Constructive Employee Relations at Top Trucking Company
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………2
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………3
Role of Human Resource Management………………………………………………………..3
HRM Model……………………………………………………………………………………4
Application of HRM Model……………………………………………………………………5
Risk of Sustaining Changes if Manager or Union Delegate Move……………………………6
Adaptability of workplace changes – Blue Collar Union………………………………………7
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………..8
References……………………………………………………………………………………..8
Executive Summary
This report discussed the Human Resources Management implications and how the same can be correlated through employee engagement via a detailed analysis of the case study “Constructive Relations at Top Trucking Company’. Human Resources Department in an organization must enable the employees to perform by enhancing their Training and Development, monitoring their activities and how well each employee is inclined to their role. This project also aims to bring out the importance of HR and how the effective management practices, policies, and procedures can be applied to bring the best in different situations.
According to the case study analysis performed, the company has adopted The Harvard Framework Model to revamp the entire organization. This paved the way for new changes and coordination in the company. The new manager was efficient enough to replace the computers, uniforms, communication channel and most importantly the drivers were given sufficient training to improve themselves.
Introduction
Human Resources Management is an important department/field of study in any organization. For an organization to be effective, the HR policies and procedures must be in place to monitor them effectively. HR strategies can help evaluate the standards of an organization leading to development. The case study “Constructive Relations at Top Trucking Company” will help to understand the goals and procedures to be followed by the Human Resources Department in an organization. The report also highlights the stages in strategic HRM, the planning cycle and how they can be implemented the ethical and legal aspects in HRM and emphasis on employee relations.
Role of Human Resources in an organization
The Human Resources department in an organization must scrutinize their employees to make them work more effectively and efficiently. It is their responsibility to make the policies more work friendly where the employees also are known as the human capital must be managed and delegated properly to ensure maximum output.
In this case study, we see that the Top Trucking Company in the Wollongong yard was already a high performer in its area with a difficult manager. The manager was difficult to handle as he could not delegate the work effectively to the drivers and complained about them and yelled at them when there were issues. The company has been in the transition stage during this issue, and the success was mostly because of their union delegate, George Psaros. The major issue was that the management was not willing to fund for the development of the infrastructure and hence the same was taken over by a big national transport group.
The employees under the old management were reluctant to change since there were not many things which impressed their working in the organization. Many employees from George’s team left due to the behavior of the manager. Now since the new manager has imposed few changes, the employees are much happier to work in the new environment.
HRM Model
The company has adopted The Harvard Management Model for managing the ongoing situation. This framework offers six basic components to be followed by the organization for effective delegation of work.
The situation must be taken into consideration
The interest of the management
Human Resources policy choices
The outcomes from these changes
How this change will bring about long-term changes
The feedback loop which connects directly to the organization (Beer et Al.)
The Harvard Framework Model helps in creating a stability on the recruitment policies, selection of the personnel, termination, appraisal and promotion of their performance. This system would enable an organization to manage work flow though proper reward systems and motivation of its employees (Crofts, 1995).
Collaboration is the key to strategic human resource management. The teamwork in an organization not only saves time but it also ensures progress. Human resource management should, therefore, create a culture of teamwork, the division of labor and specialization to improve the marginal productivity.
Strategic selection and placement of personnel in an organization can never be ignored in result oriented business. Proper selection and placement should be strategic in that it should be in line with the Company’s goals, vision, and mission. The recruitment procedures should be simple to understand and free from bias so that the right person for the right job is offered the job. To achieve transparency and integrity within the organization, the human resource management should design a culture of honesty, obedience, and integrity in performance. Realizing this objective requires that human resources manager to come up with incentives that enable employees to exercise these virtues even without compelled to do so.
Application of the HRM Model
The management has adopted The Harvard Framework Model to improve its on-going operations and to delegate more work to its employees. This practice had to be adopted since the previous manager did not have the ability to manage the same and as a result, the employees were reluctant to work (Shabnam 2010).
The following were the changes adopted under the new framework:
Appointment of New Line Manager: The organization decided to appoint a New Line Manager who has the capability to manage the existing employees who were reluctant to work due to the pressure imposed by the old line manager. The new manager could efficiently delegate the employees without blaming them. He selected the employees based on his capabilities to manage the workforce (Gibb, 2008). The system under the new manager was much better, and the management could already feel the difference.
Changes in infrastructure: The new management that adopted the existing trucking company was keen on investing money in developing the infrastructure by buying new trucks which were one of the major issues pointed out by the drivers. Along with this, the new management also decided to implement the uniform scheme which the employees had to accept. Initially, this change was not acceptable by the employees. They were ready to agree when they saw the changes heading towards a better workplace (Holden, 2001)
Training and Development: The workers were working in a scenario where there were no industry updates being provided to them. The new line manager felt the importance of the updates and hence made the management to invest in training and development of the union which will enable them to be at par in the market (Gibb, 2008).
Health, Hygiene, and Safety: Hygiene and safety measures were introduced by the line manager to make the employees work more productively. The management also spent money in improving the cleanliness of their yard so that the employees can work in a hygienic environment.
Risk of Sustaining Changes if the Manager or Union Delegate Move
When there are chances of improvement in the company, there will also be changes of misunderstanding between the employees. In this scenario, there is a risk of promotion between George and the line manager. If the line manager is promoted, there is a chance of George pushing himself backward with no industry updates.
The risks associated could be:
Incomplete task: Since George and line manager are the key resources; there are chances of the tasks being incomplete. Since both have settled in the new changes implemented, movement of anyone could lead to tasks being incomplete and a gap in the workflow.
The insecure feeling among the union employees: If there is any movement of these key resources, the union members might get into the stage of insecurity since they have recently got into the practice of market updates. This new change will be welcomed if George or the line manager stays in the same position.
Lack of confidence: The union members might lack confidence if any of these key resources move into a higher position or move to the head office (Finegan, 2000).
Communication practices: The new line manager has developed the habit of sharing the performance of their employees with the union members. This had enabled them to perform better resulting in positive results.
Adaptability of workplace change – Blue Collar Union
The Blue Collar Union workers are those who have high manual skills with lower academic knowledge. Drivers, shop floor workers, etc. are known as Blue Collar Union workers. These workers are paid on an hourly or weekly basis (Barclay, 2001).
The Blue Collar Union employees have higher demand in the market since their pay is low and can work for longer hours since their job demands at the same time they can also demand more if they understand their need in the market. The adaptability comes into picture if they have not been trained on the process. Once they have a standard process, the issue of adaptability does not come into picture since they can work comfortably in any environment (Kheenan, 2011).
Dealing with trade unions has also posed a challenge in human resource management. Pigou, a classical economist, argued that due to the presence of trade unions, wages and prices cannot be flexible. He further argued that employees are bound by the contract, and the wage cut is not practical due to contracts and trade unions. This has been a challenge to the human resources management for years since the organization cannot reduce the wage of an employee asset or specified in the contract. Minimum wage laws were also identified as setbacks for the human resources in the global businesses (Kumekawa, 2017). Setting a price floor regarding minimum wage affects the business performance since the business world keeps on changing and the minimum wage bill keeps on rising every financial year. It is therefore recommended that there should be flexible minimum wages which reflect the prevailing economic situation which keeps on changing from time to time.
Conclusion
After the detailed analysis of the case study, we understand The Harvard Framework Model and how it can change the scenario of an organization. The new management has been a boon to the union workers in the yard since they invested on infrastructure and uniforms which brings the organization into much professional outlook.
There is a serious risk associated with the movement of George and the New Line Manager to a higher level or the head office. To avoid the issues associated with this movement, the Human Resources team can explain the scenario and the importance of the two key resources and how their prolonged contribution can help in making this organization a better one. The role of HR practices adopted here has transformed the company and is vital.
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