Human Resource Management and Strategic Alliances

Question: Discuss about the Human Resource Management and Strategic Alliances. Answer: Introduction: During the period of pre-amalgamation, the Autumn Council and Spring Council were two different identities. The workforce strength of Autumn council was lower than Spring Council. In both the companies, female employees were less compared to male. In case of Autumn council, the lower division staffs were of higher number, public work services, recreation and community services included 29 and 26 staffs respectively. Compared to Autumn council, spring council consist of 38 and 36 staffs respectively in the same departments. In both organizations, 5 human resource staffs are present. One difference between these two organizations is experienced staffs. In Autumn council, upper level staffs are 3 years experienced and full time permanent staffs, compared to less experienced and contractual staffs of Autumn council. Analyzing both organizational charts, workplace supply is justified. From the case study of autumn council, it has been seen that staff turnover rate is highly abnormal. In case of male, it is 26 % and in case of female it is 41 %. Though the male staff turnover rate is stable, female turnover rate is increasing. Two key reasons found from the case study are the gender biasness in the workplace and dissatisfaction with being overlooked for advancement to the senior designations (Bratton Gold, 2012). These two reasons are significant because, from the case study it has been revealed that 32 % female staffs, coming from mixed ethnic background are working in lower level administrative role. In spite of Spring Councils effort to enhance female workforce, turnover is 37 %. The third reason of turnover rate is cultural discrimination. The pre-amalgamation turnover rate was high in both Autumn and Spring council, especially in case of female employees. Thus, in post-amalgamation period, the organization should undertake the following strategies to address the increased rate of staff turnover. Establishment of a open and transparent communication network within lower and higher division staffs (Cartwright Cooper, 2012) Performance appraisal program and based on the performance, internal selection for higher designation Recruiting employees from diverse cultural background and prioritizing female employees during recruitment would reduce gender biasness issues Summer Council workforce is established after amalgamation, with the employee strength of Autumn and Spring Council. In Summer council, the staff recruitment process would involve merit based approach. The HR policies and procedures should include anti-gender and anti-cultural discrimination policies. It would be motivate staffs to follow HR policies. For retaining staffs, motivational strategies like performance based and experience based reward system should be incorporated into the HR policies (Vaiman, Scullion Collings, 2012). The contract and part time workers should also be involved in organizational procedures and rewards, to make them familiar with the organizational environment, which were absent in the pre-amalgamation environment. It will enhance the chance of their retention. During the organizational change and amalgamation, retaining skilled and experienced performers is crucial for organizational success. In case Summer council, the following three strategies will be useful to retain existing skilled employees. Talent assessment- Talent assessment is required for identifying the most skilled people, who are needed to be retained for organizational success. The talent assessment would include identification of core skills of employees, which would be nourished for retaining them in the organization, during the change. Talent retention program- It can be considered as the next step of talent assessment. Talent retention program include training and development, flexible work schedule, above market salaries, exploration of employee value proposition elements, focused cultural alignment, and monitory and non-monitory rewards. These would help employees to feel valued (Cartwright Cooper, 2012). Providing growth opportunities- Employees tend to stay in an organization, where they see opportunities to grow. Thus, providing growth and future development opportunities will attempt to retain employees. During pre-amalgamation phase, two organizations were experiencing high percentage of employee turnover. It has been revealed that a significant cultural and gender discrimination issue was one of the key reasons behind the high rate of turnover (Buller McEvoy, 2012). The following three objectives would ensure workforce diversity and cross-cultural management in the organization. To recruit diverse cultural employees from foreign origin To implement anti-gender and anti-cultural discrimination policies To fill 90 % of the workforce from diverse culture One key strategy to source skilled employees to the Summer Council is to include digital recruitment process. Digital recruitment process allows the recruiter to find the most skilled and experienced employees, by analyzing their resumes provided in the websites. The second strategy is to contact with reliable consultancies (Vaiman, Scullion Collings, 2012). These organizations make a contract with the company to provide skilled employees. It also helps to reduce HR professionals difficulties to find suitable employees. The third strategy is to create organizations own website and using mobile recruitment for promoting the organizational vacancies. Communication strategies are important for engaging the employees in the organizational environment and change management. The following three communication strategies would be implemented for engaging employees in the organizational change. Transparent and open communication- Transparency is very important in communication. It ensures that the conversation is two-sided and employees tend to feel that they are being valued (Cartwright Cooper, 2012). Using effective ICT tools- ICT tools are showing high potential to be implemented in the business communication as it successfully reducing organizational conflicts and engaging employees. Frequent interaction with employees- Creating an open and friendly environment is very important for engagement. The leaders and managers should praise and motivate employees in their regular performance to enhance their engagement (Cartwright Cooper, 2012). The HR managers should collect written consent from employee to secure their agreement. The HR manager would attempt meet the all the staff members through a conference, group discussion or meeting. In this meeting the manager would clarify the objectives and goals of the current change management along with the discussion regarding the need for employees support in the change management. Direct communication will motivate employees to be more engaged with the organization (Buller McEvoy, 2012). Once they begin to feel valued, they would be assured about their retention in the organization and stop spreading rumours. Reference List Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Buller, P. F., McEvoy, G. M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight. Human resource management review, 22(1), 43-56. Cartwright, S., Cooper, C. L. (2012). Managing Mergers Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances. Routledge. Vaiman, V., Scullion, H., Collings, D. (2012). Talent management decision making. Management Decision, 50(5), 925-941.