A Case Study On HS Furniture Co. Essay.

1. Apply a SWOT analysis to HS Furniture Co. Identify, describe and illustrate up to 4 S, 4 W, 4 O & 4 T.

2. What are the HR problems in the case? Illustrate your answer with specific examples.

3. What evidence is there that the four key roles of a HR manager (strategic partner/contributor, administrative expert, employee advocate and change agent) outlined in lectures/text were applied? Explain your answer.

4. Describe the nature of recruitment and selection, orientation, performance appraisal/management and employment contracts at HS. Specifically, describe what recruitment and selection methods, orientation, performance appraisal/management methods and employment contracts were used. How reliable and valid were their selection and performance appraisal/management procedures? How effective are these HR practices and methods? Ensure you provide evidence to support your answers.

5. Assume you, as a HR consultant, had been employed in 2015 prior to CM’s decision to open the Darwin office. As a HR consultant, what would you have done differently? Describe what changes and/or HR practices you would introduce?

The SWOT analysis of HS Furniture Company are described as follows:

Strengths

• It is one of the leaders of manufacturer of furniture that focuses more on the different kind of innovative techniques
• The respective company has been quick enough in responding to the different market trends
• The reliability of HS Furniture is high in delivering high quality services along with reasonably priced products to their customers
• The respective company has diversified their product portfolio as this has increased their brand reputation

Weaknesses

• The company has faced huge bankruptcy and this caused decrease in the quality of the products that are sold by them
• The different individuals in the sales team did not have much knowledge on the different kind of expansion of the company in an effective manner
• The orientation and the selection along with recruitment procedure are not formal and this is one the huge weakness of the company  
• The morale of all the employees in the organization was all time low and this was a big disadvantage in the market as well

Opportunities

• The company can add premium quality products in the company as this can assist the company in being more profitable in the business
• The company can create different kinds of business opportunities in the emerging markets as this can expand their business successfully
• The introduction of the sales department can introduce different kinds of improvement in the different departments of the company and this will positively affect the company
• The cost leadership of the company is the other biggest opportunity for the company that can raise the quality concerns along with creating value of the products

Threats

• There is increase in the demand of premium products in the market that can cause huge threat for HS Furniture Company
• Secondly, the competitive pressure in the market can create pressure on the respective company as there are existence of different rival brands
• The changing government laws along with tax policies can create a negative impact on their prices of the products sold by HS Furniture Company
• Lastly, no upgradation of the products in the market can create pressure on HS Furniture and this can have bad impact on their sales

There are different HR related problems in the case of HS Furniture Company that there was no such Human Resource department in the respective organization. It was seen that HS Furniture did not have any personnel or HR department and this was a huge problem for the company as well. Furthermore, it was noticed that the company did not have accurate performance appraisal system that is necessary for the company as these assists in analysing the performance of the different employees in the organization.

For instance- it was seen that the respective furniture company HS Furniture Company did not have any separate formal HR department as the manager felt that the company do not need the same as this would make the company inflexible and this can seize the business opportunities of the company as well. The different HR related activities were undertaken by CM or line managers and this resulted in contrary and unfair decisions.

Furthermore, it was noticed that there was no formal performance appraisal system as this was a small kind of business. CM felt that the managers are capable in providing guidance to the employees and no such performance management is required. No such goal setting has been done for the different employees. However, the intervention was done by CM after a problem occurred and he tried to include formal training and personal development of the employees. Hr provided proper emphasis on the issues faced by the problems and later he decided that a sales office is required to be opened in Darwin, NT.

Answer 2

The four key roles of HR manager such as strategic partner. Administrative expert, employee advocate and change agent were not applied in a formal manner in HS Furniture Company. Jane and CM did not have the formal and practical knowledge on the different aspects of the different HR functions. It can be analysed from the evidence when it occurred that there was no formal orientation, job description and person specification provided to the employees in the organization.

Furthermore, it was noticed that both of them thought there was no requirement of development of the strategic plan in the organization as this can cause inflexibility in the job performances of the employees. However, there was an incident wherein after an occurrence of a problem, CM realized that a formal training is required to be included in the organization for treating the employees as the family members.

Furthermore, this particular incident was treated as the change agent as CM realized the fault of the poor customer service along with diminishing in the quality of the products that are provided to the customers. Lastly, proper HR rules and regulations has to be followed by the organization in order to gain competitive advantage in the market.

Nature of recruitment and selection, orientation, performance management and employment contracts at HS Furniture Company are as follows:

It was noticed that Jane and CM both managed the different tasks related to HR, Marketing, sales and accounting as they felt they have all the knowledge regarding the different departments. It was noticed that there were no such written job descriptions provided to the candidates as CM felt it was bureaucratic in nature. There was no such formal planning, Jane along with CM decided that there will be requirement of different employees in different departments in Darwin. The selection procedure was not at all formal in nature and later on this caused huge pressure on Jane as she felt frustrated while taking care of all the activities.

• Recruitment and Selection Method- Not formal in nature
• Performance Appraisal-No such separate department or regular appraisal was done
• Orientation-No orientation or induction program was conducted by HS Furniture Company as CM and Jane just made them understand their job without any kind of formal introduction.
• Employment Contracts – CM did not have much knowledge on employment laws and contracts and HS has faced huge breach of contract regarding employment and leasehold agreements. The employment contracts of the employees were unclear in nature for the staffs working in Darwin.

The selection and performance appraisal that was followed by CM and Jane in HS was not reliable and valid to ab great extent as the company officials did not follow any kind of formal procedure that has created negative impact on the business. Furthermore, it was noticed that one such evidence wherein in the recruitment and selection procedure, CM and Jane did not provide any formal job description or person specification to the employees. Additionally, it was noticed that while there were new employees who were interviewed, there was no such induction program that is required to be conducted by the HR of the company as well.

Lastly, it can be concluded and recommended that proper performance appraisal along with recruitment and selection procedure is essential in nature as this will help the company along with the employees to gain more competitive advantage and this will make the performance more effective in nature. The recruitment of the candidates and formal orientation program is important to maintain the proper effectiveness in the different activities that are performed in the respective organization.

As a HR consultant, if I would have been appointed as the HR manager of the HS Furniture Company in the year 2015, I would have initiated few other steps prior to set up an office at Darwin. Firstly, I would have provided professional training to all the employees in the organization. I feel that professional training and development can help and assist the employees in planning the tasks that are required to be performed by them. According to me, a formal HR planning is necessary as the recruitment and selection can be made easier in order to attract talents and hire resources that will help in meeting the requirements of the organization.

I would have introduced a panel for recruiting and selecting the candidates in much more appropriate manner. The recruitment has to be done in such a manner that will assist in interviewing candidates on the basis of the qualification in different departments. Furthermore, the orientation program is essential as to make the employees thorough with the practices of the organization. The management of the employee relations is essential as this has the ability to influence the behaviour of the employees effectively.

The morale of the employees has to be influenced positively, proper motivation is essential in order to understand the different demands of the employees and remove the grievances of the customers. Before selecting the candidates for a particular payroll, this is necessary to understand the past experience of the employee and the salary negotiation has to be done in such manner. Lastly, I would have taken the employment contracts in a serious manner as this has huge influence on the organization.