HR Perspectives: Factors Affecting Employee Performance and Productivity at SMRT Corporation

This report analyzes the factors contributing to low productivity and performance of employees at SMRT Corporation, including poor organizational structuring, micromanagement, and inadequate training. It recommends positive reinforcement, improving service quality, reducing micromanagement, and incorporating training and development programs.

Running Head: HR PERSPECTIVES 1
HR Perspectives
Name:
Institution

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Executive Summary
The role of the human resources department is to ensure the welfare of the employees is
well catered. In the report, it has been established that certain factors contribute to low
productivity and performance of the employees. This includes poor organizational structuring,
micromanaging of the workforce, and inadequate training of the employees. It is the role of the
human resource personnel to ensure that all the employees can maximize their efforts in the
organization. The report recommends positive reinforcement, improving the quality of the
services, reducing micromanaging and incorporating training and development programs and
seminars. The report will analyze this factors by looking at human respire issues at Singapore
Mass Rapid Transport corporation
Introduction

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The human resource department in any organization plays a critical role in facilitating
business operations. The HR department is tasked with addressing the welfare of the workforce
and recruiting new talents. The process of attracting and retaining talent gives the organization a
good advantage in attaining its objectives. Therefore, talent management is one of the most
important contemporary issues for human resource managers that helps in improving work
efficiency and productivity. The improvement of human resource practices has been catalyzed by
the increase in customers' expectations for better services from the organizations. Human
resources are characterized by various aspects including employee performance. How the
employees carry themselves in the day to day activities will have a significant impact on the
reputation of the brand. employee performance can be defined as how the employees behave in
the work setting, and how they carry themselves in the execution of the tasks allocated to them.
Many organizations set performance targets that the employees are expected to achieve by
offering quality services, minimizing waste and operating efficiently. Another key aspect of HR
is the organizational performance, which is the process of analyzing the goals and objectives of
the organization by evaluating the actual outputs concerning the intended output. This analysis is
based on market performance, financial performance, and shareholder value performance.
Another critical aspect is organizational productivity, which entails the capacity of the
organization to produce the necessary and desired results with minimum expenditure of
personnel, material, time and energy. This report will analyze how low level of employee
performance impacts performance and productivity, by analyzing performance issues at SMRT
corporations. SMRT, is a Singapore based mass rapid transport corporation that deals with
public transportation. The report will additionally offer recommendations to fix the issues raised.
Factors resulting in low-level employee performance

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The issues of low-level productivity in the workplace are largely attributed to several
internal and personal issues that need to be addressed by the human resources department. Low
productivity has been shown to affect the morale of the employee, results in low-profit margins
and ultimately hinder efficiency and productivity in the workplace. The human resource
department is responsible for establishing structures that will motivate the workforce (Macke &
Genari, 2019). It is necessary for the human resource practitioner to first address the issues that
are affecting the employees to develop appropriate solutions that will motivate a low performing
workforce and improve the productivity of the workforce. Low employee performance can be
attributed to the factors discussed below,
Inadequate employee training
Low-performance levels at the work setting can often be attributed to inadequate
induction process and the training of the employees on the demands of the work. This lack of
proper training can result in the employees not being able to perform and complete important
projects promptly. Some of the employees may not have the technical ability to handle the tasks
given to them at all. Those employees that are well trained can complete the tasks handed to
them without constant supervision (Eriksson & Villeval, 2008). One of the issues associated with
the lack of proper training is the quality of work input as a result of inadequate skills. Lack of
proper training may impact the organization by producing products that do not meet the required
standards. This will, in turn, affect the reputation of the brand and consequently decrease the
number of customers. Similarly, low performing employees will result in the repetition of tasks
and this will also affect the performance of the organization by reducing the product outputs.
Following the case of SMRT whereby a worker had his leg amputated as a result of work
accident, inadequate employee training plays a role in that those tasked with overseeing

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workplace safety lagged in the performance of their duties. The human resource managers,
while recruiting the workforce, should ensure they recruit highly qualified employees who can
effectively handle the tasks assigned to them (Akram, Ali & Mughal, 2012). This is critical in
eliminating the problem of decreased productivity. Additionally, the HR department should
develop appropriate programs that will increase productivity including training the employees to
handle the task well and produce quality products (Ho, 2008). Ultimately, human resource
personnel have the right to transfer the low performing employees to other departments or
ultimately terminate their employment if they do not meet the required threshold of the
organization.
Ineffective organizational structures.
At times, low performance and productivity that is manifested in the employees are a
result of organizational structure that does not maximumly utilize the talents and skills of each
worker (M'zungu, Merrilees & Miller, 2019). For instance, corporate experts have raised
concerns regarding the corporate culture of SMRT. Following the incident where a 52-year-old
worker had his leg amputated following an incident were the leg was run over by a maintenance
train (HUIWEN, 2019). Closer investigations indicated that the company did not keep records of
track access (Manoharan & Singal, 2019). The management of SMRT was accused of
overlooking important safety regulations. Similarly, investigations into the flooding of the
railway tunnels that resulted in more than 20 hours of train service shutdown, established that the
workers responsible for carrying out maintenance works submitted maintenance records without
actual carrying out of any maintenance. This indicates a serious integrity issue at SMRT, and
how the management and culture of the organization are ineffective in carrying out their
mandate. The president and CEO of SMRT, Desmond Kuek, made a public apology following

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the incidence that had surrounded the corporation. He admitted that deep cultural and
organizational issues within the company have contributed immensely to the disruptions of
services and management issues that have been witnessed in the corporation since 2011.
Poor management and supervision
Whatever the leadership structures that are employed by the organization, there is a need
for every business to have efficient team leaders and managers that will oversee the performance
of the employees. Low performance and productivity among the workforce can be attributed to
managers who lack the essential leadership skills to motivate the employees and oversee them
performing the task at a peak standard (Benrazavi & Silong, 2013). Such leaders are
characterized by poor communication, lack of appreciating the employees and micromanaging
the workers to the extent that they cannot make the basic decisions without first consulting
(Powell, Greenhaus, Allen & Johnson, 2019). Such practices have shown to derail the decision-
making process. Additionally, some supervisors and managers do not have the requisite skills to
oversee the workers with some not motivating the employees to perform their tasks. Some of the
notable companies that failed due to poor management include Nokia (Zhu & Warner, 2019).
The company did not consider the input of the employees and the decision-making process was
not inclusive. The crisis that have constantly rocked the operations of SMRT can also be
attributed to poor management and supervision. Some of the failures and delays that were
experienced in the railway transport were as a result of neglect of duties or poor coordination
between the groups tasked with carrying out the tasks (TAN, 2019). Some of the line managers
did not oversee the work done by the time, with others signing task cards of incomplete works. It
is upon the human resource department to ensure they handle the employees professionally

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(Awadh & Alyahya, 2013). It is also important for human resource managers to identify the
relationship between the employees and address the arising issues appropriately.
Recommendations
Improve the human resource department
The human resources department plays a critical role in the operations of a business and
facilitating the effectiveness of a company. The human resource is tasked with improving the
working conditions of an organization through recruiting more qualified personnel and designing
new business strategies (Uğur & Hamit Turan, 2019). It is therefore essential for organizations to
develop a robust human resource department that will design and implement appropriate changes
for improved business strategies. The department also improves talent management by allocating
each worker per the qualification that he possesses. A good human resource department will help
SMRT to oversee effectively the operations of the employees.
Focusing on training and development.
In combating the problem of low performance and a decrease in productivity, the leaders
in the organization ought to understand the strength and weaknesses of the individual employee.
The human resource department should constantly empower the employees through training and
development programs that seek to expand on their abilities and skill in performing the tasks that
are allocated to them (Kenny, 2019). Training and development programs will enable the
employees to acquire relevant qualifications that relate to the task that they perform. This can be
achieved through workplace seminars and workshop. Following the crisis of SMRT, training and
development especially to the supervisors will ensure they actively supervise their teams well.
Additionally, SMRT can sponsor some of the employees to institutions of higher learning to

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equip them with more skills. A well-skilled workforce is critical in developing quality services
and products. it is also essential for the human resource department to allocate tasks based on the
qualifications of the individuals. For example, a public relations expert should handle the task
that is based on maintaining the reputation of the brand, and not technical tasks such as
manufacturing. High productivity is achieved when the workforce is properly motivated and well
equips with skills to perform specific tasks assigned to them.
Avoidance of micromanaging
Among the factors that lower the performance and productivity of the employees is
micromanagement of the staff. Micromanaging has been found to hamper the trust between the
management and the employees. Micromanagers constantly control the employees by controlling
all the aspects of the operations in the business without allowing them to make their own
decisions. It is therefore prudent that the human resource officer should give the employees
space and good time to finish on the tasks that are assigned to them (Singh, et al., 2016). The
manager should let the employees participate in decision making, and only be there for
consultative purposes. It is therefore up to the human resource department to encourage
participative leadership style that emphasis inclusivity that includes accommodating the insights
of the workforce. Participative leadership creates a good rapport between the leadership of the
organization and the staff and this consequently builds up the morale of the employees.
Work on improving the quality of the products and services.
In the contemporary business environment, the business needs to focus on improving the
quality of the goods and services that they are offering to their customers. The modern consumer
has grown increasingly conscious in finding value for his money, and poor-quality services and

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products result in the loss of the consumer. It is also important for the leadership of the
organization to balance the quality of the services and products with measures of sustainable
costs. The human resource department has to maintain a balance between the input and the
expected output as per the organizational productivity model. The leadership of the organization
should consider the output of the employees and ask for insights on how to improve the overall
quality of the services. SMRT could have avoided the accident had it put in place effective safety
oversight processes. Regular upgrade of the equipment and railway tracks will facilitate the
aversion of future incidents by ensuring each component is running smoothly. This includes
devising methods of increasing performance to reduce the time taken to perform various tasks,
without compromising on the quality of the final product. By incorporating multiple employees
from different professionals in the decision-making process enables the organization to acquire
multiple perspectives on how to improve business operations.
Human resource managers should practice positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement does not only involve handing out bonuses and incentives to the
employees but also encouraging them and motivating them when doing a good job and also
offering constructive criticism. Additionally, human resource managers can indicate the success
of other employees to motivate the employees to working hard to achieve the rewards and
recognition in return. Such can be used at SMRT to change the poor organization culture, by
commending the employees on a job well done. This will in return boost the creativity,
performance, and productivity of the employees.
Conclusion

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The human resource department is a critical function in any organizational setting. This
department is tasked with recruiting and evaluating performance and productivity. Various issues
have been established to harm the performance and productivity levels of the employee. Poor
management and supervision lower the morale of the employees, consequently resorting to a
decrease in work productivity and performance. Additionally, inadequate training and
development of the employees reduce performance as the workforce does not have the requisite
skills. The organization structure should also include inclusivity and diversification to increase
performance. Some of the recommendations highlighted for the human resource managers
include training and developing the employees, improving the quality of the services and
products offered, limiting micromanagement of the employees and facilitating positive
reinforcement to boost morale.
References

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