Human Resource Management In Top Trucking Company In NSW, Australia Essay.

Question:

Discuss about the Police Raid Trucking Company Barnetts Couriers.

The topic of the following assignment deals about the human resource management. The subject of human resource management is a vast one but the given topic focuses on a very significant aspect regarding the Top Trucking Company in New South Wales in Australia. The company’s performance degradation because of poor management and the tortures, their gradual metamorphosis to overcome the situation, setting up a better reputation and earning back the lost glory is the topic of discussion by examining certain critical questions. The Wollongong yard is the place and its work practices have to be discussed critically with certain insightful points about the role of human resource management.

The role of the human resource management is a very crucial one in every company (Hendry, 2012). It decides and directs the working practices and strategies of the company. Human resource is a very crucial term as the working areas of human resource managers include the roles of selecting employees for recruitment, providing induction sessions for them, help them to develop their working skills, motivate the employees, assessment of their works, giving ideas how to improve their skills and arrange for further training if needed (Jiang et al., 2012).  An HRM has many objectives to perform in his/her tenure of work period. The roles include societal objectives, personal objectives, and organizational objectives. The importance maintaining good employee relations is one of the most important objectives of human resource management (Paauwe, Guest & Wright, 2013). As the focus of this assignment is employment relations and some specific topics chosen, the discussion must be done on the same.

The employment relation is originally a legal term that states about the relationship between the employers and the employees when the employees are engaged to work in an organization in return of remuneration and they have to work under certain conditions (Van Wanrooy, 2013).

The background of the topic should be discussed in short. The former yard manager of Wollongong trucking company, George Psaros was a very autocratic person as documented in the given article. He took all the things in his own hand and never maintained any courteous relationship with the employers and the truck drivers. The truck drivers were treated very badly and in an inhumane way. As a result, the working atmosphere began to deteriorate and the administration took no positive steps to solve the rising problems ("Wollongong trucking company in fatality probe", 2017) The company was then sold and the new owners began to run the yard in new ways and a new yard manager was appointed. The drivers are the backbones of the company. The new owners invented new methods to reach the drivers and utilize their credibility. The drivers were given sufficient benefits and advantages. The situation began to improve gradually and the new management started to look things in a different way and solve the problems logically (Williams, 2014).

The problems in the Wollongong truck yard were many. The union delegates interfered in the working practices of the truck drivers. It is very common fact that the trucks are machinery vehicles and they are subject to breaking down. At times when new trucks were needed, the administration did not respond properly (Thompson, 2017). The then Yard Manager, George Psaros took all the control in his own hands. He dominated the yard and he dictated all the employees there. The working environment became completely hellish (Ellem, 2013). The yard manager was also responsible for this motivation as he was the in-charge of the place. The thing that happened there was unwanted and the truck drivers were abused to an extreme extent. Thus they lost the motivation to work in the company.

Role of Human Resource Management

The new administration took over the proceedings and they introduced some new concepts to be implemented so that the working ambience could be revived at the Wollongong yard. At first they took a very bold decision to invest a big sum of money to revive their lost glory of the organization. They thought of providing new uniforms and supply new trucks motivated the truck drivers as they felt the administration and the manager cared for them. They felt to be important which, is one of the main responsibilities of the managing department and especially for the human resource management ("What are the Key Elements of Resource Management?", 2017) The new yard manager would not compromise with anyone, not even with George. The new manager introduced new training programs for the truck drivers. These characteristics of the new yard manager impressed the employees and he began to earn respect. This brought a sense of mutual understanding and respect that should pervade in an organization and its working atmosphere (Bidwell et al., 2013). The managerial duties of the new manager were much impressive to bring the perfect working conditions.

The question shifts from the area of work practices to the risks that may arise from the chances of the new manager leaving the place or getting promoted. The employees prefer to work under a manager or an administration that understands their demands and help them in critical conditions. The employees need to be encouraged by the management team so that they can develop their skills and perform better. This would help the organization to do positive results as the employees are an integral part of the particular organization to make it run smoothly. The truck drivers were not at all enjoying the working atmosphere under the previous yard manager as there was so much abusing and insulting going on always. They did not feel secure there (Goel, Archetti & Savelbergh, 2012). The way they were treated hurt their self-respect. Later, when the owners were changed and the new yard manager took over, they felt a sigh of relief. The way the new yard manager ran the organization was very pleasing and the drivers liked the leadership. They had to adjust to the different work practices at different times (Nichols & Walters, 2016). They felt that the good times were coming. The introduction of the new work practices relieved them and the yard achieved good records and the hierarchy was impressed with their performance. The performance of the new yard manager impressed the head office and the situation may arise that he could be promoted to the office after the appraisal ("Performance Appraisal Methods", 2017) It would be very much de-motivating for the employees because they would again have to suit with the new management and new systems. This act of adjusting with the new atmospheres takes a lot of time. They have been going through such changes for a while now and these continuous changes affect their working credibility and performances. This would certainly be a risk if they have to move on further.

Problems in Wollongong Truck Yard

Another important aspect of these kinds of workplace changes have a lot to do with the trade union organizations. These transport organizations are divided into different trade unions. These trade unions operate very actively. They tend to dominate the management operations of the transport organizations. They think upon these places as their monopoly business and they are very reluctant to allow anyone to interfere in their business, how much negative their impact on the organization might be.

In this case where the Wollongong yard was losing their reputation, there was strong need for someone to step up and take some measures to stop that practice. The trucks were breaking down, the drivers were losing their motivation, and they lost their desire to work ("A Safe Working Environment - Guidelines for managers - UNECE Statistics Wikis", 2017) Union delegates like George Psaros was dictating the day to day operations like an anarchist in power. The changes came finally and the workers got back their motivation. The changes were implemented as planned. These kinds of changes often take place in service or public sectors. The management operations are monitored to attain a positive impact. The workplace changes take place to suit the needs of the organization. On the contrary, the trade unions like Transport Workers’ union shed their influence on the hierarchy to retain their dominance ("TWU - Transport Workers Union (TWU) - Home", 2017) In this particular case of discussion, the newly appointed yard manager took some bold steps to reshape the organization. Union delegates like George and the old yard manager were relieved of their dominant positions. The new yard manager brought about positive changes to the organization which, George had to acknowledge. The tough blue collar unions like Transport Workers’ union must engage in change of workplace changes if their governance is affecting the organization.

Conclusion

After a thorough study of the matters in the case study provided, some conclusions can be drawn from them. The role of human resource management has been discussed from various angles. The background of the problem is described with the probable outcomes as solutions. The Wollongong yard finally took a good step to reshape their organization and bring back their reputation as a workplace with a high level of reputation. These steps were necessary to make positive changes in the workplace and improve the work culture. The steps taken by the new yard manager were very commendable as it brought back the faith and belief of the employers on the organization. The introduction of new uniforms made the drivers happy and this fuelled in them a feeling to work more. The training provided by the manager on technical skills and customer service provided them with enough knowledge on their working area. The role of human resource management becomes apparent and pertinent in the introduction of new work cultures.

References

A Safe Working Environment - Guidelines for managers - UNECE Statistics Wikis. (2017). Www1.unece.org. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/GFM/A+Safe+Working+Environment

Bidwell, M., Briscoe, F., Fernandez-Mateo, I., & Sterling, A. (2013). The employment relationship and inequality: How and why changes in employment practices are reshaping rewards in organizations. The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 61-121.

Ellem, B. (2013). Peak union campaigning: Fighting for rights at work in Australia. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 51(2), 264-287.

Goel, A., Archetti, C., & Savelsbergh, M. (2012). Truck driver scheduling in Australia. Computers & Operations Research, 39(5), 1122-1132. Ellem, B. (2013).

Hendry, C. (2012). Human resource management. Routledge.

Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294.

Nichols, T., & Walters, D. (2016). Safety or Profit?: International Studies in Governance, Change and the Work Environment. Routledge.

Paauwe, J., Guest, D., & Wright, P. (2013). HRM and performance (1st ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Performance Appraisal Methods. (2017). Human Resource Management. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www.hrwale.com/performance-management/performance-appraisal-methods/

Thompson, A. (2017). Police raid trucking company Barnetts Couriers following two fatal crashes. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-raid-trucking-company-barnetts-couriers-following-two-fatal-crashes-20160520-gozo99.html

TWU - Transport Workers Union (TWU) - Home. (2017). Twu.com.au. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www.twu.com.au/

Van Wanrooy, B., Bewley, H., Bryson, A., Forth, J., Freeth, S., Stokes, L., & Wood, S. (2013). Employment relations in the shadow of recession: Findings from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study. Palgrave macmillan.

What are the Key Elements of Resource Management?. (2017). Brighthub Project Management. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/14438-key-elements-of-resource-management/

Williams, S. (2014). Introducing employment relations (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wollongong trucking company in fatality probe. (2017). Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/3917535/wollongong-trucking-company-in-fatality-probe/