Topical Issues on Managing Human Resources – Capco

In addition to this, currently employees also prefer working with firms providing equal opportunities along with a safe and healthy working environment. With an increasing demand among employees for work-life balance, it has become essential for organisations to focus on current human resource practices and identify the impact of topical issues and legislation (Noe et. al., 2013) as discussed here in the context of Capco along with different tasks. The aim of this work is to assess understanding of the theory and practices of human resource management in regard to current HR practices and topical issues faced by the Capco.

With the help of different tasks, here it is identified how Capco can deal with the topical issues currently faced by it and almost all other firms from different industries. With an analysis of research already done in this regard, the assignment will help in identifying how Capco can develop a strategic approach to HRM, develop flexible working practices, apply equal opportunities legislation, and practiceemployees’ health and safety.

Task 1- Essay

Answer 1.1

The Capital Markets Company N.V. known as Capco is a leading global business and technology consultancy. The company focus is on banking and payments, wealth and asset management, capital markets, and a dedicated energy division. The company success is all because of its combination of innovative thinking and unmatched industry acquaintance to deliver excellent business consulting, digital, technology, and transformational services (Our Leadership, 2016).

Capco people plays an important role in its success as they all are eminent professionals and able to offer distinct solutions designed in a way to fulfil and handle the challenges of nowadays and tomorrow. It has become possible for the company because of an application of Guest Model of HRM (Noe et. al., 2013). Guest Model of HRM was given by David Guest in 1997 to depict the relationship in between the HRM activities and organisational strategy. This model depicts that HRM practices of a firm should be designed in a way to develop high-quality staffs that is flexible and committed to their firm (Armstrong, 2010).

Guest model of HRM concentrates on employing an HRM practice that is commitment based, and different from compliance-based HR practices (Waiganjo, Mukulu and Kahiri, 2012) as followed by Capco.Capco being a global firm employs Guest model of HRM, which in turn have directed the company to practice HRM that is highly linked with its strategic management. All of its HRM practices and approaches strive for commitment to company goals, and concentrate on the individual needs rather than the mutual workforce (Ndubisi and Oly, 2013). This in turn facilitates Capco in fulfilling the individual needs of each of its employees, and directs them towards attaining behavioural outcomes like improved efforts, co-operations, involvement, and organizational citizenship.

By focussing on four crucial components (strategic integration, flexibility, high commitment, and quality) of Guest model of HRM, the company management have become able to attain organization effectiveness. Use of this model enabled Capco to devolve power and become more and more flexible. This in turn directed the company to increase its employees’ commitment and attain success, which was not possible without implementing Guest model of HRM (Armstrong, 2010).

Answer 1.2

On the basis of an analysis of Capco HR practices and models followed, it can be said that the company is people centric. At Capco HRM involves various management decisions and practices that openly affect or impact its people or human resources. HRM practices of Capco are similar to the definition of HRM given by Storey. Storey delineates HRM as a strategic and comprehensible approach to manage a company’s most valuable assets-the individuals working with it and contribute in its achievement (Armstrong, 2010).

At the same time, Storey also described a difference in between hard and soft forms of HRM. Hard HRM emphasizes over the need to manage staff in ways that will help in obtain added value from them and therefore attain competitive advantage (Tyson, 2012). In other words it focusses on quantitative, measurable norms, control and performance management.  On the other hand Soft HRM described was based on human relations school and put emphasis on treating employees as valued assets as done at Capco (Ihuah, 2014).

Capco values and formal policies help it to set the standards through which it measures and rewards individual and team performances. Along with this, the company commitment to hire the best and make them even better depict the soft part of its HRM (Ndubisi and Oly, 2013). The company is highly committed to continuously broadening the skills base of its employees as well as deepen their knowledge at different stages of their career. Capco approach towards managing its employees is quite different from the definition of personnel management given by Storey (Noe et. al., 2013).

In accordance to Storey personnel management (PM) and IR is management of employees to obey with the regulations set by owners. PM is mainly seen as bureaucratic, and based on rules rather than employees (Armstrong, 2010). This is not the case with Capco as here relationship in between the management and employees is not based on contracts as used to be done in personnel management. All Capco employees are highly committed towards it and attainment of its goals.

This nature of relations in between Capco employees and employers is all because of HRM practices followed and effective distribution of power. At Capco emphasise is given on decentralization of power, rather than centralization of power as done in Personnel Management (Ndubisi and Oly, 2013). This in turn is known as empowerment of its employees based on the involvement and contribution of management as well as employees with collective power and authority (Our Leadership, 2016).

Answer 1.3

In last two decades a significant shift is witnessed in regard to the role played by people in the success of organizations. Today, it is recognized that people are one of the most important organisational resources. This is the reason a shift is seen from HRM to strategic HRM, which in turn creates number of implications for line managers as well as employees. Developing strategic HRM pertains to implying an integrated approach to HRM policy as well as practice (Noe et. al., 2013).

This integration in turn needs to occur at two levels horizontal and vertical integration. Line managers play an important role in this regard. For instance in horizontal integration they are responsible to develop integration in between the different HR interventions. On the other hand, at the time of vertical integration they need to create integration in between company’s business and HR strategy (Lapi?aa, Maur?nea and Stari?ecab, 2014). This direct towards number of changes to be made in current structure, staffing, performance management, reward, training & development policies as done by Capco.

At Capco line managers are responsible for creating integration at horizontal as well as vertical level. The company line managers are responsible for integrating business strategies as well as the company’s HR strategies’. On the other hand implications of strategic HRM for Capco employees vary from job security, fluctuation of remuneration and bonuses as now everything in the company is based on performance and their contribution in the success of teams (Ndubisi and Oly, 2013). Employees now need to think and work in an all-inclusive manner to add value in organization as well as their own continuous development at different stages of their career.

Task 2 – Topical Issues

Answer 2.1

With an increasing importance of work-life balance among employees all over the world, it has become crucial for firms to emphasize on flexibility. Flexibility has become an important thing nowadays; it is because it helps employees to effectively fulfil their personal as well as professional needs (Romer, 2011). This is the reason today almost all firms are trying to apply a model of flexibility as done by Capco. Capco though being a flexible firm need a significant model in this regard such as part-time working, flexitime, job sharing, compressed hours, mobile working, work from home etc.

For instance, Capco can apply mobile working model with an aim to become more productive. By developing an extensive broadband network for employees on the move, the company can provide them an easy access through Wi-Fi, and dial-up in all other countries. With the help of this system the company can save a lot of time of itself and employees as with this multi-party discussions and meeting can occur through telephone, with just a touch of button (Allen and Eby, 2016). 

Today more and more employees are becoming mobile. Use of this flexibility model will help Capco employees to be more productive at all time like when commuting, travelling for meetings, and during weekends also (Armstrong, 2010). Employees on the other will become able to make use of mobile solutions on their own time as well as during work time, which in turn will help Capco to have more productive staff.

Answer 2.2

Capco being a leading name in the world of finance significantly concentrates a lot on developing strategic flexibility. In this regard, the company can make use of following types of flexibility:

·         Flexitime: It is a system to help employees to choose their working hours on their own from a range of available hours. Today it is one of the most common practices in number of industries to help employees to attain a work-life balance.

·         Compressed Work Week: With the help of this flexible arrangement, the standard work week is compressed into less than five days. The mostly used manifestation of the compresses work week is one of four 10 hour days (Armstrong, 2010).

·         Job Sharing: In this arrangement, two employees voluntarily share their responsibilities and tasks of one full-time position. Salary and benefits of that position is prorated between those two people.

·         Flexplace: This arrangement refers to work place arrangement such as an employee could work from home or some remote location. The most common method pertaining to this arrangement is mobile working helping employees to attain a balance in between their personal life and work (Allen and Eby, 2016). 

·         Work Sharing: This type of flexibility will help Capco to avoid layoffs. It will also help the company to temporarily decrease hours and compensation for a percentage of their staff.

In addition to this, Capco can also make use of expanded leave, phased retirement, partial retirement, and different work and life programs to develop flexibility.

Answer 2.3

Flexible working practices are work arrangements in which employees are given greater scheduling freedom in regard to how they fulfil their job roles and responsibilities. These practices are beneficial for both the employees as well as employers (Allen and Eby, 2016). It helps employees to meet their needs as well as improves employers’capability to serve its customers through enhancing communication, decreasing response times, refining service and support, and eventually contributing to the inclusive customer experience and attaining competitive advantage (Romer, 2011).

With the help of flexible working practices of Capco its employees will become able to increase their productivity as well as commitment towards attaining organizations goals. It is because if an employer provides an opportunity to its employees to maintain work-life balance, they become motivated as well as satisfied. This in turn helps them to improve their overall productivity. Increase productivity and employees retention will facilitate employers to attain cost saving and become a socially responsible company (Allen and Eby, 2016).  Flexible work arrangement in turn will also help Capco management to optimise its performance on different levels and remain competitive in the industry. Therefore, it can be said that both the employees and employers of Capco can make use of flexibility to fulfil their own needs and attain respective goals (B?k-Grabowska and Jagoda, 2015).

Answer 2.4

With an increasing globalization a number of changes have occurred in the global labour market, which in turn impact flexible working practices followed by organizations. Similar is the case with Capco as changes in labour market have also influenced its flexible working practices in number of ways. All changes are due to factors like rapidly evolving technologies and means of communications, a significant increase in undergraduate and post graduate recruitments, demographic changes, migration etc., (Sarantinos, 2007).In some aspects the changes are really beneficial for organization like Capco.

 For instance with a change in recruitment practices, now Capco management focus on acquisition of best talent rather than specific specialisation trends to select its employees. Now company employs people from all around the world and provide flexibility to its workforce to work from any office or home location to become able to attain a balance needed nowadays in between personal and professional like. Acquisition of employees at global level with best talent helps the company to become more flexible and make use of types of flexibility such as one of the most common methods used in the present is mobile working (Armstrong, 2010).

On the other hand migration and demographic changes have impacted Capco as now it has an increasing group of people from diverse background and culture who are willing to work on full or part time jobs as per their availability. These kinds of changes in turn have made Capco’s flexible working practices easier and more convenient (Romer, 2011). With this the company has become able to lessen its conventional business expenses as well as boost the rich cultural diversity, in which Capco believes in.

Task 3 – Topical Issue

Answer 3.1

Discrimination refers to prejudicial treatment towards employees just because of a group he/she is part of. Though there are different laws in place to prevent discrimination but several individual still find themselves being discriminated. Similar is the case with Capco as its employees could also find themselves discriminated in following ways:

Race and Ethnicity Discrimination:One of the most common forms of discrimination that can take place in Capco is racial discrimination. It is because; the company employs number of people from different parts of the world with various backgrounds. Some of its employees may also find themselves treated negatively, which is significant to be eliminated.

Sex Discrimination: Other form of discrimination that can take place at Capco is sex-based discriminations. Some of its common forms are sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and propositions of rough remarks towards an employee as faced by other companies and in news nowadays. It may also involve negative treatment or unfair demands regarding promotion (Banfield and Kay, 2008).

Religion based Discrimination: This form of discrimination may involve treating a Capco employee unfairly because of his/her religious affiliation. Other forms of it that may occur include harassment and negative treatment.

Disability based Discrimination: Discrimination on the basis of disability may also take place in the company as some of its management people may be against people with disabilities. Due to employees’ disability, the company may fire it or stop him working, but this is prohibited and need to be taken care by each and every employer of Capco.

Age based Discrimination: Other form of discrimination that may take place at Capco is age based discrimination. This is mainly probable in regard to the worldwide labour market change with more and more young undergraduate and post-graduate people being appointed in Capco due to company’s quest to recruit best talent (Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, 2016).

The company though employ equal employment opportunity policy, but still there are chances of discrimination to occur in some or other form.

Answer 3.2

The equal employment opportunity policy implemented by Capco helps it to be committed that all of its employees are entitled to equal employment opportunities. This policy is applicable to all of the company’s personal action such as compensation, discipline, benefits, promotions, transfers, lay-offs, terminations, and involvement in its administration activities (Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, 2016). This legislation in turn has number of positive as well as negative practical implications for Capco. For instance, with the help of this legislation, the company become able to increase its image in the minds of potential employees as well as customers. This legislation facilitates the company to serve all of its employees with equal opportunities.

On the other hand, with this legislation it becomes crucial for Capco to keep considering discrimination as unacceptable. In addition to this, the company management also need to hire experts to keep reviewing all its operations and procedures so there is no violation of equality legislation as per specific country’s codes of practice (Banfield and Kay, 2008). The implementation of this legislation also has financial implications for Capco as management has to pay extra to professional specially hired for implementing and managing this. The advertising budget of the company also increases with it in regard to demonstrating itself as an equal opportunity organization that opposes discrimination and implement it throughout all of its policies and procedures.

Answer 3.3

Approaches used by organizations to manage equal opportunities and diversity go hand in hand and this are the reason Capco make use of similar approaches in this regard. For example, while recruiting the management source talents from all over the world with the use of extensive media in regard to equality and employment legislation. This approach in turn helps the company to employ qualified individuals irrespective of the nation they are from (Bendl et. al., 2015). Use of this approach concerning equal opportunities also facilitates Capco to manage diversity.

In addition to this, the company also make use of an approach to hire people based upon demonstrated abilities, attainments and experience in spite of discriminating on the basis of race, age, colour, nation, sex, religion etc. All of its employees are responsible for the implementation of the company’s equal employment opportunity policy in all phases of HR administration (Banfield and Kay, 2008). This approach in turn also helps its employees to respect each other’s culture and learn different things. With these approaches to equality, the company also become able to develop a highly efficient diverse culture.

Along with this, other approaches in regard to equality and diversity are open communication. With this all employees have a right to present their views and discuss with their employers, if they find any part of their job difficult to be handled (Bendl et. al., 2015).  On the other hand, Capco also make use of different flexible work arrangements such as part-time, full-time, job-sharing etc. Use of different flexible work arrangement facilitates the company to have employees from different part of the world working with equality regardless of any kind of discrimination.

Task – 4

Answer 4.1

Success of Capco mainly relies on its employees’ performance, which is a result of its on-going performance management approach (Annual Report, 2015). The company make use of different performance management methods which are as follows:

Goal Setting and Revision: One of the most important methods used by the company is goal setting and revising. It is because each and every employee requires clear understanding of anticipations for their work. An executive goal setting help employees to understand their work and related context, and revision of it from time-to-time help them to attain a fit with organization goals and become committed.

Management and Coaching: Once employees are hired, the company management focusses on their effective management of training and development programs. Along with consistent feedback and coaching is also given on existing gaps in required skills set. It helps in improving employee performance and engagement (Price, 2011).

Development Planning:Once skills gaps are recognized, the company managers help employees in development and giving them control over their career development. Development is mainly emphasized on having clear awareness about the skills needed to be developed to attain further progress (Annual Report, 2015).

Rewards and Recognition:Another most significant performance management method used by the company is rewards and recognition. Recognition facilitates employees in attaining a balance in between the positive and negative feedback. Rewards given are based on employees’ performance and an all-inclusive approach used to work with others (Akpan, 2011). Rewards and recognition help Capco in improving employee retention and engagement.

Answer-4.2

Capco people significantly help it to make the difference. This is the reason company also care for its employees by focussing on employees welfare. Within its HR department, there is an Employee Relations Team, operating with a responsibility of managing different issues affecting the overall well-being of its employees. This team work in a way so that the employees are not affected with issues like grievances, redundancy, and policies and procedures (Bennett, 2010). On the other hand the team also work hard in regard to developing different rewards and pension schemes effective in fulfilling employees’ welfare.

Along with this, the company HR team also try to establish a link in between work, health, and well-being. In this regard numbers of steps are taken by the management as well as managers such as prevention of illness and promotion of good health and well-being. Number of seminars and meetings are organized in this regard to develop awareness in this regard along with regular sports activities and provision of healthy food (Annual Report, 2015). Another important approach used in this regard is to create a good working environment as good work is always good for well-being of employees. Concerning this, it is always taken care by the management that there is employment security, work is not characterized by monotony and repetition, autonomy, balance in between the efforts and rewards received, development planning, strong workplace relations etc.

Answer-4.3

Health and safety legislations has significant implications on the Capco’s human resource practices as with this they are bounded to follow it not only for the safety and well-being of their employees and customers but also for the overall public. Legislations in turn also increase the company’s expenditure as with this, the HR management team also become responsible to implement all essential health and safety aspects for its employees. All its policies and practices are based on specific country health and safety legislation (Bennett, 2010).

For example Health and Safety Act 1974 make it vital for Capco employers to set and apply appropriate programs that ensure required health standards in the workplace. Number of acts implemented in this regard also makes it crucial for Capco HR management to provide suitable training on various health and safety issues (Annual Report, 2015). In this regard, it becomes important for them to appoint and engage suitable qualified persons able to advice on employees’ health and safety.

Legislations make it significant for the company HR management to provide and maintain safe plant and work systems, appropriate information on risks and hazards, adequate welfare facilities, regular monitoring of employees health and safety through different inspection programs (Akpan, 2011). With the help of this discussion, it becomes clear that health and safety legislation has important implications for Capco’s HR management.

Answer - 4.4

The topical issue (health and well-being of employees) being faced by almost all firms nowadays is really significant in regard to organization’s success. The issue also impact Capco as well as all of its HR practices. With the introduction of different National Well-being Programme and frameworks of guidelines to affirm individuals’ health and well-being it became significant for Capco HR management to revise all its HR practices (Bennett, 2010).

Initially, the company introduced number of inspection programs to identify the gaps, and then they launched number of programs in line with all its HR practices. The company HR policy also involves and health and safety statement, which should not be violated in any case. Additionally, the company also keep changing its HR practices with new Acts being passed by the specific country governments in regard to employees’ health and safety (Rankin, 2009). This approach really helps the Capco to use effective HR practices leading towards creating distinguished and committedprofessionals.

Conclusion and Recommendations

With the help of above discussion and an analysis of different topical issues being faced by current firms like Capco, it becomes clear that success in present relies on effective management of human resources. An effective management of human resources nowadays mainly depends on how effectively a firm is able to develop a strategic approach to HRM, develop flexibility within the workplace, create equal employment opportunities, performance management, and maintain adequate health and safety environment. A firm able to deal with all these issues would definitely attain assured success as with this all of its employees would become able to committed and differentiate from competitors.

References

 

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