HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

NAME: PRAGYA AGARWAL

ROLL NO: BS18SGP129

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INTRODUCTION
To begin with, I will draw out a list of surface problems that Excel Industries is facing:

1) Lack of team work: The direct reports have cliques amongst themselves and have
extremely unhealthy problems among themselves, which delays the decision-making
process in the organization and makes the formal meetings highly unproductive. Due
to cold relations amongst the direct reports, other employees in the organization get
frustrated

2) Friction between the old timers and new comers: Though a common problem, it
can hamper the working and the efficiency of the organization greatly. The old timers
are loyal and knowledgeable about the working of the organization and the new
comers are qualified in a way which can add value to the organization. Hostile
relationships between them will do no good to the company.

3) Unachievable goals: As mentioned in the caselet, due to extraordinary performance

in the previous year, ambitious plans have been laid out which will require the direct
reports to work for 10-12 hours a week and, in some cases, weekends too

STEPS TO IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM

In this section, I (consultant) will lay out the steps or the methods that I will be following to
identify the cause of each of the problems stated above.

1) Lack of teamwork:

Team-work was the aspect in which Excel Industries did not score well in the Gallup Q12
survey on employee engagement. Below mentioned are the steps I will be following to
identify the root cause of the problem:

o I will be conducting one to one interviews with all the direct reports.
o I will have a psychologist with me. Having a person qualified in judging body
behaviour and reading between the lines will help me get deeper insights about
their interview.
o I will give them a pre-prepared questionnaire which, when filled by each one of
them, will help me identify their problems regarding the management, working
environment, the incentives they receive, their remuneration, how tasks are
allocated between them and what are their working hours. This will help me
identify their standing with the organization as a whole.
o To know why the direct reports have cliques and cold relations amongst each
other, I will ask the interviewee about his/her colleagues, their strengths and
weaknesses. This will help me to know the reason for their hostile relations.
o I will also be conducting a group discussion between direct reports.
o Lastly, I will ask the management if they conduct any team building activities for
the employees and what their procedure for filing complaints is. I will then be
aware of the reason as to why in formal meetings the direct reports do not behave
as required.

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2) Friction between the old timers and the new comers:

This is one of the common issues that an organisation faces. The CEO wants to hire new
candidates because they are professionally qualified and are well versed with recent times,
but at the same time, also wants to retain the old timers because of their loyalty and the
knowledge they carry about the working of the organisation. To help the CEO remove these
barriers, I will take the following steps to identify the root cause of this issue.

o I will again be conducting one on one interviews with them. But, this time the
interviews will be held to better understand their attitude towards the organisation
and other employees.
o I will have a psychologist during these interviews.
o I will ask them what monetary and non-monetary incentives they receive.
o I will ask them to list down the ways in which the management differentiates
between the two groups.
o I will conduct a group discussion to find the reason for their cold relations with
each other.
o I will ask the management on what basis are the tasks allotted between them.
o Lastly, I will go through the HR files of the organisation to have deeper insights.

3) Unachievable goals:

This is a problem which, if not paid attention to, can lead to dangerous outcomes such as
employee turnover or an organisation failing to meet their planned outcome. In the case of
Excel Industries, they aim to expand their operations at the cost of direct reports working for
10-12 hours on a daily basis and on the weekends too. Below mentioned are some steps
which will help me know why such goals are set:

o I will have a discussion with direct reports again to know how important work-life
balance is to them.
o I will also take information if their such needs are catered to by the organisation or
the management.
o I will also want to know if the direct reports’ opinions and suggestions were
considered while setting these objectives.
o I will have a deep discussion with the management regarding their procedure for
setting goals.
o I will have a deep analysis on the size of expansion they are planning and whether
they have enough manpower and resources to actually set forth to achieve these
objectives.

In the process of finding out the root causes of the problems, I will be considering the
following points:

 I will not let my personal opinions and judgements come into the picture while I draw
out conclusions.
 I will be mindful of halo effect, recency effect and similar to me error.

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  I will ensure to not invade anybody’s personal space while either conversing or
interviewing them.

PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED (ASSUMPTIONS)

After going through the detailed process of identifying the cause of the problems, I have
drawn out some major issues that Excel Industries is facing which if not paid attention to can
lead to some undesirable outcomes. Below mentioned are those problems:

o There is a lack of teamwork in the organization.

o There is friction amongst the direct reports which hampers the work in the
organization.
o Due to the unhealthy relationship amongst the direct reports, meetings have
become highly unproductive as they put open allegations on each other.
o There is no formal way of taking complaints from the employees in the
organization due to which some meetings are not able to serve the required
purpose.
o Low morale and frustration amongst employees.
o Excel Industries does not conduct any team building activities.
o The job environment provided by the company is not up to the mark.
o There is unhealthy friction amongst the new comers and the old timers of the
organization.
o The old ones don’t feel important, whereas the new comers are not used to their
best ability.
o The management does not have a specific procedure to set goals.
o There are less of projects in the organisation which requires employees with
diverse skill sets
o Employees are not satisfied with the remuneration they receive.
o Non-monetary incentives are not provided to the employees which decreases
their motivation and morale

SOLUTIONS
Lastly, to the problems mentioned above, I will lay out some solutions. Below mentioned are
5 solutions that can help the CEO to overcome the major issues of the organisation:

1) Foster team-work

I will suggest the CEO to take the whole responsibility of forming teams. I will tell the CEO
to form teams of diverse people and from different cliques, to establish a communication
channel and to clearly define the team and individual goals. The CEO should also lay out
some team rules which need to be followed. This may seem micromanaging at first but may
help the teamwork issue of Excel Industries. There should be incentives and rewards for the
teams delivering successful results. The CEO should also implement a formal way of
addressing the team issues

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Some other points that I will suggest the CEO is to have some team building activities in the
organisation. This will help the organisation to identify the loopholes and ways to improve it.
The organisation should also start celebrating small events which will give the employees a
chance to know each other well. This may eventually improve the team work issues of the
organisation drastically.

2) Building healthy relations between the old timers and the new comers:

In my opinion, the requirements of the old employees differ from the requirements of the new
employees. The old ones have emotional value added to the organisation. They have a need
to be acknowledged and recognized, whereas the new comers don’t have the loyalty factor in
them, instead they are more passionate about work. Hence, I will be suggesting the CEO to
praise the old employees in public and acknowledge their presence, whereas to give
challenging tasks to the new comers and use their abilities to the optimum.

The old ones are knowledgeable and well versed with the workings of the organisation, but
they lack the professional qualifications required in the current scenario. To retain the old
ones, I will suggest that some training can be provided to them which will help them
imbibe new capabilities and qualifications.

Lastly, I will suggest the CEO that in some specific projects of the organisations, he should
form teams which will have both the old and the new employees. Tasks will be allocated,
goals will be laid out and the time frame will be set. Once they start working together to
achieve their project goals, there is a high chance that their hostile relations will turn into
positive relations.

3) Goal Setting:

The goals set by Excel industries are unachievable. For expansion, direct reports are expected
to work for 10-12 hours a day. I would suggest the CEO to make SMART goals. The goals
set forth are relevant, time bound, specific and measurable, but they are unachievable.

Just setting up smart goals is not enough. I will explain the CEO that its important to discuss
the goals with the employees or the managers before finalising them. I will tell the CEO to
consider all the issues, suggestions, complaints and opinions of the employees before setting
up the goals for them.

Other suggestions that I will give to the CEO is that before setting up goals for expansion, the
CEO should have a thorough check of the organisation and make an analysis if they have
the required manpower and resources to achieve those goals. Hence, I will ask the CEO to
cut down on the intensity of the goals set as to achieve them, the work-life balance of the
direct reports will have to be compromised, which will not lead to a fruitful outcome in the
future.

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4) Company’s Procedures:

The organisation should have a formal procedure of filing and addressing the issues and
complaints each employee has. HR team can lead this as they will be approachable to the
employees for all sorts of issues. The team should ensure that all complaints are being looked
into and addressed in the required way. This will then solve the problem of complaints and
allegations being addressed in the meeting which leads to unproductive meetings and delay in
decision making.

I will also tell the CEO to come up with a formal procedure for appraisals and feedback.
Employees receiving positive feedback should get some incentive in return. This will help the
employees know where they stand in the organisation. They will have a drive for positive
feedback which will shift their focus from the bickering and backbiting about other
employees to working hard and achieving goals.

5) Job Environment: 

I will put forward my opinion to the CEO that employees are not getting the desired balance
between their professional and personal life from the organisation. I would suggest the CEO
to make the work environment such that the employees feel they are cared for and looked
after.

I would also suggest that employees should be provided with non-monetary incentives. All
that employees receive from the organisation is some basic remuneration. For non-monetary
incentives, I would suggest the CEO to provide the employees with some non-cash benefits
and flexible working hours.

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