Phillips Working Environment - Case Study Example

Name: Class: Unit: Introduction As a human resource manager, I recall Phillips in Victoria case study that I studied years ago. Philips was facing several issues that had an impact on the human resource management. The company had low production levels, poor quality control, poor labour relations, unsettled workforce and poor employee morale. The company thus experienced high labour turnover and a reduction in tariffs. The main cause of the company problems was the work methods, physical and social environment and the existing decision making procedures in the factory. I identified several issues that existed at Phillips. I also learnt about the job and work design from the Philips case that can help in ensuring that my factory workers are optimally productive.’ Issues Poor working environment The employee worked in a monotonous and rigid environment. They had no freedom due to the rigidity of the production procedure used. The layout of their working environment made it hard for them to have social interactions. The human resource management had failed in providing the employees with good working environment (Baird, 23). In a firm, the human resource management is supposed to ensure that the employees’ welfare is catered for. Philips human resource management was bound by the old production lines from making changes. The lines had been designed with little consideration of the employees’ welfare. For example, the production lines made it hard for the employees to interact. The work place layout made it hard for the employees to interact. Through interacting, the employees are able to work as a team with a common objective. Team work was not being effectively carried out by the firm. The human resource management has a responsibility to ensure that employees are able to work in a collaborative working environment. The bond created through interaction by the employees helps them to be more productive through collaboration (Baird, 17). Reduction in the company production levels can also be associated with the poor working conditions. The human resource management had to control a workforce that was in poor working conditions. The employees worked in an environment where they could easily get stressed due to monotony and rigidity. This meant than the employee development was hard as their tasks did not require a lot of skills. The human resource department did not have to develop the employees since they did not require specialised skills in their duties. For the organisation, this meant there were low levels of innovation and invention (Robinson, 31). If the human resource is able to continuously develop the employees, the firm benefits from increased innovation and invention which are critical for success. Poor employee relations The employee relations at Philips were poor. Quality control was hard due to fact that rigidity in the workplace led to frictions among workers as they corrected each other problems. The employees’ relationship was not bonded and they did not view each other as a team. The human resource management had to deal with employees who had a poor relationship with each other (Robinson, 14). The employees did not bond with each other in their tasks. The level of support to each other was low leading to frictions and poor quality. The supervisors acted as overseers which made the working environment more rigid. Team work is needed in organisations. The supervisors should work closely with the other employees to ensure that everything is well coordinated (Baird, 24). Poor motivation Employees working in the company had poor morale. The human resource management is tasked with ensuring that then workforce is motivated in carrying out their duties. Poor motivation among the employees can lead to a reduction in the firm productivity. Motivation can be financial or non financial. In the case of Philips, the employees’ poor morale is associated with poor working conditions. The human resource management can use non financial incentives to motivate the employees. Success in an organisation is associated with motivated employees. The repetitions and monotonous work environment led to boredom and poor levels of motivation. This is a proof that the working environment can lower the level of employees’ motivation (Doyle, 9). Poor employee engagement Employee engagement can be defined as their commitment to the organisation both emotionally and intellectually (Richman, 37). The employee passion for work defines their level of engagement. At Philips, the level of engagement was low. The human resource department had not put efforts in ensuring the employees have passion in their tasks. The employees were not fully involved in their jobs. They worked with little collaboration where friction was eminent among them. This had led to low productivity and quality. The labour turnover was high. Aspect of the workplace has an effect on the employee engagement. The human resource management have the ability to improve or lower the level of employee engagement (Welbourne, 47). Lesson learnt A good working environment have a great impact on the organisation production levels and employees output. In an organisation, having a flexible working environment can lead to higher productivity through employee engagement. There have been rise in demand for flexible working environment. Teams and colleagues in workplace need to have an effective communication. The human resource management have to ensure that the employees work in a flexible workplace. High commitment levels are possible in a flexible working environment (Bowditch & Buono, 45). Through changing the working environment, Philips was able to recoup their productivity levels. The company efficiency levels were improved. Though flexibility in the workplace may lead to the organisation incurring direct costs, there is a positive return on the investment. Having an improvement in staff performance is adequate to justify the expenses incurred. The company was able to expand the employees’ potential. The employees are able to focus more on the output rather than their inputs. The employees were engaged in working environment where the levels of flexibility were low. The traditional setting used did not give the employee freedom they needed in a workplace. As a human resource manager, ensuring that the work environment is attractive to the employees is vital. The employees are more dedicated when they are in a good working environment (Bowditch & Buono, 43). Employee motivation is a vital aspect in their performance (Baldoni, 44). Motivated employees are able to give the best efforts to the organisation. At Philips the level of employee motivation was very low. The employees had lost morale in their tasks which lowered the levels of production. The poor working environment and structure had led to most of the employees losing motivation (Robinson, 27). Through redesigning of the workplace, employee motivation was improved. The employees were allowed to decorate their work places and the drab environment was eliminated. Workers could be allowed to take tea breaks when they needed it. For the employees to be motivated there are both monetary and non monetary incentives. Philips used non monetary incentives to improve the employee motivation. The employees were given good working conditions and freedom. As a human resource manager, incentives should not only be monetary. To ensure that the employees are able to be optimally productive, there is need to look at all means which can enhance their motivation (Doyle, 7). Employees are the key drivers in an organisation and if they are not committed, there can be no success. Employee motivation enables them to work hard in achieving their goals as well as the organisation goals. For the employees, managers represent resources. The management should ensure that the work environment is pleasant to work in. The human resource management should be fast in recognising the employees’ needs. For the motivation to be effective, both parties should participate (Doyle, 7). The employees and management must work together in the motivation plan. I have learned that the motivation plan should be acceptable by the employees as well as the management in order for it to be effective. Improving productivity can be done through high levels of motivation (Ramlall, 56). The organisation structure affects the level of productivity. For example, Philips utilised traditional pyramid structure which led to poor communication and problem solving. The employees could not solve their problem effectively due to the poor method that was in place. By changing the structure to matrix, it became easier to communicate and solve problems. As the human resource manager, there is need to ensure that the structure in the organisation is able to support communication and enable the employees to solve their problems more easily. From the case study, job and work design plays a vital role in organisation performance (Parker, & Wall, 23). Job design involves developing job structures that are able to meet the organisation needs and the employee individual requirements. From the case study, it is evident that all issues at Philips were solved through job and work design. The employees were able to take quality control as their job, they developed multi skills through cross workers training and employees were involved in designing the work. The organisation changed their production lines and used modern ones. The outcome was an efficient organisation with high production levels (Diversity Council of Australia). As the human resource manager, I have learned the need to ensure that work and job design at the organisation are carried out appropriately (Baird). This will ensure that issues that occurred at Phillips do not occur at this plant in Manila. References Baird, Marian, Organisational effectiveness and the flexible workplace: Presentation to the Senior Executive Service of the Australian Public Service on 19 August 2010. Baldoni, John. Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders. New York: McGrawHill, 2005. Print. Bowditch, James & Buono, Anthony. A Primer on Organisational Behaviour.5thed. New York, John Wiley, 2001. Print. Diversity Council of Australia, Get Flexible: Mainstreaming Flexible Work in Australian Business. Sydney: DCA, 2012. Print. Doyle, Shawn. The Manager's Guide to Motivating Employees. Amherst: HRD, 2004. Parker, Sharon., and Wall, Toby. D. Job and work design: Organizing work to promote well- being and effectiveness. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1998. Print. Ramlall, Sunil. “A Review of Employee Motivation Theories and Their Implications for Employee Retention within Organizations,” Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 5, no. 2, (2004): 52-63. Richman, Amy. “Everyone wants an engaged workforce how can you create it?” Workspan, Vol 49, no.1, (2006), pp 36-39. Robinson, Izabela. Human Resource Management in Organisations. London, CIPD, 2006. Print. Welbourne, Theresa. “Employee engagement: Beyond the fad and into the executive suite”, Leader to Leader, Spring, no. 44(2007), pp 45-51. Read More