Term Paper

Department of Business Administration

Course Title: Fundamentals of HRM
Course Code: HRM 1101

SUBMITTED BY
Name: Samira Anjum Shorna
Roll Number: 3889
Registration Number: WUB 01/18/57/3889
Batch: 57/A
Program: BBA
WUB email id: 0118573889@student.wub.edu.bd
World University of Bangladesh

SUBMITTED TO
Dr. Selim Ahmed
Associate Professor & Head
Department of Business Administration
World University of Bangladesh

Submission Date: 15th December, 2021.

 Part – A:

Question: 1. Consider one of the organizations you are or have been affiliated with. What are
some examples of human resources that were consistent with that organization’s strategy? What
are examples of practices that were inconsistent with its strategy?
Answer: Human resource practices play an important role in motivating employees to achieve the
goal of an organization. When employees are motivated, they perform outstandingly which helps
an organization to achieve a higher position in the market. I'm currently working in a private
organization. The organization has some human resource practices that are consistent and
inconsistent with its strategy. The following human resource practices are consistent:
1. Some of the human resource practices that are consistent with the company strategy are
employee engagement, making good customer relationships, encouraging team responsibilities,
etc.
2. The HR department is able to provide a healthy and safe environment for the employees this is
because; it is consistent with safety measures that prevents risks and hazards to occur.
3. The organization has the right number of employees to perform tasks this resulted to
effectiveness in the organization.
4. When a new product is introduced, a company requires high-skilled, innovative, employees who
can take risks and who can meet the challenge of uncertainty. Accordingly, the organization hires
skilled workers & they help to train and develop employees who are consistent with the needs of
the organization.
5. The employees have access to personal data that motivate them well to achieve the
organizational strategies. They have access to salary data, details of promotion and training
facilities. These benefits motivate them to pursue the goals and strategies of the organization.
There are certain other HR practices that are inconsistent with its strategy & de-motivate
employees to follow the organizational strategies.
1. Not promoting sufficient diversity inside the organization for example, a very low percentage
of women and minority people in senior positions that creates a bad impression of the organization
regarding diversity management. This impression leads to high turnover for those employees who
are either women or from minority groups.
2. There is no proper reward system for employees. If a proper reward system is not implemented
by a company, employees will not give their best thinking that a company would not provide
anything in return.
3. Employees are fired at any time in the interest of the company without proper consideration. In
some cases the employee is forced to submit a resignation letter, which is completely inconsistent
with the HR policy and has a detrimental effect on the organization's strategy.
4. Mid-level employees do not take frequent learning opportunities as they are in the same position
for a long time and no job rotation for them is available to develop their learning and skills.
5. A top-down communication approach is prevalent and the culture of the organization is
bureaucratic. Such approach does not promote sufficient feedback particularly from bottom layer
peoples. They do not have much liberty to involve in decision-making as their feedback is not
asked or not considered by middle managers.

Question: 2. Why is it important for a manager to be able to conduct a job analysis? What are the
negative outcomes that would result from not understanding the jobs of those reporting to the
manager?
Answer: Conducting a job analysis is very important for a manager for different reasons that are
related to the responsibilities of the manager. It is vital for the reason that it helps them in the
recruitment and selection, job evaluation, analysis of the compensation and benefits to be given,
the training and development needs, etc. The main reasons for a manager to be able to conduct a
job analysis are as follows:
1. Managers need to know job requirements and compare them to the skills of the employees to
make decisions about what training requirements should be included in training programs.
2. During the recruitment process, it is important to select the best-qualified employees for the job.
Job Analysis helps them understand what type of employee will be suitable to deliver a specific
job successfully.
3. As workplace safety is very important, so the manager needs to make sure that the workplace is
safe. Job analysis enables the manager to identify the hazards and risks in the workplace and safety
the training needed to safeguard the employees.
4. It enables the manager to provide the employees with all the needed support such as equipment
to make sure they perform well.
When the manager does not understand the jobs of those reporting to them, some negative
outcomes might follow. These outcomes can also affect the firm as a whole. They are:
1. It might be difficult to fit in the right employee for the right job. This happens as the manager
does not understand the needs of the job. They then fill the position with the employee that they
feel can work at that level even though they do not have all the requirements. So, without job
analysis, a manager would not be able to let a person sit into a position that matches all his/her
skills, abilities and capabilities.
2. Performance appraisal and feedback would not be effective. As the manager does not understand
the tasks that the employee at that position performs, they cannot set standards to use in assessing
the performance of the employees. It will be difficult to point out areas that need improvement.
3. Since the manager does not understand the performance levels and needs of the job, they cannot
develop a career plan or development plan for the employee. This makes it difficult to make plans
on how to develop the employee to the performance levels they need. As a result, the development
of an employee cannot be fully achieved.
4. Since the manager does not have adequate information about the job and the work conditions,
they are not able to provide ways of improving the specific work conditions to achieve job
satisfaction.

Question: 3. Many employees are unwilling to relocate because they like their current community,
and spouses and children prefer not to move. Yet employees need to develop new skills, strengthen
skills, and be exposed to new aspects of the business to prepare for management positions. How
could an employee’s current job be changed to develop management skills?
Answer: In employee relocation, an organization moves employees from one location to another.
The stress of moving can directly impact an employee’s mental health and engagement with their
employer. When employee’s start to become disengaged, their productivity will start to decline.
This will become a trickle-down effect that can directly impact teams and eventually the company
itself. It can even have a negative effect on their family. Companies need to be proactive when it
comes to relocation and their employee’s mental health; and take steps to prevent these declines
in both engagement and productivity.
So, the current job of the employee can be changed to develop management skills through the ways
listed below:
Job enlargement: This refers to set tasks for employees within their current positions in the units
where they are already working. Enlargement aims to diversify the duties of employees within
their area of expertise by adding more challenges to their regular activities. Adding challenges or
new responsibilities to employee's current job, this way the employee will be able to work on
different projects that they have not worked on. This will increase their knowledge of the company
and the different areas of the company. They will be able to meet new challenges, like switching
roles within the work team, or researching new ways to serve clients and customers. This approach
also implies splitting one job position in two so there are two employees working together in
similar tasks being one of them is more experienced than the other. The seasoned executive serves
as a mentor for a less experienced worker. Through this, an employee can learn about the
company’s career development system, and use leadership and organizational skills in order to
prepare for a management position. In this way an employee's job can be changed to develop his /
her management skills.
Rotate employees' positions: With a job rotation system, employees gain experience and skills
by taking on new responsibilities. Employee is given assignments from different departments of
the company and is exposed to all those department works to increase their knowledge. Assigning
workers different roles within the company allows them to learn from the different activities that
the company is involved in. This could help the executives to understand workers at different levels
after they are promoted to managers. Besides, the rotating executives are more valuable for the
firm because they can fill different vacant positions because of the knowledge in different areas of
the firm they have. In such a situation, those executives increase the chances of staying on the firm
for a long time.
Organize training: The easiest and most common way of boosting employees' managerial skills
is training them. This is achieved whether by hiring a specialist to coach executives in the company
or enrolling them in courses where they can learn how to handle teams and develop their leadership
capabilities. The firm needs to monitor the employees' performance to determine if the training is
effective. In this way management skills of an employee can be developed.
Question: 4. You have been asked to evaluate whether a company’s pay structure is fair to women,
or if a gender wage gap exits. How would you go about answering this question?
Answer: Some kind of survey will be required to establish whether the wage structure of women
in the company is fair or not. My first step would be to compare the number of women in upper
board positions with others. Similarly, I will survey the wage difference of persons at the identical
level in the organization, if there exits any, and I will establish if race or gender are having
contribution toward this difference.
The second step is to scrutinize present policies of the business to establish if these they support
are biases.
The third step will involve much question to establish why there exist such kinds of difference on
pay. For example, on what basis does someone gets to receive a higher pay than the other on the
same occupation?
There are certain factors that play parts to wage. The following are some of the factors behind the
Gender Wage Gap to answer these questions:
1. Women work fewer hours per week than men do. Some women take time off to raise their
children, instead of staying at a company, getting promoted and gaining more seniority, all of
which can result in lower pay relative to those who don't take time off.
2. Women are more likely to pursue jobs with flexible hours, which may result in lower pay per
hour than jobs with set hours.
3. Compared to men, women do not seek training in some high paying job fields.
4. Women are not always assertive when it comes to negotiating salary.
5. Women are less likely to pursue risky jobs where compensation is higher.
6. Women are drawn to some occupations that pay less.
I don’t think we can entirely close the gender wage gap because certain reasons the wage gap exists
are justified while some reasons are not. In my opinion, if two or more people do the same job,
producing the same output, they should be paid the same for their efforts, regardless of gender,
age, race or any other factor. This has become the norm in most civilized countries and it should
become the norm throughout the world. Females have the same rights as males and they have to
pay the same prices as males for housing, food etc.
 Part – B:
Question: 1. Do you agree or disagree with the handling of this situation by the organization?
Answer: I agree with the situation, the company has been very supportive towards the victim; they
have handled this scenario in a legit, step by step phased manner.
Employers have a duty to ensure a poison-free work environment and to take steps to make sure
that sexual harassment is not taking place in their workplace. In this case, at first the present
supervisor is hesitant to decide if the situation involves or will eventually cause a problem to the
organization and may be because he/she is afraid that if ever the former manager would know or
have the knowledge that the supervisor is plotting an investigation towards him he might get him
into trouble also. It is important to know that every organization has a legal responsibility to
prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace. In this case, the current supervisor has
treated the female employee unfairly. But the action of the Human resource manager towards to
the situation is very pleasing and attentive to his/her employee; he really cares to the safety of its
employees. Whatever organization did right from escorting to home from building parking lot to
ban of ex manager to visiting the facility and so on was totally correct and validate. I think this
kind of initiative will promote company image as well as enhanced productivity.

Question: 2. Do you think the position of the woman’s current manager is appropriate for your
organization: short of incontrovertible proof of direct connection, the organization should do
nothing to make an employee feel more secure?
Answer: I don’t think the position of the woman’s current manager is appropriate for my
organization. In this case the woman's current manager can be identified as her current supervisor.
It is righty said that a supervisor is a part of the management team of an organization. He is, in
fact, an operative manager. Here are certain philosophers who call supervisors as workers but there
are yet some more philosophers who call them as managers. Actually he should be called as a
manager or operative manager. Because, his primary job is to manage the workers at operative
level of management. So I think the current manager of the woman in this case is her current
supervisor.
At work, the woman was subjected to sexual assault. The employee's car had numerous dents on
the outside as well. Although the present supervisor was informed, he did not pay attention to the
actual problem of the woman employee. Although there are certain situations in determining
whether the problem needs an immediate response or not, the supervisor should immediately give
or provided a justifiable initial reaction towards the problem. After hearing this incident, at least
the supervisor could refer his/her subordinate to the concerned department so that the department
can help the employee to resolve his/her case. Instead, he advised her to call the body shop. And
he/she also forbade the victim to report the matter to the Incident Response Team. Maybe the
supervisor might also afraid on the idea that he/she might get in trouble if he involves himself to
the incident. However, in this situation, he/she should also be knowledgeable about the employer’s
policies and procedures in regard to such obligations, including where and to whom to report such
complaints, and how they are processed. The supervisor did not pay attention to the fact that as a
result of covering up the matter, similar harassment could happen again with someone else in the
organization. This type of manager can never be appropriate for the organization.
But the action of the Human Resource Manager towards the situation is exemplary or better than
the immediate superior. Because he/she immediately responded to the situation and gathers a team
to resolve the case, he/she finds some evidence that the accused is guilty of his doings. But if the
organization had previously warned its employees about such attitudes to prevent such incidents,
the victim would not have faced such problem. The organization must take some steps to make an
employee feel more secure. Below are some measures that organizations can take in order to create
a harassment-free workplace, based on guidelines from the British Columbia Human Rights
Commission manual Preventing Harassment in the Workplace.
1. Make it clear that this is a workplace where harassment will not be tolerated.
2. Provide education and information about harassment to all staff on a regular basis.
3. Develop an anti-harassment policy together with employees, managers, and union
representatives.
4. Communicate the policy to all employees.
5. Make sure that all managers and supervisors understand their responsibility to provide a
harassment-free work environment.
6. Ensure that all employees understand the policy and procedures for dealing with harassment -
new and long-term employees alike - this involves training, information and education.
7. Show you mean it - make sure the policy applies to everyone, including managers and
supervisors.
8. Promptly investigate and deal with all complaints of harassment.
9. Appropriately discipline employees who harass other employees.
10. Provide protection and support for the employees who feel they are being harassed.
11. Take action to eliminate discriminatory jokes, posters, graffiti, e-mails and photos at the work
site.
12. Monitor and revise the policy and education/information programs on a regular basis to ensure
that it is still effective for your workplace.

Employers should provide a mechanism for addressing sexual harassment in a confidential and
sensitive manner after a grievance has been filed. A well-constructed and well-implemented plan
within an organization may stop inappropriate conduct before it creates a problem for individual
employees or the company.

Question: 3. What else do you think the organization should have done in this situation?
Answer: Sexual harassment in the workplace is a form of sex discrimination which negatively
affects the working environment, undermines gender equality at work, creates unfair practices in
employment, and adversely impacts the dignity and well-being of workers. It creates psychological
anxiety and stress for victims and if ignored, can result in high costs for companies through loss
of productivity, low worker morale, absenteeism, and staff turnover.
The organization should have created a safe environment that promotes a harassment-free
workplace and reduces the likelihood of such incidents occurring. The organization should also
file a case towards the former manager that his actions cause the employees in an alarming state
that their employees are experiencing threat and cause them trauma or fear towards his actions. Or
maybe the threatened employee should file a harassment case against the former manager and the
organization should support him/her in any way to prove that the accused is guilty of its actions.
The organization should also check the attitude of the supervisor. The organization should warn
the supervisor in this regard as misconduct by the supervisor can have a detrimental effect on the
employees and can also cause great harm to the organization. The organization should also
investigate whether any other employee has been misled by the supervisor in the past and whether
there has been any such sexual harassment incident with any employee before. Apart from
counselling and support, organization could have made an arrangement on self-learning meditation
and mind healing sessions so the woman can feel mentally strong and motivated. The victim could
have been granted few days’ work from home or some leaves to travel and join back later, when
things normalize. As the scenario was disturbing, its obvious mental health would be most affected.

Question: 4. Does your organization conduct thorough background checks of prospective

employees?
Answer: Yes. I am currently working in a private organization. My company conducts thorough
background checks of potential employees.
An employee background check refers to a review of a person’s past record to compile their
criminal, financial, and commercial records. Background checks are common when organizations
are hiring employees for a position of trust and want the assurance that they are hiring the right
people for the job. Probably the biggest reason employers choose to perform background checks
on potential employees is safety and security. A major reason to conduct background checks is to
avoid harm or legal liability of various types to the employer or to others. This includes harm to:
• Other employees by sexual harassment or workplace violence.
• The organization's customers by, for example, sexual assault on business premises.
• The employer's business through financial loss or image and reputational issues.
Defense of legal claims, such as negligent hiring, is a compelling reason to conduct in-depth
criminal records searches of job applicants. A multilevel jurisdictional criminal records search can
be strong evidence that the employer exercised due care in hiring.
My company conducts thorough background checks of potential employees in the following ways:
• Identity Verification
• Criminal Background Checks
• Credit Background Checks
• MVR Reports
• Professional License & Education Background Checks
• Fingerprint Background Checks
• E-Verify Background Checks
Most companies have their own unique set of requirements for conducting background checks but
the primary goal is to have the most accurate overview of a candidate before the contract is signed
and submitted. I think it’s really important for companies to do background checks.