Human Resource Audit and Participatory Approach - Term Paper Example

 «Human Resource Audit and Participatory Approach» The objective of the proposal is to put forward the strategies pertaining to the management of the operational and organizational changes to be brought about in Flairtex fashions. The strategies proposed would help the company and its employees to cope with the abrupt changes which would in the operational and organizational structure due to the change in location and the introduction of new manufacturing technology. A strategically designed change process is highly recommended as it is to happen amidst an adverse market environment currently faced by Flairtex fashions. Moreover the employees, both managerial and labor class workers would face immense pressure and insecurity in the event of the change program. The market performance of the company and the customer satisfaction production and the productivity are other key factors which have to be taken care of during the transition process. To formulate the strategy for the change process, it is important to review the performance of different managerial aspects of the company. The Background After the takeover of the company by the new management in 1995, the company has had continuous performance review processes. Since then Flairtex fashions has viewed major changes in management and the organizational structure. The staff strength was reviewed during the takeover period. The current strength of the workforce has been reported by various departments as cost effective. However the matter of major concern is the overhead cost incurred by the company during the production process. Though the hard work of the staff is paying off in terms of productivity, the maintenance costs caused by the machineries which are quite old are causing the company unwanted recurring costs. In terms of staff welfare and employee satisfaction, the company is having good terms with TGWU, the union of the employees. However getting into the minute details of each departments, individual reports of staff dissatisfaction has been reported from various departments. Increasing number of resignations also has to be considered seriously. Cases pertaining to discrimination also have been reported. The major issue involved with the human resources is the insecurity among the staff. An expected cut down in the staff strength, as in 1995, has made the staff furious about the job security. The attitude of the supervisors and managers to their subordinates also has had some negative remarks. Ideological and conceptual gap among the management also is a matter that has to be taken care of. In the event of crucial changes, the think-tanks have to have identical vision and attitude. The adaptation of new staff, especially the managerial staff among the team is quite important in the effective working of the corresponding departments and subsequently the performance of the company. The acceptance of the leaders by the subordinates also has to be ensured. In the recent past, there had been incidents in few departments where the work force was reluctant in accepting the newly inducted leaders. These issues however were related to the promotion and welfare policies of the company. The staff seemed to be unhappy with the growth limitations when newer people took away the hot seats. The economic scenario involved in the market has affected the sales performance of the company in recent times. This has affected the profitability of the production units. In case of similar production strategies, the sales figures are however expected to further go down. The increased global competition especially from the Far East is increasing the extremity of the problem. It has become quite crucial for the company, that the unit costs must go down so as the company may maintain a sustainable profit. Automated ‘state of the art’ technology must come into play in Flairtex fashions replacing the old machineries so that the production cost comes down. Moreover the recurring cost on maintenance will come down positively affecting the production cost. It is in this context the proposal for a major change has come in. Ashdawn, the promoter of the company is ready to finance a major shift in the company involving a new manufacturing technology. The change would substantially bring down the production cost and the labor strength can be cut down to seventy five percent. However the methodology of the implementation of the change process should have a strategic edge so that it does not hamper the production process. The staff also will have to be taken into confidence about the scope of the change. This becomes crucial as the declaration of the change is coinciding with the dates of the annual wages negotiation meeting with the staff union. A general declaration on the change and a non participatory approach on the implementation of the change would highly affect the relationship between the staff and the management. In the event of the requirement for a strategic approach in the implementation of the change process, this proposal is dealing in detail the strategies pertaining to each aspect of management. The basic theories of success in carrying out a change process which were taken into account while formulating the strategies were Pressure for Change, A Clear and Shared Vision, Capacity for Change and Action (Harding P, 2004.p.1). These factors play a vital role in determining the adoption of the business environment into a changed scenario. Capital & Investment Management The capital generation is not a concern in the case of this change process as Ashdawn, the promoter of Flairtex fashions has agreed to incur the cost involved in the implementation and shift to the new manufacturing technology. However the basic aim of any investor is to maximize the returns from the investments made taking into account the constraints and the risks involved in the investment. (ICFAI, 2005. p.88-103). Taking this into account the expected return must be sufficiently higher than the offset of the uncertainty or risk involved in the investment. As the investment is pertaining to a value addition of a business which has successfully run over the last century, the rate of return is expected to be high. On the other side the Market Risk and the Business Risk involved would be taken care by the huge expertise of the company in the industry. Other risks involved including the Interest rate risk, Inflation risk, Financial risk and the Liquidity risk are also not of major concern as the company has a strong investor. (ICFAI, 2005. p.88-103). Time Schedule The time target for the complete implementation of the change program is one year. However the complete implementation will have to be completed two months before the actual target because this period would be needed as a control period or a hardening period for the transition process. This period would involve the gradual reduction on the dependency on the existing technology in order to ensure that the production quantum and the productivity are not hindered. The concept of time value of money has to be taken into account while out the carrying change process. (ICFAI, 2005. p.77-87). Capacity Building & Motivation The capacity building of the staff and the organization to be involved in the new production scenario has to be ensured during the change process implementation. The capacity building of the organization would involve the technical improvisation of the machineries and other infrastructure involved in order to cope with the new manufacturing technology. This process must include consultancy with a technical expertise group. A detailed evaluation of the market demands and future consumption trends in fashion industry would help to select the appropriate infrastructure. The capacity building of the human resource refers to trainings and programs pertaining to the skill development of the manpower and the team leaders with reference to the requirements of the new technology being implemented. “Training implies putting skills into people, when actually we should be developing people from the inside out, beyond skills, ie., facilitating learning” (Chapman A, 2006). The training process must provide the trainee with emotional maturity, integrity and compassion which would help them posses an integrated vision. The lack of emotional maturity has been noticed several times within the organization .The rumor and insecurity regarding redundancy terms is one of the examples for this. Nair & Oommen, (2007,p.S13-S18) has explained that the employee trainings would result in the better performance of the employees, lesser learning periods, elimination of wastage, uniformity of procedure, elimination of misfits, economy in materials handling, less supervision, high morale, reduction in labor turnover and reduces the insecurity among employees. (Nair & Oommen,2007,p.S13-S18). The incidents like feel of insecurity, increased number of resignations, reduced integration among staff, which were reported in different departments of Flairtex fashions in the past can be eliminated through scientifically effective capacity building processes. Moreover the lack of expertise among the staff in using computerized systems was quite evident especially in the production quality control department. Gray J.L & Starke FA, (1998. p.104) have defined “Motivation as the result of processes, internal or external to the individual that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a course of action”. Events pertaining to the motivation of the staff with reference to the organizational objectives must be ensured. Various contemporary theories referring to Personnel Management like Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, Two-factor Theory, ERG Theory, Achievement Motivation Theory, Expectancy Model Theory and Equity Theory must be referred to evoke motivation among the staff (Ashwatappa K 2002, p.314-337) Human Resource audit & Participatory approach in Human Resource policies One major problem which will arise during the implementation of the change program would be the need for acute reduction in the staff strength. The implementation of new manufacturing technology would involve active automation of production processes which in turn would reduce the staff requirement to seventy five percent. The formulation of redundancy terms would be a real challenging process in this context. It should be taken into account that this should be carried out with out affecting the relationship of the management with TGWU. A scientific human resource auditing would help by serving as a benchmark for the redundancy process. The Human Resource Audit is a scientific tool for evaluating the personnel activities of an organization. (Ashwatappa K (2002p.555-562). It would further help to create an increased acceptance in the changes being made in the organization especially with the Employee Union. However for the staff who will have to discontinued from the service, schemes like Voluntary Retirement Plans and other attractive exit schemes must be developed so as the employees develop trust in the organization. The leaders of TGWU must be included in the discussions so as to ensure a participatory approach. Interdepartmental interpersonal coordination Several cases of discrepancies among the staff and the supervisors were noted in the recent past within the organization. The training should include strategies to mitigate such ideological differences. The factor of diversity within the team must be taken care while formulating such strategies. Christopher & Diana (1996, p75) have mentioned seven factors concerning to the human relationships including time, space, odors, frankness, intimacy of relationships, values and expression of emotions. This should be analyzed along with the fact that the staff had pointed out cases of discrimination within the organization. The policy of the organization in the changed scenario must strictly help to develop coordination among the staff. Chapman A, (2006) has mentioned that organizations, managers, bosses and business owners should think first about exploring ways to align the aims of the business with the total life needs of its employees. The change process should ensure the coordination between the departments as well. The internal operational communication, external operational communication and personal communication is quite vital in ensuring the efficacy of any organizational process. (Lesikar R & Flatley M, 2002.p 5-15). The automation and implementation of customized software like SAP would help this process to a major extent. (Curran A, T. Ladd A ,2006, p.17-18) Conclusion ‘Flairtex fashions’ is expected to have extensive changes both in operational and policy wise aspects. The integration of the staff, machines and the policy of the organization has to happen synonymous with these changes. In the changed environment the points suggested by this proposal would serve as both corrective and innovative as far as the performance of the company is concerned .The events including Interdepartmental & interpersonal coordination, Human Resource audit & Participatory approach in HR policies, Capacity building & Motivation, Time Schedule & Financial Management when carried out strategically as per the proposal would make the management of the change process more scientific, easy and hassle free. However this proposal should be open for discussion among the operational groups within the company. Suggestions should also be taken from the potential customers and industry experts. Such a participatory approach involving people and systems from all realms of business would help to improve the proposal. The implementation of such a streamlined change process would lead to the sustainable development of Flairtex fashions. References Ashwatappa K (2002), ‘Basic Motivatioanl Concepts, In Ashwatappa K (Ed) Human Resource and Personnel Management, Tata McGraw-Hill, NewDelhi p.314-337 Ashwatappa K (2002), ‘Human Resource Audit, In Ashwatappa K (Ed) Human Resource and Personnel Management, Tata McGraw-Hill, NewDelhi p.555-562 Chapman A (2006), Organizational change, training and learning: Modern principles of change management, and effective employee training and development in organizations, Viewed 06 January 2009, http://www.businessballs.com/organizationalchange.htm Christopher E & Diana R 1996, International excellence: Seven Breakthrough Strategies for personal and professional success, Kodansha International, New York p.75 Curran A, T. Ladd A (2006) Desktop ERP in Thomas A Curran & Andrew Ladd (Ed.) Understanding Enterprise Supply chain management (pp.17-18), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Books Gray J.L & Starke FA, (1998).Organizational Behavior: Concepts & applications, Columbia: Merrill p.104 Harding P (2004), Managing Change: How to manage change in an organisation, Government Office for the South West, Viewed 06 January 2009, http://www.oursouthwest.com/SusBus/mggchange.doc ICFAI, (2005), Risk & Return, In ICFAI (Ed.) Financial Management (pp.88-103). Hyderabad: ICFAI Centre for Management & Research ICFAI, (2005), Time Value of Money, In ICFAI (Ed.) Financial Management (pp.71- 87). Hyderabad: ICFAI Centre for Management & Research Lesikar R & Flatley M 2002, Basic Business Communication, Tata McGraw-Hill, NewDelhi p.5-15 Andrews J, Cameron H & Harris M (2008), All change? Managers’ experience of organizational change in theory and practice, Journal of Organisational Change Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, 2008 pp. 300-314 The primary objective of the article is to evaluate the efficacy and usefulness of the organizational change theory for management practice. The usefulness of the theory as an optimal study material with reference to its utility in practical condition is reviewed in the study. The study evaluated the professional performance of managers who were taught organizational change theory for management practice as an academic subject during their post graduate studies. The article intends to advocate on the usefulness of the discussed theory so that it may help the managers in further implementation and also academicians in their learning as well as teaching process. The author has clearly indicated the expected outcome of the article. The results would suggest whether organizational change theory for management practice should be continued to be taught in the academic curriculum of ought to be managers. Though assumptions made by the authors can be made out from the article, it has not been clearly mentioned by the authors. The article makes the assumption that the discussed theory is a does not make the expected positive impact on the management practice. The alternate assumption is that the organizational change theory for management practice is efficient in practical conditions. The authors have referred to a number of articles dealing with varied approaches on the assumptions made by the authors. However the authors have not included literatures pertaining to the efficacy of organizational change theory for management practice. However they have included the literatures with three different perspectives including ‘the characteristics of managers and the contexts within which they work’, ‘the way organizational change theory is taught and learned’ and the nature and accessibility of available theory’. The study has made mixed conclusions in terms of the utility of organizational change theory. It has been concluded that the managers have found some of the theories useful were as the others were not found to be optimally useful. As the study has revealed some conclusions contrary to the statements made by the literatures reviewed, the authors have clearly suggested the need for further research on the topic. The results suggested by the study do not indicate a clear reference to the assumptions made by the study. The conclusions of the study are generic in nature. Though the expected outcome of the study was to clearly indicate whether organizational change theory has to be further included in the academic curriculum of post graduate management studies, the conclusion does not clearly make a suggestion in this regard. However in my opinion this article would serve as an ideal reference in the further research done on the subjects in relation to the article. The practical implication of the results of the study is limited only to be used for further research. Read More