HRM and Employment Relations Issues in Canada: A Case Study Essay

This essay delves into the human resource management challenges encountered by an HR manager relocating from BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla, Australia, to its subsidiary in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It identifies key issues such as cultural differences, employee relations, and training disparities. The essay critically discusses these issues, referencing academic sources to highlight the importance of employee engagement, strategic planning, and performance management. It further explores employment relations issues, including the lack of consistent policies on annual leave and safety, contrasting the Canadian work culture with the Australian branch's emphasis on equality and discrimination acts. The essay suggests implementing HR theories like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and 360-degree performance appraisals to address these challenges and improve employee morale and productivity. In conclusion, the essay emphasizes the need for the HR manager to adapt to the Canadian workplace culture by implementing appropriate HR practices and theories to effectively manage differences and improve organizational performance.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
The essay helps in analyzing the human resource management issues that can be faced
by the HR manager who is employed at BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla. The different kinds
of issues related to the relocation of the manager from Australia to manage the subsidiary
branch of the organization which is located in Burlington, Ontario in Canada. In this essay,
there are various kinds of HRM and employment relation issues which is required to be
addressed while working as manager in Canada.
Human Resource Management Issues Faced by HR Manager while relocating from
Australia to Canada
There are different kinds of issues which are being faced by the HR manager while
relocating from Port Kembla, Australia to Canada. The main issues which can be highlighted
in this respect is the cultural prospects which is different in both the countries. Furthermore,
the employee relations are managed in different manner in both the countries which can be
difficult for the HR manager to address the issues in a positive manner.
In Australia, this has been seen that the employee engagement is the main criteria
which is being followed in the organization. However, on the other hand, in Canada, this has
been seen that there are different kinds of issues among the employees and the top officials of
the organization. This has been seen that in Canadian culture, the employees are not given
any kind of priority and this affects the morale of the employees (Susomrith & Coetzer,
2015).
The employee relation is the main issue which can be found by the HR manager while
working in Canada and this can be a huge challenge for the manager as well. The other major
challenges which can be faced by the manager is relating to the training of the staffs in

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Canada branch as the steps which are being followed by them is different and this lacks
practical training which is being provided in Australia (Gilmore, 2013).
Critical Discussion on HR Issues in Canada
According to Mankin, (2009), human resource management plays a major role in
managing the different individuals in the workplace. The author has commented that the
employees are the assets of the organization and they should be rewarded as this will help the
company in increasing their morale. The competitive pay along with the benefits is required
to be provided to the employees as to help them motivate and this will help in improving the
overall productivity of the organization as well.
On the other hand, Reynolds, (2017) has commented and opined that the strategic
planning and the training along with development of the individuals is essential in nature in
the organizations which should be similar in all the organizations as this will assist the HR
functions to be similar and the employees will be benefitted in an appropriate manner as well.
Tahir et al., (2014) has hypothesized that there is performance management appraisal system
which is required to be adopted by the organizations as this will help in rewarding the
employees accordingly.
Furthermore, Rees and Smith, (2017) has commented that there are different issues
related to employment relations in different organizations in which it includes there is no
adequate disputes relating to annual leave, there is no such adequate safety in the entire
workplace as well. However, these are the issues which are required to be handled in an
efficient manner which will help in managing such issues effectively and satisfy the different
requirements of the organization as well.
Employment Relations Issues Faced by HR Manager in Canada

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There are different kinds of issues related to employment relations as the HR manager
has faced in the Canadian branch. It can be analyzed that the HR manager has to face few
issues such as in Canadian work culture, there are no such policies and procedures on annual
leaves of the employees, no safety policies is being adopted for the employees. However, on
the other hand, this is different in Australian branch as the employees are being awarded and
there are different equality and discrimination acts which are being maintained and followed
in the organizations. This is one of the major challenges which are being faced by the HR
manager in Canada and this has to be overcome by applying the different kinds of theories on
employee engagement.
There are different other issues which can be faced by the HR manager in the
organization such as changes in management of organization in Canada and compliance with
the different kinds of rules and regulations of Canadian culture as well. The performance
appraisal system is other major issue which can be faced by HR manager in Canada and this
will be difficult in managing the issues effectively as well.
Managing the Issues with Implementation of HR Theories
According to Sankey & Machin (2014), the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory can be
applied by the organizations in Canada which will help in managing the different difficulties
of the employees in the organization. The different needs are required to be ascertained by the
HR manager in order to improve the situation and this will assist in incorporating the
appropriate leadership development which can be helpful in managing the situation
effectively.
Furthermore, Banfield, Kay & Royles, (2018) has opined that the performance
appraisal systems can be changed wherein the 360-degree appraisal method can be adopted
by the HR manager as a good leader to reduce such issues and this can help in managing the

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organizational situation in an effective manner as well. The compensation related issues such
as providing bonus or incentives to the employees can help HR manager in managing
situation and the perquisites are being paid as per the performance of the individuals as well.
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that the HR manager has to face various challenges
in Canada as the work place culture along with the other HR activities are different from the
culture of Australia. This has been seen that there are different implementation of Human
Resource performance appraisal and compensation management Theories which helps the
manager in managing the differences in an effective manner.

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References
Banfield, P., Kay, R. & Royles, D., (2018). Introduction to human resource management.
Oxford University Press.
Gilmore, S., (2013). Introducing human resource management. In Human resource
management. Oxford University Press.
Mankin, D., (2009). Human resource development. Oxford university press.
Rees, G. & Smith, P. eds., (2017). Strategic human resource management: An international
perspective. Sage.
Reynolds, M., (2017). Organizing reflection. Routledge.
Sankey, K.S. & Machin, M.A., (2014). Employee participation in non‐mandatory
professional development–the role of core proactive motivation
processes. International Journal of Training and Development, 18(4), pp.241-255.
Susomrith, P. & Coetzer, A., (2015). Employees’ perceptions of barriers to participation in
training and development in small engineering businesses. Journal of Workplace
Learning, 27(7), pp.561-578.
Tahir, N., Yousafzai, I.K., Jan, S. & Hashim, M., (2014). The Impact of Training and
Development on Employees Performance and Productivity A case study of United
Bank Limited Peshawar City, KPK, Pakistan. International Journal of Academic
Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(4), p.86.