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

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Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). Goal-setting theory of motivation. International journal of management, business, and administration, 15(1), 1-6.