Essay: Common issues in today’s HR management

The goal of MANG 330 is to provide fundamental knowledge of human resource concepts and how they can be applied in today’s workplace. Human resource involves the strategic use of human assets by protecting them and increasing productivity. Since human assets are the most valuable assets in any organization and the scope of the human resource is wide, there is pressure to evolve management practices to adopt the most efficient. In today’s business world, the increased use of information technology has created the need to regulate its use in the workplace. Despite the numerous benefits, it does offer to companies; firms are necessitated to govern its use in the workplace to prevent issues that may arise. This paper is a compilation of four cases meant to summarize and discuss the topics and concepts covered in class.
Case 1-23
The need for organizations to demonstrate corporate responsibility grows by the day, given factors such as climate change, the increasing use of natural resources, increased pressure on employee well-being, among others. This case seeks to establish the role played by human resources in the implementation of social responsibility policies within organizations. In recent years, the concept of social responsibility has grown to a mainstream business area, with transparent and sustainable business practices becoming a strategic priority for a majority of organizations. While different organizations have sustainability and corporate social responsibility and try to report this to investors, such reports do not include how well these policies have been incorporated into the functions of these organizations. The challenge of social responsibility is ensuring that organizations are able to create ethical and responsible practices in their functions. Ethics and responsibility should be embedded in all the practices of the organization, as well as its strategy.
To achieve this, stakeholders are required to have a comprehensive understanding of the business activities and have a long-term view that takes into consideration what sustainable business models are. As such, human resources (HR), plays a crucial role in the integration of social responsibility. From an analysis of numerous organizations listed by Fortune under its list of the “best companies to work for 2018,” perhaps the most obvious role played by HR in social responsibility is being an expert in ethical employment practices. Ethical employment practices remain crucial elements of social responsibility.
Beyond the role of playing as the ethical expert in employment practices, HR also has the role of developing the organizational culture as well as the values that will integrate social responsibility. The development of culture of responsibility starts with human resources. The development of culture can be achieved by making the young and environmentally friendly employees enthusiastic about new social responsibility initiatives. This enthusiasm results in recognition programs and friendly competition within the organization. The ability of HR to remit for the management of people and their behaviors, as well as leadership capability has the potential of adding value to different aspects of the organization.
Another role played by HR in social responsibility is leading the implementation and encouragement towards adopting green practices. Green practices aim to help organizations reduce their environmental impacts and waste. HR plays a key role in the implementation of these practices, as well as the promotion of stewardship development and long-term practices that promote individuals and organizational accountability (Sharma, S., Sharma, J., & Devi, A. 2009). HR functions to reduce the carbon footprint of employees, which is achieved by implementing recycling waste and energy conservation initiatives. Examples of strategies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of employees include recycling cans, bottles, and papers inside the office, and allowing employees to work remotely.
In the implementation of social responsibility policies, organizations use various foundations. For organizations such as Ultimate Software Group, some of its social responsibility programs pertain to leadership ethics diversity and labor rights, as well as employee compensation and benefits. In the case of employee compensation and benefits, the policy covers the ability of the company to increase productivity and loyalty by providing with equal and fair compensation, rewards, and other financial benefits (“CSR information for The Ultimate Software Group, Inc.”, n.d.). As such, the rationale behind this organization’s social responsibility initiatives is improving worker development and encourage employee engagement.
Another example is the policy of leadership ethics. Under this social responsibility policy, organizations such as Wegmans Food Markets use it in managing relationships with key stakeholders such as investors, regulators, communities, and customers (“CSR information for Wegmans”, n.d.). As such, the rationale for this social responsibility policy is measuring the effectiveness of the company in handling its stakeholders equitably. Social responsibility remains a crucial aspect of every business in the contemporary environment, and HR plays a pivotal role in the implementation of these social responsibility policies.
Case 6-38
Case 6-38 focusses on the social media policy and human resource practices. This case requires one to analyze the impact of a social media policy in solving disputes and which features of the policy a manager should focus on. Social media is a double-edge sword for organizations. In one instance, social media serves a promotional and branding tool for the organization as it allows employees to share news and material about the organization. In different circumstances, the growth of social media presents the need to regulate this form of communication without restraining employees. This brings the need to incorporate social media policies into the organization’s human resource.
A social media policy would be useful in resolving a social media-based termination in the following ways. First, a social media policy can be used to manage employee conduct. A social media policy is used to manage employee conduct by ensuring the organization can control employee’s access to social media legitimately, monitor and intercept conduct on social media, restrict employee social media use by reducing, restricting, or blocking access, and use it to terminate disobedient employees. Based on this, the policy stipulates the employee’s conduct, and if they go against the laid down rules, the organization has the right to dismiss them as they are well aware of their employer’s expectations. Second, a social media policy provide clarity for the organization’s culture and value not only for employees but also for customers and the public. Organization use such a policy to communicate the value systems that dictate the expected behaviors and attitude. A social media policy would be important in dismissing employees as the organization made them aware of the expected and existing systems of belief in the organization. Failure to comply with the stipulated values and beliefs, which are stipulated in the social media policy, can be used legitimately by the human resource to discipline and dismiss unruly employees.
A search on the internet shows organizations have their social media policies on posted on their websites. For most organizations, the policies define where they stand in terms of social media use for all stakeholders and their expectations for those who work directly or indirectly with the organization. A review of different policies shows the following are common features. The policies do define expected conduct for employees. Every social media policy does dictate how the organization expects employees to act when posting or discussing issues on social media. Organizations expects employees to avoid any conflicts of interest and be judicious in their actions. For instance, the Coca-Cola Company social media policy dictates that employees should be conscientious when personal and business lives, protect the company reputation, and makes it clear that they are associated with the company (“Social Media Principles”, 2018). The policies do define the expectations for stakeholders. The social media policy is not only meant for employees but also other stakeholders. The section on stakeholders does detail how stakeholders should support transparency and follow the organizations guidelines on social media use. For instance, Intel requires its contractors to disclose their relationship with Intel and support transparency in the online space (“Intel Social Media Guidelines”, 2018).
As a manager, the most useful part of a social media policy I would find useful is the purpose, content, users, and employee conduct. The purpose part of the policy explains the reason for the organization engaging in social media and the scope of having a course of action regulating social media use and communication. As a manager, I believe that the purpose of the policy should be clear to every stakeholder the reason for the organization engaging in social media. A clear understanding of the organization’s social media engagement is key to avoiding issues with social media engagement. The content part is important as it explains which information can be made public and which is proprietary. This part is important as it makes it clear to stakeholders that even though they can use social media, specific information cannot be disclosed to the public, and failure to adhere to this would lead to disciplinary measures.
The users section defines the individuals responsible for social media engagement on behalf of the firm. This clearly defines that the firm’s official social media commitment can only be done by a specific individual and the activities the specified individual should engage in. this is important in deterring other people from communicating on behalf of the organization and holding them accountable for such actions. Lastly, the most important part is the employee conduct part. The employee conduct establishes the rules for proper practices and responsibilities for employees to ensure communication is accurate, ethical, and transparent, and deter workers from communicating unclear messages about affiliation to the company or mixing personal and business lives online. As a manager this is the most significant part as it does establish employee’s code of conduct, meaning it can be used to discipline employees if they engage in unruly behavior. Thus, a social media policy necessary as it does guide human resource department in managing employees.
Case 8-32
By definition, unethical workplace behaviors are the actions that do not adhere to the conduct standards that have been implemented by the organization (Williams, Agle, & Gates, 2018). Unethical behavior can result from interactions between employees, how employees conduct the functions of the organization, and how they utilize the resources of the company. In extreme events, unethical behavior can result in practices that break the law. Within the workplace setting, there are various examples of unethical behaviors. They include the inappropriate use of workplace computers, misuse of time, and harassment and bullying.
On inappropriate use of computers, employees often use computers provided by the company in engaging unethical conduct. An example is an employee who uses the workplace internet to do personal shopping, ignoring the fact that this is not permitted. Misuse of time is demonstrated when employees steal the company’s time, since the company invests in employee compensation and is not receiving productivity on its investments. Bullying and harassment is another example of an unethical behavior in the workplace. Harassment ca include sexual aggravation involving acts such as unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate physical contact, and making lecherous comments.
Behaviors Reflecting Harassment and Bullying
Regardless of the setting, bullying and intimidation makes the environment miserable. In the workplace setting, bullying and intimidation can manifest in a variety of ways, and can have adverse impacts on employee relations and the overall productivity of the organization (Richardson, Hall, & Joiner, 2016). Beyond undermining the company’s productivity, workplace bullying and intimidation poses legal threats to the management.
A number of workplace behaviors demonstrate bullying and intimidation within organizations. Among them include overloading employees. Individuals in power positions within organizations can exhibit bullying by increasing the workload of those under their control. Another behavior that shows workplace bullying is ignoring colleagues as well as their contributions to the company. Workplace bullying can also be seen when individuals engage in arguments and rude conduct. Moreover, it is manifested when employees provide colleagues with unacceptable criticisms.
Workplace training plays a variety of roles in the lives of the employer and employees. For employees, training can be used in changing the unethical behaviors. To be effective, a company training on ethics aimed at changing the unethical behaviors of employees unfolds in three underlying phases: alignment, assimilation, and application. The three phases occur before, during, and after training, respectively. During the first phase, the training coordinator is expected to review the goals of the training program, as well as that of the organization. Additionally, the learning objectives are identified during this phase. The objective here is changing the behaviors associated with bullying and ensuring that employees are not subjected to harassment and intimidation. The objectives include training employees to provide with positive and constructive criticism, and reducing the stress associated with increased workloads.
The assimilation phase aims to integrate the learned behaviors into the culture of the employees. This engages them to apply what they have learned in developing relevant skills and knowledge they can practice and focus upon. The application phase involves using the learned behaviors in the workplace setting. This reflects the process of applying the knowledge and skills gathered from the training program in an effort to produce the desired results. To that end, the behavioral examples associated with workplace bullying and intimidation can be applied in tailoring the training programs to ensure that the organization eliminates unethical behaviors such as harassment and bullying as well as misuse of company time and resources.
Case 16-37
Case 16-37 details around customer abuse and how it does affect the retail industry. Customer abuse comes in different forms, and the experience depends on the customer. My friend, Tiffany, who works as a sales associate in retail stores has a lot to say about customer abuse. Being. According to Tiffany, being in contact with customers from different walks of life and backgrounds is a sure way to experience or observer customer abuse. Tiffany has worked in retail for the last two years, and she has observed and experienced different forms of customer abuse. Tiffany does not find work in the retail sector appealing since she had to deal with customer’s anger and aggressiveness based on, at times, minor issues. The most common abuse she has received are a physical attack, sexual harassment, threat of violence, and verbal abuse. Being a lady, she at times feel threatened when dealing with male customers.
Being a woman, Tiffany has had to endure sexual harassment, especially from men. Typical examples of sexual harassment she had to endure include inappropriate touching, customers making suggestive sexual gestures, and receiving suggestive notes. If she goes against the intention of the customer or speaks out against the inappropriate gestures and notes, she is met with verbal abuse and threat of violence. To her, this is saddening and demoralizing as any attempt to resist unwarranted customer behavior is met with threats and harassment. One time she was slapped by a male customer for warning him that she would report him to security for inappropriate touching and making suggestive sexual gestures.
According to Tiffany, customer abuse is a huge problem in the retail industry as it does affect employee productivity, affects them psychologically, and even leads to high turnover. Tiffany observes abuse from customers does lower employee productivity. Customer abuse does come in different forms and since workers are being blamed for minor issues or issues beyond their control. It demoralizes them. Considering that a retail worker has to face customers every day, it becomes an issue especially when abuse from customers is rampant. Continued abuse does affect workers because some forms of abuse, such as been spat on, does affect the employee’s emotions. In addition, customer abuse is an issue because issues such as physical attack do lead to absenteeism where the worker has to take time off if they are hurt during a confrontation with an aggressive customer. For instance, Tiffany observed a worker pulled over the counter and had to go to a hospital and take some days off to nurse her bruises. Thus, customer abuse is an issue in the retail industry, more so when workers are required to take the abuse with a smile on their face.
The company Tiffany works for recently implemented policy to safeguard employees from customer abuse. Before the onset of protection of workers from employees, Tiffany and her coworkers on the way to deal with aggressive customers was to call the police who took time to get to the store and by the time they arrived the customer would have left meaning nothing would be done to address the issue. The current management has hired a security official who will handle any problems in the store. To address the issue of customer abuse, the organization provided training to Tiffany and her co-workers on how to handle abusive or demanding customers to prevent any escalation and allow the store manager to address the issue.
Based on Tiffany’s experience and my personal experience on abuse from customer, I think customer abuse is an issue management should address. The administration should resolve any issue, including customer abuse, to protect its assets who are the employees. Just like the management would put in measures to safeguard its valuable assets and cash in a store, it is prudent to also protect workers who are in contact with the customer. Protecting the workers by addressing customer abuse does not only benefit the employee but also the company. The benefit may be direct or indirect in instances such as it prevents confrontations that would lead to bodily harm or emotional abuse. On the other hand, addressing customer abuse issues would improve the business and brand image. Resolving customer issues by putting in place measures to address and reduce customer issues is one way for improving customer satisfaction and positive branding (Boyd, 2002). Therefore, addressing customer abuse is necessary as the management will resolve workers issues, protect workers, and improve customer loyalty.
To solve customer abuse, I suggest that organizations put in policy to deal with abusive and angry customers, train customers, and take action on customers. The policy is necessary as it does describe what is acceptable and what is expected of customers. The policy defines what customer abuse in the establishment is and describes how to go about it. Furthermore, policy is important in establishing employee training on how to handle violent and abusive clienteles. Training is essential as employees come into contact with customers on a daily basis. Thus, the training would help deescalate the situation and better handle customer issues. Lastly, companies should take action on customers who are abusive and aggressive to employees. Action including banning or trespassing customers from the location to prevent any further abuse or damage on the property.
Conclusion
The course, MANG 330, was did to demonstrate and provide the fundamentals of human resource management and workforce management. This paper details common issues in today’s HR management as depict in each case. The cases demonstrate the underlying issues in managing today’s workforce with emerging issues, such as social media use and customer abuse, in mind. Human capital is important to an organization, and it is sensible to adopt practices and strategies that contribute to the efficient management of human resource