Case Study on Human Relation Issues From the Oz Bank Excerpt as Provided

Introduction

Human resource management as described entails the fruitful use of an organizations' personnel in a bid to outline that organization's base objectives while being mindful of individual employee requirements. (Stone, 2017, p. 49) otherwise, it may also be described as, the process of acquiring, equipping employees with skill, appraising, compensation of employees accordingly, and being mindful of their health, work relations, their safety measures and concerns on wellbeing. (Dessler, 2015, p.36). For this case study, we are going to check how the following aspects related to the case study; first is the role of law in human resource management. Second is strategic human resource management and related planning procedures. Lastly, we are bound to preview job analysis and job design parameters in human resource management.

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In so doing, human resource management seeks to focus basically on employer-employee relationships and how they relate to achieving organizational effectiveness. The effectiveness being discussed in management generally entails outlining of the following. First is the strategic human resource planning and management. This entails outlining of individual capabilities as required by the organization. Next is explaining the legislation procedures as required in human resource management. Job analysis and job design procedures also ought to be defined accordingly. This precedes the recruitment and selection of appropriate personnel who are required in the organization. Thereafter, training is done to them to equip them with the skills needed. Staff performance appraisal follows. Usually, the appraisal is done to evaluate individual performance .finally, remunerations realized by an organization need to be clearly defined as organizations seek to stay afloat in business. This entails outlining the gross profit clearly along to an organization's incurred running expenditure.

For our case study in question, it is easy to tell that such human relation procedures are not well laid out for the employees and employer alike. How is this so? First one can easily tell the dissatisfaction cutting across the employee's opinions and reviews. Note that Liam Ryan is quick to outline how the organization demotes people and anticipates that they are engrossed in job participation without outlining individual responsibilities of each and every one. Also, the IT manager, Dominic Saridokis, states that the firm is involved in unethical behavior. He argues that the firm sells questionable merchandise to its unsuspecting customers with the sole aim of profit maximization. Discussed also is how employees are marginalized for questioning the truth against the firms will. For instance, Anna Tran was forced to resign as she sought clarification on the products being sold to esteemed customers. Another employee called Nalina argues that their job description requirements have expanded vastly without much backing in the compensation due. Connie backs her up by claiming how lately they have been expected to work the whole time and even sometimes out of the official work hours as explained in their job descriptions. This along to other examples quoted later below resulted in the need to depict the essence of critical thinking in human relation issues.

Human Resource Management Planning & Related Practice

To avoid such inconveniences, human resource managers ought to be seen on the following. First, much consideration ought to be employed by them in human resource management planning. Human resource managers should execute workforce planning so as to review all the human resource requirements as needed by a firm. This will involve the incorporation of planning tools. In so doing, labor costs will be well controlled i.e. excessive hiring will prove to be wasteful whereas conservative hiring of employees will result in their burnout. Note that planning will also ensure that personal job misfits and related personal organization misfits be avoided. This will go a long way in reducing cases of job dissatisfaction and ensuring talent is allocated appropriately within a firm and as a result, employees will up their performance, trust and work motivation. Appropriate planning also ensures that when laying off employees, the more skilled individuals are retained by the firms since they are deemed more productive. It should be realized that human resource planning aids in the forecasting of the labor demand and supply along with other external characteristics ranging from goal setting to program implementation evaluations.

Legal Issues in Human Resource Management Practice

Legal issues as associated with human resource management also need to be followed accordingly. Human resource managers ought to understand labor law and workplace policy. The workplace policy refers to a document of general application, arranged by the business, and intended to administer any and all aspects of the conduct, rights, and obligations of the parties to a contract of employment. The policy ideally controls employment aspects such as recruitment, contract termination, disciplinary measures & procedures, confidentiality to name but a few. For our case study, legal requirements were not observed as required. One such example is when Anna Tran was made to resign as she sought clarification on the nature of the products being sold. This resignation was not lawfully executed in accordance with section 387a of the fair work act. Fair Work Act stipulates provisions for maximum hours of work, requests for flexible working arrangements, leave provisions and provisions for how work is to be done on public holidays. The act outlines the issuing of the notice of termination and redundancy pay. It also depicts the essence of a fair work information statement. As shown above, in the act, employees should have a fair hearing to afford them a right to respond to those acquisitions against them. The Fair Work Act enables a representative to challenge their rejection in an industrial council thus as such, her dismissal was not supposed to be final. Discrimination of customers was also unlawful. This was as seen when the firm opted to sell questionable products to its unsuspecting customers with the sole aim of profit making. Such unlawful transactions can render you in the wrong arm of the law and the penalties due would otherwise be costly and unnecessary. Hence, it is essential that human resource managers follow all legal procedures as stipulated in law to avoid being in the wrong end of the law.

Strategic Human Resource Management Practice

Here, we will start by defining strategic human resource management as the creating and enacting of human resource practices and policies that produce the employee competencies and behaviors the company needs to achieve its strategic goals as set. Strategic fit amongst many activities is key for maintaining sustainability and gaining competitive advantages. (Porter, 1996) For our case study, strategic human resource management was evident in some aspects. For example, the Oz Bank resorted to deceiving its customers on the nature of the commodity sold as they tried to ensure total maximization of profits from sales. This was basically part of a sales strategy to ensure the most was made of the sales. Strategic planning was also lacking in the hiring of personnel. This was as noted where employees were laid off with little or no measures put in place to ensure the hiring of new ones. Also, for Jennifer's case, little or no strategic plans were employed when outlining job descriptions before the hiring of personnel. As such, the remaining employees were somehow made to cater to the workload that was ballooning. This way, one can easily deduce how strategic human resource management is of the essence. Through it, human resource professionals develop competencies on how to engage in profit based undertakings that help ensure business viability.

Job Analysis and Design in Human Resource Management Practice

Elsewhere in our case study, looking at Jennifer's case, she realized the need to specify standards and related procedures in various job descriptions. This was attributed to the fact that one of her store managers was thought to be in violation of recommended company policies and procedures, claiming he was not well aware of his job entirely. Hence, Jennifer knew that provision of a job description to him along with the required set of standards and procedures would go a long way in alleviating the issue. By this, one could easily tell that managers like Jennifer need to understand job requirements to make intelligent hiring decisions. For her case, she should have listed all job components first, then hired in accordance with qualification. Job component characteristics outline the job context, job requirements and the job content involved. Essentially, managers need to define clearly the job description (composed articulation clarifying why an occupation exists, what the inhabitant really does, how they do it), job specifications as required (aptitudes, capacities, information, individual attributes and formal capabilities required) and Job design. Also, the managers are supposed to collect analysis information on the employees under them in a bid to understand them better. This can be done through observations, oral interviews, administering questionnaires and via critical incident reports provided. Information obtained from these sources will be handy when undertaking competency profiling of employees. Other benefits of doing a job analysis and design are as follows. First, conducting such analysis helps ensure legal compliance. Second, data from the analysis may help to create viable training programs for various individuals in need. Third, understanding employee capabilities will go a long way in creating a healthy working environment for them in accordance with their set of skills. Lastly, most analysis help in classifying whether persons should be regarded as either employee or as independent contractors. Note that the forms of data analysis will always range from the qualitative forms to the quantitative forms. Also, managers are also advised to maintain an open communication channel with their employees as they seek to evaluate how well the employees are performing and also as they reach out to employees who are otherwise thought to be under-achieving.

Otherwise, Jennifer's case helped depict other extensive roles which should be carried out by human resource managers whilst ensuring quality work and maximum sales. They are as follows. First is quality control. Here, managers are solely responsible for quality yield as seen in production. Second, human resource managers are required to ensure proper customer relations are upheld between the employees of an organization and its customers. The managers also control inventory. Fourth, these managers are considered responsible for any of their employees' safety precautions while they work along with their line of trade. Such managers are also expected to keep bookkeeping and cash management records straight at all times since they dictate the nature of how the business is operating. Last but not least on the roles is that the managers ensure ethical practices are observed in various undertakings. This will range from protecting employees against discrimination, protecting customers against price exploitation and false advertising and ensuring proper waste disposal techniques to help reduce pollution.

References

Becker, B E, and Gerhart, S (1996) the impact of human resource management on organizational performance: progress and prospects, Academy of Management Journal, 39 (4), pp 779-801

Becker, B. E., Ulrich, D., &...