Practitiner can positively influence the labour management essay

The labour factor of production seeks to understand the interaction of workers and employers by looking at the suppliers of labour services (workers/employees), the demands of labour services (employers), and attempts to understand the patterns of wages, employment, and income. As a result of many influences and trends, the role of HR changes within the labour market. These include but are not limited to: globalisation effects on the world markets; shifts from a large natural resource base to service-related industries such as finance, business process outsourcing, marketing and advertising; demographic trends evidenced by increased middle class and increased birth rates, decreased life expectancy etc. In considering how I, as a HR Practitioner can positively influence the labour factor of production, would consist of analysing both the impact and processes by which the labour force and the company interact at the workplace and how to determine and establish the terms and conditions of employment. This would include policy development on employment matters from a reliance on collective bargaining agreements to more of an emphasis on individual worker rights established by law and legal decisions inclusive of recruitment and selection, compensation, and employment legislations, international labour laws, laws and regulations directly affecting employment terms, such as laws on pensions, safety, and minimum wages, relations between employee and employers labour (unions and employee associations), training and development, workforce diversity, employee participation at the workplace level (employee involvement programs, management of industrial relations (effects of unions on employment terms), team concepts (employee empowerment), industrial conflict (strikes), grievance procedures including arbitration and mediation and general discipline. Further to the above it would be imperative to establish a culture of learning and development within the organization. Develop and foster an environment that provides development opportunities for its staff through job training and mobility, so as to retain high potential staff. Implement a strategy for growth by improving the company’s ability to identify and develop internal leadership talent and make a commitment to focus on developing our leadership capability internally by investing in Global Talent Management Program. ReferencesThe Human Resource Factor: Murdoch Business School, Australia, Delphi Study of the Influence of HR Practices on the Retention of Core Employees in Australian Organisation , Associate Professor Lanny Entrekin and Dr Shelda Debowski

MODULE 2

LIST AND DESCRIBE AT LEAST TEN GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR. 20

Answer

Respect and care for subordinates: The leader genuinely respects and cares for subordinates this in turn will earn the leader their respect and commitment to deliver. Integrity, Integrity, Trustworthiness: Deeds reflect words and based on this foundation mutual trust and confidence grows. A culture that nurtures high standards of morals and integrity behaves in a fair and ethical manner toward others. Fair, firm and consistent discipline: A good leader is caring towards others and maintains firm and consistent discipline. Responds constructively to disciplinary processes and recognizes lessons learned, looks for alternative opportunities to succeed. Vision: Focuses on the entire organisation, has a long-term view and acts as a facilitator for organizational change; builds a shared vision with others. Involve, Inspire, and Motivate: Uses available information, knowledge and experience effectively when making decisions and performance bench marking. Inherent to it is the ability to balance change and continuity—continually strive to improve performance within the framework. Recognition: Recognise hard work and commitment from others. Inspires, motivates, and guides others towards goal accomplishments. Encourages and facilitates cooperation within the organization and its stake holders. Effective Communication: Has the ability to deliver clear and concise communication coupled with good listening skills. Accountability: Assures that effective controls are developed, takes the initiative to get things done, is not afraid to hold others accountable, takes personal responsibility for the success of the organisation and focuses on results and attainment of outcomes. Self Confidence: Develops new insights into situations and recognises the value of building others and is not threatened by doing so. Recognises value in others and is not afraid to give credit. Empathy: Shows genuine concern for others. Listens and understands other people’s point of view even when they differ from his/hers. Is respectful despite the fact that he/she has nothing to benefit or gain from the relationship. ReferencesDeveloping Effective Leadership Behaviours: The Value of Evidence-Based Management Robert G. Hamlin, Professor Emeritus and Chair of Human Resource Development, University of Wolverhampton Business School, and Jenny Sawyer, Organisation Development Manager at The Anchor Trust

MODULE 3

DESCRIBE 6 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A TEAM AND A GROUP. 6

A team, by comparison to a group, does not rely on group think to arrive at its conclusions. The example: Each member of a mine SHER investigation team is assigned to investigate one aspect of an accident, incident or a near miss. They use their individual abilities and area of expertise to arrive at a cohesive result. Groups measure success by their final result/outcome and not the process used to get the result. An example of this would be a jury in a court of law. Teams select their members for their complementary skills and not single commonalities. A business team could consist of a project manager, a technician, and a health and safety officer. Each member has a clear purpose and a function, so the overall success of the team would then depend on a strong functional interpersonal relationship. Individuals of a group have the ability to walk away when their services are no longer needed whereas a team member’s absence can hinder the capabilities of other members to perform effectively. It is easier to form a group than a team. If you had a room filled with ‘ drillers’, they could be grouped according to common factors such as gender, experience, fields of expertise, age, or other common factors. In a team incentives are based on group, rather than on individual performance which is what occurs in groups. Team members are selected for their complementary skills, not a single commonality. A business team could consist of a project manager, a technician, and a health and safety officer. Each member has a clear purpose and a function, so the overall success of the team would then depend on a strong functional interpersonal relationship. A group is vulnerable to groupthink if the members are all from the same culture and background, or when the group is isolated from outside opinions and when there are no clear rules for decision making. Teams have: Have a specific team purpose that the team itself delivers. Common commitment and purpose, clear performance goals and objectives. Complementary skills and objectivesShared leadership rolesHigh level of cohesiveness. They have a high level of confidence and trust each other. Teams encourage open ended discussions and active problem solving. They measure performance directly by assessing collective work products. They discuss, decide and do real work together. ReferencesLearner Guide: Diploma in HR Management, Maccauvlei

IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE FOUR APPROACHES TO TEAM DEVELOPMENT. 8

Interpersonal Approach:

This approach reiterates and emphasizes the interpersonal/relationship nature of teamwork. It places some responsibility for control of behaviour on social influences. If people understand each other, they will work together well and be successful. The principal here is that if people have open discussions, address hidden agendas and conflict this will create an atmosphere of mutual respect, confidence and trust and they will move forward on this basis. The Johari Window model is a good example of the four areas of personal knowledge in relationships: Open Area – is information known to selfThe Blind Area – is information that you do not know about yourself but others can seeThe Hidden Area – this area contains your most inner thoughts, desires, fears that you know but hide from othersThe Unknown Area – this is the area that is neither visible or know to you or others. It can be tapped to bring out your hidden knowledge and or attitude.

Role Definition Approach:

This approach puts very strong emphasis on role clarity and expectations from team members. Reflection being the key driver to this approach concurrent to observation and feedback.

The Values Approach:

This approach puts strong emphasis on Team Vision and community based concession on what values are to be followed.

Task Orientated Approach:

This approach concentrates and puts emphasis on the task the team has to perform. The task is critical to the team performance and puts aside any personal feelings, hidden agenda etc. There are two very specific team building techniques that are used to achieve results in this approach: They are goal setting activities and problem solving activities. Each challenge that has been overcome adds to the team’s sense of achievement and increases awareness of their competence and capabilities. ReferencesLearner Guide: Diploma in HR Management, Maccauvlei

ILLUSTRATE THE STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT BY USING A MIND MAP. 15

See attached.

DESCRIBE FOUR POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF GROUPTHINK OCCURING AT A WEEKLY PRODUCTION MEETING. 4

Members think that the decisions they make are sound and morally based. Members supress their opinions because they are afraid of disagreements or disputes. There is often huge pressure for accord, alignment and compliance within the group. The need or desire for group cohesiveness and a quick decision blur their judgment. Members seek the approval of team members instead of identifying the best solution. Members will engage in heavy stereotyping / categorising / labelling and even pigeon holing of the situation they are dealing with. In a nutshell, various adverse results become existent, due to failure to identify positive alternatives and a failure to thoroughly work through contingencies. ReferencesLearner Guide: Diploma in HR Management, Maccauvlei

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT GROUPTHINK SHOULD YOU SEE THE SYMPTOMS THEREOF? 3

Re-start the group with no clear expectations and encouraged unorthodox opinions. Ask individual members to argue against presented solutions and/or suggestions. Break groups up into smaller group and allow them to formulate their own ideas in the hope of stimulating more discussions and creative ideas and revert to the main group with same. One or more experts could be invited to the meetings on a staggered basis to challenge views and opinions. If discussing decisions with people outside the group is practical, encourage it, to see if the solutions and/or suggestions are in fact doable and/or feasible. From the onset the leader should avoid claiming predictions of outcomes at the beginning of meetingsThe leader could assign the role of critical evaluator to members and assign the role of ‘ devil’s advocate’ to a member. ReferencesLearner Guide: Diploma in HR Management, Maccauvlei

MODULE 4: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

DESCRIBE THE EVOLUTION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AS WE KNOW IT TODAY. 8

Performance management can be traced back to the Japanese quality management philosophy which emerged in early 1950s which forms the origins of today’s performance management theories and rules (Busi & Bititci, 2006). Statistical techniques were based on the work of a number of Americans – most notably Deming (1982), Juran (1980) and Shewhart (1980). According to some critics like Armstrong (1194: 20) performance appraisal schemes incorporate ‘ an uneasy miss of objective setting and rating processes. Some criticism include: too bureaucratic, ownership in the hands of the HR department instead of management. It is past focused. It is authoritarian and very stressful for managers. In the early 1960’s, employee’s service records are predominantly used for controlling the behaviours of the employees. What is of interest is that the remarks of these results were not communicated and traits such as loyalty and commitment were the prevalent key performance indicators. This methodology continued into the early 1970’s, but what changed in this era was that communication to the employee became incorporated into the appraisal methodology whereas before it remained confidential to management only. The intent of allowing the employee an opportunity to take note of the written observations and/or comments in their performance reports was so that they could apply corrective action. It is important to note that the human resources manager had overruling power of whoever was the reporting manager. Performance appraisals systems during this time incorporated some of the features of the management by objectives (MBO) and were termed result-oriented schemes. Some of these incorporated outputs as well as inputs. We saw a significant shift in the early 80’s where one of the key changes was allowing employees to describe their individual achievements in the performance reports including allowing the employee to describe their individual self-confessed activities within the self-appraisal at the end of their fiscal year. Besides inclusion of their traits in the rating scale, new components such as targets achieved and training needs were included that measured the productivity and performance in quantifiable terms. What remained from the old era was that this remained control oriented instead of being development oriented. In the 1990’s, Armstrong (1994: 15) stated that merit rating schemes made it essential / compulsory for managers to judge the worth of their employees against various work output and personality traits and or characteristics such as knowledge, attitude, initiative etc. There were however disadvantages to this in that it was both past focused and personality focused and generally subjective. In 1995 Drucker’s Management By Objectives (MBO) was the flavour of mainstream HRM. It was a way of managing organizations and people and of improving the performance of managers. In this instance the objectives of individual employees and company are integrated. The primary principle in this era was that the appraisal process was a participative process and not a ” confidential process”. The focus was on performance planning, performance review and development. Its methodology was specific and it was vital that both employee and employer agreed to the key performance areas. It was very common practice to implement this process at the beginning of the year and then reviewed at the end of the year. During this period causes disturbing performance outcomes are discussed, training needs are brought forth which in turn creates new performance benchmarks. In the years ” 2000″ performance management was considered a mature practice and approach of handling resource’s issues. Emphasis is on performance development, with planning and improvement at the core of the focus. A great deal of significance was placed on culture building and team appraisals. To this day performance management systems are an evolving process. ReferencesBrudan, A. (2010), Rediscovering performance management: systems, learning and integration, Measuring Business Excellence, VOL. 14 NO. 1, pp. 109-123. de Waal, A. (2002), Quest for balance: the human element in performance management, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.. Radnor, Z. & Barnes, D. (2007), Historical analysis of performance measurement and management in operations management, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE PRINCIPLES OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. 12

Performance Management is a systematic and on-going process that involves the planning management reviewing development and rewarding of performance” Kula (2000: 359)A. Measure and review input process and output. This performance analysis would measure present performance, establish standards, specify why behaviour/task is deficient, define the critical improvement path place them in order of priority. The result is the identification of potentially high-payoff behaviours and outputs that can be improved since key behaviours and outputs are often overlooked. From this platform, procedures are often introduced to validate the change. The advantage to this philosophy is that the adoption rate is relatively high within management since changing behaviour is relatively low in cost compared to the economic costs of alternative mechanisms. B. Treat it as a normal process of management and not an additional burden, by integrating desired performances and communicating the standards by which they will be measured throughout the organisation. Ensuring that on-boarding processes and training programmes incorporate coaching, performance measurement, feed-back of performance data, in a consistent manner ensuring positive reinforcement. D. Integrate accountabilities and development plans, by providing feedback on performance to the individual involved and to their direct reporting manager, with preference given to immediate feedback and enough information to allow for entities to implement corrective action and realign the desired outcomes to those previously agreed upon. In other words, the quicker they are informed the less costly the mistakes. And the more effective they will be during the formal appraisal system. In reality though, the feedback systems are often fraught with process errors and quite often absent altogether. E. Encourage Performance and be future focused, to each individual. The regularity of an individual’s behaviour is exaggerated by the moments that follow it. When the individual experiences events as positive, his/her behaviour will increase; should they happen to be negative, his/her behaviour decreases. Consequences must be executed for as long as the performance is required, or until natural change in behaviour has occurred. Often consequences of desired behaviour are often negative or neutral and almost always the positive reinforcement is too infrequent. F. Key Practicing DoctrinesEmployees clearly understand their role in the business and contribution to the company’s objectives. Expectations for an employee’s results and behaviours are understood. Result areas are linked directly to the company’s business objectives. Employees are provided with feedback on their performance relative to these expectations. Employees have the benefit of continuous development and coaching to improve their effectiveness and career prospects. Performance and leadership results are a key input into career development, transfers, promotions, and succession planning.

Guidelines

Objective Setting Paladin Africa develops and communicates annual business objectives aligned with its strategy to ensure individual objectives are established that support the business. Individuals in leadership roles across the organisation develop and complete individual objectives annually consistent with their roles. Managers review and approve objectives annually for direct reports in leadership roles to ensure alignment with organisational goals and a reasonable level of planned performance. Performance Assessment and Feedback Managers are expected to provide regular feedback to employees on performance relative to expectations for the role. Individuals in leadership roles receive feedback based on results relative to annual objectives. Career Development Review and Feedback Individuals in leadership roles are provided with develomental feedback based on a review of past performance results and an assessment of leaderhsip behaviour. Outcomes of the review are used to determine developmental priorities, career moves and assignments. ReferencesBrethower, D. (1972) Behaviour Analysis in Business and Industry: A Total Performance System. Kalamazoo, MI: Behaviourdelia PressPaladin Africa; Performance Management Policy

DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF CONDUCTING APPRAISALS. 6

Ensuring productivity is both consistent and of quality has always been a challenge in any organisation. It has shifted from managing individual performance with the allocation of rewards to a more holistic approach where both employee and employer plan performance standards and align its objectives to the organisations strategy. We all recognise that majority of employees want to know how well they are doing and how they can do better in a future. They want this information to improve their performance in order to get increased pay and/or promotions. The appraisal process helps in human resource planning. The power of individual performance appraisals: It positions the individual for performanceDevelops ownership and commitmentClearly communicates performance standardsIt measure and evaluates, performanceIt allows for feedback on performanceAn allows for continuous improvementIt facilitates continuous learning and growth through education, training and coaching. It recognizes and rewards performanceAccurate appraisal information helps management in making effective decisions on issues such as future employment or even subordinates career advancements. Without adequate performance management structures and feeding back the information gained during these appraisal processes, management cannot make effective decisions knowledge on who is ready to be promoted, what resources could be transferered or even terminated, neither could they decide on future employment needs. Hence conducting appraisals is critical to both the implementation of Succession Planning and Localization Plans. Notwithstanding that without appraisals validating training and development needs on a company wide scale would be difficult as would be the identification of gaps in performance due to poor knowledge or skills. It further assists the Company in achieving its strategy. Conducting proper performance appraisals can improve both the employer and employee’s future performance and allowsReferencesRadnor, Z. & Barnes, D. (2007), Historical analysis of performance measurement and management in operations management, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

DESCRIBE WHAT A PERSON IS DOING WHEN THEY ARE ” FACILITATING” A MEETING. 5

A facilitator accepts responsibility to help the group accomplish a common task and to move through the agenda in the time available and to make the necessary decisions and plans for implementation. A facilitator makes no decisions for the group but instead it applies a specific set of skills to lead the group to peak performance, it suggests ways to help the group move forward. He/she works so that the participants are aware that they are in charge, that it is their business that is being conducted, and that each person has a role to play. The facilitator’s responsibility is to the group and its work rather than to the individuals within the group. Clarifies goals, roles and procedureskeep timemanage the group processmanages conflictmoves from problems to solutionsget the work doneget to an end point and resultencourage participation from all attendeeshelp participants understand different points of viewfrees the group from difficultiesfoster solutions that incorporate diverse points of viewmanage participant behaviourcreate a safe environmentlearn, grown and changeteach new thinking skills and facilitate structured thinking activitiesrecord (with an agreed phraseology) agreements. They may also note unresolved issues for later debateReferencesLearner Guide: Diploma in HR Management, Maccauvlei

WHAT WOULD BE THE BENEFITS OF SUCH FACILITATION? 5

Facilitation allows meetings to follow a precise route and engages people that are present thus ensuring full participation and contribution. It further frees the team from difficulties and barriers. Furthermore it helps people clarify tasks associated with their roles, goals and procedures in order to get the work done and get to an end point and a result. The leader to be fully ‘present’ hence reducing their focus on the clock and their own agendas and assists with moving from problems to solutions. Facilitation brings process-focused neutrality to the proceedings since they have no role in the issue. Facilitated meetings create value in that they keep discussions focused and moving on until the work get done and results are achieve.. It keeps communication clear, direct and appropriate. The team talks about the right things. The process is clear, and therefore enables team members the freedom to think clearly and results in much better solutions. Facilitation is a valuable tool to generate successful outputs, when people get together to work effectively and efficiently towards a common goal.