Alternative Solutions to Strategic Human Resources Problems Assignment

Alternative Solutions to Strategic Human Resources Problems Assignment Words: 3549

The industrial cleaning and sanitation industry is evolving around changing trends and driving forces that are causing Intercalate to reassess their competitive advantage of human resource development, Intercalates recent acquisition of Environment needs an accelerated solution of strategic planning ND organizational design involving its management of HER processes Team- CSS efforts in reviewing and analyzing human capital development alternatives entail the topics of recruitment, diversity, selection, skills sets, training, and HER management techniques within the context of domestic and international settings.

These generic benchmarking solutions may help to satisfy Interstice’s marketing agenda for increased market share, 40% profit, and global expansion. Patria L. Petered: Aligning Organizational Structure With Strategy The recent merger of Intercalate, Inc. Tit Environment, Inc has created a change in the organizational Structure and design Of the business. The vision and strategy for Intercalate is to provide a full spectrum of cleaning services and solutions and to become an industry leader in the institutional and industrial cleaning and sanitation industry.

Don’t waste your time!
Order your assignment!


order now

With the recent merger, the HER department has been tasked to review and assess the current staff so decisions can be made as to what strategies should be implemented. Theses strategies should assist in creating and sustaining a competitive advantage, reducing costs, and increasing financial returns. The HER departments will determine the current strengths of Interclass sales team, areas to needed development, future staffing requirements, and fit the right people with the correct jobs.

Several of the issues the HER department has to consider, are the changes in cultural values between the two companies, creating new sales teams, developing a compensation package to be more attractive than the competitors, and training the staff on the full-service solutions package The leaders and HER managers must provide the right incentives to empower employees such as rewarding new ideas, providing resources for raining, and allowing time for the organization to learn together and make mistakes.

This necessitates the whole organization coming together at the right time and place. A benchmark study found that the merger Of Private and Trust Banking experienced similar organizational structure and design changes. The alignment strategy was to achieve strategic goals With economies Of scale and the leveraging of existing customer relationships. When the private and trust banking groups merged, several factors were considered.

Steps taken include the alignment of organizational design and structure, merging key systems and cosmologies, adapting sales and marketing approaches, and considering cultural implications (Retreat, 1992). Benefits of the banking merger are the marketing and operational efficiencies (making the customer aware of the products and services) and successful implementation of the marketing strategy (to efficiently and effectively sell and deliver multiple products to the same customer groups).

Other benefits are cross-training personnel in a continuous improvement program, motivating the sales staff through a combination of training and rewards, a simple but aggressive compensation system, and neutralizing back office operations and combining technology and databases (Retreat, 1992). The Private and Trust Banking merger found that through strategic shifts in the organizational structure and alignment of the various products, a positive cultural change occurred. The overall implementation strategy should serve as a management model that can be referenced in future alignments (Retreat, 1992).

Rock Carte: Evaluating Recruiting and Selection Alternatives Comparable to Intercalates recruiting and selection agenda regarding its HER strategic planning predicament, most entities such as the City of Phoenix Fire Department (PDF) must generally forecast how to meet their goals and “make decisions in three areas of recruiting”] The various identification and attraction alternatives in the recruitment of potential employees for the IF-D, involves “personnel policies, recruitment sources, and the characteristics and behavior of the recruiter” such as the Pad’s oral interview board[l.

Relevant "personnel policies” that generally "influence the characteristics of the positions to be filled” involve either "recruiting [internally from] existing employees to fill vacancies, or hiring from outside the organization”] Normally, the PDF aches the “kind of job applicants” it needs for firefighters, computer-aided dispatchers, and management positions through internal “job postings” which “generate applicants who are familiar to the organization”CHI_ This attractive internal recruiting policy “motivates other employees by demonstrating [later[lateral moves or promotion]tunities for [growt[growth and]wever, internal sources are usually insufficient for all of an organization’s labor needs” such as With Interstice’s human capital goals and Pad’s affirmative action Steps initiated to recruit minority and women subgroups when regulatory forces effect the hiring processes (Nor Hollowness, Herbert, & Wright, 2003).

Schools have affirmative-based scholarship programs which provide opportunities for underprivileged students. Usually, eligible PDF candidates are inexpensively recruited from Tree-employment-tested applicants” who have already passed their “CPRM training” and “emergency medical technician” MET-certifications provided through “local community colleges” which would somewhat justify less external and internal affirmative action pressures (PDF Recruitment, 2006). In a similar sense, the 60 newly-acquired Environment sales staff recipients are also pre-trained experts and ready to go as Intercalates added workforce. This channel gives the “access to topnotch entrants to the labor market” (None et al. , 2003).

However, even though the Pad’s criteria for employee selection its its “vision, mission, goals, and policies of that particular organization, ” the “political jockeying” and “advance coaching” is considered unfair (Ripley & Ripley, 1994). “Firefighter candidates would make certain they got to know particular chiefs and captains and would get recommendations from them”0. They would do extra volunteer work around particular stations, even riding in the fire appliances Tit the firefighters” (Ripley & Ripley, 1994). These “direct applicants and referrals” tend to “generate applicants vivo have self-selected” and “this source risks charges of unfairness, especially in cases of nepotism” (None, et al. , 2003).

Favoritism and biased-hiring behavior is considered a form Of discrimination that would contradict equal opportunity employment values of the Intercalate/ Environment job placement process.. The inexpensive and convenient electronic Internet recruiting, newspaper and magazine advertising, and pre-screened public or private employment agencies are not used by the PDF, but these circuiting sources could be used by Intercalate when new sources are needed for increased labor demands. The supply of sources could be evaluated against the “yield ratio” of “candidates interviewed” relative to “resumes generated by a given source” (None et al. , 2003). In addition, an attractive pay approach adopted by the PDF is their “lead-the-market pay strategy” which makes its “jobs economically desirable”[].

Furthermore, the “image advertising” provided by the PDF to local educational institutions “give candidates the impression that [its] [its]ization is a good place to work”D. Phoenix is not an “employment-at-will” racketing state, so the “due-process policies signal that [the i[the is]rned about employee rights” (None et all 2003). The “pass/fail physical ability testing (CPA) for firefighter candidates” can not be subjectively evaluated, but the oral review by PDF recruiters “influence the nature of the job vacancy and the kinds of applicants generated” (None et al. , 2003). ‘There were incidents of board teams changing scores after several interviews because they thought they had been too soft or too hard with the first candidates and their scoring had not been consistent” (Ripley & Ripley, 1994).

A realistic job preview should examine the application Of human capital in regard to specific skill Sets which Would give Intercalate a better chance of drawing the right talent for human resource development. Rock Carte: Examining the Application Of Human Capital Development With Regard to Skill Sets and Gap Analysis Retaining the right people who can contribute needed knowledge and talent is essential to business success. When the Intercalate and Environment venture joins in their subsequent proposals to address necessary changes in the development and ordainment of human capital, any significant gap between career incentives and pay programs in meeting key employee needs will relate to job dissatisfaction and potential loyalty-loss in company commitment.

A larger gap in “beneficial” to “non-beneficial” circumstances will decrease “the nature of a job,” lower “supervisor and coworker” relationships, cause dissatisfaction in “pay levels,” and deplete “shared The differential also discourages “social support among employees,” and disengages job purpose and “meaning”0. These undesired attributes are the reason for “job withdrawals, tardiness, absenteeism, job transfer”, and “employee turnover” where personnel leave for good (None et l_, 2003, up,ICC-333)_ “Walden Book Company, Inc. , a subsidiary of global book, music and movie retailer Borders Group, Inc. , closed [its] [its]-square-foot Walkabouts(R) store formerly located in the Grand Central Mall on Saturday, Cot. 21 2006 in anticipation of the opening of this new Borders store.

This was done to better meet the growing needs of the surrounding community’s “Borders will work closely with those Walkabouts employees, [analo[analogous to Internecine and Enumeration’s dilemma]voguish to remain with the company to find positions at the new store. Additionally, the opening of this larger store s expected to create more jobs in the local community”al. “Borders, which, like Walkabouts, embraces its role as a vital, contributing member of the community and celebrates its customers’ desire to explore and find personal enrichment and knowledge, offers the opportunity to enjoy local appearances by authors and performers as well as free activities for children. As community connections are important to Borders, the new store. Like Borders stores across the country, will serve as a community gathering place for the residents of Parkersburg” (Borders Inc. , 2006, October 24).

Besides just exerting power over rockers, many managers “have solved [some][some]ems of worker motivation and voice through the use of progressive” HER management efforts” (Rogers, Freeman, & Heaven, 2002, Spring). This creates “greater job enjoyment by making roles clear, appropriate, and more enriched”O. “Strengthening the employer’s competitive position and improving product and service quality” will bring about less “involuntary turnover,” as well as ‘Voluntary turnover” strongly related to “lack of influence [worke[workers]on the job”C. “Job rotation” and “cross-training” can be used in Intercalate’5 case which will probably make an uninteresting ales job more “complex” and appealing with new turn-key solutions (None et al. 2003), “Most workers want more to say in the organization of their work and in the training they receive,” so listening and treating employees with dignity can potentially correct useless There exists a “gap between wishing for and having influence to [lesse[lessen the burden of]arnings, low education, race-[biasn[biasness][the v[the various negatives of]ng in the manufacturing sector”CO_ “This gap is more pronounced among laborers as opposed to professionals, blacks as opposed to Whites, and high school graduates as opposed to college reads” (Rogers, Freeman, & Heaven, 2002, Spring). Recruitment of higher- educated employees from Environments employee pool can enable a “buffer [Of co[Of commitment]en planning and the actual selection of new employees” (None et al. , 2003, p. 148). Recruiting, hiring, and training replacements for attrition and retirement reasons, for example will be easier with employees encompassing sufficient skill sets. Patria L. Puppeteer: Evaluating Training and Development Alternatives Intercalate, Inc. S faced with having to establish a new training program due to the merger with Environment, the introduction of new products, ND changes in the organizational structure and design, Intercalates future expansion, domestically and worldwide, will create new jobs and promotions. The development of full-service solutions packages in serving the institutional, industrial, and sanitation industries to dully satisfy Intercalates existing and new target customers, has created the need for job skills and knowledge of environmental regulations to be learned. Representatives from different sales forces and diverse cultures will be grouped into multi-functional teams. This training will begin within 90 to 180 days when a marketing “blitz” will announce Interstice’s new service focus.

Several training and development alternatives may be considered even needing to teach a large numbers of employees in a short time, The first is instructor centered preparation. This method includes learning from an expert to the learner. Reading textbooks and listening to a lecture or presentation is representative of this type of approach to learning. This type of learning, by lecture or listening to an audio tape, is well-suited for transferring and Organizing facts and for interpreting principles. A second method is that of learner centered. This method involves observing an expert reform a task and trying to practice the duplicated task under supervision. After several practicing sessions, the learner becomes skilled enough to fulfill the undertaking. The last method is that Of focusing on teams or groups.

This method is used when new knowledge needs to be generated quickly. A benchmark study found that a merger between Northern States Power Co. And New Century Energies, a Learning Management System (ALMS) called Plateau 4, was implemented to manage the learning for 13,000 employees at more than 40 different plants in the united States. A company called Excel Energy needed a lateral to consolidate all the learning and compliance training efforts. The Plateau System helped combine the learning after the merger, creating efficiencies and strategic benefits. In the first six months of using the Plateau, a Return on Investment (ROI) realized which more than covered the cost of the software and its implementation.

Total training costs which involved travel expenses, contract instructor fees for managing and delivering a blend of online courses, and the classroom training, was significantly reduced (Business Editors/ Hi-Tech Writers, 20021 The Plateau System allows managers to schedule, engage, and deliver both e-learning and instructor-led learning, and track all training related to regulatory compliance. Rather than have employees travel to a central training facility, employees could access their personal development plan through a Web browser, self-enroll in courses, and complete the course via the Internet. The Plateau System puts a unique time stamp on all learning events creating bulletproof audit trail that meets all standards set in the Code Of Federal Regulations, Title 49. This software provides the infrastructure to manage all the organizations learning and knowledge and enhances its intellectual supply chain (Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers, 2002). Michael S.

Pickerel: Evaluating the Human Resource Implications of Going Global Since Intercalate desires to go global and provide solution packages to their clients, the company must define what will be needed to accomplish this goal, especially with the human resources department. Human resource implications of going global will involve several elements to be evaluated and generally requires a determination of which ones will provide the best results. First the HER must address policies, procedures, and other regulations to handle global assignments, This involves the following: C Deployment, Getting the right skills to where they are needed in the organization regardless to geographical location.

C] Knowledge and innovation dissemination, Spreading the state-of-the-art knowledge and practices throughout the organization regardless of where it originates. [l Ide[l Identifying and developing talent on a global basis. Identifying who has the ability to function effectively in a global organization and developing these abilities (p. 21 After defining these elemental challenges, the HER personnel can investigate more detailed assessments which can include some of the allowing: Candidate identification, assessment, and selection. In addition to the technical and business skills, key traits to consider for global assignments include, for instance: cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills and flexibility. Cost projections.

The average cost of spending an employee and family on an overseas assignment is reported more than hiring employees locally overseas. D Assignment letters. The assignee’s specific job requirements and associated pay Will have to be documented and formally communicated in an assignment letter. Compensation, benefits, and tax programs. There are many in which to compensate employees Who are transferred abroad, given the vast differences in living expenses. Relocation assistance. This involves all moving expenses in relocating the employee. CLC Family support. Cultural orientation, education programs, emergency programs are among the few that should be evaluated (p. 3).

There are many other aspects that need to be investigated such as cultural diversity, foreign working conditions, foreign business relations, and foreign unions. These are just a few that affect the infrastructure of how the company maintains their vision statement. Michael S, Pickerel: Assessing the Unique Nature International HARM as Compared to Domestic HARM Businesses that are domestic and never cross international areas have much less regulations, policies, and compliances than if they were global. Furthermore, if businesses desired to go international or global, then there is much to be assessed and implemented. One of the biggest concerns for human resources to assess is international and global laws.

Not only does human resource management have to maintain the laws in the United States but they have some others that are stated below: CHI Local inappropriateness’s Of civil versus moon law, secular versus religious. International Labor Organization agency Of the United Nations, in Which covets human rights, labor rights of many issues regarding unemployment, women, and children. C General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATE)Consternation agreements for trade between countries. 0 European Economic Community (SEC) and Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development voluntary guidelines for international employment standards (Dither & Dougherty, 2001 , p. 229).

As one can see, the human resource management will need to expedite all he domestic laws governed as well as all these other laws, regulations, and other guidelines when conducting business across national borders. Furthermore, human resource management will have to investigate how other countries do business. For instance, Japan’s workforce is less legalist than most westernizes countries; therefore, Japanese managers prefer conciliation and meditation rather than legal decree to disagreements ,Dither & Dougherty, p. 225). Conversely, Germany had implemented work councils that intervene the company’s strategic decision- making process and is regulated by their overspent (Dither & Dougherty, 2001, p. 232). Perhaps this concept is why Wall- Mart had to close business there.

Moreover, some countries value their time off and do not think highly of overtime while other countries might Some countries are still developing their equal rights among the sexes and therefore are placing a certain sex in executive management This may be a bold move, but perhaps not the best move since it may offend their cultural belief systems. One of the best ways to help alleviate Harm’s efforts in assessing these very important issues is outsourcing HER functions to foreign recruiters and other liaisons. Outsourcing can ensure that all foreign laws and cultural values are enforced while simultaneously aligning with the company’s vision as well. Scott Watkins: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities of Multi-National Cultural Diversity Intercalate should be aware of the various cultures within the company.

With the acquisition of Environment, Intercalates management will have to adapt to the unique backgrounds and cultures of its current employees as well as the new employees. This is a very difficult task, and the undertaking becomes even more difficult because they are also trying to launch the solutions-based selling reject. Intercalates managers must recognize the individual differences within the company and adapt its operations in order to meet their end-state goals. With rumors of layoffs, the news will be especially difficult to keep the employees motivated, What one idea a culture may find as beneficial or rewarding, another society might view the same thought as a penalty or consequence to pursue.

Nevertheless, with different cultures being involved on the same project, this provides the company with many different viewpoints. Anew outlook may enable Internecine to seize a competitive advantage over a company that s not so culturally diverse, which is advantageous for a multinational firm. Concurs Banks views the organization’s culturally- diverse group of employees as number one asset. Concord’s Equity and Diversity Policy ensures that its employees represent the diverse group of people Who make up society (Queensland Government). Concurs has recognized the importance of having a diverse workforce and it has used this diversity to meet the financial needs Of each individual customer.

Group Executive Business Distribution Ray Reamer States, "Our diversity strategy is focused on maximizing the use Of the skills Of all our staff and this, we believe, contributes to increased employee productivity, greater staff satisfaction, better customer service, and as part offbeat, greater opportunities to grow the business” (Queensland Government). Concurs recognized the broad range of cultures in its customer’s background which was initially perceived as a challenge, but Concurs was able to turn this into an opportunity. Concurs has created a niche in the financial services market by employing a diverse group of people in order to capitalize on a culturally-diverse society. Intercalate is faced with many of the same problems that Concurs had to overcome. The customers that Intercalate will be dealing with are coming from a variety of different backgrounds. To meet the needs of such a diverse group of customers, Intercalate will have to employ a diversified-group of employees.

Managing people with such difference will be challenging, but if Interstice’s managers can implement a strategy similar to Concords, the entity should be able to meet their stakeholder needs. Conclusion Intercalate is faced with many challenges in its attempt to keep their competitive edge in the industrial cleaning and sanitation industry, Team C has covered many opportunities for Intercalate which would assist them in making this a successful venture. Through benchmarking, Team C has determined that Intercalate will have to focus on the successful acquisition of Environment with the priority Of combining the complementary attributes Of very different backgrounds and skill sets of key employees.