Understand The Different Perspectives Of Human Resource Management

This in turn helps firms to manage their employees in an effective manner as done by Capco. Here, in this report different perspectives of HRM are discussed along with an analysis of developing flexibility within the workplace in the context of Capco. At the same time, the impact of equal opportunities in the workplace is also discussed. At the end, approaches significant to human resource practices in organizations are also evaluated in regard to Capco with an aim to become aware how a firm can deal with current topical issues and legislations. Different tasks undertaken here will help firms to become aware with current HRM practices and issues with an aim to become more effective.

Task – 1

Answer 1.1

Capco is a well-known multinational business and technology consultancy company. The company has specialization in six financial services sectors; banking, risk and compliance, finance, insurance, technology, and wealth & investment management. The company success is mainly based on its innovative thinking and significant sector knowledge. Additionally, Capco is committed to hire the best and assist its employees to continuously broaden their skills base and increase their industry knowledge in all possible manners (Our People, 2016).

The company management is highly committed to develop an all-inclusive working environment through its different HR practices, and formal HR policies. Once such effort in this regard, is implementation of Guest model of HRM. This model was given by David Guest in 1987, and is known as a soft HRM model. As per this model, HRM in a firm should be about designing policies and practices in a way to attain subsequent outcomes:

·         Strategic integration

·         High employee commitment

·         High workforce flexibility and adaptability

·         High quality workforce (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

Capco implement this model with an aim to attain these outcomes and create commitment among its workforce rather than forcing them to perform their duties (Albrecht et. al., 2015). These HRM outcomes in turn help Capco to be directed towards required organizational outcomes like improved job performance, effective problem solving, increased change consistent with strategic goals and budgets (Our People, 2016). At the same time, it also helps the company management to attain reductions in employee turnover, absences, and grievances.

Though, the model implemented is significant but also has some limitations, which are also considered by the company to make it successful. Due to its limitations, the company authorities make it sure that Capco has a coherent strategy of HRM policies completely integrated with its business strategy and reinforced at all levels of line management (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

Answer 1.2

With the help of above analysis of Capco HR practices and approach towards its people it becomes evident that company employees play an important role in its success. Capco employees are highly committed and distinguished, which has become possible only because of its approach towards managing human resources (Our People, 2016). The company HRM practices could be effectively understood with the help of Story’s definition of HRM, personnel, and IR.

In accordance to Story, HRM could be defined as human competence and promise is what helps a firm to differentiate it from others. This is the reason it is believed that HRM should be implemented into a firm’s strategy and need to be integrated into all its management functions as done by Capco. Capco’s HRM strategy is significantly associated with its business strategy and management functions, and this in turn help the company to attain its aims and objectives in an effective manner (Annual Report and Accounts, 2014).

On the other hand Story defines Personnel management as an administrative record-keeping function. Personnel management and IR include careful description of written contracts, whereas HRM goes beyond the set contract (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). In PM and IR, management of workforce is based on complying with set rules, whereas this is not the case with HRM as in this employees are considered as an asset and developed in all possible manner.

At Capco, HRM is followed and it is mainly concerned with the growth and application of people strategies’ integrated with all corporate strategies. This in turn helps the company to ensure that the company culture, structure, and values are designed in a way to help employees to motivate, and get committed to significantly contribute in attainment of all its business goals (Our People, 2016). All business practices of Capco are formulated in a way to help its employees to broaden their skill base as well as industry knowledge. It has become possible only because of an effective integration in between its HRM practices and business strategy.

Answer 1.3

One of the management functions which have developed most in last some years is HRM. It is because human resources are one of the most significant resources of an organization and they need to be managed with utmost level of attention and interest. The growing importance of human resources directed firms towards HRM from personnel management, and now towards strategic HRM from HRM (Robbins, 2009). Strategic HRM refers to implement a managerial procedure through which a firm’s HR policies and practices become linked with its strategic approach or corporate strategy.

A shift towards strategic HRM has made it crucial for all firms to implement it, which is a complicated managerial process. This in turn have implications for a firm’s line managers as well as employees. Similar is the case with Capco, as the company line managers are responsible for managing a strategic approach to HRM. Line managers are effective developers of workforce, with a specialization in everyday people management (Wood, 2009).

While developing strategic approach to HRM, the company’s line managers were the one who handled this change on vertical as well as horizontal level. They facilitated workforce to understand this change and adapt to it to become able to contribute more and become more specialized in their field (Robbins, 2009). In addition to line managers, strategic approach to HRM also had implications for Capco employees as they were concerned with its effect on their performance, job security, career development, growth etc.

Capco line managers along with higher authorities played a significant role in this regard and become successful to implement a strategic approach to HRM, which leaded it towards its current success and competitive advantage over others.

Task – 2

Answer 2.1

One of the most appreciated norms of current workplace is flexibility. Use of workplace flexibility is increasing day by day and it’s mainly due to the work-life issues among employees. Increasing business and environmental pressures makes it difficult for employees to attain a balance in between their personal and professional life (Ramsdal, 2016). This in turn has directed towards workplace flexibility, which could be developed with the help of different models like functional flexibility, numerical flexibility, temporal flexibility, and financial flexibility (Wood, 2009).

Among these different flexibility models, the most common used nowadays by almost all organizations is temporal flexibility. It pertains to shifting working hours to fulfil business demands, which is also modified by different countries government as per the need of their workforce (Robbins, 2009). Capco also implement the same model with an aim to help its employees all over the world to have flexi working hours as per their needs. This really helps Capco employees to attain work/life balance and become more productive as well as committed.

Answer 2.2

With an ever increasing trend of developing workplace flexibility, there are types of flexibility which a firm can develop. For instance, Capco helped its employees to attain work/life balance by developing different types of flexibility. One of the most common types of flexibility used by the company is flexitime (Wentland, 2007). Flexitime allowed Capco employees to select their working hours from different working hour’s slot. With this, it became easy for the company employees to work as per their own need and attain a balance in between their personal and professional life (Wood, 2009).

In addition to this, the company HR managers also implemented Job-sharing, in which two people ready to share their roles and tasks and finish the task on time. This in turn helps employees to share their work as well as benefits in accordance to their needs. Other most significant type of flexibility used is compressed work week in which work week is compressed but working hours are increased (Robbins, 2009). With this, Capco employees become able to finish allotted task in less than 5 week days by working more hours, and manage their personal roles and responsibilities on remaining week days.

On the other hand, other type of flexibility used by the company is Flexplace. It allows Capco employees to work from other than office like their home or some other remote place. If an employee needs to take care of some of their family member or child, he/she can easily make use of flex time and work from home to attain a balance in between his/her work and personal roles (Norton, 2008). Other types of flexibility used by Capco to help its employees’ include work-sharing, expanded leave, work and life program, phased or partial retirement etc. Use of all these types of flexibility help Capco to help its employees in becoming more productive as well as committed towards organizational goals (Wentland, 2007).

Answer 2.3

Flexibility in a workplace is a requirement of both the employees and employers. Changing markets, technological advancements, and reorganized workforces are just a few motives due to which flexibility has become a new norm of all organizations (Lastra et. al., 2014). Similar is the case with Capco as its employees as well as employers both benefit from its flexible approach as discussed here:

Use of Flexibility from the Employee’s Perspective:

Flexibility to employees has number of benefits and one of them is to embrace change more easily and expand their career opportunities. Flexibility in Capco allows its employees to easily embrace change if any adopted by the company and increase available career opportunities. As well, it also helps Capco employees to attain a work/life balance, which in the present has become one of the most significant issues for businesses. This in turn facilitates employees to increase their productivity as well as commitment towards organizational goals (Lastra et. al., 2014). Flexible work arrangement in Capco as per employees need also motivate them a lot to work with dedication and serve customers with utmost quality services.

Use of Flexibility from the Employer’s Perspective

In addition to employees, use of flexibility also benefits Capco employers as with this they become able to make effective relations with employees. Satisfied employees are able to effectively coordinate with employers and help them to work in the direction of set business goals.Attainment of goals on time directs the company employers towards cost saving as well as competitive advantage (Allen and Eby, 2016). On the other hand being flexible creates a win-win situation as it helps in building employee trust and commitment, and they are directed towards improved performance (Norton, 2008). This helps the Capco management to optimize its presentation as well as become more competitive in the industry.

Answer 2.4

Changes in the labour market are not limited to a particular nation as globalization has affected global labour market. Some of the changes being faced by the global labour market are due to globalization of business, technological advancements, rapidly changing business trends and environment etc., (Norton, 2008).All these changes make it crucial for the companies like Capco to make use of flexible work arrangement; so that employees become motivated to work in this challenging business environment.

Increasing working pressures and diversified workforce, sometimes made it difficult for the Capco employees to deal with these. To deal with these changes and issues faced, the company management employed flexible work arrangement, to help its employees to cope up with this pressure and strike a work/life balance (Allen and Eby, 2016). Labour market changes have also directed the Capco to employ world best talent rather than limiting its recruitment process to a specific nation. Employing people from different parts of the world required use of flexible working practices so employees even from remote locations become able to coordinate and work effectively (Wentland, 2007).

Task – 3

Answer 3.1

Capco being a global firm employ people from different social, cultural, and racial backgrounds. All of its employees are not similar but still they work together. Some of them easily get along with colleagues, but this is not the case with all and this is where discrimination and unacceptable behaviour may occur. In accordance to set law, nobody should be discriminated or treated unfairly, but in reality it happens in different forms as discussed here:

Age: A form of discrimination that may occur in Capco is age discrimination. It includes treating an individual unfairly due to his/her age. For instance middle-aged employees are at risk of being terminated to appoint younger employees (Kirton and Greene, 2015).

Origin: As well, the company may also face discrimination issues due to an employee’s origin, and ethnicity. Some of the Capco employees may be having wrong perceptions about a country or other, and if someone from that country joins they may treat him/her unfavourably.

Race/Colour: Other most common form of discrimination that could be faced by the Capco is race/colour discrimination. It may include treating an employee wrongly just because he or she is of particular race or colour (Barak, 2013).

Religion: Capco may also face discrimination on the basis of its employee’s religion. An employee or employer may discriminate with an applicant because of his/her religious beliefs.

Sex: Gender and sex-based discrimination may also occur in Capco if its employers prefer one gender over other. This is most common in financial institutes, where employers prefer appointing males over females (Griffin, 2013).

In addition to this, there are number of other types of discriminations that may take place at Capco such as disability, compensation/equal pay, genetic information, pregnancy etc. Though, the company employs strict policies to avoid any kind of discrimination, but it may occur at different point of time.

Answer 3.2

Equal Opportunity legislation in Capco is a stipulation that all of its workforce should be treated in a similar manner, unimpeded by fake barriers or prejudices or preferences. Capco’s equal employment policy is a management and legal aspect aimed at restricting any kind of unlawful act or victimization (Kirton and Greene, 2015). The company EEO policy significantly oblige its employees not to commit specific acts, along with a remedy for people if unlawful acts are performed. Equal opportunity legislation of Capco has certain positive as well as negative implications for it (Annual Report and Accounts, 2014).

This legislation is significant for both the individuals and the company. Equal opportunity legislation has helped the Capco to form a baseline for adequate behaviour. As well, these practices help the company employees to feel that they are treated fairly and equally, which in turn help in improving their commitment, gratification, and devotion towards the company (Griffin, 2013). With this, employees also become able to have a healthy mind-set and a sense of personal worth and well-being, which is really important for employees to attain a work/life balance (Barak, 2013).

On the other hand, the equal employment opportunity legislation also has some negative implications for the company. It increases its cost as well as complexity to handle different aspects of it. With this, though the company image has improved, but it is bound to restrict or avoid any kind of discrimination or unacceptable behaviour (Annual Report and Accounts, 2014). Additionally, implementation and monitoring of the legislation require appointing experts. Each and every aspect of legislation needs to be implemented throughout all company policies and practices, which is also a complicated task to be done and handled.

Answer 3.3

Approaches to manage equal opportunities and managing diversity are related to each other in some or other way, but there exist key differences in between the implementation and goal of these approaches (Kirton and Greene, 2015). At Capco, the company management is highly committed to hire employees from different parts of world based on their experiences, and skills rather than their race, age, or sex. This approach of the Capco significantly helps it to maintain equal opportunities as well as diversity in the workplace (Annual Report and Accounts, 2014).

On the other hand, the company also make use of open communication at all levels of its operations. It aims to create equality among all employees and employers. With this, each and every employee is free to talk any issue or doubt in his/her mind regarding work or any other aspect. The approach of open communication also facilitates the company to maintain equal opportunity as well diversity (Griffin, 2013).

Though, the approaches used in this regard are similar but there are also some differences concerning the approaches used by Capco for equal opportunities and diversity. One of the key differences in between managing equal opportunity and diversity is the determined force of implementation (Kirton and Greene, 2015). Equal opportunity is mainly externally initiated and driven by statute and society ethnic like impartiality, justice, and human rights. In contrast to this, management of diversity is an internal initiative and based on business-requirements (Wambui, 2013).

Additionally, the objective of approaches used to manage diversity and equal opportunity also differ. The aim of EO approach is to maintain social justice, and protect human rights, whereas the goal of diversity is to treat all employees as individuals, and acknowledge that each of them has specific needs, and they require different kind of help to succeed (Griffin, 2013). So, there exist various similarities and differences in between the approaches used by Capco to manage equal opportunity and diversity.

Task - 4

Answer 4.1

Capco being a worldwide financial services consulting firm serves 75% of the globe’s financial services institutions. Global presence of the company makes it significant for its management to make use of most effective performance management methods (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). It is because; performance management is an important integral element of the workplace and offers a platform to employers to measure their employees’ performance. Performance management in Capco is aimed to making the company better.

Capco use performance management as a holistic approach that includes its plans, activities, valuations, and analyses with an aim of improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Performance management at Capco is used as a cycle of continuous improvement. Key components of this cycle include planning, executing, monitoring, analysing and sharing, and adapting (Chandhanaand Easow, 2015). Use of these methods really helps Capco employees to improve their performance with an identification of new skills and approaches they can adopt and learn.

Planning facilitate determining performance goals and objectives, executing includes undertaking related program and practices, monitoring pertains to tracking measurable outputs, analysing and sharing is all about analysing the outcomes in terms of set goals, and sharing it with others. At the end adapting includes learn and develop strong programs to improve employees performance (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

Answer 4.2

In present competitive business era, success of a firm mainly depends on its employees. This makes it vital for a company management to focus on employees’ health and well-being. Same is the case with Capco as its current success is all because of the contributions made by its employees. Valuable contribution of Capco employees depends on how effectively they are treated and able to attain a balance in between their professional and personal life (Rossi et. al., 2013).In Capco, the company maintains a separate health and well-being policy for its employees, which includes number of services employees are entitled and various awareness programs.

To attain assured success in this regard, the company management also make it sure that all its health and safety programs are effectively integrated with its HRM practices (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Along with this, Capco also provide physical and mental health services to its employees in the form of periodical health check-ups, consultations with specialists, awareness programs. On the other hand, Capco management also make sure that there is a harmonious human relation at work so that all employees could work without any tension or depression. The company also undertake different employee assistance programs, fitness and awareness programs to help its staff to maintain good health and well-being.

Answer 4.3

Health and Safety legislation are designed with an aim to bind all firms to develop, maintain, and follow fundamental health and safety standards in their workplace (Rossi et. al., 2013).With these legislations a company like Capco become able to serve all its employees with a healthy and safe working environment. Health and Safety legislation if implemented have significant implications for a firm like Capco. One such implications of this legislation for Capco human resource practice are to follow it in each and every aspect of human resource management.

These legislations make it crucial for Capco to make use of all safety measures and serve its employees with all essential health related services. Different Acts implemented in this regard, direct the company management to hire some specialized people in this regard, who could guide Capco to implement these legislations in a significant manner (Carpenter, 2012). All these activities in turn increase Capco’s cost as well as complexity of handling and monitoring these legislations at all point of time.

Other implications of such legislation for company human resource practices is modifications, inclusion of basic and advance health and safety standards, their monitoring, follow-up etc., (Rossi et. al., 2013).Though, the legislation has various implications but these eventually help employees as well as the company. Capco’s success is real example of how helpful health and safety legislation are in regard to increasing employees’ motivation as well as performance.

Answer 4.4

In addition to the topical issues discussed above, one other significant topical issue that need consideration in the present is well-being of employees. Today, employees play an imperative role in the success of firm, and same is the situation with Capco. Capco’s current position has become possible only because of the contribution of its employees. Significant contribution of employees depends on their well-being, which is also a responsibility of the organization they work for (Carpenter, 2012).Capco’s management make sure that its employees well-being is maintained effectively, and this is the reason it make use of number of consultations and programs in this regard.

The introduction of various National Well-being Programme and frameworks of guidelines to uphold individuals’ health and well-being, the Capco management also modified their HR policies and programs. Concerning this, the company undertook number of evaluations were to recognize the gaps if any. Subsequently, it also modified its HR policy to include statements and clauses in regard to employees’ health and well-being (Carpenter, 2012). Various seminars and awareness programmes were also managed by the Capco HR managers, and this is the reason the company employees really help it to differentiate from others.

Conclusion

With the help of above discussion and analysis of different topical issues, it becomes clear that the company HR managers play a vital role in the success of a firm as well as its employees. An effective management of employees is really imperative in the present time, when businesses face immense pressure, rapidly changing market trends, ever-increasing competition etc. Provision of flexibility, equal opportunities, healthy and safe working environment is important as done by Capco to improve its employees’ dedication as well as performance (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

 

 

 

 

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