Human Resource Management Report: ADF Harassment and Bullying Issues

This report delves into the critical issues of harassment and bullying within the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It examines the major themes and issues, highlighting the impact on the ADF's culture and the importance of maintaining discipline. The report provides insights into both employee and e...Read More

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Harassment and bullying in Australian Defence Force
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Major themes and issues............................................................................................................2
Employee’s perspective.............................................................................................................3
Employers’ perspectives............................................................................................................3
Resolving the issue.....................................................................................................................4
Implications for the organization...............................................................................................4
Role as a HR Manager...............................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
Human resource management is one of the important parameters for enhancing the
efficiency in the operations. Managing the human resources is bound to witness conflicts,
discriminations and harassments, which degrades the sanctity of the workplace. It is the duty
of the HR manager to implement policies for enhancing the standards and quality of the
businesses. Revising these policies is an initiative for attracting the candidates towards the
services. The instances of harassments and bullying degrade the integrity of the workplace
unity and collaboration, which is needed for completion of the activities. According to
Johnstone, (2017), harassment and bullying contradicts the discipline, which is the main
instruction mode in the Australian Defence Force.
Key words: Human resource management, harassment, bullying, compliance with Working
Ombudsman, 8 box model, competitor analysis, outcome analysis
Major themes and issues
This section attempts to shed light on the major themes related to the human resource
management. The main emphasis is on the instances of harassment and bullying, which
degrades the integrity and sanctity of the culture of Australian Defence Force. According to
the revelations of Sbs.com.au, (2020), bullying and sexual harassment adversely affects the
culture imbibed by the Defence Forces in the threshold of Australia. In spite of the
supervision of the Australian mateship, such instances are a shame for the nation’s pride.
Public hearing for the cases of child sex abuse reflects the consciousness towards restoring
justice to the victims, indicating the public wellbeing. Honest confessions regarding the
resistances to change relates to clinging towards traditional underpinning for preserving the
culture. The alarming situation is created through the reference of rapes, physical injuries and
assaults, which has generated fears in the minds of the aspiring militants (Sbs.com.au, 2020).

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The recent plans include adopting inclusive practices, which aims at involving the
community members for increasing the participation in the decision making process. This
approach is effective for reducing the chances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments,
as the Defence personnel feel that they are a valuable asset. The verdict of vice Admiral
reflects aversion to the political interference. Reforms in this case are being perceived as
“political correctedness”, which can be related to the governmental interventions towards
improvising on the diversity policies (Habiba, 2017).
One of the other themes in this context is that of the restructuring of the policies,
which has resulted in innovation for the defence mechanisms. Within this, with the arguments
of Brunetto et al., (2017), mention can be made of the plans for drafting new regulations,
which clearly states the roles and responsibilities of the cadets in terms of enhancing the
standards of the security.
Employee’s perspective
Commitment and transparency in the behavioural approach are the external factors,
which influence the management of the people in an ethical manner. Commitment on the part
of the managers and directors generate interest among the employees to expose performance
in terms of enhancing the national security. Transparency in the behavioural approach is an
agent in terms of assessing the intentions towards managing the people. The more transparent
the HR managers, the more ease the Defence forces find in exposing performance according
to the requirements. In this context, Jenkins and Harvey, (2019) is of the view that legal
perspective is important in terms of managing the people. Herein lays the effectiveness of
WORKING OMBUDSMAN, which is a central doctrine in the organizations like Australian
Defence Force for maintaining the standards and quality of the operations.

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Employers’ perspectives
On the contrary, Wilton, (2016) highlights the difference in opinions regarding the
management of the human resources. This is mainly due to the enforcement of the
legislations, which is bound to witness resistance towards accepting the changes. Herein,
Johnstone, (2017) points pout the role of the HR managers in terms of implementing the
ethical code of conduct for enhancing the standards of the organizational behaviour. Strategic
planning is an agent in terms of averting the instances of differentiation of opinions and
conflicts, which is achieved through the means of negotiations. Non-compliance to the
standards and protocols of the WORKING OMBUDSMAN results in negative results, which
are harmful for the culture of the National Defence Force in Australia (Ombudsman.gov.au,
2020). The relevant strategic model in this case is 8 box model proposed by Paul Boselie. The
external environment factors aggravate the competition with the competitors. These factors
are configured through the synthesis of intended HR practices, actual practices, perception of
the practices and the outcomes. The result of this is the assessment of the outcomes to that of
the identified and specified outcomes. In the assessment, institutional context and impact on
the stakeholders and shareholders are emphasized.
Resolving the issue
Cost effectiveness of the planning is measured by the Defence Force of Australia
through the assessment of legitimacy in the planned and proposed measures. If the outcome is
sustainable and is an agent for attaining competitive advantage, then the measures are
perceived as viable for economic development. In the assessment, the Defence Force
personnel take into consideration the external population and the internal institutional
context, which helps in maintaining the balance in the operations (Ariotti, 2019). In this
assessment, trade union members are involved for gaining an insight into the ways of coping
up with the financial instabilities towards introducing new defence mechanisms.

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Implications for the organization
Macro-environmental analysis of Australian Defence Force consists of the political
unrest and instabilities, acting as an obstacle in planning for upgrading the standards and
quality of the security mechanisms. Inadequate labour supply aggravates the competition in
the other sectors (Landry & Mclarney, 2019). Both these factors affect the intended and the
actual HR practices. Traditional underpinning is reflected from compliance with the standards
and protocols of the ethical code of conduct and Working Ombudsman. The transparency lies
in implementing the policies and practices for averting the instances of conflicts,
discriminations and harassments.
Role as a HR Manager
I, as a HR Manager, at the initial stage, would conduct an audit for the situation. I
would involve the external agencies for inspection, which would act assistance in detecting
the issues, which needs to be modified at the earliest. After this, my role would be to prepare
a report on the examined situation and present it to the board of directors through the
Operations Manager. I would do this through the form of a meeting, involving all of the staffs
and cadets, which would be an effective step for diversifying the workplace culture. In this
meeting, a question answer session would be conducted for clarifying the doubts of the staffs
and cadets regarding the roles and responsibilities, which they are to expose (Johnstone,
2017). I think this approach would be effective for reducing the instances of conflicts,
discriminations and harassments. Along with this, I would also take guidance from the
working ombudsman for implementing the latest legislations in the defence mechanisms. I
would also evaluate the circumstances through the means of cost benefit analysis and risk
assessment for ensuring that all of the parameters have been covered for enhancing the
standards and quality of the services.

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References
Ariotti, K. (2019). Serving our country: Indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship
[Book Review]. Oral History Australia Journal, (41), 102.
Brunetto, Y., Xerri, M., Shacklock, K., Farr-Wharton, B., & Farr-Wharton, R. (2017).
Management, bullying and the work outcomes of Australian paramilitary. Australian
& New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 50(3), 341-359.
Habiba, P. (2017). The Australian Defence Force Academy Skype Sex Scandal:
Understanding the Implications of Containment. Armed Forces & Society, 43(2), 300-
321.
Jenkins, K., & Harvey, S. B. (2019). Australian Experiences. In Mental Health in the
Workplace (pp. 49-66). Springer, Cham.
Johnstone, R. (2017). The Australian Regulatory Framework for Preventing Harassment and
Bullying at Work. In Psychosocial Risks in Labour and Social Security Law (pp. 253-
268). Springer, Cham.
Landry, N., & Mclarney, C. (2019). Using Human Resource Management to Drive Business
Strategy: The Case of BAE Systems. IUP Journal of Business Strategy, 16(4).
ombudsman.gov.au (2020). Reporting Abuse in Defence. Retrieved 9th March 2020 from
https://www.ombudsman.gov.au/How-we-can-help/australian-defence-force/
reporting-abuse-in-defence
Sbs.com.au (2020). ADF faces its toughest 'battle'. Retrieved 9th March 2020 from
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/adf-faces-its-toughest-battle
Wilton, N. (2016). An introduction to human resource management. Sage.