CASE STUDY The Organisation is based in New South Wales and employs… CASE STUDYThe Organisation is based in New South Wales and employs 2,

CASE STUDY The Organisation is based in New South Wales and employs… CASE STUDYThe Organisation is based in New South Wales and employs 2,000 people in a variety of trade, professional and management roles. The company has enjoyed a monopoly position throughout its history but now faces keen competition following decisions by the ACCC. Markets share is resting on 65 per cent but falling. The Organisation has four business units, which are structured according to their products. Three of the four businesses are losing money. The executive has no appreciation of the core business concept even though a number of junior managers (many with business and MBA degrees) have suggested that this is a critical issue for consideration. They have also argued that many functions of the organisation could be outsourced. The workforce has been reduced from more than 5,000 employees over the past two years and this has been achieved by voluntary redundancy. Unfortunately, many of those leaving the organisation have been those who could least afford to be lost. A great deal of corporate memory and intellectual capital has been lost forever. Employee training has been one of those areas severely curtailed as part of several rounds of cost-cutting exercises. Leadership is predominantly in the hands of white, middle-aged males who have a long history of employment in the Organisation, except for the HR manager, Simone, who is a relatively recent appointment from the private sector. In contrast, the sevenman executive group have no private sector experience. Each has come from the industry, with three of the seven beginning their careers as cadets with the Organisation. Five are engineers and the other two are accountants. Leadership style could be described as transactional. The former CEO was one of the former cadet engineers and was the definitive transactional leader. He had little time for HR. HR is seen as an administrative function, with any links to strategy coincidental. The HR manager , Simone, has managed to restructure the HR department with the appointment of a ‘HR partner or advisor’ to each of the business units so that they would have a consistent HR provider and voice speaking for them. She has also attempted to elevate the importance of the HR function, by presenting to the executive management how HR can contribute to the Organisation’s performance. However, she doesn’t believe they paid much attention. The typical senior- and middle-level leader could be described as bureaucratic, risk averse, conservative and mechanistic in outlook. There has been no clear understanding of what type of leader might be required for the future. The future is seen as an extrapolation of the past. There is a cohort of young, fresh and well-educated middle managers who have the ideas and drive to help turn the organisation around but invariably they are blocked by their managers. Consequently, many have left or talk often of leaving the Organisation. There is no succession planning. Most managers at all levels are working very long hours with little compensation, if any, and certainly little recognition. The senior team spends much time selling the concept that ‘our people are our most valuable resource’ but the message received by the employees is that they are the Organisation’s most expendable resource. Trust and loyalty have largely gone as people wait for the next round of redundancies. The predominant culture is bureaucratic although many people in lower-level positions can see the need for a major culture shift if the Organisation is to survive. The business leaders argue that any attempts at organisational change must be rooted in the culture but the union counter-argues that management has already well and truly ‘rooted’ the culture. The need for a customer-focused culture is apparent to most but little is being done to address the issues. The bulk of the general workforce is long-serving, with 15 to 20 years of service being the norm. People with 25+ years of service are common. The prevailing culture within this group is very paternalistic and this can be traced to management’s past style. Their attitude can be summed up as one where the Organisation owes them a living. Payday has always come each Wednesday and always will. The ‘good old days’ will soon return. If management wants a little extra then they will have to pay for it. Senior management is not trusted; any respect it once had has now been lost. Flexibility is talked of but is not apparent in practice. Performance reviews have not been a priority in the past and are seen by current managers as a chore rather than as a strategic tool for aligning business and personal needs and objectives. The union has stated that it will cooperate only if salary increases are made on integral part of the performance review system. The workforce and customer base are very diverse but the senior team does not reflect this nor understand the concept of diversity management. The concept is seen as one of those new age, ‘warm and fuzzy’ HR fads. The remuneration policy is ‘one size fits all’. There is no clear link between pay and performance, although senior leaders have an ‘at risk’ component within their salary package despite the risk appearing to be minimal. Senior and middle managers can package their salaries and make use of valuable salary-sacrificing strategies. The bulk of the workforce is paid under an award that by its operation is extremely rigid and is clearly one of the main barriers to introducing flexible work practices. The industrial or employee relations between the employer and the union are sensitive. The union has lost many members through downsizing and will resist any further attempts by management to reduce the workforce and further. A new commercially oriented board and CEO have a last been appointed by the shareholders and have come to understand that things must change rapidly if the Organisation is to survive going forward. A few months ago the former CEO was moved on. His successor, Sally Yee, has identified certain major changes within the external environment that must be addressed. Specifically, she sees an organisation that has paid only lip service to customer focus and globalization – and HR. She’s open to suggestions about the future of the four business units – and to senior leadership. She believes many have mistaken ‘transparent’ leadership with ‘invisible’ leadership. Remuneration must move towards an ‘earned’ culture rather than the ‘entitlement’ culture that has become entrenched. Her view is that all non-core operations be outsourced and that only a small core of well-remunerated and highly developed full-time employees be kept on the payroll. Gaps will be filled by casual and contract staff. All full-time employees will be moved to individual contracts. There has been an attempt to determine corporate values so as to underpin strategy and culture change, but gaining commitment of senior leaders is proving a challenge. A HR consultant has been employed over the past few months to identify solutions to the Organisation’s HR-related problems.Question 5. Assume you are the HR consultant who has been employed by the Organisation. Describe and illustrate in detail how you will solve four HR problems that must be addressed. Marking criteria: 2 marks/ description and illustration of solving four HR related problems up to a maximum 8 marks for 4 HR problems.  Business Management Human Resource Management COMMGMT 3502NA Share QuestionEmailCopy link