Managing Employee Relationships: Analysis of Employee Retention Programs and Knowledge Management

This report analyzes employee retention programs with relevance to their knowledge management. The major findings include implementation of E-learning programs within the organizational setting and open communication with the employees. The understanding of new technologies with continuous training and skill development is a must.

Managing Employee Relationships 0
Title: Managing Employee Relationships
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Managing Employee Relationships 1
Executive Summary
This is a globalized world where the social, technological and economic changes are taking at a
fast pace. KA Australia is one of the renowned multimedia firms which has been facing
continuous competition from its market zones. The purpose of this report is to analyze employee
retention programs with relevance to their knowledge management. The company is losing its
shareholder value due to the massive competition and this can be dealt with through
implementation of training programs and induction programs at different hierarchical levels. The
major findings include implementation of E-learning programs within the organizational setting
and open communication with the employees.
The understanding of new technologies with continuous training and skill development is a must.
A list of key recommendations has been given. An introduction to the KA Australia group
followed by the different issues at the operational and functional levels of the organization has
been discussed. Human Relations and Employee relations with possible ramifications have been
discussed. This is followed by a brief conclusion of the key findings of the report. The
recommendations have been proposed which focuses on the concept of change management,
employee retention and training, and skill development. In the context of above statements,
Human resource plays a crucial role.

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List of Key Recommendations
1. Change Management-This need to be integrated with corporate strategy and planning.
2. Training and Skill Development- This will help in narrow the gap between the existing
competencies and skills.
3. Knowledge Management-The monitoring of existing competencies is vital for the long
term success of the company.
4. Employee Retention-The use of social networks and advanced technologies can help in
employee retention.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
What Are the Issues Faced by the Organization and what is their Impact upon the Operation and
Competitiveness of the Company?..................................................................................................4
What does the HR and ER Literature Tell us about these Issues and their Potential Ramifications
for Organizations?...........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................13
Appendices....................................................................................................................................16

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Introduction
KA Australia is one of the biggest multimedia company which works on three
main principles, i.e. employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and shareholder value.
The main purpose of this report is to understand the employee downsizing and the failure
of its Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP). In order to meet with the customer
demands and solve customer queries rapidly, KA Australia has been projecting the need
for talented and skilled manpower. The company needs to focus on hiring the right
number of employees at operational and IT levels. This will help in meeting market
challenges. The company needs to adopt the HR practices which can be streamlined with
the company objectives.
What Are the Issues Faced by the Organization and what is their Impact upon
the Operation and Competitiveness of the Company?
KA Australia is one of the renowned companies and has its major operations in
Southern America and other states too. The company has achieved 1.6 billion dollars
through its sales and has been targeting the other states as well. At present, the company is
undergoing through a few issues which have led to decreasing shareholder value and
customer satisfaction (Werner, Anderson and Nimon, 2019). The issues faced by the
organization and their impact upon the operations and competitiveness are discussed
below-
1. Failure of ERP System-This is based on the classical theory wherein the
employees are considered as machine and human being are considered as part of it.

Managing Employee Relationships 5
Initially, the company had been successful in implementing the Enterprise
Resource Planning System within its organizational structure. Later, the company
has to face technical challenges from the Operations and IT team. This is due to the
lack of technical skills in the employees and the inability to solve the problems
within the stipulated time period. The employees of the KA Australia have not
been provided with proper training and this led to failures. Failure of the ERP
system led to loss of customers and has its vast impact on the sales and revenue of
the company (Wilson, 2014).
2. Market challenges from the export markets-A comparative study show the
company’s business in Ireland, Canada, South America, and UK show that
company has lost its assets in form of unsatisfied customer relationships and
shareholder value. This is based on the scientific management theory where in the
HR managers are focused towards increasing the efficiency of people working in
their organization. The demand for products and services has been changing
continuously and the company has not been able to upgrade its system with
relevance to ERP and technical skills of employees (Park, 2015). The market poses
challenges for KA Australia with relevance to change management and budget
flexibility. The company has been long impacted through the inefficiency of its
employees and local competition coming through from its Japanese Competitor.
There is a cyclical repetition of the daily activities.
3. Technological Changes-At present, the company is facing a huge challenge in the
form of new technology which is adopted by its local Japanese Competitor. The
employees need a lot of training in solving the customer queries at a rapid phase

Managing Employee Relationships 6
but with budget restrictions, the company is unable to cope up with these new
technological changes. KA Australia has been continuously making changes in the
hierarchical level of is employee structure but failed to suffice with customer
demands (Wang, 2011). With the changing needs of the Australian economy, the
company needs to build its strategy with the alignment of market objectives with
due course of time.
4. Employee Downsizing-The KA Australia has been trying hard to adapt itself with
the changing market demand and this is one of the prime reasons for employee
downsizing. The company has made several transfers of its General Manager and
other employees who can plan the best strategy for meeting with the customer
demands. However, the company needs to focus on the retention of its employees
and not transferring them from one center of operations to another. The corporate
culture plays a significant role within an organizational context (Ivanova and
Leydesdorff, 2015).
This concept is based on the administration theory. This implies that all the
activities must be classified into different departments or units and must be
performed by the employees working in the organization
The employees working in KA Australia has a different cultural background and
requires an ongoing training program. This induction program must be initiated by
the company’s management through which the lost sales and revenue margin can
be regained. The firm needs to reduce its expenses on hiring new employees.
However, it has been observed that employee downsizing can be seen as a cloning
response to outdo its Japanese competitors (Lian, 2019). This does not prove to be

Managing Employee Relationships 7
a strategy for a longer period of time but requires harnessing the technical skills of
employees.
5. Customer Relationships-The lost shareholder value is one of the major problems
faced by KA Australia. This is due to the non-standard work arrangements in its
operational business (Bais, 2012). The human resource department of the company
needs to understand the underlying employee issues like ongoing attrition of
employees, salary problems, and corporate culture and market demands. The
objectives of the company need to be streamlined with relevance to the market
needs of customer. This is based on the modern theory wherein all the valuable
concepts are integrated and a new approach is formed to retain the customers.
The employees are associated with precarious positions within the organization and
deny adapting to the new culture. This must be brought under the scope of the HR
department and this will lead to less employee attrition. Employee retention must
be the priority of the KA Australia human resource department (Hwang and Shin,
2019).
What does the HR and ER Literature Tell us about these Issues and their
Potential Ramifications for Organizations?
KA Australia is a multimedia company that has an experienced HR and operation
department. Since the year 2013, the company has been facing market challenges in the form of
ERP technical issues, unmet customer demands, and corporate culture. The company needs to
apprehend the minimization of employee attrition rates and maximize employee retention. The

Managing Employee Relationships 8
company’s management needs to understand the modernization of the ERP System with
relevance to technical skills acquired by its employees (Cegarra, Gacias and Lopez, 2012).
The technical and economic changes in the Australian economy pose challenges for the
proper functioning of the company. With the development of information technology to
advanced versions, the company needs to adopt the approach of Go Global (Rajan and Baral,
2015). The demand for ERP products has been changing so far. In order to effectively respond to
these changes, the company needs to develop its statistical products. At present, the company is
facing a challenge with the amount of information available and rendered to its employees. The
other factors affecting the company are budget constraints, employee transfers, corporate culture
and technology feasibility with the organizational structure (Bilych, 2013).
KA Australia is competing with other competitors from Japan. The potential Issues faced by
KA Australia include-
1. Meeting with the future use demands of Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP)
2. Immediate response to increasing competition from other retailers.
3. Budget constraints
4. Efficient development of employees
5. Modernization of products and services
6. Effective Organization of work processes
7. The transition from operations to technical and knowledge working
8. Reducing the rate of employee attrition and increased employee retention within the
organization (Saraikin and Yanbykh, 2014).
The modernization of the ERP system is not only the demand of organization structure but,
also implies the standardization of technical skills of its web designers and IT personnel and

Managing Employee Relationships 9
Human resource department (Karpiuk, 2016). The induction program must be conducted within
the organization setting, which can change the attitudes and perspectives of employees within the
company. This is followed by continuous training programs and regular weekly meetings which
can help the subordinate employees working in KA Australia. The ongoing meetings must be
targeted at solving the one-to-one problems of employees. The development of modernized
technical products is a part of change management (Maas, van Fenema and Soeters, 2014).
The successful implementation of technical changes is confronted with human resources. The
HR department needs to actively participate and contribute towards the changing needs of the
buyer (la, amy and nya, 2018). The corporate strategy and planning must be analyzed at top and
middle management levels. The KA Australia group needs to develop the production methods
and technical outputs that can meet with future challenges. This also ensures that technology
products and services developed are relevant to the future world (Supramaniam, Abdullah and
Ponnan, 2014).
The KA Australia needs to work on two directions-Technical output and production methods.
Technical outputs rely upon the development of better and new products and services that are
acceptable to the present society. Production methods involve better processes and different
methodologies that have been tuned to provide the products at minimum costs. This ensures
greater flexibility and cooperation between the seller and buyer (Wang, 2014).
At present, the development of communication facilities has been growing with a rapid phase
and has completely reformed the technology products. This can be considered as a challenge for
the different companies operating within the environment (Kim and Park, 2016). The biggest
challenges for the KA Australia group is taking advantage of these market challenges and
encourage innovation with relevance to processes, products, and sources that will change the

Managing Employee Relationships 10
organization and employee work. This also implies that changes should be reflected in staff
profiles and resource reallocation (Sodomka and Klcova, 2016).
The KA Australia needs to focus on one to one general meetings within the staff members
and the following areas can be particularly given attention to the development of employees in
the future. This involves-
1. Motivation
2. Work environment and mobility
3. Training and skills development
4. Change management
5. Attraction and retention of staff
6. Work environment
The advanced techniques involve using E-0learning methods which can provide advanced
experience to the employees working in the KA Australia group (Rajan and Baral, 2015). The
company will be able to benefit through good practices and exchanging experiences. The
company needs to focus on implementing the culture and change management within its
structure (Ravindrakumar Rajput et al., 2015).
Conclusion
Analysis of implementing the various training programs at different departmental levels
can bring change management within the organization. KA Australia will be able to effectively
incorporate management development and training plans to outdo the competition coming from
different market zones. Upgrading pathways of career development can enhance the skill and
abilities of an employee.

Managing Employee Relationships 11
Recommendations
1. Change Management-The KA Australia needs to implement the change management
principle in its operational activities. The company needs to apprehend how organizations
need to change with the changing environment. However, it is not possible to change the
attitudes and perceptions of the employees immediately. This requires induction and training
programs to be provided from time to time. The present time is for innovation and
implementing changes within the organization. However, this will require time and effort
from the management of the organization. The commitment from the top management can
act as positive drivers for change. The lack of skills within the employees will act as barriers.
In order to support the globalization, the top management must integrate corporate planning
and strategy in the process. The employees of the KA Australia need to work towards a
shared vision. At the same time, ensuring capacity and resources are present in effective
numbers.
2. Training and Skill Development-KA Australia needs to identify the broad range of
arrangements such as formal and informal training, cooperation from external sources, job
rotation, competency mapping, personal training plans, and induction programs. The
mentoring is also one of the prime training programs that can help the employees to grow.
KA Australia needs to assess the costs and benefits of these training programs and evaluating
the outcome of these training activities. At present, the company is facing a gap between
external competition and skills. This can be made narrow through implementing the training
programs. The skills must be nurtured with the growing competence and this will help in
meeting with the future challenges. The HR department needs to work on drawing the skills
and capabilities framework and how to close the gaps effectively. The company must focus

Managing Employee Relationships 12
on having efficient resources and must remain updated with new technologies. This can also
be referred to as competence management. The development plans are necessary tools for
effectively bridging the gap between the required competency level and lack of skills.
A regular follow-up with the employees of the organization is a must. E-learning provides
possibilities that are not restricted by time and can be used for specific purposes and training the
employees. The Human resource department may face certain challenges in training staff
members. This must be narrowed through E-learning programs as this can be offered to different
nations and provides flexibility for time. These programs are available at relatively low costs
when compared with the conventional form of training.
3. Knowledge Management-The Knowledge Management refers to the relevant information is
maintained within the employees of KA Australia. The objective of this knowledge
management is to ensure that information gets distributed within the different hierarchical
levels effectively. This implies that information must be provided to the right person and at
the right time. For instance-solving customer queries require the IT personnel to be provided
with technical knowledge by its superior. Whenever people are new to jobs, the induction
program can be initiated for the exchange of information. This also requires training and
management activities to take place within a specific time frame. The goals must be
communicated to the new employees and competencies monitoring must take place for
effective knowledge management. The employees must be motivated to act within the
organization and take up the charge or responsibilities within due course of time.
4. Employee Retention-Attraction and retention of people is crucial for the success of the
organization. The Human resource department of the KA Australia needs to retain the best
people who have requisite IT skills. From time to time, the company needs to provide quality

Managing Employee Relationships 13
training programs with flexible working hours. This can be achieved through support from
the top management and open communication. KA Australia management needs to
incorporate organizational policies and performance appraisal systems. The present era is
digital generation and young people must be given an opportunity to work in a challenging
environment.
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Forecasting and Social Change, 96, pp.254-265.
Karpiuk, M. (2016). Bill of materials as a part of CAD and ERP integration. Mechanik, (12),
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Managing Employee Relationships 14
Kim, K. and Park, J. (2016). Cultural Differences impact on the ERP System
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Managing Employee Relationships 15
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Appendices
 Effects of Downsizing
 Human Resource Objectives

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 Training and Development