Over the years, the workplace culture and landscape have attracted much attention and research following increased harassment at work. Although local and international authorities have established clear guidelines on workplace conduct, many workers have been bullied and subjected to sexual and non-sexual harassment to various degrees. The human resource department is one of the key players in mitigating this vice in the workplace. Workplace harassment can be attributed to the silence of victims, lack of accountability on the side of HR managers, and poor workplace cultures. Notably, the solution lies in developing long-term solutions that will mitigate the vice and limit the chances of future recurrence. This paper focuses on a case study involving sexual harassment at work to analyze the necessary course of action and develop HR policies for future workplace relations and cultural changes.
Affirmative Action
Individuals have different capabilities in an ideal workplace environment, calling for employee protection, equality, and inclusivity. Affirmative action is a state strategy intended to enable underrepresented groups to gain access to academic, workforce, and governmental opportunities. In 1961, John F. Kennedys executive orders established the policy, which declared that candidates and workers must be treated equally regardless of color, race, or nationality (Mushariwa, 2020). By 1967, the list had expanded to include religion and gender, intending to promote anti-discrimination and equitable opportunity for all individuals who had previously been oppressed. The policys goal is for companies and educational institutions to implement affirmative action and stop discriminating based on race, religion, or gender when allowing admission and recruitment decisions. According to Mushariwa (2020), the policy was created to ensure that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was followed. The role of affirmative action in workplaces can best be understood through the arguments raised for and against it.
Arguments for Affirmative Action
The main argument in favor of affirmative action is that it can improve workforce diversity while eliminating prejudice against some demographic groups or ethnicities. Affirmative action supporters say that if it helps minorities join or advance in a field more frequently, it will result in more people believing the area is accessible to them. As a result, the sector may gain from a more diversified applicant pool and leadership group (Mello, 2019). Second, advocates of affirmative action say that it can help companies overcome deeply rooted biases. For example, if a firms corporate leadership is from the same population, they will be less likely to hire someone from different demography. Mushariwa (2020) asserts that a hire-like-me prejudice entails a companys hesitancy to hire applicants who do not fit its demographic profile. Therefore, adopting affirmative action minimizes the probability of discriminatory recruitment practices.
Third, supporters of affirmative action realize that some categories suffer a systemic barrier, meaning they lack the resources and chances to enter and participate in specific sectors. According to proponents Mushariwa (2020), the only way to overcome such impediments is to take affirmative action. Notably, many persons who were previously oppressed have the potential to contribute significantly to organizational growth. Therefore, allowing such individuals access to these sectors can result in industry growth and expansion. Lastly, affirmative action is believed to contribute to a better working environment (Mello, 2019). This results from having different racial groups collaborating to enhance a rich cultural background that supports equality and inclusion.
Counter-Arguments
The primary point against affirmative action is that it compels positions to be allocated only on the basis of demographic criteria, which could lead to artificial bias, including sexism. Since very few women had gotten to the upper ranks of academia in fall 2009, several institutions may hire more women (Mushariwa, 2020). Opponents contend that gender has little or no bearing on a leaders ability to function. This implies that affirmative action could lead to the same problem it was established to eliminate- gender discrimination. If an organization hires more women and minorities to bridge the equality gap, it may end up discriminating against qualified men, eventually resulting in a poorly constituted workforce.
In addition to sexism, opponents of affirmative action believe that it is unfair to judge candidates based on any other attribute outside their abilities to accomplish the needed tasks. If institutions focus on gender, racial, and demographic constitutions, they may fail to achieve their goals due to inefficiencies in the workforce. Lastly, diversity is multifaceted, and focusing on multiple opinions is more important than simply aiming for racial diversity (Mushariwa, 2020). Therefore, opponents feel that affirmative action should not be applied to every setting as it may diminish important institutional values.
Addressing Workplace Harassment
One of the central roles of human resource managers (HRM) is to ensure that employees work in an environment devoid of harassment, including sexual discrimination. The first step in handling workplace sexual harassment is engaging in an unbiased investigation. According to Mujtaba and Senathip (2020), HRM should endeavor to unravel the effects and the causes of workplace harassment and address them accordingly. In the case presented, the harassed woman reported the issue to HRM for follow-up, which was found to be genuine. Although she is in a low employment position and has not been employed for a long time, she deserves to be protected under the affirmative action policy. In this regard, HRM should follow the laid-out procedures to ensure that the man found guilty of sexual harassment is charged according to the law. This will send a clear message to all employees regarding the companys adherence to the law and its observance of healthy workplace culture.
The HRM should hold separate meetings with the victim and the accused to grasp the weight and implication of the matter fully. This is a necessary step because it may help prevent such behavior in the future. By establishing rapport with the accused, HRM will understand the root cause of sexual harassment as the man opens up on why he harassed the woman (Mujtaba &Senathip, 2020). Whether it was the lack of understanding workplace relationship policies or a disregard, the answer will facilitate the development of future control measures and enable HRM to decide the suitable punishment. According to Mello (2019), HRM should collaborate with employees and senior executives to develop effective and lasting solutions. Therefore, in this case, HRM should initiate discussions involving senior and junior employees to understand the underlying causes and trends of workplace harassment and brainstorm on viable control measures.
HRs Role Future Harassment Solutions
Workplace relationships are significantly affected by organizational values and culture. Therefore, HRM should focus on changing aspects of their company culture that facilitate employee harassment. This may include analyzing the respective roles of senior and junior employees to determine the influence of power and positions on equity and equality. Mello (2019) argues that strategic human resource management goes beyond role allocation and spans all areas of the corporate culture. According to Perry et al. (2020), workplace culture should serve as the reference for everyones conduct at work, regardless of the position held. In essence, all workers should be made to understand the values to which they are expected to subscribe and the repercussions of failing to do so.
In addition to the culture, HRM should expand their knowledge on workplace harassment by benchmarking in other organizations. This will enlighten them on new trends and enable them to update organizational values accordingly. Since junior employees are more likely to adopt the behavior propagated by senior staff, the executives should be motivated to lead by example (Perry et al., 2020). In reference to the case given, the senior worker should be severely punished, possibly demoted, or fired. This will serve as a relationship guide to all workers in similar positions and prevent the recurrence of employee harassment.
Conclusion
The most critical and urgent challenges that most firms workers, managers, and leaders can confront in their daily activities are workplace harassment and discrimination. Although local and international laws have been formulated to mitigate employee harassment, this vice has still been ongoing. HRM ensures that the established workplace cultural practices are successful and that employees are protected from abuse and oppression. The affirmative action policy should be adopted in organizations to limit the discrimination of minority groups. HRM should deal with all harassment cases objectively and formulate clear guidelines, including updating the workplace culture and values to minimize the probability of future employee harassment.
References
Mello, J. A. (2019). Strategic human resource management (5th ed.). Cengage Learning
The human resources specialist position is a government job that implies an extensive compensation plan, including a fixed salary, insurance, pension plans, and other aspects. The job itself offers a salary-only plan, illustrating that the fixed wage does not depend on the amount of work one does or the number of people hired based on the agenda. Instead, the salaries (ranging between $47,548.80 $69,700.80) may be labeled as job-focused payments (Human Resources Specialist, 2022). This implies that the payment does not depend on performance but is based on the job itself, the tasks that are to be accomplished, and the responsibilities. Such an approach has a negative and a positive connotation to it. On the one hand, a study has shown that physicians who are paid for each person they meet are to be more efficient with their time (Cadena & Smith, 2022). However, another research has exemplified that a performance-based payment may put pressure on employees, resulting in burn-out and low employee retention (Slater et al., 2022). Employee retention is the main driving factor that creates an environment in which an adequate compensation plan is needed (Njoroge & Maina, 2022). Thus, a government job that implies a level of confidentiality and privacy is more likely to be secure with a job-based plan. This correlates with the ability to receive extra bonuses based on seniority in the institution, which depends on the experience in the field based on the years and the knowledge a person has gained through the job position. Another critical implementation that facilitates high employee retention is medical insurance. Such nonmonetary rewards (including dental, vision, and other plans) also apply to one, two, and more dependents. This particular compensation plan will be reviewed and evaluated due to the fact that the human resource specialist position is offered by the government, a factor that may influence the specific aspects included in the offer since it is funded through taxes.
Characteristics of the Job
It is also important to illustrate that the salaries mentioned in the job description are not much higher or lower than the average on the market. Thus, the governments offer does not create unnecessary competition and offers reasonable payment that aligns with wages offered by other organizations and institutions with the same tasks to accomplish. Moreover, the relatively complex nonmonetary compensation plan may be facilitated by the various tasks and the required experience listed in the job description. This significantly narrows down the pool of potential employees since one of the requirements is having four years of experience in human resources. When designing the compensation system, it was deducted that this factor would be cost-effective in terms of training and supervising new employees for an extended period of time. Moreover, the job implies that the person seeking the position is to be proficient in knowing and applying the current legislation and certain regulatory implementations in their day-to-day tasks (Human Resources Specialist, 2022). Furthermore, working with confidential data, having high responsibilities, and following rigid protocols are other aspects of the job that are balanced out with an adequate compensation system (Martocchio, 2017). Since the job requires writing instructions, reports, and plans, there is a need for fourth-degree writing ability at least. Based on the job-content evaluation process, the multiple responsibilities are not necessarily highly compensable. A factor that is arguably more prominent in terms of correlation with higher compensation is the level of responsibility the job implies. Due to the fact that the employee is to work with private data and have access to the personal information of possible future governmental employees, the level of responsibility is relatively high. On the other hand, the mental and physical effort does not put the job position high on the list compared to other positions that imply more risks.
Market Analysis
As mentioned prior, the wages, bonuses (both monetary and nonmonetary), and other aspects of the compensation offered through the position of a human resources specialist have been facilitated by the market. Multiple governmental jobs offer extensive compensation since they are funded through taxes, which is not nuanced for this position. From this perspective, the offer implies a market-competitive pay system since it compares to similar offers with higher wages but fewer benefits offered by private enterprises. It is essential to mention the location (San Diego) as another facilitator of a relatively high wage of $23-33/h (Human Resources Specialist, 2022). Major cities with higher prices for rent and other commodities have to offer a salary that people would seek since it covers the expenses of rent, utilities, and other essentials. Thus, people seeking jobs in urban areas such as San Diego are to receive a wage that is in line with the living standard of the city. This is why the wage offered by the institution are adequate. Needless to say, the salary depends on the position since multiple are included under the category of human resources specialist, from HR assistant to Sr. HR analyst. The responsibilities differ, which is why the hourly wage also varies depending on the experience of the employee, the seniority within the company, the initial knowledge in the field, and the interview that will determine personal qualities. Based on the evaluation, the job position and the compensation system published by the employers are in line with the difficulties of the responsibilities, pay-system competitiveness, and the relatively low physical and mental effort necessary to complete the job-related tasks. As a result, the compensation plan can be deemed adequate and reasonable in accordance with the job position itself.
Martocchio, J. J. (2017). Strategic Compensation A Human Resource Management Approach (9th ed.). Pearson.
Njoroge, J. M., & Maina, J. (2022). Compensation. Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. Web.
Slater, B. J., Collings, A. T., Corvin, C., & Kandel, J. J. (2022). Value-based surgery physician compensation model review of the literature. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. Web.
The contemporary business environment that enterprises operate has become more and more competitive. This growth has been brought about by globalization whereby each company seeks to operate in the international market.
As such, companies seek to gain competitive advantage over their competitors to ensure that they remain in existence as well as achieve their organizational objectives. Among the various measures taken by most companies to achieve competitive advantage is that of quality output which is highly dependent on the operations management of an organization.
These operations are carried out either by machines or human beings. Thus, the human resource is an important asset in every organization given the major contributions it brings to the organization. This is because as much as organizational managers would like to have their operations automated, there are still operations that have to involve human beings. As much as automation is available in most companies, human resource remains inevitable.
It is therefore evident that the human resource of a company plays a significant role in its performance. With this in mind, most human resource departments/ managers have put in place measures to ensure that they obtain the best human resource with skills and experience to ensure that the output of the company is of high quality. The attainment and retaining of highly skilled personnel relies on strategies adopted by the human resource department.
The human resource processes includes training, recruitment and hiring, selection, job tasking, selection, appraisals and evaluation as well as dismissal. It involves setting duties and responsibilities for every employee as well as determining their salaries and benefits. This paper is an in-depth analysis of the selection and recruitment functions of the human resource department by looking at the processes of selection and recruiting, their importance, and the impact they have on company performance.
The recruitment and selection process
The process of selecting and recruiting of personnel to the organization is the most important function of the human resource department (Adiele 1). Despite the fact that the process is normally lengthy, it is simple and mostly made up of the following stepwise procedures:
Job analysis and job description
Advertisement via internal memo or the public media such as newspapers, the internet, and recruiting agencies
Short listing of candidates that meet the minimum qualifications
Screening/ Interview
Selection
Recruitment of successful candidates
Employee orientation
Probation and confirmation
The process of recruiting in companies can be solely carried out by the human resource department of the company or be outsourced from external recruitment agencies (Adiele 1). When recruitment is done by recruitment agencies, the companys role is to present their staff needs to the agency, which will carry out the whole process and fill the vacant positions on behalf of the company.
Nevertheless, most companies prefer to carry out the process on their own. When this happens, the first step in recruiting is normally identification of the number of staff needed. Staff needs could arise in the case of retirement, resignation, or contract termination of an employee thus making their position vacant.
Vacancies also arise in the event that the company is restructuring or expanding like in the case of merger and acquisition. When the company is certain that there is the need to fill a vacant position, the position is advertised. Vacancies are normally advertised to the public through the media such as newspapers, job sites in the internet, and radio among other channels of communication. Internal advertisement could also be done through memos.
On the advertisement, the job description should be clearly indicated derived from the job analysis. The job description entails trying to give the purpose of the job, tasks involved in the job, and the entire scope of the job. In demanding advertisements, salary details could also be given as an incentive to attract numerous applications. All this information is given in at least one sentence. The advertisement should also have a deadline for the applications in addition to the mode of sending applications such as email or postal services.
Once the human resource department receives applications, the selection process begins. Selection begins upon receipt of the applications whereby the candidates deemed fit for the advertised positions are shortlisted and invited for an interview with the selection committee. Interviews form the major part of the selection and recruitment processes of most companies and organizations. It is through interviews that the company is able to know the past and future performances of a candidate.
The candidate is also in a position to know more about the job and company. The selection criteria could be custom made to meet the demand of the company as well as making sure that the right candidate is selected. This prevents the company from going back to the drawing board to carry out another recruitment process a decision that is costly and involving a lot of time.
Importance of selection and recruitment
Human resource is among the most essential assets of any business enterprise who goal is excellent performance. The employees of a company normally act as the face of the company.
For instance, the satisfaction of customers is determined by the attitude and capability of the employees in addition to their engagement and commitment to organizational success. As such, all companies normally strive to hire the best workforce through the selection and recruitment process. As mentioned earlier in the paper, the process of selection and recruitment is very costly and time consuming.
It is in this regard that the selection and recruitment process forms an integral part in any business enterprise. It should therefore be properly carried out to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. The process should be able to come up with proper choices of candidates who are well skilled and competent. This is because wrong selection and recruitment increases the labor turnover and operating organizational costs while decreasing employee morale due to lack of achievement.
Listed below are some of the benefits of the selection and recruitment process in companies.
Tapping of new talent
The selection and recruitment process is vital in any business enterprise as it creates a pool of candidates with talents from which the company is to choose from. When a company advertises a job vacancy, it attracts and encourages people with the desired skills and qualifications to apply. The advertisement is meant to attract knowledgeable and suitable professionals fitting the job description.
This is important as talent that could be difficult to get will now be in the hands of the company selection committee. Unlike in other methods of filling vacant positions such as promotion of a junior officer to a senior position, recruitment and selection brings about new talent in the organization. The new talent is road map to innovation and inventions in the company, which in turn leads to the company gaining competitive advantage.
Link between company and employees
The recruitment process is significant to both the employers and the employees because it acts as the link joining the two groups. Upon selection of the right candidates to fill in the vacant positions in the company, these two parties enter into a contractual agreement.
The contractual agreement, which marks the end of the recruitment and selection process, is a legal document that gives the obligations of the employer and employee where they all sign in agreement. This agreement is normally referred to in the event that one party breaches the terms of the contractual agreement. In addition to this, the selection and recruitment process creates an environment that the employees and the employer meet on a one-to-one scenario and share their ideas.
For instance, candidates are normally requested to ask anything they would like to know regarding the company during an interview. Additionally, the employers represented by the selection committee ask all they would want to know from the prospective employee. This in turn creates a platform that both parties know about each other.
Cost effectiveness
When wrong people are recruited in an organization, chances are high that it will increase costs. As such, recruitment and selection is important in any organization so as to ensure that the right people are chosen and given the right positions in the company. In most organizations, the process of recruitment is custom-made to fill several vacancies in the company.
The recruitment and selection process involves various steps that can be monitored and adapted by the candidates. It is important that the process be simplified in order to ensure that there are no chances of discrimination hence helping the selection panel make the right choice for the company.
The recruitment and selection process is important in reducing costs in organizations since it puts in place adequate measures to replace and fill vacant positions without having to wait for long, something that could lead to halting of operations thus losses incurred. In addition to this, the recruitment and selection process offers organizations with a pool of prospective employees to choose from.
These prospective employees are not hunted but they (candidates) hunt the job, thus saving organizations the cost and time they would have spent hunting for them. It has been evidenced that a single job advertisement could attract more than 100,000 applications in most of the nations where unemployment rates are high. This number is bound to change depending on the unemployment rates as well as the development of different nations.
Decreasing turnover
Employee turnover in a company is a sign of poor management, which in the end leads to financial losses. Companies work hard to ensure that the turnover rates are as low as possible.
The process of selection and recruitment facilitates proper appointments of the right candidates best suited for the post instead of appointing overqualified or under qualified persons to fill the position. The disadvantage of appointing persons not qualified for a certain job is that they normally have low morale and poor quality output thus opting to reassign or forced to quit.
This in turn increases the turnover rate. However, proper selection and recruitment reduces the turnover rate by ensuring that the right candidates are selected to fill the specific vacant positions in organizations. This is because, selection and recruitment helps reduce the probability that job applicants once recruited and selected will leave the organization only after a short period of time (Sims 34).
Increasing employee morale
When an employee goes through the selection and recruitment process and appointed to fill a vacancy in an organization, there is no doubt that they will be proud of having been picked from the large pool of applicants. This will not only make the employees confident in themselves but will also increase their productivity since they would like to assure the company that they were definitely the best choice. In turn, the yield for the company will be high hence being competitive in the market.
The recruitment and selection of employees plays a significant role in motivating employees to perform extraordinarily in a bid to satisfy the expectations of their employees. On the other hand, employees currently working in an organization will also be motivated to increase their productivity in bid to increase their chances of being selected in case there is a vacancy to fill in the organization (Mathis and Jackson 37).
Those wishing to move in other organizations will also work diligently in order to sell themselves to other competitive institutions. Since most recruiters normally contact the referees of candidates or their previous employees, every employee makes sure that they are of good conduct and perform excellently in their duties so that a good report can be given. All this is because employees are aware that the only way of getting a job is through the selection and recruitment process.
Impact of effective selection and recruitment on the company
Effective selection and recruitment selection process in a company comes in hand with several benefits, some of which include the following:
Cost benefit
The main reason behind the advocacy for effective selection and recruitment is to save on cost. Poor selection of the candidates filling a certain position could arise to various costs. First, the unfit candidate could produce poor quality products and or services, which could in turn affect the sales of the company hence low profits.
Secondly, a candidate who is unfit for a certain post could lack the technical skills hence affecting operations for instance, unskilled mechanic in a factory could operate machines wrongly hence destroying the product or causing injury to themselves or their fellow workers. This in turn makes the company incur huge losses in repair of machines or treatment of the injured employees.
It is therefore advisable that the company invests in effective selection and recruitment process so as to recruit competent personnel who will not bring about mistakes that can hinder the companys productivity. Keeping the costs of selection down will involve such factors as holding the interviews in a location, which is accessible to the interviewing panel, and to those being interviewed (Mathis and Jackson 43).
Thirdly, there is the cost of retraining which is incurred in the event that a company recruits unqualified personnel. In other cases, the recruited employees could require replacement especially when their performance is extremely poor. This means that the company has to undergo the whole process of selection and replacement, something that is very costly and time consuming. When this happens, the company experiences serious financial losses, which are difficult to revamp.
Employee Loyalty and Productivity
The main expectation of any employer from his or her employees is quality output. Companies normally require people who will be highly productive in order to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. The high productivity is only achieved when the employees are loyal. Loyal employees are normally dedicated to the company and would do anything to make it succeed.
As such, employee loyalty is linked to the kind of output that the employer will receive in the end. With this in mind, it is important that the recruitment and selection process is effective to produce the best-fitted candidate for the post in the company. For instance, the interview panel could ask the candidates questions on their strengths and weaknesses, their achievements, and maybe their failures if any.
This helps tap the loyal employees who in most of the cases will have had a track record of excellent performance in their past. A company with loyal employees remains more competitive than those with disloyal employees. In addition to this, the company becomes innovative given the dedication of the employees, which in turn results in a highly profitable company.
Retention of employees
Retention is perhaps more important now than ever. Keeping hold of your best workers, and inspiring confidence and loyalty in difficult times requires considerable commitment on your part (Sims 26). However, when the wrong people are selected for a certain position in a company, chances are very high that they will either quit or resign.
The reason behind this is the low morale of the employee, which results due to inability to perform a certain task or poor output. When this happens, the company will have no other option than to terminate the contract of such an employee. Several instances of such a case would result in high turnover, which in turn leads to high spending by the company.
Poor selection and recruitment process could also bring into the company job hoppers. Job hoppers change jobs often and they keep on moving from one organization to another. Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in the Baby Boomer generation had an average of 11 jobs during a 26-year period of their working lives (Mayhew 1).
Employees with such a character bring about high turnovers in organizations. To avoid this, the selection panel should look at the length of time that the candidates have spent in their previous jobs. This will show if the candidate is the job hopping type. In addition to this, the references could be contacted to give the history of the candidate.
All this is done to ensure that the company obtains the best-suited employee for the post, one who will not leave the company in just a short time but instead offer his or her services to a long time. It can therefore be concluded, low turnover is a sign of an effective recruitment and selection process, especially because most turnover occurs during the first 90 days of employment (Mayhew 1).
Legal issues
Given the high rate of unemployment in the world today, chances of unfair selection of candidates is inevitable as people push in for their relatives and friends while others give bribe to be given certain posts in organizations. This is unacceptable under the laws governing hiring of personnel in companies.
Thus, ineffective selection and recruitment procedures that do not adhere to the laws of the land could lead to serious consequences to the recruiting company. These could include sanctions of the recruiting persons, contract termination for the wrongly selected employees and fines for the company. This not only causes financial losses to the company but also ruins the reputation of the company.
Discrimination in hiring procedures is yet another issue that could make the company face serious legal consequences. Discrimination is forbidden in all nations and companies with advocacy of equal treatment of candidates in selection and recruitment being preached all over the world.
For instance, the United States Department of Labor forbids discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, political affiliation, religion or age (Saez 1). These laws are enforced by the government to ensure that the right selection and job termination procedures are followed when terminating the employees contract.
These laws made the organization to be composed of different groups of persons without discriminating anybody because of gender, age, and race. Everybodys rights are maintained and equal chances during employees selection and firing are given to all candidates. This allows the organization to select good employees, which can help it attain its strategic goals successfully.
Discrimination can be avoided by clearly indicating all the essential requirements of a certain position on the job advertisement as well as the specific duties involved. In other instances, companies indicate that a certain discriminated gender and people are encouraged to apply. For example, an advertisement could read, female candidates are encouraged to apply (Saez 1). Others will read, persons with disability are encouraged to apply (Saez 1).
In addition to this, interviews ought to be held during days and time that would not prevent certain groups of people from attending. For instance, holding interviews on religious or cultural holidays could deter some candidates from attending given their religious values. Additionally, it is required that proper notes are taken during recruitment in a bid to justify the selected candidates. In doing this, the company adheres to the legal requirements hence keeping instances of legal fines at bay.
Recommendations
Human resource is significant in the operations of all kinds of business enterprises ranging from schools, restaurants, food manufacturing, and legal practices just to mention a few. This has been evidenced by the lack of achievement of organizational goals in companies with the best physical resources, capital, and latest technology yet lacking the right personnel to carry out the operations.
This therefore indicates that having the right people to work in organizations is a key determinant of organizational success. Selection gives an organization the opportunity of analyzing the skills of applicants and choosing the best among them. Given its significance in the development of an organization, it is recommended that the recruitment and selection process have three key qualities, which are efficient, effective, and fair (Mathis and Jackson 45).
It is recommended that the recruitment and selection process be cost effective in terms of the method used and sources of getting the right personnel. In the ancient times, job advertisements were made through radio and newspapers among other ancient methods all of which were deemed slow. Nowadays, most of the job advertisements are via the internet hence reaching a large number of people within the shortest time.
Internet has also increased the speed of candidates responding to the advertised vacancies. In the same way, the company is also able to respond thus making the recruitment process cost effective. The process should also be effective and able to produce the required number of candidates with surplus or deficit. Recruitment and selection is a process, which is recommended to be fair to all the candidates by giving them equal chances.
In addition to this, it is recommended that companies adopt strategic human resource management policy in their human resource planning. Strategic human resource management is part of management, which support the employees meet their needs in the organization with the aim of achieving the organizational goals.
The strategic human resource will ensure that the organization recruits fire and offer good welfares to its employees. It also ensure that the line managers and other employees are motivated by awarding them work incentives, safety procedures of information and vacation or sick days to promote them to increase their efficiency and performance.
The strategic approach to human resource helps the organization to achieve its objective by ensuring that the organization attracts and recruits the staffs that possess the skills and expertise that can help the organization to grow to a level that is expected by the investors. The employees therefore are well conversant with the roles and responsibilities, which they are assigned to do because they have the appropriate skills necessary for the duties that they are given by the organization.
Conclusion
The above discussion proves the fact that organizational success is highly dependent on the skills and competencies of staff. This stresses the need for proper hiring of staff in order to ensure that the organization does not lack skills. As mentioned earlier in the paper recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring a qualified employee in the firm.
Several benefits of the recruitment process have been listed including the fact that it creates mutual understanding between employees and employers. Nevertheless, recruitment is known have one weakness in that it may be expensive to administer especially to small-scale organizations because the funds required may not be available. However, as discussed in the paper, the process ought to be as effective as possible in order to save on extra costs.
A good selection process of employees without any form of discrimination and makes an organization to have employees who have good corporate values, which enhance good employees relationship and performance (Sims 65). The selection should be based on the merit of employees and therefore the organization will be able to meet its goals since it will have experienced and qualified personnel.
When the right procedures of selection and recruitment are in place, the company will save on costs, decrease turnover rates, increase employee morale, and retain their employees for a long time. This not only ensures efficient and effective running of the company but it also enhances the good reputation of the company.
The Human Resources Administration (HRA) is also called the Department of Social Services (DSS). HRA is a New York City government department that was founded on 15th August 1966 by Mayor Lindsay John and facilitates the majority of the citys social services programs (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020). DSS helps in-need New Yorkers through various services that subsequently create employment and personal responsibility. DSS provides temporary help and equal work opportunities. According to the NYC Human Resources Administration (2020), the DSS regulations are enshrined under title sixty-eight of the New York City Rules and Regulations. Stephen Banks is the current HRA Commissioner since 2014. HRA is a not-for-profit organization aiming at empowering people in society. The corporation receives financial resources from different entities within the U.S. The primary funding of DSS comes from the City funds (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020).
Mission Statement
The NYC HRA mission statement is: Dedicated to fighting income inequality and poverty in New York by providing the in-need New Yorkers with pivotal benefits including the Emergency Rental Assistance and the Food Assistance (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020). Arguably, the DSS agency works towards attaining its mission statement by following its diverse programs. First, HRA has the Cash Assistance program, whereby FIA (Family Independence Administration) gives temporary cash to New Yorkers (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020). The consideration and eligibility for the amount that one gets references to the family size and the amount of income a household or family makes. Individuals that receive temporary cash must participate in a training or employment program. Also, DSS offers food stamps as a way of meeting its mission statement. FIA equally provides families from low-income backgrounds access to food stamps (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020).
Community
The NYC Human Resources Administration serves the problem-based type of community. As mentioned above, the agency intends to attain socio-economic equality in society by alienating instances of poverty. The agency serves the less fortunate in society through its cash assistance, employment services, food stamps, public health insurance, long and home care programs, among many other programs (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020). As such, the HRA agency aims at making a difference in individuals lives from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. For instance, the HRA agency thrives on making individuals who come from low-income backgrounds feel comfortable, because of the health insurance program.
Community Demographics
The communitys demographics that the NYC Human Resources Administration helps include individuals of different races, ages, and gender. HRA majorly concentrates on the communitys financial abilities, helping the poor (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020). Individuals that have a larger family size have more chances of receiving cash assistance. Despite the HRA community encompassing those from the low-income class, the agency gives those that are poorer, priority for the first cash assistance circular. The DSS exemplifies that it provides those whose family size is more prominent and their income is low with the priority to be a part of the different agency programs. Equally, HRA favors families with children since the agency understands the burden of bringing up children in poverty. Therefore, DSS does not discriminate within the communitys demographics but gives families with children and with the lowest financial potential an opportunity to receive services first.
Overlap Services
Distinctively, there is an overlap of services similar to what the NYC Human Resources Administration offers within the community. Obamacare provides identical benefits to the ones that HRA offers. Beland et al. (2018) allude that Obamacare aims at increasing health insurance coverage, improving healthcare quality, and equally reducing healthcare costs. Thus, Obamacares aim resembles that of the Human Resources Administration in New York City. However, there is a slight difference between the HRA Public Health Insurance service to that of Obamacare. In the HRA healthcare cover, the service aims at covering the insurance bills for those from low-income status. On the other hand, Obamacare cares for the interests of individuals from the low-to-the-high financial level.
Community Strength and Resources
Arguably, the communitys strength is that, despite individuals being from a low-income class, they have managed to obtain higher education. Saleebey (2012) mentions that the strengths perspective approach puts peoples resources first to defeat the present problem. It is easy to give a source of employment to individuals who have attained college-level education and above. Comprehensively, education stands as the central pillar that can eradicate poverty among individuals within the community. HRA projects at offering a source of employment for people from low socioeconomic levels within New York City. Statistically, there are over fourteen thousand people that HRA has employed who are delivering services to over three million New Yorkers (NYC Human Resources Administration, 2020).
Importance of the Agency and Community in Practice
Social workers are expected to care at different levels, including micro, mezzo, and macro contexts. At the micro-level, social work implies working with individuals who need certain services to improve their lives, which is performed through the direct interaction between a client and a professional. For example, people who have problems with social services, healthcare access, homeless ones, and others are commonly referred to the social workers at the micro-level. Since this level involves sensitive communication, social workers should be aware of psychology and ethics to provide the best care possible. Accordingly, the Agency plays the role of connecting social workers and individuals not only at the micro-level but also across the levels.
The macro-level social work implies considering a large scale that impacts communities and nations. In this case, the systems that affect people and cause social injustice and a lack of opportunities are viewed by social workers as composing the problem. In their study, Heimstädt and Reischauer (2019) propose innovation in the NYC administration. The authors assume that open innovation is useful for social work, and it should be enabled at the organizational level. However, the authors also note that little attention is paid to the phenomenon of culture that impacts the links across organizations. It means that a lack of culture leads to the fact that the actors of the NYC administration take the different roles and focus on their parts only. For example, outside, insider, and interstitial roles make these actors choose different tactics, and the entire work of the administration becomes scattered (Heimstädt & Reischauer, 2019). Therefore, it seems that social workers should promote cultural resonance to effectively implement open innovations and use new practices.
Social Worker Roles
The role of a social worker is evident in the HRA agency. The first role of a social worker in the urgency is to help the community individuals and families be strong and overcome the different challenges and problems they are going through. According to Hepworth et al. (2017), a social worker encourages people to embrace endurance amidst trouble. For instance, families within the community are missing proper nutrition.
At the mezzo level, a social workers perspective focuses on helping groups of individuals, beginning with a family and ending with organizations and organizations. The problems between two students in a class or family interactions become the target area of social workers. Lieberman et al. (2015) state that pregnant and parenting teenagers compose a vulnerable group of clients, who need family preservation assistance. In particular, the statistics show that such adolescents are more likely to have difficulties with family relationships, which prioritizes the idea of special programs and education to be implemented through the New York City foster care agency (Lieberman et al., 2015). This approach ensures that the target audience would not only be protected but also provided with some relevant development opportunities.
The second role of a social worker in the HRA agency is to educate the clients regarding the different approaches and mechanisms they can embrace to get out of their devastating situations. For instance, the HRA agency aims at educating the community regarding health issues apart from providing public health insurance. A social worker gets an automatic responsibility of making the population, including patients within the city, understand the different mechanisms that they can put in place to avoid such occurrences in the future (Shulman, 2016).
Personal experience
Client Intake Process
There is a rigid process that a client goes through from initial referral to intake. The first step involves immediate need identification during the brief assessment or intake process (Hepworth et al., 2017). Here, the professionals assess the needs of different individuals within the population. Subsequently, the professionals decide whether the individuals needs can be addressed immediately or later, hence entering the brief assessment or intake documentation step.
Clients who pass the assessment or the intake documentation move to the second phase and must effectively fill in their basic information profile. Basic information incorporates presenting the problem, giving the identification information, and other demographics, including the language that the client speaks (Hepworth et al., 2017). The social worker and other professionals within the agency understand the clients background, names, and origin. The clients experience gives a social worker and the agency the correct response to the clients needs. Assessment documentation equally involves a brief overview of status and requirements. Here, the agency checks the customers needs in different aspects. For instance, other clients needs can be food or clothing, finances, housing, transportation, substance use, domestic violence, or even preventing HIV/AIDS transmission and progression.
The third process for the client involves the release of the necessary support. Here, the agency is sure of the clients exact problem and need, hence, it starts helping them (Hepworth et al., 2017). For instance, authorization of HIV confidential information release happens as per the depictions of Article 27F. In other words, the third phase involves results, whereby the client gets to know whether their desires are being met.
The fourth process involves client assessment for eligibility, whereby professionals assess whether the clients need is genuine. The client gets tested whether they meet the minimum requirements to be part of the program (Hepworth et al., 2017). For instance, clients are assessed whether they meet the essential condition, like coming from low-income families. The client becomes part of the program after this program eligibility assessment and subsequent approval. Individuals are assured of getting their preferred aid after a successful eligibility assessment test.
Client System, Strength, and Challenge
The client is an African American woman Christian aged 27 years. The client comes from a low-socioeconomic status. For over five years now, the client has been under ARVs medication, but it is only last month that she stopped taking the drugs, and she argues that social stigma from the community has led to this decision. The clients family is intact and very supportive, trying their best to ensure that the client resumes normal life. The woman feels wasted, worthless and confesses that she had tried to commit suicide the previous week by taking excessive analgesics. Arguably, the clients greatest strength is that she is free and talkative, spilling everything within her heart, which is a good thing since it makes me understand her better. In contrast, the clients challenge is that she seems to be suffering from depression, considering that she quickly forgets what she said minutes ago.
Similarities with Client and Bias
The main similarity between the client and me is that we are agemates and Christians. The client feels free and comfortable in my presence, making it easy to counsel her to take the ARVs drugs. Empirically, the client embraces satisfaction and feels free, considering that she responds quickly and openly to everything I ask her. The client even goes the extra mile to explain how her life since childhood has been smooth until 2015 when she realized that she is HIV positive. However, the central bias that arose is that the client has a negative attitude towards men. The woman feels that if it were not for her husband, she could not have had the virus.
Client Interaction Skills
The first skill that I am using to engage with the client is eye contact. As Hepworth et al. (2017) reiterate, eye contact is an indication of concentration. When the client speaks, and I am embracing the eye contact skill, it gives the client confidence to continue speaking since she understands that what she is saying makes sense. The second skill that I am using to engage the client is empathetic and empathy responses. Here, the client feels that I genuinely feel what she has gone through, igniting her to speak more as a way of getting relieved.
Social Work Literature
Notably, values are one of the social work literature that informs my approach to engaging the client. As a social worker, I have to value and respect the worth and dignity of the client. Social work ethics dictate that I have to treat every client equally, respectfully, and compassionately. While speaking about the challenges faced by social workers, it seems to be important to mention that ethics is one of the complicated issues to ensure. Morley (2019) applied the social impact bonds (SIBs) theory to evaluate its ethical status and found that it is often used to combat recidivism, healthcare difficulties, and homelessness. The authors findings indicate that the denial of care, harm generation, and a lack of informed consent reduce the therapeutic effectiveness of social work. I believe that it is of great importance to complying with the requirements of ethics. It is also critical to recognize diversity and adjust care accordingly since the unique characteristics of clients should be taken into account to make sure their situations are properly understood (Morley, 2019). In particular, the structure of the culture, race /ethnicity, and identity serve as the key characteristics of every client, group of clients, and even community.
Learning Experiences
My learning experience in my beginning process of social work practice is that I have learned about erudition. Practical experiences are vital in the field of social work. I have cultured that social work is about acting as a client and allowing the client to act as a social worker. I have come to know that I had little knowledge regarding the whole social work profession. At least, I now understand that I have to take clients as they are during social work practice and never allow myself to be emotionally provoked by abusive clients.
As a social work practitioner, I encountered various clients who have diverse problems. Among them, immigrants seem to be an especially vulnerable population that needs more precise attention. Congress (2017) notes that in large cities, the number of immigrants increases rapidly, which requires social work interventions at micro and mezzo levels. For example, culturagram is offered as a micro intervention to engage these people in interaction with social workers and make them more open to assistance. Regarding the macro level, advocacy seems to be a powerful tool to change the policies for immigrants (Congress, 2017). I would like to emphasize that I consider the integration of social work at the levels should be promoted.
Opening up Experience
Arguably, the experience of opening up and being vulnerable with my field instructor made me feel relieved. Regardless of all the criticism, speaking out has given my instructor a clear picture of how I think, feel, and believe. Also, being free and saying about me has allowed my instructor to realize that I feel comfortable around him. Disclosing my inner-self has critically put me in a position to receive guidance, feedback, and critique from my coach. My teachers criticism gave me a new perspective, making me turn my eyes to things that I never considered or overlooked previously. The instructors criticism helps me grow intellectually since it sheds light on my consciousness, thus giving me the opportunity for improvement.
Knowing Myself Experience
Knowing myself in becoming a social worker has made me understand that combining skills, values, and knowledge gained in social work education develops my traits as a social worker. Living by the values and social work ethics magnifies my character in the eyes of my clients. Furthermore, knowing myself in becoming a social worker has imparted knowledge in me that I own myself. As such, I am in charge of my thoughts and, equally, my personality. Knowing myself is similarly contributing to my self-awareness and independence spectrum, hence enhancing levels of confidence. Presently, I am more confident than ever, courtesy of knowing myself, meaning that I can advise clients effectively by embracing critical thinking and social work interaction skills.
Supervision Experience and Client Relationship
The experience that I am having in supervision connects to my developing relationship with my clients in that I have more knowledge and experience than the client lacks. My client and I have common goals of enhancing the clients health and making her reverse her decision to no longer take ARVs. Also, my supervision position gives me vital skills that I have to listen to my juniors. Thus, listening to the client is a sure way of trusting me and feeling free to open up and consider my advice. In addition, I strive to recognize and accept diversity while providing social care since clients unique characteristics shape the basis for choosing proper strategies of assistance, which also helps in establishing mutual trust and openness in relationships.
Congress, E. (2017). Immigrants and refugees in cities: Issues, challenges, and interventions for social workers. Urban Social Work, 1(1), 20-35.
Heimstädt, M., & Reischauer, G. (2019). Framing innovation practices in interstitial issue fields: Open innovation in the NYC administration. Innovation, 21(1), 128-150.
Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, D. R., Strom-Gottfried, K. & Larsen, J. A. (2017). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (10th ed.). Brooks Cole.
Lieberman, L. D., Bryant, L. L., & Boyce, K. (2015). Family preservation and healthy outcomes for pregnant and parenting teens in foster care: The inwood house theory of change. Journal of Family Social Work, 18(1), 21-39.
Morley, J. (2019). The ethical status of social impact bonds. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 1-17.
It is not easy to define what it means to be a Profession. It encompasses the values, ethos, cultural aspects one can find in codes and creeds. An Army leader is a figure who needs to comprehend these guiding principles, accept them, and apply them to practice in any setting or environment. They not only illustrate what a Soldier is but also serve as a basis for maintaining the Profession of Arms (U.S. Army, 2010).
There were quite a few conflicts in recent decades, and the US Army did not let down the trust of the American people. The Profession includes specialists who have certification in terms of land combat power and apply these skills and knowledge ethically (U.S. Army, 2010). Experts in the field of Human Resources (HR) provide administrative support to personnel; they are responsible for keeping and updating records and reports, maintaining healthcare records, and so on. In their job, experts contribute to maintaining peace and order on the American territories.
Further Discussion
All Army Leaders need to be able to balance between the different duties they have in their roles. HR Sergeants have the liability to keep an equilibrium between the level of responsibility of the professions HR Leaders (U.S. Army, 2010). The first aspect of the balancing role is related to the need to harmonize the interaction between the field of the Army. In addition, experts need to coordinate current and prospective operating environments. HR Sergeants make sure the Army possesses sufficient resources and staff. In addition, this role requires Sergeants to ensure no events or occurrences can threaten peace and security in the world (U.S. Army, 2010).
Another area of responsibility is facilitating the interaction between the culture and climate and implementing the existing institutional practices and strategies. This aspect implies that HR Sergeants have an impact on the Army specialists in terms of their well-being, emotional and psychological condition, and dedication. That is, HR experts, affect Army culture and climate directly.
Further on, HR Sergeants need to make sure they do their best in promoting the profession. They have the responsibility, as well as the opportunity, to advance the profession in various corporate management systems (Lucas, 2016). Experts execute control over staff development and have the authority and resources to stimulate individuals wishing to become Army professionals to reach their professional and career goals.
Moreover, HR Sergeant ensures tasks are delegated appropriately, and human resources are engaged in activities in accordance with the level of their expertise (Steadman, 2018). Soldiers operating in human resources coordinate and evaluate work and specify promotional strategies. In addition to that, HR experts are responsible for handling leaves, awards, and personnel readiness. Therefore, HR Sergeant not only handles soldier issues but also provides information management and ensures the well-being and security of soldiers.
Concluding Points
Thus, the role of the HR Sergeant is quite simple and complex at the same time. On the one hand, their goal is to balance the role of HR leaders and maintain the Army culture. On the other hand, this area of practice entails various liabilities. Sergeants need to assist in reaching the balance in the leadership role while promoting the profession and the provisions of this professional culture. Sergeants take on leadership roles in guiding and supervising junior soldiers. They also protect the values stressed in codes and implement the current practices and strategies. These responsibilities are essential prerequisites for achieving a mutual goal, which is protecting the US people.
References
Lucas, G. R. (2016). Military Ethics: What Everyone Needs To Know. New York: Oxford University Press.
Steadman, A. (2018). The Military Leader: Fundamental Insight For Developing Leaders. Bloomington: WestBow Press.
U.S. Army. (2010). An Army White Paper: The Profession Of Arms. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
The functions of a human resource manager are confined to facilitating the nurses work and activities. It is important for a leader to oversee organizational culture and leadership and monitor compliance of working conditions with existing labor and employment laws (Flynn et al., 2007). While conducting an interview with our human resource manager, I have realized that the activities the individual performs are aimed at facilitating the process of achieving common organizational goals. However, the manager admits that controlling daily operations is not among the most common activities. In particular, emphasis should also be placed on proper recruitment process that would ensure the welfare of the entire center and its workers. The selection process, as well as training, is indispensible to enhancing the quality and safety of health care delivery.
The interview also concerned the questions about organizational planning and performance appraisal. The nurse leader underscored the importance of using specific techniques for analyzing and evaluating the productivity and performance of employees because it directly influences the success of organizational work. In this respect, organizational planning and development closely correlated with the performance appraisal methodology. At this point, the nurse leader applied to such techniques as documenting the employees performance and analyzing the achievements and pitfalls together with the staff. The leader emphasized that nurses should be aware of the problems they had so that they could fill in the existing gaps.
Certainly, it is often a challenge for a nurse leader to take full control of all operations and activities held at the hospital. Therefore, the leader should address a consultant for help to be able to identify the problems and establish new guidelines for leading the team in the right direction. Creating meetings and discussing the main problems are especially effective when all members of an organization are engaged in problem solving. In this respect, the nurse leader should be more concerned with the way employees follow the existing labor rules and regulations. Our human resources manager, therefore, does not only lead the working group, but also tries to take an active part in accomplishing daily duties and obligations.
The role of a human resources manager does not only involve the strategies aimed at facilitating the organizational performance and increasing employees productivity. In particular, our personnel managers tries to make use of all available resources to increase the effectiveness of the work done and introduce research studies to enhance the quality of services. More importantly, the leader is also concerned with the level of comfortableness at the center because nurses will work better if they feel support and encouragement on the part of their managers. Indeed, a highly satisfied staff will contributed to high satisfaction of our clients. In this respect, the introduction of training opportunities, as well as reward, is important for the overall welfare of our organization.
The interview has shown that developing leaders who are able to retain the staff are also valuable. Our personnel manager, therefore, should be able to deserve respect and recognition on the part of the nursing staff. To be in a good relationship with people is important because employees should feel that they have the individual who is able to solve the problem and provide the best solution in a situation. Our nurse manager, therefore, attempts to introduce the best opportunities for the personnel development and advancement.
References
Flynn, W. J., Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Langan, P. J. (2007). Healthcare human resource management (2nd ed). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Social media plays a vehement role in our life, as it is involved in the majority of the interactions. It is one of the tools to express the freedom of speech and ideas and share the views and opinions of the other members of society. Nonetheless, sometimes the statements in social media can violate the rights and freedoms of the individuals (Guney 7). In this instance, some of the companies mention what can be published on social media in their Codes of Conduct to avoid the leakage of confidential information (Ly and Ratnaike 14). This policy reduces the appearance of inappropriate statements, which can adversely influence the companys publicity.
A primary goal of the proposal is to examine and evaluate two cases My Boss Is an Idiot and Public Domain and determine the reason for the occurrence of the issues. Additionally, it is necessary to propose the action, which the HR manager has to take to minimize the future risks of the appearance of similar situations. In the end, the conclusions are drawn.
My Boss Is an Idiot
People have a tendency to post various ideas online. It is apparent that employees use social media to express their negative emotions about certain situations at work. Nonetheless, it seems that the employees have to be careful while expressing their opinions about the job or their boss since they might lose their current position due to inadequate posts. Nonetheless, some of the companies have well-established policies of usage of social networks and absolute restriction about the content of the post (Landau par. 3).
It is evident that in this instance, the workers are more responsible for their posts since adverse comments about the company or co-workers might be a cause of dismissal. These cases occur on the regular basis and take place within an enterprise with a well-established corporate structure. For example, in Apple, one of the workers was posting offensive posts about his colleague (Landau par. 3). Similar situations often occur in many other companies, as the employees have a tendency to violate the rules and offend the personal views of the other employees.
It is apparent that managers have a tendency to pay substantial attention to the cultivation of trustful relationships within the organization. Effective team building is one of the essentialities for maintenance of the order and rapid result achievement in the group (West 31). In this case, avoiding social media conflicts contributes to trustful and successful relationships within the organization. In this case, restricted rules and dismissals are the control instruments for the maintenance of the company. It is a primary reason for the establishment of the restriction related to the content of the posts in social media, as it helps avoid conflicts and misunderstandings among co-workers.
In this case, it is apparent that the contribution of HR management is essential, as communication with the personnel is a significant attribute of this interaction. Nonetheless, there are several actions, which can be implemented by the HR managers to minimize the risks of the occurrence of similar issues in the future. One of the approaches is effective team building since interrelations between the employees contribute to the development of positive attitudes within the organization. This technique will minimize the appearance of negative posts on social media, as the employees will be satisfied with their working environment.
Another method is conducting a survey to monitor the employees satisfaction. Regular implementation of this approach contributes to the minimization of the risks related to the dismissal due to the negative posts on social media. Additionally, this method will determine the possible areas of improvement, as employees will freely express their opinions about the working environment. Lastly, HRM has to conduct the training and seminars where the potential consequences of the negative posts are described, and the rights of the employees are explained. In conclusion, it could be said that implementation of the following techniques will contribute to the maintenance of the order in the organization and development of the understanding and respect of the corporal culture.
Public Domain
Sometimes similar situations occur due to the inability of the employees to distinguish between personal and corporate data. It is apparent that an employee, who posted the comment saying no to working for shitty govt depts, did not refer to the specific department. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the post was related to the work and violated the companys privacy and image. It is evident that these issues occur due to the inability of the employees to refer their actions to the particular laws and regulations of the company. However, in this case, the confusion occurs due to the fact that the employer and employee have to understand when social media post is considered as a violation of the companys policies.
For example, NLRB introduced a unique case report, which refers to the questionable cases related to social media (Hill par. 5). It is apparent that the case studies help determine the differences whether the particular behavior is acceptable in social media or not. In this instance, no confusion is created, as the company clearly identifies the rules and regulations regarding the behavior in social media.
One of the reasons for paying vehement attention to social media posts is the fact that social media is one of the marketing communication tools, which is rapidly gaining popularity in the modern world. It is apparent that the inappropriate posts, harassment of the individuals, and violation of the clients rights result in the companys decreasing positive publicity and building of the wrongful brand image (Flynn and Maltby par. 6).
It could be said that this matter is one of the primary causes of sufficient monitoring of the employees behavior online and dismissal in the instance of the violation of the Code of Conduct. In this case, damaging the companys reputation will result in the loss of the market share and cultivation of adverse attitudes in the society, as the companys employees are not able to communicate politely and respectively with the customers.
There several actions, which can minimize the appearance of these negative issues in the future. Firstly, the HR department has to explain the rights and obligations of the employees before proceeding with them with the permanent job offer. Additionally, the laws and the Code of Conduct have to be carefully studied by the new personnel to avoid destructive posts on social media and dismissal for the violation of the companys rights in the future. Furthermore, it is evident that the employees have to distinguish between personal and corporate information, as it will help avoid the leakage of valuable information to the competitors.
Lastly, the HR managers should monitor the social media posts before the employment of an individual, as it will assist in the determination of the particular characteristics of the potential employee (Smith par. 1). It is evident that the active implementation of these techniques helps avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations, which are related to the dismissal due to the violation of the business rules and usage of social media.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it could be said that despite having a well-developed and established corporate culture, employees still have a tendency to violate the companys rules and publish inappropriate posts on Facebook. These misunderstandings occur due to the lack of knowledge about the rights, laws, and the Code of Conduct of the company. Nonetheless, the HR department has to pay vehement attention to this phenomenon and study the primary causes of its occurrence. In this case, the employees satisfaction survey help maintain the positive relationship within the company and avoid negative expressions in the social media.
Additionally, it is evident that the company has to assure that the employees are aware of the business rules and regulations before starting their operations at a new post. Moreover, the explanation of the differences between corporal and personal information and opinions have to be distinguished, as the lack of separation might lead to the leakage of important data and facts to the competitors. Lastly, the HR department has to monitor the social media of the newcomers to determine the ability to perform the threatening behavior from the beginning.
Works Cited
Flynn, Nancy, and Lewis Maltby. Should Companies Monitor Their Employees Social Media? The Wall Street Journal. 2014. Web.
Guney, Stacey. Freedom of Speech. Learning and Leading with Technology 41.5 (2014): 7. Print.
Hill, Kashmir. When You Can and Cant Fire Employees for Social Media Misbehaviour. Forbes. 2011. Web.
Landau, Phillip. How Your Facebook Status Could Put You out of Work. The Guardian. 2011. Web.
Ly, Kin, and Danny Ratnaike. Professionals Online: Sharing Too Much? Community Practitioner 84.7 (2011): 14-16. Print.
Smith, Chris. Dont Ruin Your Career in 140 Characters: Social Media Job Hunting Tips. The Guardian. 2015. Web.
West, Michael. Effective Team Work: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2012. Print.
Globalisation has opened new market opportunities in other countries that corporations can utilise to expand their businesses. However, in recent years, promising equity-based partnerships, IJVs and M&As, have failed to prosper. Scholars cite differences between the local and host cultures as the key success or failure factors (Khilji 2012).
Due to cultural differences, international alliances often encounter challenges related to HR integration, which affects the development and execution of a successful corporate strategy. The purpose of this paper is to examine how cultural/institutional differences affect integration in mergers, acquisitions, and international joint ventures. This paper analyses two case studies to identify elements of equity-based alliances relevant to HR integration in cross-cultural contexts. It reveals that cultural awareness and trust are the critical success factors. The paper provides recommendations that managers can apply in cross-cultural HR management to increase the success of cross-border alliances.
Introduction
In the current global economy, more big firms are stepping up efforts to internationalise their businesses as part of their growth strategy. Among the common external organizational modes firms use to expand into new markets include mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and international joint ventures (IJVs). The two external equity-based alliances offer benefits like transfer of new knowledge/skills, cost cutting, and resource sharing that minimise operational risks (Child & Faulkner 1998). They help firms grow rapidly in new locations.
However, the international business environment has cross-cultural management challenges. This led to high failure rate among many M&As and IJVs in the recent past. While most external modes fail, others grow into successful businesses. This paper aims to show that culture plays a role in determining the failure or success of international businesses. In this view, it examines cultural dimensions, such as power distance, acculturation, and collectivism that shape the national culture, which influences organisational culture and management styles. It examines different cultural contexts with an aim of finding the negative or positive effects of cultural differences on HR integration.
It is evident that culture influences the integration outcomes of international strategic alliances. Expatriate managers introduce new HRM practices, including recruitment, training, and compensation, into local firms. Scholars contend that, in firms, organizational culture dominates over the national culture so that the effects of individual subcultures are neutralised (Drouin, Bourgault & Saunders 2009). However, both external and organisational cultural contexts converge in a firm to modulate organisational culture.
Thus, it is important to examine how cultural differences in IJVs and M&As affect HR practices and performance. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role played by cultural and institutional differences in the integration processes using a sample of IJVs and M&As. The analysis will cover different dimensions of culture and relate them with organisational performance. Based on the findings of the analysis, a conclusion and recommendations will be given.
Findings
Formation Stages of M&As and IJVs
One corporate strategy firms use to internationalise their operations is M&As. Mergers involve an amalgamation of two firms into one business while acquisitions occur when one firm takes up the operations of another. Firms also form cross-border alliances with similar businesses in other countries through international joint ventures. Since these approaches involve people from diverse cultural backgrounds, HR challenges are inevitable. Dowling, Festing, and Engle (2008) highlight high turnover of top executives and personnel issues as the factors that prevent M&As from meeting their objectives. In this view, cultural competence is important among expatriate managers.
Figure 1: Diagrams showing the formation of (a) M&As and (b) IJVsSource: Dowling, Festing, and Engle (2008)
Case Studies
M&As
Most M&As failures are attributed to cultural differences. The critical success or failure factors for mergers and acquisitions are not uniform because of cultural contexts vary widely. Brouthers and Bamossy (2006) contend that firms should plan well for the merger. The formation stages of M&As are four, namely, the pre-M&A, due diligence, integration planning, and implementation and assessment phases (Dowling, Festing & Engle 2008).
A case study involves the failed 1998 merger between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler. The merger was motivated by the need to unite technical knowledge and production models and capitalise on a broad distribution network to gain a strong competitive advantage over rivals. However, cultural differences contributed to the failure of the partnership. The differences in corporate culture between the two firms affected performance of the new company leading to failure.
Appelbaum, Roberts, and Shapiro (2009) note that Daimler, a German firm, had a culture of efficiency, safety, and conservativeness whereas Chrysler, an American company, was characterised by a daring, diverse, and creating approach (p. 44). Although there were efforts to facilitate the integration of two organisational cultures through workshops, the fact that the alliance was considered a merger of equals led to a cultural clash (Appelbaum, Roberts & Shapiro 2009, p. 37).
Evidently, there were huge differences between the two firms corporate cultures. The first difference relates to organisational structuring. Chryslers culture tended to be team-oriented while Daimler favoured a hierarchical organisation with a strict pecking order. The second cultural difference relates to values. While Daimler emphasised on quality and efficient vehicles for its clients, Chrysler valued trendy designs for the cars. Thus, the managers of the firms could not lead towards the same direction due to conflicting values and goals.
Besides corporate culture, mistrust among the employees contributed to the failure. The American executives felt short-changed by their Germany counterparts and thus, could not work together (Appelbaum, Roberts & Shapiro 2009). This may have stemmed from lack of planning in the pre-M&A phase, which affected organisational integration. As a result, several of Chryslers executives quit their jobs after feeling mistreated. Therefore, cultural differences played a role in the failure of this merger in three ways:
created conflicting goals and values
caused mistrust among the workers
hampered collaboration
In this case, cultural factors hampered performance of the merger. The stock prices of the new merger plummeted between 1998 and 2000 due to unresolved conflicts that affected the firms productivity. Although the merger involved leading car manufacturers, differences in culture contributed to its downfall. The HR should have launched initiatives to sensitise staff about the cultures of the two firms before the entering into a merger.
Figure 2: Stock prices after the Chrysler-Daimler merger. Source: Appelbaum, Roberts, and Shapiro (2009)
International Joint Venture: Lukoil and ConocoPhillips
An IJV between two corporations, Lukoil based in Russia and ConocoPhillips in the US was successful because the companies addressed the cultural differences between them. ConocoPhillips, aware of the cultural differences, developed a guideline on how to cooperate with their Russian partners. This proactive step allowed the firm to identify the characteristics of the Russian culture, including individualism, fatalism, decision-making, and teamwork as well as socioeconomic factors like unemployment rate and generation gap (Legler, Osborn & Whitehorn, 2008, p. 26). Thus, ConocoPhillips employees learnt aspects of the Russian culture and potential integration pitfalls beforehand.
One of the cultural dimensions that exist between the two cultures was individualism versus collectivism. While the Americans emphasise on individual orientation, Russians tend to like groups as opposed to working alone (Legler, Osborn, & Whitehorn, 2008, p. 26). The decision-making process was also different between the two firms. Americans treasure risk taking in business and therefore, decision-making is fast. In contrast, Russians require data to support their decisions. In this regard, analysing the differences between these cultures can help overcome the barriers to a smooth integration due to enhance cultural awareness/competence.
Figure 3: The Performance of the two firms after entering into a joint venture. Source: Legler, Osborn, and Whitehorn (2008)
The Effects of Cultural Differences on Integration
Parent firms often influence the corporate culture of overseas subsidiaries (M&As) through expatriate managers. On the other hand, IJVs involve international partners whose national culture is different from local culture in the host country. According to Schuler, Jackson, and Luo (2004), the presence of expatriate employees in an IJV creates a unifying culture that guides behaviour and procedures in the subsidiary. However, it can be argued that the convergence of cultures in M&As and IJVs creates an internal culture that is different from that of the parent firm or foreign partners. Thus, in this case, the new culture masks the effects of cultural differences.
The full effect of cultural differences emerges when very dissimilar cultures converge in an IJV or an M&A. This process, which is called cross-culture, causes a cultural shock to expatriate managers, which alters the work climate and impedes integration (Schuler, Jackson & Luo 2004). Cultural collisions are more intense in situations where the cultural distance between the managers is large. As Dowling, Festing, and Engle (2008) put it, the success of cross-border alliances and IJVs depend on partner compatibility.
Thus, on the surface, firms may look compatible, but they need to develop strong relationships so that cultural differences cannot stifle the integration process. IJVs usually create stress and anxiety related to cultural convergence. This could breed unhealthy employee behaviours resulting in lower efficiency and productivity (Meyer et al. 2008). Due to anxiety, employees may waste work hours talking about the venture. Additionally, due to uncertainty about their future, employees may lose morale or quit the organisation leading to reduced overall productivity.
Similarly, in M&As, larger cultural distances between organisations cause cultural ambiguity (Khilji 2012). In addition, cultural conflicts arising from cultural differences do not inspire investor confidence because of a collision of the management styles that hinder M&As from reaching the set objectives. It is important to note that these conflicts arise from the differences in national cultures, which tend to be rigid and unalterable compared to corporate cultures. The effects of cultural differences on integration are compounded by the absence of conflict resolution mechanisms and effective pre-M&A planning.
Research also indicates that some cross-border alliances have many benefits. Dowling, Festing, and Engle (2008) observe that M&As involving firms from different cultures reap benefits like improved performance, cultural innovation, and skills that are unique to a particular culture. Organisations entering new markets also benefit from work practices and behaviour that depend on the national culture. According to Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique (2012), cultural competence in M&As can foster collaboration leading to better productivity. Additionally, as people become culturally competent, cultural conflicts are likely to decline.
Cultural differences affect three aspects of M&As and IJVs performance, namely, trust, post-M&A skill transfer, and attrition rate. These factors hamper the development of a unique organisational culture. An organisational culture embodies the expectations and assumptions shared by all employees (Hitt et al. 2000, p. 451). However, without trust and knowledge transfer, the turnover would increase, affecting organisational performance. Organisational culture is a product of the national culture. In this view, cultural differences can affect its development in M&As, resulting in disunity and lack of shared values and practices.
In M&As, it is often difficult to build trust between the two parties when the cultural distance is large. In addition, it is difficult to develop a sense of common identity in M&As involving firms from different cultures because of differences in attitudes and values (Hoskisson et al. 2013). In this regard, building trust among employees of the new firm is a difficult task.
From a psychological standpoint, individuals tend to relate with people who share similar values and views as theirs. As a result, the in-group identity grows due to the cultural differences. It makes people to favour in-group members and show dislike to those of the out-group. The bias is even more intense when in-group members feel threatened by an impending acquisition or merger. Under such circumstances, hostility and resentment may arise and persist even after the takeover is complete.
Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to illustrate how cultural differences determine whether an organisation succeeds or fails in cross-border partnerships. It is evident from the analysis that some dimensions of culture, such as individualism vs. collectivism and power distance, among others, have a direct effect on the way people relate. Social values specific to a particular country influence its national culture, which, in turn, shapes the corporate culture. Although there may be other factors that contribute to failure or success of M&As and IJVs, cultural differences have a big influence because they affect the integration process directly.
In this view, cultural awareness or competency can overcome the barriers to effective integration. It promotes corporate communication and builds trust among the employees. On the other hand, failure to address these cultural factors aggravates the negative effects of cultural differences and results in failure.
Recommendations
Chrysler-Daimler-Benz
To ensure that cross-border alliances succeed, one corporate culture must not substitute the other. In Chrysler-Daimlers merger, Daimler-Benz used its corporate culture and model to run Chrysler like its subsidiary. This created mistrust among employees, leading to the failure of the merger. Thus, integration efforts should focus on establishing a consensus culture that contains elements of both cultures.
In M&As, a pre-merger communication strategy is required to provide guidance on how communication and leadership problems would be handled. In Chrysler-Daimlers merger, it is evident that the two firms were not willing to work together from the outset. They did not identify and communicate common regulations and norms to employees.
Lukoil and ConocoPhillips
To cooperate successfully, firms must be proactive in addressing cultural differences between them. ConocoPhillips, before forming a joint venture with Lukoil, identified aspects of the Russian culture that differed with those of the American culture and developed a guide that its employees could use to enhance their cultural competency.
IJVs should capitalise on cultural differences to bolster their collective competitive advantage. The venture between Lukoil and ConocoPhillips capitalised on the Americans risk-taking attribute and Russians scrupulousness to improve the ventures decision-making processes.
References
Appelbaum, S Roberts, J & Shapiro, B 2009, Cultural Strategies in M & As: Investigating Ten Case Studies , Journal of Executive Education, vol.8, no.1, pp. 33-58.
Briscoe, D Schuler, R & Tarique, I 2012, International Human Resource Management, Routledge London.
Brouthers, K & Bamossy, G 2006, PostFormation Processes in Eastern and Western European Joint Ventures , Journal of Management Studies, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 203-229.
Child, J & Faulkner, D 1998, Strategies of Cooperation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Dowling, PJ Festing, M & Engle, AD 2008, International Human Resource Management, Cengage Learning, Harlow Essex, Ohio.
Drouin, N Bourgault, M & Saunders, S 2009, Investigation of contextual factors in shaping HR approaches and determining the success of international joint venture projects: Evidence from the Canadian telecom industry , International Journal of Project Management vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 344-354.
Hitt, M Dacin, T Levitas, E Arregle, J & Bozra, A 2000, Partner selection in emerging and developed market contexts: resource-based and organizational learning perspectives , Academy of Management Journal, vol. 43, no.1, pp. 449-467.
Hoskisson, R Hitt, M Ireland, D & Harrison, J 2013, Competing for Advantage, Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio.
Khilji, S 2012, Does South Asia matter? Rethinking South Asia as relevant in international business research , South Asian Journal of Global Business Research, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 8-21.
Legler, S Osborn, E & Whitehorn, G 2008, ConocoPhillips Final Report, Fisher college of business, Columbus, OH.
Meyer, K Estrin, S Bhaumik, S & Peng, M 2008, Institutions, resources, and entry strategies in emerging economies , Strategic Management Journal, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 61-80.
Schuler, R Jackson, S & Luo, Y 2004, Managing Human Resources in Cross-Border Alliances, Routledge, London.
Three candidates were referred for the Human Resources Director post. However, the best finalist for the job was Shawanda Jackson. Ms. Jackson was chosen as the qualifier using a well-planned strategy. The other two candidates, Mr. Sam Fein and Ms. Lola Vega were similarly remarkable, but they would not make the best HR Director for the Nairduwel, Inoalot, and Imslo (NII) Law Firm. It is crucial to understand the assessment methods that were used and why the other two candidates were rejected. Therefore, this report discusses the assessment methods that were used in selecting the HR Director and the rationale for choosing Ms. Jackson and rejecting Mr. Fein and Ms. Vega.
Assessment Methods for the Job of Human Resources Director
Knowledge of the job
Several assessment methods were used during the process of selection. The first evaluation method involved assessing the candidates knowledge of the job. The job description and duties involved overall administration tasks, supervision tasks, the recruitment process, communication policies, and assigning duties, among others. The candidates were required to state what they thought the job entailed. A majority of the initially shortlisted candidates were only aware of the HR Directors influence in the recruitment process. This realization made it easier to eliminate the unfit candidates for the position.
Definition of success
The second assessment method involved evaluating the candidates definition of success. The question was aimed at determining the type of executive the candidate would be. The question had no right or wrong answer, but the answers provided helped in the selection process because they identified the candidates who had goals that were similar or related to those of the company. For instance, Mr. Fein explained success as the ability to do anything one wants to do. On the other hand, Ms. Jackson described success as the number of promotions and earnings one gets. The two answers were very different, yet Ms. Jackson was picked without necessarily having to state the right answer because her answer went hand in hand with the companys goals. Ms. Jacksons answer suggested that she had to perform exceptionally as the HR Director to get promotions and become successful. In turn, she would hire the best people who would increase the productivity level of the company and boost the profits made by the company. Looking at Mr. Feins answer, it implied that executives had the right to do whatever they wanted. For instance, the top executives should not go to work if they do not feel like going. In turn, such attitudes would reduce the companys profits and lead to massive losses.
Describing a problem in the workplace
The candidates were also told to describe a problem in the workplace as an assessment procedure. This question was beneficial because it provided a hint of how the candidates would analyze situations. There are numerous cases where people perceive challenges, yet there are no challenges in reality; instead, there are only opportunities. The candidates not only described a problem in the workplace, but they also gave a possible solution to the problem. Providing a solution to the problem was meant to determine the cognitive prowess of the individual. The question: What kinds of sports do you like? was aimed at identifying some aspects of the candidates personality. For example, Mr. Fein appeared lazy because he said that he loved spectator sports, while Ms. Vega appeared to be active because she liked to golf and shuffleboard.
Tests
Several tests were also used for assessment. For instance, the structured behavioral test, the cognitive test, and the knowledge test measured different aspects of the candidates personality. The top three finalists scored better in these tests than the other candidates. The choice of the top three candidates heavily depended on the scores they got from the tests. It is crucial to point out that the candidates were not required to get 100% on the tests, but the different scores showed different levels of understanding, taking instructions, and critical thinking abilities of the candidates.
Candidate 1 Ms. Lola Vega
Knowledge of the job
The first candidate presented was Ms. Lola Vega. She had very high skills, but she lacked some of the core skills for a Human Resources Directors position. It was refreshing to see that she had a very strong GPA score. It meant that she was a quick learner, meaning that one would not need to keep giving her instructions. Additionally, Ms. Vega had 5 years of experience in the human resources department, with four of these years dedicated to recruiting. Whereas recruitment is a core function of the Human Resources Director, there are other tasks that the director will do; for instance, the HR Director will be tasked with some administrative duties. Given that Ms. Vega specifically mentioned that she had four years of experience in training and five years in total in the HR department, it would mean that she had only one year of experience in other HR tasks. One year for all the remaining duties was too little experience for the HR Director position. Moreover, Ms. Vega had no supervisory experience, which worked against her because the HR Director would be required to supervise numerous employees in the department.
Tests
Ms. Vega scored the highest points on the cognitive test. A high score on the cognitive test showed ease in making critical decisions. Cognitive skills are essential for any HR Director, as the director determines the employees who will make the company successful. The HR Director is tasked with the hiring and firing of workers, a task that can make or break a company. Having said this, it was a significant advantage for Ms. Vega to have scored so highly. The candidate also did very well in the structured interview, scoring 85%, and the knowledge test where she scored 94%. The outstanding scores indicated that she was not only knowledgeable, but she was also very composed.
Definition of success
Ms. Vega stated that her definition of success was the ability to influence others. The question was meant to determine the kind of personality the individual had. The answer provided showed that Ms. Vega was authoritative, which could be a problem for the firm if she replaced authority with force. Additionally, the answer was incomprehensive because people can be influenced in various ways. For instance, people can be influenced to become thieves or they can be influenced to become good people.
Sports
When asked what kind of sports she liked, Ms. Vega stated that she played golf and shuffleboard. The two games mentioned require a lot of cognitive prowess, as they depend on the mental capability of the individual to solve problems. With golf, one has to have a splendid aim and a very calculative mind. This characteristic is excellent for an HR Director because it allows them to decide on critical administrative issues.
Rationale for rejection
Overall, Ms. Vega was an exquisite candidate. However, her lack of proper experience would make her a one-sided Human Resources Director. She could be trusted to hire and fire people based on her education and experience, but she could not be trusted to handle other administrative duties properly. Ms. Vega lacked proper social skills, despite her cognitive prowess; therefore, she could be unsuccessful in any position she holds. Consequently, she was not picked as the final candidate for the position of Human Resources Director for the Nairduwel, Inoalot, and Imslo (NII) Law Firm.
Candidate 2 Sam Fein
Knowledge of the job
The second candidate was Sam Fein, who had a lot of strengths that got him to the top three candidates. For example, he had a twenty-year experience in human resources management. The broad experience was good because it portrayed Mr. Fein as familiar with how the department works. Going with the experience, it would be expected that he would know what to do in almost all scenarios that may occur in the department. Also, his vast experience meant that he was good in human resources management. It suffices to mention that Mr. Fein had fifteen years out of the twenty years in HR in a supervisory position. NII was very keen on this aspect because the HR Director would be responsible for some administrative work, including the supervision of the employees.
Tests
One of the things that narrowed down Mr. Feins chance of being the top candidate was his low GPA. It was true that he did not fail in school; however, he had the lowest GPA among the three candidates. A low GPA was a sign of stubbornness, which could translate to a lack of accountability. Mr. Fein also scored the lowest on the cognitive test. It was disadvantageous for him because it denoted that he was the weakest at making critical decisions among the three candidates. As an HR Director, he would have had to make critical decisions daily. Some of these decisions would touch on the hiring and firing of staff, while others would touch on various administrative duties. As the HR Director, he would also have to make decisions concerning the employees under him. Unfortunately, this task would prove a bit challenging for him compared to the other two candidates. It suffices to mention that Mr. Fein also had a lower score in the structured interview, which denoted that he was not well-organized. Organization and management are crucial for managers to achieve success. On the upside, Mr. Fein scored highly on the knowledge test. A high score on this test proved that the candidate was knowledgeable on issues related to human resources. The broad knowledge could be attributed to his long experience in the human resources field.
Definition of success
When asked to define success, Mr. Fein stated that it is the ability to do what one wants to do. The answer echoed the characteristic of the stubbornness noted earlier. He appeared to love power, which could be very negative because he could become dictatorial to the staff. Similarly, the idea of doing what one wishes because they are the boss could lead to cases of unaccountability. Again, this echoed the characteristic of stubbornness that was observed earlier.
Sports
On the other hand, Mr. Fein stated that he enjoyed spectator sports. The answer portrayed him as a lazy person, who liked to enjoy the fruits of other peoples hard work. The HR department would not need a lazy person, as there are numerous critical decisions made in the department. These decisions could either make or break the whole company.
Rationale for rejection
Mr. Fein had an impressive experience, but he was the wrong choice due to his low GPA and a poor personality. He had the potential to become a dictator, in addition to the tendencies of laziness. These two characteristics were undesirable for the executive role he would take. Moreover, Mr. Fein appeared to be unaccountable, which would lead to wrong decision-making in the department.
Candidate 3 Shawanda Jackson
Knowledge of the job
As mentioned earlier, Ms. Jackson was the top candidate among the three individuals. One of her biggest advantages was the outstanding job experience she had. She had worked for eight years in the human resources department. Out of these eight years, she dedicated three years to general HR duties and four years as a compensation analyst. Consequently, it was clear that Ms. Jackson has amassed critical skills that would be needed by an HR Director. She started as a general HR assistant, where she did all manner of duties associated with the HR office. Consequently, she was molded to become an all-round person. Additionally, her experience as a compensation analyst made it easier for her to perform administrative duties in the department, compared to the other two candidates.
Tests
Ms. Jackson had a very high GPA. It was true that she did not have the top score among the three finalists. However, her score was equally high, which denoted that she would take instructions easily and would not need to be reminded of her duties. Moreover, Ms. Jackson had five years of supervisory experience. As mentioned, the HR Director would have to be good at supervision because they would be in charge of an entire department. Therefore, the supervisory experience was a huge advantage for Ms. Jackson.
It suffices to mention that Ms. Jackson scored well in the tests that were given. She got 84% in the cognitive test and 91% on the knowledge test. The score on the cognitive test showed that she could handle the role of making critical decisions. Similarly, the high score on the knowledge test showed that she was knowledgeable, which was advantageous for her because knowledge was deemed to be very crucial for decision-making. Ms. Jackson scored 75% in the structured interview. Although it was not the highest, a 75% score indicated that she was well-organized and composed.
Definition of success
When asked to define success, Ms. Jackson stated that success could be measured using the number of promotions and earnings an individual gets. The answer indicated that she was very ambitious; thus, she would do her job excellently to get a promotion and earn more money in return. Whereas some people would argue that such a kind of ambition was a negative thing for a manager, the characteristic was positive because such a manager would ensure that everything works as expected.
Sports
Additionally, Ms. Jackson stated that her favorite games were basketball and tennis. The two games denote teamwork and aggression respectively. Basketball is all about teamwork and the ability to share the burden. Playing basketball requires a lot of fairness; it does not tolerate blame games. On the other hand, tennis requires a lot of aggression. A love for the two games showed that Ms. Jackson could not only work alone under no supervision, but she could also excel in teamwork.
Rationale for selection
Ms. Jackson was the best candidate for the job because she scored well in the tests and had enough experience in the HR department. On top of this, she showed the potential of being aggressive and the willingness to work hard to get promotions. She did not portray signs of relishing power. Consequently, she would work well both alone and as a group. The company can be sure that she will be accountable and without any form of bias because she does not tolerate the blame game.
Conclusion
All three candidates were excellent and would make good employees. However, only one proved good enough to become the Human Resources Director for NII. Shawanda Jackson was not only smart, but she was also aggressive, a team leader, and had enough experience in the human resources management department to emerge the best candidate. She understood the challenges the employees face because she started her career with general HR duties in her previous workplace. Consequently, she would relate to the employees better compared to the other two candidates. Moreover, she scored highly in the assessment tests, and her ability to interact with other people would make her an excellent boss. The other two candidates lacked prowess, aggression, and their personalities did not fit into the companys strategic plan.
The significance of job design is to develop jobs that fit effectively into the organizational workflow. The narrower focus of job analysis focuses on utilizing a formal system to collect data concerning what people do in their jobs and then use the collected data to generate job specifications as well as job descriptions. The most fundamental building block of Human Resource management, job analysis, is a systematic way of collecting and analyzing information concerning the context, content, and human requirements of the jobs. Moreover, the use of job analysis to document HR activities is significant since the legal defensibility of an employers selection and recruiting processes, employee disciplinary actions, performance appraisal system, and pay practices partly depend on the foundation of job analysis (Mathis and Jackson, 2008, p. 174).
Job analysis and its role in human resource management
Job and role analysis is the stage that follows selection and recruitment, and it is important in identifying the tasks that the new employees are expected to undertake. It may be probably unnecessary to analyze jobs every time a vacancy occurs in organizations with relatively buoyant product markets and have high levels of labor turnover, and where recruitment occurs on a frequent and continuing basis. Nevertheless, it is important to scrutinize whether or not existing job descriptions, person competency, or specifications profiles are appropriate for future needs (Oswald, 2003, p. 56). This may reveal out that it is not necessary to carry out further recruitment or that the type of job and person needed differs from expectations.
Job analysis is the process of collecting, analyzing, and setting out information concerning the contents of jobs to provide the foundation for job description as well as data for recruitment, training, job evaluation along performance management. The emphasis on collecting information differentiates job analysis from descriptions, with the latter being viewed as a result of the former. In addition, the term role analysis becomes more accurate and meaningful to use as it centers on the importance of the activity to the firm along with emphasizing the purpose of the role, as opposed to individual components. Moreover, the methods used to analyze roles and jobs differ in terms of their sophistication, cost, convenience as well as acceptability. The methods require to be accepted by the staff involved and should be able to gain their agreement along with commitment (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005, p. 165).
Three main methods can be used to conduct job analysis which include observation, interviews, and questionnaires. However, no method is intrinsically better, so choices need to be made based on the jobs to be analyzed as well as the context in which the analysis takes place.
Observation: It is the most uncomplicated and readily accessible method, and forms a component of job analysis even if other techniques are being used. It is as well one of the cheapest methods, and in times of problems, clarification can be sought directly from the job-holder. However, it may be tricky to deduce exactly what tasks are being undertaken, particularly if there is a high intellectual or cognitive content of the job, and the fact that someone is being observed has an impact on job behavior.
Interview: this ranges from the relatively unstructured to the more standardized format where similar questions are used for each job-holder. For unstructured interviews, job-holders are asked to describe their job while the interviewer probes to get more detail. Interviews are mainly preferred since they are cost-effective, convenient and offer the opportunity for interaction between interviewer and interviewee. However, it can be biased, less reliable and the interviewer may not have the required skills (Best et al. 2006 p. 51).
Questionnaires and checklists: These are the most sophisticated methods that can be used as they frequently make use of computer packages to analyze data. The most widely used in the USA are the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) and the Work Profiling System (WPS) (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005, p. 166).
Job descriptions
The outcome from job analysis (for instance in VA) provides the foundation for various definitions or descriptions of the jobs to be filled. This can be very precise or relatively broad. Each firms job analysis function is a rich source of data. Job analysis provides some information concerning the job that can be used for recruiting, learning and development assessment, and performance management. Job descriptions assist the managers to articulate the most important outcomes needed from a worker undertaking a specific job (Anonymous, 2009, p. 15).
Overall purpose: this is information on why the job or role exists and what the job-holder is expected to contribute.
Organization: to whom the job-holder will be reporting and who to report to the job-holder.
Key outcome areas and accountabilities: what the job holder is needed to accomplish in every main element of the role.
Competency requirements: the particular technical competencies attached to the job or role; what the job-holder is expected to know and to be able to do (Armstrong, 2006, p. 188).
How job analysis and job descriptions can be used effectively in the VA case
In Veterans Health Administration, job analysis and job description will be effective if systematic methods are applied in the collection of the data required to generate a role profile. The use of the organization structure, existing job descriptions as well as procedures or training manuals that provide information about the job will be very effective. In the VA case, it is important to involve the contributions of managers as they give fundamental information about the overall purpose of the role, the key outcome areas as well as the technical competencies required. It is also important to the job-holders similar questions concerning their roles (Jones, Steffy, and Bray, 1991 p. 187).
Conclusion
The use of competency analysis is essential and uses behavioral analysis to develop the behavioral dimensions the affect role performance and generate competency frameworks in VA cases. Functional analysis or a version of it can be utilized to define the technical competencies.
References
Anonymous. (2009). Plan for current and future staffing needs by writing job description. IOMAs Payroll Managers Report 9 (8), 15.
Best, R. G. et al. (2006). Task Overlap among Primary Care Team Members: An Opportunity for System Redesign? /PRACTITIONER APPLICATION. Journal of Healthcare Management, 51(5), 295-306, discussion 306-7.
Oswald, F. L. (2003). Job Analysis: Methods, Research, and Applications for Human Resource Management in the New Millennium. Personnel Psychology, 56(3), 800. Web.
