Human Resource Managment - Essay Example

GS Plumbing in Hot Water: A Case Study of the Name of the Concerned March 27, 2011 GS Plumbing in Hot Water: A Case Study Even a cursory perusal of the case study under consideration is enough to conclude the fact that GS Plumbing is facing ample problems pertaining to its HR function. In fact, the nature of HR problems being faced by GS Plumbing is such that, if not ameliorated in time, they do have the potential to jeopardize the very sustenance and survival of GS Plumbing. Akin to other organizational functions, it is imperative that the effectiveness and efficiency of the HR function is audited on a regular basis (McConnell, 2006, p. 16).1 The primary questions that an HR audit delves on are the efficiency of the health and welfare systems, resource allocation, adherence to safety norms and employee relations (Stemple, 2006).2 Ironically speaking, GS Plumbing is facing grave discrepancies in all these areas. There exists a wide and discernable communication gap between the top management and the staff that is taking a severe toll on the employee relations. The company is lacking in promptly coming out with apt and favourable health and welfare policies and of course the competitors are taking ample advantage of this shortfall by stealing the skilled and experienced employees. The human resources employed by GS Plumbing are being poorly managed and scheduled, resulting in employees resorting to cash-in-hand work after hours, by exploiting the company equipment and inputs. The employees are flouting the reporting procedures regarding safety, which may eventually lead to serious union problems. In that context, a timely HR audit on the part of GS Plumbing will lead to a formal identification of these issues and lacunas. As is the nature of problems, it is first important to identify a problem, before it is resolved. In simple words, HR auditing is primarily about formally and systematically evaluating policies, practices, procedures and documentation systems related to a business’s HR functions (Hartsfield, 1990, p. 4).3 Hence, an HR audit will be extremely useful to GS Plumbing. It will help in a pragmatic assessment and quantification of the contributions that the HR department is making to the organization (McConnell, 2005, p. 9).4 It will stimulate the HR officer at GS Plumbing to don a professional perspective and will accord a formal recognition and motivation to the HR officer that is Alan Arrowsmith (Bragerstock, 2000, p. 524).5 HR audit will also lead to the identification of the problems marring GS Plumbing, resulting in an appropriate strategy aimed at resolving these problems (Hartsfield, 1990, p. 31).6 This endeavour will also lead to a systematic job analysis of all the employees at GS Plumbing and will help the company in designing appropriate performance management and appraisal systems (Hartsfield, 1990, p. 37).7 HR audit is also about basically recognizing the need for change and initiating and managing change (Stemple, 2006, p. 14).8 So far the top management at GS Plumbing is noncommittal about the issues hampering the smooth working of the organization, as is evident by the approach of Greg Smith, the owner of the company. So, an HR function audit by GS Plumbing will facilitate a smooth adoption and initiation of the change mindset on the part of the management and the employees. To assure the effectiveness of the proposed HR audit, it will be really helpful if the team drafted for conducting this audit involves a cross section of the staff working at varied levels at GS Plumbing (Moore, 2007, p. 53).9 This should include the owner, Greg Smith, the HR manager Alan Arrowsmith, the middle managers, particularly Gail White and at least one representative each of full-time and part-time plumbers. If possible and financially viable, the company can also hire an HR consultant to help and assist in this audit. Another big problem diluting the efficiency at GS Plumbing is the unplanned absence of employees. It is a fact that some of the employees may be resorting to unplanned leaves to abuse the system at GS Plumbing. However, it is also true that a considerable number of employees may be resorting to unplanned absence owing to other reasons like health issues, family responsibilities, boredom or job dissatisfaction (Moore, 2001, p. 9).10 It is quite evident from the case study that GS Plumbing has no formal policy in place regarding employee welfare and the competitors are attracting the employees by offering non-financial benefits allowing for work and home balance. Besides, a good number of senior plumbers are being victimized by boredom associated with the routine plumbing jobs being assigned to them. First and foremost, the management should quantify the proportion that the ad-hoc work makes of the total workload. Than it should recruit a skilled pool of ad-hoc workers, who could be assigned the routine plumbing jobs that come at an ad hoc basis or could be allocated to senior plumbers to assist and help them in routine jobs. Care should be taken to mostly assign to the senior employees, the jobs that are complicated and require ample proficiency and skills. The company should also come out with a formal policy regarding leaves. The permanent employees should be extended a fixed number of paid vacation and sick leaves to allow for the much needed breaks and the time for family responsibilities (Ingham, 2006, p. 293).11 This will help the company retain the permanent employees and will encourage the new employees to join the company. It will serve as a potent retention and recruitment tool. Besides, the employees should be formally conveyed that any additional leave over the paid time off will not be paid for by the company. In case an employee needs additional sick leaves, the employees should be asked to forward their leave application with a formal certificate from a recognized physician. This will prevent the employees from abusing the sick leaves. In the short run, the company may have to forgo some work, owing to this new paid leave policy. But, in the long run it will significantly reduce the losses suffered owing to absenteeism. A formal and effective employee retention policy is pivotal for the long term success and sustenance of GS Plumbing. The success in retaining employees will add to customer satisfaction, will mitigate dissent amidst the staff, will allow for the achievement of a pool of experienced and skilled employees who could act as mentors or could be eventually absorbed in the management, and assure that the knowledge and experience that the employees have gained over time remains embedded within the company’s resource base (Frank, 2004, p. 11).12 First and foremost, the usual employee briefing session held on Mondays by Greg and Alan should be allocated more time. In this session, the management should take care to well define the job expectation from each employee, which involves the workload and the safety norms. The top management should take care to mitigate the communication gap between itself and the employees (Summers, 1993, p. 47).13 In this task, Greg and Alan could seek the help and assistance of Gail White. Also, the most senior and experienced employees should be mostly assigned those tasks that make way for maximum skill utilization. The management could come out with a lucrative bonus policy to prevent employees from working freelance after hours. The talent and contribution of the junior employees should be promptly recognized by extending promotions and salary raises. The top managers should spend more time interacting and mixing with the plumbers. Overall, care should be taken to make all the plumbers feel that they are respected and recognized. GS Plumbing being a small concern, it will get ample word of mouth publicity by initiating such policies. This will also attract the prospective new employees to join the company. GS Plumbing should make it certain that not only each and every plumber understands and likes one’s job, but also could hope for due recognition and rewards in the future (Summers, 1993, p. 48).14 Alan could do a lot of things to benchmark the HR function at GS Plumbing. Since the company has only 16 employees, this small number of employees is ideally suited for conducting surveys to gauge varied HR functions (Milgate, 2004, p. 83).15 To begin with, Alan can initiate an employee satisfaction survey. He can take the help of Gail White in this job as she is comfortable communicating with employees and the employees share a measure of comfort level with her. Considering the acute communication deficit in the company, this survey will serve as the most appropriate tool to measure the employees’ satisfaction levels and to gather the relevant feedback from the employees. Besides, once the appropriate HR policies are put in place, Alan could also conduct a reward survey to get an insight into employee aspirations and expectations from the organization (Milgate, 2004, p. 85).16 The other important function lagging at GS Plumbing is employee performance review (Milgate, 2004, p. 84).17 Again, going by the small number of employees, Alan, to begin with could conduct a structured one to one performance review. However, care should be undertaken that the employees do not feel threatened by this review. This performance review will not only help the management grasp the magnitude of contribution made by each employee, but will also help the employees get a measurable perspective regarding their job expectations and requirements. Besides, the company could come out with a structured remuneration and compensation policy, based on the data collected from these surveys and reviews (Milgate, 2004, p. 84).18 Such remuneration and reward policies should rely on appropriate metrics like the duration of employment with the company, level of seniority, years of experience, professional qualification and accreditations, etc. Preferably these performance reviews should be scheduled on a fortnight or a monthly basis, to begin with. Besides, Alan should also design a formal and systematic interview methodology for the recruitment of new employees. The company should also initiate a structured head hunting policy that should also involve gathering the relevant data and information for recruitment purposes. All the existing research and experience corroborate to the fact that change always begins from the top. It is only when the top management evinces appropriate level of sincerity and commitment to change that the messages and policies eventually percolate down to the juniors (Kissler, 1991, p. 190).19 In that context, the senior management at GS Plumbing is loaded with ample issues. The owner of GS Plumbing is noncommittal towards the problems being faced by the organization and dedicates very little time and effort to the company. Besides, Greg Smith shares a chronic trust deficit with regard to the plumbers and for the most part expects Alan to make things right. To be realistic, at present, the managerial policies towards HR function at GS Plumbing are noncommittal and non formal. A great deal of this has to do with the lack of interest and initiative on the part of the top management. The dearth of employee retention, recruitment, compensation and review policies are taking a heavy toll on the long term sustenance of the company. Communication gap between the employees and the management is one other sore factor. Bibliography Bragerstock, Andrews. “The HRM Effectiveness Audit: A Tool for Managing Accountability in HRM”. Public Personnel Management 29 (2000): 520-531. Frank, Fredric D. “Introduction to the Special Issues on Employee Retention and Engagement”. Human Resource Planning 27 (2004): 11-12. Hartsfield, William E. HR Audit: How to Evaluate your Personnel Policies and Procedures. New York: Amacom, 2005. Ingham, Jon. Strategic Human Capital Management: Creating Value through People. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006. Kissler, Gary D. The Change Riders: Managing the Power of Change. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1991. McConnell, John H. How to Develop Essential HR Policies and Procedures. New York: Amacom, 2005. McConnell, John H. Auditing your Human Resource Department. New York: Amacom, 2006. Milgate, Michael A. Transforming Corporate Performance: Measuring and Managing the Drivers of Business. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. Moore, Michael L. “Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital”. Human Resource Planning 30 (2007): 52-55. Moore, Michael W. Absenteeism in the Workplace. New York: Absenteeism in the Work Place, 2001. Stemple, Beth Campbell. HR Audit Checklists. New York: Business and Legal Reports, Inc., 2006. Summers, Lynn. “Recruitment, Retention and Employee Relations: Field Tested Strategies for the 90s”. Personnel Psychology 46 (1993): 46-48.. Read More