Resourcing and Talent Planning - Example

Running Head: Resourcing and Talent Planning Your name Course name Professors’ name Date Assessment activity 1 Contemporary labour market trends in banking industry Labour market is simply a mechanism of buying and selling human labour hence it establishes a match between labour supply and demand. For an organization to achieve its objectives, it is urgent to employ the right people with necessary skills, knowledge, and attributes. To achieve this end, an organization can use either “make” or “buy” strategies. “Make” strategies requires an organization to configure its human resource activities by developing current employees and keeping their services for a long period. Conversely, “buy” strategies demand an organization to recruit externally workforce as and when needed. Labour supply and demand in the banking industry is affected by several factors. The first trend is changing attitude towards work and education in the society. Societies continue to recognise the value of educating girl child. As a result, the number of educated and qualified women in the market is constantly increasing which then presents a situation for organizations to accept female gender into its labour portfolio. Women representation in HSBC top management is constantly growing, demonstrating the changing attitude. Economic conditions regionally, nationally, and internationally affects operation of the banking sector. An example of economic variable is the level of unemployment. As unemployment increase, it affects terms of engagement, cost of labour, and industry conflict (Taylor, 2005). An increasing supply of labour in the market culminates to high competition for jobs and a further reduction in wages. The other economic variable affecting labour market is the interest rates, inflation, and exchange rate that influence standards of living. Consequently, both members of a family are forced to work in order to sustain their families. The effect of this situation in the banking industry is downward pressure on price of wage given that number of people seeking employment is increasing. Demography affects labour market in banking industry. The trend in demography is falling birth rates owing to medical intervention. Sensitivity to workforce gender, life expectancy, and the changing retirement age comprise of current demographic factors influencing labour supply in banking industry (Leitch, 2006). International migrations under international agreements have created avenues for labour to relocate globally. Banking sector has therefore moved ahead to source labour from different countries. A government policy such as the European Union comes in with policies including labour regulation that affect labour supply not only in the banking industry but also in the whole market. Other government policies affecting labour market are the level and focus of investment in education and training, policies in the industry, and social policy. The UK recently moved to provide tertiary education to school leavers. The step would see an increase in number of qualified workforce in the market. In response to increased number of graduates in the market, employers have created new jobs. Change in internal business environment following technological investment and innovation determines processes in a business and nature of work organization. The ever-changing technological environment often leads to labour overhaul or retraining thus qualifying as a trend in banking sector. Organizational restructuring is an internal environment that is constantly changing depending on industry objective. In 2011, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation (HSBC) established a policy to invest in Asia. Due to high competition for limited labour in the Asia coupled with high profits in that market wages for bankers increased. Mergers and acquisition in the banking industry have had the effect of duplicating labour. Meeting future organizational skills needs In an effort to ensure that future organizational needs are met, CIPD/ KPMG (2010) presented quarterly report on Labour Market Outlook, which sort to indicate future labour in the UK. The report concentrated on recruitment, redundancy, skills, and pay intentions. This survey conducted by CIPD targeted HR professionals drawn from CIPD members. Based on the 2010 quarterly report, CIPD predicted stable recruitment intentions whilst the number of graduates seeking employment increase. In terms of redundancy, the Labour Market Outlook shows great disparity across industry. Moreover, Labour Market Outlook discovered that demand for migrant workers in UK has been increasing due to improved labour market. These variables form a basis for organizations to act. To meet future skills need of an organization, it is essential for management to set direction and goals for the workforce (Morris, 2010). Top management provides a vision, which is maintained in times of change. Additionally, organizational management provides a stable environment for the development of a workforce plan and its subsequent execution. Management leadership further integrates workforce planning with other plans such as information technology plans, succession plans, and financial management plans. Succession planning, for example, acts as a ground for top leadership to develop, place, and promote staff as a result, guarantee future skills. The second step is to involve employees and other stakeholders in the process of developing and implementing future workforce plans. Stakeholders and employees provide new synergies and can identify ways to restructure processes such that future organizational needs are met. The stakeholders help organization deal with impact of culture on successful implementation of workforce plans. Workforce plans that do not recognise contributions made by stakeholders often fail. The third measure towards meeting future skill need of an organization is to build efficient communication channels that open way to shared expectation, transparency, and reports progress. Communication is indispensible especially where new recruitment strategies are employed. Besides, an organization is obliged to communicate goals, strategies, and results of labour force plans to stakeholders in order to eliminate misunderstanding. Effectiveness of communication is realizable when done early, clearly, and in downward, upward, and lateral manner. Organizations have to determine critical skills and competencies necessary for achieving missions and goals (Brown, 2004). Change in technology, budget constraints, and other external factors forces a business to evaluate skill gaps. Information on skill gaps is obtained by conducting an analysis of education and training that influence employee skills. Other critical variables are attrition rates, projected retirement rates, and demographic trends. The identified skills will then be linked with missions and long-term goals that were developed during initial planning stages. Progress towards realisation of human capital goals must be monitored and evaluated continuously. Progressive organizations have realised importance of measuring results of human capital strategies. The outcome of these strategies often aids an organization in actualising its goals and missions. An example is inclusion of measures to check whether HR included strategies for hiring, training, or retention and how the strategies led to a change in workforce skill and competencies. HSBC attractiveness as an employer Chambers et al (1998) notes that management must demonstrate ability to adapt, make decisions quickly, and lead during period of change. As the need for superior talent increase in UK, organizations are finding it very difficult to attract and retain excellent workforce. Some organizations are currently facing shortage of executives and experts needed for various functional areas. To deal with this problem, companies are forced to elevate talent management as the main concern. This is why HSBC formed Employment Equity Recruitment Working Group to look into all matters related to employees. According to Chambers, the required personnel will be attracted and retained by creating and refining employee value proposition. Thereafter, an organization will then focus on how to recruit great talent then proceed to develop the workforce. HSBC Bank uses a robust sourcing strategy to attract good people. This entails a clear statement of the kind of people needed by HSBC and demonstrating organizational commitment to obtaining the best. Besides, the company utilises a range of creative channels to bring in workforce. HSBC Bank Report (2010) addresses employment systems within the company. According to the report, HSBC conducts annual review of compensation in comparison to industry peers. It goes further to complete job assessment while comparing with global career framework. The year 2010 saw Recruitment Group of HSBC execute a new job posting procedure with an aim of ensuring regular posting of vacancies on the online job boards. Notwithstanding this fact, HSBC brand has the capacity to draw potential candidates. Attractive culture and moving values that apply to every facet of HSBC has raised its competitiveness. Recruitment and selection procedures at HSBC Job application at Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation is very competitive and selective. The use of electronic means is a clear illustration of efficiency in recruitment process. This system further facilitates instant announcement of vacancies. A search engine aids in filtering through a pool of candidates. Vacancies are usually placed online at www.hsnc.com where candidates view areas of interest and apply for them. When the company receives candidate’s applications and supporting documents, they are taken through an aptitude test. A candidate then progresses to capability based interview. During the entire recruitment drive, candidates are kept informed on application status via an email. At the final stage, a candidate is offered a job accompanied with a competitive package. Legal requirement in relation to recruitment and selection There are three fundamental provisions guiding on recruitment and selection. These are Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Discrimination Act 1996, and the Race Relations Act 1976. These provisions are against any form of discrimination, either direct, indirect, victimisation, or harassment. The Employment Equality Regulations disallows age discrimination both in vocational training and in employment. Equal Pay Act of 1970 seeks to eliminate discrimination in pay and other contractual terms and conditions between men and women. This act states clearly that where a woman is employed in a job similar to that of a man, the contract should not be less favourable as compared to that of a man. Over the years, organizations have developed interest in diversity at work thus placing recruitment as the focal point to achieve diversity. Diversity has also been motivated by the need to attract workforce from around the world given the current globalisation. Notwithstanding the aforementioned legal provisions, HR should be well versed with Data Protection Act of 1998. According to this provision, selection records, personal details, and references should be kept safe after requesting for them. Other issues regarding protection are found in the Data Protection Policy. HSBC compliance with legal requirement in recruitment and selection HSBC has demonstrated strict compliance with legal requirements during their recruitment and selection process. This is affirmed by commitment to data protection. Personal data kept by the company relates to information on payroll processing, references, and details of grievances and disciplinary actions. HR procedure manual guides on the use, retention, and disclosure of personal data. This manual is available in the company’s intranet. Through equal opportunity policy, HSBC has succeeded in eliminating discrimination of any kind. Assessment Activity 2 Dismissal after working for one year Common law states clearly that an employee can be dismissed at any time after a notice. If a notice is not given, then a payment in lieu of notice is completed. Those who have a sufficient continuity of service are protected from unfair dismissal. In this context, dismissal will be allowed for when the employer has adhered to statutory procedures. The basic principle behind dismissal is that an employee should have been in continuous employment for more than a year. However, dismissal for trade union activity, health and safety reasons, and dismissal on ground of pregnancy may not follow the principle of one-year continuous employment. Before carrying out any employee dismissal, the law requires that both parties should first exploit internal procedures tackling discipline, grievances, and dismissal. Contravention of this directive will result to a penalty imposed under Industrial Tribunal. Section 92 of the Employment Rights Act of 1996 provides that an employee who has been dismissed after a continuous employment of one year is entitled to a detailed explanation. This right is granted on occasions that an employee is dismissed without notice, given notice of dismissal, or employed for a fixed period of time, which has expired. The employer is not required to give any written explanation for the dismissal unless a request has been made by the employee. Complaints from team members regarding a member The skill of working well with others in a team is developed overtime. Effectiveness of an employee is determined by the ability to work with members of a team. Complaints received from a team regarding a member must be handled skilfully. It is not prudent to promote conflict in such a situation. An appropriate direction is to act like an adult who are noticed for their cooperative attitude ability to work with others. Supporting staff after redundancy According to CIPD (2010) Redundancy Factsheet, priority is usually given to departing. When this has been achieved, the organization now looks at its effectiveness in moving ahead. There is no doubt that progress and reputation of the business after redundancy depends on the surviving staff that must be given necessary support. More often than not, demoralised labour force who are looking at job security while reflecting on their redundant colleagues find it very difficult to adjust. They fail to display dedication, passion, and initiative. Under this circumstance, the management should move in very fast to give full explanation on policies and practices guiding on redundancy. Management is further obliged to elaborate on the need for change. This is also the period during which company leadership provide a forward looking and positive attitude that reveals to survivors their relevance in the coming days. CIPD (2010) goes further to recommend individual discussions with surviving employees to give them assurance of their importance and employment prospects. The period of change must be accompanied by managerial training that will cover on personal skills and attitude needed during change. Alternative for redundant team is available at a regional office CIPD Redundancy Factsheet (2010) is very clear on how to handle redundancy. According to this factsheet, employers are obliged to consider offering alternative work to redundant employees. It is the duty of employer to look for alternatives within the organization. Employment Rights Act provides that an employee who has been in continuous employment for a period of two years be entitled to redundancy payment where an alternative position cannot be found. The Act further provides that the search for alternative position must be within the same organization, a successor employer who takes up the organization or an associated employer. Additionally, the new job must start immediately the old job ends or within a time span of four weeks. As a matter of fairness and the practice of reasonable redundancy, an employer is required by law to consider available vacancies within the organization or an associated employer. At the same time, an employer is not under any pressure to create new vacancies for redundant employee. Similarly, failure to position an employee in an alternative vacancy within an organization makes dismissal through redundancy unfair. From this explanation, the two teams, which are exposed to the risk of redundancy, should be offered jobs in the regional office. The guiding principle when offering the new job is that provisions of the new contract should be similar to the old one. They are then obliged to accept the offer and any issue arising with regard to suitability of the alternative shall be settled by employment tribunal after making procedural steps to resolve grievances. If an employee refuses to take up the alternative, such person will not be entitled to redundancy pay. It is essential to note that an employer cannot force an employee to take up the alternative. This employee will lose statutory redundancy pay if their refusal has not basis. Retirement at 65 years Life expectancy in UK has been changing over time. This phenomenon has affected how people perceive work, retirement, and the choices they make. Retirement age and legislation surrounding retirement has been undergoing constant scrutiny. It is not true that employees have to retire on reaching the age of 65 years. Recent legislation provides that employees will only retire when they are ready. On the side of employers, objectivity guides enforcement of retirement. At the same time, discrimination on the ground of age is highly discouraged by the new legislation. ACAS produced a booklet to guide on employment following the 2011 legislation. In the previous years, employees were expected to retire on reaching a specific age i.e. between 60 and 65. However, following introduction of Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in October 2006, Default Retirement Age came into being. This means that employees were not forced to retire on reaching a particular age. Under DRA, employees were at liberty to request for an extension of retirement age beyond a retirement age set by an organization i.e. 65 or otherwise. It was the responsibility of an employer to notify an employee of the approaching retirement age. This notification is usually done in advance of period of twelve months. In response to this notification, an employee was at liberty to request in writing an extension of retirement period for an indefinite period or until a stated period. When employer and employee agree on retirement age, the negotiation process was complete. Conversely, if the two parties failed to agree, a meeting was convened to discuss on the matter. Decisions arrived at the meeting were communicated in writing to the employee and where employee’s request were not granted, the right to appeal is available. Member aged 67 years who is not performing well A member aged 67 who is not performing well should be given necessary support to make them productive. Poor performance of the 67-year-old employee may be attributed to lack of training. A manager should therefore move in fast to offer necessary training need in view of the fact that such employees are often receptive to training just like any other young employee. The basis is that employees should not be discriminated by age; in consequence, it is necessary to treat them well. However, a human resource must be sensitive to nature of employees in terms of their goals and needs. A human resource manager ought to take into account security needs of older generation. At 67 years, a person will require even more benefits as compared to a younger individual. This goes a long way in meeting their medical coverage, financial care, and other health related needs. The organization’s benefits plan should therefore, be all-inclusive. A side from motivating them, older employees need high flexibility. Besides, using them as mentors has the eventual impact of raising their productivity. This is true given that older workers have wide knowledge base notwithstanding experience gained over the years. Reference List ACAS, 2011. Redundancy Handling Advisory Booklet. [online] Available at: [Accessed 27 Feb 2012]. Brown, P. and Hesketh, A., 2004. The Mismanagement of Talent: Employability and Jobs in the Knowledge Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chambers, E. G., et al. 1998. "The War for Talent." McKinsey Quarterly. 3: 44-57. CIPD. 2010. Redundancy Factsheet. [online] Available at:< http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr- resources/factsheets/redundancy.aspx> [Accessed 27 Feb 2012 ] CIPD/ KPMG, 2010. Labour Market Outlook. [online] Available at: [Accessed 27 Feb 2012]. HSBC Bank Canada, 2010. Employment Equity Narrative Report. [online] Available at: [Accessed 27 Feb 2012 ]. HSBC, 2012. About HSBC. [online] Available at:[Accessed 27 Feb 2012]. Leitch, S., 2006.“Prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills.” . [online] Available at: Accessed 27 Feb 2012]. Morris, J., 2004. The future of work: Organisational and international perspectives, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(2): 263–75. Taylor, S., 2005. People Resourcing, 3rd Ed. London: CIPD. Read More