Management of People in Organizations - Essay Example

Management of People in Organizations Executive Summary The paper discusses the case of Vitamond which is a company based in the United Kingdom and produces drinks that are non alcoholic and healthy in nature. The organization has plans to grow big and establish its presence in another country where its drinks will be appreciated as much as they are in the United Kingdom, in other European countries and in North America. The plan is to establish another manufacturing unit in Germany. This report identifies the various key features and elements that the organization will have to look into with respect to human resource recruitment and management, along with ensuring that the employees are working towards the common goal of the organization. In addition, the report also identifies some features related to culture and norms that need to be catered to as well. Management of People in Organizations Introduction Vitamond is a manufacturing concern that produces non alcoholic drinks in order to promote a healthy lifestyle among people. This organization has grown by leaps and bounds based on the premise on which they sell their drinks. At this point in time, Vitamond has a secret formula based on which it produces flavored drinks which are healthy and tasty. These drinks are then exported to various European countries and in the North America. Because of the immense success of the organization, the management has decided to branch off into another country and start producing these drinks in another similar country. The choices that the management has include France and Germany of which Germany has been chosen as the country in which another manufacturing set up will be established. The opportunity in Germany is such that another manufacturing plant is going to be established there along with a possibility of a warehouse. In addition to that, on the operational level, about two hundred and fifty people will be employed, who will be part of administration, management and production in this set up. A local subsidiary set up has been done to monitor and administer the manufacturing plant in Germany. In addition that, an expatriate from United Kingdom has been sent to Germany to head the business unit that has been established in the country. Moreover, another expatriate will also be sent who will act as the quality assurance manager for the manufacturing plant. This paper aims to define the various human resource practices that would be required in order to help manage the personnel within the organization in Germany. In addition, the paper also aims to identify the various practices that are part of Germany and how they need to be adapted to the organization. Human Resource Practices in General Basic human resource management practices remain the same across the globe. The basics of human resource management include hiring the right employees, working out the correct benefits and compensation that is fit for the employees based on their skills and the work they perform within the organization, employee placement in correct jobs and tasks within the organization, maintaining good relations in terms of employees as well as labor, managing diversity within the organization, training as well as development, motivating employees in terms of performance and then appraising work for future performance. All of these elements have to form as a basic part of human resource management plans within the organization in order to run the German based manufacturing plant and subsidiary that have been established. The top management has to focus on the basic ideologies of human resource management like the ones mentioned earlier in order to be able to retain the employees that have been hired, as these employees can fast become an asset to the organization. (Bizmanualz, 2008; Mathis and Jackson, 2011) Recruitment of Employees Within recruitment of employees, the major areas that the organization needs to focus on include defining complete job descriptions for the various tasks that are part of the organization including production, administration and management. In addition, complete application obtaining procedures will have to be defined so that potential employees can send in their applications or resumes. Along with that, application status and procedures for interviewing and hiring the correct resources for the matching job have to be defined as well in order to ensure that the right job is being assigned to the right person. It must be noted that the organization has to ensure that the organizational objectives of getting its business started, set up and being successful are being met through the jobs that have been defined, and through the employees that have been matched and hired to fulfill those job profiles. The ideology behind correct hiring processes is not simply to fill up the organizational hierarchy but also to ensure that objectives of the organization are being met as well since the ideology behind setting up the German plant is to help the organization to grow and be more successful. (Barbar, 1998; Arthur, 2006) Management of Employees Management of employees within the organization is extremely important because it is the primary way through which organizations can move towards a competitive advantage. A business needs to learn how to ensure employees are motivated, are performing well and are fulfilling their key performance indicators in order to make sure that the business is meeting its strategic objectives. The ideology behind the entire organizational set up is also to focus on internal customers that they are satisfied with their job, their needs are being met and they are performing well towards the vision and mission of the organization. Various management and motivation theories are applicable in this scenario with Theory X and Theory Y given by Douglas McGregor. This theory indicates that employees can be categorized into two types, ones who are motivated by compensation and benefits while others who are motivated intrinsically. Therefore, they have to be targeted individually based on their motivational requirements so that they perform well. Employees who are motivated through benefits have to be monitored and given incentives to fulfill their job requirements while those who are motivated intrinsically have to be managed through acknowledgement and appreciation. The other theories that are part of employee management include the stakeholder theory part of which was mentioned earlier. Employees have to be considered as part of the organization and as stakeholders within the organization. Therefore, employees when considered as internal customers will become more important for the organization and will be paid more attention in terms of their needs and wants. Conflict of interest may arise due to agency problems such as international customers jeopardizing the benefits and services to be offered to external customers, therefore, a strong balance will have to be kept amongst them. In that respect, the organization has to be staunch about its incentives and benefits that it needs to pass on to the internal customers so as to balance the outcomes and performance for its external customers. (Schneider and Bowen, 1993; Koontz and Weihrich, 2006) Motivation and Group Dynamics in Employees Two major elements for the employees within the organization include motivation as well as group dynamics. If employees are motivated and are satisfied with their job, they would be performing well, meeting their targets and key performance indicators, and will be giving the output that the organization requires in order to succeed and maintain its competitive advantage. Therefore, for all the new employees within the organization, complete motivation benefits, both monetary and non-monetary, will have to be defined so that these employees can be given incentives to perform well. (Hackman and Oldham, 2004; Deci and Ryan, 2000) In addition to that, the organization also has to focus on group dynamics that are part of the organization. It has been noted in research that organizations perform well when employees work in group and teams. Team or group dynamics work to maintain strong employee productivity due to the synergetic effects that come from a team’s combined effort towards a task. Therefore, the organization must focus on creating well and liked minded groups for projects related to production and management so that employees can combine their efforts to meet organizational objectives a better manner. In addition to that, groups also help in keeping track of individual employees which in turn helps the employees to meet their individual goals as well. (Hartman, 2006) Human Resource Policies and Laws within Germany While the organization has set up its production unit and subsidiary within Germany, it must also take heed of the laws and regulations that are part of German human resource and labor laws. It is also pertinent to study the various elements that are part of human resource policies within other German organizations in order to ensure that the organization is meeting the norms and regulations within the industry as well. Some of the key elements that the organization needs to look out for include work week timings, flexible hours, vacation timings and rulings regarding it, sick leaves and their regulations, maternity and paternity leave options, labor rulings, minimum wage rates and labor union rulings. In addition to that, other norms that are followed within the industry have to be observed and followed as well some of which include treatment of employees, hiring and termination procedures, minimum wages and salary rates, types of organizational set ups along with elements pertaining to management and motivation of employees that other organizations follow. Cultural Differences in the Country The organization has set up its manufacturing concern in a country that is significantly different from its UK origins. It must be noted that there are going to be significant barriers against which the organization will have to establish and run itself. The first and foremost difficulty to encounter is that of language. German is the primary language of use in official set ups therefore, it is important that the organization focuses on maintaining this language within the organizational set up for all expatriates as well as local employees. In addition to that, there will be significant cultural barriers with respect to nuances and ways by which business is conducted in Germany. Along with that, the organization will also have to focus on religious differences in case they arise within the organization. Rules and regulations that are part of the human resource manual and policy should include all elements pertaining to cultural nuances and elements pertaining to the country’s norms and values in order to make sure that any differences of opinion that arise are sorted out immediately through the policy manual. If such a case does not exist, then the organization may face difficulties since the problem may require a third party mediation which may be costly and time consuming. Reflection Diary The assignment and course have helped to learn a significant number of elements pertaining to human resource management as well as about management of organizations. The ideology behind any organizational set up is of course to meet organizational objectives which in turn lead to earning better revenue streams for the shareholders of the company. In this case, the organization planned to grow outside its home country and several issues pertaining to human resource management may be raised. The learning in this case primarily entailed about how human resources need to be managed within a newly formed organization and how they need to be motivated in order to ensure that the organization runs in the right direction. One of the key areas that may not be part of this research, include that the organization has to ensure that it has set up its key goals and performance indicators before it starts production within the new market. Without goals, the organization cannot run in the right direction, therefore, it must ensure that the right strategic goals have been set up to steer the organization towards the right path to meet them. I believe this concept should also apply in one’s personal life. One must align their tasks and projects towards particular goals that they want to meet. Otherwise, it would be difficult and may sometimes be impossible to achieve any tangible goals because the orientation of the person towards betterment is not correct at all. Conclusion To conclude, the organization has some key areas to focus on which include human resource management and acquisition, along with motivating and maintaining those employees that have been hired. Along with that the organization also has to focus on elements such the nuances that are part of the culture and the value sets that people tend to follow within the organization and outside the organization within the country. It is pertinent to keep all the value systems, norms and social set ups the same within the organization in order to ensure that employees do not feel displaced by working in a foreign set up due to the fact that the organization also has a foreign top management, expatriates from UK who are going to be working and managing the strategic level of the organization in Germany. The ideology of this organization should be such that each employee works towards the goals of the organization both as an individual unit, and as a collective unit in groups and teams. In return, the organization needs to focus on its employees and ensure that it formulates rules and regulations such that employees are considered as part of internal customers and treated that way. In this case, it will also help the organization to gel the employees together with the culture of the organization and ensure that they work towards the common goal of the organization that is, improving the profitability of the company for the shareholders. References Arthur, D. (2006). Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees. AMACOM. Barbar, A. (1998). Recruiting employees: Individual and organizational perspectives. Foundations for organizational science.11. p.178 Bizmanualz. (2008). Human Resources Procedures For Employee Management. Bizmanualz. Deci, E., and Ryan, R. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), p.68-78 Hackman, J., and Oldham, G. (2004). Motivation through the design of work: test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16 (2), p.250–279 Hartman, L. (2006). Perspectives In Bus Ethics. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. 3rd Ed. Koontz, H, and Weihrich, H. (2006). Essentials Of Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Mathis, R, and Jackson, J. (2011). Human Resource Management: Essential Perspectives. Cengage Learning. Schneider, B, and Bowen, D. (1993). The service organization: Human resources management is crucial. Organizational Dynamics, 21(4), 39-52 Read More