Case study 1 – Ralf Pierson (12495986) 1. Question: What HR issues and challenges would need to be addressed by Natural Knibbles? Answer: In order to successfully complete the transition Natural Knibbles is going to make, HR managers have to ensure that the stuff is supported during the whole process of transition. It is crucial to maintain the familiar atmosphere and inform the employees formal about the new strategy before rumors are created. This point is essential in order to make sure that the employees fully back the altered strategies.
By standing up for the new plans the unity of the company and its consistent thinking is maintained which is crucial for the success of a company. Furthermore an HR plan about the demand and supply of internal and external human resources has to be developed on the basis of the altered company’s strategy. This includes advanced training program, which should be developed and discussed with the employees since most likely new procedures regarding to novel equipment will be introduced and has to be trained and supported under management of the HR managers.
It is worth to mention that training should not demand too much during a short period of time. Again, the acceptance and maintaining of the motivated atmosphere should be seen as a valuable asset. Furthermore legal obligations have to be met by the company with regard to the transition with regard to agreements between the employer and employee. An advantage is the fact that employees are already highly flexible as described in the company information. This fact should facilitate the transformation process (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2008).
Furthermore a HR plan has to be developed which meets the new organization’s strategic business objectives. 2. Question: Describe the steps that Natural Knibbles would need to take to develop an effective HR plan. Answer: The main goal of the HR plan is to reliable forecast human resources needs in the future in order to guarantee the availability of human resources to achieve the aimed goals of the business strategy. Therefore it is important for the HR manager of Natural Knibbles to monitor the new organization’s objectives set by directors and senior managers.
In order to approach resources of the internal and external environment a job design has to clarify several aspects that are demanded of a job. This can be number of employees, abilities, knowledge, skills and qualification. Internal and external supply of resources can be distinguished. Re-education actions, promotions and transfer are actions in order to use internal resources to satisfy the altered demand of employees. If an overview is designed about the demands of human resources, a strategy can be developed in order to satisfy these demands.
In order to evaluate the possibilities of restructuring the internal resources HR managers have to forecast the supply of internal human resources by skill inventories, succession plans, replacement charts, turnover or Markov analysis. When external resources are recruited, HR managers have to consider and monitor current trends on the external labor market (Jackson, et al. , 2008; Stone, 2008). 3. Question: How would the HR plan, as described above, help Natural Knibbles to implement its changes and achieve its new strategic objectives?
Answer: The HR plan makes sure that you have sufficient human resources that carry the ability, knowledge, skills and qualifications to achieve the new strategic objectives. 4. Question: An effectively designed HR information system contains a great deal of information. What data would Natural Knibbles need to include in their new HRIS and how would they use this to support their strategy, and improve employee job satisfaction? Answer: HR information systems are nowadays well engineered to comprehend a vast amount of data.
It is important to make sure the database provides information that is complete, up-to-date, correct, secure, legal and ethical. Stone (2007) notes that HRIM systems should be used more than just as a collection of employee information. HRIM databases can be beneficial for top management development of business strategies. He gives an overview of database entries of an HRIM system. Items range from “address specifications” over “educational degree” and “pay change reason” to “performance increase in %” and specific skill functions. As an advantage entries can be used to forecast average labor costs and supply of internal human resources.
But an integrated and intranet based HRIM system has advantages for almost every section of employee in an organization. HRIM systems can give rights to specific user groups with a certain job position. As a health and safety manager for instance you can access and analyses with the help of statistics an increase or decrease in injuries. Tasks can be more accurately assigned to people with the right skills which in turn improves the efficiency of workflow and the job satisfaction since employees do not have to work in a field they are not specialists in (Stone, 2008). 5.
Question: Part of the HR planning process undertaken at Natural Knibbles may indicate a need to change the employment arrangements for some employees. Under the requirements of current Australian employment law, what are the legal obligations of Natural Knibbles regarding these employees and how can they ensure that these are met? Answer: Due to possible restructuring of the internal job and duty distribution, responsibilities and agreements can change. Furthermore other aspects of the contract have to be updated as hours of employment, work location, payment, bonuses, leave etc.
Therefore Natural Knibbles has to make sure that the company meets legal obligations, which are contracts, statues, statutory agreements, awards and common law with regard to existing and new recruited staff. Furthermore job descriptions and selection is under law not allowed to be in a discriminatory nature. Legal obligations are also applied to the dismissal of employees. Different types of dismissal are subject to distinct regulations. Jackson, S. E. , Schuler, R. S. , & Werner, S. (2008). Managing Human Resources: Cengage Learning. Stone, R. J. (2008). Human resource management: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
