Resourcing of Staff - Literature review Example

School: Topic: Proposals for the Resourcing of Staff Lecturer: Executive summary The decision to invest in a third terminal with the intention of splitting the international and domestic flights can be considered a step in the right direction. This is because it can lead to a long term goal of improved security in the midst of increased passenger traffic. Having said this, it would be appreciated that the real achievement of the intended goal will rest directly on the extent of staff resourcing that is done. The report therefore suggests the use of internal recruitment, recruitment agencies, college recruitment programmes, and trade journals as some of the most efficient recruitment channels to undertake recruitment of employees to take up new vacancies. Once recruitment has been completed, the initiation of a performance management system, which is expected to be a component of career and talent management are required to be in place if the best of employees can be guaranteed by way of performance. Training and learning that is planned through a systematic implementation stages is also required. What is more, employees will require sufficient motivation to guarantee retention. Finally, using cross-functional teams that involve representation from unions is expected to be in place to cater for the fact that the airport is now unionised. Contents Executive summary 1 1.0 Overview 4 2.0 Staff Resourcing 4 2.1 Recruitment channels 5 2.2 Information seeking procedure and selection 6 2.3 Performance management systems 6 2.4 Career and talent management 7 3.0 Training plan for employees 9 3.1 Defining needs and goals 9 3.2 Identifying employees and planning 10 3.3 Implementation 11 3.4 Evaluation of training 11 4.0 Motivation of employees 12 5.0 Unionisation issues 14 6.0 Conclusion and recommendation 14 References 16 List of Figure Figure 1: Components of career and talent management programme 8 1.0 Overview The human resource base of any organisation has been described as the engine of growth (Aguinis, 2013). What this implies is that the human resource is responsible for ensuring the successful running of any programmes, strategies, and policies within the organisation aimed at bringing growth. With is point accepted, it would be admitted that the restructuring and empowerment of the human resource of any organisation is a responsibility which cannot be denied if projected growth would have to be achieved. The need for such restructuring and empowerment becomes even more necessary when there are major administrative and management changes within the organisation that require resourcing of staff (Beer & Nohria, 2000). Meanwhile, Aberdeen International Airport has been faced with such major organisational change which has to do with the investment in the third terminal of the airport with the aim of splitting the domestic and international flights. In this report, the major procedures and processes that are expected to go on at the human resource level by way of resourcing of staff, training and development, motivation of employees, and unionisation are duly addressed to find the best options for the company to achieve its goal of allowing for better security screening systems at the airport. 2.0 Staff Resourcing With the split at the airport between the domestic and international flights, it is important to look at activities aimed at the recruitment and proper deployment of staff, referred to in literature as employee resourcing (Adamson, Doherty & Viney, 2008). To do this, four major areas are envisioned, which have been outlined below. 2.1 Recruitment channels Carnall (2003) described a recruitment channel as the avenue by which targeted and prospective employees are identified for onward recruitment processing. In the current situation, it is important to identify about four of these channels to use, each of which should have its own merits and advantages that it can offer the company in laying hands on the best talent in the labour market. The first of these channels recommended for use is internal recruitment. This is the process of evaluating the existing staff to find suitable candidates to fill vacant positions (Chau, 2008). The reason this is suitable in the current circumstance is that it will offer the company the opportunity of retaining some of its best existing employees who would only have to shift their positions of work. With such shift and the right training and development in place, it is expected that the internal employees will have positive influence on newer employees who would join them later. The second channel is the use of recruitment agencies. The involvement of these agencies will come with the advantage of saving the company a lot of time in its search for new employees. This is because it can be expected that the agencies will have a database of the right groups of people who can serve the needs of the company. What is more, college recruitment programs and the use of trade journals will also be suggested for consideration. 2.2 Information seeking procedure and selection Once the recruitment channels have been used to attract and draw the attention of the right kinds of people to the vacancies, it will be important that information search about candidates will begin as part of the recruitment process. According to Probst (2003) the extent to which an organisation can lay hands on the right and best forms of information needed about candidates applying for a job is a major determinant of how successful the recruitment will eventually be. This position is well supported because the new employees and even existing employees who will be coming to take up new roles have very specific goals they are expected to accomplish for the company. It is with the right background information and checks that it will be possible to know which candidates have what it takes to give the company what it is seeking. With advancement in technology and new media, using social media and other internet database is one important procedure recommended for use in the information search. What is more, academic and professional referrals from formal institutions in which these candidates have been in are other methods for seeking information. In terms of finalising the selection, using the most conventional approach of face-to-face interview will be recommended as this will bring the candidates closer to authorities responsible for the selection (Duff, 2010). 2.3 Performance management systems As noted by Aguinis (2013), one of the most important aspects of employee resourcing is the proper deployment of staff. What this means is that even after the right employees have been recruited to work in the new domestic and international flight centres, it is important that the human resource management will continue to do what it takes to ensure that they become the best that they could be. One of the means to achieve this is to have a comprehensive performance management system in place within the larger organisation. As explained by Carnall (2003), performance management includes a collection of activities aimed at ensuring that the goals set by the organisation are achieved in the most effective and efficient manner. As far as Aberdeen International Airport is concerned, the performance management system to be deployed must be one that focuses on the larger goal of improving security and easing passenger movement pressure. Once these goals are achieved, performance improvement is expected to be seen through the eyes of major external stakeholders including customers and even shareholders. The performance management system to be used is expected to comprise the planning of work, monitoring of performance, capacity development, performance rating, and rewarding of outstanding performance (Beer & Nohria, 2000). 2.4 Career and talent management While the performance management systems are expected to focus directly on the achievement of organisational goals and improvement of performance, career and talent management is expected to be in place to make the attraction, development, motivation, and retention of employees a permanent part of the organisation (Adamson, Doherty & Viney, 2008). In effect, career and talent management is expected to run as part of the overall organisational culture leading to performance management. Once this is done by Aberdeen International Airport, it will be expected that a sustainable organisation which is well calved around its employees is achieved. To roll out the career and talent management programme, a cyclical process involving diversity/inclusion, engagement, competency development, and retention are expected. Again, the process is expected to be rolled out through the collective process of sourcing, alignment, learning and development, and rewards are expected to be used. In the figure below, the core components of each of the four aspects of career and talent management are given. Figure 1: Components of career and talent management programme Adopted from Adamson, Doherty & Viney, 2008 Figure 1 shows the need to engage in succession management and workforce planning as part of the sourcing of employees. Goals alignment and performance management is also needed as part of the alignment of human resource, whilst coaching and career patching are expected to be part of learning and development. Lastly, the use of extrinsic rewards and appreciation programmes will be needed for rewarding employees. 3.0 Training plan for employees As part of the more permanent career and talent management agenda for the resourcing of staff, the need to have a learning and development programme was highlighted. In this section, a training plan for both existing and future employees that can be used in implementing such learning and development programme has been explained. 3.1 Defining needs and goals Step 1: Creation of a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis to expose weak areas and threats where training is most needed to improve. With this, some of the current needs that are expected to be identified include improvement of airport security, easing of human traffic and congestion, improving customer relations, enhancing time management skills of employees, and effective conflict resolution skills. Step 2: Definition of short term goals to be achieved within a year. Within the short term, it is expected that passenger size will grow by 15% with ease of movement further improved. Step 3: Definition of long term goals to be achieved in more than 1 year. In the long term, the airport is expected to be a major international market leader with 15% market share. Step 4: develop or purchase individual training modules to be used in educating the staff 3.2 Identifying employees and planning Step 1: Grouping of employees according to different roles and tasks performed at the workplace Step 2: Listing all learning and training outcomes within a given training module Step 3: Aligning each learning or training outcome with specific categorisation or grouping of employees Step 4: Create a training matrix to track achievement of training purpose Step 5: Design a training schedule to meet the unique training needs of employees. Step 6: Make a list of resources needed ready, as well as how these will be sourced and utilised. 3.3 Implementation Step 1: The training modules are expected to be rolled out in order of preference, based on the most pressing needs of the organisation that require immediate and prompt solutions to. In the context of the company, training in security handling and customer interaction will be considered a major priority. Step 2: Assign professional trainers who will administer the training modules to employees as and when their training sessions fall in due. Step 3: There should be the availability of multi-media learning tools which make learning highly interactive and learner-based. Using different tools including videos, games, PowerPoint presentation, brainstorming, and role-plays are expected to dominant the training sessions. Step 4: Use a trainee feedback form to collect the reactions, impressions and contributions of employees on the training programme as and when it is being carried out or implemented. As the training progresses, it is expected that sessions and modules will be altered to suit the outcome of the feedback. 3.4 Evaluation of training Step 1: Using a continuous assessment scheme to evaluate the outcome of the training programme as and when it is taking place is highly necessary and recommended. Step 2: A cumulative or summative assessment is also required at the end of each training module to assertion the effectiveness of the training. As much as possible, the evaluation is expected to involve both internal trainers and external quality assurance personnel whose inputs can guarantee fair and unbiased assessment of the whole programme. 4.0 Motivation of employees From figure 1, the need for having an effective reward system has been outlined as part of the talent and career management programme for the company. Motivation of employees is therefore considered a major component of the overall agenda aimed at bringing the collective goal of an effective human resource base to fruition. In the opinion of Chau (2008), motivation is an important catalyst that ensures that the best within employees can be harnessed for the collective good of the organisation. The first area of motivation for employees that should be given particular attention with the changes at the airport is intrinsic motivation. This refers to the types of motivation which is generally intangible and cannot be quantified since they are raised deep within the personal consciousness of employees (Osborne & Brown, 2005). Probst (2003) saw intrinsic motivation as the most important form of motivation to guarantee results. This is because with type of motivation in place, employees give off their best with the aim or goal of doing so as their personal contribution towards the success of the organisation. The real question that the human resource management of the company ought to ask however has to do with how they can ensure that employees are intrinsically motivated. Concepts such as employee engagement, equal rights and opportunities, training and development, openness and fairness, quick resolution of employee disputes, and respect for employees are all ways by which intrinsic motivation can be achieved. The other form of motivation is extrinsic, which is more tangible, physical, and directly recognisable by the employee as something that is being done for them in return for performance (Osborne & Brown, 2005). To utilise extrinsic motivation, it is expected that the human resource management will be as innovative and dynamic in its planning as possible. That is, it will be important that an avenue by which each employee can be identified by the type of extrinsic motivation they expect and need be put in place. This way, the management can be assured that it is not giving to a person something that cannot be appreciated by the person. With the right checks done, some of the commonest forms of extrinsic motivation that employees may be requiring are expected to include increases in salaries, cash bonuses, creation of working allowances, giving of holidays, scholarships, and family sponsorships. When there is effective information gathering system in place, knowing and choosing each employee’s choice of extrinsic motivation should not be a challenge. 5.0 Unionisation issues Because the airport is currently unionised, it is expected that any decisions or fallout from the pending change will be well communicated between staff, management and unions. To make this very simple, it is proposed that a cross functional team within the company that has representation from the unions be used. By having a cross-functional team in place, the whole company is expected to be linked and teamed up in unison, where any decisions, policies and programmes that are undertaken are made with the collective consent of all departments and functional groups within the organisation. With the proposed idea, not only will be cross-functional team be made up of heads of the departments and management members but also representatives from the unions. When this is done, communication of any decisions, as well as the implementations of any plans suggested in the report as part of the organisational change will be expected to be done with ease and on time. This is because the cross-functional team will represent a decentralised governance system within the organisation. 6.0 Conclusion and recommendation The report has exposed the need for a comprehensive staff resourcing, which includes training and development, motivation, and unionisation concerns as well. These are needed as they serve as the bedrock for achieving projected performance outcomes for the company. The reason this is said is that when the employees are given the right forms of resources and requirements to make them give off their best, they will be empowered to perform in a way that is directed at achieving the goal of the company. Such a situation is also expected to lead to long term growth aspirations of the company when security is improved and passenger space is eased with the splitting of the airport’s flight centres. This is because customers are expected to feel the ease of their travelling experience, whiles this is expected to lead to increased patronage, which will benefit shareholders directly. Based on this conclusion, it will be recommended that the implementation of the issues in the report start immediately. When starting the implementation, two major phenomena are expected to be considered. These are cross functional teams and shared responsibility. With any of these, it will be expected that experts from different departments and units within the company will be brought together to share in any ideas and plans that will be put in place. By so doing, it can be guaranteed that the outcome of any decisions made on the human resource will be one that serves the interest of all employees and not just a selected few. References Adamson, S. J., Doherty, N. & Viney, C. (2008). “The meaning of career revisited: Implications for theory and practice” British Journal of Management, 9, pp. 251–259. Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Beer, M. & Nohria, N. (2000). “Cracking the code of change” Harvard Business Review, (May-June), pp. 133−141. Carnall, C. A. (2003). Managing change in organizations (4th ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice Hall. Chau S. V. (2008). “The relationship of strategic performance management to team strategy, company performance and organizational effectiveness” Team Performance Management, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 113-117. Duff, A. (2010). “Its all about the results” Director, Vol. 64 No. 2, pp. 68-72. Osborne, S. P. & Brown, K. (2005). Managing change and innovation in public service organizations. London: Routledge. Probst, T. M. (2003). “Exploring employee outcomes of organizational restructuring: A solomon four-group study” Group Organization Management, 28, pp. 416–439. Read More