Critique and Analyze Ethical HRM Practices in Westonwich District Council

Background of Westonwich District Council (WDC) and its chief responsibilities

1. Critique and debate key and contemporary arguments about the theory and practice of HRM and how ethical expectations are met in practice whilst assessing its contribution to the organisation.

2.  Evaluate and analyse workplace scenarios relating to relevant business strategies for professional, ethical, effective and efficient HRM within current organisational contexts.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

Note: It is permissible to make assumptions by adding to the case study details given below provided the essence of the case study is neither changed nor undermined in any way by what is added.

Westonwich District Council (WDC) provides a range of local government services to a predominantly rural population of 75,000 people living in a market town and surrounding villages in the north of England. Chief responsibilities include council tax collection, refuse collection and recycling, the administration of housing benefit, planning matters and the promotion of tourism. The authority employs a total of 250 people, many of whom work on a part-time basis. There is a small HR team which consists of four people: a manager, two officers and an administrator.

Like all local government bodies, WDC has had to make very substantial savings in recent years. Pay rises have been restricted to 1% for some years now, while strict restrictions on recruitment have been in operation. When staff leave or retire, they are not replaced unless a very strong business case can be made. The few recruits are being employed on temporary contracts. The financial situation will remain very challenging for the foreseeable future. So far redundancies have been avoided, but this may not be the case in the future as further cost savings are sought.

You are the HR manager at WDC and you have been asked by the CEO to carry out a staff survey to establish levels of satisfaction and engagement among the staff. A confidential questionnaire was circulated with an administrator employed to collate the results. 81% of staff responded. Key metrics found included the following:

·64% look forward to going to work in the morning;

·61% find their work to be rewarding, 13% enjoying it ‘greatly’;

·44% are satisfied with the variety of work they are required to do;

·72% feel valued and supported by their work colleagues, 55% by their line manager, but only 20% by senior managers;

·71% are satisfied with their level of responsibility;

Challenges faced by WDC for making financial savings

·59% are satisfied with their physical work environment;

·21% are satisfied with their pay and benefits, but no-one says they are ‘very satisfied’

·55% are happy with their work life balance;

·89% state their jobs have become increasingly stressful in recent years;

·32% are satisfied with their training and development opportunities;

·83% say their workload has increased in the past year;

·70% are satisfied with their promotion opportunities;

·15% say change is managed well by the council;

·90% say that they ‘sometimes feel stressed’ when they are at work;

·74% say they ‘feel safe’ at work;

·88% are happy with the council’s equality and diversity practices;

·28% are ‘listened to when they are at work’;

·37% are satisfied with the ‘amount of discretion’ they are allowed to exercise in their jobs;

·36% are happy with their job security;

·27% say they feel their efforts at work are properly recognised;

·54% are actively seeking alternative employment.

The CEO at Westonwich District Council has asked the HR manager (you) to prepare a report on the key issues identified within the findings and potential solutions for addressing those issues. You are expected to fulfill the following three tasks, in completing the report:

1.Categorize the findings into themes with a brief discussion of why these are issues or areas for concern. It is important to consider that some findings may fall into more than one theme or category and that some findings may not easily fall into any. Your justification for why a finding falls into a theme or category is, therefore, a key part of this task.

2.Identify two key issues and provide justification for why these are the key issues that must be addressed first. There is no single correct answer to this, therefore, you will be graded upon the strength of your justification.

3.Provide recommendations as to how those two key issues can be addressed. The recommendations should be justified with evidence as to why they might work.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

In order to pass Assessment 2 you will need to:

·Demonstrate a basic level of understanding with regards to the debates of current and future developments in HRM locally and internationally.

·Show a basic level of ability to identify and review major contemporary research and debates in HRM locally and internationally.

·Present adequate evidence of knowing how to implement HRM strategies.  

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

We will be filling this section in together in class on Click or tap to enter a date. make sure you have downloaded/printed out the Assignment Brief and bring it to the session with you.

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The aim of this assessment is to increase your critical thinking around HRM in organisations and how it is impacted regularly by environmental changes as well as developing your skills in analysing the outcomes of a workplace survey.

This assignment is based on a case study exploring several aspects of HRM. This requires you to become more critical in your understanding of HRM, becoming ‘thinking performers’ as you attempt to find solutions to the issues presented in the case study whilst ensuring an efficient, effective, ethical and professional HRM function. Over the weeks of the semester we will debate and discuss how we can best achieve a high performance workforce, minimizing under-productivity and fostering a progressive work environment. Lectures will be supplemented with practical seminars exploring similar issues in a range of organisations.

Successful completion of the unit will give you a comprehensive and detailed overview of how you as a business management graduate with specialised knowledge of HR are able to make a greater impact in the organisation, increasing your contribution and effectiveness in working through and with your organisational colleagues to increase the well-being of the business for sustained competitive advantage.

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.