Managing People at Work

Part A.
Q1. Week 7 – HR Development & Career Management: Employee Life Cycle.
Condensed employee lifecycle:
Recruitment –> Selection –> Dismissal

Recruitment: process of seeking/attracting qualified candidates for a job vacancy

Gradual change from Tradition to Strategic recruitment approaches, due to: flat org
structures, demand for flexibility in the org, and org multi-skilling.

Traditional:
- Emphasis on: skills, education,
experience & past behaviour.
- Mgmt links emp needs to operations
- Pluralist underpinnings: emp’s of
varying viewpoints, not necessarily in
line with org culture
- Pro-trade union view, acceptance of
trade union members
- Emp privacy protected
- Bureaucratic control – multi level org
structure, more defined roles
- Collectivism emphasised
- Use of ‘traditional’ recruitment
processes: importance placed on
selection interviews, resumes etc
Strategic:
- Emphasis on: emp characteristics
(desire, motivation, social skills, work
ethic)
- Mgmt links emp needs to overall
strategic objectives
- Unitarist underpinnings: matching
emps to org views, cultures, ethics
- Trade unions seen as unnecessary, not
desirable in candidates
- May be some invasion of emp privacy
- Use of ‘modern’ selections:
psych/behavioural testing, 3rd party
agencies increase use

Selection: high market competition = high importance on selecting high quality emps
(selection mistakes can be very costly to orgs). Selection is a controversial process due
to legislation around it (Anti-Disc, EEO).
Strategic selection: aligns selection criteria with business strategy.
Selection – controversial due to: screening, psych testing, medical exams, medical issues
contributing to hiring.
Screening: control by commitment – all emps values same as org, behaviour can be
predicted.
Psych testing: assess behaviours & attitudes, can lead to a marginalisation of
‘undesirable’ behaviours/cultures e.g. unions & union membership.

Dismissal: the termination of the employment relationship.

Emp decision: with notice (resignation), without notice (abandonment, frustration: ref to
non-fulfilment of emp contract, not the emotion).
Mgmt decision: with notice (worker fault: performance related, misconduct. No fault:
redundancy, retrenchment). Without notice (worker fault: summary dismissal –
immediate. No fault: frustration).
Unfair dismissal: those to be judged as harsh, unjust, unreasonable. Tribunals consider
procedural fairness. If found to be unfair tribunal may award reinstatement,
reemployment, monetary compensation
Exclusions: contract workers, within probation period, casual emps <6months,
trainees, non-award emps, movement from WC’s to FWA widens the exclusions
(more under legislation)
Unlawful dismissal: dismissal considered to be in breach of legislation, and dismissal for
an invalid/prohibited reason. E.g. emp characteristic, an activity such as union
membership, performance, economic reasons.

Related Legislation:
Anti-Discrimination: on a national level, an org cannot discriminate on the grounds of:
race, colour, sex, sexual pref, age, disability, religion, marital status, family resp, political
op, nationality, trade union membership.
EEO – Equal Employment Opportunity – refers to merit: selecting the best person for the
job in terms of job related skills.
Work Choices: Work choices excluded unfair dismissal in the case of : orgs with <100
employees, or if dismissal was for operational reasons.
FWA: removed operational reasons as an acceptable grounds for dismissal, allows
genuine redundancy though. Emps of small bus’s (<15 emps) with <12 months are
excluded. Dismissal deemed fair if satisfies the small bus Fair dismissal code.

Hire & Fire:

Managerial prerogative: “decision-making where managers believe they have exclusive
rights to make decisions, and therefore resist any interference with that control”
Two ideas: economic rationalism & social justice.
Economic rat: managerial prerogative, compelled due to competition to hire best emps,
3rd party interference/regulation (gov’t, unions) deters efficiency and job creation.
Social justice: 3rd party intervention necessary for fairness and minimise power
imbalance.
Q2. Week 8 – HR Development & Career Management: Developing People.
Defining training & development:
Training: activities that teach emps to better perform their current jobs.
Development: prepare emps for future responsibilities through gaining new skills,
experiences, knowledge.
Training & dev as a tool: implementing new policy/strategy, corporate culture/org
change, external env changes: technology, legal, social, demographic.

Stakeholder views/responsibilities:
Trade Unions: individualism of WC’s resulted in less training incorporated into
agreements. Union tendency to demand increase pay through marginalising tactics
rather than promote development & training has added to their notoriety. Often see T&D
as a unitarist tactic and may lead to work intensification.
Gov’t: controls funds for public schools, tafes, uni’s. Depending on ruling party – funding
may/may assist in the provision of training by orgs.
Employers: benefits provided by gov’t have not increased t&d efforts.

Mgmt training: AU mgmt not to same standard as training partners. Eight critical areas
for improvement: people skills, leadership skills, strategic skills, international orientation,
entrepreneurship, broadened technical skills/specialisation, relationship building,
diversity of HR.

Barriers: mgmt may be threatened by educated emps, costs involved, unknown return on
t&d ‘investment’, casualisation & outsourcing, employee motivation/readiness for T&d.

EEO Concerns: Access, treatment, content, language, attendance.

Q3. Week 10 – HR Development & Career Management: Managing Performance
& Rewarding People.
Stakeholders & Pay:
WC’s: favoured individualisation over collective bargaining & awards. Challenged
traditional wage setting processes & goals. Redistributed power from emps/unions to
mgmt. Criticism: lowers wages, poorer work conditions as result.
FWA: reforms designed: minimum employment standards, collective bargaining, union
powers, streamlined regulator.
Minimum wage: Arguments exist for& against.

Stakeholders & pay:

Rewards reinforce org culture, achievement of org objectives. Important tool for
motivation, job performance, productivity – studies inconclusive, money plays a role but
not substantial in motivation. Rewards should be monetary and nonmonetary.

Pay for Performance:

Objectives: reduce costs, improve productivity, enhance emp motivation, company
attractiveness.
Criticisms: it is an exploitative mgmt control mechanism, promotes
individualistic/unitarist culture, marginalises unions in wage determination process.

Pay for Performance & Fairness:

Distributive Justice: perception whether/not resources being allocated fairly. Emps
assesses fairness by comparing their pay compared to their contribution & their pay and
contribution with others.
Procedural Justice: perceived fairness of the performance mgmt & reward process.
Injustice results from: measures don’t reflect all tasks & responsibilities of job, measures
only partly in control of emp, assessment is error prone or by arbitrary judgement, no
opportunity for input, lack of feedback or right of reply to judgement.
Current Issues: gender & pay inequality, skill & pay inequality, casualisation, culture of
over work/unpaid over time, executive enumeration ( US execs – 400x more than other
emps, AU – 70x more) .
Q4. Week 11/12 – Contemporary Issues: Work-Life Balance.

Definitions:
Work-Family Balance: ability to meet both work & family responsibilities.
Work-Life Balance: ability to achieve balance between work and all other aspects of life.
Broader/holistic than work-family. Recognises the desire for healthy/satisfying balance
between multiple roles & responsibilities, not all emps have family resp’s. Work-family
can exist without work-life: no time for themselves, community etc.

Factors influencing the need for balance:

Demographic: greater female participation, double income families, ageing workforce.
Labour market trends: longer working times, job intensification, irregular hours, job
insecurity, new tech’s.

Policies:
Legislated, industrial agreements/awards, org HR policies, negotiated in an ad hoc
manner in the workplace.
For example: Child care benefits, work place flexibility, Leave options, HRM policies, org
culture.

Benefits for Business:

- org attractiveness in - higher emp morale

recruitment/corporate image - inc emp loyalty
- retention customers and investors - More efficient staff and improved
- reduced staff turnover productivity
- lower absenteeism
- lower stress levels

Variations:
Industry: work-life more promoted in public/not for profit sector. Retail & construction
least likely to offer.
Business Size: larger orgs more likely to offer e.g. flexible work options, longer leave or
paid parental leave.
Employment type: casual emps don’t have as many options available
Occupation: where labour supply limited/high demand = greater bargaining power for
work-life options, also used my mgmt as incentive for attraction & retention
supplementing pay.

Casual Emps:
May provide flexibility around other responsibilities, however lacks income security,
employment sec, paid leave, control over irregular/unfriendly hours, training/career path.

Workchoices & Work-Life: few AWA’s contained work-family/work-life provisions, many

stripped overtime & penalty rates, and were usually the first ‘options’ sacrificed in
bargaining process.
Fear that emps would be judged negatively if work-life prov’s were used, emp bargaining
power isn’t consistent across workplace.

FWA & Work-Life: FWA contains 10 NES (national employment standards) that cannot be
traded, including:
– Max 38hrs a week
– Right to request flexible working arrangements with a child below school age
– Separate periods of 12 months unpaid parental leave for each parent
– 4 weeks paid annual leave
– 10 days paid personal/carers leave
– Right of absence on public holidays
Part B.

Stakeholders:
Internal: Mgmt/Bus owners, employees, specific HR dept’s
External: Gov’t, gov’t bodies/tribunals, unions, employer associations, the public

Workplace Changes in Aus:

20th Century: Blue collar, manufacturing, full time, reduction in work hrs
Movement to: manufacturing to service industries, downsizing, outsourcing, greater
female participation, aging population, ethnic diversity, casualisation, non-employees:
labour hire/contractors,

Conflict
What is conflict?
Ongoing disputes in the workplace between an employer & employees or between
employees.
Issues such as:
– Wages & conditions: monetary/non monetary, hours, leave
– mgmt prerogative: right to hire/fire, allocation of work, monitoring of work, OHS,
communication
– social/political concerns: wars, environmental impact & protection, legislation &
implementation

Types of conflict – Covert & Overt

Overt: collective, organised and easily observable: strikes, stop works, picketing, work to
rule, lock outs, outsourcing, go slow’s
Covert: individual, unorganised and less visible - absenteeism, labour turnover, sabotage,
diminished work effort, lack co-operation,

Remember questions asking:

Reasons/Causes of Conflict – what makes conflict happen?
Manifestations of Conflict – how conflict happens?

Approaches to HR – Hard & soft

Hard: emphasis on HR integrated with business strategies, focus on increasing efficiency
& lowering costs simultaneously, HR is seen as a factor of production and is therefore a
cost to be minimised.
Soft: Emps are a valued asset, source of competitive advantage, emphasis on developing
the asset & relationship through communication, motivation and leadership.
Not mutually exclusive: many orgs ‘pick & choose’ depending on individual roles,
performance. Mgmt may distinguish between emps depending on their potential.

Unitarist & Pluralist Perspectives (not much important placed on Marxist/Radical)

Unitarist: based on mutual cooperation & harmony of interest between org & emps –
‘what is good for the org is good for all’, unions & gov’t are unnecessary 3rd party
intrusions – particularly unions, competitors for emp’s loyalty. Mgmt are great holders of
knowledge/infallible decision makers – irrational they be questioned (managerial
prerogative)
Pluralist: recognises there are some common interests between mgmt & emps, but also
mismatch between the work level required and the pay levels rewarded. Necessary for
emps to be able to negotiate – unions seen as legit reps of emp interests (not power
hungry/intrusive), the state is a recognised independent 3rd part arbiter.

Legislation progressions:
Accord  Howard’s WC’s  Labor’s FWA
Accord: agreement ACTU & ALP gov’t – Bob Hawke, then Paul Keating. Employers were
not party.
Unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise
inflation.
Made up of several ‘Marks’ (See wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prices_and_Incomes_Accord)

WorkChoices: passed by the Howard lib gov’t in 2005, aimed to improve emp levels &
economic performance. It dispensed unfair dismissal for orgs with <100 emps, removed
"no disadvantage test" (test to ensure emps weren’t disadvantaged by lesgislation
changes), ended collective bargaining & put in place individual AWA’s. Decreased legal
strike provisions and restricted trade union activity
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workchoices)

FWA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Work_Australia

Managerial Prerogative: “decision-making where managers believe they have exclusive

rights to make decisions, and therefore resist any interference with that control”

Trends in HR: Decentralisation, Casualisation, Deregulation.