Organizational Development and External Environmental Factors - Essay Example

? ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Part 26th, February a) External Environmental Factors The general organizational strategy is greatly influenced by the external environment. Specifically, macro environmental factors impact on an organization in various ways. Those factors are treated as the uncontrollable once hence they have major effect on the HR strategy or as a matter of fact, in any kind of organisational strategy. As an organisation you can only adjust, but not control them. PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis can be used to address this. They are applied to understand the aforementioned elements (Armstrong, 2009). After using such strategic concepts, the following factors and their effects on Aldi are being discussed. Competitor Power Competitors may look to poach the employees of Aldi through head hunting. This is a very common threat faced by most of the organisations. You invest so much of money to train and develop an employee and suddenly he or she may be poached by one of your competitors leaving an organisational gap. In this case, the competitor might be offering more attractive compensation to the employees, therefore, making the employees to leave, especially if the company lacks enough finances to upgrade its employees’ compensation (Bamberger & Meshoulam, 2000). Economic Uncertainty Economic uncertainty may lead Aldi to freeze their recruitment temporarily or even release some of the existing employees, or it may lead them to cut short on some of the employee benefits leading to a state of organisational unrest. When this happens, the trained and skilled employees will lose their jobs in Aldi, leaving Aldi with few employees, therefore, a shortage of skills that previously were present occurs. This will be felt in the workload of the company, which will be demanding for the employees left behind to handle (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2011). However, this will be beyond the control of Aldi. Talent Shortage At some point of time the Aldi may come across a phase when demand is greater than supply, i.e. there is need for quality manpower but there is a lack of adequate supply. Talent shortage may be for senior executive position or for new comers (Bamberger & Meshoulam, 2000). This can become challenging to the organization, since more skills and talent will be required to address new demands in the market. This might lead to poor performance of the company. Industry-centric Some organizations are more affected by employee turnover than others. This is something they cannot control because of their nature and specialization. These kinds of organizations are those that deal with tourism, healthcare, food, and retail industries. Aldi, being a retail company therefore, puts it in a situation whereby most of its employees could leave. Most retail companies do not require employees who are highly skilled, like other professional careers. Therefore, this is Aldi’s nature, which is beyond the organization’s control. A good number of employees might leave Aldi, since there are many other retail companies, where they could get opportunities too. Additionally, employees working in jobs that require less or simple skills, such as retailing, are more likely to switch jobs (Armstrong, 2009). b) Aspects of Corporate and Human Resources Strategy Nowadays, it is widely believed that human resources of an organization is influential in the organization’s productivity levels. The human resources can as well be the source of an organization’s competitive advantage over its competitors. This is achieved when the human resources has adopted effective policies for managing people, who are the employees, and these policies have been integrated with the culture of the organization, as well as the strategic business planning of the organization. With this, Aldi, as an organization, can also make use of different aspects of human resources and corporate strategy to enhance its organizational capacity. The human resources and corporate strategy should aim at retaining its employees, in whom the organization has invested (Royal Chartered Registered Charity, 2012). Correct Employee Recruitment If Aldi wishes to ensure that it acquires the right people only as its employees, then the human resources must conduct recruitment correctly. New employees should be aligned to the organization’s goals and objectives, so that they are aware of the company’s expectations of them. The human resources should also ensure proper screening of potential employees during the recruitment process, to ensure that none of those with a history of switching jobs is selected. This will positively influence the organizational capacity of Aldi (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2011). Job Definition The human resources should play the role of telling the employees what they are supposed to do in their jobs, and what roles their jobs entail. Therefore, this requires that Aldi has an informed human resource management personnel, who are knowledgeable about the various job positions in the organization. These should then know also, where different jobs fit in the company, what the expected outcomes of those are, and the effects of that job on different areas in the organization. Additionally, the HR of Aldi must have knowledge about the skills required for different jobs in the company. When the HR is this informed, it is easier for them to judge a candidate that is best fit to undertake a particular job in the company, and one that is not fit. The HR should also be sure to emphasize job description during their recruitment, so that only the right candidates avail themselves. The HR should as well emphasize corporate culture to employees (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2011). Incentives The HR can use these to motivate employees to be more productive in their jobs. This could be through use of a scorecard, which indicates major successes. Using this will help in getting the employees motivated, and together they will work collectively toward achieving company goals. In addition, this will make employees to be satisfied in their job, and will not think of moving to another organization. The HR can make use of different incentives, including financial and non-financial incentives. When employees are motivated, they use their skills, talents, and innovativeness well on their jobs, thus influencing the organizational capacity, positively (Robinson, 2005). Democratization Aldi can ensure democratization in the company through various ways. However, one of the most effective ways of ensuring this is through involving the employees in company’s major decision-making. Employees should be involved in all the levels of decision making, so that they feel part of the organization, and feel that their contribution to the organization is of essence. Specifically, employees should not miss to be included in any decision making, which concerns them. Giving a voice to employees through democratization also helps them come up with important ideas, which the company can capitalize on for improved operations. This is because democratization allows employees enough freedom to utilize their creativity and innovativeness for the good of the company (Bamberger & Meshoulam, 2000). Training and Development The human resources at Aldi must incorporate training and development in the organization’s culture. First is through identification of training needs of employees, and addressing them. Additionally, the HR could train employees on new skills, which are related to their jobs. This way, employees will be more skilled, and they become important assets of the organization. Training and development of employees also ensures that they are satisfied with their jobs, since there is progress for them (Royal Chartered Registered Charity, 2013). References Armstrong, M. (2009). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 11th Ed. Philadelphia: Kogan Page. Bamberger, P. A. & Meshoulam. I. (2000). Human Resource Strategy: Formulation, Implementation and Impact. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE. Robinson, D. (2005). Management Theorists: Thinkers for the 21st Century ? Retrieved from http://www.gdufs.biz/theorists.pdf. Royal Chartered Registered Charity. (2012). Employee Outlook. UK: CIPD. Royal Chartered Registered Charity. (2013). A Barometer of HR Trends and Prospects. UK: CIPD. Torrington, D., Hall, L., & Taylor, S. (2011). Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Read More