Reliant Insurance Company: Improving People Management Strategies

This report analyzes the people management strategies at Reliant Insurance Company, a London-based firm with over 1000 employees, focusing on the challenges it faces post-COVID-19. It highlights key issues such as workplace transformations, lack of communication and consultation, limited feedback and career development, lack of clarity in job roles, mental health concerns, lack of trust, and issues related to remote working tools like Zoom. The report suggests strategies to overcome these challenges, including managing workload, implementing 360-degree performance reviews, career planning, improving communication transparency, offering rewards and recognition, and prioritizing employee health. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of effective people management in enhancing overall business performance and outlines the discussed strategies for Reliant Insurance to consider.

Individual Portfolio

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK..........................................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of People Management.............................................................................................................3
Key issues that are facing by the company..............................................................................................3
Strategies to overcome the issues or challenges.......................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7
Books and journals:.................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
People are the greatest assets of the company and their performance has a big impact on
the bottom line. It means that hiring people in the organization is not just enough, business
leaders also have to manages them greatly which improve the overall performance of the
business. Strategies for managing people can make all the difference between good, bad, great
and mediocre employees’ experience. New updates in the functioning of human resource
processes and systems have altered the extent, feature and scope of people management (AlWaer
and Cooper, 2020). The report is based on the case study of Reliant Insurance Company. It is a
London based company which employs more than 1000 employees. It is known for its
diversified work culture. The report is mentioned with various issues that are face by company
since lockdown. It will also be suggested that how company can deal with such issues in order to
manage people.
TASK
Meaning of People Management
People management refers to a subset of HR management. It can be understood as an act
of managing and organizing people and developing teams to maximize the overall performance
of business. Successful people management includes recruiting and training the suitable
employees leading and empowering each worker to communicate across all the teams as well as
to reach their maximum potential and guiding all the members in team towards a shared goal
(Caputo and et.al., 2019). In case of Reliant Insurance, as the company already face the issues
related with employee management it is very pivotal for them to know the importance of
managing people very well in the organization.
Importance of People management:
Company morale: Organizations that have low employee engagement and moral also
have high rates of employee burnout and turnover. It is very essential to implement the strategies
related with people management, however it can deliver a sense of responsibility and ownership
among employees which enhances the overall job satisfaction (Cuevas, 2018). So, it is very
important that an organization must create a good work environment which lead to more
productive and happier employees as it shows the quality of production in their work.
Productivity and efficiency: Managing people in the organization signifies that
organizing the team in such a way that improves the efficiency and productivity
(TATLILIOĞLU, 2018). When a company have the appropriate employees at workplace then it
is very essential for them to facilitate with appropriate training, collaborate with other employees
to reach the ultimate objectives and to prepare team for the success (Triezenberg and et.al.,
2020).
Key issues that are facing by the company.
The following are some issues and challenges that are face by Reliant Insurance
Company since Covid-19:

 Workplace and health transformations: The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the
demands and requirements of employees and organizations weather in organization,
shops manufacturing facilities, distribution centers or transport (Khoo and Teo, 2018).
One of the great experiences with flexible working hours and remote working is changing
expectations of how, where and when workers will work. This is quite that challenging
how an organization maintain its identity, work culture, motivation and creativity among
the employees. This also affect the employees wellbeing and health and for community at
large. The chosen organization also may suffer from productivity losses and need to be
more careful in their people management (Lotfalizadeh and et.al., 2020).
 Lack of communication: Ineffective communication or limited communication with
employees can be one of the big reason that leads to low morale. Limited communication
with employees can develop misunderstandings, conflicts, mistrust, missed opportunities
dissemination of misinformation, employees might feel defeated. Also, they might not be
motivated at work for such employer or organization which cannot communicate well.
 Lack of Consultation: Consultation can also be a big issue if an organization doesn't
consult with their employees about the development of policies, systems, practices and
issues of mutual concern with employees or their representatives (Tubulingane, 2020).
The chosen organization face this issue as they are not encouraging genuine exchange of
information and opinions.
 Limited feedback on performance: It is seen that organizations that do regular feedback
on employee have least employee turnover rates (Pandey and et.al., 2019). In the case
study of Reliant Insurance, workers feel ignored by their employers which leads to high
turnover rate and low production in the company. Employees thirsty for performance
feedback and organizations that do not attend feedbacks on their employees can create
confusion and lead to low morale among employees (Rietdijk and et.al., 2020). It may
also lead workers to question their performance, relevance and achievement of goals in
an organization.
 Lack of career development: Career ladders and career paths are two classical methods
by which a worker can grow and progress within the workplace. Career paths includes
different forms of career progression involving dual career ladders, career progression
outside the organization, traditional vertical career ladders and many more (Shamiri and
Nazari, 2021). Career ladders are the progress in jobs from lower post to higher post with
increased pay and responsibilities. Workers generally feel more engaged and motivated
when they feel that their manager or employer is concerned about their career and growth
as well as facilitates avenues to accomplish personal career goals while fulfilling the
mission of an organization.
 Lack of clarity: It is also a major challenge or issue that costs organization. If employees
are not clear with their job roles it leads to poor prioritization, stress, inefficiencies and
operations as well as lack of alignment with their strategies (Scudder and Colson, 2019).
In case of Reliant Insurance, even employees have skills and talent as well as
professionalism but do not have the clarity in their job roles they cannot perform as for
their expectations which leads to higher costs to the company.

 Mental health is affected to the rising concerns about Covid-19: Due to Covid-19
pandemic, employees who are performing their duties from their home places, resulted in
low mental health as they cannot socialize and interact with other people in order to share
their views, feelings, opinions and many more (Cook, 2018). The pandemic situation also
resulted in loss of income, isolation, bereavement as well as fear which triggers the
mental health of an individual. It also leads that many individuals facing increased levels
of drug use alcohol anxiety as well as insomnia (Wilkinson, 2019).
 Lack of trust: It is an issue that employees are mistrusted by their managers that can
cause hopelessness, depression and can also harm themselves or may attempt suicide.
Employees who are lacking with trust may also leads to lack of confidence as well as low
self-esteem. In case of the respective organization, it reduces the communication and
transparency with employees which leads to lack of agility, low innovation and lack of
responsiveness in order to changing. Without trust, a problem may also unaddressed
which affects the profits of bottom line.
 Zoom calling: Covid-19 encourages the work from home situation in which employees
use zoom calling to communicate with their colleagues, seniors or other staff members.
But there is an issue identified in zoom calling about the security concerns and privacy
concerns. Zoom calling can lead to disclose the confidentiality of an organization.
 Online training: Covid-19 also encourages online training which is taken as a
punishment by the employees. A sudden change in the situation to the work from home
scenario, many employees were not used to online programs or online training by the
companies. They took it as a punishment or a disciplinary action instead of growth
opportunity.
 Issue of ventilation: Owing to the humidity and heat, the use of AC is unavoidable,
especially in those areas with hot climate (Thompson, 2021). The stand-alone AC that
utilized in homes are more safe to use. But due to Covid-19 many offices and buildings
are fully sealed with windows which increases concerns over ventilations and the
possible spread of the disease.
Strategies to overcome the issues or challenges
The following are some methods or strategies that can be used to overcome the
challenges and issues faced by the Reliant Insurance:
 Manage own workload first: It is important to understand that before managing someone
other’s work it is essential that to take care of own work first. While doing remote
working it is important that one can make his own schedule in order to know the prior
things as well as secure the time, setting aside a block of time every day one can affected
himself to complete his own work without interactions (Leroy and et.al., 2018). It also
helps to increase confidence in the work and become more focused in the team working.
 360-degree performance review: This is a useful strategy which involves getting
feedback about a worker from cross-section of subordinates, peers, external vendors as
well as supervisors and then focusing on skills developing opportunities based on those
inputs.

 Career development or career planning: While considering this strategy, HR manager
decides which worker should fill job role (Kibbey, 2018). Workers can also suggest
alternative or future career paths for themselves to their managers and supervisors as well
as initiate their career planning discussions. Based on the objectives of business review
and organizational employees’ assessment, managers can find present skills that required
to improve the overall company that the organization must acquire. Through discussions
with seniors, an individual can also analyze their strengths and opportunities and put in
front of their peers and seniors so that they can develop in their career (Daft and Marcic,
2019).
 Take control of communication: In order to improve the communication within an
organization, one can initiate his communication and convey his updates, questions or
concerns about others. By improving main channels of communication such as chat
servers or email so that employees can understands what steps they should take to
encounter themselves.
 Human resource experts must facilitate guidelines manuals policies checklist for the
employer to acknowledge what he is supposed to work: By designing main
responsibilities of employees while considering qualification, education, specialization,
interest areas and backgrounds (Omoraka, 2020).
 Rewards and recognitions: Showing employees value and appreciation for their
contributions is the best possible way to encourage themselves to work hard for the
company. It can also boost morale and make them happy at the workplaces (Stallman and
Muncey, 2019). It is important to be noted that employees who are happy and satisfied
with their work are more productive for the organization, highly engaged as well as
facilitate a higher level of service to the clients.
 Implement communication transparency: An effective communication with employees
create surrounding of trust among all those affected by the change. Leaders should share
their decisions, plans, immediate next steps with their employees. As covid-19 is one of
the major change throughout the world, transparency regarding the effect of changes on
managing operations and associated process leads to support and understanding from
employees.
 Attend to physical and mental health: Maintaining best practices around the mental and
physical health is an essential aspect of managing people. The company required to
prioritize taking care of their employees’ health. Leaders also required to model self-care
for their employees (Zuo and et.al., 2018). Looking exhausted and disheveled in online
meetings can rattle workers as well as weaken their confidence.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that managing people is all about
organizing people at the workplace to improve the overall business performance. The report is
considered a case study of Reliant Insurance which is affected by several changes and issues due
to Covid-19. It is important for the company to consider all the issues and challenges that they
are facing such as lack of communication, workplace and health transformations, limited
feedback on performance and many more. At last, various strategies have been discussed to

overcome such challenges such as 360-degree performance review, career planning and many
more.

REFERENCES
Books and journals:
AlWaer, H. and Cooper, I., 2020. Facilitator skills for effective collaborative placemaking.
In The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking (pp. 416-427). Routledge.
Caputo, F. and et.al., 2019. Innovating through digital revolution: The role of soft skills and Big
Data in increasing firm performance. Management Decision.
Cuevas, J. M., 2018. The transformation of professional selling: Implications for leading the
modern sales organization. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.198-208.
Khoo, H. S. and Teo, W. L., 2018. A transformative learning approach to teaching management
skills in medical education. Academic Medicine, 93(4), pp.516-517.
Lotfalizadeh, M. and et.al., 2020. The effect of anger management skills training on anger status
of the people with HIV. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 56(3), pp.605-613.
Pandey, D. K. and et.al., 2019. Self-management skills and behaviors, self-efficacy, and quality
of life in people with epilepsy from underserved populations. Epilepsy & Behavior, 98,
pp.258-265.
Scudder, T. and Colson, E., 2019. From welfare to development: A conceptual framework for the
analysis of dislocated people. In Involuntary migration and resettlement (pp. 267-287).
Routledge.
Thompson, N., 2021. People skills. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Zuo, J. and et.al., 2018. Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project
success factors: A structural equation model. Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management.
Omoraka, A. E., 2020. A principal component analysis of supply chain management skills for
the Nigerian construction industry. International Journal of Construction Management,
pp.1-9.
Stallman, H. and Muncey, P., 2019. Are extension requests an opportunity to support student
self-management skills?. Social Work Education, 38(2), pp.261-268.
Kibbey, P. M., 2018. The Reaction of Headteachers to Industrial Management Skills Training–
One Company’s Experience. In Staff Development in The Secondary School (pp. 262-
279). Routledge.
Shamiri, M. and Nazari, R., 2021. The Modeling of Mental Skills on Management Skills and
Select Management Style's Sport Managers. Journal of Sport Management, 13(2),
pp.391-404.
Tubulingane, B. S., 2020. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Management Skills at a Crossroad
in the Circular Economy. In Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Development
and Opportunities in Circular Economy (pp. 501-519). IGI Global.

Cook, T. A., 2018. Developing Masterful Management Skills for International Business. Crc
Press.
Leroy, H. and etal., 2018. Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and
leadership.
Daft, R. L. and Marcic, D., 2019. Understanding management. Cengage Learning.
Wilkinson, W., 2019, August. CAN THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIPS PLAY A ROLE IN
SUPPORTING SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY
CANCER? AN INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW. In BRITISH JOURNAL OF
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY (Vol. 82, pp. 54-54). 1 OLIVERS YARD, 55 CITY
ROAD, LONDON EC1Y 1SP, ENGLAND: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD.
Rietdijk, R. and et.al., 2020. Protocol for a clinical trial of telehealth-based social communication
skills training for people with traumatic brain injury and their communication
partners. Brain Impairment, 21(1), pp.110-123.
TATLILIOĞLU, K., 2018. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE
PROCESS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: AN OVERVİEW OF
HUMANISTIC THEORY. Гуманiтарна освiта у технiчних вищих навчальних
закладах, (1-1), pp.42-49.
Triezenberg, H. A. and et.al., 2020. Mid‐and High‐Engagement Programs to Develop Future
Fisheries Management Professionals’ Skills. Fisheries, 45(10), pp.544-553.