Human Resource Management Management Decision

Question: Describe about the Human Resource Management for Management Decision. Answer: 1. In order to deal with an intoxicated employee, it is imperative for the company or employer in question to have a company policy in place which clearly states that alcoholism during work hours or working under the influence of alcohol at workplace in banned. Using the company policy, the supervisor can issue warning to the employee who might be coming intoxicated at work. However, this should be limited to only the first couple of instances as the cost of alcoholism may be exceptionally high for the organisation. It is imperative that this must be issued only after having all relevant data which indicates the intoxication beyond any doubt. Fines may also be imposed during the initial stages. However, if the employee does not improve the conduct, then the employee may have to be terminated or referred to EAP (Employee Assistance Program). Besides, it is imperative that the supervisor should be vigilant with regards to such employees and must observe signs of alcoholism such as high absenteeism, inefficiency at work along with behavioural issues (Mondy and Mondy, 2012). In dealing with an intoxicated employee, it is imperative to consider certain mitigating circumstances such as the performance of employee on job, behaviour with colleagues, extent of the problem particularly with regards to consumption and the frequency of the same. The nature of disciplinary action would tend to be dictated by the above factors even though intoxicated employees would be discouraged. For instance, an employee who has only rare issues with alcoholism and otherwise has exceptional work performance would more likely be considered for an EAP rather than termination (Werner and Desimone, 2012). EAP or Employee Assistance Program may be defined as a work based intervention program which is designed for ensuring the employees wellbeing in all the senses i.e. emotional, mental and psychological. Since the problem of alcoholism impacts the wellbeing of the employee besides adversely impacting the work performance, hence EAP is quite relevant to deal with such problems. Under this program, there are professional counsellors who provide counselling to employees facing the issue of alcoholism and therefore would enable to overcome the issue in a gradual manner. The counsellors at EAP help in assessing the exact nature of the problem and also provide treatment or refer the employees to external treatment or rehabilitation centres if the extent of the problem is severe. Although the counselling offered under EAP program is kept confidential but with the prior permission of the client, the counsellor may appraise the supervisor about the progress of the particular employee which enab les the supervisor to take relevant decisions with regards to continuation of job (Dessler, 2013). 3. A well career management system is beneficial for both employees and employers. This is discussed below. Benefits to Employees It presents a proper career path to the employee based upon the individual ability and interest. This provides a boost to the overall motivation level of the employee and hence increases the productivity level as the employee proactively works towards the career goals. This also creates a positive image of the employer and hence limits the attrition rate and enhances the overall satisfaction level of the employees (Chanda and Shen, 2009). Besides, the career management plans also provide the employees of the organisation opportunity to get promoted and fulfil the various vacancies that may arise in the organisation from time to time. This in turn provides a natural career progression path for their employees which provide them motivation to stay with the organisation. Moreover, an integral part of the successful career management plans is the self-assessment of employees which enables the employee to raise their self-awareness levels especially about their key strengths and weaknesse s. Also, the employee is provided the requisite training so as to ensure that the career management plan that is intended for the employee could actually be executed. Further, it also enables an organisational knowledge transfer system in place with the more experienced personnel manning the senior posts while most freshers or newcomers occupying the entry level positions (Werner and Desimone, 2012). Benefits to employers The employers also share benefits of a successful career management plan. This is primarily in the form of higher retention and lower attrition amongst employees which tends to lower the overall costs involved in hiring and training of new manpower. Besides, it allows that the vacancies arising in the organisation especially at the middle and top management to be filled by internal employees who have been especially groomed for such positions (Mondy and Mondy, 2012). Also, since the retention and employee productivity is enhanced, hence it allows the employer to maintain a competitive edge especially in this knowledge driven economy. Further, it also strengthens the succession pipe as select talent is groomed for future leadership role and hence allows a continuity to be maintained besides providing opportunity for the loyal employees to lead the company (Dessler, 2013). Hence, it may be concluded that a successful career management system provides significant advantages to both employee and employer since it enhances the overall productivity and encourages talent retention. However, a career management system which is not faulty and not driven by the innate interests and merit may be faulty and hence the above discussed gains may not arise. 4. The various similarities amongst on the job experience, management education and management training are as follows (Dessler, 2013). The intention of all the above measures is to enhance the knowledge and overall skillsets of the concerned employee and hence to prepare the person concerned for a particular position. The expense for all the above measures is borne by the company and the employee needs to ensure that the objectives of the program need to be met. The various dissimilarities amongst on the job experience, management education and management training are as follows (Werner and Desimone, 2012). Even though all the above measures foster learning but there is stark difference in the underlying mechanism as the management education focuses more on theoretical learning while on the job experience is entirely about practical learning whereas management training lies in between the continuum,. The management education and management training tend to be implemented in a classroom setting unlike on the job experience which tends to be executed on the floor where the job is being done. The focus of management education tends to be more wide and generalised in nature unlike on the job experience which is highly specific to a particular job profile or role. Similarly, management training tends to be more restrictive in scope as compared to management education but more liberal in comparison to on the job experience. It is imperative that the management development program should not view the above techniques in silos but should aim to integrate the above measures for the holistic development of the employee. As a result, it is imperative that there should be a need assessment based on the underlying job profile. Further, there should be an assessment of the particular employee so as to identify the skill deficit based on which a particular measure or a combination of measures must be deployed in order to ensure that the skill deficit is removed in a time bound manner. It is imperative that the HR managers must seek opinion from the concerned employee with regards to the above options and thus, the suitable technique should be deployed. The HR manager on their part should try to provide some flexibility to employees with regards to the above measures based on their skill deficit, underlying ability, level of seniority and performance (Pinnington and Lafferty, 2003). 5. The change process tends to be unsettling and is often marred by turbulence and resistance from various quarters (Del Val and Fuentes, 2003). In such a background, Scheins theory on change process particularly with regards to individual behaviour. This is particularly significant in the change process whose various stages are discussed in the Lewins change model. However, a critical role in the change process is that of the change agent who potentially influences individual behaviour (Davidson, 2002). The change agent at the unfreezing stage or stage one facilitates the acceptance of change by motivating the employees to change and thereby dispelling the fears and negative attitudes towards change. Further, there is a cognitive restructuring at the second stage so as to introduce an altered point of view which could ensure that the employee embrace change. Finally at the refreezing stage or stage three, the altered view point with regards to change is integrated into the overall t hough process of the employee with the aid of the change agent. This is imperative as it enables the reconfirmation of the self-concept of employees and imbibes the performance standards which are desired by the changed organisation (Werner and Desimone, 2012). One example of an organisation which could successfully manage change using the Scheins theory is the California State University which recently brought sweeping changes in the IT systems of the main campus which also impacted the operations in various 23 campuses affiliated with the university. Due to the sweeping IT system changes, there was high degree of resistance amongst the employees particularly the staff working in various campuses since the IT system looked at bringing a fundamental transformation in the way the business would be conducted. However, the management explained to the employees through various communication channels the exact need of this change and how it would enable that the employee roles are well defined and thus enhance accountability while ensuring that all databases are centralised. This ensured that the employees were willing to change and further could see how they would be benefitted by the new systems. Further, the university also provided them with the requisite training so as to allay any fears and uncertainty that may be prevailing amongst the employees. Finally, the employees accepted the new performance metrics in the aegis of the new improved IT system. The management in this case through their open communication and encouragement acted as a potent change agent (Troyani, 2014). 6. There is difference between EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity), AA (Affirmative Action) and DI (Diversity Inclusion). EEO limits itself to implementation of the government statutes for ensuring that there is no discrimination in the matters of employment. AA is a wider action on part of the employer that aims to implement the government statutes in spirit and hence aims to dismantle the various barriers that may exist during hiring which may cause some discrimination. DI is the wider policy which seeks to ensure that that diversity is celebrated and also the diverse workforce is able to accomplish the organisational goals so that the diverse workforce could be maintained and retained (Werner and Desimone, 2012). One real company that has a functional diversity program is Johnson and Johnson. The company boasts of an office dedicated to diversity and inclusion. This office is headed by a Chief Diversity Officer who reports directly to the CEO of the company. Further, in order to ensure that the employee could embrace diversity as a way of life, the company boasts a diversity university which seeks to educate the employees in this regard besides providing the requisite skills. Also, mentoring in this regard also exists for the employees. In order to ensure EEO, the company has a stringent zero tolerance policy in place which discourages any discrimination and ensures that during hiring preference is given to individuals coming from different backgrounds. The diversity university along with the office of diversity and inclusion are potent measures with regards to AA and DI since the diversity at JJ is not tolerated but rather encouraged through proactive measures as has been discussed above (JJ , nd). It is not imperative that diverse organisations should also be inclusive. This is primarily because the scope of diversity limits itself to have a diverse workforce which comes from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and ensuring that no discrimination is there with regards to hiring of such workforce. However, inclusion concerns itself with regards to the integration between the various elements of this diverse workforce and how well could the employees coming from diverse background be integrated in the fold of the organisational culture. An organisational which has a diverse workforce may not be inclusive as there may be discrimination in terms of routine behaviour or in promotion and training opportunities. It is imperative that the diversity must be embraced in the organisational culture and only then could an inclusive workforce be obtained (Pinnington and Lafferty, 2003). 7. The Hersey and Blanchard situation leadership theory states that the underlying leadership style exhibited by the leader must not remain uniform and must be driven by the underlying maturity level of the followers. The four leadership maturity combinations as advocated as part of this model are briefly highlighted below (Jones, 2005). Telling the followers should be practised in case the follower group has only basic competence and is not willing towards the execution of the task and hence the leader needs to dictate the various steps. Selling needs to be exhibited when the follower group is willing with regard to task execution but the ability is lacking. As a result, there is two-way communication as the leader tends to provide the necessary support to the group in order to convince them of the leadership role occupied by the leader. Participating needs to be exhibited when the follower group has the requisite skillsets of accomplish the job but lacks the self-belief that they possess the necessary skills. In this particular case, since the group is competent, hence the leader tends to share the decision making with the various employees and provides them needed support to enhance their self-belief. Delegating needs to be exhibited when the follower group is both able and willing to do the task and completely prepared to assume the responsibility for the same. In such a scenario, the leader merely delegates the various tasks and only limits involvement to monitoring. The situation leadership model can be integrated with the team development model proposed by Tuckman. At my workplace, for a particular project I was required to work in a team consisting of three other members who were comparatively new. During the forming stage, there was a lot of confusion with regards to responsibility etc. and hence it is imperative that selling leadership style was exhibited where I established myself as the leader by passing instructions so as to enhance the team formation (Hills, 2006). During the storming stage, there were conflicts amongst the team members as there was some degree of mutual compatibility which adversely impacted their underlying motivation level. As a result, the telling leadership style was exhibited so as to ensure that the group tends to carry on with the requisite steps despite the internal differences. During the norming stage, there was resolution of differences through the way of team meetings and there was marked increase in the group cohesion. As a result, the leadership style got altered to participating as despite being the leader, I encouraged the team members to participate in key decision making. Finally, we entering the performing stage where the team worked as a cohesive unit and the team members had the requisite skill along with the motivation to achieve the designated work. The leadership style that was displayed at this juncture was the delegating style since the team was competent enough besides having the requisite motivation and thus only monitoring was required (William, 2009). References Chanda, A. and Shen, J. (2009).HRM strategic integration and organizational performance. Los Angeles: Response Books. Davidson, J. (2002). Overcoming resistance to change, Public Management, 84(11), 21 Del Val, M. P. and Fuentes, M. (2003). Resistance to change: a literature review and empirical study, Management Decision. 41(2), 148-155 Dessler, G. (2013).Human resource management, Boston: Prentice Hall. Hills, H. (2006). Team based learning, London: Gower Publishers JJ (nd), Our people and diversity, Retrieved from Johnson Johnson Website on June 30, 2016 https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/diversity Jones, D. (2005). Executive Coaching and its Role in Effective Leadership Development.International Journal Of Leadership In Public Services,1(1), 45-48. Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2012).Human resource management, Boston: Prentice Hall. Pinnington, A. and Lafferty, G. (2003), Human Resource Management in Australia, New York: Oxford Troyani, L. (2014), 3 EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND WHY THEY GOT IT RIGHT, Retrieved from Tiny Pulse Website on June 30, 2016 https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/3-examples-of-organizational-change-and-why-they-got-it-right Werner, J.M. and Desimone, R.L. (2012), Human Resource Development, New York, South Western Cengage Learning William, K.A. (2009). The Student's Guide to Successful Project Teams New York: Taylor Francis Group