Human Resource Management - Connectacom - Case Study Assessment Answer

Human Resource Management Case Study Assignment

Case Scenario

Connectacom:

Connectacom is a European telecom company that has interests and employs staff in 10 countries across the continent, so has a diverse range of employees. It has recently sold a significant proportion of the company through two high profile flotations on the London Stock Exchange. During the flotations, city analysts and investors were impressed by Connectacom’s strong leadership team and comprehensive global strategy. It employs 800 people in total, with the majority being based in London at the Head Office, where there is a large call centre. The staff employed there are typically young and from a wide number of backgrounds and heritages. The culture is demanding, with a strong focus on delivering exceptional customer service, especially for the front line staff who have specific targets to meet and are paid accordingly. There is no union representation within Connectacom and management are experienced and long serving technical experts that perhaps don’t reflect the diversity of their teams.

The Human Resources department is seen as integral to the business and has a good reputation with both managers and staff. However, the Head of Human Resources in the UK, Amir Khan, has noticed that Connectacom’s front line staff rarely stay with the company for more than a year. Exit interviews have shown that a high proportion of talented front line employees left the company because they were not happy, for the duration of their employment, in the sales, operations and administration departments.

Among the criticisms of these departments were:

• the development of blame culture
• no potential for promotion
• unsociable environment
• detached senior management
• lack of resources provided by line managers
• old-fashioned working conditions and attitudes to work

Khan is keen to stem the outflow of talented individuals since it is becoming a point of contention with the board. The board feel that it is adversely affecting performance and increasing training costs unnecessarily.

Assignment Task

Q1. As Head of Human Resources, describe what sort of activities would Amir Khan and his team be responsible for within Connecticom.

Q2. Identify (explain) what ethical issues might be a problem for Connecticom and what the implications for each could be.

Q3. Evaluate how HR practices can create a positive work place for employees in an organization.

Q4. Make HR focused recommendations to stop the flow of talent out of Connecticom.

As head of Human resources the responsibilities of the HR manger and their team is to ensure that the employees of the company are happy and work towards increasing their efficiency. One of the biggest responsibilities of HRM is to ensure that each employee gets the deserved compensation.it is the duty of HRM to ensure that employees are provided with incentive in a constant manner where they’re charged with the development of the salary structure of theemployee due to which the employees may feel satisfied and maximize the companies goals by given them performance based incentives (Mondy, Noe & Premeaux, 2005).

The second role of the HRM is to provide training and development. The training and development provided to employee is to ensure that their skills set is enhanced and are in line with the requirement of the organization. The kind of training that the employees need is dependent on the HRM. for example in some cases the employee may require on the job training while in other cases they may require a class room training. The budget and time required for training and development is also decided by the HRM where they have to ensure that their goals are met (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

The third role of the HRM is the acquisition and retention of employee. The recruitment process is decided by the HRM which consist of the ways that the organization needs are going to be met when it come to the talent requirements. The HRM uses various modes to hire which can through the internal portal or external means like newspapers. website or job portals. This also requires the selection of applicant and setting up the entire interview process as well as the coordination of the selected candidates with the organization (Boxall & Purcell, 2011).

The fourth role of the HRM is to ensure constant motivation of the employees much that the attrition in the company is lessened and the company and retain talent. This includes giving them financial incentives over their compensations or non-financial compensation like acknowledgement of their work or celebrating their success in the company. This also includes a smooth line of communication between the senior and the junior management to ensure that the voices are heard and they are constant motivated to perform better at their job. The provision of rewards and benefits is another way to motivate employee like provision of health insurance, transportation needs, and stock options among others (Dowling, 2008)

The job of the HRM is to as address any type of grievances that the employee has and ensure that these conflicts are resolved in manner where the organizations and the employees re satisfied. The HRM should have a non-biased approach to all its employees and it’s their duty to ensure that all the work is done within the legal jurisdiction of the company while meeting the objectives of the company.

The company can have a number of ethical issues due to which they can have implications for the company. The ethical issues can come up while hiring when applicant may submit fake documents in order to prove their credentials. This can also happen at a later stage when the employee is completely skilled and is good at the job but does not have the required qualification for the job. The implication of their challenge is that the validity of employees kills set is questioned by customers and they may not be able to maintain their reputation in the business (Datta, Guthrie & Wright, 2005).

Each organization has a framework which outlines the regulation of being a non-discrimination company. the practice of treating employees in the same manner when it come stop caste, creed, sex, religion, disability etc. it is necessary that the each company follows this regulation and in many cases a demanding ethical challenge comes up when the company is not able to maintain this policy. In many cases a candidate is selected due to their cultural background which may be similar to person who is taking the interview process or due to another factors should not be a part of the interview process The implication of this ethical misconduct can be a law suit against the company which can cost a large amount of money amounting in thousands of pounds in order to get it sorted (Daley, 2006).

When it come stop the performance evaluation of an employee, it is essential that the HRM does it in an ethical manner. The performance evaluation should be done solely on the basis of the way an employee has performed in the given year and the benefits that the organization has derived from the employee. The HRM team find it difficult in much case to be ethically sound by facing the dilemma when team heads have assigned a higher rating to a non-deserving employee due to their closeness or other unrelated factors. The implication of this for the company is that the non-deserving employee gets the benefits they do not deserve while the deserving employee who is also an asset for the company does not get the deserved benefits. This leads to attrition and the company has to work harder to find a talented candidate hence spending money on training and development of the employee (Avey, Luthans & Jensen, 2009).

The company also faces an ethical challenge when it comes to restructuring and laying off employees. For example in the given company if Connectacom’s has to restructure it company and may be required to lay of employee, the first ethical dilemma it will face as tow which employees should be removed. In many cases even though the employee is performing well but due to the shutdown of the particular function of the company, it has to lay off the entire team due to which the employee may deem it as an unethical practice.

The HR team can employ a number of initiates to create a positive environment in the company. These initiatives are discussed below

First the company should have an ice breaking session between the senior and the lower management such that they can understand each other’s point of view. Communication is an integral aspect of employee relationship and the smooth flow of information between the two can help the HR team to create a positive environment within the company. The junior management can talk about their issues with the senior management to the HR and they can develop a way in which the two can facilitate communication in an amicable manner (Bratton & Gold, 2012).

The HR team should also ensure that the environment of the company especially for the frontline employees who are in constant engagement with customer are provided with a n atmosphere where they can talk to other employee and take a small break in the middle of their work. By having a social area in the office where employees can take some time off and interact with their colleagues will keep them fresh and motivated to stick to the company. It is important to have a friendly atmosphere in the company which will help employees feel comfortable and enjoy their work (Guest, 2011).

The company should also ensure that it uses modern technology and processes to help the employees and create a positive environment for example the company can introduce casual Fridays where the employees can come in wearing casual clothing such that it contributes to a different working day. Also if it an employee’s birthday, they can be given a half day off and it is celebrated by the company during the lunch hour. This will make the employee feel that they are part of the company and their important events are linked to the importance of the organization (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011).

The company should also update their resources required by the employees like stationary, information technology needs and other requirement according to their job profile in a monthly manner or as in when necessary such that there ii no hindrance to their work. In many cases the employee get disappointed when their resource requirement is not met due to which it has a negative impact on their work. The main thing is to ensure that if an employee has a complain, they should be able to approach the HR manner without any problem and should voice their grievance that should be kept anonymous with the RH,, this will reduce the blame game that the company currently experiences and will allow employees to sort out any problems that they have hence creating a positive atmosphere (Wall and Wood, 2005)