Staffing and Remuneration at Circular Book Solutions Company - Case Study Example

Tables of Contents 1. Executive Summary…………………………………………………………….……1 2. Introduction and Background ………………………….……..…………..………...2 3. Findings……………………………………………………………………………….4 4.1 Job descriptions (and person specifications)……….………………….…………..5 4.2 How to address the problem………….………………………………….………..6 4.3 Develop staffing practices…………………….………………………….………..7 4.4 Develop a staffing plan………………………………….…….………………….8 4. Recommendation…………………..……………….……………….…..…….………9 5. conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….10 6. Bibliography…………………………...…...…….…..………………………………11 Staffing and Remuneration Executive Summary Circular Book Solutions is an organization that offers variety of services such as warehousing and fulfilling services to its customers. The company attracts too many customers in the market because they offer high quality services to its customers at affordable prices. The general manager is currently focusing on how to improve its services through the use of technology in the organization. Though the company has been using various machines like forklifts in carrying out there daily services, the manager, Elaine Fossom, feels that advanced technological machines should be adopted to improve the efficiency of work in the warehouse such as loading and offloading of products (Kerr, 2006. p 100) Circular Book Solutions Company should create a department of human resource in order to achieve its objectives and ensure that all of its departments are operating maximally so as to minimize cost and ensure optimum profit. As a human resource manager, I will recommend to the general manager to establish a number of departments that are required by any business venture which comprised of finance resources department, material resource section and customer care department. This paper focuses on the functions of human resources manager especially recruiting and motivating staff. Lastly, this report summarizes various recommendations which the human resources department should implement in order to attract more customers in the market. Such recommendations comprise of creating more departments such as customer care. Introduction and Background Circular Book Solutions is a reputable company which assists its customers in various services such as printing books and bounding them. The company was started by Elaine Fossom, who is the owner of the company. Currently the company employs more than 32 employees and the general manager: Mary Wensley is planning to employ other four employees as follows (1 shipper, 1 handler, and 2 marketing representatives). Circular Book Solutions Company has specialized in warehousing and fulfillment services which comprise of receiving and filling orders. They carry out these services mostly to small publishers of books with small to medium print runs. The owner of this organization is called Elaine Fossom and the general manager is called Mary Wensley. Due to expansion of the company, Elaine has appointed Wensley to handle managerial issues including the work of human resource manager i.e. recruiting, firing and motivating employees so as to achieve the desired goal of the company (Carver, 1998. p 99). Findings Human resource refers to the workforce that deals with employees directly in terms of solving problems, recruiting and motivating them. No business organization succeeds without having employees who keep it running (Pride 247). This resource is the most important asset and must be managed properly in order to ensure the achievement of optimal efficacy. Human resource is the least mobile of the other factors of production and is inherent in the skills, knowledge, and motivation of employees. Given proper conditions, human resource grows much better with age and experience which differentiates it from other resources. The modern concept of human resources considers employees in terms of their psychology in relations to the company’s goals rather than viewing them as part of the other factors of production which can be manipulated at will. According to scientific managers such as Henri Fayol, the main components of human resource are employee training, recruitment, motivation, communication, administration, and development. The organization needs to attract qualified candidates to apply for the available positions, formulating clear job descriptions for the positions, and briefing the employees on the system of the organization. Motivation is the key factor in the company because the employees will feel valued and satisfied with the work they are doing. Most employees prefer to be given work which is within their capability so that they can complete it on time and produce a quality work. It is crucial to maintained qualified employees in the company and this is achieved by ensuring that employees are satisfied with the kind of management being practiced in the company so as to improve relation with the top managers and also to be assured of job security, high compensation, annual leave and fair treatment in general (Steinmetz, 2009.p 74). Employee training and development involves calculations of new skills of completing current jobs, and through performance appraisal where the employees are assessed with an aim of identifying the employees to be rewarded. Proper administration and leadership of human resources is also very important in focusing all the energies towards the achievement of the company’s goals and objectives. This can be achieved quite easily through proper communication across different departments in the organization. This will ensure that all problems are handled at the right time to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Job descriptions (and person specifications) The company have been using out dated job description which has caused various problems in the company. Due to ever changing business environment, roles of the employees are also changing. This has let to emergences of new roles in the company. Many employees fail to work on the important project claiming that the work is not within their job descriptions. Such problems can be overcome by ensuring that every employee knows what is expected of him or her. This is the work of immediate supervisor of the employee or even the human resource manager. This problem can be solved by making sure that the job description of a certain position is clearly mentioned in job advertisement. The advertisement should comprise the required qualifications i.e. basing on educational background and experience. Furthermore, the human resource manager should ensure that effective job description for every department within the organization has been developed. In addition to this, the human resource department should ensure that employee ability with the work they carry out is match to facilitate the enhancement of quality work. The main advantages of carrying out job description is to clarify duties and responsibilities of every department within the organization, it can also be used to identify missing personality and in hiring process. Besides, job description can be used to identify gaps and duplication in the company. Still, human resource department should ensure that designing of job description is carried out so as to provide an overview of the duties within the company. This will help the employees to know the activities which should be undertaken by different department. It is the work of human resource to address the problem which the company has been facing for long by designing a mission statement which will gather the diverse needs of all shareholders of the company. This means that department should critically consider ways of satisfying all parties i.e. suppliers, employees, customers and shareholders without affecting the profitability of the Circular Book Solutions. Vision statement is another element which need not to be left out since it shows the strategies which can be used to achieve the mission statement of the company. Mission and vision statement are very important because it acts as a motivation to the employees and can positioned the company well in the market. Company should be perceived by the customers as an organization that values not only customers but the whole community. Furthermore, implementation of training program need to be carried out so that new employees whom the general manager is planning to employ can be trained so as to know the system that is used in the company. Some of the effective training methods which need to be considered include the rotational training method whereby a new employee moves from one department to the other. There are also various methods of training which include “sitting next to Nelly” though a lot of attention needs to be paid to this method so as to protect a good character of the new employee i.e. if the trainer has bad habits it may easily influences the new employee. Apart from developing a mission statement for the company, environmental analysis should be carried out so that current situation of the company in terms of competition is established. This will help in coming up with the necessary skills which the employees should posses so as to improve the internal strengths of the company. The current company which operates under a competitive environment requires skilled employees which are able to handle customers in appropriate manner and satisfy them effectively. According to Lee, (2007) competitive employees are able to maximizing on the strength and opportunities of the company which will eventually improve the performances of the company. Develop staffing practices I will use my position as a human resource manager of Circular Book Solutions Company to create job profiles that will call for qualified employees to apply for the position. It is very important to plan for staffing so that the necessary skills can be identified and match with the employees with such skills. I will recommend to my employer that training of employees to be carried out so that they can be equipped with necessary skills. Besides, the long serving managers should be taken for refresher courses so that they can be thought on new ways on managing people in the company (Colander, 2009. p 114). Develop a staffing plan It is important to accomplish this task of planning staffing requirements basing on the mission and vision statement of the company. This is very much essential when aiming to maximize the use of resources of the company. Jackson (2007) in his book emphasizes on the effective staffing in the company believing that the act will help to determine the gaps in the present resources of the company. As a result, the human resource should developed strategies that will fill those gaps in the company (Stone, 2008. p 81). Time Frame All these programs will last for three months so that proposed factors covering Job descriptions and developing staffing is effectively implement. This is a very important practice in the company because it will enable the company to obtain the right employees who are competent and qualified. The first part i.e. Job descriptions (and person specifications) will last for one month whereby all factors will be considered. The second part which is “develop staffing practices” will last for two months because there will be short training for new employees and the refresher courses for the long serving managers. Recommendations I would recommend the following to the Mary Wensley who is the general manager of the company. The first important thing which needs to be considered in recruiting the employees is the skills and knowledge which will match the requirement of the vacancy in the company. Employers need to be sure that the person being employed is qualified. Every employee in an organization is like an asset of that company, this makes it necessary for the human resource manager to ensure that qualified employees are employed for the position advertised (Weightman, 2006. p 74). Managers need to be perfect examples to other employees so as to influence them positively. Traditional managers are problematic in many organizations because of their self interest in the organization. They are not flexible and they cannot accept change because they fear to loose their position in the company and furthermore they think that old ways of managing the organization is still effective in the present time (Amy, 2009. p 76). Conclusion In conclusion, the success of an organization especially in the issues relating to staffing should be dealt with care. Human resource managers need to be trained on how to handle such issues. Since I have been given a chance to head the human resource department, I will ensure that all the functions of human resource are carried out effectively so as to achieve the objectives of the company. It is very essential for me as a human resource manager and the general manager to designing ways of employing competitive employees in the company who are capable of coming up with new ideas and innovations. Some of the key factors include motivation and job appraisals so that the right employees are rewarded in the company (Achim, 2009. p 93). Such practices in the company will make the employees to work harder and to look for more responsibilities. McGregor had supported this idea in his theory Y and X. he believe that motivated employees tend to look for higher task and challenging work in the company which will end up improving the performances of the company. Bibliography Achim, K. 2009. Performance Management for Different Employee Groups: A Contribution to Employment Systems Theory. Springer, 6th edn. Pp 92-95 Amy, R. 2009. Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration. The Stationery Office. 4th edn. Pp 74-77 Bohlander, W. 2009. Managing human resources. Cengage Learning. 8th edn, Pp 112-116 Carver, C. 1998. Regulation of behavior, New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-100 Jackson, S. E., (2007) Diversity in the Workplace: Human Resources Initiatives, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Guilford Press. 3rd edn. Pp 101-103 Kerr, S. 2006. On the folly of rewarding, Cambridge: Cambridge University press. 4th edn. Pp 99-101 Lee, E. 2007. Globalization and employment, international labour review, 7th edn. pp. 485-490 Steinmetz, L. 2009. management myths and reality, boulder: Colorado. 6th edn. Pp72-75 Stone, R. 2008. Human resource manager, John Wiley and sons. 2nd edn. Pp 79-81 Weightman, J. 2006. The employee motivation, Cambridge strategy foundation. 2nd edn. Pp 71-75 Read More