Strategic Human Resource Management in Telstra Corporation Limited - Case Study Example

Introduction In any organization such as Telstra Corporation Limited, a strategic framework for managing the human resource is key in order promotes long-term business goals and outcomes ("Strategic human resource management - Factsheets - CIPD", 2016). It involves attracting, rewarding, developing and retaining staff to ensure both the individual employees as well as the organization benefit as a whole ("Strategic Human Resource Management: Definition & Importance - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com," 2016). Strategic human resource management needs to partner with all the departments of the organization to ensure success and achievement of the set goals (Garcia-Carbonell, Martin-Alcazar, & Sanchez-Gardey, 2015). It ensures that the organization's code of ethics, culture, organization structure, culture, and appropriate communication channels are followed. Several key recommendations are necessary to improve the strategic human resource management for Telstra communication company. 1. New product innovation, diversification and cutting cost measures Downsizing a large number of employees in an organization is often not a good idea especially for a multinational company such as Telstra. laying off leads to negative publicity and may reduce customer loyalty towards their brand. Furthermore, employees who are not laid off may lose the morale while doing their work since their job security is not guaranteed ("Be Careful: Downsizing your Workforce Downsizes Innovation, Too | Innovation Management," 2016). The staff themselves will be adamant to participate in anything that improves the quality of their services since they are unsure of the future ("Layoffs, Downsizing, Reductions in Force: RIF | HR Topics for human resources", 2016). To counter such a situation, Telstra can invest more in product innovation to create more opportunities for the staff that seems to be redundant. The management should put more effort into research to come up with technologically advanced services that suit the market needs and are efficient. It is also an important strategy for diversifying their market base and removing non-profitable products. Consequently, more profit will have realized which can be channeled back in hiring a more skilled workforce. More cutting cost strategies may include mandatory unpaid vacations for the workers, cut in overtime pay, salary reduction as well as hiring freeze ("HR STRATEGIES THAT CAN TAKE THE STING OUT OF DOWNSIZING-RELATED LAYOFFS •", 2016). 2. Changing the leadership and organizational structure Leadership conflicts are common in any organization. A range of disputes may arise as a result of a junior employee having the feeling that they are harassed by an authoritative staff in the organization. Especially when it involves a human resource manager and other senior personnel in the organization, it becomes a reason for concern. Telstra company requires a good leadership structure for effective change ("A More Powerful Leadership Structure for Effecting Change ChiefExecutive.net | Chief Executive magazine," 2014). The role of each senior manager should be clearly defined to avoid clashes that may arise as a result of merging duties. The management should adapt new ways of planning, organizing, leading as well as controlling the framework of the organization. Teamwork towards the achievement of the set goals is encouraged to foster positive work attitudes and unity among the staff ("Principles of Management 1.0 | Flat World Education", 2016). Benchmarking with another reputable organization to observe how their leadership structure has led to the success of their firms is also a necessary move that needs to be taken by the management. It will increase the leaders understanding and widen their perspectives and set their minds on what is best for the company ("Strategic Culture Change | INSIGHT: Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness", 2016). Every venture undertaken should incorporate all employees and proper communication channels applied to ensure timely feedback. Seniors should be good role models to their juniors by conducting their duties as stipulated without failure (2016). 3. Familiarization and Compliance with Legislative Labor Laws Labor laws form an important part of strategic human resource management. Such rules entail the hiring and firing of staff, employee benefits, paychecks, wages, and overtime. It may also include safety in the workplace, preventing harassment and discrimination as well as privacy (Rigaud, 2013). Telstra should engage a consultant or form a human resource department that is familiar with employment and labor laws that pertain to their business. Non- compliance may lead to strict penalties and damage to the reputation of the firm (2016). The strategy also needs to consider how impending legal matters, organization structure and legislation can affect compliance. Employees are free to express their grievances to their supervisors about the workplace environment and give recommendations on how to improve them if possible (2016). A good relationship between the company management and employees should be maintained to enhance support towards compliance with laws pertaining anti-discrimination. The company needs to provide a safe working environment for the staff and providing training sessions to promote safety in the workplace. Proper documentation of injuries and fatalities in the workplace is documented for the purpose of compensation. Since much of the human resource management is governed and shaped by state and federal laws, more effort must put to ensure compliance ("Human Resources Management and the Law," 2016). 4. Education and Training Developing and continuously maintaining an effective and efficient strategy to train and educate staff in the organization is critical to the organization (Demir, Minello, &Bruzzone, 2014). Training and education are mandatory in Telstra telecommunication company to keep them at par with emerging trends in technology. It will also improve efficiency in productivity as they learn new and better ways of performing their duties. Learning should also be geared to meeting certain areas of operation that seem to experience a gap. It must be very relevant and in-depth for best practices. It ensures the whole organization participates effectively. Recruitment managers must make sure that they hire individuals with up to date skills to help in providing training to the rest of the stuff ("Human resources education and training," 2016). The training sessions should involve both the internal and external sources. Seasoned workers are best in mentoring and coaching roles since they are inexpensive and efficient for training. External resources may include conferences, seminars, videos and private trainers. They might seem expensive but yield good results and are professionally developed to suit the needs of the organization. Professional staff should also be encouraged to improve their skills in institutions of higher learning to ensure the firm has a vast pool of human resource. Key Lessons 1.Human Resource Managers. Human resource management is the key to the success of any organization. To adequately and more efficiently perform arduous tasks in the firms, companies always turn to providers of human resource management to assist them in mobilizing staff ("Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management", 2016). 2. Recruitment and training It is a significant role for human resource management. Proper strategies and plan for hiring the right kind of staff is necessary for any corporation. When a need arises, it is important to train the employees according to the organizational requirements. 3.Maintaining a Good Working Atmosphere It is an important aspect of the performance of the employee is largely determined by the environment in which the workplace prevails. A proper working environment is one of the key expectations of the employee from any firm. Providing a secure, safe, healthy and clean environment brings the best out of an employee. 4.Managing Disputes Conflicts will undoubtedly arise between an employee and employer in any organization. In such situations, the department in charge of the human resource should play a role as a mediator to harmonize the warring factions and arbitrate the issues in an efficient manner. The staff is supposed to be given opportunities to air their grievances so that an amicable solution can be attained. Timely measures are to be undertaken to ensure the situations do not get out of hand. 5. Developing and Promoting Public Relations The human resource department has the task of coming up with good public relations strategies. Seminars, meetings, and other official gatherings should be organized to foster healthy relationships with different departments within the organization.   References 1. A More Powerful Leadership Structure for Effecting Change ChiefExecutive.net | Chief Executive magazine. (2014). ChiefExecutive.net | Chief Executive magazine. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://chiefexecutive.net/a-more-powerful-leadership-structure-for-effecting-change/ 2. (2016). Smallbusiness.chron.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/hr-management-labor-laws-59738.html 3. (2016). Yourbusiness.azcentral.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/challenges-unions-pose-human-resource-management-7269.html 4. Be Careful: Downsizing your Workforce Downsizes Innovation, Too | Innovation Management. (2016). Innovationmanagement.se. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/be-careful-downsizing-your-workforce-downsizes-innovation-too/ 5. Demir, B., Minello, L., &Bruzzone, L. (2014). An Effective Strategy to Reduce the Labeling Cost in the Definition of Training Sets by Active Learning. IEEE Geoscience And Remote Sensing Letters, 11(1), 79-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/lgrs.2013.2246539 6. Garcia-Carbonell, N., Martin-Alcazar, F., & Sanchez-Gardey, G. (2015). Is double fit a sufficient condition for SHRM success?.Int J Of Org Analysis, 23(2), 264-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijoa-01-2013-0638 7. HR STRATEGIES THAT CAN TAKE THE STING OUT OF DOWNSIZING-RELATED LAYOFFS •. (2016). Iveybusinessjournal.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/hr-strategies-that-can-take-the-sting-out-of-downsizing-related-layoffs/ 8. Human resources education and training. (2016). Imd.org. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.imd.org/business-school/ola/human-resources-education-and-training.html 9. Human Resources Management and the Law. (2016). Inc.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/human-resources-management-and-the-law.html 10. Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management. (2016). Ecipay.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.ecipay.com/Importance-of-Strategic-Human-Resource-Management 11. Layoffs, Downsizing, Reductions in Force: RIF | HR Topics for human resources. (2016). Topics.hrhero.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://topics.hrhero.com/layoffs-downsizing-reductions-in-force-rif/# 12. Principles of Management 1.0 | Flat World Education. (2016). Flat World Knowledge. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/5?e=carpenter-ch07 13. Strategic Culture Change | INSIGHT: Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness. (2016). Alixpartners.com. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.alixpartners.com/en/Publications/AllArticles/tabid/635/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1438/Strategic-Culture-Change.aspx 14. Strategic human resource management - Factsheets - CIPD. (2016). Cipd.co.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2016, from http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/strategic-human-resource-management.aspx 15. Strategic Human Resource Management: Definition & Importance - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. (2016). Study.com. 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