CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE KEY ISSUES
The role of human resource for the organization is to utilize the policies and procedures for aligning the workforce of the organization. The managers must understand the goals of the organization and then they must align the workforce accordingly. This requires that the managers analyse the ability and competence of the employees and create opportunities which motivate the employees. All this is associated to the performance outcomes of the individuals. If the workforce is motivated then the individual performance of the employees can be utilized (Watson, Maxwell, & Farquharson, 2006). This role of HR is shown in the chart below.
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(Boxall and Purcell, 2008)
The analysis of the provided situation of Omega supermarket elaborates the challenges which the management has to face while managing the day to day business operations. Managers working at Omega emphasize highly on development of the peoples quadrant. This is because the association of the workforce is very challenging. The goals which have been set by the strategic managers require all the employees to perform on a minimum benchmark scale. The workforce is the only tool on the basis of which the organization can acquire excellence in its performance. Employers try to take notice of the issues and prevent discrimination. This increases the productivity and resolves the conflicts which arise between the employees. The modern day businesses require that a diversified workforce is managed and all the employees are aligned to the goals of the organization (Townsend et al., 2012).
All the policies which are formed must keep in mind all the internal and external factors of the organization. The managers must be constantly aware of the organizational structure in which they are performing. They must understand the organizational structure and then connect the available workforce to the mission of the organization. For doing so the managers must also keep in mind all the external factors which are the economic forces, political forces and the cultural forces of the organization. Analysis of the organization keeping in mind all these internal and external factors can help in identifying all the issues which may arise with managing the workforce (Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003).
(Fombrun, Tichy, and Devanna, 1984)
The issues which have been identified from the analysis of the case are the following
- Productivity: The biggest challenge which the organization considers for managing the human resource department is to manage and organize the employees in such a way that maximum productivity can be acquired from them. The managers require analysing the employees they have in their workforce and aligning them to the organizational goals in such a way that maximum benefits can be realized. The manager’s role is to analyse the factors which motivate the employees so the effective and efficient returns can be accomplished.
Omega being a supermarket requires that the workforce understands the significance of customer service. The workers must ensure that the time which they vest while working they focus significantly on performing with maximum zeal and efficiency. The workers also require that the productivity of the employees is high. This shows significance of all the methods which are intended to be applied for the success of the organization.
- Recruitment: The jobs which are so challenging for the employees and have a very high turnover rate requires that the managers take strong notice of the individuals they are planning to employ. The managers of the organization are aware of the goals of the organization so they require to access whether the candidates applying for this job possess these traits or not. In some of the cases where the rate of employee turnover is high the employees need to offer incentives and benefit for retaining them and motivating the employees to appropriately work for the organization.
Recruiting new employees and high turnover disrupts the workforce. This shows that the managers must assess the workers carefully before hiring them. For this purpose the managers must define the alignment of the organization. This requires that the managers are aligned towards accomplishing the goals of the organization. Recruiting employees is important and requires that the managers communicate the purpose and goals of the organizations to the employees at the time they are working.
- Training: In the supermarkets the training of the employees plays a very integral role. This is to keep the employees aware of the policies and procedures of the organization. This is the core responsibility of the HR department so that the internal operations can be managed uninterrupted. Training and the processes vary from organization to organizations.
Omega Supermarket is known for quality and requires training the employees so that they work for the specific goals of the organizations. For the effective management and retention of the employee’s appropriate forms of training are necessary and important. Training at all the levels is necessary for managing the employees and aligning them to the organizational goals and objectives.
- Discrimination: Globally operating businesses require managing diversity of employees. Omega supermarkets require managing the diversified employee structure if any for avoiding discrimination. The values must be structured in such a way that productivity, equality and teamwork can be appropriately managed.
- Conflict resolution: Internal conflicts between the employees such as harassment require to be managed by the management in the most effective and efficient manner. All these steps are essential for Omega because these lay the grounds for the development and retention of the workforce.
The conflicts between the teams require being resolved. The organizations are globalizing and the diverse workforce requires understanding the culture and determining the role of the managers in the most appropriate manner. The resolution of the conflicts is the form of motivation for the employees and it determines the ways using which the managers can align the workers towards accomplishing the goals of the organization.
- Safety: Employee health and safety are also the measures which are required for the management and retention of the workforce. This includes the usage of the equipment and allocating the environment of the store in such a way that all forms of the potential threats are reduced.
- Benefits: The challenging nature of the jobs requires that more incentives are offered to the workforce. The purpose behind this is that the employees are motivated enough to deal with the challenges of the organizations. Offering of insurance plans and offering product discounts to the employees are examples of the benefits.
- Outsourcing: In some of the cases the specific jobs associated are required to be outsourced. This is a very important challenge as the employees work as freelancers for the organizations. This practice reduces the workforce but the services of such employees cannot be retained easily which can increase the challenges for the organization.
For the efficiency of the tasks Omega must outsource the work to the producers other than the ones which have been used by the organization. The managers require that the goals of the organization are accomplished and all of the tasks are aligned. Outsourcing is a method adopted by the organizations for enhancing their effectiveness and performance of the organization. Supermarkets require that all the tasks of the organizations are completed and some of the work is outsourced for the effective completion of the process.
All these set of issues which have been discussed are essential for the organizations for managing their workforce in the most efficient and effective manner. For the retail businesses like Omega Supermarkets the role of the workforce is very important. The span of control which is exercised on them by the managers is also low. This means that the workers are required to work independently. They must be aware of the organizational goals at all-time and they must perform the operational task allotted to them in the similar manner. The issues which have been assessed after analysing the case of Omega Supermarkets help in concluding that the managers must ensure control over the above mentioned aspects of the organization.
Human resource of the organization is very important and requires that the intended and the actual practices must be applied by experienced professionals so that employee attitudes can be made goal oriented. The behaviour of the employees must be discretionary so that the desired performance outcomes can be acquired by the managers. The appropriate implementation of these practices is essential for managing the workforce and aligning the employees to the organizational goals and objectives (Purcell & Hutchinson, 2007). The details of these have been shown in the chart below.
(Purcell & Hutchinson, 2007)
The need for flexibility in the design and the functional efficiency of the group in the labour market are essential for understanding the issues which the managers may face. The model which has been shown below describes the necessity of the functional and the operational flexibility required within the organization. All these factors are associated to the importance of the recruitment process and the need for outsourcing which are being adopted by the organizations (Atkinson, 1984).
(Atkinson, 1984)
The diagram which has been shown below determines the framework which motivates the employees in a particular segment. This elaborates the role of the front line managers and the levels to which they can motivate the workforce so that they become committed to the organizational goals. There are certain factors associated with this aspect. This requires that the employees are given the training required, offered performance appraisals, career opportunities are offered and job security is offered. All these factors play a prominent role in teamwork, involvement and communication of the organizational goals to the employees (Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003).
(Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003)
There are certain psychological contracts which are required to be made with the employees for performing their roles with full motivation for the job they have been assigned even if the job is very challenging. Making the employees work under such condition requires that the appropriate incentives are offered to them. This is associated with the employee motivation. The role of the managers working in such challenging environments is the most essential one as they are the sole connection between the organizational objectives and the workforce (Chambel & Alcover, 2011; Conway, & Briner, 2002).
(French and Rees, 2010)
This requires strict measures to be taken by the managers of the organization. Some objectives are short term and some are long term. In certain times the goals are specified and in some of the cases they are not specified by the managers to the workforce. These conditions vary with the situations as they arise (Mcguire, Stoner, & Mylona, 2008).
Understanding the issues which are highlighted in Omega Supermarket for managing the workforce it is essential that all the issues are connected with the role of the managers and the tools which are used for aligning the workforce to the organizational goals and objectives. The nature of job is very challenging for the workforce and the managers need to keep the employees motivated so that the organizational goals can be accomplished.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND JUSTIFICATION USING SCHOLARLY SOURCES
For aligning the workforce towards accomplishing the organizational goals it is essential that certain HR functions are appropriately applied on the organization. From the evaluation of four different stores in the case study it was assessed that the HR policies like training, career opportunities, pay and appraisals offered to the employees contributed in enhancing their performance effectively (Renwick, 2003). This can be clearly observed in the performance of store B and D. The justification of this fact provides recommendation for the managers which are the following
- The managers must focus on forming psychological contracts between the employees and the management which strengthens the bond between them.
- The role of the frontline managers must be recognized for evaluating their impact on the performance of the employees. They play a significant role towards strengthening the bond between the employee and the organization.
- The senior managers must ensure that the line managers are successfully implementing the policies and practices designed which align the workforce towards accomplishing the organizational goals.
All the recommendations which have been presented above can be justified from the use of the scholarly articles (Larsen & Brewster, 2003; Perry & Kulik, 2008; Thornhill & Saunders, 1998). The model which has been shown above in this report represents the significance of formation of psychological contracts. The psychological contracts can be developed from the formation of the general orientation and relating all those to the organizational obligations. The motivation of the employees is directly associated with the satisfaction level of the workforce to the organizational citizenship behaviour which links to the control of the managers on the employees. In another scholarly article an understanding was developed that the psychological contracts which are formed are developed using the psychological contract fulfilment. This takes place when continuous and effective commitment of the employees is ensured. This includes the intention of the employees to quit and their affective wellbeing on the job. All this is some way or the other linked to the job satisfaction of the employees (Chambel & Alcover, 2011; Conway, & Briner, 2002).
In this modern day world the organizations require specific alignment from the workforce so that success can be acquired. The contribution of the workforce compensates to the mission and survival of the organization. The changing environment and flatter organizations which are geographically dispersed require that the managers must bond with the employees psychologically. Supervision and monetary incentive are not the only factors which motivate the workforce. Both the managers and the workforce require understanding the goals of the organization and work for the accomplishment appropriately. The development of the psychological contracts can be done by appropriately applying a few features of the psychological contracts (Rousseau, 2004).
The managers must apply methods which benefit the workforce and the organization mutually. The senior management must structure the strategies which are motivating and allow the workforce to show the following qualities (Rousseau, 2004):
- Voluntary choice: The psychological bonding of the workers will enable the workforce in working for the organization in their own particular respect. This ensures commitment and motivation of the workforce which has a more powerful effect on the organization.
- Belief in mutual relationship: The senior managers, frontline managers and the workforce must develop an understanding that the relationship between them is mutual. This will show that the workers are aligned and they know that their performance will promote accomplishment of the goals of the organization.
- Managing the loss of the workforce or the failure of the contracts: The managers and the workforce require pursuing towards accomplishing the goals of the organization. The collaboration can only be developed through psychological alignment of the employees and the managers.
- Incompleteness: The contract which is formed must not be incomplete. The terms and the purpose along with the goals must also be defined. All the impracticalities of the contract must be removed for the effective completion of the contract.
The steps for consideration in the development of the psychological contracts have been shown in this segment of the report. Application of the goals using these methods can effectively align the workforce towards organizational development.
The role of the senior managers is defining the strategies which enhance the collaboration of the frontline managers and the workforce. This assists in accomplishing the goals in the most effective and efficient manner.
Similarly understanding the role of the frontline managers is also very important. If the organization is aware of the role of the frontline managers then only can the workforce be made determined with the quality of leadership and satisfy the employees with the HR practices which are being applied. Several researches have been initiated for analysing the causal chain and linking the policy inputs with the performance outcomes. The managers must act as the leaders for influencing the attitudes of the employees. This attitude of the management promotes a symbiotic attitude which leads towards development and accomplishment of the organizational goals and objectives (Larsen & Brewster, 2003; Perry & Kulik, 2008; Thornhill & Saunders, 1998).
CONCLUSION
In this report an analysis is provided for the factors which are required for aligning and motivating the workforce. This is essential for the management and utilization of the resources. Organizations like Omega Supermarket require taking strong measures for ensuring strong motivation levels of the employees. This is essential because the nature of the job is highly challenging. Analysis of the structure of the organization shows the challenges of the managers on this position and explains the policies which must be adopted for controlling the dimensions and the spam of action in this management discretion. The structure and design of the HR policies vary from organization to organization. This improves the satisfaction motivation and commitment of the employees working in the organization. The complete analysis of the organization is based on the operational performance measures of the stores and this determines the performance data and percentage variation from the regional average.
In this report a discussion has been presented and all the key issues have been critically evaluated. The key issues have been presented and recommendations have been provided for the management of the workforce. This is strongly associated to the motivation level of the employees. Application of different models has been discussed and the significant role of HR has also been discussed. This shows a significant role of HR on managing the workforce. The policies of the organization and its significant application in motivating the workforce show the role of HR on the organizational success. The understanding of motivating the employees through forming psychological contracts has also been discussed in this report.
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