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Case Study 1
Questions

1. What should Dave do, if anything about being kept in the dark regarding the
expansion? Explain? (5%)

Dave should voice out matters that he is not clear, in the meeting, either
getting in touch with respective key personnel from various department who
know the matter better while getting himself updated with changes that takes
places such as the major expansion. With such a busy workplace, it can be
difficult or impractical at times for Dave to increase his personal touch.
However, the risk of not doing so is more of a disconnect in attaining the
organizations objectives. Even a phone call to a subordinate rather than a
memo can increase effectiveness. In fact, following e-mail and personal
discussion as the personally preferred methods of communication come
telephone, scheduled meetings and cell phone calls can shade alight to
matters that are unclear. HR department basically does the process of
acquiring, training, appraising and compensating employees and attending
their labor relation, health and safety. As the HR manager, Dave have to
work out quickly in deciding the positions the firm will have to fill and how
to fill them. In other word he should plan for the employment requirement
on the future assumption. Then he should carry out the effective recruitment,
which allows a bigger applicant pool. Poor staffing could cause major lose
the organization.

2. Discuss any additional problems highlighted by the case. What should be

done to solve them? (5%)

Other problems that can be foreseen is Rex had highlighted that there is no body
seems to be qualified to work on the new digital lathe that is being installed. It
shows that there is shortage of skilled personnel or shortage of manpower supply.
Apart from pinpointing gaps, there should be a system that can provide a
continuous stream of knowledge that can be used to build the collective skills of a
team. Companies can either encourage employees to attend conferences and
workshops that would keep them contemporary. Company policy should be
realistic and it should relate to the training needs that have been identified within
the company or determining the best way to achieve the goals, evaluating
performance and implementing corrective action via training and detailed job
descriptions. It would be better still if there is a networking between departments
and subsidiaries in the region so that staffs can communicate easily and also assist
each other in solving some of the job-related problems. If the inside candidates
are not enough or not capable then firm can open to outside people.

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Case Study 2
Questions

1. What specific policies should a company follow to avoid interviews like this
one? (5%)

The business' survival depends on hiring the right people. And in a competitive
job market, conducting effective interviews is more important than ever. While
you're sizing up a candidate, the interviewer should plan and prepare for
conducting the interview in the first place. Specific policies to follow are :-

• Understand the purpose of the interview. Hiring the right person is the
goal of interviewing, but not necessarily the purpose of an interview
• Impress candidates with well-organized and professional interviews.
Don't lose good candidate due to poor interviews.
• Re-use interview guides to save time.
• Trust your gut feeling, but only after asking the right questions and
gathering the right information.
• Get consistent interview results by giving consistent interviews.
• Spend the time during an interview paying attention to what the
candidate is saying, not racking your brain trying to come up with
another clever question to ask.
• Setting up for the Interview, it helps to give some thought ahead of time
to the physical environment in which you'll conduct the interview. Find a
private area where interviewer can spend enough time without
interruptions. Applicants will be more at ease and you will learn more
about them in an environment that is not uncomfortable to them.
• Start the interview by explaining the organizational structure, the
position, work products, facilities, work environment, employee
population, and organizational philosophy. Ask the applicant all the pre-
determined standard and individualized questions and take notes.

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2. Explain why Jack, not Pete, should make the selection decision. (5%)

No though Pete is the HR manager, his main concern or strategy is to identify the
shortage of resources such as manpower and assessing their availability and
competencies, in way helping the firm achieving its strategic goals. He then has to
determine the effective ways to advertise the duties of these positions and the
characteristics of the people to hire. Information about job specification and
description are obtained from the manager from respective departments. So, the right
person to make the selection decision will be Jack, where he should know the job
description and specification required for the position offered in his department, he
should be able to ask the right questions during the interview and to screen the
prospective candidate that is qualified for a particular job, and are truly interested in
the available position.

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Case Study 3
Questions

1. Do you believe that this is a realistic approach to training regarding

disciplinary action? (10%)

Tape video only helps Roy by giving the idea on how to deal or response
employee facing alcohol abuse problem. Where else Jim Orrin views the tape
fearing he might lose the job. I believe that both have taken a right step or move,
and I believe it won’t be realistic approach if it just on viewing the tape alone.
The most important factor will be how Roy is going to communicate to his
employee, which is Jim and what he intend to improve the work environment for
everyone.

Educating the employees about alcohol and other drug abuse is important.
Conducting this program with a high priority and says that everyone in the
organization needs to be involved. It fosters a spirit of cooperation "We’re all in
this together." It helps to dispel myths about alcohol and other drug abuse and
acknowledges the impact the abuse makes on coworkers. What Roy got to work
or act immediately by saying “This is the problem, and here’s how we can solve it
with the support from employees, he should build the trust that “If they have a
problem, the management want to give you a chance to get help."

Setting a positive tone doesn’t mean that this will coddle alcohol or other drug
abusers. Some employees may need counseling or drug treatment. Although the
majority of the employers probably do not have alcohol or other drug problems,
most employees welcome an organization’s efforts to help employees who do
need it.

Roy can go one step further by finding the right way to educate his employees.
This can be started of with a modest effort. Over time he may choose to add other
elements to the program. Employee education, policy and awareness can include
the following elements:

• What the law requires, why the program is important to your organization, and the
cost of alcohol and other drug problems in the workplace.

• Details of the policy, including the consequences for violating it.

• Available help for employee problems, such as an employee assistance program

(EAP), if applicable, or referral to other local resources.

• A meeting with staff members or department heads to explain the organization’s

policy and the drug-free workplace program.

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• Informational materials about the company’s program and about alcohol and other
drug abuse -- pamphlets, flyers, paycheck stuffers, home mailings, free videos,
and so on. Posters and signs reminding employees that yours is a drug-free
workplace.

• Providing your employees with some basic information about alcohol and other
drug abuse also reinforces your policy and communicates that you care about their
welfare.

• Extending the education to their family members can promote that concept, and
can improve the chance that a troubled employee will be identified by a spouse or
child.

• Providing basic information can be done through brief meetings, brochures and
other written materials, videos, home mailings, and so on. The content might
include the following:

• Hazards of alcohol and other drug abuse in the workplace (increased accidents,
decreased productivity, etc.)

• How to recognize a potential alcohol or other drug problem of coworkers, family

members, or friends (what to do and what not to do)

Handling alcohol or other drug abuse of an employer or another supervisor

requires careful thought, and the response will depend on employer’s relationship
with the employees. Respecting employee confidentiality is critical to developing
a trusting relationship with the people you supervise. The goal of the meeting is to
discuss and find solutions to the job performance problem.

The most important point is to keep the focus of the program clear and consistent.
Several small steps toward employee education throughout the year are better
than one large meeting with no follow-up. Every one, including owners and top
management, supervisors, and employees at all levels need to know about the
problems associated with alcohol and other drug abuse and the benefits of a drug-
free workplace program. To ensure the success of the drug-free workplace
program, Roy need find out from all upper-level managers to become familiar
with the company’s’ Drug Free Workplace Program and all the supporting
materials. Being aware of potential barriers is the best way to decrease the chance
of a negative reaction. The realistic approach would be putting into action despite
using devices or mechanism to solve the problem.

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Case Study 4
Questions

1. Evaluate the career planning and development program at this company.

(5%)

Human resource development and career planning are intimately linked.

Development program effort helps to develop the company’s human resources.
Some people will be satisfied to know that they might have achieved they wanted
achieve, while some people are less fortunate and feel that they didn’t achieve
their potential.

This company has a career plan that has a limitation, emphasizing such a long
duration, which is not assured, only upon exit of a staff provides the opportunity
to another staffs. Staffs are not given with the actual or clear details about
pathway to enhance their career. Soon this might leads to a continually high rate
of staff turnover across the firm. It is clear that the career development program is
not functioning well. It concludes that the company is lacking in terms of
convincing the staff to foresee their future in this company.

2. What actions might have prevented Bob’s resignation? (5%)

Actions that might have prevented Bob’s resignation is :-

• A promising opportunity and with more successful alternative and a

flexible line of progression through where he can set his career goals and
identifies the means to achieve them.
• A pathway that foster self-commitment in a motivating situation.
• If the company would have cared about what is good for the staffs.
• Company providing appraisal to support and provide the career planning
and development.
• Career oriented performance appraisal that encourages job rotation.
• Creating an attractive intensive scheme.

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Case Study 5
Questions

1. From Sweeny Electronics standpoint, what difficulties might Mike

Mahoney’s performance appraisal practices create? (5m)

Mike is being very generous towards his staffs, and accommodating his staff’s
requirement. Although it sounds lenient, but ethically it is bias.

Kind of difficulties that Mike’s performance appraisal practices would create is:-

• Focus on the individual: the performance appraisal may elicit strong

emotions and may generate conflicts when other subordinates if they got
to know about it.
• Focus on the process: this practice may present barriers to a properly
functioning appraisal process.
• Performance appraisals interfere with the more constructive coaching
relationship that should exist between a superior and his subordinates.
Performance appraisal interviews tend to emphasize the superior position
of the supervisor by placing him in the role of judge, thus countering his
equally important role of teacher and coach. This is particularly damaging
in organizations that are attempting to maintain a more participative
organizational climate.
• In situations, where the performing staff obtains the same increment as the
non performing ones, this creates a negative feedback (i.e., criticism) not
only fails to motivate the typical employee, but also can cause him to
perform worse in future.
• If standards and ratings tend to vary widely from on department to another
and, often, unfairly and lenient. Some raters from other departments being
tough, and some are not. Consequently, employees might be less
competitive for a tough rating systems and for them being competitive
might not be their interest as it doesn’t make any differences, and it will
demoralize them slowly.
• Lenient ratings the employee can receive higher appraisals, but causes
major problem where the staff might take it for granted.

An appraiser may not lack standards, but the standards he uses are sometimes the
wrong ones. For example, unfairly low ratings may be given to valued
subordinates so they will not be promoted out of the rater's department. More
often, however, outright bias dictates favored treatment for some employees.

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2. What can Mike do now to diminish the negative impact of his evaluation of
Bill. (5%)

What Mike can do to diminish the negative impact of his evaluation of Bill is:-

• Explain to Bill the reason of him given the flexibility. As this might not be
taken as one of the reason to be given with increment in future.
• Planning a win-win situation where must be bias free, objective and job-
related.
• 360 degree feedback, this form of performance appraisal uses confidential
assessments from customers, managers, coworkers, and the individual
employees themselves and others with relevant information evaluate the
employee..
• Use behavior-based measures: Measures based on specific descriptions of
behavior are more job-related and elicit more inter-rater agreement than
traits, such as “loyalty” or “friendliness”.
• Combine absolute and relative standards: Absolute standards tend to be
positively lenient; relative standards suffer when there is little variability.
Combining the standards tends to offset the weaknesses of each.
• Provide ongoing feedback: Expectations and disappointments should be
shared with employees on a frequent basis.
• Use peer evaluations: Coworkers offer constructive insights and more
specific evaluations; upward appraisals allow employees to give their
managers feedback.
• On the other hand, a poor appraisal could have the opposite effect. For that
reason, assessors should have a number of feedback techniques at their
disposal to help ensure that the end result of any assessment is
constructive. Examples of feedback methods are written follow-ups, goal
setting to overcome deficiencies, and allowing workers to have input into
their appraisal to explain reasons for success or failure

No performance appraisal system can be very effective for management decisions,

organization development, or any other purpose until the people being appraised know
what is expected of them and by what criteria they are being judged. Appraisal systems
have also become more results-oriented, which means that appraisals are more focused
on a process of establishing benchmarks, setting individual objectives, measuring
performance, and then judging success based on the goals, standards, and
accomplishments. Likewise, appraisals have become more multifaceted, incorporating a
wide range of different criteria and approaches to ensure an effective assessment process
and to help determine the reasons behind employees' performance.

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Case Study 6
Questions

1. What do you think is likely to be Manuel’s problem? Discuss. (5%)

I think Manuel’s problem is he is undergoing stress and not knowing how to

handle it. His problem could come from various direction such as:-

Work-related stress
Stress caused by work is the second biggest occupational health problem in the
world. An estimated half a million employees say they're experiencing problems
such as anxiety and depression. Because there's still a stigma attached to mental
health problems, employees are often reluctant to seek help, in case they're
perceived as unable to cope.

Many situations can lead Manuel to stress at work. These include:

• relationships with colleagues

• an unsupportive boss
• lack of consultation and communication
• too much interference with your private, social or family life
• too much to do
• too much pressure; unrealistic deadlines
• work that's too difficult or not demanding enough
• lack of control over the way the work is done
• poor working conditions
• being in the wrong job
• feeling undervalued

Other Potential problems are such as :-

• Relationship problem
• Child custody
• Financial

Though internal stress and anxiety from the workplace both occur quite often under
many different circumstances, and a person’s family or loved-ones usually cause the
most stressful times.When people feel under impossible pressure at work, they tend to
work harder and harder to try to close the gap between what they're achieving and
what they think they should be achieving. They stop taking breaks and lose touch
with their own needs. That is what happening to Manuel.

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2. If you were Bill’s boss, what would you recommend that he do? (5%)

What Bill’s could recommend and take some pre-steps such as :-

• make your work environment comfortable and suited to your needs.

• create a situation to discuss problems with the staff. If difficulties can't be
resolved, talk to the personnel department, trade union representative or other
relevant members of staff or trying other reasonable avenues, including talking it
out in private with the supervisor or consulting trusted colleagues or friends.
• Managers should be empathetic, even caring, sharing your concerns with the staff
thoughtfully, not emotionally, is very important.
• Treat the staff with the respect and consideration.
• Need to be sensitive to employees' concerns and complimenting and value the
staff or giving them the moral support.
• Don’t over assign task to staff.
• Send them for a motivational talk.
• Give them time or break for them for them to settle down.

An unavoidable problem that most people have on a day-to-day

basis is stress, a problem brought out frequently by work, family,
relationships and overall tension. Also, stress is a term
interchangeably called anxiety, which can take many different
forms. Aside from the everyday appearances of stressful
situations that most people experience, stress or anxiety can
take the form of a disorder or disease if this is overlooked or took
it for granted.

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