Jack Nelsons Problem Essays

Jack Nelsons Problem Essays Jack Nelsons Problem Essay Jack Nelsons Problem Essay Chapter 1Application Case: Jack Nelsons Problem 1. What do you think was causing some of the problems in the bank home office and branches? There is clearly aproblem with communication, and the effects are felt in the area of employee commitment. Additional contributingfactors include the lack of consistency in the policies and procedures of various locations. There is no cohesiveness tothe staffing activities of this organization. 2. Do you think setting up a HR unit in the main office would help? Of course we think it would! Since there are HR-related problems both in the home office and in the branches, it is clear that if a personnel office were set up, it wouldneed to help to coordinate the HR activities in the branches. 3. What specific functions should it carry out? What HR functions would then be carried out by supervisors andother line managers? What role should the Internet play in the new HR organization? There is room for quite abit of variation in the answers to this question. Our suggested organization would include: HR Unit: job analyses,planning labor needs and recruiting, providing advising and training in the selection process, orientation of newemployees, managing wage and salary administration, managing incentives and benefits, providing and managing theperformance appraisal process, organization-wide communications, and providing training developing services. Supervisors and Other Line Managers: interviewing and selection of job candidates, training new employees,appraising performance, departmental personal communications, and training development. Internet and HR: shiftsome activities to specialized online service portals and/or providers. Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company 1. Make a list of 5 specific HR problems you think Carter Cleaning will have to grapple with? Potential answers could include the following:1) Staffing the company with the right human capital by identifying the skills and competencies that arerequired to perform the jobs and the type of people that should be hired. Sourcing candidates andestablishing an efficient and effective recruiting and selection process will be an important first step. ) Planning and establishing operational goals and standards and developing rules and procedures tosupport business goals and strategies. Failure to do so will result in a lack of clarity around performanceexpectations down the line as each store becomes operational. 3) Implementing effective Performance Management through setting performance standards, highquality appraisal of performance, and providing ongoing p erformance coaching and feedback to developthe abilities of each person and support positive employee relations. ) Designing an effective compensation system that will give the company the ability to attract, retainand motivate a high quality workforce, providing appropriate wages, salaries, incentives and benefits. Apoorly designed system will result in difficulty in attracting candidates, turnover and low employeemorale. 5) Training and developing employees both at the management and employee level to be able toperform the job to meet the performance expectations. This should include a new hire orientationprogram as well as a program for ongoing training and development. Lack of attention to thiscomponent may result in errors, increase in operational costs, turnover, and morale problems. 2. What would you do first if you were Jennifer ? Answers will vary; however, probably the most important first step is to ensure that thestaffing process is well designed and targeting the right mix of skills and abilities neededamong candidates. A thorough job should be done in analyzing the requirements of each  job, developing a complete job description for each role, and sourcing candidates thatmeet those requirements. Significant time should be invested in the hiring process toensure that the candidates hired meet the requirements and possess the skills andabilities to do the job. Chapter 3 Application Case: Siemens Builds a StrateUntitled 1gy – Oriented HR System 1. Based on the information in this case, provide examples, for Siemens, of at least four strategically requiredorganizational outcomes, and four required workforce competencies and behaviors. Strategically requiredorganizational outcomes would be the following: 1) An employee selection and compensation system that attracts andretains the human talent necessary to support global diversification into high tech products and services 2) A â€Å"learningcompany† in which employees are able to learn on a continuing basis; 3) A culture of lobal teamwork which willdevelop and use all the potential of the firm’s human resources; 4) A climate of mutual respect in a global organization. Workforce competencies and behaviors could include 1) Openness to learning; 2) teamwork skills; 3) cross-culturalexperience; 4) openness, respect and appreciation for workforce diversity. 2. Identify at least four of the strategically relevant HR system policies and activites that Siemens hasinstitut ed in order to help HR contribute to achieving Siemens’ strategic goals. ) Training and development activities to support continuous learning through a system of combinedclassroom and hands-on apprenticeship training to support technical learning; 2) Continuing education andmanagement development to as developing skills necessary for global teamwork and appreciation for  cultural diversity; 3) Enhanced internal selection process which includes pre-requisites of cross-border andcross cultural experiences for career advancement; 4) Organizational development activities aimed atbuilding openness, transparency, fairness, and supporting diversity 3. Provide a brief illustrative outline of an HR scorecard for Siemens. Metrics could include things such as:1. Level of organizational learning:a. Number of hours of technical training per employee (class room and hands-on)b. Number of hours of education management development2. Level of cross cultural team worka. Number of employees assigned to roles including cross-border and cross-cultural experiencesb. Survey results measuring employee climate on dimensions of teamwork, openness,transparency, fairness, diversity3. Extent to which the employees can describe the company’s core values4. Effectiveness of selection process for identifying high quality candidates – number of qualifiedcandidates per position, turnover and retention statistics. Continuing Case: the Carter Cleaning Company 1. Would you recommend that the Carters expand their quality program? If so,specifically what form should it take? Most students will agree that there areopportunities to expand the quality program. The employee meeting approach is a good tart in terms of utilizing high involvement organizational practices. There are opportunitiesto maximize the overall quality of their human capital. For example, training seems to bean obvious area to focus in terms of educating and building awareness about basicstandards and procedures. 2. Assume the Carters want to institute a high performance work system as a testprogram in one of their stores. Write a one page outline summarizing what such aprogram would consist of . Students should include some of the following ideas in their  outline: Identify the types of HR practices they would implement to improve quality,productivity, financial performance; methods for job enrichment; strategies for implementand leverage a team-based organization; ways to implement and facilitate highcommitment work practices; employee development and skill building to foster increasedcompetency and capability in the workforce; a compensation program which providesincentives (for example profit sharing; pay for performance) for achieving major goals andfinancial targets. Chapter 4 Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company The Job Description 1. What should be the format and final form of the store manager’s job description? The format noted in figure 4-7 could be a reasonable format to use. Students mayrecommend that Jennifer include standards of performance section in the job description. This lists the standards the employee is expected to achieve under each of the jobdescription’s main duties and responsibilities, and would address the problem of  employees not understanding company policies, procedures, and expectations. Inaddition, students may recommend that Jennifer instead take a competency-basedapproach which describes the job in terms of the measurable, observable, behavioralcompetencies that an employee doing that job must exhibit. Because competencyanalysis focuses more on â€Å"how† the worker meets the job’s objectives or actuallyaccomplishes the work, it is more worker focused. 2. Was it practical to specify standards and procedures in the body of the jobdescription, or should these be kept separately? They do not need to be keptseparately, and in fact both Jennifer and the employees would be better served byincorporating standards and procedures into the body of the description. The exception tothis would be if the standards and procedures are so complex or involved that it becomesmore pragmatic to maintain a separate procedures manual. 3. How should Jennifer go about collecting the information required for the standards,procedures, and job description? She should first go about conducting the jobanalysis, collecting information about the work activities, human behaviors, machines,tools, equipment, and work aids, performance standards, job context, and humanrequirements. The best methods for collecting this information in this case are throughinterview, questionnaires, observation, diaries/logs maintained by employees, In addition,she should ensure that she is identifying the essential functions of the job, and that thedescriptions are ADA compliant