Issues faced

Discuss about the Human Resource Management of HS Furniture Co for Productivity.
 

Hardworking nature of the staffs is the greatest strength of HS Furniture Co. This helps in delivering quality products to the customers. Presence of skilled and efficient managers results in the transfer of skills to the employees (Cascio 2018). This transfer reduces the knowledge gaps in case of the employees.

Lack of performance appraisal systems aggravates the complexities of the managers in regulating the employee performance. Along with this, absence of separate HR department stalls the productivity of the company. This absence increases the burden of the other departments, as they have to work overtime for executing the HR activities. Moreover, the employees and the clients’ doubts remains unclarified, which results in complaints. The qualification of the managers is nullified because they fail to encourage the employees through the means of goal-setting (Brewster 2017). This makes the employees lackadaisical towards execution of the allocated duties and responsibilities.

Plans for adding to the workforce can be an effective means in terms of enhancing the productivity. Targeting the labor market of Northern Territory can help the company to expand the market share. This needs the compliance to the standards and protocols of marketing legislation for the achievement of positive outcomes (Bratton and Gold 2017).

Intensified competition is a threat for the company in terms of securing the position in the competitive ambience. Non-compliance to the competitive policies can create hostile relationships between the company and the contemporary brands. This would compel the company to encounter illegal scandals and issues.

Lack of separate HR department is the main issue, which HS Furniture Co is facing. This absence increases the confusion of the customers regarding whom to contact for availing the services. Along with this, absence of performance appraisal systems acts as a demotivation for the employees in terms of carrying out the allocated tasks and responsibilities (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016). This demotivation stalls the productivity, compelling the personnel to achieve negative outcomes.

One of the main issues is the absence of the goals, which makes the workplace chaotic. Moreover, approaching the tasks without goals is bound to achieve negative outcomes. Negligence into this direction can be challenging for the companies in terms of upgrading the knowledge, skills and expertise of the employees. Not setting goals demotivates the employees, which results in poor performance. Apart from this, negligent approach towards setting goals has adversely affected the decision-making process of the employees (Marchington et al. 2016). Apart from this, lack of contract resulted in the verbal agreements, which contradicted the reliability and validity.

Plans for enhancing the productivity

In the lectures, four roles of HR has been portrayed- strategic partner, contributor, administrative expert, advocate and change agent. Offering job to the sales representative Jane, acts as an evidence for the strategic alliance in which HS Furniture Co indulged. Her prior experience in management of the sales contributed towards increasing the sales revenue and profit margin. Recruitment and selection was an important parameter, where the company got the assistance and support of Jane. Collaboration with CM is an evidence for the strategic planning of Jane in terms of maintaining the pace in the competitive ambience. Upon receiving negative outcomes, Jane became devastated, exposing rude behaviour to the workers. This contradicts her rational attitude in terms of executing the business in a strategic manner (Storey 2014). Along with this, it also adds a negative parameter to her preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge.

Losing confidence is an evidence of devaluation regarding the effective management. Along with this, it can also be an indication of pretentious nature for knowing the solution for every business issue. Indulging in partnership is an evidence towards adopting appropriate change agent. This partnership helped in coping up with the financial issues, degrading the reputation of HS Furniture Co. Taking the help of advocate assisted the company personnel to excavate the reality behind the preconceived experience of Jane. 

The contribution of Jane proved beneficial in executing the process of recruitment and selection in HS Furniture Co. However, the pretentious nature of Jane resulted in the achievement of negative outcomes regarding the management of sales. Delving deep into the aspect, contacting consultants proved effective in adding to the workforce (Albrecht et al. 2015). Advertisement was the first step in the process of recruitment and selection. Sending drafts regarding the job descriptions and vacancies enhanced the awareness of the manager about the necessary changes. Planning for indulging in partnership reduces the negativity in Jane’s character to some extent and adds value to the aim of enhancing the productivity.

Targeting on the candidates with prior experience, professional attitude proved beneficial in terms of estimating whether the identified goals and objectives. Herein lays the appropriateness of targeting the labor market of Northern Territory. This proved to be an evidence for strategic planning to adding to the workforce and creating a strong and effective team (Purce 2014).

Jane was confident regarding recruiting the candidates from the university levels. This confidence proved effective in terms of extracting productive labor from them. Along with this, financial flexibility reflected the consciousness towards paying high salaries to these employees. CM raised doubts over the high salaries and asked the personnel of Adelaide office to handle the issue. This concern is appropriate in terms of tacking with the financial issues. Meanwhile, Jane was entrusted with the responsibility to help the candidates in adjusting in the workplace (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang 2014). Confidence of Jane reflects the trust, which the managers need to have on the employees regarding the capability of executing the tasks in a proper manner.

Suggested solutions

Usage of the intranet for communication is an innovative means in terms of maintaining the stability in the relationship with the clients. Intranet proved helpful in keeping the head office personnel aware of the recruited candidates (Stone et al. 2015).

I would have felt privileged for being selected as a HR consultant. This selection would have brought noticeable changes in my behaviour. I would have dealt every issue rationally, taking into consideration, the viewpoints of the personnel. This approach would have reflected my ethical approach towards the clients. Strategic planning would be my advice for systematizing the business activities. Within this, inclusion of policies and plans would result in the achievement of positive outcomes. Typical examples of this can be Leave Policy, which would generate an urge among the employees to work with positive vibes.

Along with this, I would have suggested the manager to take the help of social media for reaching to large mass of audience at a single time. Within this, I would have properly advertised the job vacancies for making the candidates understand the necessity of the change. I would have uploaded the newly introduced policies on the websites and the social networking sites for increasing the trafficking of the audience towards the brand image. Within this, suggestions related to pay per click advertisements would have added to the stock of customers.

I would have suggested the arrangements for meetings and conferences with the managers and the board panel. These meetings would act as a platform for the company in terms of solving the issues of the clients and the employees. These means would help the personnel in achieving trust, loyalty and dependence. Along with this, I would recommend counselling sessions for the employees, which would assure the employees that their opinions are valued.

I would have suggested the adoption of performance appraisal systems for managing the performance of the employees. This would have resulted in maintaining the stability in the relationship between the managers and the employees of HS Furniture Co. Frequency in the performance appraisal would have upgraded the standards and performance of the employees. Herein, I would have suggested that the managers should have exposed conscious approach for extracting the needed labor from the employees. I would have suggested the managers to undertake the process of evaluation for assessing the effectiveness, feasibility and appropriateness of the approach in the workplace. This evaluation possesses flexibility to make the managers aware of their current position.

I would also suggest training programs for the employees, which would enhance their preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge. Apart from this, I would have recommended post training tests for assessing the capability of the employees towards applying the learnt skills into the workplace operations. The scores would have helped in estimating the time till when the identified goals would be achieved. Prior to the initiation of the tasks, I think setting goals is necessary in terms of improving the focus. Moreover, it helps in improving the decision making process, resulting in the betterment of the organization. Furthermore, goals help in evaluating the current position and the changes needed to enhancing the professionalism. Regularly sending drafts to the managers would result in maintaining the stability in the relationship between the employers and the managers. This regularity would act as an evaluation in terms of bringing noticeable changes in the workplace. 

References and bibliography

Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.

Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.

Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.

Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.

Conway, E., Fu, N., Monks, K., Alfes, K. and Bailey, C., 2016. Demands or resources? The relationship between HR practices, employee engagement, and emotional exhaustion within a hybrid model of employment relations. Human Resource Management, 55(5), pp.901-917.

Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.

Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.

Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67.

Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017. Strategic human resource management: An international perspective. Sage.

Stone, D.L., Deadrick, D.L., Lukaszewski, K.M. and Johnson, R., 2015. The influence of technology on the future of human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), pp.216-231.

Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.