Managing Human Resource Strategic Planning at Energex - Case Study Example

Name of Student Name of Professor Course Unit ENERGEX Company: An Overview ENERGEX is a state-owned electricity distribution company and part of Energy Queensland Limited. Its core functions include building, operating and maintaining the electricity distribution network in the South East Queensland region of Australia. Among the areas it serves includes the urban parts of Ipswich, Logan, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, and Redlands. The enterprise has been in business for more than a century. Earlier, the company used to operate under the Brisbane City Council’s South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB). It later entered the national energy market in 1997 under the brand name ENERGEX. In 2016, It merged with Ergon Energy as a subsidiary of Energy Queensland Limited. Under this arrangement, the company can distribute electricity to nearly 3.5 million domestic and business consumers. The business is expanding its capacity to meet the growing power demands by providing a high performing network with assets worth over $10 billion. They can achieve this by embracing technological innovations as well as instituting advanced management systems (Home-Energex, 2014). Mission Statement The primary objective of the company to set new international standards in the provision of energy to satisfy the needs of its consumers. It aims to do this by investing in the ideas and vision of its staff and management to drive the company’s procedures, processes, and policies. It focuses on putting the safety of everyone first, supporting each other, delivering on their promise, and serving as a great example to all. Employee Relations Strategy ENERGEX employee relations strategy aims to create an environment that supports high performance, workforce safety, staff engagement, and workforce capability. This policy realigns itself with the company’s vision and values and forms an integral part of its business operations. It is an integrated management approach that deals with issues related to employee relations. It embraces the principles of meaningful consultations, active leadership, and constructive relationships. Key Elements in Employee Relations Employee outcomes are supposed to align themselves with the company’s values and mission that supports business priorities. To this end, ENERGEX has adopted a strategy that ensures that those outcomes are consistent with its objectives through processes like workplace negotiations and enterprise bargaining. The company updates and reviews the direction of employee relations to ensure that it is consistent. It also makes efforts to influence government industrial relations policies to ensure that its business strategy is accommodated and implemented. Governance involves the development and maintenance of systems which ensure compliance with industrial relations policies, and legislations, and the company’s plans. Employees should know the terms of their employment and the importance of their responsibilities. ENERGEX promotes compliance with both the policy and legislative frameworks by ensuring that all employment information is available and easily accessible. It also enhances compliance through audits, training, and meeting all reporting requirements. Focus on business outcomes ensures that initiatives towards employee relations are in line with business practices. These results agree with the strategies that are used by ENERGEX. The company facilitates employee relations initiatives with the aim of improving the organization as a whole. Constructive workplace relationships help an organization to achieve common objectives and goals. These goals include productivity, safety, customer service, efficiency and many others. This element is key because it helps to reduce disputes and promotes resolutions. ENERGEX strategy is to foster constructive workplace relationships by engaging both the employees and management at the local level. It recognizes the role that the union plays in dispute resolutions. It also promotes teamwork and collaborative working relationships which are important in promoting respectful conflict resolution through information sharing and consultations (Employee Relations Strategy-Energex, 2014). Recruitment and Selection Strategy Before recruiting new employees, ENERGEX engages in a selection process that involves information gathering through a written application, reference checks, and interviews. The company may also conduct some testing in certain positions. These testing might include work simulations or psychological tests. All these procedures have the objective of gathering factual and relevant information about an applicant. The company has an equal employment opportunity policy as part of its selection and recruitment strategy. It conducts its selection by merit and not on any other considerations. It does not practice discrimination based on gender, religion, race or any other factors. It, therefore, offers employment opportunities to all based on their competencies. Employee Benefits ENERGEX is a company that believes in rewarding its employees for positive results. Apart from paying its employees, the company also provides an excellent and progressive working environment. The company is reputed to offer the best safety standards in the industry. In addition to that, it also provides a comprehensive study program for its employees. Its employees have a chance of developing in their careers through the provision of leadership and career development opportunities. Moreover, the company also offers a staff wellness program including performance pay programs and employee recognition. Employee Safety and Wellbeing The company highly values the health and safety of its employees. To this end, they operate an environment that affords protection to its employees with a goal of zero tolerance to injury. They have done this by setting up Safety Success Program that targets particular workgroup by engaging in system improvement activities, coaching, and audits. They also offer risk assessment training to equip workers in high-risk areas with skills to identify and avoid hazards. The company also has Safety Operational Committees which are tasked with offering comments and feedbacks regarding safety issues related to new policies, technologies, and procedures. The company has a Health and Safety Policy which promotes various safety initiatives like vaccinations, breathes easy programs, skin check rebates and other well-being programs. There is also a staff counseling service which also involves their immediate family members. The company has also propagated a culture of safety first in the work environment. The culture cuts across the workplace but extends to their contractors, customers and the community in general. Also part of the company’s safety strategy is conducting of a regular safety survey that is mainly centered on safety principles of learning, care, and trust. The company has also been able to adopt the eSAFE database and safety management system. This system can record, manage, track and report all safety data for improved report generation to the company. This system can analyze security trends and their causes to develop preventative measures to improve the safety of the employees (Careers-Energex, 2014). Performance Development and Training Employees at ENERGEX have the opportunity of developing their careers in technical skills and leadership through training. The company provides on the job training for employees. It also provides job rotations, staff training, secondment of special duties, experience programs and study assistance. Conflict and Negotiation The company has the objective of conducting Enterprise Bargaining negotiations with integrity and in good faith. This initiative is aimed at improving positive working relationships in the enterprise. This positivity is extended to the union and the affected staff in resolving any conflict situation. However, there exists instances where the working environment is adversely affected by poor negotiations which lead to conflict situations between the management and employees. Diversy Policy The company’s diversity policy touches on its intention in providing a workplace that is free from discrimination, vilification, harassment, and victimization. It aims at creating an environment where all employees and potential employees have equal opportunities. It also sets out disciplinary measures that can be meted out to employees who engage in acts of discrimination. The company believes that diversity is instrumental to its success in the present and future. This is because diversity draws from different experiences, abilities, ideas, and perspectives which result in competitive advantage and improved business outcomes. ENERGEX also complies with the Equal Employment Opportunity legislation. This law requires that all employees be entitled to equal chances of recruitment and promotions on merit and not by discrimination. The company handles employee disputes informally and formally through a complaint handling system that deals with Equal Employment Opportunities complaints. As a support service, the company also employs Employee Contact Officers (ECOs) who provide information on EEO matters to employees (Diversity Policy-Energex, 2014). Life Work Balance ENERGEX offers life and work balance to its employees because it results in happier and productive employees. The right combination of life and labor provides a balance that is necessary to every employee. The company offers benefits which include professional, location and lifestyle developments. They are also equipped with flexible work practices such as working arrangements that are flexible like job sharing, part time employment and working from home. They are also allowed to go on paid leave to interact with their families. Other practices include sick leave, maternity and paternity leave. The company also provides short term counseling services to employees who have personal or work related problems. This is usually done to improve the quality of their lives and productivity. Employee Relations Risk Management Strategy By using risk analysis, it is possible to develop an employee relations risk management strategy. In developing the plan, it is important to ask pertinent questions such as whether the company treasures the health and safety of its employees or if it provides the necessary facilitation towards the attainment of these goals. Other issues to consider include whether the company uses effective and efficient means in resolving employee disputes. These are among the questions that need to be asked to develop a risk management strategy. The strategy to develop should be one that takes care of the welfare of the employees without compromising the company’s business practice and one that leads to positive outcomes. As a strategy, the company can prevent or reduce employee’s disputes by allowing them to participate in consultative forums that give them a sense of ownership. This good for the company because happy employees exhibit high-performance levels which lead to a positive work environment and positive outcomes. The risk analysis strategy aims at bringing forth positive outcomes which aims at improving work relationships in a business environment. Organizational HR Services to Employees The HR department at ENERGEX plays a major role in resolving employee disputes. This department offers support for employee conflict resolution in conjunction with the managers and supervisors at the local level. Termination and Disciplinary Issues It is not legal to dismiss employees unfairly before first establishing the facts. Employers are required to use consistent and fair procedures when dismissing employees. It is always recommended that it is best to try and informally resolve the dispute first before reverting to dismissal. Employees have a right of hearing and not to be dismissed unfairly. However, before making a complaint about unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal, an employee must qualify to have continuously worked at least one year before termination. But dismissal due to unfair grounds has no length of time. Overall Recommendations It should be recommended that the company needs to put more efforts on their recruitment and selection strategy to cover the physically disabled persons. This is because most of their recruitment is based on merit which is sometimes limited by disability. This means that it is challenging for a disabled person to gain employment at ENERGEX even though they comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity legislation. It should also be recommended that the company should intensify its safety strategy to also incorporate the communities that it serves. This is because the type of work undertaken by the company is done within the community and any hazards that its employees are exposed to are the same ones that the immediate community will face. The company, therefore, needs to have a comprehensive safety strategy that also involves the communities that it serves. When it comes to collective employment agreements, contracts, and awards, the company does not seem to have adequate strategies. This needs to be addressed by timely implementations of such agreements and awards in compliance with industry standards. Lack of an effective policy on collective agreements, awards, and contracts will always lead to poor employee relationships which will adversely affect the performance of any business entity. Works Cited Home - Energex, www.energex.com.au/. 2014. Accessed 25 Aug. 2017. Read More