Enhancing Employee Well-being through Innovative HR Strategies

The King Edward VII College aims to enhance employee health and provide a quick refreshment by incorporating plants and flowers in the workplace. Additionally, cross-cultural training will be provided to develop cultural sensitivity and intelligence among employees, fostering an inclusive work culture. Moreover, allowing schedule flexibility for virtual workforce members will benefit from a better work-life balance, attracting highly skilled employees, increasing employee engagement, and contributing to their health and well-being. The implementation of 'work-from-home' initiative has been successful, with noticeable improvements in employee satisfaction, quality of life, retention rates, and absenteeism. To continue this effort, workshops for family members and technological advancements will be implemented.

Written Questions
1. List five key functions of a Human Resources Manager
Human resource management in the organization is considered as a simple process of efficiently
and effectively using the human capital to achieve the set goal of the organization. The human
resource manager thus plays a vital role in managing the ‘people’ part of the organization
(Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). The key functions of human resource manager include recruitment,
training and development, compensation and benefits management, performance appraisal and
legal compliance.
2. Briefly, discuss the importance of a human resources strategy.
Strategic HRM is defined as a process which links the human resource of the organization with
its strategic objective and helps to improve the overall performance of the organization (Boselie,
2010). The designing, allocation, and adaptation of HR strategy help to evaluate the existing HR
policies, team building, to monitor the progress of achievements and to ensure the fair legal
environment in the organization.
3. Identify three aims of human resources strategic planning.
The human resource strategic planning refers to the arrangement of right amount of employees
who have desired level of skills and talent, motivating them to perform at the right time to
achieve the set goal and fulfilling the long-term corporate vision (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). The
aims of human resource strategic planning are:
1. Identify the number of employees required for strategic fulfillment and acquiring people
with desired skills for the organization
2. Designing and implementation of motivation strategy to enhance the performance of the
employees.
3. Creating a link between corporate objectives and people planning activities in the
organization.
4. List at least five information areas that should be included in a Human Resources
Strategic Plan.
The human resource strategic plan comprises with the areas which need to be developed in order
to align them with the strategic goal of the organization. The information areas such
as technological environment of the organization, cultural management, legal environment, sales,
and marketing strategy of the organization, financial aspects of the organization should be
included in the human resource strategic plan.
5. Discuss four key steps in the human resources strategic planning process. Discuss each
step in at least 2 to 3 sentences.
The HR strategic planning includes first the realization about the current human resource
situation of the organization and then designing a plan to make changes in the HR capital based

on the future forecasting and organizational requirements (Bratton & Gold, 2012). The four key
steps of strategic HR planning are as follows:
Step 1- Assessing the current HR capacity- This step includes the gathering of information
about the skills, talent, knowledge, and abilities of the current staff of the organization. The HR
manager can develop a skill inventory for the employees to maintain the information. The
performance assessment of the employees should also be kept handy to get information about the
career planning and till time performance of the employee.
Step 2- Forecasting HR requirements- This step provides answers to the question such as
number of employees required in the future to fulfill the strategic goal of organization, new job
profiles or positions that should be introduced, changes required in the existing job role and
responsibilities of the employees and the skill set required for the new employees that
organization is planning to recruit. Here, the HR manager also has to consider the impact of
external environment on the staffing process such as the impact of economic, technological and
cultural shifts in the market.
Step 3- Gap analysis- This is the most crucial step in HR strategic planning as it provides sound
information about the gaps that need to be fulfilled. It includes the comparison of the number of
employees working in the organization, their skills and abilities and the future requirement of the
employees in the organization. Lastly, to analyze the current HR management practices and
identify the changes that are required in the practices.
Step 4- Developing HR strategies to support organizational strategies- The last step
of strategic HR planning include firstly the restructuring of existing strategies, later introduction
of new recruitment, training and development, outsourcing and collaboration strategies for the
company. The HR manager has to ensure that the newly introduced strategies are aligned with
the strategic vision of the organization.
6. Discuss in around a paragraph, how the introduction of technology benefited the
recruiting function of human resources.
In this wide world, every job, every sector and every function is affected or will be affected by
the internet (Kalika, 2000). The HR sector is no exception to this rule. The introduction of new
technology has transformed the recruitment function of human resource management. The
companies are now maintaining the career websites which provide information about the
company, promote an attractive image of the organization among the prospective employees and
generate the job application (Cober, Brown & Levy, 2004). These websites help the HR
managers to attract the potential candidate for the job openings in the organization. The job
boards available in the market are an easy way to communicate the job offers to a large talent
pool (Founder, 2006). Also, the job boards provide information about the experience and
qualifications of the candidate which helps the HR manager to shortlist the candidate and
generate the call for the interview. Lastly, the new recruitment systems lead to cost reduction,
improve the service quality, enhance the strategic orientation of the HR department and make it
efficient (Parry & Tyson, 2008). In terms of social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook,
the HR manager has got new social networking way to recruit employees. The emergence of the
internet also giving the opportunity to HR manager to recruit virtual teams which include

geographically dispersed employees. Thus, we can say the introduction of technology made it
easier for HR managers to reach out talented people, attract them and recruit them for the
organization.
7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the following options for the
provision of human resource services.
The companies can make the provision of human resource services using following three
options:
External provision by a consultant or contractor- The HR department can hand over some
specific requirements like attracting the candidate for recruitment drive and arranging their
interviews to consultants. The advantage of this method is that HR manager can save time as
assigning the job to a consultant to increase the speed of work. It will improve the quality of the
selection as HR managers can be focused on the interview and screening process. The
disadvantage of the process is that HR department remains unaware about the talent pool
available in the market and it becomes difficult to design the job profile as per changes in the
market.
Outsourcing of HR services- The HR department can outsource the functions like recruitment,
training and development and payroll to the HR experts in the market. The advantage of this
option is getting high-quality service as the HR experts get involved in the fulfillment of the task,
workload and cost reduction. The main disadvantage of HR service outsourcing is its impact on
work culture and issues related to maintaining the skills, talent and ability details of the
employees.
Internal human resources provision- The HR department can solely handle all the HR function
on their own. This method provides the HR department the opportunity to make required
changes in the HR strategy as per the ongoing changes in the objectives of the organization.
However, this provision increases the workload of HR department, required more staff in HR
department and sometimes decreases the quality of work.
8. In at least two sentences, discuss the aim and scope of the Fair Work Act 2009?
The Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) is a foundation of all regulations and standards for employment
which employers are bound to follow. The purpose of the national workplace relations system
which is outlined within Fair Work Act is to provide a balanced framework for relationships at
work, promote social inclusion and economic prosperity. The act provides terms and conditions
of employment, set of rights and responsibilities of employers, employee, and organizations,
provide compliance for enforcement of the Act and provide administration of the Act by the
establishment of Fair Work Commission. Along with the provisions and guidelines, the Fair
Work Act gives the guaranteed safety net for fair, enforceable and relevant minimum terms and
conditions in the form of National Employment Standards (NES), Modern Awards and National
Minimum Wage orders.

Human Resources Strategic Planning Project
The King Edward VII College had a successful run in the educational industry. The college plans
to expand the operation and open two additional campuses based in Brisbane and Sydney. The
organization needs a three-year strategic plan to execute the objective of business expansion. The
human resource planning is the essential part to ensure the achievement of the strategic goal of
the organization. Thus, we present a report on the current human resource capacity of the
company, the future requirement of the staff, the gaps at a strategic level and the new strategies
that should be implemented for the success of the organization.
Current HR capacity
The King Edward VII College currently has 24 full-time employees which include CEO, a
Marketing Manager and Marketing Assistant, Human Resources Manager, Finance Manager,
Administration Manager, Office Assistant, Receptionist, Academic Manager, Student Services
Officer and approximately 14 trainers. The employees are highly qualified in their domain and
efficiently executing the assigned task. However, for the new branches of the college new staff
members are not yet recruited. The skill inventory of the current human resource includes
leadership qualities, domain knowledge (academic, HR, marketing & finance), administrative
skills and teaching ability. The present staff is capable of run one business unit for the
organization, but the additional responsibility of upcoming venture can increase the work load
and might affect the work quality.
Forecasting HR requirements
It is predicted that for each upcoming campuses the college will require a receptionist, student
services officer and 4 trainers. This provides that King Edward VII College should recruit two
receptionist, two student services officers and 8 trainers in the near future. Additionally, the
college will also require IT manager, to take care of introduction of new technology to the
campus and marketing team to ensure the promotion of the college among the potential
candidates. The college should also recruit team members for HR department for allocation of
new employees and to implement the HR strategic plan.
Gap analysis
The rapidly changing business environment requires the changes the policies and strategies
of King Edward VII College. Advancement in technology, cultural changes, and the emergence
of the importance of work-life balance are the main aspects which affect the work culture
of King Edward VII College. The current work system of King Edward VII College is not
technically advanced as there is a lack of standardized policies which can support the expansion
plan of the organization. Thus, there is a need to restructure the current policies of the
organization, to introduce new policies and to ensure the healthy working environment in the
organization.

HR Strategies to Support Organizational Strategies
We propose the designing, development, and implementation of following HR policies
for King Edward VII College in near future.
Recruitment and selection strategies- The standardization of job profile, selection criteria, skill
set, and educational background of the candidate should be done. Also, the policies regarding the
compensation, benefits, working hours and working conditions should be designed based on the
employment law.
Flexible working arrangements policies- The importance of work-life balance is increased
among the employees. Thus, the organization should design flexible working arrangement
policies to put the ground rules for flexible work opportunity and facilities for the employees.
Advanced HR information system- To maintain the information about the employees such as
attendance, personal, official and educational details, performance ratings, performance appraisal
details and skill inventory there is a need of advanced HR information system in the
organization.
Induction, training & development programs- It is essential to run the induction program for
the new employees of the organization to make them aware of their role, responsibilities, rights,
rules, and regulations of the company and the facilities provided by the organization. The
training and development programs should include cross culture training to maintain cultural
harmony, skill development exercise and technical training course to use new technology to
perform the given task.
Occupational health and safety policies- There is a need to create health and safety policies
which will include the details regarding insurance, accident allowances, and safety precautions.
The company should ensure the proper implementation of the health and safety norms given by
law.
Performance management system and retention policies- A fair performance appraisal system
should be introduced which include the ratings from the supervisors, team members, and the
employees. The retention policies should cover the additional compensation, rewards, and
facilities the company will provide to retain the employee in the organization.
The human resource strategies suggested here will ensure the successful implementation of the
long term objectives of the organization.

Human Resources Strategic Plan template
HRStrategytosupporttheexpansionoftheKingEdwardVIICollegeRecruitmentandselectionstrategies-Thestandardizationofjobprofile,selectioncriteria,skillset,andeducationalbackgroundofthecandidateshouldbedone.Also,thepolicesregardingthecompensation,benefits,workinghoursandworkingconditionsshouldbedesignedbasedontheemploymentlaw.FlexibleworkingarrangementspoliciesTheimportanceofwork-lifebalanceisincreaseamongtheemployees.Thus,theorganizationshoulddesignflexibleworkingarrangementpoliciestoputthegroundrulesforflexibleworkopportunityandfacilitiesfortheemployees.AdvancedHRinformationsystem-Tomaintaintheinformationabouttheemployeessuchasattendance,personal,officialandeducationaldetails,performanceratings,performanceappraisaldetailsandskillinventorythereisaneedofadvanceHRinformationsystemintheorganization.Induction,training&developmentprograms-Itisessentialtoruntheinductionprogramforthenewemployeesoftheorganizationtomakethemawareabouttheirrole,responsibilities,rights,rulesandregulationsofthecompanyandthefacilitiesprovidedbytheorganization.Thetraininganddevelopmentprogramsshouldincludecrossculturetrainingtomaintainculturalharmony,skilldevelopmentexerciseandtechnicaltrainingcoursetousenewtechnologytoperformthegiventask.Occupationalhealthandsafetypolicies-Thereisaneedtocreatehealthandsafetypolicieswhichwillincludethedetailsregardinginsurance,accidentallowancesandsafetyprecautions.Thecompanyshouldensuretheproperimplementationofthehealthandsafetynormsgivenbylaw.PerformancemanagementsystemandretentionpoliciesAfairperformanceappraisalsystemshouldbeintroducewhichincludetheratingsfromthesupervisors,teammembersandtheemployees.Theretentionpolicesshouldcovertheadditionalcompensation,rewardsandfacilitiesthecompanywillprovidetoretaintheemployeeintheorganization.

Risk Management Plan template
Human Resources Strategic Plan Implementation
The employees always prefer to work for a family friendly organization and term ‘work-life
balance’ is often used in the same context (Greenhaus et al., 2003). The work-life balance is
precisely the interface between the work and private life of the employee (Abendroth & Den
Dulk, 2011). The work life balance indicates a certain level of success in meeting both work and
family demands (Valcour, 2007). The work-life balance of the employee is important for the
organization as it promotes positive psychology and health (Hurrelmann, 2006). It reduces the
level of stress and anxiety among the employees who are trying to perform well on the
organizational and personal level.
King Edward VII College under the theme of work-life balance sets an objective of providing
safe, healthy and inclusive workplace culture to the employees. There are three distant work-life
balance programs we proposed to run in the organization for the fulfillment of the objective.
HealthandSafeteySpecifications

1. Creating Designated “Quiet Space”
While dealing with the work pressure or if someone encounters a bad day, an employee often
needs a quiet space to take a mental break. The King Edward VII College should come up with a
well designed quite space which is uncluttered. We propose to build a place where employees
can relax during the short break; the place should have comfortable seating arrangements, plenty
of light and fresh air along with the natural entities like plants and flowers. This place will
enhance the health of the employee and help in quick refreshment.
2. Cross-cultural training session
The King Edward VII College consists of diverse staff and also serves diverse students. It is
essential for the staff members to be aware of the different norms and beliefs of various cultures.
The cross-cultural training will enhance the cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence of the
employees. This intervention will help to develop an inclusive work culture in the organization.
3. Allowing Schedule Flexibility
The virtual workforce is the new trend in the educational sector. The employees working on the
profiles such as online marketing executives, course designer, and online tutor are not required to
be physically present in the organization. Thus, we proposed that King Edward VII
College should consider providing work from home opportunity to the employees whose profile
does not require the arrival at work in-person. This work-life balance imitative will provide
benefits like the opportunity to attract highly skilled employees across the global, retentions of
the employees who are looking for the flexible work environment, increasing the employee
engagement, contributing to the health and well-being of the employees and development of an
innovative, agile workforce.
Human Resources Strategic Plan Monitoring And Adoption
The technological advancement allowed King Edward VII College to recruit the work from
home team which is working with the organization from past one year. The implementation of
‘work from home’ opportunity under the work-life balance theme is found to be successful for
the organization. As stated by Perry-Smith and Blum (2000), the work-life balance practices act
as a source of competitive advantage for the organization. It is proven right in the case of King
Edward VII College work from home team. The virtual team consists of highly qualified
employees who have significantly contributed to the growth of the organization. The post
implementation analysis has shown that there is a noticeable improvement in employee
satisfaction, work-life quality of the employees, the retention rate of the organization is improved
and the absenteeism is drastically reduced at the end of this year. The yearly health-check up
reports of the ‘work from home’ team has shown positive improvement in overall health and
reduced level of stress and anxiety. The productivity and response time of the team is highly

improved after they got the opportunity to work from home. However, some of the issues were
found while implementation of the ‘work from home’ initiative. The issues are listed below-
1. The family members of the virtual team are not quite aware of the norms to be followed to
provide a productive working environment to the employee
2. The technological failure makes it difficult for the ‘work from home’ employees to join the
regular online meetings
As the ‘work from home’ initiative was quite successful based on the gain in terms of employee
satisfaction, improved productivity and performance we proposed to continue this effort with
some additional action. The additional actions include-
1. Workshop for family members- We propose to run an online one day workshop for the
family members of the employees who are working from home. This workshop will help them to
understand the importance of creating a healthy and productive work environment. The
workshop will also provide simple guidelines, rules and regulations to be followed to make
virtual team work more comfortably. The workshop will be an initiative to thank the family
members for the till time support they provide to the employees and encourage them to boost the
performance of the ‘work from home’ employees.
2. Technological advancement- As technical failure can lead to issues like miscommunication
and failure of the assignment we propose some technological advancement in the existing system
of the organization. We propose that organization can design a simple communication interface
which will allow the team members to join the regular meetings. The organization can also
encourage the ‘work from home’ employees to use a particular internet service which will allow
them to seamlessly connect with the other employees working at the office. The discount in the
internet service or internet allowances can be introduced to ensure the proper connectivity among
virtual employees.
We propose to continue to provide ‘work from home’ opportunity to more employees with the
additional action mentioned in the report.

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