Recent orders
Human Resource Management Case Study of Northern Plant ‘The factory that time forgot.’
Human Resource Management: Case Study of Northern Plant: ‘The factory that time forgot.’
Question one: HRM practices to help the first-line managers (FLM) re-establish the authority and regain the respect of the workforce.
In many organisations, front-line managers are often charged with human resource-related job responsibilities. These managers participate in employee recruitment, performance appraisal, career development, guidance, and standardisation of employee behaviour. Poor front-line management and staff guidance can impact the overall company management of human capital, as in the case of Northern Plant. There is a need to re-establish authority in order to avoid possible losses in management and performance. The company can introduce involvement and communication, performance appraisal, and teamwork and flexible job design Human Resource Management practices to re-establish front-line managers’ authority and to regain workforce respect.
According to the behavioural theory of leadership, the environment directly affects how a leader function. The theory calls for conditioning meaning that people lead and are led in a certain style depending on the environmental responses to certain behaviour. The northern plant can introduce performance appraisal practices that consider employees’ performance towards the task and evaluate employees’ behaviours. This will be a form of conditioning aligned to the behavioural school of thought, as it requires employees to perform to certain levels in order to retain relevance. Performance appraisals are among the most effective ways of ensuring and measuring employee productivity and improvements on the same. This will imply that employees get rewarded for accomplishing their assigned tasks, how they conduct themselves in the organisation and their behavior towards other employees and managers. Northern Plant employees focus extensively on delivering their assigned tasks and pay little attention to their conduct. Introducing the behavioural aspect of performance will establish their respect towards FLM. Employees will do everything expected of them if it means getting intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
Secondly, Northern Plant can introduce teamwork and flexible job design HRM practices to re-establish front managers’ authority. The company operates without a proper job design, making management difficult. Introducing job rotation, job enrichment, job enlargement, and self-managed teams will be essential in streamlining operations and instilling discipline in how the employees operate. Additionally, Job design and teamwork influences employees’ experience at work. When employees influence how they perform their tasks and count on their colleagues for support, they are likely to have job satisfaction and be more dedicated to the job. This eliminates the need to break organisational rules to deliver.
Additionally, the company should employ effective communication and involvement of employees’ HRM practices to establish FLM authority. Involving employees in organisation decision-making and effectively communicating make them feel valued and part of the organisation. In the Northern Plant, employees lost respect to FLM due to what they term poor management by the front-line managers. Thus, involving them in the company’s changes and seeking their opinion on a better way to manage the company will be essential in re-establishing front-line managers’ authority. People tend to respect and obey the decisions and rules that they are part of developing.
Question 2: Performance management principles to support the development of a more professional first-line approach to managing Northern Plants workers
Performance management is essential in creating a work environment that enables the workforce and the company to thrive. It measures and improves the performance of individuals in an organisation and aligns the company’s goals with individual goals and team goals. The Northern Plant can introduce a performance management system that establishes clear goals, develops employees, and offers consistent feedback to create a more professional first-line management approach.
The goal setting theory suggests that goals created by employees are significant in dictating their motivation towards superior performance. Setting clear goals is essential in performance management. The goal setting theory establishes the objective of the business over time and aligns employees’ performance goals to organisational goals. Effective goal setting should be participative, collaborative, and exhaustive. For instance, the Northern Plant should highlight the goals that employees are expected to achieve, so the FLM is well informed on what directions to guide the employees. The company can set job description goals, behavioural goals, and stretch goals that employees are expected to achieve. This helps build a more professional organisation that can be effectively managed and supports the development of an effective and more professional FLM.
Secondly, the organisation should employ a performance management system that focuses on employee development. Employees work best in companies that invest in their empowerment, advancement, and growth. For instance, Northern Plant can provide its employees with training, coaching, and management support as professional management practices. These activities will enhance the workforce’s professionalism, which will create a professional organisation that can be effectively managed. Additionally, employee empowerment helps build a capable and more skilled workforce aware of the company’s expectations. Also, these activities build employees’ interpersonal and social skills impacting their responsiveness to authority. This, in turn, positively impact the development of a more professional front-line management approach.
Additionally, the organization can adopt a performance management system that offers consistent feedback. Incorporating consistent feedback in the performance management system allows employees control and autonomy as they can respond to feedback and voice their opinions, creating a two-way conversation path for effective organisation management. For instance, Northern Plant employees viewed the company’s front-line management as poor, but they could not voice this opinion without a proper feedback channel. A system that allows feedback fosters a speak-up culture in the organisation and positively impacts organisational performance.
In conclusion, transferring human resource functions to front-line managers is an emerging issue in modern organisations. FLM managers help accomplish various human resource functions, and a failure in these tasks impacts the entire organisation. Therefore, FLM should adopt HRM practices to manage and guide the workforce under their supervision effectively.
References
Arendt, J. F., Pircher Verdorfer, A., & Kugler, K. G. (2019). Mindfulness and leadership: Communication as a behavioral correlate of leader mindfulness and its effect on follower satisfaction. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 667.
Armstrong, M. (2021). Performance management.
DeCenzo, D. A., Robbins, S. P., & Verhulst, S. L. (2016). Fundamentals of human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Gavetti, G. (2012). PERSPECTIVE—Toward a behavioral theory of strategy. Organization science, 23(1), 267-285.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). Goal-setting theory of motivation. International journal of management, business, and administration, 15(1), 1-6.
Factors Affecting Employee Job Satisfaction And Employee Performance In Tesco
Factors Affecting Employee Job Satisfaction And Employee Performance In Tesco
Table of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Background to study
1.1 Background to Company
1.2 Research Question/Problem
1.3 Terms of Reference
1.4 Any historical aspect of problem
1.5 Research rationale
1.5 Summary of Relevant Theory
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Importance of Right workforce
2.2 Importance of employee involvement
2.3 Theoretical Framework of Job Attitude
2.4 Job Satisfaction
2.5 Employee Job Satisfaction Determinants
2.6 Job Involvement
2.7 Organizational Commitment
2.8 Job Factors and Job Attitudes
2.9 Present Situation
2.10 Why Job Attitude Is Important
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research strategy
3.3 Research approach
3.4 Research timescale
3.5 Data collection
3.6 Feasibility
Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Individual Factors
4.3 Organizational Determinants
4.4 Rewards systems
4.5 Job satisfaction and employee turnover
4.6 Summary
Chapter 5: Conclusion & Recommendations
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary of Main Findings
Bibliography
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Background to topic
Due to the high competition in the global market, there has been a great need for various companies to re-strategize their operation formulae to ensure success. There are various methods of improving productivity in an organization. Improving employees’ morale in a company enhances feel of ownership and satisfaction among employees which helps in improving performance quality. There are many factors that affect satisfaction of employees in an organization. The dissertation looks into the factors affecting the satisfaction of Tesco employees and how the overall performance of employees is affected. Tesco has many challenges of integrating specific requirements of various employees.
1.1 Background to company
Tesco is a leading United Kingdom retailer headquartered Chestnut, United Kingdom. Tesco is among the largest retailer, as measured by the total revenues and the world’s second biggest retailer after Wal-Mart as measured by total profits (Potter & Mahlich, 2011). Currently, the retail giant has a firm foot print in Asia, Europe, and North America. In the UK alone, it enjoys a 30 percent share of the local market. It also enjoys market dominance in the Republic of Ireland, Malaysia and Thailand (Deloitte, 2010). Since 1919, when the company opened its first doors, it has rapidly diversified its market share courtesy of its aggressive marketing strategies of responsive product development and differentiation that is built around modern information technology innovations such as virtual selling. Today, the company sells a wide range of merchandise including groceries, electronics, books, clothing, fuel, music and even financial products.
1.2 Research Question/Problem
The research aims at examining the factors affecting employee job satisfaction and relationship among the factors and the performance of employee in Tesco.
1.3 Terms of Reference
The objective is to find out the factors affecting the performances of Tesco’s employees and how the overall performance of the company is affected.
Through the research, various methods and techniques employed in Tesco in retaining their employees are determined. The limitations as related to employee satisfaction and retention are also highlighted.
The research provides recommendation based on the analysis of the steps and strategies Tesco should employee to retain and satisfy their employees.
1.4 Any historical aspect of problem
According to Diaz-Serrano & Cabral (2005), to ensure optimal productivity, a company has to ensure that their employees are satisfied with their job descriptions and positions. There have been different techniques and methods that have been used by different companies to satisfy their employees. As stated by Diaz-Serrano & Cabral (2005), workforce has great desire for social recognition compared to other factors affecting satisfaction of employees. A better working condition motivates employees and thus enhanced productivity and cooperation between employee and management. Additionally, even though there are different methods that an organization can use to retain and satisfy its workforce, the applicability and efficacy of the methods depends on the company. According to Miller (2007), regardless of the methods a company employs, the methods should be one that takes care of components that affect the social components of workforce. This is an indication that for any method to excel, it must incorporate and affect communication, sense of ownership and relationship between management and employees.
It is important for Tesco to investigate the factors affecting employee satisfaction thoroughly as a crucial aspect and procedure of business survival and growth. Through employee satisfaction analysis, the company not only gain knowledge of the employee satisfaction drivers but establish techniques of employee retention and having a competing edge over other companies. Knowledge of the employee satisfaction factors is a strong backbone on which a company can base its employee retention. This is when the company knows the satisfaction drivers its workforce. According to Cooper (2008) and Pink (2009), the knowledge of factors affecting employee satisfaction helps in strengthening the intermarriage of different variables in a company regarding employee’s satisfaction and retention.
1.5 Research rationale
Employees are considered as one of the important aspects of an organization and improving their morale improves their performance. Understanding people from different backgrounds is challenging especially to managers from different origins where they have different life experiences. A lot of wisdom is required of the managers dealing with employees from different nationalities to link the needs of different people and improve their productivity while maintaining low employee turnover.
The researcher believes that the research will improve knowledge to managers at Tesco especially in the areas of human relations. The research will be helpful in improving employee morale and understanding different needs of employees working in a diversified environment.
1.6 Summary of Relevant Theory
Various studies have noted that satisfaction of workforce depends on behaviors of management and employees themselves. There is a need to understand how consumers’ and employees’ behaviors, geographical location and gender affect overall performance of a company. However, it must be noted that behavior of workforce is not only the factor and that it has many intervening variables which have to be considered.
For example, suppose a business is not willing to increase employee loyalty, there are lower chances of its success. On a similar basis, a company which wants to make sure it satisfies its employees has to ensure it examines their behavior with respect to changes in service quality and market approach techniques used may also not be planning to be successful.
According to findings of Lin (2007), there exists a strong positive correlation between service quality and workforce satisfaction in most companies. Form the 134 respondent in Lin (2007)’s study, nearly 92% showed a grater satisfaction when perceived the services offered to be of high quality. Refrain to marketing strategies, a significant proportion of respondents, nearly 83%, showed that marketing technique used by a company is important in determining employees’ satisfactions and retention.
One study carried out in Germany (Bryan and Locke 1967a), indicated that there is a connection between job satisfaction of employees and consumers. Employee satisfaction which is related to enhanced employee loyalty, employee retention, continuity and finally increased productivity. These findings are also similar to Bryan and Locke 1967a who state that employee satisfaction and brand loyalty are related. This indicates that that greatest care must be considered when attempting to develop satisfaction strategies (Lin, 2007).
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 IntroductionThe second chapter, literature review entails an investigation of past research and articles and explanation of the involved concepts in regard to jot attitude and employee job satisfaction. Literature review covers various topics. The first section covers the significance of employee retention and performance engagement. Role of Tesco’s philosophy and culture in creating and engaging workplace environment is also discussed. The theoretical framework of this study maintains a top-down order that begins with the current business environment and ends with a review of the issues associated with leadership, motivation, rewards, and human resource management.
2.1 Importance of Right workforce
The volume of research on employee job attitudes reflects their importance to organizations in terms of identifying satisfaction, estimating loyalty, and reducing turnover (Knoop, 1995; Porter, Steers, & Modway, 1974). The value of examining performance in terms of manufacturing or assembly has been an important area of research, in which job attitudes has a direct correlation on job performance (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt, Gwinner, & Meuter, 2001). Job performance on the other hand, is also critical especially on the field of treatment services to the victims of natural disasters.
As of late, no studies are known to have been conducted on the job attitudes of employees providing disaster relief services. This study intends to explore the possibility of enhancing the state of employee engagement and retention in the disaster management sector (DMS), and also to explore the ways to attract quality employees to the DMS. Since this sector demands a wholehearted commitment from the employees to deal successfully with one of the noble professions in the world.
2.2 Importance of employee involvement
The importance of employee involvement and interaction in supporting disaster victims (Beck & Franke, 1996), who are immediately confronted with emotions that include fear, a profound sense of loss, and anxiety cannot be understated (Albano, Causey, & Carter, 2001). Disaster victims face life-altering injury and death resulting from natural disasters (Beck & Franke, 1996). The trauma of experiencing a natural disaster may result in extreme stress-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (Miller & Kraus, 1994).
The aforementioned consequences of disasters clearly show the gravity of the jobs associated with providing relief, and they hint at the challenge of attracting and retaining talented and committed employees in the DMS. Higher remuneration cannot be the sole driver of engaging, attracting, or retaining quality employees in this sector; prospective employees with qualifications can easily choose risk-free jobs instead. Thus, the DMS needs to strike the right chord in employees to ignite the missionary approach in them.
A brief explanation of the activities of the American Red Cross (ARC) corroborates the fact that the DMS truly needs committed and motivated workers more than anything else (ARC, 2006). The ARC’s disaster relief employees are charged with providing assistance and meeting victims’ immediate emergency disaster-caused needs, where they must support the ARC’s mission and extend every available courtesy. In response to these natural disasters, the ARC deploys volunteers to provide emergency services to victims.
The magnitude of devastation can sometimes leave relief workers wondering where to start. During the 2005 hurricane season, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina flooded neighborhoods and literally destroyed part of the state of Louisiana, particularly the city of New Orleans, by killing more than 1,193 people and destroying most of the human made structures (Hine, 2005). Hurricane Rita followed Katrina weeks later, further damaging what was left in that region and causing more power outages and evacuations.
The aforementioned examples highlight the gravity of disaster management and show the levels of dedication and commitment required to meet such challenges. Therefore, researching the attitudes of employees in disaster relief work may provide valuable information to first responders. The groundbreaking work by Steers and Porter (1979) underscored the importance of work and motivation. Bettencourt et al. (2001) also supported this premise. According to Steers and Porter, The concept of the organization has long symbolized the efficiency, effectiveness and rational allocation of resources for tasks to be accomplishment (p. 555).
Employers may perceive that their employees are pleased or at least content with their jobs based on performance (Wright & Cropanzano, 2001); compliance with the rules of power sources that may reflect what employees are experiencing (Koslowsky et al., 2001); and low employee turnover rates (Spillane, 1973). Employees also may formulate perceptions of their organizations based on their employers’ concern about, commitment to, and appreciation of their employees (Brief & Weiss, 2002; Hershberger, Lichtenstein, & Knox, 1994; McAllister & Bigley, 2002) and their consumers (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt et al., 2001).
A characteristic of company loyalty and organizational citizenship behavior is reflected in the employees’ representation of their organizations to consumers. Bettencourt et al. (2001) asserted that “contact employee participation in organizational citizenship behaviors is basic to a company’s ability of meeting changing employee needs (p. 30). Job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment are components of the attitudes descriptive of the workplace environment. These attitudes affect job behavior and can be instrumental in the level of employee output.
Job attitude is the outcome of the collective influence of several factors that include organizational philosophy, leadership behavior, motivation and reward systems, and cultural and demographic influences. These factors are dispersed among three spheres of the workplace: company dimensions, job dimensions, and payment or compensation system.
2.3 Theoretical Framework of Job Attitude
Organizations generally value employee loyalty and dedication (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999). Organizational behavior research over the past 15 years has resulted in empirical studies involving job- and work-related attitudes (Steel & Rentsch, 1997; Taber, 1991). Specific focus has been applied to employee job satisfaction (Hart, 1999); job involvement (Brown, 1996); and job commitment (Shore & Tetrick, 1991).
Job involvement, often referred to as job commitment, has been associated with organizational support (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999). The constructs of job attitudes and job involvement have been paired in studies of research stability (Steel & Rentsch, 1997); commitment and support (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999); and organizational citizenship behaviors (Bettencourt et al., 2001; Moorman, 1991; Organ & Konovsky, 1989).
Job-related attitudes, similar to attitudes in general, are derived from individual perceptions. Individuals can formulate perceptions according to their thought processes or outside influences (Elbert, Seale, & McMahon, 2001). Employers may perceive that employees are pleased or at least content with their jobs based on performance (Wright & Cropanzano, 2001); compliance with the rules of power sources (Koslowsky, Schwarzwald, & Ashuri, 2001); and low turnover rates (Spillane, 1973). Employees may also formulate perceptions of their organizations based upon their employers’ concern about, commitment to, and appreciation of the employees (Brief & Weiss, 2002; Hershberger et al., 1994; McAllister & Bigley, 2002) and consumers (Anderson & Mohr, 2003; Bettencourt et al., 2001).
A characteristic of company loyalty and organizational citizenship behavior is reflected in the employees’ representation of the organizations to consumers (Bettencourt et al., 2001). Thus, research on attitudes is important because it contributes to job behavior. O’Driscoll and Randall (1999) provided an example of the importance of understanding job attitudes and the ways in which they affect job behavior. Job-related attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment are general representations of distinct constructs (Brooke, Russell, & Price, 1988).
2.4 Job Satisfaction
According to Paul (1989), features of job satisfaction can include pay, security, working conditions, need for autonomy responsibility, or accomplishment.
Wright, Cropanzano, Denney, and Moline (2002) described job satisfaction as “a reflection of how desirable or attractive an employee considers their job to be” (p. 146). A generally positive attitude about one’s job is associated with satisfaction with one’s job. These needs are individualized and include the personality style of the employee.
The overall job satisfaction of employees warrants periodic review by employers in their efforts to maintain a valuable workforce. Employees can anonymously submit information regarding their needs and desires through surveys, which can provide an unobstructed view of employees’ needs and collect information without fear of retaliation from employers (Rogelberg, Fisher, Maynard, Hakel, & Horvath, 2001).
2.5 Employee Job Satisfaction Determinants
Employee job satisfaction still remains a very important topic in the facet of organizational behavior. The satisfaction of employees is the way they expresses orientation towards their jobs. It is as well the extent of connection that the employees have with their jobs. Other scholars regard it as the pleasurable emotions state that comes from one’s job appraisal, effectual reaction to one’s job and their attitude towards and the perception they have regarding their jobs. The other factors that job satisfaction is based on are; workload, attitude, physical condition, and even the career aspirations of employees. Well satisfied employees have positive attitudes towards their jobs and makes psychologically healthy community.
Realization that a satisfied employee is highly likely to perform better than unsatisfied counterparts has made social scientists to attempt establishing the factors that lead to higher employee job satisfaction. The past consultations from the TESCO staff at every managerial level identified problems with consistency and literacy. The innovative skills that were introduced led to the analysis of the employees’ job roles and satisfaction. However, it is also important to establish the relationship that subsists between a particular variable and overall employee job satisfaction. The problem is to evaluate if there is any relationship between gender and overall job satisfaction, age and overall job satisfaction, tenure and the overall satisfaction of the employee, position and overall satisfaction, and lastly, the relationship between the extrinsic /intrinsic variables and the employee satisfaction. The study conducted by Delaney has shown that there is connection between demographic variables like gender, age, race, and education and job satisfaction. The more educated employees or older are being satisfied more than the younger and or with less education. However, this seems to have less or no impact on the TESCO’s employees’ job satisfaction.
Primarily, the function of TESCO is to export and import shipment on clients’ behalf in London and so has relation with employee satisfaction. In organizations where job satisfaction evaluation has taken place, results have been analyzed and mapped and this provided exact precise skills picture. Regarding the attraction ability, train and retain clients has promoted TESCO to explore ways of performance improvements. Workers’ turnover has decreased terribly since its launch. This has in turn produced important savings in training cost and recruitments.
Job satisfaction affects the life of individuals. Suppose the workers are satisfied with the jobs that they do, this covers all their lives. Workers who have high job satisfaction do have more positive behaviors and better psychological health in the organization than those who don’t. The study of TESCO (in the past) has explored the effect of gender on the employees’ perception of job satisfaction. The result indicates that there are many person variables that influence job satisfaction in various and complex ways. Trust is one of the factors that influence job satisfaction in TESCO.
Without the trust of the lack of trust among the members of organization, and between the managers and the employees, there may be a close down of the organizations operations. It is a crucial ingredient for the effectiveness of an organization. Mistrust can result suppose there is a disconnection between the managers and the workers. This disconnection may lead to mistrust and job dissatisfaction and hence the difficulty in the attraction and the retention of the talents that the workers have. The important difference exists between the managers/supervisors and the non-supervisors on how they give an interpretation on the term “leadership” whether they actually give attention to the concern of the employees or not. How the organization handles gender and equality also contributes to employee satisfaction. There should be no significant difference that exists between the female and male employees.
All the employees are to considered and rated equal unless they differ in experience ort education. The significance is only in the attitude that the workers have towards the employers/supervisors. It has also shown that there is significant association between the genders, age group, and location of job, worker position, occupation and agency. The gender roles have been highlighted through these analyses. There are many factors that determine the job satisfaction of an individual in an organization (factors like salary, gender, administration and guiding among others). It has been noted that the family ties also affects the job satisfaction on an individual in an organization.
2.6 Job Involvement
Job involvement describes the employees’ interest in specific job duties (O’Driscoll & Randall, 1999; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Employees who relate to their job tasks and value the importance of those tasks are generally concerned about their work. Healthy self-esteem, self-worth, and a positive work ethics can be considered antecedents to job involvement (Steel & Rentsch, 1997). Lodahl and Kejner (1965) asserted that job involvement is rooted in individual values according to job involvement theory. Job Involvement is another trait that has a significant impact on job attitude in relation to performance.
Brown (1996) and Kanungo (1979) described complete engagement in one’s work as a state of involvement and alienation as a separation from one’s work. Employee involvement versus alienation of the workforce is preferable to employers. The consequences can be extremely costly to employers if the workers in disaster response organizations were to neglect specific duties incidental to the care to victims.
2.7 Organizational Commitment
Meyer and Allen (1991) noted that commitment reflects the three general themes of effectual involvement to the company, perceived costs connected with abandoning the company obligations to remain with the organization. These attitudes are present in any organization. Research has distinguished between two types of commitment to an organization: affective and continuance. The level of commitment of disaster relief workers, as with other members of the workforce, can provide valuable information to service agencies in terms of the employees’ desire to remain (Andrew et al., 2002; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).
2. 8 Job Factors and Job Attitudes
Job factors generally are divided into intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include recognition and achievement, and refer to the work itself, whereas extrinsic factors include working conditions, coworkers, and compensation, and they relate to the environment in which the work in done (Spillane, 1973). Each employee holds opinions on both groups of factors and can rate their significance or importance, that is, one set of factors may hold more significance to one employee versus another (Spillane, 1973). Studies have been conducted aligning job attitudes with job factors. For example, some studies have reviewed the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover (Blau & Boal, 1987; Porter, Steers, & Mowday, 1974). These studies have reported distinctions in predicting turnover using the construct of organizational commitment.
2.9 Present Situation
The global recession has served as a notice of reorientation to all companies, which are now busy reorganizing their workforce and reshaping their employees’ attitudes to cope with the recession (Duff, 2009). Companies also are required to produce more for less, and they have to bank on human capital more than ever. Thus, the issue of employee engagement and retention has become more intense because most companies now cannot afford to pay more to attract or retain quality employees, nor can they afford to lose talented employees with experience.
From the employees’ perspective, it is difficult to work more for less, especially because of the fear of losing their jobs or the downgraded state of the market. Yet the competition, which is actually a struggle for existence in disguise, has become intense. The entire global trade circuit is experiencing confusion while trying to identify the right moves to rejuvenate employees, the market, and the business. Market analysts also are in a quandary to offer any bold solutions. A professional suggestion would corroborate this view (Suster, 2010).
According to Brown (2008), director of HR services at PriceWaterhouseCooper, companies need to review and rectify four areas. Considering a pay increase for the performers, Brown stated, “The main question is how to link reward with performance, and not whether to link it” (p. 22). As for the issue of equal pay, Brown suggested, it is important to make sure salary differences are explained (p. 22), thereby identifying the need to eliminate pay disparities. As for effectiveness, Brown asserted that it could be an important tool to reduce the cost and increase the productivity.
Brown’s (2008) suggestions seems confusing because it is doubtful whether companies are in a position to reward the top performers or to maintain a policy of equal pay, which may result in more spending. If the companies are not in a position to cover the first two issues, they naturally would not be able to enhance the effectiveness of the employees, if one ascribes to the common concept that money plays a central role in enhancing the effectiveness of employees. Otherwise, Brown would have suggested different ways to enhance the same.
Observers such as Wellins (2008) have commented that it should be the responsibility of the employees to become more engaged amid this crisis (i.e., the economic downturn) and that their leaders should support them. These suggestions (Ulrich, 1997) are almost directionless because the desired job attitudes of the employees primarily are a reflection of the collective performance of the management, leadership, and the HRM department. Therefore, such equivocal prescriptions and comments lead to one conclusion: The issue of getting more productivity from employees at less cost requires more insight than previously thought. Therefore, Wagner and Harter (2006) fathoming the significance of employee engagement and retention, this study reviewed some literature that was relevant to the topic.
2.10 Why Job Attitude Is Important
Kahn (1990) asserted that employees are more satisfied when they find themselves voluntarily engaged in their work. This mental state actually contributes to the profit of an organization in more than one way. For example, happy employees develop more creative thinking or seldom are absent from work. Wagner and Harter (2006) added another vital dimension to the aforementioned state. They noted that happy employees experience fewer job-related injuries. Thus, from this perspective, job attitude benefits the companies.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter entails an elaboration of the manner in which data for analysis was collected, arranged, sorted and analyzed in order to generate information for formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Data relevant to the aspects of employee job satisfaction at Tesco was collected from secondary sources and analyzed to help in evaluating various aspects of employee satisfaction at the Tesco , Thailand. These models are deemed sufficient to ensure reliability of the responses and the outcomes of analysis.
3.2 Research strategyIn this study, the research applied qualitative research strategies in order to capture all aspects of the data collected. Through this model, hypotheses are tested in order to assess the impact of variability in the data. The qualitative approach helped in the examination of the current organizational elements that would impact the employee job satisfaction while exploring the various factors that may act as drivers to the satisfaction of employees at the Tesco outlets. By evaluating the aspects in this format, it was possible to come up with or propose strategies to be adopted by the Tesco organization to ensure utmost satisfaction of the employees and also make recommendations for future research where a gap is deemed to exist.
The research design for this study is of the case study type, and Tesco is the subject of the case. Ayelet et al (2008) state that the primary concern of such studies should be to find out “what is fit for a particular setting or case under given circumstances”. By conducting the employee job satisfaction research, the study attempted to assess the best method of handling the employees to ensure maximum satisfaction hence maximum productivity.
3.3 Research approach
The study takes qualitative approach was to achieve the desired objectives. It is only questionnaires that were employed in this research. The qualitative approach was to help in the examination of the current job-related demographic factors. Various factors that act as drivers to the compensation strategies adopted by the organization were explored. This method was appropriate because the research aims were to examine the employee job satisfaction in Tesco bearing in mind the diverse nature of the contemporary workforce.
Random sampling was used whereby questionnaires were issued at random to people working in Tesco. This was with expectations of ensuring that each person in the organization is
Human Resource Generalist Recruitment Plan
Human Resource Generalist Recruitment Plan
Name
Institution
Tutor
Date
Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc54306771 h 3Recruitment Goals PAGEREF _Toc54306772 h 3Competency Models PAGEREF _Toc54306773 h 4Leadership PAGEREF _Toc54306774 h 4Job Competency PAGEREF _Toc54306775 h 5Organizational Core Competencies PAGEREF _Toc54306776 h 5Job Description PAGEREF _Toc54306777 h 5People Finding Strategy PAGEREF _Toc54306778 h 8Interviewing Strategy PAGEREF _Toc54306779 h 11Selection Technique PAGEREF _Toc54306780 h 13Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc54306781 h 14References PAGEREF _Toc54306782 h 15
Executive SummaryThis recruitment plan details various stages for the recruitment of a human resource generalist. It first lays out the recruitment goals, which include setting the date by which hiring will have been done, ensuring use of diverse recruitment techniques, identifying within and outside of the Baltimore City Government the human resource potential as well as competition, and completing the recruitment exercise way before the set date. The main competency models/concepts gaining elevation in the hiring process include leadership, job competency, and organizational core competencies. This plan also gives an in-depth job description of a human resource generalist, which mainly relate to performance of a wide range of human resource functions. A people finding strategy is also outline, where it becomes clear that various platforms (such as print and electronic media) and approaches will be used. The specifics of a patterned/structured interview are also presented and followed by the selection technique that emphasizes the conduction of background and reference checks. Overall, there is confidence that this plan will lead to the smooth and appropriate filling of the position of a human resource naturalist person.
Recruitment GoalsIt is imperative to set and make clear objectives in the current recruitment process. Presently, the first recruitment goal is to set the date by which hiring will have been done. This date will be set in consultation with the client, that is the Baltimore City Government, and will be important as it is upon its basis that various activities within the recruitment process will be scheduled.
The second goal is be clear about the number of open positions that are to be filled. This way, the recruiting team will be able to know the number of applications desired as well as how many applicants to admit. This will also ensure resources are used more efficiently in the exercise.
The third goal is to identify within and even outside Baltimore City Government the human resource pool potential, including the competition that is likely to be there in terms of skills and knowledge. This will ensure the right audience is targeted as far as job positioning will be concerned.
The fourth objective is to use diverse recruitment techniques. This will also ensure the coming up of a diverse recruitment pool, hence expanding the choices of prospective employees from where a suitable choice is to be made.
The last yet important objective is to complete the recruitment exercise way before the set date by not only eliminating unnecessary activities and steps but also being clear about the kind of applicants being sought. The latter will include taking into consideration factors such as the level of education, prospective candidates’ abilities, skills, knowledge, values, and interests.
Competency ModelsCompetency models gain elevation in the current undertaking because it is on their basis that various decisions within the hiring process will be made. The following concepts take center stage:
LeadershipWe emphasize leadership as an essential competency, so we will be looking out for related skill sets. Some of the specific aspects that we stress upon include:
Self-management and development
Mentoring/coaching others
Comprehension and enforcement of ethics
Job CompetencyWe believe the holder of any position must possess the specific set of skills required within that position. As such, our job competency model stresses the significance of specific skill sets within each position so that all employees deliver their best in their placements and assignments. Any person hired for any position must demonstrate the possession of relevant skill sets.
Organizational Core CompetenciesThere are a certain set of kills that are our organization’s baseline. This is to say that all employees, irrespective of their positions or roles must posses these skills and abilities. Our core competencies include the following:
Foundational/Basic communication skills
Strong work ethic
Positive attitude; entails focusing on opportunities as opposed to negativity
Excellent time-management
Teamwork
Respect
Job DescriptionA human resource generalist should possess broad and deep knowledge of the continuum of human resource functions, including hiring, onboarding, employee evaluation, employee compensation, and training among others. It is also imperative for a good human resource generalist to be conversant with labor law and as such be able to handle labor matters as per law. This position, as opposed to being one-dimensional, is multi-dimensional and involved a wide range of human resource tasks including:
Helping in talent attraction and acquisition including various recruitment processes.
Administering compensation and benefit plans.
Conducting employee onboarding; also assisting in organizing and planning development and training initiatives.
Assisting in developing and implementing organizational human resource policies.
Undertaking tasks related to performance management.
Providing support to employees.
Gathering and analyzing data using relevant HR metrics such as turnover rates and when to hire.
Organizing periodical (annual and quarterly) employee performance reviews.
Ensuring compliance with relevant labor laws and regulations.
Enhancing job satisfaction through prompt issue resolution, application of better benefits and perks.
Organizing team building initiatives.
Using human resource records and information systems to see to it that employee records remain up-to-date.
Participating in the development of organizational procedures and guidelines.
Coordinating plans for employee development.
Giving out employ contracts to newly hired personnel.
Producing and submitting reports on overall human resource activity.
Assisting with organizational budget monitoring.
Managing the human resource database.
Providing general human resource assistance.
Holders of this position will work the usual 8 hours (first shift). More importantly, the role of human resource generalist also supports the second shift, which approximately runs from 2.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. Requirements and qualifications for this position include:
At least a Bachelors’ Degree in Human Resources or an equivalent or related discipline.
At least two years’ experience as a human resource manager/coordinator.
A good understanding of the labor law as well as regulations on employment equity.
Good knowledge of human resource best practices, functions.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Good people management/human resource administration skills.
Ability to observe deadlines and work under pressure.
Ability to work under no or minimum supervision.
Remarkable organizational skills
Remarkable conflict management skills
Excellent problem-solving skills
Strong decision-making skills
Exceptional computer literacy and knowledge with capability in various human resource software including MS Office, email, and others.
People Finding StrategyThe recruitment process can only be a success if the intent to hire is brought to the attention of the targeted audience, hence prospective employees. A good people finding strategy is integral more so considering that with strong competition in the labor market as well as the scarcity of highly skilled labor, it is quite difficult to identify and recruit employees meeting the highly skilled and highly talented criteria (Karimi et al., 2018). As Tsai (2017) agrees, the plan to attract talent needs to be developed and implemented appropriately so that employed strategies are efficient as to make up for the scarcity of talented people.
In this recruitment process, the people finding strategy will entail various approaches that, more imperatively, will consider both the internal and external environments of Baltimore City Government. It is possible that the organization has qualified individuals who are already working in other placements within the HR department or elsewhere who may need to be promoted or merely be transferred to the position of human resource generalist. In consideration of the possibility of qualified candidates being found within and outside the organization, job posting will be done in these two environments (internal and external).Internal job posting will be done by literally posting the availability of the vacancy on the organization’s bulletin boards. To be included in the posting will be various attributes of the vacancy including qualifications, requirements, and the desired experience. Before posting the vacancy of human resource generalist, consultation will be done with the Baltimore City Government on whether to retain the position in its present description, form and status, or if any of its aspects (including experience and skill sets) will change. Importantly, another reason for such consultation will be to find out if there are enough qualified potential/prospective applicants within the organization (but nevertheless serving in other positions and as such could be transferred or be promoted) (Armstrong, 2014). The consultation will also shed light on whether organizational policy allows for recruitment to consider referrals by family, friends, or other staff members.
If there are such potential candidates within the Baltimore City Government workforce, they will be given a priority because of various reasons namely:
It is highly likely that candidates already working for the organization know and understand its culture, people, and strengths as well as weaknesses.
The recruit’s ability is already well known so it is not difficult to assess the candidate’s potential for the position to be filled.
Internal recruits once promoted get motivated and build commitment and loyalty to the organization.
The route to recruit internally is cheaper, quicker, and simpler that recruiting from external sources especially when factors like advertising are taken into consideration.
If there will not be enough potential qualified recruits within the Baltimore City Government, the strategy to explore external sources will be employed. As stated earlier, one of the objectives of this recruitment plan is to make recruitment techniques as diverse as possible, so that as the pool of applicants accessed is as diverse as possible. In this vein, various external recruiting techniques will be explored. They include the formal and informal external recruiting methods. The former will include considering the hiring of the organization’s former employees, which will mean simply choosing from the ‘walk-in’ candidates, those whose résumés are still in the organization’s database. In the same respect, referrals, another informal hiring technique will be considered as part of this recruitment plan’s people finding strategy. In fact, the rationale for considering referrals is because this technique is cheap, quick, and easy to implement. In unity, these informal recruiting techniques are usually preferred when recruiting for base-level positions where most candidates submit unsolicited applications. Through these techniques, it easy to access and assess former students who may have worked at the organization as interns.
Formal techniques also gain elevation in this recruitment plan whereby the people finding strategy will include a wider search in the labor market for candidates who have no previous work-related connection to Baltimore City Government. Traditionally, these techniques have included advertising in the print media (magazines, newspapers, journals), social media, posters, and billboards. Advertisements will be placed in these platforms as part of efforts to publicize the vacancy of human resource generalist. Career fairs as well as e-recruiting will also be considered in the spirit of diversifying recruitment techniques to be employed as laid out in this plan.
In the context of the said formal techniques, advertisements through visual and audio media will not be considered as these avenues have become less and less popular. Important to mention is the fact that greater consideration will be given to the use of the online platform, since in today’s technological age, it is cheaper than all the other traditional methods. The vacancy will be publicized by posting it online at a relatively cheaper cost where it can remain for a long time without any additional cost being incurred. Interested and prospective candidates can check out information about the vacancy and the Baltimore City Government in genera and thereafter be able to respond accordingly via the same platform. Choice of the internet to reach as many potential candidates as possible is informed by the fact that the most people now have access to internet (in their places of work and homes). In fact, most jobseekers are aware that most information these days, even that relating to job vacancies, is shared on the internet. Taking these points into consideration, the rationale for use of the internet in this recruitment plan’s people finding strategy can be summarized as:
Faster job posting
Faster response (by applicants/potential candidates)
Faster processing of applications
Additionally, publicizing the human resource generalist vacancy online will give access to a very important pool of potential candidates: those passively seeking jobs. In other words, there are those people already working but they have a desire for ‘greener pastures’ so they would likely apply for that which they consider to be better. In fact, this pool of potential candidates may emerges as being better in terms of quality and qualifications as opposed to active pool of job seekers who may be desperate and frustrated in their jobless position.
Interviewing StrategyAfter job posting, it is expected that potential candidates will respond by sending their applications. These applications will be processes and selection testing done so that the recruitment pool is trimmed down appropriately. This trimmed pool can still be narrowed further to establish which among the interested candidates qualifies for the interview stage. The number to be chosen will depend on how many of the applicants will be qualified, and how much time each interview session will be allocated.
In its simplest, the interview constitutes a form of verbal test that each selected candidate must undertake. Unlike paper/written tests, questions asked in the interview have no clear wrong or right answers. As such, contextual results are subject to the interviewer’s interpretation and there lies a huge error potential, which depends on the kind of questions asked as well as the personal bias of the interviewer. The interviews will be carefully structured, so that candidates will not be asked to give information that they have already given in their applications. Doing this will avoid time wastage and make the interview as fruitful as possible. The interviewer will also be keen on some attributes on the part of applicants, for instance their dress code, manner of presentation, mood, neatness, and confidence among others. Candidates will be asked about themselves, why they are interested in the job, why they believe they deserve the job, what they will do or how they will conduct themselves once they get the job, what gives them satisfaction when working, and their strengths and weaknesses among others.
More imperatively, to ensure consistency in the interviewing process, a patterned/structured interview will be used whereby the interviewer will follow a specific list of pre-set questions. This will ensure no important questions are left out and that all candidates are assessed impartially, that is, using the same standards for everyone. Despite the need for this consistency, the interviewer will not be so rigid as to completely rule out any follow-up questions, which would be necessary to shed more light on the candidates’ responses. Therefore, there will be room for any additional questions that the interviewer might feel would help illuminate the candidates’ responses.
Selection TechniqueOverall, this plan details a competency-based recruitment process. As Schutte et al. (2016) assert, a model based on competencies interrogates employee’s suitability in terms of their skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, selection will be based on participants competency and, from the interview and resumes, their perceived suitability for the job. Since it is highly likely that most participants reaching the interview stage will be qualified, selection and/or elimination will be determined by additional elements that certain candidates may have but that are missing in others. The number of candidates to be selected will depend on the number of vacancies to be filled as will be clarified by the Baltimore City Government. Clarification of this figure is one of the recruitment goals set out at the beginning of this plan. After the selection decision has been made, the recruitment team shall proceed to verify all information as given by the candidate(s), while also checking and confirming their references. These reference and background checks will be necessary to ascertain the accuracy of the information given by the candidates. While most past employers tend to limit the kind and amount of information they share about their former employees (perhaps in fear of law suits such as for defamation and other reasons), most are also aware of the risk of prosecutable negligence if they fail to share necessary information about them (former employees). Therefore, the said reference and background checks should be done with a lot of optimism, especially also since they are not illegal.
Following the selection process will be the making of the job order, which will be done either through phone or letter. This bit will be handled by the human resource management. Next, a discussion will be conducted with the prospective employee(s) concerning matters benefits and payment. If the recruit requests for time to think about the job offer, that should be granted, and a suitable time agreed within which a notification should be made. When that is done, a realistic and clear job preview should be given so that the employee(s) knows what the job involves or requires.
ConclusionThis recruitment plan details a competency-based approach to the hiring of a human resource generalist to work for the Baltimore City Government. Besides presenting recruitment goals, it presents the job description of a human resource generalist as well as the core competency models from which crucial insight is drawn as to what the hiring team should look out for in prospective candidates/employees. By use of the people finding and interviewing strategies highlighted in this plan, there is no doubt that filling the said position(s) will not be an uphill task.
ReferencesArmstrong, M. (2014). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th edn. UK: Kogan Page Limited.
Fegley, S. (2016). Talent management survey report. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Research.
Karimi, A., Teimouri, H., Shahin, A. & Barkozi, A.S. (2018). Competency-based recruitment and managerial succession. Human Systems Management, 37(4), 411-423.
Schutte,N., Barkhuizen, N., & van der Sluis, L. (2016).The development of a human resource management (HRM) professional competence model: A pilot study, Journal of Psychology in Africa, 26(3), 230–236.
Tsai, M.S. (2017). Human resources management solutions for attracting and retaining millennial workers. Pennsylvania. Hershey: IGI Global.