Human Resource Management Analytics - Case Study Example

Analytic case on Human Resource Management Contract Workers Problem with New Appraisal Method Mr. Ahmed Khan, the director of the nursing department was surprised to see Zubaida, a medical secretary arguing frantically and loudly one morning with the nursing manager Ms. Reshma Begum. The duo stopped quarrelling and dispersed when Mr. Khan intervened warning them how their immature gesture disturbs the peace of the patients. Shortly afterwards, he was surprised to see a resignation request from Ms. Zubaida Malik. This sudden decision came as a shocking surprise to Mr. Ahmed Khan. He immediately called in the nursing manager to discuss the issue. Zubaidas Record Ms. Zubaida Malik is a Medical secretary in the dental unit of Summit River Nursing Home (SRNH) located in the Midwest. She is a contract worker appointed by an agency to work for the hospital. She has three years experience working for the firm. Known as a patient friendly, dedicated employee, Zubaida had never caused any trouble to the management in the past three years. There was no black mark in her record whatsoever. Zubaida was a middle aged woman with a teenage son and a young daughter. Her husband worked as a driver in the same firm. About SRNH Summit River Nursing Home is situated in a calm and serene location in the Midwest. Capable of housing nearly 60 patients at a time, the hospital has various services including, Ortho care, dental care and general medical assistance. They have a well-equipped laboratory, x-ray service, a pharmacy and various other units within the campus. The hospital is nearly full, most of the time with high patient flow. Every patient receives one to two hour of direct nursing care. Their diet during the time in hospital is strictly monitored by a dietician. Two social workers help long-time residents who get admitted to the hospital for serious injuries and surgeries adapt to the situation with ease. The hospital management made several changes in the way the administration works recently, owning to increased complaints about misunderstanding and miscommunication between the staff and the patients. Mostly contract labourers like Zubaida, indulged in various clerical jobs, cleaning and CNA work in the facility expressed their concern regarding various issues they were facing. As a result the management rolled out a threefold strategy, which accurately described the job description of each employee, gave importance to team management and revised the performance management to take into account the whole team’s accomplishments as a whole. Zubaidas Case Details Zubaidas resignation seemed like a whistle blower to the Mr. Khan. The nurse manager Reshma was immediately summoned to discuss the issue, as she is the direct supervisor for Zubaida. Reshma said Zubaida disputed the scores given to her on her annual appraisal form. She refused to accept the new scores given according the recent parameters. Reshma was bound to score her according to the whole team’s performance, not the individual effort. Zubaida felt she was let down and unappreciated and decided to quit in a moment of fury. Zubaida was called in to voice over her concerns. Mr. Khan assured her she will not be let down and SRNH is not willing to lose such a good employee at any cost. He addressed her in front of nurse manager Reshma and discussed the appraisal form step by step to see where the problem lays. Zubaida’s Main Issues Zubaida said she eagerly awaited the 10% raise she receives annually as it helps her to meet her son’s growing education expenses directly. As a contract worker, she and many others in her position are not entitled to receive the various employee benefits the permanent hospital staffs like Reshma avail annually. Hence, the hospital management arranged for this annual raise, which would be given to them based on their performance. According to the new scores, only 20% of the top performers will get the 10% annual rise, the rest 60% average workers will get the same increment as last year and the remaining 20% poor performers will not get any rise at all. Only those who receive average score above 4 will be ranked as top performers. The scores given by Reshma according to the new parameters will not entitle Zubaida to get the raise and rank her as an average worker instead of a high performer. Considered as a team, they will be ranked among low performers further cutting down her monetary benefits. Her scores were as follows. She particularly did not agree with the 2nd , 8th and the 10th parameter of the score list. Competency December 2012 June 2012 December 2011 1. Communicates effectively to share information and/or skills with colleagues & customers 3 4 5 2. Demonstrates knowledge of work procedures and requirements of job 2 3.5 5 3. Shows technical competence/skill in area of specialization 3 4 4 4. Is accurate, thorough and careful with work performed 3 3.5 4 5. Seeks to continually improve processes and work methods 2.5 4 4 6. Effective team member who promotes team work 3 3 4 7. Displays a willingness to learn & develop professionally 3 3.5 3 8. Is able to work with limited supervision 2.5 3.5 4 9. Is trustworthy, responsible and reliable 3 4 4 10. Is adaptable and willing to accept new responsibilities 2 3.5 3 Reshma’s Complaints Reshma said she couldn’t do much about the situation as the organization policies were streamlined. Another major complaint she put forward was, Zubaida showed no interest in following the new parameters of adhering properly to the job description and contributing to improve the team performance as a whole. Reshma had to constantly remind her to stick to her job description. The customer satisfaction survey conducted about the non-medical dental assistance team was negative and Reshma had to mark the team based on the scores given by the customers. Zubaida’s Clarification Zubaida pointed out when the method was introduced in June, there were several students enrolling in as CNA’s and part-time clerks and medical secretaries. They were able to work on a fixed job description. With the final exams fast approaching and their contract period of 6 months over, many of them had quit work or take frequent offs in the ever crowded dental department. It was not possible to adhere to everyone’s job description by line. Necessary activities have to be shared with the available workers until the part-time workers return back during college vacation time. This was a general procedure followed in the hospital for years. Mr. Khan understood, the management should concern the overall performance instead of focusing on a particular quality to avoid the occurrence of Criterion deficiency and employee dissatisfaction (Barrett, 1995). As a medical secretary Zubaida was only entitled to prepare patient bills, process insurance forms and keep track of every patient’s medical history. But, when the receptionist is absent for a week due to exams, she answers phones and manages appointments too with the help of one more secretary. The CNA workers, cleaners and other contract workers also overwork to share and manage the work during this season. This leads to a lot of chaos and the patients are made to wait a little longer than usual in the dental department, making them give a negative review. Role of MBO Zubaida argued the overall survey results conducted over the months from June should be considered to rate the non-medical staff in the dental department, not the last report alone. She felt the team was being let down in spite of being very co-operative and overworked. Since, the annual raise, affected their lifestyle significantly, it was important for the management to understand the value of their work. Mr. Khan understood the problems Zubaida put forward. He made both the parties understand he will take the necessary actions to escalate the issue to the required people. As of now, he asked Reshma to continue her appraisal work only for permanent staffs. An immediate meeting regarding the issue was conducted within a couple of days. Some representatives from the contract workers side put forward their problems regarding the appraisal clearly in the meeting. The graphic rating scale introduced into the organization based on the Welch rating method forced the managers to rank some employees as poor. It is not followed even in the Ford Company as of now (Bates, 2003). This method was revoked and made applicable only for the permanent staff enjoying better monetary benefits than the contract workers. The Management based on Objectives method which gives each employee a chance to set a target for themselves each year was introduced for the contract based workers within weeks with the help of an external consultancy. Zubaida and other representatives were given detailed instruction about how the process works along with the managers who will rate them. The managers were asked take decisions based on conscience and common sense rather than sticking to parameters blindly (Fisher, 2003). The previous year’s method of rating and giving raise to the contract workers was followed the current year also to ensure they got their much awaited 10% raise. Conclusion Zubaida was praised for raising the issue with such vision and clarity, but advised to take her resignation aback and avoid such acts of fury in future and approach the top management for any help required. Both Zubaida and Reshma agreed the day the argument ensued was a bad one for both and assured to work together on any further issues with maturity and calmness. Mr. Khan was well appreciated for acting quickly and noticing the underlying problem, rather than treating it as a single person issue. Barrett, R. S. (1995). Employee Selection with the Performance Priority Survey. Personnel Psychology, 653–62. Bates, S. (2003). Forced Rankling. HR Magazine, 62–68. Fisher, C. D., L. F. Schoenfeldt, and J. B. Shaw. (2003). Human Resource Management, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Read More