HRM101 Introduction to HRM: Verdia Renewable Energy Case Study Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Verdia, an Australian renewable energy company, focusing on its human resource management (HRM) practices. The report begins with an organizational overview of Verdia, detailing its operations, workforce, and growth in the renewable energy sector. It then presents an analysis of survey results, revealing employee dissatisfaction with training facilities, performance evaluations, and the effectiveness of rewards and recognition programs. The report identifies key HRM challenges, including inadequate training, insufficient performance evaluation processes, and a lack of effective employee motivation strategies. It then proposes practical solutions, such as investing in improved training infrastructure, enhancing consultation with employees to identify development needs, providing feedback sessions, conducting professional performance evaluations, and developing comprehensive reward systems. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing these HRM issues to improve employee satisfaction and contribute to the company's continued success in the renewable energy industry.

Running head: HRM
HRM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Organizational Overview:..........................................................................................................4
Analysis of the Survey Results:.................................................................................................5
Analysis of the challenges:.........................................................................................................7
Solutions:....................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
The significance of dealing with the human resources in an well-organized manner is
observed to increase in a notable manner in today’s world of business. The companies are
facing the necessity to improve their quality of business operations. The intense level of
business competition in majority of the business industries is playing a significant role in
forcing the companies towards the efficient management of their human resources (Cascio,
2015). The enhanced business rivalry amongst the organizations is providing considerable
number of challenges to the companies in retaining their clients and under such situation, the
ability of the companies towards continuously enhancing their quality of business operations
or the services is significant for the success of the companies in improving their revenues.
Considering the necessity that the companies face in improving the quality of the products
and their services, it becomes important for the companies to important for the companies to
manage the progressive needs of the staffs in an efficient manner (Yarimoglu, 2014). At the
same time, the ability of the companies in recognizing and rewarding the good work of the
staffs is also significant in providing the much required motivation to the staffs for the
efficient improvement of the performances from the part of the staffs.
Understanding the importance of the human resource management in the modern
world of business, the paper evaluates the business operations of An Australian organization
which operate in the renewable energy industry named as Verdia. The paper delivers a brief
summary of the business operations of the group and along with that, it includes a
questionnaire regarding the human resource activities of the group. Considering the findings
of the survey, the paper identifies the human resource challenges that the mentioned group is
facing. In addition to this, the paper analyses the identified challenges for developing suitable
solutions which have the capability to resolve the impact of the mentioned challenges.

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Organizational Overview:
The selected organization for the paper is Verdia. The organization operates in the
renewable energy industry of Australia. The organization was established in the year 2015
and is currently headquartered in Sydney (Verdia.com.au, 2019). Within a considerably
limited amount of time, the group has developed a significant business and that is evident
with the success of the group in increasing their number of clients. The success of the group
is largely dependent on the skills of the staffs. Having said that, the group currently employs
approximately 54 number of staffs (Verdia.com.au, 2019). The job functions for the staffs in
the group is seen to be the business development and operations.
One of the important factors for the success of the group is seen to be the
decentralization of the workforce and in addition to this, the decentralised workforce of the
group enabled it to serve at 600 different work sites across the group with the objective of
bringing the energy efficient solutions to the campuses, schools and businesses
(Verdia.com.au, 2019). The consciousness of the citizens of the country is one of the major
reason that influenced the success of the group and at the same time, the urge of the
government of Australia regarding the management of environmental sustainability is an
important motivator for the growth of the group. As a result, the group is able to increase
their sales by 250% in the year 2019 in comparison to that of 2018 (Verdia.com.au, 2019). In
addition to this, the group is able to increase their revenue by 10 times in the year 2019 in
comparison to that of 2017 (Verdia.com.au, 2019). Considering the objective of the group, it
is understandable that the senior management of the group believes that they have the
responsibility to become an important part towards Australia’s fight for achieving the
transition for becoming an economy that is based on renewable energy.
Considering the offerings of Verdia, it is evident that the group has the expertise of
helping the large businesses for reducing their operational cost, creating value, being inclined

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towards achieving the energy efficiency. Along with that, the group is observed to be
determined towards helping the other businesses in achieving the environmental targets. The
group is seen to have a diversified customer groupings which include the companies such as
Hilsong, Coca Cola Amatil, 9 Mile, National Storage, G. James, Department of Industry and
many more (Verdia.com.au, 2019). With a precise focus on the statistics of Verdia, it is
understandable that the group achieved a solar generation potential of 41 Mega Watt, saved
approximately 24 million US dollars in energy costing, reduced 80397t carbon emissions nad
that makes sure that the group contributed equivalent to the take away of 45119 vehicles from
the road (Verdia.com.au, 2019). Hence, the success of the group and the contributions
towards the environmental sustainability is pretty significant. The group operates in the
renewable energy industry of Australia as a sole trader. With a precise focus on the workforce
dynamics of the group, it is evident that the organization is striving forward towards
achieving a culturally diverse work group. Having said that the presence of the staffs of
masculine gender is significant and that is considered to be required from the part of the
senior management of the group for the management of the infrastructural developmental
operations related to the business operations of the group.
Analysis of the Survey Results:
Considering the survey results, it is evident that the staffs of the group portrayed their
dissatisfaction towards the training facilities provided by the group. Five of five staffs that
were interviewed claimed that the training facilities of the group is significantly inappropriate
and rated hat as “very bad”. Considering the activities or initiatives taken from the part of the
group for the identification of the developmental needs of the staffs, 2 of the staffs rated it to
be “bad” and at the same time, 1 each of the rest rated the initiatives taken by the selected
organization for the identification of the developmental needs of the staffs to be “very bad”,
“average” and “good”. Other than this, 3 out of the five staffs that were interviewed were

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observed to rate the training facilities of the group as “average” while one said it was “bad”
and the other one said it to be “very bad”. Considering the diversity of the workplace of the
mentioned organization, 3 out of the five staffs were observed to rate the group and the
initiatives taken by the group to promote the diversity of their workforce on the basis of the
gender and culture, to be “bad” while one each of the rest were observed to rate it as “bad”
and “average”. Hence, from the above mentioned results, it is understandable that the staffs
of the group consider that the training facilities of the group s inappropriate.
Considering the rewards and recognition, the group also has certain limitations and
that is evident with the results of the survey. Anitha (2014), claimed that the managers of the
organizations have the necessity to evaluate the performances of the staffs in a professional
manner before the rewards and recognition and under such situation, the incapability of the
senior management of the companies in conducting the same reduces the effectiveness of the
rewards nad recognition. With a precise focus on the results on the question of efficient
performance evaluation from the part of the senior management of the group as an important
step for the rewards and recognition in the group, 4 out of five staffs that were interviewed,
were observed to express their frustration with a rating of “very bad”. The other person also
was dissatisfied with the performance evaluation and that was evident with the rating of
“bad” from his part. Considering the significance and effectiveness of the rewarding plan of
the group, it is evident that 2 of the five staffs claimed that the rewarding plan of the group is
“very bad”, tow claimed that it is “average” and the rest claimed that it was “bad”. Hence,
from the findings, it is evident that the human resource management department of the
mentioned group is also facing the heat of incompetent management of the rewards and
recognition.

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Analysis of the challenges:
Gupta (2013), claimed that the increasing business rivalry will decrease the market
monopoly and at the same time, it will increase the sufferings of the established companies in
retaining their clients and under such situation, the value proposition of the companies and
their business operations is significant for their success in retaining the clients. According to
Machmud and Sidharta (2016), the ability of the companies in providing improved quality
services to their clients is an important aspect of the value proposition of the companies.
However, for the achievement of such ability, the companies have the necessity to make sure
that their staffs are managed well and the developmental needs of the staffs that are affecting
the quality and he performances of the staffs are minimized. Hence the importance of the
appropriate training and developmental facilities is pretty evident. On the other hand, Cherry
(2014), claimed that the companies have the necessity to make sure they are motivating their
staffs in a professional manner for the much required improvement in their performance.
With a precise focus on the excessive demands of the mentioned industry, Verdia was
observed to be associated to an unnatural growth and under such situation, being one of the
pioneer group of the mentioned industry, the group had to influence their staffs for the much
required increment in their performances both in terms of the quality and quantity (Yusoff,
Kian & Idris, 2013). However, that can be achieved with the application of an efficient
technique for motivating the staffs of the group which in context of Verdia, was absent.
Solutions:
With a precise understanding of the mentioned factors and challenges to the human
resource of the group, a set of important recommendation is shared below:
The shareholders or the owners of the group are recommended to invest in the infrastructural
development of the group for the improvement of the training facilities of the group.

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The managers of the group are requested to improve their ability in participating in the
consultation sessions with the staffs for the identification of their developmental needs which
will enable them for the development of the customized training activities for the staffs.
The group is recommended to initiate the feedback sessions for providing important tips to
the staffs regarding their operational activities.
The group is expected to conduct the performance evaluations in a professional manner with
a precise avoidance to the rater bias.
The group is recommended to develop a rewarding plan that has the provisions for providing
intrinsic ad extrinsic rewards of their staffs for motivating them.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, the growth of the mentioned group is pretty prominent in the
Australian renewable energy industry. The awareness of the citizens and government is an
important factor that triggers the growth of the group and at the same time. However, the
inappropriate rewarding plan and training activities are observed to be major point of concern
for the group. With the formation of an improved rewarding plan and an effective training
facilities, the group has the scope of improving the excellence of their human resource
management.

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References:
Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee
performance. International journal of productivity and performance management,
63(3), 308.
Cascio, W. F. (2015). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
Cherry, K. (2014). Hierarchy of needs. Retrieved Aug, 16, 2014.
Gupta, A. (2013). Environment & PEST analysis: an approach to the external business
environment. International Journal of Modern Social Sciences, 2(1), 34-43.
Machmud, S., & Sidharta, I. (2016). Entrepreneurial Motivation and Business Performance of
SMEs in the SUCI Clothing Center, Bandung, Indonesia. DLSU Business &
Economics Review, 25(2), 63-78.
Verdia.com.au. (2019). Home. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from
https://www.verdia.com.au/
Yarimoglu, E. K. (2014). A review on dimensions of service quality models. Journal of
Marketing Management, 2(2), 79-93.
Yusoff, W. F. W., Kian, T. S., & Idris, M. T. M. (2013). Herzberg’s two factors theory on
work motivation: does its work for todays environment. Global journal of commerce
and Management, 2(5), 18-22.

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Appendix:
Employee Satisfaction Survey
Name of group: Verdia
Date survey completed: 28.09.2019
Person conducting the
survey:
Jonathon Davidson
Number of staffs of the
group:
54
Franchise or Sole trader:
Sole Trader
Number of staffs
interviewed:
1
Question
1 2 3 4 5
Very bad - Average - Very good
1
Do the organization provide you proper training facilities?

2
Do the organization conduct any sort of activities for
identifying the developmental needs of yours?


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3
How much would you rate your group’s job training facilities?

4
How diverse is your workplace in terms of culture and gender?

5 Do you think that the group is able to evaluate the
performances of the staffs efficiently?

6
Are you satisfied with the rewarding policy of the group?


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Employee Satisfaction Survey
Name of group: Verdia
Date survey completed: 28.09.2019
Person conducting the
survey:
Jonathon Davidson
Number of staffs of the
group:
54
Franchise or Sole trader:
Sole Trader
Number of staffs
interviewed:
1
Question
1 2 3 4 5
Very bad - Average - Very good
1
Do the organization provide you proper training facilities?

2
Do the organization conduct any sort of activities for
identifying the developmental needs of yours?

3 