea as to what actually is the problem with the employees working within the realms of BFS. If they find an answer themselves, it would be a good understanding reached in the shortest time possible but if they fail to find a solution for these problems, then they need to ask the employees themselves. They could conduct surveys in the form of questionnaires and ask the employees what they thought of the office environment and what according to their viewpoint could be changed for the better' This would have had asked for them to pour with suggestions, recommendations, criticism, advice and more than anything else - the much needed feedback from them to keep them in the loop. One important thing of note here is to make the questionnaires that would not ask the employees to reveal their name and thus submit the replies in an anonymous manner so that more open and direct feedback could be received without the threat of dismissal or suspension since writing names is indeed hazardous. However this is one aspect that was a missing link within BFS. Thus in all essence, this dispute would not have arrived to such proportions if there was a proper HR policy in place. Even if it was there, the same was not being followed to the core. Maxine should have known from day one that she will be asked upon with respect to her actions that she took against Tim. Had Maxine showed more managerial understanding and lived up to the way as managers do in the wake of growing unrest and time wasting at the office by her subordinates, she would have had a better solution to the problem. What happens now is that no one would pay heed to the way she goes about doing things upon her subordinates since Tim's work colleagues now well in advance that Maxine might retort to similar kind of behavior in the future as well. This indeed is a Catch-22 situation where the organization is the one to suffer in the end, a very unfortunate case in point here. The organization needs to pull its socks so that such situations do not arise within the future and the employees must be asked to remain committed towards work and office routines. It would be fitting to take off the employees who carry out similar time wasting tactics at the office but within a proper manner. Only then BFS could guarantee that similar disputes do not arise within the workplace at all and the relationship between managers, supervisors and subordinates remains at the very best. In the end, what is needed at the moment is that BFS must understand that a dispute happened and a sound hearing has been given to the whole case. BFS needs to move on as well as all the employees who must have gained a thing or two out of the whole situation at the office. There is a serious lesson to be learned from this scenario and all efforts must be enacted by the top regimes within the organization to make sure that the learning in the wake of this scenario has been done in the best possible way. Further, attitudinal shift must happen within the work colleagues and they must be told clear cut that their work must hold priority over anything else, as long as they are working within the office timings. They must not waste any time whatsoever and commit themselves whole-heartedly towards work and nothing else. This would benefit one and all as well as the organization which must be on the hunt to complement its employees through different initiatives in the name of bonuses, incentives and so on and so forth. Bibliography Tannenbaum, Robert. Leadership and Organization: A Behavioral Science Approach. McGraw-Hill, 1961 Casson, Mark. Information and Organization: A New Perspective on the Theory of the Firm. Oxford University Press, 2001 Brotherton, Phaedra. HR Efficiency without the Hassles. Black Enterprise, Vol. 31, September 2000 Wyatt, Linda D. More Time, More Training. School Administrator, Vol. 53, September 1996 Sims, Ronald R. Managing Organizational Behavior. Quorum Books, 2002 Miner, John B. Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses. Oxford University Press, 2002 Word Count: 3,007 Read More