Soprano's Family Business - the Fulfillment of Health and Safety Steps in a Company - Case Study Example

Executive summary The setting in a given environment dictates the behaviours and practices of individuals in different situations. The Health and Safety Commission (1993) recognizes the socio-cultural factors as environmental elements that directly influence workplace behaviour which in turn impact the health and safety practices implemented. The implementation of various health and safety measures in an organization or company is heavily dependent on the risks associated with the work conducted. However it is advisable for both employers and employees to have an extensive understanding of these risks, asses them and further implement strategies that are effective in responding to the risks identified. Employers are often tasked with the role of ensuring that they provide a safe work environment for their employees and that the required protective gears and equipment are available to protect workers. This report explores ways in which organizations can influence the behaviour of supervisors, managers and employees to promote a safe working environment. The report evaluates and discusses the theme of ‘safety culture’ and how employers can ensure that their employees follow the regulatory rules laid down to promote a safe working environment. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Legal Responsibility in HRM 5 2.1 Safety Culture 5 2.2 Performance management 7 2.3 Rewards 8 2.4 Recruitment 9 2.5 Training, Development and Job Design 10 3.0 Recommendations 12 4.0 Conclusion 13 5.0 References 15 1.0 Introduction According to Clarke (1999) an employer is responsible for the employees’ safety, as a result it’s the employers’ responsibility to ensure that the health and safety requirements within an organization are well implemented and adhered to. In order to have an effective health and safety policies employees have a responsibility to report risks, use protective gear as well as take part in promoting the health and safety precautionary steps implemented at their work place. Additionally the implementation of an effective health and safety policies, promotes a safety culture within the work environment (Clarke, 1999). Organizational culture directly influences the safety behaviours of workers. According to Zohar (1980) the attitudes of the workforce toward the health and safety policies implemented in an organization, is a reflection of the approaches their seniors have on them. Notably the HRM in any organization influences the perceptions of workers towards the set rules and regulations of an organization or company. If the supervisors and management within an organization are strict about adhering to the safety rules implemented, the workforce is likely to follow suit. Supervisors and managers are believed to be the most effective people in enhancing safety in the workplace since they have daily interactions with workers. Thus the commitment of these individuals to the management of health and safety practices is vital in nurturing safe practices by workers. Hence the Human resource management has the sole responsibility in ensuring that the health and safety regulatory rules are strictly adhered to by every person within an organization. The discussions conducted in this report will evaluate the case study on Soprano’s Family business and recommendations will be offered based on the issues identified in this case study. 2.0 Legal Responsibility in HRM Solomon (1993) states that the legal responsibility in Human Resource Management (HRM) refers to the act of ensuring strict compliance with the government laws and regulations that address employer-employee relations. Human resource managers have legal responsibilities that majorly work towards ensuring that activities such as recruitment, pay and provision of safe environment for work are done in the most desirable way so that employees’ wellbeing is always appraised. When dealing with issues of safety at workplaces, employers have legal responsibility to assess the work environment to ensure that there is no chance of any violations of an employer’s legal obligations (Woska, 2013). The employer has the responsibility to conduct any workplace assessment for any violation of the firm’s rules and regulations, and act appropriately to address any such incidences. The employer is also obliged to follow all the employment rules, especially those that deal with recruitment, timely payment of wages and details regarding each job. During recruitment, the employer is expected to give full information about the job, i.e. job duration, remunerations, duties, and responsibilities for the job. Human resource managers bear the responsibility of ensuring that they create a work environment that is free from any form of discrimination. They can do this through creating policies that are in line with various laws, always ensuring that they stretch beyond just obeying the rules to address issues to do with Corporate Social Responsibility as well as development of strategies that will ensure sustainable development (Walker & Vaida, 2014). 2.1 Safety Culture Safety culture has been widely defined as a combination of individual or organization’s attitudes, ideals, skills, and behavior characteristics that show the firm’s dedication to safety management. Every organization is supposed to show some commitment to managing safety within the work environment, and this is always expressed by the type of policies, measures and competencies incorporated in the firm’s plan to achieve this goal. Safety culture has been identified as one element of organizational structure that enhances employee performance and sustainability within a firm. As discussed by Hajmohammad & Vachon (2014), an organization’s perceived dedication to enhancing safety at workplace triggers in employees the urge to dedicate oneself to the tasks he/she performs for the organization, hence the realization of improved performance. The two researchers note that any organization that is embracing positive culture is likely to adopt environmental management practices, thus improving their environmental performance too. Managers will put more emphasis on employee participation in these strategies, and through a demonstrated commitment from the managers, employees will feel more motivated to help the organization improve its environmental performance. By encouraging employees to participate actively, they become empowered, and this is what leads to employees’ increased performance. Hajmohammad & Vachon (2014) further note that positive safety culture is related to financial and safety performance. If positive culture can bring these changes in an organization’s performance, it clearly indicates that the practice influences employees’ performance. First, it is true to assert that positive safety culture enhances safety performance within an organization. It means that individual employees will take the responsibility of ensuring that they adhere to the stipulated guidelines for safety at workplace. Through active participation in this, employees will strive towards realizing a safe environment by taking responsibility without leaving the task for any single person. For example, if an organization show dedication to provide the right equipment for the jobs, i.e. those that shield the workers against possible injuries due to the type of the job, employees will see it as a big commitment by the management towards ensuring that each employee works efficiently and dedicatedly in safe environment. This will change employee’s attitude towards the job and they will work hard to reciprocate each of these efforts. 2.2 Performance management According to Armstrong (2006) human resource managers participate in performance management as a means to create a plan for the employers to monitor and review the progress of their employee and how much of an impact they have on the business. The performance management requires the direct participation of employees in order for the organization to identify realistic goals that their employees can attain using the available resources, time and effort. Armstrong (2006) highlights three steps of performance management as; planning, monitoring and reviewing. As stated earlier planning consists of setting realistic goals that you want the employee to achieve and also give the employees a set time frame to enable them manage their time to achieve the targets. Next comes monitoring which is basically checking up on them at each target and making sure they meet the set goals/target and if not then the employer should guide the employee as to what needs to change in order to achieve the goal. The final step would require to review the performance of the employee and it can be done maybe monthly or after every 6 months. During the reviewing step the tasks for the Human resource manager is to do a performance appraisal meeting which consist of summarising the employees work for the week or say month, this process also encourages employees to take a self-evaluation test to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Thereafter the HRM addresses any of the issues identified or appraise employee good performance as well as implement strategies to enable the organization in overcoming any unforeseen future challenges. 2.3 Rewards Armstrong (1999) affirm that the process of rewarding the work force in any organization is the role of the HRM, since this department in an organization conduct performance appraisal. Rewarding is a very vital aspect in employee appraisal as it seeks to motivate good performance as well as reward past achievements. This element of an organization which is part of the HRM task force, also enhances high disciplinary acts in an organization. Rewarding has also been identified as a strategy to implement disciplinary action within an organization among employees who fail to adhere to organizational rules and regulations. Gubman (1996) tends to agree to this arguments and states that, in order for a company to align its goals and plans with employee activities and duties it is important for the HRM to create a relationship with its workforce which will encourage them to embrace an organization’s rules and regulations. According to Armstrong (2006) rewards are categorized in two different ways, extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are external factors that motivate a person to perform while intrinsic factors are the internal elements in a person that drive them to do something. Therefore extrinsic factors can be labelled as incentives, promotions or bonuses, whereas intrinsic factors are mainly derived from the level of satisfaction and individual gets in achieving an objective thus raising their self-esteem. As a Human resources manager one may be inclined to reward employees as a strategy to promote positive work ethics among the workforce. People in general get motivated to do more when there is positive reinforcement. Rewards vary from a wide range things, from a simple compliment to a pay rise or even some gift to the employee. All this also can contribute to a positive workplace culture which is good so as to maximize on employee performance and enhance productivity. However it is important that HRMs identify the most effective form of reward whether internal or external and implement it appropriately to motivate their workforce. Having an effective rewarding system will ensure maximum employee cooperation and compliance to organizational culture, rules and regulations (Philip, 2005). 2.4 Recruitment The recruitment process in a company involves the ability of an HRM to effectively conduct a job analysis and staffing. In Human resource management recruitment is an essential task in their job description as it requires the HRM to be professional and have an understanding of what the company wants from its workforce in terms of, skills, knowledge, effort or experience (Ulrich, 1998). Armstrong (2006) defines recruitment as the act of finding the best/most suited person for the job, whom can complete all the tasks efficiently. During the process of recruiting the human resource manager has to analyse what qualities, skills and expertise is needed for the job and then identify an individual that meets the organizations expectation as well as the job description. This process begins by advertising the job vacancy by the organization and potential candidates are called upon to apply. During the application process the human resource manager must then short list successful applicants and schedule them for an interview. The interview process is the final stage whereby the HRM evaluates the skills and knowledge exhibited by the successful candidates and uses this to choose the most suitable applicant for the job. 2.5 Training, Development and Job Design Employee development and training is the duty of the HRM which requires it to research and identify the developmental and training needs of an organization. Gubman (1996) states that this role by the HRM may involve different training programs or techniques depending on the needs of an organization or its staff. The training programs may include orientation programs or educating programs. Orientation programs aim at familiarising new employees to an organization, its culture, rules and regulations as well as identify the new employee to his or her duties that bound them to an organization. Educating programs on the other hand, focus on familiarizing already existing employees to new elements of an organization such as, new job designs, rules, culture or software. A continued training and development program within an organization is essential as it is an effective way to prepare the workforce to the changing dynamics of a business (Gubman, 1996). Saksvik & Quinlan (2003) argue that the changing patterns in the work place environment calls for continued training and educating of staff members. Changes within the work place arise due to the fact that from time to time organizations tend to hire new employees or introduce new equipment within the company. Nonetheless, employees who have worked in a given organization for a long period of time, tend to be reluctant in taking the health and safety regulations and opt for short cuts, hence regular training works as a great reminder for them. Due to the recurrent changes experienced in the workplace environment as a result of external and internal factors, employers need to conduct regular inspections to identify any new risks and introduce effective measures. A formal inspection is an effective step to ensure that workers are well informed about the health and safety measures to be undertaken to counter any risks or hazards identified. Formal inspections also review the risks at the work place and those associated with new job descriptions ((Saksvik & Quilin (2013). Work place inspection is always followed by employee training. Regular training at the work place is very important so as to ensure that the employees within an organization are well informed about the risks and hazards within their environment. During these trainings, employees are equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge required for them to be able to implement the resources available to ensure that they promote safety measures for themselves and others within the workplace. As a result, employers are required to provide regular formal training that will make sure that employees are well educated about the risks and the steps to follow for protection. Saksvik & Quinlan (2013) affirm that it is the duty of the employer to ensure that the employees work under safe conditions, by monitoring them and making sure that these employees are well protected and are in safe garment. Additionally, employees must work under the supervision of competent personal if one is not qualified or has not received the relevant training for health and safety measures in a given area of work. Supervisors are the administrators within an organizations with enough power to ensure that the health and safety rules are followed by workers. Therefore employers need to ensure that their supervisors are competent enough to clearly communicate and direct the rest of the workforce about what is required of them in terms of health and safety measures. Employees heavily rely of the guidance and support of supervisors to direct them while carrying out organizational duties. Hence a competent supervisor will monitor employee movement, enact the relevant regulations and collect feedback from employees and analyses which areas can be improved to reduce health and safety risks (Johnson, 1996). 3.0 Recommendations The Soprano Family Business is experiencing lack of proper employee commitment in the health and safety rules implemented in the organization. The business owner of Soprano company, need to review the health and safety regulations together with his employees. This will ensure that the safety measures introduced go hand in hand with employee requirements and needs. The next step to be implemented is to ensure that these employees undergo a training and development program that will assist them in understanding the importance of implementing the use of these health and safety rules in their daily duties. An educational training would be most effective in this case, as most of the employees are ignorant of the safety guidelines at Soprano. Conducting an annual if not regular educating programs will be an operative strategy to put more emphasis on proper health and safety steps. The supervisors and junior managers at Soprano’s have been pointed out as being reluctant in emphasizing on the importance of safety regulations. This shortcoming displayed by the organization shows the lack of commitment to the legal responsibilities of the HRM. The HRM at Soprano need to review their responsibilities within the organization and evaluate if their actions or words are actually aligned with their responsibilities. Additionally, the business entity need to evaluate the competence nature of its supervisors and management, since organizational leadership and HRM directly influences employee behaviors towards a safety culture. According to Zohar (1980) in order to have a safe work climate, an organization should be able to have a clear understanding of its management’s conduct on safety measures. Consequently, rewards can be used as a means to encourage safe practices at the factory of Soprano business entity. Employees and supervisors that are committed to the safety policies and culture at Soprano business entity could receive incentives or promotions as rewards. Nonetheless, the rewards system can also be used to deviate employees’ poor responses to the health and safety regulations. Whereby those who fail to adhere to the rules receive disciplinary action. Continuous assessment on the risks, hazards and responses implemented to overcome these risk is required at Soprano business entity. The assessment will be effective in ensuring that employees and supervisors that do not conform to the health and safety rules are warned or in extreme instances fired. This strategy will ensure that the employees strictly adhere to the safety rules enacted in the company without being monitored. 4.0 Conclusion In every work place environment, both the employers and employees are tasked with an internal responsibility system that ensures that each one of them responds to the health and safety precautions set. The main role of the employer is to ensure that relevant policies in respect to the health and safety of his or her workers are well implemented within the work place. Organizational leadership greatly influences employee response to the health and safety rules within an organization. Therefore the HRM in every organization should ensure that its staff members are aware of the health and safety regulations and correctly implement them. 5.0 References Armstrong, M. (1999). A Handbook of Human resource management practice. Kogan Page Limited. Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human resource management practice. 10th edition. Cambridge University Press. Clarke, S. (1999). Perceptions of organizational safety: Implications for the development of safety culture.  Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(2): 185. Gubman, E. L. (1996). The gauntlet is down. Journal of Business Strategy, 17(6), 33-35. Hajmohammad, S. & Vachon, S. (2014). Safety Culture: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(2), 263-281. Health and Safety Committee. (1993). Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations. 1993. Organizing for Safety. London: HSE Books. Johnson, J. (1996). Time to Rebuild Human Resource. Business Quarterly. Winter Philip, H. (2005). Managing the Knowledge Culture. Human Resource Development Press. Saksvik, P. & Quinlan, M. (2003). Regulating systematic occupational health and safety management: comparing the Norwegian and Australian experience. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 33-59. Solomon, C. M. (1993). Working smarter: how HR can help. Personnel Journal, 72(6): 54- 64. Ulrich, D. (1998). Delivering Results: A New Mandate for HR Professionals. Harvard Business School Press. Walker, W., & Vaida, G. (2014). Critical Legal Perspectives and the Advancement of HRD. New Horizons in Adult Education & Human Resource Development, 26(4): 18-25. Woska, W. (2013). Legal Issues for HR Professionals: Workplace Investigations. Public Personnel Management, 42(1): 90-101. Zohar, D. (1980). Safety climate in industrial organisations: theoretical and applied implications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65(1): 96-102. Read More