Analysis of Westpac's Human Resource and Strategic Planning Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Westpac's strategic operational planning and human resource planning processes. It examines the interrelationship between strategic organizational planning and human resource planning, highlighting key steps and methods. The report identifies challenges faced by Westpac in workforce planning, including gender bias and the recruitment of skilled employees. It explores the effectiveness of human resource planning practices, focusing on workforce planning activities and the development of a learning-based culture. Furthermore, the report discusses the implementation of high-performance and global mindset models, such as the team performance model by Drexler and Sibbet, to enhance employee performance. The analysis covers Westpac's alignment of strategic priorities with human resource planning and the development of flexible work options. The report concludes by summarizing key findings and offering insights into Westpac's human resource management strategies.

Running head: MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The report is based on the analysis of the strategic operational planning process and human
resource planning process that has been implemented by an organization named Westpac.
The challenges that are faced by the organization in the process of workforce planning and
strategic planning have also been discussed in the report. The levels of effectiveness of
human resource planning related practices that are developed by Westpac have been
analysed. The challenges that are faced by the organization are related to proper development
of manpower in order to fulfil different objectives. The two major models that have been
implemented for analysis of Westpac for proper development of human resources include,
high performance model and global mind set model. The aspects related to the operations of
Westpac bank based on the two models have been discussed in the report in detail. The
workforce planning activities that are performed by Westpac Bank have been discussed in the
report.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................3
2. Findings and Analysis................................................................................................3
2.1 Relationship between strategic organizational planning and human resource
planning..................................................................................................................................3
2.2 Human resource planning process and methods..................................................6
2.3 Developing high performing and global mind set of employees and managers. .8
3. Conclusions..............................................................................................................10
References....................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction
The report will be based on the analysis of relationship between strategic
organizational planning and human resource planning based processes of an organization.
The challenges that are faced by different human resource professionals based on proper
alignment of strategic operational planning and human resource planning will also be a major
part of the analysis (Arnaboldi, Lapsley & Steccolini, 2015). The effectiveness levels of the
development of people-centred workplace and challenges that are faced by the HR
professionals will be analysed in the report. The model that will be applied in the report will
be based on discussion of potential challenges which can be faced by the HR professionals in
the proper planning of needs of manpower (Albrecht et al., 2015).
The organization that has been taken into consideration for the analysis is Westpac
Banking Corporation or Westpac. Westpac is financial service providing or banking based
organization of Australian origin. The headquarters of the organization are located at
Westpac Place, Sydney. The organization was established in the year 1817 after the merger of
two major organizations named Commercial Bank of Australia and Bank of New South
Wales (Westpac.com.au., 2019).
2. Findings and Analysis
2.1 Relationship between strategic organizational planning and human resource
planning
2.1 (a) The strategic organizational planning process can be defined as the method
that is used by an organization in order to define the strategy or direction that is helpful for
making different decisions or the proper allocation of resources for pursuing the strategies.
The control mechanisms are also able to play a major role in the proper implementation
strategies in different organizational aspects (Banfield, Kay & Royles, 2018).

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Human resource planning or HRP is a continuous process that is implemented by
organizations in order to develop systematic planning based processes for the achievement of
optimum usage of the employees or human resources. The four major steps that are a part of
the human resource planning process include, labour supply, forecasting the demand of
labour, balancing the projected labour demands with the supply and supporting the
organizational goals (Bratton & Gold, 2017).
The vision that had been developed and followed by Westpac Group is based on the
ways by which the organization wished to become the largest service based company in the
world and also to help the growth of the customers and the communities in the countries of its
operations. The strategy is mainly based on the ways by which the company aims at
developing its processes based on the proper implementation of this vision (Brewster, Chung
& Sparrow, 2016). The development of effective customer relationships is the most important
part of the strategic planning based process that is implemented by Westpac Group. The
relationships that have been developed by the organization with its stakeholders is also a
major part of the operations of Westpac. The human resources planning process on the other
hand is based on the 40,000 employees of the organization who have been employed in order
to provide different services that are related to different organizational aspects including,
banking, insurance, wealth, advice based needs (Brewster et al., 2016). The employees have
been provided with the responsibility to provide their services to greater than 13 million
customers in the core markets of the organization including, New Zealand, Australia and near
the Pacific and Asia. The organization has been able to align the strategic planning based
process with the human resource planning in order to develop effective services for the
customers in different parts of the world. Westpac has thereby been successful in aligning the
vision of the organization with the process of human resources planning (Chadwick, Super &
Kwon, 2015).

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The two major reasons that have been considered in order to analyse the proper
alignment of strategic organizational planning and human resource planning are as follows,
The strategic priorities that have been set by Westpac including, service
leadership, digital transformation, performance discipline, growth highways,
workforce revolution have been aligned with the employees and human
resource planning process of the organization (Collings, Wood & Szamosi,
2018).
The development of flexible work based options have been able to play a
major role in the ways by which their requirements can be met. The different
aspects that have been implemented by Westpac in order to the manage the
human resources include, flexible work hours, work from home based options,
grandparental based leaves, wellbeing leave and lifestyle leave and the
retirement based leave (Deery & Jago, 2015).
2.1 (b) Westpac has been facing some major challenges in the process of alignment of
the strategic organizational planning process with the human resource planning. The proper
alignment of the vision of the organization with the human resources and work process of the
employees has not been quite easy (Guest, 2017). The two major challenges that have been
faced by Westpac in the course of its operations are as follows,
The levels gender biasness that existed within the organization that led to the
lack of leadership positions being provided to the women employees. The
achievements that have been received by the top management based
employees can provide major levels of contribution to the success of Westpac
in the industry. The lack of diversity in the organization can further lead to
major issues between the employees and the relationships that have been

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developed between the employees and the upper management (Inkinen,
2016).
Another major issue or challenge that needs to be addressed by Westpac in
order to align the strategic planning process with the human resources
planning is based on the ways by which the organization aims at recruiting the
smartest people in different organizational positions. The vision of the
organization can be fulfilled in an effective manner only if the appropriate
employees are placed in effective positions within Westpac (Kryscynski &
Ulrich, 2015). The leadership of the organization is facing major challenges
related to development of operations with the help of the placement of
employees in different organizational positions (Marvel, Davis & Sproul,
2016).
2.2 Human resource planning process and methods
2.2 (a) The human resource planning based activities that have been performed by
Westpac have played a major role in the ways by which the organization has tried to maintain
its operations and levels of flexibility in work process as well. The human resources of
Westpac have been managed in such a manner that is able to help the organization to achieve
the strategic planning based objectives that have been set by the organization (Nankervis et
al., 2016). The organization aims at ensuring that the individual needs of the employees can
be fulfilled in an effective manner. The organization has developed its operations in such a
manner that have set them apart from the others in the industry. The levels of commitment
to/wards diversity of Westpac have been considered to be important factors that have been
able to support the human resource planning based methods of the organization (Shen &
Benson, 2016). The effectiveness of the implementation of human resource planning based
methods and processes are based on the following points,

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The workforce planning process of Westpac has been the most important part
of the success that has been gained by the organization in the industry. The
process of workforce planning can be considered as a major HR based
initiative that has been implemented by Westpac. The organization has gained
considerable levels of success based on the levels of the ways by which the
employees are able to provide major contribution to workforce planning
process (Nankervis et al., 2016).
The success that has been gained by Westpac is based on the proper
engagement and effective partnering with different business operations. The
supply and the demand based process of the organization is considered to be
an important part of business strategy. The workforce planning process of
Westpac in this case is linked with the business strategies that have been
developed by the organization. The planning process of the workforce is able
to play a major role in the proper development of employee base of the
organization (Sparrow & Makram, 2015).
2.2 (b) Westpac has however faced some major challenges that are based on the
process of human resource planning process. The development of the workforce in an
effective manner is considered to be an important factor that leads to major challenges that
are faced by the organization (Stone & Deadrick, 2015). The two major challenges that are
faced by the company in proper human resource planning are as follows,
The most significant challenge that is faced by Westpac is based on the ways
by which the organization needs to focus on the customer services in order to
maintain its operations in the industry. The human resources are provided with
different roles that include, tellers, personal bankers, personal banking based
advisors, local business based bankers, partnership managers, relationship

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managers, relationship bankers. The changes that take place in the external
environment are based on the requirements that are changing based on the
operations of the employees (Stone et al., 2015).
The development of a learning based culture is also considered to be an
important factor that has an impact on the ways by which the customers are
able to engage with the operations. The levels of employee engagement are
able to play a major role in the development of learning based culture of the
organization. The levels of strength of the learning culture of Westpac is able
to play a major role in the proper development of the operations (Stone &
Deadrick, 2015). The performance indicators of the process are mainly based
on the ways by which Westpac is able to maintain its position in the industry.
The learning based culture of Westpac is able to play a major role in proper
development of the formation of an effective employee base (Guest, 2017).
2.3 Developing high performing and global mind set of employees and managers
2.3 (a) The team performance model by Drexler and Sibbet is based on different steps
that can be implemented in order to improve the performance levels of employees. Different
steps that are a part of the team performance model include, orientation, trust building, goal
clarification, commitment, implementation, high performance and renewal. The different
steps can be performed by the management of an organization with the aim of improving the
levels of performance that are depicted by the employees. The international standards and the
HR based practices are able to play a major role in the ways by which the needs of the
company can be fulfilled (Stone & Deadrick, 2015). The corporate climate that has been
developed in the organization is considered to be highly compatible with conditions in the
market. The development of the job is considered to be an important factor that helps in the
formation of skills required to monitor the activities of human resources. The leadership of

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the organization is helpful in the proper achievement of the high performance with the help of
few resources. The levels of effectiveness of organizational operations is able to lead to the
innovation in the products, processes and services (Bratton & Gold, 2017).
The two major aspects that are a part of the implementation of team performance
model in Westpac Bank are as follows,
The development of the performance levels of the employees of Westpac is
based on the ways by which the organization has aimed at maintaining the
levels of flexibility. The increase in levels of flexibility is based on the ways
by which the employees are provided chances to provide their services related
to their convenience levels (Inkinen, 2016).
The workforce planning based initiatives that have been implemented by
Westpac have played a major role in proper development of the operations of
the organization. The workforce or human resources of the organization is also
based on the proper alignment with the strategic plan and development of
performance levels of the organization as well (Guest, 2017).
2.1 (b) The Warwick model of international HRM is based on the five major elements
that include, outer context (macro environmental factors), inner context (micro environment
factors), business strategy context, HRM context and HRM content. The different aspects of
Warwick model are helpful for the organizations in order to analyse the internal and external
environment in order to develop the human resource strategies (Inkinen, 2016). The
requirement of the organization is based on local responsiveness and global integration is
considered to be an important factor that helps in proper optimization of the levels of duality
(Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018). The global mind set is based on proper appreciation for
the diversity.

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The two aspects of development of The Warwick model in Westpac are as
follows,
Westpac has developed the workforce planning strategy in order to
engage the employees in different parts of the organizational processes.
The factors related to external environment have been considered by
Westpac in order to manage the organizational operations in an
effective manner (Deery & Jago, 2015).
The process of workforce planning in Westpac is based on the
challenges that have been faced by the organization in the development
of a positive culture within the operations. The strategy of Westpac is
based on three major pillars of the operations of Westpac that include,
leadership, high performance based culture and professional bankers
(Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016).
3. Conclusions
2.1 The report can be concluded by stating that Westpac has been quite successful in
the proper development of relationship between the strategic operational planning process
and human resource planning as well. The challenges that have been faced by Westpac in
proper alignment of strategies have not been able to affect the human resources.
2.2 The human resource planning based activities that have been performed by the
organization are considered to be highly important for the people centric operations that are
performed by Westpac. The company has been successful in the proper mitigation of
challenges with the support that is provided by HR planning activities.
2.3 The two models that have been analysed in the report, namely, high performance
model and global mind set model are able to depict that the operations of Westpac are

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developed in such a manner that helps in the proper management of the human resources. The
activities of the organization have been supported by the proper implementation of the model.