The Bank of Queensland - Case Study Example

Employee Counseling Case Study: The Bank of Queensland Name Institution Date Employee Counseling Case Study: The Bank of Queensland Introduction The Bank of Queensland is one of the successful banks in Australia. It has been in operations since 1874 when it was established. The bank has experienced a high growth rate and it currently has two hundred and fifty five branches in Australia. It also has more than three thousand five hundred ATMs. Over the years, the bank has been able to acquire other banks and hence increasing its customer base. The Bank of Queensland serves a high number of customers on a daily basis. The transactions that are carried out on a daily basis include the Retail banking operations as well as the business banking operations. The retail banking operations deals with the home loans, personal loans, credit cards and investments products. The business banking operations on the other hand, deals with the business loans, transaction accounts, business charge cards and statutory trust accounts (Bank of Queensland, 2013). The branches are usually managed by the managers who run the branches in consultations with the headquarters. The bank has thousands of employees in Australia. The employees have to meet strict datelines and some are forced to work for long hours. In some instances it has resulted to stress and hence affecting the quality of the work of the employees. Employee counseling is a human resource is a problem for the bank as it is not provided due to various reasons. The paper thus discusses the problems of employee counseling in relation to the bank. Description of the problem The lack of employee counseling in the bank has resulted to various problems for the employees and the bank. This is because the productivity of the employees has been reduced by the lack of counseling. The problem has been manifested in the organization in several ways. The low morale of the employees is one of the symptoms of the problem. Some of the employees have very low morale and they do not want to interact with the other employees (Freedheim, 2011). In most cases, they are isolated and do not want to participate in the active discussions. Their interaction with the customers is also not good due to the low levels of morale. This affects the quality of the work. In some instances, the management has received reports and complains from the customers regarding the employees. This is due to poor interactions and hence affecting their performance. The low level of morale is caused by the stress that the employees have. The stress is thus responsible for the poor performance and hence affecting the quality of work. This may happen among several employees at once. It thus affects the interaction among the team members and the employees. The teamwork is usually impacted negatively by the process as the level of contribution is usually low within the organization. The failure to counsel the employees results to the low levels of morale. This is because the employees always find it difficult to handle their work when they are under stress and hence the low levels of morale (Taormina, et al, 2009). Incidences of workplace bullying and harassment have also been reported in The Bank of Queensland. This is as a result of failure of counseling the employees. Some of the supervisors also harass the employees due to the lack of counseling. The lack of counseling is responsible for some of the negative behaviors at the work place. The harassments occur since most of the employees do not know how to handle themselves in a particular situation. This results to the negative impact which affects the other employees. On the other hand, some of the employees do not know that their actions amount to harassment and bullying. Through counseling, the employees may be in a position to know that their actions have negative impacts on the other employees as well as the clients. Some of the clients have also reported incidences of harassment by the employees. The actions taken by the management are not enough as they are only displinary. Counseling of the employees is responsible for behavior change and hence ensuring that the employees are able to handle each other with respect. Bad behaviors among the employees have also affected the quality of the services offered by the bank. This is also an indication that the employees are experiencing some problems. However, the reason for such behaviors in The Bank of Queensland varies. Counseling however has the potential of solving the problem. The lack of counseling therefore contributes to workplace bullying and harassment (Brown, 2010). Absenteeism is also one of the manifestations of the problem. This is because some of the employees are unable to cope with the high levels of stress and hence ends up absconding their duties. Other employees are also unable top deal with the high pressure and thus end up in drugs and alcohol. This affects their attendance. Some of the employees of The Bank of Queensland are known to engage in alcoholism and hence absenteeism. Other employees always arrive late. This affects their outcome and hence leading to low quality of work. Counseling is thus required for the purpose of ensuring that the employees are able to handle their problems. The Bank of Queensland has fired some of the employees due to their engagement in such behaviors. This has however, not solved the problem as some of the newly hired employees ends up with the same problems and hence affecting the outcome of The Bank of Queensland. Poor performance of some of the employees is also associated with the lack of counseling. This is because the employees are unable to concentrate on their work when they are stressed. This leads to a negative outcome for the Bank of Queensland and hence affecting the performance. It is thus evident that the lack of counseling in at the work place has greatly contributed to the poor performance of the employees. Work place counseling is always important as it ensures that the employees are able to deal with the pressure that may lead to stress and hence poor performance (Donaghy, 2010). Training and performance management Training management is an important aspect for the organization. This is because it ensures that the training is aimed at solving the problems being faced by the employees. The training management concepts have a direct impact on the performance of the employees and the organization. The company needs to come up with goals and objectives that are aimed at improving the performance of the company and the employees. Bulling and harassment Bullying and harassment which has been reported in The Bank of Queensland affects the employees directly and hence affecting their performance. The problem also leads to mental stress and hence affecting the performance of the employees. A part from counseling the employees, the company should put in place measures to deal with the perpetrators. The Bank of Queensland should also put in place measures to ensure that the clients are not harassed by the employees of the company for whatever reasons. The performance of the organization is dependant on the prevailing situation in the company (Bacal, 2012). How the issue can be addressed Introduction of Performance Counseling Performance counseling should be initiated in The Bank of Queensland for the purpose of dealing with the poor performance of the employees. During the performance counseling, it is important to ensure that all the issues related to the poor performance of the employees are addressed. This is for the purpose of enabling the employees to know how to deal with the issues that affects their performance (Shen, et al, 2009). It is also important to note that the interpersonal relationship of the employees can be enhanced through the use of the performance counseling. This will also play an important role in terms of reducing the workplace harassment that has been witnessed in the Bank of Queensland. The introduction of performance counseling is also an important step for the company in terms of ensuring that the operations of The Bank of Queensland are enhanced. This will also reduce the incidences of absenteeism among the employees. Performance counseling will also create a greater awareness among the employees with regard to their responsibilities towards the employer. This will ensure that the employees are responsible in terms of handling the sensitive maters related to their work. It is thus evident that The Bank of Queensland requires the performance counseling for the purpose of ensuring that the employees are able to handle their work related stress. Performance counseling is also important in terms of improving the performance of the company (Boxall, 2003). The bank should employ experts on a full time basis for the purpose of ensuring that the employees receive counseling. Alternatively, the bank should also consider using the services of experienced employees in the processes of assisting the other employees. This option is less costly and it is also efficient for the bank. It is also important for the company to consider that the employees cannot be separated from the family lives. This is because some of the stress that the employees may face originates from their families. This also affects the performance of the individuals at the work place. Some of the employees always carry the baggage of their own personal lives at the workplace. This greatly affects their work and hence resulting to the poor performance. The company should thus ensure that the families are also involved during the counseling. In situations where the employees are affected by family issues, it is important to ensure that the employees are permitted to come with their families. This is because the well being of the employee is beneficial to The Bank of Queensland. It is for this reason that it is important for The Bank of Queensland to put in place every measure to ensure that the employee are physically and emotionally upright at all times. The counseling of the employees is thus beneficial to the company as well as the employees and their families. Other problems may also affect the performance of the employees. This may also contribute to their poor performance. In most cases, some of the employees may not want to share their problems with the other employees. This is because they fear that the employees may expose their problems or may not be in a position to help them. This will definitely contribute to the poor performance. However, with the involvement of the professionals, the counseling process will impact positively on the employees. This is because of the confidentiality of the information when dealing with a professional. On the other hand, it is important to note that counseling will also play an important role in terms of identifying other problems that the employees may be having. In some instances, the employees may be facing health problems with or without their knowledge. Counseling will thus ensure that the other problems that are identified are dealt with. This will enable the employees to know to deal with their problems in a better way. Counseling is this important in terms of identifying other problems that may be affecting the performance of the employees (Dessler, 2004). Occupational health and performance management The occupational health problems in the company are as a result of the stress related issues and the nature of the work that the employees have to handle. The strict datelines always end up affecting the health f the employees. Due to the strict datelines, the most of the employees end up working for long hours which ends up stressing them. The demands of the customers are sometimes high and thus contributing to the stress being faced by the employees. This can be dealt with through employing a counselor at company. Performance management in the company is for the purpose of achieving the goals of the organization. The company must thus invest on the well being of the employees in order to achieve good results. It is thus necessary for the company to ensure that the employees are health and fit to work at all times. Performance management is thus important in terms in terms of meeting the objectives of the company and it is dependant on the wellbeing of the company (Roughton, 2002). Actual action plan In order to deal with the problem, the bank should put in place measures that will ensure the proper implementation of the action plan. The first step for the company is to involve a professional. The professional should be employed on a full time basis in order to handle the problems of the employees. It is not recommended for an employee of the Bank of Queensland to be contracted for this purpose. This is because some of the employees may not be open up enough to their fellow employees. The Bank of Queensland should ensure that the experts are flexible enough in terms of handling the problems of the employees. This will require the professionals to be interviewed thoroughly before they are hired. They should be able to handle workplace issues, family issues as well as identifying other issues. The company should then determine the most appropriate time that the employees should visit the counselor. A part from assisting the employees, the professionals should also be in a position to make a general recommendation regarding the issues that are affecting the performance of the employees. The human resource department should review the recommendations made by the professionals so as to put in place the necessary measures (Florian, 2009). The actions taken by the human resource department should also involve the establishment of the stress management strategy. Action Plan Timetable Time Event Week 1 Recruitment of the experts Week 2 Creating a timetable for the time counseling should take place. Week 3 Officially launching the counseling. Week 4 Collection of data and recommendations from the experts Week 5 Coming up with the implementation plan of the suggested recommendations. Conclusion It is evident that the employee counseling is an important human resource issue. This is because of the impacts that it has on the performance of the employees. Lack of employee counseling leads to serious human resource problems. Poor performance, workplace harassment and bullying, low morale and absentiseem are the problems that are faced by the Bank of Queensland due to lack of employee counseling. It is thus recommended that employee counseling should be prioritized for the purpose of ensuring that the employees receive proper counseling. This plays an important role in terms of enhancing the performance of the employees and hence the prosperity of the company. However it is important to involve the experts during the process. The expert should also be in a position to help the organization to deal with the stress management through the counseling process. References Bank of Queensland. (2013). About us. Retrieved on May 11, 2013 from, Freedheim, D. K. (2011). History of psychotherapy. American Psychological Association. Brown, L. S. (2010). Feminist therapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. .Donaghy. (2010). Payne's handbook of relaxation techniques. Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. Boxall, P. et al. (2003). Strategy and Human Resource Management. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Dessler, G. (2004). Human Resource Management. (10th Ed.), New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Florian, P. (2009). Determinants of Work-life Balance: Shortcomings in the Contemporary Measurement of WLB in Large-scale Surveys. Social Indicators Research, Vol. 92, No. 3 / July, pp. 449-469. Bacal, R. (2012). Manager's Guide to Performance Management. McGraw-Hill. Shen, J. et al. (2009). Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 20, Issue-2, February, pp. 235 – 251. Taormina, R. et al. (2009) Identifying acceptable performance appraisal criteria: An international perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 47, No.1, pp.102-125. Roughton, J, 2002, Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More