Background
The case “Solving a disciplinary Action Problem over the Internet” features two individuals: Roy Jackson and Jim Orrin. Roy is a district sale manager whereas Jim is a top sale representative. Jim has a problem of alcohol abuse, and he often comes to the office drunk. Roy, the district sales manager, is unable to confront Jim because he is just a recent graduate and Roy has been working for the company for the past eight years. Faced with uncertainty on how to face Jim’s alcohol abuse case, Roy checks on the firm’s intranet business program “Management Advisor/ Drug and alcohol abuse/ Confronting an employee”. The program equips him with a sound knowledge of how to conduct a confrontation interview. Jim suspected that he may be fired, and thus, he decided to learn how he can address his problem to the boss. He uses the firm’s intranet program “Employee Assistance/ Drug Abuse & Alcohol/ Telling Your Boss You Have a Problem”. The programs equip him with reliable information on to how he can address his alcohol abuse problem devoid of termination possibility.
Safety and Health is one of core area in Human Resource Management (HRM) vividly expressed in the case study. There exist various practices that a human resource department can institute in their firms. Among them includes, establishing open communication, implementing strict workplace policies, providing safety and health training, and ensuring a safe work environment (Bratton & Gold 193). Alcohol abuse in the workplace is not only hazardous to the individual employee but also to the entire human resource in the firm. Drunkards sometimes can be violent and thus endanger the health and safety of their colleagues. Moreover, in cases where such individuals are operating any locomotive, they threaten both their safety and safety of others. For instance, Jim can decide to use a vehicle alongside with his fellow sales representative. If it happens that Jim will be the driver, he will risk his life as well as a gamble with the lives of other agents. Intervening in the issue of drug and alcohol abuse significantly improves the safety within the workplace. Furthermore, alcohol abuse is lethal to the health of the user. Alcohol use is a core predisposing factor for major life threating illness such as liver and gastric cancer.
Secondly, the case study also touches on the area of performance management and human resource development. Drug and alcohol abuse has a negative effect on the work output. An individual working under the influence of either drugs or alcohol usually portrays a reduced efficiency and effectiveness on their assignments. It is a duty for the human resource management team to ensure that each and every employee is performing to their required and acceptable threshold (Storey 42). Moreover, it's hard to conduct a human resource development (HRD) practices on an individual who is under the influence of alcohol. Thus, the manager needs to address the Jim case so as to enable him develop his career and improve the overall performance.
Whether the case is worth knowing, and the beneficiaries
The case is worthy to know. The case teaches the readers on how they can use the technological infrastructure to solve problems within a firm. For instance, it shows that managers can learn critical administrative and managerial skills from technological platforms such as the program detailed in the case study. The junior employees can also learn core skills from a technical platform that can help them in notifying their bosses on the personal or professional problems facing them. The case is beneficial both to seniors’ and juniors’ employees. It educates the juniors on how to effectively use the internet to learn on how they can address their issues to their seniors. The seniors also learn on how to conducts confronting interviews.
Recommendations
It is recommended that firms should install programs in their intranet infrastructures that educate the human resource on how to tackle certain issues. A good example is conducting interrogative and confrontation interview. Secondly, the technological infrastructure should also promote communication between the juniors and the senior without necessarily meeting face to face. Finally, the human resource department should enact policies that protect the employees from discrimination as a result of information given voluntarily. For instance, if an employee voluntarily chooses to tell his boss that he is a drug addict, such information should not be used against him.
Works Cited
Bratton, John & Jeff Gold. Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
Storey, John. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2014. Print
