Southlands veterinary services face a host of organizational challenges that need to be addressed for the firm to turn around and be successful. A number of changes need to be made in the company’s operations. They are informed by the discussions that a vet, Richard had with a receptionist, Mary.
Legal emphasis
An important aspect in trying to realize a solution for the problems facing the firm is taking into consideration the legal environment in which Southlands veterinary services. An analysis of the case reveals that the firm has overseen an indulgence in activities that contravene the legal standards that every employer needs to observe.
First, all vets and partners are male. There are concerted efforts towards affirmative actions that try to improve the position of women in the workplace. The Canadian law offers various provisions to this end. The examples here include the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) which seeks to do away with discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or other discriminatory factors. The Employment Equity Act (EEA) has a set of regulations with the goal of protecting certain groups within the society such as the women and the disabled (Ontario Ministry of labor, n.d). This firm, therefore, needs to review the designed role that women play.
Another legal aspect touches on various nationally set averages when it comes to remuneration and nurse-vet ratio. As pointed out in the case, the firm has a nurse-vet ratio of 1.3:1. This is way below the national average, where it is advisable for three nurses to work with a single vet. The implication here is that the nurses may be overworked, an aspect which is illegal. Another area of concern is that of the minimum wage. As one of the vets, Richard established, some of the nurses such as Mary are subject to remuneration rates that are just above the minimum wage; rates which need revision.
In general, Southlands veterinary services need to observe various basic employment laws in the country. The management needs to ensure that the firm’s operations occur within the minimum standards set by law. A review of the federal labor standards and provisions in the Canadian Labor Code needs to be done, and efforts made to align the company to these standards (Ontario Ministry of labor, n.d).
Training and orientation
An important aspect in coming up with a solution for the troubles at Southlands veterinary services is the establishment of clear training and orientation programs. Currently, the firm has no formal training and orientation programs. It can be argued that the current orientation programs are disorganized, and have proven to be ineffective in helping new employees settle into new roles. In most businesses, the aspects of training and orientation are not accorded the respect they deserve. Most departments argue that they are often too busy to focus on training and orientation, but changes are necessary since failure in the two aspects results in many negative outcomes as seen at Southlands.
When an employee is first introduced to an organization, the major goal, he or she has, is to prove to the employer that they possess the credentials and the skills that were stated during the interview. The worker is usually out to prove to the employee that they have hired the right person who will be able to accomplish all the tasks that have been assigned. Before entering into the working area, the new employees have certain expectations and perceptions. Through training and orientation, the positive expectations an employee have are made a reality, and this translates into better performance by employees (Wallace, 2009).
The management’s role in improving the firm’s orientation program is essentially dealing with the personal needs that new employees have. Due to their experience gathered from encounters with previous employees and even other studies, the human resource personnel can help structure the orientation programs such that they meet the personal needs of the new employees. After helping structure the orientation programs, the human resources department can take up the role of providing various materials that the new employees can take with them at home to learn more about the organization. The human resources department, therefore, has the role of tailoring the orientation program such that individual needs are met (Wallace, 2009).
The top level management also has a big role to play in designing the orientation program for the new employees. The management’s biggest role is ensuring that the organization employs the best and proven procedures in orientation. In this particular firm, there is some level of complacency among the human resources personnel in implementing orientation programs. The top level management, therefore, has a role of ensuring that orientation is done by those responsible and done in an effective manner (Armstrong, 2003). The top level management is also responsible for structuring the most technical aspects of the information that are shared during the orientation programs. Such factors include the policies that underlie the functioning of the organization. Specific issues that impact on the individual employees such as their roles, their expectations, rights and even compensation are also dealt with by the top level management.
Performance management
Performance management is another key aspect of the effort to restructure the operations at Southlands veterinary services. Performance management, in this case, will involve the putting up of structures that ensure employees are performing at the required level. The end goal is to ensure that every employee is performing optimally, towards the realization of organizational targets and goals. Through performance management, Southlands veterinary services will be able to arrest the current situation where employees leave their jobs before the specified time when their contracts are supposed to terminate. There are many explanations of this phenomenon, with some being a mismatch between an individual and a specific job, lack of opportunities for growth, increased stress levels and a perceived lack of confidence in management (Aguinis, 2009).
The starting point in coming up with a performance management system is the establishment of an effective process of job analysis. Job analysis in its simplest definition involves the conceptualization of the tasks associated with particular jobs (Armstrong, 2003). This is one of the most important aspects of performance management since it offers the background upon which employees can be held accountable and evaluated. This is because, through job analysis, specifics on the expectations in terms of tasks, abilities and skills that an employer has about employees are established. An important aspect to realize is that during job analysis, it is the tasks that are expected of the employee that are evaluated as opposed to the evaluation of the individual employee (Aguinis, 2009).
When Southlands veterinary services establish clear procedures of job analysis, it will be easy for employees to understand the relationship between individual job descriptions and competencies to the organizational goals and objectives. Without this clear understanding, the employees fail to know their place in the organization while making it difficult for management to evaluate the performance of the employees.
Performance evaluation, therefore, stands out as an important aspect in coming up with a solution to the problems facing Southlands veterinary services. This is because the performance of a company’s human resource is directly related to the overall performance of the organization.
Bibliography
Aguinis, H. (2009). 'Performance management'. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Armstrong, M. (2003). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice' 9th Edition. Kogan Page .
Ontario ministry of labor. (n.d). Employment Standards. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from labour.gov.on.ca: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/
Wallace, K. (2009). "Creating an effective new employee orientation program.". Leadership and Management 23.4, 168-176.
