Human Resources Management - Assignment Example

Human Resources Management Introduction The organization we have selected to discuss the Human Resource Management (HRM) issues is ALL Communications. ALL Communication deals with healthcare consultancy, public relations, and medical communication. The organization had around 50 employees and was doing well in the market. The industry, which this organization serves, requires knowledgeable and competitive employees who can provide the best possible solution to the people who seek their assistance. To gain competitive advantage in the industry, the organization needs to have highly trained employees who have significant knowledge about the medicinal issues. From the past quarter, the organization is facing problem in its course of work that is directly related to HRM. The problem pertaining in the organization is related to knowledge management. New recruitment has taken place in the organization, and the new employees are not able to perform up to the expectations of the company. A lot of complaints have been made against the company about which the company came to know from the feedbacks of the customers. The complaints were mostly related to the solutions, which the employees provide to the customers as the employees lacked training and knowledge to do so. In this paper, we will discuss the issues that are pertaining to the organization and give recommendation and action plan so that the organization can work in an efficient manner and achieve its desired goals. The issues of the organization are related to the HRM department as they are responsible for recruiting and training of the employees. Some changes in the policy of HRM must be made to overcome these problems. Background Fresh employees had hired by the organization few weeks ago. The company had faced many difficulties after hiring because the employees were not capable of giving quick response to the problems of consumers. The feedbacks of the consumers help in analyzing the problems. It was identified through inspection that human resource department is the area where the improvement is needed. Some mismanagement in the department of human resource management is creating the problems to the organization. Human resource department problems are crucial for the organization that has to be solved quickly and efficiently. The problems faced by the organization are related to the human resource management. There is a requirement to resolve the issues that directly reflect on the human resource department of the organization. The organization has to improve its strategies regards to the personal aspects of the human resource. The main problems or issues are that there is a need of improvement in profiles of the staff, recruitment, and selection, training and development, enhancement of expertise along with the knowledge and skills. The company is already practicing all these steps of personal aspects, but the change is required in it. It can be observed from experience that there is something wrong with the recruitment and selection process. The managers do not properly manage the experience of development and training process. There is a severe need of improvement in the area of human resource management. The organization supports the people in medical suggestions and for that purpose the communication should be effective and efficient to be easily understandable by the customers. As the company is related to the service organization so, it is preferable to work on human resource issues that will enable the company to achieve its primary goal that is provide best services to its customers. The company has to focus on the performance of the employees in order to overcome the problem faced by the consumers of organization. For that purpose the company should work on the hiring of the employees, give suitable training and try to enhance the skills of the employees. The already established department of human resource is not effective in the procedure to be followed for providing valuable services to its customers. Employee’s performance is crucial to the organization so it is necessary that the selection of employees should be in a way that they could be able to satisfy the demands of customers. The primary goal could be achieved if the employees training and development could be done in an effective manner. The issues are affecting the organization and corporate culture as well. It is important to note that the solutions provided to the problems should not contradict with the corporate culture. Initially, it is important to focus on the profile of the employees. There might be a problem regarding to the experience or the skills that are required for the appointment to do particular job in the organization. The first step is to analyze the problem of personal profile of the employee. The requirements of the profile are not enough to judge the past performance of the employee as it was noticed that the profile does not include the effective communication skills that had practiced by the employee. The experience related to the skills of the employee is necessary that coincide with the task required to work in the organization. The organization is related to the communication skills and there is need of the employee that is engaged in the criteria. The qualification and experience related to the field of medical is also important but could not reflect communication skills. Recruitment process is not properly managed by the managers of human resource department that should be done in an effective manner that the job is for the persons that is well known about the communication terms and medical concern. Human resource management is weak in the recruitment of the employees such as not effectively identifying the person has the idea that which communication type is to be selected to communicate with customers, seniors and other colleges. Another area, where the need of improvement is necessary, is training and development. The managers feel that there is a problem in the training of employees. Efficient and uniform training will help in increasing the efficiency of the employees. Skills and expertise could be developed through the valuable training. Identification of the problems The problems that are faced by the organization are: 1. The application form does not include the experience of communication. 2. Recruitment process is not effective. 3. Need of improvement in training and development processes. 4. Selection of employees for a particular job is not effectively done. 5. Human resource employees are not performing in an efficient manner. 6. Lack of frequent responses to the customers. 7. Inability in understanding the problems of customers. The problems are crucial for the organization as well as the stakeholders. The organization has to overcome the needs of the customers and for that purpose they have to identify the problem first and communicate with the customers. Relevant Theories to the Problems of Organization Social Network Theory Social network theory is related to the relationship of the people. It could be defined as the implied relationship between the people for example: exchange of information or exchange of goods. Social network theory could be applied in the organization that could be done through formal communication. The theory is applicable to the organization where the work is related to the communication skills. The relationship will help in understanding about the behavior and attitude of the organization. The theory explains that it is essential for the person to analyze that the communication power could lead the environment of the organization uniform both internally and externally. The diagram will explain the need of social network theory in an organization. The problem of the organization is that there is no requirement of experience on communication before the selection of employee. The organization goal is directly related to the service sector. In order to maintain their objective at high level they should have an experience employees who are engaged in similar services in past. Their experience could be utilized in making formal and informal relationship. Formal relationship could be applicable with the staff members and stakeholders of the organization. Informal relationship could be made with the other people of the society including customers of the organization (Zhang and Venkatesh). Resource Based Theory Resource based theory is related to the strategic management. It explains that resource based information should be provided to the candidates who are in the recruitment process. The information related to the dynamics of the organization. Most of the relevant information should be provided to the candidate in order to show the importance of work in the organization. Memorandum could be provided to the candidates so that he could build up his direction of the work for that he is being appointed in the organization. The theory further explains that the management department should work on the strategies in order to provide a framework to the candidates to perform on that. Organization problem thus could be solved through this theory. The problem of the organization regarding recruitment is no much effective that gives free and relevant information to its candidates that are applicable to job. Reliable strategies are not adopted by the fresh employee that proofs inefficiency in giving suitable dynamic information about the organization to them. The employee performance is dependent on the fact that he had possible information before entering the organization. It should be noted that this part of the exercise should not include secret information to the candidates as some of the information are private and confidential. The employees of the organization might have some confidential information that should not be transfer to the candidates as they are not the part of the organization till the appointment. An overview of the work of the organization will enhance the employee to fix directions on that he has to work (Braganza, Stebbings and Ngosi). The Theory of Agency The theory of agency is crucial for the human recourse management. The theory is based on the implied interpersonal relationship between the professionals and managers of the organization. The relationship term could be understandable through the working of Human resource management. The application of the theory can create a formal relationship between the employees working in the organization. This theory effectively relate with the development and training in the organization. The benefits could be derived through this theory such as hiring the professional in order to train employees so that they could provide best possible results to the organization. Organizational affairs are information is shared with the employees for the accomplishment of the some particular task. The problem faced by the organization regarding the improvement in the training and development process of the organization. The hurdles regarding to the training should be seriously recognized by the organization. The performance of the employee basically relates to the training and development of the organization. The problem occurred in the fresh employees in understanding that in which manner they have to create a plan for working different task. The managers of human resource department also feel crucial to solve the problem. The organization business solely depends on the services provided by the employees. There is need to change the system of training by hiring a professional that could help the trainees and provide them a free classified structure that why the training is important for them as well as organization. The stakeholders of the organization are the people that are directly affected by the acts of organization. The trainers and the management should also keep in mind that training should be in accordance with the nature of business along with the instructions of the stakeholders (Falola, Osibanjo and Ojo). Probability Theory Probability theory is helpful for making the decisions in all aspects. Organizations apply this theory in making their decisions. Two models known as probability of success and probability of failure could explain the application of this theory. The probability is measured by the organization to consider all aspects of the facts and the result would show that how much the decision is effective. For example: there is a matter that the product will capture the market or not. The probability is considered regarding all the decisions of the authorities of the organization. The theory has an important role with the Human resource management that could provide help in analyzing how much the result is valid for making the particular task. If the answer of the probability is 0.5 that means there is a chance of 50%. Below the value reflects that the strategy will work less and above will show that the result is moving towards success. The value of probability will not exceed 1 that means the chances of success are 100%. The problem of the organization regarding the selection of employees could be done in an effective manner by the application of the theory of probability after getting out of the recruitment process. The department gathers the result of the recruitment and they are unable to choose valuable employees for the organization. The selection of the candidates for employment done by the managers is not effective and there is a need for some formula on the basis of which the decisions are to be taken. The formula could be practice through the probability theory. The theory will give the idea that the employee to be chosen on comparison basis for particular job (Spalt). Contingency Theory Contingency theory explains the supreme action is contingent on the organization. The theory states that performance is more relevant for the organization. The organization performance does not depend on decisions and organizing factors. The performance of the employees is more important for the development of the organization. The decision-making is also contingent to the performance of the employees. The theory further elaborates that the performance of the employees put a reflection on the performance of the organization as a whole. The reputation of the organization in the market depends on the collective work of the organization. The problem that the organization is facing that the employees of the human resource department are not working according to the requirement. There is a need for some kind of filtration in the department so to increase the effectiveness of particularly this department. The improvement could be done through firing the inefficient employees but this is not the only solution to it. There should be some kind of improvement that would help in increasing the efficiency. Including new techniques for the motivation of employees could solve the issue. The environmental factor is relevant to the motivation of the employees to work hard and provide results to the organization. Stakeholders generally identify the problem and make decisions to overcome the situation (Mueller and Lee). Social Cognitive Theory of Organizational Management Social Cognitive Theory of Organizational Management is a theory, which determines the behavior of the individual. The theory states that an individual observes his or her environment and learns from it. The theory further states that an individual will not try anything new as there is a risk of failing in it and to avoid failure they will not try anything new. The individual will adopt the behavior of others and will not deviate themselves from that particular behavior that is followed by others. The theory suggests these things because of the psychological factors that stop them from taking new steps or think out of the box and management must motivate the employees to do something innovative so that they do not remain in a stagnant position (Wood and Bandura). The company is facing a problem of frequent responses to the customers and this problem can be resolved by motivating the employees. As from their environment, the new employees have learned that answering frequently to the customers is very de-motivating and it lowers their moral. The management of the company must look forward into this matter and motivate the employees to do the similar work as it will help them in being efficient. By being efficient the employees will be able to complete their tasks effectively (Kumari, Usmani and Husain). Jobs Demands- Resources Theory Jobs demand resource theory is an important theory as it discusses the relationship between the demand and resources. It is often observed that an individual working may be stressed because of their work. Previous theories related to the employees only focused on the negative factors but this theory also discusses the positive outcomes. The theory suggests that the employees must be provided with proper resources so that they can complete their tasks in an efficient manner and do not take any stress from the work. The theory suggests that the employees’ positive outcomes must also be noted and appreciated so that the employee is motivated through this course of action of its employers (Li, Zhong and Chen). The company is facing the problems with its employees especially with the new employees that they are not able to understand the problems of the customers. The employers are only concentrating on the negative outcomes of the employees and are not discussing the positive outcomes of the employees, which are a de-motivating factor for the employees. According to the JD-R theory, it is the job of the employer and HR Department to appreciate the work of the employees as well as it will motivate them. If the employees are motivated then they will try their best to perform their task efficiently. The problem identified as the inability of the employees to understand the problems of the customers can worsen if the company keeps similar policy of discussing the negative outcomes. The company must apply the JD-R theory as a part of their policy as this will motivate the employees and reduce work stress from them (Li, Zhong and Chen). Problems Create Conflicts in Organization It has been observed that there is a conflict between the employees regarding their attitude and performance. The conflict is harmful to the organization, and it has to be resolve on an urgent basis. It is noted that the conflict between the managers and employees are in large numbers. The problems are due to the inefficiency of human resource department, and they could only be tackled when initially they are recognized. The problems are now recognized. There is a need to take some valuable and uniform decisions to work on it and enhance the performance of the organization as a whole. Recommendations The company is facing serious issue in their course of business. In order to overcome these problems, the company needs to apply theories of human resource management as such theories can lead the organization through this difficult time. Following are the recommendations that the company must look towards to overcome these problems. Training of Employees Employees’ training is one of essential factors, which can drastically help the organization to overcome this issue. The employees must be trained effectively so that they can work in an efficient manner. There are different types of training, but this company must focus on the communication skills and quick response of the employees. Training of the new employees of the company must be held after every 2 months so that they can handle the queries of the customers easily and respond to them in a professional manner and satisfy their needs as well. If this step is taken, there will be a positive feedback and the customers will be more attracted towards the company (Falola, Osibanjo, and Ojo). Knowledge Communities To perform well, knowledge community must be established as it gives rise to the knowledge-oriented culture where all the employees look towards high performance and better output. To acquire this quality in the employees, teamwork is necessary. The company must make different teams so that each member of the team can help other members in order to attain efficient output. There should also be a positive competition among different teams so that high performance of the employees can be attained. The essence of knowledge communities is to work together to achieve a common a common goal and attain high performance. Knowledge communities have a direct impact on the performance of the employees and company (Braganza, Stebbings and Ngosi). Commitment and Motivation Knowledge is one of the most important factors but along with it, an employee must also be willing to work. In consulting firms, some particular models and approaches are implemented which can affect the work course of an individual. The organizations must show some flexibility in their rules so that the employees can work better. If an employee does not find ease in his job, then they are more likely to leave the job, and it will be difficult for the organization to replace them. In order to overcome this issue, the higher management must motivate the employees through various means like incentive structure. By motivating the employees, they will be committed to work and will perform their duties in an efficient manner (Mueller and Lee). Fairness and Commitment Fairness and commitment are keys to the success. The human resource team while recruiting an employee must be fair in all terms. An individual must be selected on the basis of his knowledge and according to the rules and policy of the organization. Remuneration, bonuses and work must be fairly distributed among the employees. If fair practices are followed then, the employees will have trust in the employer, and they will perform their duties up to their knowledge and skills (Wood and Bandura). Action Plan ALL Communications is going through a diminishing phase in the market, and they are also not able to satisfy their customers. To overcome these issues some recommendations have been jotted down. In addition to it, an action plan is also made to implement the suggested changes that must be made on the immediate basis. If the action plan is successfully implemented, then it is expected that the organization will be able to achieve its desired goals (Zhang and Venkatesh). Provide Training of Employees ALL Communications must hire a team from outside to provide training to the employees. The trainers must train the employees to listen to the customers carefully and then provide a solution to their queries. Listening, understanding and communicating properly must be taught to the employees so that they can improve their skills and provide knowledge to the customers. The employees must be given basic knowledge of communicating as it is the main part of their job. Every employee must have an ability to understand different accent of people so that they can communicate in an efficient manner with the customers (Spalt). Training of the employees must be held for two days after every two months. This process must be at least carried for six months so that improvement in the work course of the employees can be seen. By following this strategy, the employees will improve their communication skill and will develop techniques to provide solutions to the queries of the employees. From this process, the company will occur some cost but in the long run investing on human capital will be beneficial for the company (Li, Zhong and Chen). Establishing Knowledge Communities As discussed earlier in recommendations, knowledge communities are important to enhance the work course of the employees. The management must take an active part in improving the working activities and must form teams amongst them. After forming the teams, the management must give them monthly task so that there can be a positive competition between them. It is the responsibility of the management that the teams must not have any rivalry in between them as it can have a negative impact on the business. To avoid rivalries between the team, team members must be changed so that every employee works in a friendly manner (Kumari, Usmani, and Husain). To achieve the knowledge-oriented culture in the company, the management must also interact with the customer to create a friendly environment. A friendly environment is necessary because it will provide courage to the employees to share their knowledge with others and gain some knowledge from other. Such activities must be held in the company where the employees are allowed to participate with each other to share their knowledge and experiences. The more experienced employees of the company must help the new employees so they can efficiently complete their tasks. Motivating the Employees In every organization, it is necessary that the employees must be motivated so that they can perform their activities in an efficient manner. Motivation is only possible if the work of the employees is appreciated and they are provided with an incentive for their excellent work. It is the duty of the Human Resource management team to evaluate the work of each and every employee and appreciate his or her work. It is also a part of the duty of the HR personnel’s to provide an incentive to the employees who perform exceptionally well. The HR team must appreciate the employees by awarding them with the title of “Employee of the Month”. Such activities will allow the employees to compete with each other and while competing their performance will automatically be improved to serve the purpose of the company. It is necessary to motivate the employees so that they can perform their work in an efficient manner. The plan to motivate the employees is necessary as it will help ALL communications to overcome their issue (Wood and Bandura). Practicing Fairness Fairness while recruiting is equally important as the other recommendations. To solve this issue, the HR team must do strict monitoring while they recruit new employees. Policies should be improved and made for recruiting the candidates. Test of the new candidates must be taken from which their medicinal knowledge, as well as their communication skills, can be judged. The salary package of every employee must be fixed according to their designation so that no employee is given a benefit. Annual appraisal of the employees must be done, and the appraisal of the employees must be according to their performance. By performing such tasks, the employees will gain trust from the employers and will be committed to their work (Spalt). Conclusion The main aim of this paper was to discuss the issue faced by a company in their Human Resource Department and the steps that can be taken to overcome such problems. The poor performance of the employees was the key that the company was facing. The problems that were identified were related to human resource management. There were many relevant theories, which were applicable to these issues, and with the help of these issues these problems could be solved. The key to success for this company is better communication. The employees must be able to properly communicate and transfer information internally and externally. A friendly environment must be created for the employees so that they can work effectively and efficiently. While providing the action plan, it was ascertained that transfer of effective knowledge and training of the employees are the key solution to the problems of the company. The main problem, which the company faced, was of knowledge and lack of communication skill of the employees. The organizational culture and policies were also among those factors that caused problems to the company. Recommendations were made to the company so that they can overcome these issues. In addition to it, the action plan is also provided so that the company can implement these plans and perform their working activities in an efficient manner. 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