Human Resource Management Policies and the Growth Challenge - Case Study Example

Running Head: Case Study Report About Staffing Case Study Report About Staffing Insert name: Module: Instructor: Institution: Date: Executive summary The most important resources in any company are its human resources, as it plays a key role in helping organization achieve their goals and objectives. In the ever-changing competitive environment employees in a company determine its success or failure. Appropriate human resources guarantee an organization that the expected set of individuals are available at the expected time and place so that organizational goals can be met. Human resource management processes help control employees activities in realizing the set goals. Job descriptions play a vital role in the recruitment and staffing practices of a company. A good and effective job description acts as a guide that tells an employee where their job fits within the overall department and the overall company. In order to develop one, the first step is to do brainstorming with other employees, then do job analysis and finally, write the job description. In the modern world, the “successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered” (Heathfield n.d.). In order to meet these standards, human resource manager’s role has been revised to include multifaceted aspects of human resource management that includes recruiting, hiring, training, organization development, communication, performance management, coaching, policy recommendation, salary and benefits, team building, employee relations and leadership. This report analyses the human resources practices of Circular Book Solutions focusing on job description and person specifications. It further explores how human resource practices can help develop staffing practices to support circular growth and provide a competitive advantage. The report will address the methodology to solve the issue of job descriptions. It will also highlight the possible ways that human resource professional can be utilized for the future growth of a company. According to Starbucks, the largest retail company in Seattle, human resource management has been vital to its growth and competitive advantage (‘Case Study’ 2005, p. 3). The report will conclude with the recommendations for the effective result orientation. Table of contents Pages Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 Background 3 Circular Case study 4 Job description 5 Steps to Develop Job description 6 Competitive advantage 7 Conclusion 9 Recommendations 9 References 12 Introduction Employees are the key assets of an organization for they determine its success or failure. Human resource sometimes refers to a function carried out within an organization, responsible for the general implementation of strategies and policies in relation to managing of individuals. The originality of this function is coined around 1960s where firms initiated welfare management practices. From there arose administrative activities that coordinated a wide range of workers processes and was termed as personnel function. Human resources continually became a common function, primarily in the U.S.A., Australia and in international companies focusing on strategic approach of their workforce for competitiveness of available resources that are very scarce globally. For effective learning and control of the employees, Human Resource Management (HRM) was introduced to deal with the processes that help manage human resources for the satisfaction of the employees who in return work loyally and enthusiastically to contribute in the growth of the company. HRM has become popular in the multinationals and gradually being adopted by the growing organizations. Background of human resources The term human resources have commonly been used by organization to illustrate workforce capacity dedicated toward the attainment of goals. The concept is believed to have been drawn from the many concepts of industrial psychology whose original practice was developed from political economy hence identified as labor, a factor of production. The changes within the organization and incorporation of strategic approaches in the workforce led to adoption human resources concept. As traditional human resource management was restricted to the personnel and administration department of an organization, its role changed with lapse of time. The modern approach of human resource revolves around the fact that “successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered” (Heathfield n.d.). The organizational changes are believed to go hand in hand with the changing role of human resource manager viewed as the employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor” (McNamara n.d.). Human resource manager is seen as a strategic partner to organizational success. Human resources professional has the tasked to control and manage the entire workforce functions, such as recruiting, hiring, training, organization development, communication, performance management, coaching, policy recommendation, salary and benefits, team building, employee relations and leadership (‘Checklist’ n.d.). Circular Book Solutions case study Circular Book Solutions is a medium level company in provision of warehousing facilities to small publishers of books. It has a workforce of about 29 staff with different set of responsibilities. The business is still growing and changing rapidly as new avenues are being created because of increasing size. Clients are calling for faster order fulfillment with a weekly turn around. For the case of Circular Book Solutions, Mary Wensley is the General Manager and responsible for the workforce, she needs to averse herself with human resources practices that are able to address the workforce capacity and plan for its operations. Job descriptions Job description describe the duties, responsibilities, most important contributions and outcomes needed from a position, required qualifications of candidates, and reporting relationship and coworkers of a particular job. A job description causes the manager of the position and any other employees already performing the job to agree on the responsibilities and scope of the position (Wilkinson 1988). In the Circular Book Solutions, job descriptions have been the key to human resources management. With its varied employees’ roles, the latter has helped to define HR responsibilities. The rapid change in organizational structure of the business calls for a defined workforce system. Revising the job descriptions will help the General Manager administer and exercise human resource practices by understanding the knowledge, skills, education, experience, and capabilities that she is looking for in a new employee, so an effective recruiting plan can be formulated. The intended new framework of job descriptions and person specifications will help candidates about the duties and responsibilities of the position for which they are applying and may protect the company legally when it can demonstrate why the candidate selected for a position was the most qualified and culturally suited applicant. Moreover, job descriptions and person specification will help the General Manager of Circular Book Solutions articulate the most important outcomes from an employee performing a particular job. The inclusion of HR expertise in develop staffing practices is very vital for the business at the moment, because it will come up with new human resource approaches and phase out the old ones. The HR expertise will further develop the workforce staffing by supporting circular growth and initiate a competitive advantage at the market. A well-defined framework of job description will guide and help employees. For instance, a well-written job description acts as a guide that tells an employee where their job fits within the overall department and the overall company (Schuler 1984, p. 21). It helps employees from other departments, who must work with the person hired, understand the boundaries of the person's responsibilities. This will help to eliminate cases of duties clashes among the employees. Steps to develop job descriptions Brainstorming with Peers is the primary step in developing job description framework. The HR professional should brainstorm on the basics of workforce and organizational requirements. This step is very crucial if Circular Book Solution is geared toward solving the human resources issues and straightening out job descriptions. According to Schuler (1984, p. 11), a job description should also comprise information regarding working conditions, tools, equipment used, knowledge and skills needed, and relationships with other positions. Therefore, a proper job description entails brainstorming with other employees who are performing similar jobs. Additionally, if the position is new and will relieve current employees of work load, they should be part of the discussion. Secondly, job analysis should be carried out. The HR expert needs to use employees’ documents that are updated as responsibilities change. The process may also entail the use of past record to understand the trend in job descriptions. Job analysis will help Mary, the general manager to introduce any intended approaches to her workers; new techniques will help the workforce to stretch their experience, grow their skills, and develop their ability as well as contribute to the attainment of business goals. In conducting job analysis, comparison of the Circular Book Solution jobs should be compare with existing jobs of the same kind in other firms. By so doing, it helps the personnel manager to come up with a very competitive workforce framework in the job market. The expected outcome should also be put into consideration during the job analysis. An analysis of the work duties, tasks and responsibilities that need to be accomplished by the employee filling the position, research and sharing with other companies that have similar jobs. Thirdly, the HR expert needs to undertake an overview of the suggested changes and align them with organizational goals then see what to take and discard. The overview will comprise of overall position description with general areas of responsibility listed, essential functions of the job described with a couple of examples of each, required knowledge, skills, and abilities, required education and experience, a description of the physical demands, and a description of the work environment (Legge 2004, p. 12). The overview will be followed with the implementation of the selected approaches. The last part of job descriptions will be the periodic review to make sure it accurately reflects what the employees are doing and the company’s expectations of results from the employees (Cascio & Aguinis 2005). Competitive advantage Competitive advantage is very crucial to a company’s growth and prosperity (Habir & Larasati 1999, p. 14). Although companies pursue many paths to competitive advantage, there is one that is not recognized. The most critical path that leads to competitive advantage is capitalizing on superior human resource management, as the case of Circular Book Solution. For a competitive advantage to be realized in the business, the general manager should understand and anticipate a quick response barriers, intelligence systems, preemption potentials, infrastructure requirements, calculated sacrifices, general management challenges, and punch and counterpunch planning”. As Peters and Waterman (1982) point out, all the excellent organizations surveyed made effective use of their human resources and they did this through their personnel and human resource management. The responsibility vested in the general manager position of Circular Book Solution should heavily concentrate on recruiting and staffing logistics, performance management and improvement tracking systems; employee orientation, development, and training logistics and recordkeeping; assisting with employee relations; company-wide committee facilitation and participation; company employee communication; compensation and benefits administration and recordkeeping; employee safety, welfare, wellness, and health reporting; and employee services; maintaining employee files and the HR filing system; assisting with the day-to-day efficient operation of the HR office. Such practices will help the firm pursue its competitive advantage approaches successfully. Having a well defined job description framework can contribute to the accomplishment of HR practices and objectives of Circular Book Solution that will provide an employee-oriented, high performance culture that emphasizes empowerment, quality, productivity and standards, goal attainment, and the recruitment and ongoing development of a superior workforce. Conclusion Human resource management is an integral tool through which a company can gain competitive advantage and continue its drive upward towards for the attainment of its mission. The management of Circular Business Solutions needs to realize the current workforce solution for it to maximize on the utilization of the available resources. Job descriptions play a vital role in the recruitment and staffing practices of a company. A good and effective job description acts as a guide that tells workers where their job fits within the overall department and the overall company. In the modern world, the “successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered” (Heathfield n.d.). In order to meet these standards, an HR manager’s role should be revised to include multifaceted aspects of HRM that includes recruiting, hiring, training, organization development, communication, performance management, coaching, policy recommendation, salary and benefits, team building, employee relations and leadership. Recommendations For the Circular Book Solution to develop job descriptions and to perform the diverse range of activities for the growth and competitive advantage the following should be put into account: Timeframe: The management team should keep a wide scope of the key task of developing staffing processes of 37 employees. An estimated time of three weeks will be appropriate to execute the task of job description and person specification. Technology: Circular Book Solution needs to undertake many transformations in technology change to compete ahead and enjoy the competitive advantage at the market. It has to develop its increasing power of internet usage, computer accounting, barcode usage, electronic cards and mobile communications to meet the current needs of the clients. These developments could enable it to keep more data records and make it feasible to share information quickly and at a low cost. Organization structure: Circular structures should be designed in a manner to enhance power and reflect vital roles in addition to relationships in a hierarchical structure emphasizing on strategy from the management as well as establishing co-ordination, and communication in employees. The HR control system should focus on monitoring the workforce policy and procedures in the organization. References ‘Case Study’, (2005). Starbucks’ Human Resource Management Policies and the Growth Challenge: A Case Study. Retrieved from http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/HROB068.htm Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2005). Applied Psychology in Human Resource Management, 6th Ed. Habir, A.D., & Larasati, A.B., (1999). “Human resource management as competitive advantage in the new millennium: An Indonesian perspective”: International Journal of Manpower. MCB UP Ltd., Volume 20, Issue 8, Pp. 548-563 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=D083C756459E0FB1FA608ABF4EC58222?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkpdf&contentId=848257 Heathfield, S.M., (n.d.). Why Job Descriptions Make Good Business Sense: Five Tips About Employee Job Descriptions. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryj/a/jobdescriptions.htm Legge, K., (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities (Anniversary ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-403-93600-5. MacMillan, I.C., (1983). “Seizing Competitive Initiative”: The Journal of Business Strategy, pp. 43-57 McNamara, (n.d.). Human Resource Management and Talent Management. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/hr_mgmnt/hr_mgmnt.htm Peters, T.J., & Waterman, R.H., Jr., (1982). “In Search of Excellence”, New York: Warner Books Schuler, R.S., (1984). “Personnel and Human Resource Management. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 2nd ed. Schuler, R.S., & MacMillan, I.C., (1984). “Gaining Competitive Advantage through Human Resource Management Practices”: Human Resource Management, Vol. 23, Number 3, Pp. 241-255 http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~schuler/mainpages/GainingCompAdvantageHRMpractices.pdf Wilkinson, A. (1988). "Empowerment: theory and practice". Personnel Review 27 (1): 40–56. Doi: 10.1108/00483489810368549. Retrieved from http://hermia.emeraldinsight.com/vl=2601464/cl=84/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/cw/mcb/00483486/v27n1/s3/p40. Read More