Ways of Introducing Short-Term HR Strategy into Hartley - Case Study Example

Ways of introducing short term HR strategy into Hartley The first step is to identify the HR related problems facing the company. This is essential because it will allow the formation of the best approach. In this sense, issues such as lack of communication between the workforce and the management should be addressed by encouraging communication. The focus given to finance, marketing and technical should be done equally in all the company’s departments. Encouraging free flow of communication and establishing consultative and information arrangement is also essential(Greene, 2008). This will provide good environment for the introduction of short term HR strategies proposed by the CEO. A personal development program that aimsat improvingemployees’ competence in different areas should also be developed in the organization, the approach can be different depending on the varying roles of employees in the company, a general soft skills or peoples skills can be integrated into the overall approach. More so, encouraging employee respect is also an essential approach of ensuring that the entire workforce is motivated(Salkind, 2004). Ensuring equal pay based on job description should be ensured, this is an important approach in developing teamwork since varying salaries on the same experience level and job description causes tension and hence limiting teamwork. Considering the redundancy program that has affected the company, a proper communication process regarding this issue should be designed in order to eliminate the fear of losing jobs. How issues of vertical and horizontal integration can be built into this strategy Hartley has experience some significant growth over the past three decades of its existence, with the new CEO who is willing to address HR related issues developing strategies for company growth is essential. There are two ways of fostering growth namely, vertical and horizontal. Vertical approach involves owning some aspects of the business which are normally outsourced to other firms such as supply management and distribution. According to Robbins & Judge (2008)Vertical approach can be utilized by the company by acquiring and managing its supply chain abroad, this will ensure that the company takes advantage of the supply chain management system and also reduce its cost of doing business. By taking advantage of the existing workforce, the company can easily take advantage of the acquisition and distribute the technical sales team to other areas locally and abroad. On the other hand, the company can utilize horizontal approach to increase its market presence (Hollenbeck, 2006). Horizontal approach is an approach which involves purchasing of related companies producing the same products in order to increase market presence through reduction of competitors. This approach is effective in the sense that it increases the productivity of the company in terms of the products that it supplies into the market. Increasing geographical presence is also essential since it means that the company covers an even wider market. Hartley can take advantage of this approach by buying out small companies competing in the same field in order to increase its market coverage. Implication for HR function in doing this Increased business coverage means increased profitability, staff number and sales. This is a success factor in any company and hence a positive implication and new challenges to the HR functions. The first impact of addressing HR issues as proposed by the CEO is increased employee motivation and thus effectiveness in terms of delivery. The vertical and horizontal approach of enhancing growth will also impact on the HR in the sense that the employee based will be increased in both of these approaches(Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2007). The HR will thus be required to promote the proposed principles in the acquired sections of the business as per the vertical approach or the acquired businesses as per the horizontal approach. Pay issues will also be another factor to be addressed by the HR, the HR will be mandated the task of creating and integrating new job description to the parent company, it will also be required to harmonize the salaries in the entire business entity as well. A better communication strategy will also be required in order to ensure that the entire business entity functions properly. Aspects of employee training and motivation will also be ensured through focusing on different training needs of different employees in different sectors of the company(Kail, & Cavanaugh, 2012). How these proposals are cost-effective and how the Chief executive can gain support from line managers in implementing the strategy The proposed CEO approach focused on HR issues is cost effective in many ways. Motivated workers through a fair payment system will increase the effectiveness and productivity of the employees. According to Newman & Newman (2007) motivated employees through better reward system perform better that employees facing tension of unfair payment system. Better performance of employees will increase the overall productivity of the company and hence increasing profitability with constant resources. Unlike before, Hartley with the proposed HR and business strategy will be more productive and innovative as compared to before, this will ensure that the company reduces its production cost and increase its productivity. As noted by () respecting employees, fostering proper communication process and emphasizing teamwork is a fundamental yet effective way of getting the most out of the limited resource. Getting the most means reducing cost of production by simply altering the internal structure of the organization in order to optimize the available manpower(Sigelman, & Rider, 2011). The CEO can gain support from the line managers in order to implement this strategy by ensuring the following aspects are considered. The CEO management style will determine if he will receive the support of the employees or not. The CEO therefore needs to be involving, this means that he needs to incorporate the line managers and the entire workforce into his strategy by ensuring that they participate and give their views and contributions into the proposed system. Showing respect to everyone in the company is also important since it will lead to him being respected by the line management and the junior company’s employees. Another important step to be taken by the CEO in order to ensure the support of the line managers as well as the junior staff is by fostering communication. As noted by I-Fei Liao (2009)communication is fundamental for any organization hoping to be successful, as per the CEO principles, the human resource is the greatest asset an organization can have, this is because of the fundamental role that it plays in ensuring its productivity as well as its competitiveness with respect to other similar companies. Leading by example and promoting communication between the junior employees and the line managers will also ensure that the CEO is supported in the implementation of the strategy. A clear outline of the business strategy and the need to integrate HR strategy into the business strategy will also be essential in gaining support. This should also be integrated into the mission and vision of the company(Ashraf, 2002). Recommendations to the Chief executive on adopting best practice mode of HR strategy in order to achieve the long term solution to problems facing the company The best practice mode of HR strategy is recommended for the CEO to adopt in order to ensure that both long terms and short term issues facing the company are addressed. The rationale for this choice is because of the fact that best practice is an approach that has been tested and gone through the test of time. According to Griffin &Moorhead (2011)the best practice recommended for the CEO includes ensuring that the following undertakings are integrated into the Hartley working environment, first is ensuring that the working environment is healthy, safe and conducive for working, this can be achieved by involving employees in work environment improvement. Using open book management style where all the information is shared with the employees, this creates participative management and encourages creativity in the working force of the company. More so, this approach makes people involved and interested in strategic plan of the business and hence aligning them to the business objectives and strategy. Another best practice option recommended for Hartley is integrating performance linked bonus. The rationale for this is based on attaching bonus scheme to performance, this is essential because bonuses should be linked with performance through meeting organizational targets. It is essential to ensure that employees understand that it is only through meeting targets that the bonus can be given out and not before meeting the targets. This strategy will ensure that business objectives are met effectively. Performance feedback mechanism is also an important recommendation because it integrates the contributions of every employee and hence getting the entire workforce involved in the implementation of the business strategy. Fair employee evaluation system is an essential HR best practice because with a fair evaluation system, every employee gets fair Key Performance Index (KPI) mechanism(Wefald, 2011). This system will ensure that the reward scheme is based on the individual performance and hence leading to a fair salary increment procedure. The KPI is linked with the achievement of business goals and priorities and it is tracked over the financial year of the company. The assessment or appraisal process is therefore conducted at the end of the financial year and the rewards for the same given to the employees based on their individual performance(Borkowski, 2010). References Ashraf, T. (2002).Organizational Behavior. pp. 155-165. http://www.unesco.org/education/aladin/paldin/pdf/course02/unit_14.pdf Borkowski, N. (2010). Organizational behavior in health care. Michigan: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Pp. 40-54. Greene, R.R.(2008). Human Behavior Theory & Social Work Practice: Third Edition. Canberra: Transaction Publishers. PP. 91-97. Griffin, R.W., & Moorhead, G. (2011).Organizational Behavio.,Sidney: Cengage Learning. Pp. 70-80. Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J.W. ( 2007). Organizational behavior.Canberra: Cengage Learning. Hollenbeck, John, R. (2006). ‘A structural approach to external and internal person-team fit. Applied Psychology.’An International Review 49(3), pp. 534-549. I-Fei Liao, C. (2009).Individual Characteristics, Organizational Justice and Job Attitudes of Employees under Non-standard, International Journal of Management, 26(3), pp.23-34. Kail, R.V., & Cavanaugh, J.C. (2012).Human Development: A Life-Span View. New York, NY : CengageLearning.PP. 11-16. Newman, B.M., & Newman, P.R.(2007). Theories of Human Development. New Jersey, NJ: Routledge. PP.216-218. Robbins, S.P., & Judge, T. ( 2008). Organizational Behavior. Canberra: Pearson Prentice Hall. Salkind N.J.(2004). An Introduction to Theories of Human Development. New York, NY: SAGE. Pp. 48-54. Sigelman, C.K., & Rider, E.A.(2011). Life-Span Human Development. New Jersey, NJ: Cengage Learning. PP. 39-43. Wefald, Andrew J. Reichard, Rebecca J., & Serrano Shawn A.(2011). ‘Fitting Engagement into a Nomological Network: The Relationship of Engagement to Leadership and Personality.’ Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 18(4), pp. 521-537. Read More