Introduction
Human resource is a key element in an organisation. For an organisation to be successful, it is important that the management implement a comprehensive employee resourcing strategy. According to Kevin (n.d, p.2), employee resourcing refers to matching an organisation’s future requirements and supplying it with committed, qualified and experienced human resource at the right time and place. The source of staff can either be from the external or internal labour market. Various activities are involved in the process of employee resourcing. These include staffing, administration and performance.
Human resource administration is concerned with resourcing, relational process and employee development. On the other hand, performance and staffing processes are concerned with ensuring that an organisation has the collect number of employees with the necessary skills. Various internal and external factors affect these activities. According to Ani, Andrew (2001, p.7), there is a complex relationship that exists between variables related to resourcing processes. The management of an organisation has to ensure that harmony exists in an organisation between; the organisation’s human resource strategies, employees’ preferences and needs and job requirements. Various responsibilities face the employees. These relate to job requirement and other personal responsibilities such as caring for the family. Therefore, it is important for the management of an organisation to incorporate the concept of flexible work- work life balance. The case of Sue Fox (A Quality Assurance Manager) is a classic illustration of the importance of adopting this strategy.
The phrase ‘flexible working’ refers to a working pattern that is in line with an employee’s needs. On the other hand, work-life balance refers to the process of implementing policies that enables an employee to combine his or her employment with the various aspects of their life. According to Clinton (2009, para.12), work-life balance is one of the major aspects that is currently attracting employees to an organisation. In addition, flexible working is resulting into an increase in the rate of employee retention. By incorporating these strategies, an organisation can benefit from an increase in employees productivity. In addition, the employees become more committed in their duties. This paper is a report related to employee resourcing strategies based on the case of Sue Fox. The subject of the report relates to the various employee resourcing strategies that can be adopted to enhance flexible-working and work life balance.
The following are some of the employee resourcing strategies that the personnel manager of the organisation should consider.
Recruit more staff
Currently, the organisation has a shortage of experienced staff. This makes it difficult for the line manager to make adjustments in relation to employees’ requests. To increase the level of employee loyalty to the organisation, the personnel manager should consider increasing the number of staff. This will enable the organisation to have sufficient number of human resource in all the departments at all times. Recruitment should be perceived as a strategy of increasing human capital in the organisation. It should be aimed at meeting the future challenges. This is due to the fact that it will result into an increase in the organisation’s pool of skills and competencies (Alan, 2007).
Personnel manager should ensure that a comprehensive recruitment strategy is formulated. The strategy should consider both internal and external sources of staff. This will enable the organisation to recruit staffs that are motivated and have the necessary skills. The result is that the organisation will succeed in the long term. In its recruitment strategy, the management should ensure consider the outsourcing the services of recruitment consultants, head hunters and selection experts. Alan (2007, p.306) asserts that this will help the organisation to increase the scope of its recruitment. This is due to the fact that recruitment agencies consider both the domestic and foreign labour markets. Recruitment agencies conduct a comprehensive recruitment process to ensure that the individual is qualified.
The use of recruitment agencies will enable the organisation to increase the chances of selecting the best human resource. Randal and Susan (1987, p.207), asserts that through external recruitment, the organisation will increase the range of its employee’s experience. This will help in solving the problem of employee scarcity within the organisation. Sufficient staffing of the organisation will culminate into an increase in the employees’ level of performance. This is due to the fact that flexible working will be inculcated in the organisation enabling them to attend to other responsibilities such as child care (Alan, 2007, pp. 348-350).
Employee training
The employee staffing process should also integrate employee training. According to Geoff (1994, p.23), training will enable the selected and the already existing staff to improve on their skills and hence their performance. For example, if the organisation has enough staff, it will be possible for some employees to attend refresher courses. This will culminate into employee development. In addition, employee training will result into career development for the employees. As a Quality Assurance Manager, Sue Fox is concerned about attaining job fulfilment. Through employee training, it will be possible to attain this.
To effectively incorporate employee training, the personnel manager should conduct a need analysis. According to Sarah (2005, p.65), need analysis refers to the identification and evaluation of a particular need. Need analysis is also referred to as gap analysis. It enables the management to identify the gap between the current situation of the employees in relation to their skills and their desired position. There are various procedures that are necessary for the management to consider in the process of undertaking need analysis. These include;
- Identification of the skills that the employees need to learn.
- Identification of level of training required by the employees. For this to be undertaken effectively, it is important for the management to understand the current level of skills of the employees. This will help them identify the training need areas of the employees according to their preferences.
- Determination of the cost that will be involved in training the employees.
- Determination of the method of training to be used.
Through employee development, the level of employee satisfaction will be improved. Through employee training, the management will be able to maximise on the value of the employees.
Adjustment of working hours
Personnel policies are important elements of employee relation in an organisation (‘Employee relation process’, 2009). One of the avenues through which the personnel manager can improve this employee relation is through adjustment of the working hours. Sue Fox’s is a committed and goal oriented individual. This means that she is an important resource to the organisation. On average, her working hours are five to eight hours. Her job involves a lot of travelling which deprives her the time available for her to be with her children. This means that there are some aspects of her life that are affected by her work. Some of the strategies that the personnel manager should consider to maintain a flexible working environment include:
Working on part time basis
Part time working refers to an employee working few number of hours compared to a full time employee. According to flexible working and work life balance (Anon., 2009), full time working involves working an average of average to thirty five hours per week. Working on part time basis gives an employee the chance to balance his or her work with other personal commitments. By adopting this strategy, the management of the organisation will enable Sue Fox to effectively undertake her caring responsibilities.
To incorporate part-time working strategy, the management of the organisation may consider reducing the number of days that an employee attends job per week. For example, the management may consider dividing the working days into a set of three days. In this strategy, the personnel manager should incorporate a one day of hand over. Alternatively, the personnel manager may consider structuring the part time working program by incorporating the concept of job sharing. According to David (2006, para.1), job sharing involves splitting a full time job between two employees. This gives the employees an opportunity to control their time. For instance, the days work may be split into two basing on the number of hours. One of the colleagues may be opt to work in the morning hours while the other works in the afternoon hours.
Flexi time strategy
The personnel manager should also consider integrating the concept of flexi time. Under this strategy, a certain range of hours are set in which the employee must working. For example, the personnel manager may set the working hours to be between 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. The other hours are considered as flexi time. During these hours the employees have the freedom to be working or not. However, the personnel manager should set the monthly number of hours that the employee is supposed to attain. For example, an employee may be required to work for 35 hour a week. This means that the monthly number of hours he or she is required to work is 140. If the worker exceeds this number of monthly hours, he or she is at a credit. This means that his or her off duration can be increased. On the other hand, if the number of hours is less than 140, the employee runs at a deficit which means that the lost hours have to be compensated. Through this strategy, it will be possible for Sue Fox to balance between her personal duties and job requirements. This is due to the fact that she will be able to schedule on her travelling. In addition, flexi time working strategy will give her the opportunity to be in control of her work load.
Compressed hours
The personnel manager should formulate a compressed hour working strategy. This strategy is related to flexi time strategy. In this strategy, the personnel manager sets the given number of hours that the employee is supposed to work per week. The employee has the freedom to compress these hours by working over a few days with the requirement of meeting the set hours. For example, the employee may be required to work for 35 hours daily for five days. This means that the employee will have time to accomplish other commitments. This means that Sue Fox will be able to balance between her job requirement and life.
Through this strategy, the personnel manager will be able to improve on employee loyalty and hence the rate of employee retention. In addition, it will be possible for the organisation to attract and recruit qualified individuals who have other commitments. In the long term, this means that the organisation will develop competitive advantage in relation to human capital.
Integration of reward management
The management of the organisation should improve on its reward management. Reward management refers to a system through which the employees of an organisation are rewarded for every accomplishment achieved (Michael, Paul, Duncan & Charles, 2005,p. 5). Reward management entails both financial remuneration and non-financial remuneration. For example, an employee can be rewarded through an increase in his or her salary and also other financial benefits. Considering the case of Sue Fox, her financial responsibilities are numerous. These include paying for child care, tax and other personal financial responsibilities. By increasing her salary, she will be able to meet these needs.
In order to reward employees effectively, the management of the organisation should continuously conduct performance appraisal. Performance appraisal involves evaluating the performance of the employee. The employee is rewarded according to the level of his performance.
Sue Fox is motivated in her job which limits her from quitting the job. To increase her level satisfaction, non financial form of rewards such as promotions should be integrated. Considering her performance, the management should consider promoting her to a position of Senior Quality Assurance Manager. This will enable her to exploit her skills to the maximum considering the fact that she is goal oriented.
Other forms of non- financial remuneration that the management should consider include recognition. This will enable the employees to feel appreciated resulting into an increase in their productivity. Through recognition, the management of the organisation is able to identify behaviour that should be encouraged within the organisation. In addition, the rewarding strategy will enable the organisation to attract, recruit and maintain high job performers.
Subcontracting
The management of the organisation should consider the concept of subcontracting. According to John (2007, p.197), subcontracting involves entering into a contractual agreement with an external firm to perform certain tasks. Ken (2009, para. 7) asserts that through subcontracting, the management is able to integrate a flexible working environment in the organisation. Considering the fact that Sue Fox’s job entails a lot of travelling, the personnel manager should consider outsourcing a quality assurance firm to undertake some these tasks. This will reduce the work load to the Quality Assurance Manager. This will result into a decline in the level of stress as a result of job hence an increase in their productivity.
Conclusion
The success of an organisation depends on the quality of the firm’s human resource. Currently, employees are concerned with balancing their work with other responsibilities. This is due to the fact that employees have got other responsibilities such as caring for their families. This makes it important for the management of an organisation to develop a flexible working environment. A flexible working environment benefits both the employee and the organisation. The employee is able to undertake other personal responsibilities. The employers benefit from increased performance from the employees. This is due to the fact flexible working environment results into employee satisfaction and hence their level of performance.
To create a flexible working environment, the management should consider a various employee resourcing strategies. To ensure that the organisation has the right number and quality of staff, the management should recruit more employees. The recruitment strategy should be comprehensive. This will ensure that the firm has selects only the qualified employees. Both the domestic and the foreign labour market should be considered in the recruitment strategy. This can be achieved through the use of services of the recruitment agencies or the head hunters. Recruiting more staff will enable the organisation to have a sufficient number of staff. The effect is that it will be possible for the management to reallocate tasks to different employees. This means that there will be no hindrances for the employees in balancing their life.
The management of the organisation should ensure that employee development is integrated in the organisation. According to William and Roland (2004, p.19), this can be achieved through formulation of an employee training program. The employee training program will ensure that the employees are skills are improved. This will culminate into an improvement in the efficiency of employee performance. In addition, employee training will enable the employees to develop their careers. This will result into employee satisfaction and hence their loyalty to the organisation.
Flexible working environment can also be enhanced by the management adjusting the working hours. Strategies such as flexi time, compressed hours and part-time working should be considered. This will result into flexibility in work environment since the employees will have control over their work. This means that they can be able to balance their work with other responsibilities. However, in implementing these strategies, it is paramount for the management to set the number of hours that the employee is required to work either weekly, monthly or annually.
Employee resourcing can also result into flexible working environment through incorporation of the subcontracting strategy. Subcontracting will enable some of the organisation’s tasks to be performed by an external firm. The result is that there will be a reduction in the work load assigned to the employees. The effect will be an increase in the productivity of the employees.
Reward management should also be considered in employee resourcing. Effective reward management should be supported by performance appraisal. Both the financial and non financial forms of rewards should be considered.
A flexible working environment can form the basis through which an organisation can gain competitive advantage in relation to human capital. This is due to the fact that qualified individuals will be attracted to the firm and also the rate of employee retention will be high.
Recommendations
The management of the firm should consider the following employee resourcing strategies to ensure that there is a flexible working environment in the organisation.
- Increase the number employees in the organisation by recruiting and training more staff
- The firm should subcontract some of its activities that are not core to the operation of the firm.
- The management should formulate a policy aimed at adjusting the employees working hours.
- Career development should be integrated in the organisation. This will enable the employees to progress in their careers.
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