Human Resource Management Case Analysis:

Human Resource Management

Case Analysis: Human Resource Management at Plastec Co.

In addressing the human resource problem in Plastec Company, three key issues need to be addressed not only by Paul, the HR Director, but must also be tackled and entail the involvement of John and Roy, as management staff. This close coordination between HR and the management will fuse both insights about employee interaction in the workplace, and the integration of interaction dynamics, management styles, and work expectations in the business setting.

These three key issues include the following: (1) addressing the high employee turnover in the company; (2) better evaluation and assessment of applicants, existing employees, and resigning employees (through exit interviews); and (3) re-organization and completion of the management and HR structure within the company. By addressing these issues, Plastec Company could then focus on improved performance, increased output and efficiency, as a fast-growing small parts plastics company.

Issue #1: Decreasing high employee turnover

Early on in the case, primary employment issues were already cited, which include the perception that employees working in the plastic molding company were holding "dead-end jobs," in addition to the fact that some employees were also considered incompetent and benefits provided for the were insufficient. These factors led to employee dissatisfaction, which then became causes that result to employees' resignations.

As expressed in the case also, there needs to be improvement in the areas of Training and Development, Staffing, and Compensation & Benefits to resolve the high employee turnover issue. Indeed, these proposed solution areas need to be addressed if Plastec Co. aims to continuously grow as a plastics company in the years to come.

In the area of Training & Development, employees need to be oriented more, not just about their work descriptions, but also about the role that each employee plays within the business organization. In this kind of orientation, employees would be able to view themselves as more than just employees, but as parts comprising the whole; therefore, without their participation in the company, Plastec would cease to function as an industrial company. The orientation would include not just a one-day overview of the organization, its members, and processes, but would actually be a one week training that will intensively look into organizational structure, philosophy, core values, and operations of the company.

In addition to this one-week intensive training about the company, it is imperative, then, that part of the employee's inclusion in the organization would involve also an intensive training on how best to accomplish his/her role as a machine operator, or whatever job s/he was given in the company. This kind of training will be done in the workplace, or a practical training, which is inclusive of the probationary period entitled to the employee. After three months of probationary period and training, management and HR will then decide what appropriate action will be done to the employee -- whether s/he would be granted a permanent status in the company or not.

Staffing, meanwhile, can be resolved mainly by cooperation between management and the HR department. Staffing would entail specific identification and determination of jobs and roles that will be filled up in the company, both from the operations and management divisions. This way, each job/position in the company is aligned to the organizational structure and objectives; more importantly, each position is optimally functioning or utilizing for greater performance and efficiency in the company.

As a supplement to the staffing development in the company, Plastec would also greatly improve when job specifications and positions were properly aligned also with the individual needs of the employees, specifically provision of quality health benefits, compensation, and incentives for high-performing and diligent employees. It is suggested that an employee program be developed as a response to this need, and the HR department will be the best department that will address these employee needs.

Issue #2: Better assessment and evaluation of Plastec workforce more serious concern in the company is the conduct of trainings that aims to provide education to employees, specifically on the issue of workplace relations and interactions. As determined in Paul's exit interviews of employees who have resigned from Plastec, one of the reasons why employees leave the company was the prevalence of "off color jokes" and "innuendos" in the workplace, which can be potentially male-dominated. Thus, among the suggested trainings that both operations and management staff need to go through are workplace relations training, centering on the issues of awareness, knowledge, and confronting diversity in the workplace. Inherent also in these staff trainings are management-operations and employee-employer relations training, to alleviate future problems that may arise out of the differences in functions between operations staff and management.

Inherent also in the development of the staff is the provision of constant education, by constantly providing manuals or operation procedures not only about safety in the workplace, but also on other extra-curricular activities that can improve relations among employees and develop their skills and talents. In order to boost employee morale and provide employees with job fulfillment and satisfaction with the company, HR and management should develop employee programs that seeks to enhance their skills and talents, whether these are in the realm of sports, culture and the arts, and other endeavors employees might want to pursue.