Employee Engagement to Positive Business Outcomes Paper
Employee Engagement to Positive Business Outcomes Paper
THE MARSHALL GROUP
Marshalls is a multi-national corporation which was founded over 150 years ago by Sir George Marshall and his brother, Lord Arthur Marshall. It is a large high street retail corporate business selling foodstuffs, homewares, clothing, and other accessories. The company has grown from relatively small beginnings to where it is now – one of the leading and most profitable retail operations in the sector. Turnover and profits for the last 3 years:
PERIOD TURNOVER PROFIT
Year ending 31 December 20131 $1.4 billion $700m
Year ending 31 December 2014 $1.9 billion $900m
Year ending 31 December 2015 $2.4 billion $1.5 billion
The people side of the business is made up as follows:
The Executive Office – Chairman, MD, CEO + a full Directorate Board from Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, Facilities (properties), Legal, etc. There are 10 Executive (working) directors. The Board has also 8 nonexecutive directors, i.e. those who do not work directly for Marshalls but receive a fee for their input into strategy, etc.
Employees – 18,000 and rising (multi-cultural and multi-ethnic)
Span of Control – around 1 to 10 in Head office and central departments, 1 to 20/25 in the stores and retail outlets.
Processes –
? Structured Employee benefits packages – salary, pension, medical, etc.
? Profit Sharing – 5% of declared profit is set aside each year for staff
? “Bonus extras” package – restricted to Sales only
? Learning and Development programmes are in place
? MBA and other University programmes available for defined individuals
? Specialist programmes for the “highpo’s” (High potentials) are in place
? Performance Management – which is geared towards Sales achievement
? Compliance Procedures are rigorously followed
? Strong culture of Management by Objectives
? The Management Style is largely “command and control”
? Risk/Reward is seen as key to the future of the business
? No structured succession planning has been considered
? Strategy is set out – not always understood or followed by The Line
? There are lines of Communication – unfortunately not always followed
? Communication tends to be mainly “downward”
? Turnover in staff ranges from 20% – 25%. (the industry average). No exit interviews are carried out.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER
1. A recent report from financial consultants contracted to look at the organizational aspects of the company suggested that the group should be broken into more manageable units, with the most profitable retained and others sold off. This would involve a further study of the whole business and a complete re-evaluation of the way the business direction needs to take in the medium to long term.
On the face of it the retail clothing side would be under the greatest threat of downsizing – or even closure – as there is now significant competition from countries such as China and India.
The company realises that perhaps they may have to “change their ways” but are reluctant to do so. There is virtual warfare being waged in the Boardroom over this. On one side are the champions of change who see it as essential for the on-going welfare of the business. On the other side there are those who take the view….“it ain’t broke, so what’s to fix?” This matter is an open secret throughout the business and is starting to cause factions among Board Members.
This information has now filtered down to ground level making Staff and Line Managers in the clothing division very unsettled. Some key staff have already started to leave.
2. There is increasing animosity towards the Sales Team which is seen as elitist, arrogant and overpaid.
This is made up predominantly of men – this is simply an historical fact. It is also the case that there are more salesmen allowed to take sabbaticals for degree etc. courses than any other members of staff in the business.
3. Learning and Development issues are not understood. The L&D team report to Sales and Operations, they have no real contact with HR. The only training that takes place is a “fun day” at Induction + some high-powered sales training.
You are a team of HR Consultants who have been employed by the HR Director. He has been wondering how to approach this topic with The Board. You have decided to prepare a full presentation of the facts to the Board, with supporting notes. This should try to explain the role of HR and the link to business management in differing types of organisation/sectors.
You see this as an opportunity for your consultancy “to shine”, and to try and help in placing HR at the heart of the business – up till now it has been seen largely as an operational support function. Perhaps this is the time for HR to break from Sales and take a place in the business in its own right?
Your supporting preparation discussions. PowerPoint and notes should explore how a sound business approaches key contemporary issues such as:
? An assessment of a range of different factors that impact on an organisation’s business and its HR function. You should include examples of external and internal factors to illustrate the types of impact e.g. profitability, the change agenda, globalisation, government and legal regulation, etc. (1.1)
? An analysis of some of the key forces shaping the HR agenda, e.g. HR insights, strategies and solutions to support business performance, business ethics and accountability. (2.1)
? A comparison of the different tools for analysing the business environment, e.g. SWOT/TOWS and
STEEPLE/PESTLE, Porter’s 5 forces,’ the ‘Value chain,’ etc. (2.2)
? A summary of the key stages in strategy formulation and implementation with reference to a model from literature. You should also refer to the role of HR in each of the stages and in particular, highlight HR’s contribution to business ethics and accountability. (2.3, 2.4)
You have been allocated a one hour slot at the Board meeting, so you should prepare to present for 45 minutes and allow 15 minutes for Q&A.
(This is the basis of the case study. You are invited to add your own detail, such as how the organisation is currently structured, in order to bring your presentation to life. You should use internet-based sources to support your analysis of your local business environment.)
Assignment – 5HRF Part B
This document is for guidance only – to be used in the classroom workshop. Your actual assignment must be completed on the electronic template you will find on Online Services.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT B (A.C 1.1, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2) 2,200 words
You are required to conduct some research into how HR supports organisational performance. For section 4, you will need to access an article from your Home Page on Online Services (downloads/HRM MODULE 1 – Article for Review 5HRF Part B_.pdf), that discusses 3 organisations, and how their HR practices link to positive organisational outcomes.
You are required to research and write-up your findings covering the sections below:
Section 1
? Give examples of the main organisational objectives that the HR function is responsible for delivering (AC1.1).
? Explain how these have evolved/are evolving in contemporary organisations. (AC1.1)
? Provide a brief business justification for managing HR in a professional, ethical and just manner. (AC1.3)
Section 2
? Give a brief summary of two different ways HR objectives can be delivered in organisations (AC2.1)
? Analyse how the HR function varies between organisations in different sectors and of different sizes (AC2.2)*
* You should examine three of the following types of organisation:
1. A public authority (Government Sector)
2. A national private company
3. An SME
4. A voluntary (Third Sector) organisation
Section 3
? Discuss the main criteria and methods used to evaluate the contribution of the HR function (AC3.1)*
* Your response should consider (briefly) the following:
? HR metrics used to evaluate HR function contribution
? SLA’s and KPI’s
? Staff surveys
? Benchmarking with other organisations
? Return on Investment (ROI)
? How a ‘balanced scorecard and/or ‘HR dashboard’ might be used to present HR metrics
Section 4
? With reference to the article you have accessed from your Home Page of OLS:
– What are the key messages from the report? (AC4.1)
– How convincing do you think these findings are, and why? (AC4.1)
– From your understanding of the findings in the report, how can high performance working and investment in people impact on organisational performance? (AC4.2)
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
? Please also comment on how you will transfer the new knowledge and skills gained during this assignment into working practices. You may also use this reflection for your CPD.
? You should also include 3-5 references from up to date and relevant sources in order to support your findings.
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