Workplace Human Resource - Essay Example

Workplace Human Resource The following essay will be based solely on my current employer. Within a framework of the paper, a list of important aspects of human resource management in my workplace will be discussed, including outsourcing, managing attitudes of part-time workers, the effectiveness of different types of warnings, social package, and so forth. Proceeding from this, it is necessary to point out that at this moment I am employed with a local branch of the Credit Union Bank. My position is a teller. Speaking of the HR department at my current workplace, I first of all, have to mention that it is an internal one. Hence, this department is only responsible for managing the existing employees within the business. Credit Union Bank has a corporate HR department responsible for the implementation and development of different aspects of human resource management, including hiring, talent management, change management, organizational performance, learning and development, employee engagement, benefits, compensations, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, and so forth, However, the local branch I work for has its local HR department. Basically, the HR department in my branch of the bank is responsible for the same things the corporate one is. However, of course, the amount of work and the scale of responsibilities differ significantly. While the corporate department is more focused on the long-term goals of the whole chain of banks, the local HR department in my branch is more concerned about such aspects of work as getting the best-fit candidates for vacant positions, keeping under control the relationships between the employees in the workplace, giving feedback on the achievements and performance of the employees, and designing compensation and bonus systems. Since the branch I work for is relatively small, the local HR department is represented by one single person. Regardless of the fact that our bank branch is not big, to my point of view, it is hardly possible for one person to cover all the responsibilities and duties an HR manager is supposed to cover. Proceeding from this, it becomes clear why some HR-related problems regularly occur in my workplace. In my opinion, at least one more person is needed in order to improve the level of human resource management in my workplace. If our current HR manager had an assistant, it would be possible for her to focus on key issues such as recruitment and employee relations. At the same time, an assistant could have been dealing with tasks related to bonuses, compensations, training and development. Taking into account that no sick leave time is presupposed by the current corporate policy, sometimes the need for outsourcing arises. When some of the employees in our local bank happen to get seriously ill, it is one of the responsibilities of our HR department to outsource people for temporary positions. Although our HR department is very small, still it performs on a relatively professional level. To my point of view, one of the most important marks demonstrating the quality of the work of any HR department is how informed all the employees are in regards to major corporate questions such as rules and regulations, responsibilities and duties, corporate long-term and short-term goals, and so forth. If to assess the performance of the HR manager in my workplace on the basis of these criteria, then I have to admit that she manages to cope with the majority of her responsibilities pretty well. Speaking about the availability of necessary information and regularity of its updates, we have an Employees ADP website where all the important information and answers to the most frequently asked questions can be found. All employees have an access to the website, and the information is usually updated quickly. When there is a need to change information, it can usually be done in a couple of minutes. Hence, in terms of this aspect of work, we have everything organized on a professional level. The Employees ADP website is designed in a very user-friendly way. Thus, no problems with its usage occur. However, there is one particular shortage about it. For some reason, our local branch of the bank still does not have an online service for employees. I believe that such a tool could have been very useful in terms of exempting our HR department from certain duties such as a creation of spreadsheets with bonus systems and tracking of our performance. With an online service for employees, all of this could have been done automatically. One more aspect I would like to cover in terms of this question is about the corporate benefits I possess as a teller of the Union Credit Bank. First of all, I have to point out that although I work for a relatively small branch of the bank, the list of corporate benefits I get is the same as a teller from any other branch gets. This is what I consider to be fair and what I appreciate a lot. So, I have quite a lot of benefits in my workplace. First of all, my bank covers my health insurance. Of course, this is a significant advantage considering the current prices for medical care in the country. Apart from it, I have a paid vacation time. Although a lot of people would consider it not a benefit but a must-have condition for any job offer, I used to have a job without this option. Thus, it occurs to be a corporate benefit for me. The other important benefit I have is an opportunity to get seasonal bonuses in a case of reaching a particular goal set by our HR Manager. I have to admit that although the amount of money I usually get as a bonus is not that big, still this benefit motivates me to work harder and perform better. Other benefits I have in my workplace include free coffee, sweets, and free lunches each time we have our regular team meetings. To my point of view, such minor benefits are more important than the majority of people believe them to be. Once I feel fed up with my responsibilities or just get overwhelmed by the workload, a short coffee break accompanied with a chocolate cookie I can always find in our kitchen helps me to keep on the track for the rest of the working day. Thus, I completely agree with a statement that ‘the right combination of incentives/motivation and a positive work environment can keep employees happy and more productive’ (Hull, 2013). As for the possible changes that could have been initiated and applied by the HR department in order to improve our performance, I would suggest providing all the employees who have been working for the bank for at least one year with a free membership in a local gym. Since the majority of bank employees maintain a sedentary lifestyle, it would be immensely beneficial for our health to attend a gym. I believe that such a corporate benefit can positively affect the performance of the employees since they would be more energized and refreshed after their regular workouts. Just like in any other company or organization, from time to time some of our staff might lose motivation and temporarily become a non-functioning kind of employee. Obviously, it is a responsibility of an HR manager to deal with such situations. In our branch of the bank, those employees who appear not to cope with their responsibilities or miss deadlines for their tasks usually get verbal warnings from the manager of their department or from our HR manager. The warnings are usually are not documented. Although it seems to me that there is no document or plan our HR manager uses in order to fix the warnings, still I am not sure about that fact. Probably it does exist but is kept out of our knowledge. To my point of view, a verbal form of warning is a good thing, but it should always be accompanied by a documented warning in case a problem occurs not for the first time and there is a risk for it to become systematic. To my point of view, sometimes warnings do need to be formal and documented. Nevertheless, it is necessary to point out that such a warning must clearly state the offense, the expectations from the manager, and the possible outcome in a case of not meeting those expectations (Knisley, 2015). I really appreciate that none of our managers uses a so-called ‘123 and out’ approach. I believe that such a method should be applied towards children or teenagers but not towards adults who work for such a serious establishment as a bank. It seems to me that all the employees working in our branch of the bank are extremely committed and hard-working people. All employees in my branch of the bank are very trustworthy and friendly people, who are always ready to help and recharge one another in case of a need. Considering this, even when a need for warning arises, the problem usually gets solved after the first verbal warning. Speaking of possible changes in regards to this aspect of work, I would suggest using face-to-face meetings for making verbal warnings instead of making them in front of everyone, which occasionally happens in my workplace. I believe that in the majority of cases an employee appears to be able to explain the reason for corporate policy violation. Sometimes such reasons can be too personal to discuss them publicly. Thus, I would suggest individual meetings for solving such problems. Moreover, it would be great to use a consistent approach of warning with a verbal warning followed by two written ones before applying a termination (SHRM, 2014). I think that such a system needs to be applied and announced to all the employees, so everyone will be aware of the consequences of bad performance at work. It would definitely add up to the corporate discipline in the workplace. While the vast majority of the employees in our bank are working full time, still there is one part-time employee. This is a teller who has been hired to help other tellers cover all the workload on busy days, including Monday, Saturday, and Friday. During these days, the amount of work is steadily bigger, so the whole team actually feels it. However, tellers get the most of it all because Monday, Saturday, and Friday are very popular days for money withdrawals, currency exchanges, and financial transactions. It is necessary to point out that although we only have one part-time worker, still it has a significant impact on the workplace environment. While all the full-time employees tend to feel worn our and exhausted during the whole working week, the part-time employer manages to bring us a refreshing feeling. It is interesting how just one energized, well rested, and enthusiastic person can positively affect a collective mood of a team. Our part-time teller is always as a breath of a fresh air to my colleagues and me. However, regardless of all the advantages of having a part-time employee as a part of our team, there are also some disadvantages associated with hiring someone for a part-time position. As far as I can see, it is hardly possible to imagine a part-time employee being as much committed to his or her job as a full-time one. Spending a relatively small amount of time in the workplace, part-time employees are rarely aware of the company’s problems or depressing events. Moreover, it is completely normal that part-timers are not that much concerned about the corporate goals and strategies. All they actually care about is to have their work done as fast as possible and leave. In fact, the difference in the work attitude of part-time and full-time workers has been proven scientifically (Convey & Briner, 2002). Nevertheless, I have to admit that even though our part-time employee demonstrates less commitment to the corporate goals and is less interested in our corporate life, still he appears to be truly helpful for the whole team. He is a real helping hand during the busy days, and the work he does is highly appreciated by both other tellers and management team. Speaking of the issues that fall within the responsibilities of HR, there is one major issue I would like to describe. The problem is that our manager and HR are both working on the same level. When it comes to some conflicts or controversial situations, employees are to discuss them with both manager and HR at one time. As a result, of course, there is no chance for employees to discuss with HR some difficulties and hurdles associated with our manager. This would not be a problem if there were no problems with our manager. However, these problems do exist. It is very hard to work under the supervision of our manager because he can be very intimidating sometimes. He likes it when everything is kept under his control even when there is no need for that at all. He simply enjoys being on top of virtually everything. Such an authoritative managerial approach usually demotivates my colleagues and me. As I have already mentioned before, our team of tellers is a friendly one. We always try to help and support each other. However, sometimes, during the busiest days, we can become snappy with one another as a result of being fed up with work. When such situations occur and our manager notices it, he always comes to HR to report about the problems of our team. However, it is absolutely unnecessary since there is no real problem to be solved and we just need to have some rest. This situation is what I dislike the most about my work. The fact that we never have a chance to talk to HR without our manager hearing the conversation as well as our manager’s bad habit to report on every single detail happening within our team are two factors contributing to a hostile environment in my workplace. To my point of view, there are some strategies that can be applied to address the issue described above. First of all, it would be a great idea for our HR to initiate filling in the weekly questionnaires aiming to identify employee’s satisfaction rate in regards to their working conditions and environment in the workplace. It might be a good idea to make those questionnaires anonymous so everyone would feel free sharing his or her real point of view regarding the current situation at work. Second of all, our HR manager should develop a plan for quality checks in order to give an unbiased assessment of our performance in the workplace (Kreissl, 2013). Once that is done, it would be hardly possible for a manager to blow upon any of the employees. Consequently, a psychological pressure I often feel in the workplace is likely to be eased. The two strategies described above can lead to either positive or negative outcomes. On the one hand, there is a possibility that employees will finally get released from the constant psychological burden occurring as a result of strange managerial approach our manager uses. Moreover, there is even a chance that our manager will be fired and replaced with somebody else on the basis of a negative feedback about his performance described in anonymous questionnaires. On the other hand, however, there is a probability that the manager would not even approve the idea with questionnaires and quality checks in the first place. References Conway, N. & Briner, B. (2012). Full-time versus part-rime employees: understanding the links between work status, the psychological contract, and attitudes. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 61. Hull, P. (2013). Motivation mystery: how to keep employees productive. Forbes: Entrepreneur. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickhull/2013/05/23/motivation-mystery-how-to-keep-employees-productive/ Knisley, R. (2014). Verbal warning: what exactly does that mean. New to HR Magazine. Retrieved from: http://newtohr.com/verbal-warning-exactly-mean/ Kreissl, B. (2013). What exactly are HR best practices? Canadian HR Reporter. Retrieved from: http://www.hrreporter.com/blog/hr-policies-practices/archive/2013/04/22/what-exactly-are-hr-best-practices Mobley, N. (2015). Part-time, but fully committed. The Inc. Retrieved from: http://www.inc.com/rhett-power/6-personal-habits-that-can-kill-your-business.html N.A. (2014). Progressive discipline policy: single disciplinary process. SHRM. Retrieved from: http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/samples/policies/pages/progressivedisciplinepolicy.aspx Read More