MGT427 Mid-Term

Aug 7, 2021

Total Marks 20 Time: 1 hour 30 min

Section 1:MCQ (5*1=5)
1. Which activities are not associated with workforce planning?
Answer: c. Time Keeping

2. Which of the following is not a limitation of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats)
analysis?

Answer: c. SWOT's focus on the external environment is too broad and integrative

3. A marketing department that promises delivery quicker than the production department's ability to
produce is an example of a lack of understanding of the:

Answer: d. interrelationships among functional areas and firm strategies

4. The competencies or skills that a firm employs to transform inputs into outputs are:

Answer : c. organizational capabilities

5. Which of the following is a key HR role as defined by Ulrich et al (2009)?

Answer: b. Business ally

 Answer any 5 Questions (5*3=15):

1. Do you think HR was proactive here in this case? Is the organization is in sync? What
are the benefits of Strategic workforce planning?
In this instance, human resources was not proactive. The human resources department was
absent from the first meeting due to the HOHR being on leave for personal reasons. Due to the
absence of an HR representative, an internal management void existed, and that is why HR was
not proactive. When human resources is able to provide value to the company through the
expansion of its functional responsibilities, it becomes proactive. Human resources did not
provide value in this area; as a result, human resources would be neither proactive nor reactive
in this area.
Additionally, the organization is already out of sync due to a clear communication breakdown
across departments. When a critical choice is taken, only those there are conscious of it; others
and were not present are oblivious. There was little succession planning, for example, and the
organization as a whole has been out of sync.

Numerous advantages accrue from strategic workforce planning. The following are the
advantages of strategic workforce planning:

• It assists in the development of long-term strategies by evaluating unauthorized disclosures of

individuals and their skill sets.
• It helps to avoid unexpected departure delays.
• In addition to guaranteeing an organization's future career success, this aides employee
performance by identifying the skills essential to accomplish organizational goals and assisting
in ensuring future work success.
• It anticipates future staffing surpluses and shortages, which enables it to be more efficient.
• It aids administration in strategic planning and resource allocations by estimating labor
requirements in accordance with the organization's strategic planning document.
• It enables companies to overcome obstacles by identifying external variables that may have
an effect on the organization's employees.
• It enables the company to stay ahead of rivals in terms of knowing how the workforce is
evolving.
3. Was Rahman was handled properly? Do you think Rahman should have been
communicated about his potential earlier and Why?

Answer: Mr. Rahim was not treated appropriately in this matter. Certainly, not all workers work
for the same reasons or have the same expectations of their employers. He was dissatisfied
with his existing job and desired fresh challenges or exposure to demonstrate his abilities.

According to the labor market's shifting demographics and habits. The workforce makeup of the
twenty-first century is significantly different. Additionally, organizations must be more
cognizant of employees' desire for work-life balance. Employees across the board, but notably
younger employees, are far less loyal to their companies than they were a generation ago. Mr.
Rahim being a young employer, the HOHR should have taken this into account. Employers that
build work systems that deny employees the balance they seek in their personal lives, on the
other hand, will discover employees who are not only less devoted to the business, but who
may also suffer from burnout and perform below optimally. Mr. Rahim expressed a desire to
change jobs nine years ago, implying that he highlighted the issue but no one within the
company truly heard him. Employees expect to contribute to the company through their
training and expertise, and they expect the business to listen to their concerns. However, the
human resource department did not take his remarks seriously and requested that he stay in
his current position.

According to the employee life cycle, employees may function with little effort over the first 3-6
years owing to monotony. Disengagements may occur from this point. This is referred to as the
final step of the employee cycle. Rahman should have communicated the onset of boredom. As
is the case, he has been employed for nine years and desired a change six years ago. This
indicates that when he reached the third stage of the employee cycle, he developed a dislike
for his employment. That is when he should have been informed of his potential, allowing him
to feel heard and maybe reaffirming his decision to remain with the business for a longer length
of time in light of alternative work opportunities.

4. What can HOHR do next to retain Rahman? What Options can HOHR explore and offer to
motivate Rahim to stay in the organization?
Answer: HOHR might keep Mr. Rahim by discussing his potential with him and providing him
something that would satisfy his need for exposure and the opportunity to prove himself. In
this scenario, the HOHR might consider several methods for persuading Rahim to remain with
the organization.
Work Enrichment - Initiatives aimed at job enrichment go beyond just adding duties to
employees' occupations. The HOHR has the authority to enhance MR. Rahim's level of
responsibility. As a result, he may feel challenged. Additionally, this may provide him with
additional opportunity to demonstrate his worth.
Succession planning focuses on the essential individual management roles that the company
needs to fill and the sorts of persons who could be the greatest match for these critical
positions. Mr. Rahim may be offered the position of operations manager by the HOHR. Mr.
Nizam believes he is a perfect candidate for the position. Succession planning must make sense
and be useable by several business divisions, each with its own set of requirements.
Additionally, it must include a mechanism for focusing and guiding executive development
toward strategic objectives. Not only that, it must be consistent with other HR procedures that
are also undergoing transformation. Assuring a pool of future leaders is necessary for executive
roles to be prepared. Senior management must own the choice, and it must address diversity
concerns and shifting demographics. All of the conditions above are compatible with the
circumstances. While retaining the job of operations manager, he can get training for the head
of operations position. When Mr. Nizam resigns, the HOHR may appoint Mr. Rahim to the
office.
This is what the HOHR is capable of doing. It is critical to have open contact with Mr. Rahim in
order to ensure maximum transparency. As a result, this would serve as an incentive for him to
remain in this organization.

5. Name the core characteristics of a job with example. What can organization do to relieve
the boredom of task and design more stimulating work for employees and help to grow?
Answer: A job has five fundamental qualities. The following characteristics are included:
• Skill Variety - the amount to which an employee's job requires the application of a range of
acquired talents. Consider that a career such as sales involves a variety of distinct skills and
abilities. According to the feature, a more varied job that requires a broader range of skills and
abilities results in an employee feeling as like they are performing more important work.

• Task Identity, the extent to which an employee is able to execute a "complete" or "identified"
piece of work. If the employee understands what has to be done, when they will be completed,
and can see the consequence of their job, they will feel as though they are performing
important work. Assume two employees are involved in a bank loan project. The first worker is
responsible for simply the initial project planning, but the second worker is responsible for the
entire process, from initial planning to execution. According to the notion, the second worker
will regard their task to be more important.

• Task Significance, the degree to which an employee believes his or her job is significant and
relevant to both internal and external stakeholders. This term refers to the extent to which a
task has an effect. The term "impact" can refer to a variety of various things. This might indicate
that the task has an effect on the organization. This might indicate that the work has an effect
on the bottom line or perhaps on society in general. For instance, a two-person team is
developing software. The first employee is in charge of the system's user interface, while the
second is in charge of ensuring data is stored effectively behind the scenes in a database.
According to the notion, the first worker will find the task more important since they are more
likely to comprehend the end user's influence.

• Autonomy refers to an employee's ability to work and select job processes independently of
supervision. Autonomy refers to the degree of freedom an employee has in carrying out their
duties. It refers to the degree to which an employee has the freedom to select how to do
certain duties and how to schedule those activities.
According to the Job Characteristics Theory, employees who have more autonomy will have a
stronger sense of responsibility for the outcomes of their work and so perform better. For
instance, a manager would be more accountable than his direct reports if the management has
the liberty to make choices.

• Feedback, the degree to which the work enables the employee to gauge the amount to which
job obligations are being fulfilled. According to the concept, work processes may be structured
to increase employee engagement, performance, and happiness while decreasing absenteeism
and turnover. This term refers to the extent to which an employee is kept informed about their
performance in their position.
According to the notion, increasing feedback results in the employee having a greater
understanding of the outcomes of their job. If a salesperson receives positive feedback for
meeting his or her sales objective, his or her self-esteem will be improved, and he or she will be
inspired to continue doing what they are doing. On the other hand, if an employee receives
negative feedback promptly, he or she will have the chance to make modifications and revisions
to their work prior to experiencing any unfavorable effects.

Earlier approaches to work system design were centered on the tasks of individual employees.
Industrial engineering throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century dictated
work arrangements with extremely limited task allocations, giving birth to the phrase "job
specialization." These systems aimed to increase industrial efficiency by allowing people to
specialize in certain activities and achieve high levels of proficiency. Jobs were allocated a
restricted set of duties that needed minimal thought but were executed precisely. Not
unexpectedly, while these attempts to simplify and specialize occupations increased
productivity, they also led in the creation of uninteresting and tedious employment for
employees.
To alleviate this ennui and create more interesting work for employees, first initiatives
concentrated on assigning them duties beyond the boundaries of their previously established
jobs. Job expansion adds diversity to the workplace by expanding the amount of tasks,
activities, or occupations available, therefore alleviating monotony associated with highly
specialized labor. Job rotation is a kind of job expansion in which employees cycle between
several specialized jobs inside the business. Both approaches to work design are based on
giving employees with a greater range of activities to complete. Job rotation is rapidly being
recognized as a critical method for human resource professionals to advance their careers. To
be a genuine strategic partner, human resource executives must have a thorough
understanding of not just the functional elements of human resource management, but also
the nature of the organization's business. The work may be designed in one of two ways:
Job Enrichment is more than just adding duties to employees' existing employment. Job
enrichment entails raising employees' level of responsibility. The work environment is
structured in such a way that employees bear a substantial amount of responsibility for their
own job.
Vertical Loading: In many situations, the employee becomes more accountable for his or her
own performance as a result of rerouting quality and productivity duties formerly allocated to
the individual's supervisor. Vertical loading is a term that refers to the practice of reassigning
formerly managerial tasks to subordinates.
6. At what stage of Employee Life cycle Rahim is currently? Besides core job what are the other factors
an employee might need and want in order to be productive and happy in the job?

Answer: Mr. Rahim, in my perspective, is at stage 4 of the employee life cycle, which is characterized by
boredom. However, step five, disengagement, is visible here as well.

Disengagement occurs in stage four. The work environment is quite monotonous, and there is limited
opportunity for growth, since the individual was hired some years ago, about 6-7 years ago. Thus, this
type of employee does not require extensive training or additional tasks. The employee can work
efficiently and with minimal consideration. Stage-5 boredom and discontent, on the other side, are also
associated with employment. This has an effect on the organization's and individual performance,
attitude, and desire to remain. Mr. Rahim is no longer interested in working here since he wishes to
change careers, get exposure, and establish his credentials. As a result, he has already resigned from his
position. Apart from core duties, other elements do employees require and desire in order to be
effective and happy at work. Employees require additional aspects. They may perhaps be. Lifestyle
changes in a changing demography, employees require work-life balance; in this situation, employees
are less devoted to the firm, but also perform less well. Employees require representation in the form of
a representative who can speak for them. Employees want to be involved in workplace decisions and
want their employer to listen to them. Besides, Employees require security in the workplace.