VCAA Business Management Human resource management

In recent years, many supermarkets (such as Coles) have started using artificial intelligence to assist in detecting unusual behaviour from customers when they are using the self-service checkouts. One of the objectives of this process was to reduce the total value of items lost to theft. As a result of this, the businesses would also be hoping that net profit would increase over time.

Implementing this change successfully has required the use of a number of different human resource strategies. For example, employees have been given on-the-job training to ensure that they know how to use the equipment. The AI function in the registers links directly to gates that allow the customer to exit the store. Employees need to know how to respond if the gates fail to open; in some cases it may indicate that the customer is attempting to steal an item, but in other cases it might mean that there has been an error in the analysis process.

The managers will also need to use a variety of motivation strategies to ensure that the employees remain alert. Although the task of scanning items and placing them in bags is no longer done by staff members, the employees will still need to be aware of customers who need assistance. For example, the managers at Coles might decide to use performance related pay for those employees who proactively assist a certain number of customers each day. Alternatively they might use this process to identify young employees who are keen to progress their career at the supermarket. This could help to ensure that any future money that is spent on training is directed appropriately.

Finally, the managers may also need to implement some performance management strategies if the objectives are to be achieved. For example, employee observation at the checkouts will make it possible for the managers at Coles to see whether or not the employees are using the signals provided by the artificial intelligence appropriately. Doing this will ultimately reduce the number of items lost to theft. With lower losses due to this outcome, the total expense for inventory losses will be reduced. This will help to increase the net profit of Coles, ultimately achieving the objectives that were set when the change was made.

A key difference is that Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (MHON) suggests employees strive to achieve 5 fundamental desires in a specific order, while Lawrence and Nohria’s 4 drive theory (4DT) suggests employees strive to achieve and balance 4 fundamental drives all at once. This suggests in MHON, employees may only be motivated by money initially via the physiological needs, while in 4DT employees may be motivated by money via the drive to acquire alongside other drives, such as the drive to bond, learn and defend. Another key difference is MHON suggests once a need is fulfilled it no longer motivates employees and the next needs drive their behaviour, while for 4DT employees may continuously be motivated by all 4 drives. This suggests in MHON money may only be a temporary motivator for employees for the physiological and esteem needs, whilst for 4DT employees may be continuously motivated by money via the drive to acquire.

A key similarity is both MHON and 4DT recognise that employees are motivated by a range of motivators, such as money through the drive to acquire and physiological needs, but also social factors through the drive to bond and social needs, where money may be less of a motivator for employees. Another similarity is both MHON and 4DT aim to appeal to the personal desires of employees, through esteem needs and the drive to acquire, which may involve money and other motivators such as desire for respect and to be noticed and distinguished within a business. Hence, the statement that money can be the main motivator is true for some employees in some cases, but other motivators may also motivate employees in other scenarios.

Motivation refers to the level of energy, creativity and commitment one brings when performing a task. As employees are vital stakeholders in the achievement of business objectives, ensuring they remain motivated at work in crucial for both individual and business success and sustainability.

One motivation strategy is performance related pay. This involves a financial reward being given to employees whose work has reached of exceeded a set standard. It may be in the form of bonuses or sales commissions. This extrinsic motivation acts to motivate many employees driven by money and driven to acquire material goods and possessions. This can act to improve their productivity at work, as they work more efficiently, knowing such reinforcement is available for admirable performance. This allows a business to achieve its objectives as employees strive to have their achievement recognized, working hard to generate a higher quality product or provide better customer service, both of which can improve customer satisfaction, sales, and thus a businesses profit due to increased revenue. However, this strategy can create a competitive culture within the business. This can lead to resentment and disputes as some employees feel overlooked and their contributions to the business unrecognised. It can also be a significant cost to a business due to the provision of money, increasing their expenses. Thus this strategy can enhance performance/motivation for some, but should not be the only option to employees. It can be largely unsustainable, and thus more effective for short term motivation. This is because employees will strive to reach the bonus or have their wage increased, and once achieved, are likely to revert to their prior performance and overall not remain motivated once acquired. Therefore, this provides short term motivation for employees.

Another motivation strategy is investment in training, which acts to increase skills and knowledge of employees so they are better able to perform their jobs. By investing in training, such as on the job training including role modelling or mentoring, or off the job, whereby a business pays for an external course provider in the form of a lecture or conference, employees will feel valued and satisfied within a business. Such job satisfaction will increase their willingness to work hard to achieve business objectives, improving their productivity due to their motivation and engagement. It also allows them to develop a wider breadth of skills, to produce a better quality good or provide a better quality service for the business. Although this can be costly, and also halt productivity as employees may be away from their place of work, it acts to increase motivation as their abilities and self-efficacy increases simultaneously. Thus, this provides long term motivation to employees when a business makes a commitment to providing ongoing training options and opportunities for growth and development, as employees know they are provided the opportunity to work to the best of their ability and remain valued and required in the business, improving their levels of motivation into the long term.

When transforming a business, it is important that staff engage in retraining by upskilling in line with strategic priorities, such as by acquiring new technological skills or developing new ways of working. Continuous learning programs will support employee development when transforming a business. One example is the career development of employees, which enables them to update their skills and knowledge along with a future focus for career planning.

Performance management reviews the overall performance of a business and its human resources requirements to ascertain how goals can be better reached. A possible outcome from the performance management review is redundancy. Redundancy is determined during a performance management review process where a position within an organisation may no longer be required as a result of business transformation.

Unions act as a representative of employees. They champion the rights of employees and act as negotiators on behalf of groups of workers in the fight to attain better pay and conditions of employment. In a workplace such as Abs Are Us, where an award is the method of determining pay/conditions, unions will act as a provider of information for employees in regards to what their rights under this particular award entails. Furthermore, shop stewards can also act as a link to the Fair Work Commission for employees who believe their rights have been breached by their employer. Lastly, unions will also organise annual or biannual strikes, go slows or pickets in order to encourage the Fair Work Commission to improve conditions of employment and wages across the entire industry.

A similarity between awards and agreements is that both must follow the 10 National Employment Standards set by the Fair Work Commission, such as all employees having a maximum weekly hours of work. Another similarity is both involve the Fair Work Commission in approving of wages and conditions of work, such as Awards being set as the minimum standards, and all agreements must be approved by Fair Work Commission to ensure they are above the standards of the relevant award.

A difference is that Awards cover whole industries and occupations for wages and conditions of work, such as the Fitness Industry Award. Whereas Agreements are tailored to individual workplaces to suit the needs of the workplace, such as flexible starting and finishing hours to assist new mums to transition back into work at a law firm.

A grievance procedure is a formalised set of steps that employees and employer can follow to resolve a workplace dispute. The employee would first submit a complaint to their supervisor/manager about the increase in working hours. If the dispute is not resolved there, they would be able to go to a senior level of management like the human resources manager of Jenna. If this fails, they could use an impartial third party to facilitate mediation and lastly, arbitration (more formal) could be used for FWC [Fair Work Commission] to make a legally binding decision.

A participant in the workforce are the employer’s associations who are representations for the employer and in this case Jenna. They will provide advice and tips for Jenna in all areas of business operations but mainly when there is a change in legislation, like the new national minimum employment requirement, and represent Jenna when a dispute arises like it has in this case. An employer’s association will represent Jenna in mediation and arbitration and help her resolve the issues around the increase in hours with her employee. In a process of enterprise bargaining they can also represent Jenna.

Another participant in the workplace is an employee union who protects and helps uphold the rights of the employees. When their client the employee has an issue with their employer like the increase in working hours the union can offer them suggestions of what to do. The advice could have been given to them to submit a grievance to the human resources manager. The union will advocate for the rights of employees by representing them in dispute resolution procedures like mediation and arbitration as well as enterprise bargaining when determining an enterprise award. They can also organise strikes for employees which is a withdrawal of labour to show their unhappiness with their wages and conditions. If the issue with the hours is not resolved at Jenna’s business then a strike can occur.

The rate of staff absenteeism refers to the number of employees neglecting to show up to work even though they are scheduled to be present at work. A rising rate in staff absenteeism means Jenna’s printing business is suffering from low job satisfaction, thereby weak level of employee motivation and enthusiasm to work. This could negatively impact on the objective of profit maximisation. This is due to the fact that now Jenna does not have enough available staff to perform and carry out necessary duties to continue production. There would be insufficient labour resources to carry out printing services, thus resulting in the deterioration of labour productivity. This would hamper Jenna’s business’s ability to increase outputs, customer demands unfulfilled, losing sales, and thereby impairing the business’s profit margins. Ultimately, an increase in staff absenteeism may severely impede Jenna’s objective of maximising profits as employee job satisfaction is low – lacking the willingness to show up to work.

A business objective is a goal which an organisation sets out to achieve in a given time period. A business objective may include to ‘increase profit’ or to ‘fulfil a social need’.

An autocratic style refers to when management have centralised decision-making and communication authorities. Most commonly mangers provide employees with clear directions to complete a task, and regularly check in on employee performance. An advantage of John using this style is that he is able to make quick decisions in his bakery, since decision-making is centralised. This will mean that less time is spent making a decision, leading to less time of a low productivity. If productivity isn’t affected, John’s more likely to achieve his objective of increasing net profit by 10%. Another advantage of this style is that John can provide his employees with clear directives to complete a task, meaning that employees will know how to complete a task with higher competence, since they won’t be confused (because of clear directions). However, a disadvantage of this style is that John’s employees will experience a low morale, since they are delegated tasks, and have no inputs at John’s Bakery. This may lead to staff continuing to be absent, decreasing the likeliness of the bakery achieving objectives. Another disadvantage is that this style doesn’t allow for a large pool of ideas from employees, as the manager makes decisions with no input. This may result in a lower quality decision being made if John is using his ideas/creativity when making a decision. Overall, John should not utilise the autocratic style because employees will experience a low morale as they do not provide any input, leading to most feeling underappreciated. This is because staff feeling like this are more likely to work at a lower productivity, resulting in the objectives of the bakery not being met.

John may use staff training as a management strategy in response to the key performance indicator ‘staff absenteeism’. By improving the skills and knowledge of employees at the bakery so that they are able to perform more efficiently and effectively in their role, they will feel valued as an asset at the bakery. As John invests time and money enhancing their abilities, their job satisfaction will improve, and they will feel more competent to work to the best of their ability. In turn, they will be more likely to attend work as they feel both competent in their abilities and satisfied/valued at work, reducing staff absenteeism.

The operations system of a service business is often much more customer focused, as the services are often much more catered to the customer, compared to the operations system of a manufacturing business which has little customer involvement. For example, KEJ’s Cafe’s operations system would involve more customer involvement, as customers may request specific menu alterations or drinks, which those in the operations system then must cater to in order to satisfy the customer and provide the service.

Performance appraisal is a performance management strategy which relates to the evaluation of the performance of the seven casual staff at KEJ’s Café on a range of different factors, including their customer service skills or quality of coffee or food they make. It involves providing employees with feedback and a clear path for improvement.

Performance appraisal could be used by the business to achieve the employee objective to make higher wages or incomes. As it is a café the performance appraisal process could act to highlight clear areas for employee improvement, as well as what they are doing well. This can act to make an employee be more polite, or improve their customer service skills when interacting with customers, or make better coffee. This could increase (the) level of tips received from customers to employees. Thus increasing the total amount of money they take home from a work shift, thus helping to meet the employee’s objective to make higher wages or incomes.

Secondly, one business objective is to make a profit (net profit relates to the total difference between revenue and expenses). Performance appraisal could provide feedback to employees and highlight areas that need improvement, thus improving the overall performance of employees. If KEJ’s Café is able to provide high quality food (e.g. toast), coffee and customer service, it will see returning customers and develop a high reputation. Thus increasing sales and revenue, and helping to achieve the business objective to make profit.

A government business enterprise is owned by the government, acting as a source of government revenue. Thus, the government business enterprise, such as Australia Post, main objective is maximising profits in order to generate revenues collected by the government.

One entitlement issue for a redundant employee is to receive a redundancy package. This refers to a sum of money paid to redundant employees typically based on years of service to FilmsAU. Redundancy packages are a legal requirement and can also be used to encourage voluntary redundancy in certain situations. Another entitlement issue is to receive accrued wages are owed as a result of work that has been completed prior to the day on which the employee becomes redundant. This will be part of the broader process of finalising the payments owing to the employee that will also include unpaid long service leave and unused annual leave.

The human resources manager could employ a persuasive management style when making the decision on who is to become redundant and communicating with them. This is appropriate because this is where the manager would try to provide additional information to those filmmaker employees as to why they have been made redundant, in order to ‘sell’ the decision to them. This may help lead to better understanding within the redundant filmmakers, and could lower any resentment that they may have during the period when they lose their job. As this features the use of centralised decision making it means that the human resources manager is directly responsible for making the decision as to who becomes redundant, as it may be inappropriate for employees to provide input as to who should lose their jobs as a result of their positions no longer existing. Moreover, it sees the usage for one-way communication / top down communication, meaning that those employees who have been made redundant are not allowed to have input or question the decision, which makes decision making faster for the human resources manager, potentially saving them time when deciding who should be made redundant if no input is given, so that they can start expanding overseas faster.

Therefore, a persuasive management style is appropriate, as through the use of centralised decision making and one way communication they are able to make decisions on who is to become redundant quickly and directly communicate to the filmmakers losing their jobs and becoming redundant, without wasted time.

Decision making is the skill of having a goal or objective and making a selection from a range of alternatives to try and achieve that goal. Sam has used this by recognising that costs could have increased due to wages or salaries for her instructors, thus she had to make the decision to change the roster and reduce the number of hours of work for most instructors. As a persuasive manager, Sam would have used a centralised decision-making process.

One dispute resolution process that Perfecto Pilates may use to resolve the dispute at the pilates and yoga studio is arbitration. This is a dispute resolution process which involves an independent third party such as the Fair Work Commission hearing the arguments of the disputing parties and making a legally binding decision. The employees and the managers would each have an opportunity to speak about the impact of changing the rosters in a way that reduces overall working hours for staff. Arbitration is a more formal dispute resolution process which often takes place in a court-like setting with the aim of providing a final decision at Perfecto Pilates to resolve the dispute that is currently occurring.

To improve the corporate culture, the manager at Perfecto Pilates could change from using a persuasive management style to using a consultative management style. Shifting from one-way communication would help staff to voice their concerns to Sam directly before decisions are made, helping to avoid lengthy disputes and building a culture of openness and honesty. Moreover, this would help staff to feel more valued so instead of being resentful, interactions would be more positive and inclusive, helping to build a culture that values trust and social relationships at Perfecto Pilates. The consultative management style's centralised decision making would still allow Sam to retain authority while enhancing the quality of the decisions that are made, helping to build an innovative and positive culture.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a business' commitment to going above and beyond their legal obligations to address social, environmental and economic concerns.

It is important to consider elements of CSR when implementing change as, for instance, Sam communicating the change to employees allows them to feel recognised by management and, despite the dispute, this could still ensure that employees have a greater understanding of the need for the new roster. This might increase their motivation and support for the change. Additionally, without considering CSR elements such as the local employment concerns of the general community by decreasing hours of work, businesses such as Perfecto Pilates will have a negative reputation. This could mean that the change fails or is viewed in a negative way.

Conversely, by demonstrating CSR considerations when implementing change, the change is more likely to succeed as key stakeholders will believe that their views have been considered. Therefore, CSR considerations are important when implementing change as they help to determine the way in which the change will be perceived.

One stakeholder group that may resist the change is employees who work at the store in order to help the achievement of objectives. Employees want job security and with the fact that 20% of staff who will be retrenched, this could cause resistance in employees. To overcome this support which is the verbal and initiatives in place to help employees manage the change. Alex could offer support in resume writing or interview skills to the employees that will be retrenched. This makes employees leaving feel supported, while also shows current employees that management cares for their staff. This could cause less resistance which helps the success of the change.

Is the ability for an individual to be inspired and encouraged to take on tasks and undergo different activities. In relation to this large gaming store, this would involve being influenced and inspired to take on business activities and perhaps to strive to have the best performance relative to the individual.

Performance related pay refers to attaching an employees performance or work with a financial, or non-financial, reward. In this case, Alex could implement this motivation strategy by offering and handout out financial rewards, such as bonuses, to employees who display behaviour that aligns with business objectives relating to the change, and thus, increases employee motivation, as they are now incentivised to undergo work tasks. Additionally, due to the possibility of some employees being retrenched, this would also incentivise them to be motivated due to the additional financial benefits, which may decrease their financial insecurity.

The level of wastage measures the number of inputs and outputs that are discarded by a business during the production process. An increasing trend in the level of wastage such as the vegan meals and the raw materials that go into the food is a concern for Ready VEG Meals as they are experiencing a loss in productivity when producing their range of meals. When Ready VEG Meals experiences reduced efficiency they are wasting valuable resources, including the time put into manufacturing the meals, which can impact the business' performance. Ready VEG Meals may experience an increase in expenses associated with waste as the level of wastage goes up, further limiting the business' ability to make a profit.

One feature of Total Quality Management is a focus on continuous improvement. At Ready VEG Meals this would mean that the business is always looking to find the best ingredients for the meals that they make. This will effectively help to reduce negative customer reviews, as customers will be more satisfied with the taste of the meals, particularly if Ready VEG Meals are focused on sourcing the freshest ingredients for their meals. Satisfied customers are less likely to complain, thus reducing the number of negative customer reviews.

A second feature of Total Quality Management is consistent and complete commitment from all the employees. At Ready VEG Meals this could be achieved by ensuring that all employees feel comfortable making suggestions for ways in which operational processes could be improved. This could be done through the implementation of quality circles, where employees meet regularly to identify and solve problems related to their work. This could help to reduce negative customer reviews regarding the quality of their meals, as defects can be identified early on and eliminated before mistakes are made in the production process.

Performance related pay is a means of rewarding employees through monetary compensation when they perform their duties (such as food preparation) in a manner that equals or exceeds a set of predetermined goals/criteria. This may include offering chefs at Ready VEG Meals a bonus or increase in salary if they, for instance, find a good way to minimise waste or improve quality of vegan/vegetarian meals.

The benefit of using performance related pay is that it rewards best performance. Managers have no need to reward staff that are lazy or who don't meet the criteria that have been set. Furthermore, employees at Ready VEG Meals (and any business) would likely desire an increase in their pay as this is a key employee objective. As such, motivating them with extra pay may act as a good incentive for them to improve the quality of their work or to reduce the amount of waste generated during the production process.

However, performance related pay will cost Ready VEG Meals. As staff will be rewarded with monetary compensation, this will cut into Ready VEG Meals profits as money is used to pay employees based on their performance. Moreover, conflicts and jealousy may arise at Ready VEG Meals if some employees are being paid more than others due to receiving a bonus. This could mean that employees end up making mistakes as they seek to work faster or to generate more output than some of their colleagues. This would make the use of performance related pay counter-productive as the business works towards achieving its objectives.

One difference between these two forms of termination is that retirement is voluntary whereas redundancy is involuntary. This is evident as those who retire choose to terminate their employment to leave the workforce entirely, whilst those who are made redundant do not usually choose to be redundant. Instead, it occurs due to insufficient work or the fact that their position no longer exists.

One driving force that supported the change at Doggy Dugout is competitors. As the business is operating in a highly competitive market, likely with many businesses that are bigger than them, this supported the owner's plan to sell the business to a larger company. This would make it possible for the business to improve its market share and gain a competitive advantage over other businesses in the industry. This driving force would have promoted the sale of the business to a bigger company in an attempt to improve the various KPIs that are measures of success for this business.

One advantage of using high risk strategies is that it has the short term positive outcome of immediate compliance. Typically, threatening or manipulating employees by either implying negative consequences or sharing selective information encourages employees to comply quickly. This saves time and may be beneficial in critical situations where a business requires employees to quickly overcome resistance and support change.

However, one disadvantage is that high risk strategies can destroy the manager–employee relationship. Employees may feel betrayed when they are threatened or manipulated and no longer trust the management. This can damage corporate culture and even create more resistance to change as employees no longer feel connected to the business in a positive way.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is where a business goes above and beyond their legal obligations to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the economy, environment and community. Here, Furny-Chur demonstrates CSR through using locally sourced inputs and materials, hence displaying an ongoing commitment to the local Australian economy above their legal obligations.

Zero-defects is where a business such as Furny-Cur strives for perfection in that none of the products are below selling standard or (defective). This means that Furny-Chur’s manufacturing process for the seats is consistent and thus won’t produce defective seats (seats that can’t be sold and have to be discarded or recycled). This reduces waste of the materials (i.e., plastic) that is used to make the unsellable chairs as they will instead always be used with zero-defects implemented. Pull refers to customer demand to determine quantity of production. In conjunction with lean management (the systematic reduction of all processes that don’t add value), pull ensures that Furny-Chur does not overproduce seats, thus mitigating the need for storage. This reduces wastage of the labour and time used in managing the storage of overproduced chairs.

Agreements are decided and negotiated on at the workplace level between groups of employees and/or their unions and employers. They outline the conditions and pay for this workplace. A disadvantage of using agreements when determining wages is that it can take Furny Chur a very long time to negotiate the terms and conditions. This means less time is spent on other parts of the business, such as producing the seating.