5 Main Issues and HRM Problems in Historical Context

Human Resource Management
HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT – 1000133
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Human Resource Management
Question 1  Describe and illustrate 5 main issues and HRM problems in Part A,
‘Historical context’.
Answer 1  The Organisation has been one of the top companies in Australia since its
foundations and has been able to successfully achieve a market share of 90%. Some recent
changes in the internal and external environment factors have created a lot of problems for
the company, which can be attributed to some of the issues and HRM problems that are
discussed below:
First of all, the company has been experiencing a loss of its talented employees as a result of
high labour turnover ratios. The company has lost those employees of late, which it could not
have afforded to lose. Furthermore, the company itself has been making a number of
employee positions redundant in order to remain profitable and effective. This has created a
deficit of talent and intellectual capital in the organisation, which is also resulting in
workforce shortage. The reduction of the workforce of the company from 5000 to less than
2000 has created a troublesome situation where the company is not being able to sustain its
productivity and efficiency (Aldatmaz, et al., 2018).
Secondly, leadership in the organisation is also not as effective as it should have been. The
leaders in the organisation are middle aged to older males who are enjoying lifetime
opportunities in the company while most of them don’t even have the experience of working
in the private sector. They have been following a transactional leadership style where
compliance is preferred more over participation. The leaders of the company have been
promoting a bureaucratic, risk-averse and the conservative environment in the workplace,
which leaves no scope for innovation or employee engagement and empowerment. As a
result, employee morale and motivation has been affected (Dartey-Baah, 2015).
Thirdly, the relationship between the employees and the employers have suffered a setback
over a period of time. Even though the management has tried its best to convince the
employees that they are the most valuable asset of the company, but their frequent
downsizing initiatives have made the employees feel that they are the most expendable
resource. As a result of the spoiled relations, the employee union has also started to create
problems for the organisation to run smoothly (Hannis Ansah, et al., 2018).
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Human Resource Management
Fourthly, as a part of the cost-cutting strategies, the company has been removing training and
development programs for the employees. The management has also been failing to offer
succession planning and career development opportunities to the employees. Both the factors
have been having a negative effect on the workforce and the employees have become more
likely to quit because of the absence of growth opportunities.
Lastly, there is a considerable lack of a relationship between performance and remuneration.
The company has been following a policy of ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to remuneration
as there are no criteria that have been used to identify performance-related pay for the
employees. Senior and middle-level managers of the company have been given the power to
decide their own salaries and also make use of salary sacrificing strategies whenever they feel
like (Cohen, 2017).
The issues discussed above are all related to the field of human resource management and
collectively, they have been having a negative impact on the workforce, which has created a
number of problems for the organisation.
Question 2  Perform a SWOT analysis on Parts A & B and identify, describe and
illustrate up to 5 strengths, 5 weaknesses, 5 opportunities and 5 weaknesses
Answer 2  A SWOT analysis of Part A & Part B is given below:
Strength:
Organisational commitment  managers at all levels are working very for long hours even
though they are not being given any recognition for it, which is a major strength for any
business organisation.
Political factors  Political support from the government is a definitive strength for the
growth of the business.
Diverse customer base and workforce  The company enjoys a diverse workforce and
customer base which can maximise its innovation, productivity and sales as well.
Well-educated lower-level middle managers  the company possesses talented managers
who have the capability to turn things around with their competency and ideas
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