HRM Strategies and Organizational Change

Question: Discuss about the HRM Strategies and Organizational Change. Answer: Introduction The report focuses on managing change in organizations. Change is dynamic in nature. People, organization, the world must change in due course of time. If an organization does not support the change in their organizational culture along with other strategic functions, then it will not be able to sustain in the competitive business world. Modern business environment demands companies that are undergoing changes consistently to match the rapid pace of the sector of the industry. Several factors inhibit the rate of organizational change in a particular company. Both multinational and domestic companies need change. Multinational corporations require a change to adapt the nature of the market of the target country. Local businesses need change to meet the demands of the customers along with other market situations. Organizational growth is the result of developing a change in the company. However, there are many problems faced by corporations to initiate organizational change. The report discusses about organizational change in a trucking company. Performance gap can arise because of implementation of change in organizational culture. Managers of companies must identify the areas of changes in their respective organization where change is required. It can be anything such as technology, operations, HR practices, supplier relations, employee benefits, etc. The new practices in the workplace bring a significant change in the organization. The new yard manager of Top Trucking felt the need of organizational change within the company. Organizational change along with change management is vital for managing the sustainability of the business in the competitive marketplace. Change is required for the development of systems of operations and employee relations. Old practices of the company result in lower productivity (Alfes et al., 2013). However, it is the responsibility of the new owner of the business to identify the cons of the strategies of Top Trucking inhibiting performance. The new yard manager is competent enough to point out all areas that require improvement. The first area of improvement is the need for investment. The new owner of the company is ready to invest in the operations of the yard and other departments (Holland et al., 2012). The purpose of the investment is rejuvenating the fleet. The new management of the company br ings new uniforms of drivers. It helps the drivers in raising motivation among them. Training is also provided to the workers and drivers that enhance their productivity. A new computer system is included in the warehouse of the company that reduces many errors. The computerized system is far better than performing work manually. Training modules are also developed in a digital format that is more developed than previous. Drivers on receiving training and development on customer service and technical aspects will feel more confident in their work (Lauring, 2013). It also improves the relation between the different employees and drivers resulting in improved performance of various teams of the company. The visionary attitude of the new yard manager is responsible for all development of the enterprise. Now the company has managed to earn enough reputation in the market that has helped in gaining many contracts. More deals will lead to increased profitability. The approach of the new manager of identifying problems and finding an appropriate solution for it is a good sign of leadership followed in the organization. A reasonable point of view is necessary for every manager to identify and emphasize a given situation (Navin et al., 2014). The way of vision creates a significant impact on the organization as a whole. Overall, the relation between the drivers and the new yard manager is improving day by day. The new manager follows a form of participative leadership by resulting in an impressive performance of the company. Change management is the process of managing change in teams, individuals and organizations by utilizing the resources of the company in an efficient manner. Different principles of Organization Change management are practiced in Top trucking company. Theoretical models are also there that can be implemented in the enterprise (Sonnenberg et al., 2014). Kotter's model of change management is a traditional model that identifies problems along with providing practical solutions to it. Implementation of new policies in the company and the developmental prospect of the enterprise are complementary to one another. There are many practices listed above that are introduced by the new yard manager for improved performance of the business as a whole (Truss et al., 2012). However, he had to face many problems and grudges among the workers while implementing organizational change in the enterprise. The problems are gradually mitigated by the executive through effective communication among differ ent levels of employees of Top Trucking. A family previously owned the trucking company. Many problems were present in the operations of the enterprise, especially in the yard. It became a very terrible place to work by different category of workers. The yard manager was not easy to handle. He followed autocratic leadership in the company that results in decreased productivity along with bad employee relations. It is necessary for a company to listen from their employees about productivity, problems, areas of improvement, etc. The manager did not listen to their words or even their suggestions that lead to the lower productivity i.e. less profitability (Burgess et al., 2013). The above incidents signify that there is a situation of chaos prevailed in the company before the ownership change. However, after the change of property, the new owner is encouraged to invest in different departments that result in increased performance of the employees (Bratton Gold, 2012). The company is ready for implementing organization change. Recruitment of new executive in the position of yard manager is the primary initiator of executing changes in the business at various levels. The new manager has a different angle of vision that helps him in pointing the major areas of development. It would assist the company in appropriate budget allocation (Deery et al., 2014). The changes that are implemented in the organization bring about many risks and problems at the strategic level. When new modules of training are developed for the drivers, initially they are not happy with it. This happened because the impact of the training will benefit the engines on a long-term basis (Cuganesan et al., 2012). However, the blue-collar workers in the initial level do not understand this. Several other problems can arise in the new organization culture. If George and the yard manager do not handle the situations among the drivers and workers, then there will arise many problems that may hinder the positive changes in the company (Bacon et al., 2013). The biggest problem facing by the Top Trucking is a lack of communication among the employees of the organization. Initially, the new manager faces many challenges during the introduction of a computer system in the administrative regime of the company. The workers, in the beginning, are not aware of the benefits of the new regime. Yard manager takes many steps to solving the issues among the drivers. Previous yard manager, i.e. George due to his arrogant behavior is reluctant about the complications of the HR system of the organization. It is the responsibility of the senior manager of a company for resolving issues faced by the employees of the enterprise. New strategies led to many new problems that are smoothly handled by the yard manager (Baruch et al., 2016). A communication channel is maintained among the drivers about the productivity as well as developmental programs of the company. Arguments are there between George and the new manager regarding various issues of strategic management. Issues are also there between the junior level workers relating to the level of productivity of the new training module formulated for them. Organizational change brings a set of new challenges in a company that is discussed in the study. Change management processes are responsible for bringing new possibil ities of change along with solutions to many problems (Hendry, 2012). The workers or staffs working with transportation companies are adaptive to the various shifts in the organization. There is a difference between the public and service sector. The blue-collar union is mainly deemed as workers who are non-managerial and nonexempt. In other words, this occupational category encompasses skilled and semi-skilled production and laborers. The distinguishing aspect of blue-collar workers is its position in the division of labor in an organization (Gunasekaran Spalanzani, 2012). They are understood to be managed by supervisors and have low levels of control and autonomy in their duties and responsibilities. The standard HR practices are mainly training; compensation and employment security provide various incentives for participation (Holland et al., 2012). A blue-collar in other words is a working class resource that performs manual labor. They are mostly involved in manufacturing, transportation, and other types of works that demand physical labor. These workers enjoy protection from the union accompanied with labor legislations, Industrial Disputes Act. These workers are recruited in production and service based organizations which entail over minimum interaction with the management. The central point of high-performance work patterns lies growing emphasis rendered to teamwork and various work structures which revolve around groups rather than individual jobs. Numerous studies by experts reveal the interactive and cognitive skills which are imperative in case of blue collar workers and role assigned to them (Bratton Gold, 2012). The employee who works in service or public sector is sorted out among professionals regarding academic and professional expertise. They boast of professional qualification and experience which offers support to the compensation and job role as designated by the organization. The factual reality is these staffers have minor support from the unions. The flipside of this being least participation of the resources with the union (Delmotte et al., 2012). As per the given topic, the management may exercise the authority to exert changes in the ranks of the organization in consultation with the Directorate. The power of trade union varies over internal and external factors. In a transporting service company like the one given in the case study, the blue collar union functions with the labors in hand-in-hand. Since the transport firm mostly comprises of workers and staffs like drivers and others associated with the industry the union plays the limited part in the decision-making process (De Winne et al., 2013). This is different from public or other sectors. In a public sector, resources are typically qualified professionally who assumes an enormous role in the decision process. George has been designated with the managerial role, and he is contemplating to induce changes in the organization. The union, in this case, a blue-collared entity may agree to that with least scope of agreeable negotiation possible. Normally, in a public sector unit, unions have more influence regarding decision-making facets. However, in this case, George Psaros should take into confidence all the relevant parties, unions, and groups before undertaking any decision regarding operations (Burgess et al., 2013). Thus it may be said that the transport union employees or resources adapt to the various changes that happen in the workplace in a more compliant manner than the staffers who are working in the public service domain. Conclusion The report describes various aspects of organizational change and change management in companies. The concept of organizational change is compulsory for every company in a particular interval of time. Age-old policies of companies yield to negative results in an individual department. From the case study, it can be concluded that Top Trucking company needs an organizational change in a very fast pace. However, the company had identified their areas of improvement in right time that helps in improving the condition of the enterprise. It is mentioned in the case study that the new yard manager is solely responsible for maintaining successful change management in the company. Application of models of change management in organizations is proven successful to support organizational change successfully in companies. Top Trucking Company has forecasted impressive performance regarding gaining more contracts by their reputation. The company maintains a healthy balance between the fulfillmen t of the organization and effectiveness of the team. Emphasizing on these two aspects may result in increased profitability and better employee relations in the enterprise. Throughout the world, many companies like Top Trucking are very famous in the field of implementation of change management strategies at the organization level. References Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international journal of human resource management, 24(2), 330-351. Bacon, N., Wright, M., Ball, R., Meuleman, M. (2013). Private equity, HRM, and employment. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 27(1), 7-21. Baruch, Y., Wordsworth, R., Mills, C., Wright, S. (2016). Career and work attitudes of blue-collar workers, and the impact of a natural disaster chance event on the relationships between intention to quit and actual quit behaviour. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(3), 459-473. Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Burgess, J., Connell, J., Winterton, J. (2013). Vulnerable workers, precarious work and the role of trade unions and HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(22), 4083-4093. Cuganesan, S., Dunford, R., Palmer, I. (2012). Strategic management accounting and strategy practices within a public sector agency. Management Accounting Research, 23(4), 245-260. De Winne, S., Delmotte, J., Gilbert, C., Sels, L. (2013). Comparing and explaining HR department effectiveness assessments: Evidence from line managers and trade union representatives. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(8), 1708-1735. Deery, S. J., Iverson, R. D., Buttigieg, D. M., Zatzick, C. D. (2014). Can union voice make a difference? The effect of union citizenship behavior on employee absence. Human Resource Management, 53(2), 211-228. Delmotte, J., De Winne, S., Sels, L. (2012). Toward an assessment of perceived HRM system strength: scale development and validation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(7), 1481-1506. Gunasekaran, A., Spalanzani, A. (2012). Sustainability of manufacturing and services: Investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics, 140(1), 35-47. Hendry, C. (2012). Human resource management. Routledge. Holland, P., Cooper, B. K., Pyman, A., Teicher, J. (2012). Trust in management: the role of employee voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions. Human Resource Management Journal, 22(4), 377-391. Lauring, J. (2013). International diversity management: Global ideals and local responses. British Journal of Management, 24(2), 211-224. Navin, A. H., Navimipour, N. J., Rahmani, A. M., Hosseinzadeh, M. (2014). Expert grid: new type of grid to manage the human resources and study the effectiveness of its task scheduler. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 39(8), 6175-6188. Sonnenberg, M., van Zijderveld, V., Brinks, M. (2014). The role of talent-perception incongruence in effective talent management. Journal of World Business, 49(2), 272-280. Truss, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. (2012). Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.