The Importance Of Employee Voice

The Importance Of Employee Voice This paper studies the ascertainity of the importance of employee voice within Heritage Hotels, India. It explains why the author is undertaking the research and what the author wants to achieve from this research. It continues with the literature review that highlights the seven different topics that has been explained in detail. It then talks about the Methodology in which it shows the different research methods that have been chosen and why the selective research methods have been chosen for this particular research. The paper then analyses the findings and discusses the result in detail. In the conclusion, recommendations have been presented which look at what employers would want to see in the future regarding employee voice. Acknowledgements I express my gratitude to the University of Westminster for giving me the opportunity to work on the major project during the final year of MA in Human Resource Management. There are many who helped me during this project work and I want to thank them all. I would like to thank Tamarind and Angela Hetherington, my tutors for their invaluable guidance throughout my dissertation work and endeavor period, for providing me with the requisite motivation to complete my dissertation successfully. I specially appreciate the help and guidance of all those teachers who have directly or indirectly helped me making my project a success. I would like to thank my parents who have been by my side throughout the whole process and who have given me the motivation and courage to make my dissertation a success. I would also like to thank all the employees and the manager of Heritage Hotels for taking the time out from their busy schedule to complete my interviews. Thank You. Table of Contents Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 5 List of Figures 6 Introduction 7 Aim Objectives 8 Aim 8 Objectives 8 Literature Review 9 Defining employee voice 9 10 Purpose of employee voice 10 Types of employee voice 11 12 Benefits and success factors 12 Benefits for employees 12 Success Factors 13 Leadership 13 Training 13 Trust openness 13 Employee Involvement 13 Employee Voice and Organizational Performance 14 Figure 1: Employee Voice 14 15 Organizational Background 15 Introduction 15 16 The secret of a great escape 16 Heritage Hotels Mission 17 Methodology 18 Introduction 18 Research Philosophy 18 Positivism 18 Interpretivist 18 19 Methods of Research Used 19 20 Research Design 20 23 Figure 2: The Research Process 21 Respondents of the Study 23 Data Collection 23 24 Interviews 24 25 How was the research attempted and measured 25 26 Analysis and Discussion 27 Introduction 27 Interpretation of Results 27 Analysis 27 28 Question 8 28 Question 9 10 28 Question 11 12 29-30 Question 13 30 Question 14 30-31 Question 16, 17 18 31 Discussion of the Analysis 31-32 Why is voice so important? 32-33 Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusion 34 35 Recommendations 35 36 Reflective Statement 37 38 References 38 42 List of Figures Figure 1: Employee Voice Chart 14 15 Figure 2: The Research Process 21 Figure 3: The Response Table 28 1.0 Introduction This research topic studies to ascertain the importance of employee voice within Heritage Hotels. It specifically focuses on how important the employee voice is today. It investigates peoples perceptions on employee voice within the Hotel. Mahak Parwal, the author, feels that this study should be undertaken because as a current student and a future employee, she believes employee voice is and should be considered as highly important. With this study, the author also wants to find out the importance of employee voice, as well as know the employees perception towards it whether they think it should be there within the organization or not. There has been a sharp increase in the significance in employee voice between academics, practitioners, and policymakers in the recent years. Boxall and Purcell (2008) state that among employers, the breakdown of the mass production era and the resulting quest for high-performance work practices that deliver flexibility and quality has produced prevalent experimentation through schemes for sharing information and consulting with employees, involving employees in workplace decision-making and soliciting feedback. Simultaneously, the global decline within the union membership has willingly opened the doors for different voice mechanisms options, whilst also prompting renewed debates over the need for union voice and supportive public policies. There has been a growing interest in employee voice and interest in this topic has emerged over the last few years. Employee voice has been used to summarize several diverse approaches to employee relations, and numerous other terms have been interchangeably with employee voice. Employee voice is a critical element of organizational success. According to Lynch (2010), in times of uncertainty it is more important than ever that employers pay attention to a concept called employee voice. This is because it can work towards developing the workplace productivity during its impact on employee engagement, creativity, retention and effectiveness. A more recent meaning of voice that has captured researchers attention is a behavior that constructively challenges that status quo with the intention of improving it. Employee voice is a very extensive term among substantial width within the range of definitions that are been given by authors (for instance Poole, 1986; Strauss, 2006; Sashkin, 1976 ; Dietz et al., 2009). The aim of the paper is also to shed greater light on the meanings that organizational members derive from employee voice and what those different purposes may be. 1.1 Aims and Objectives The following aim and objectives will identify how the researcher will achieve the research study objectives and provide background on how the objectives will be met through the academic study. 1.2 Aim The aim of this study is to ascertain the importance of employee voice at the Heritage Hotels in India. 1.3 Objectives The following objectives need to be satisfied in order to reach this aim. These are: Define employee voice and its components. Determine the importance of employee voice. To investigate employees perception on employee voice. To critically recognize how Heritage Hotels promote employee voice in a hypercompetitive environment. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Defining employee voice As de ¬Ã‚ ned by Boxall and Purcell (2003): Employee voice is the term increasingly used to cover a whole variety of processes and structures which enable, and sometimes empower employees, directly and indirectly, to contribute to decision-making in the  ¬Ã‚ rm. Employee voice can be seen as the ability of employees to in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence the actions of the employer (Millward et al, 1992). Employee voice is a two-way communication between its employer and employee CIPD (2012). According to CIPD (2012), it is the process of the employer communicating to the employee as well as receiving and listening to communication from the employee. To get a basic understanding of what employee voice, one must understand what participative management is. Stueart and Moran (2007) states participative management focuses on increasing lower level employee empowerment during team building along with direct participative methods in order to involve the employee with the decision making of the organ ization. This has become one of the leading styles of management. The important of empowerment may not be obvious, however it is pertinent. According to Stueart and Moran (2007), there is a positive correlation between employee empowerment and better customer service, staff creativity and innovation, and flexibility. Employees are able to participate in the decision making process of an organization through flattening the hierarchical, top-bottom structure by the means of groups or teams and with direct participation. The concept of employee voice looks more into the opportunities in order for the employees to be involved within decisions together, which can either be through trade unions or by other means. It appeals to both those seeking greater business efficiency and to those looking for employee rights (CIPD, 2012). Organizations have increasingly looked on ideas that directly engage employees, moving from representative participation in the last two decades. CIPD research, according to Marchington, Wilkinson and Ackers (2001), suggests organizations that look to promote voice are usually those who believe that employees want to contribute to the business and that for employees to have an effective voice, the significant element of the communication process is not what the employer puts out but what it gets back. Good managers distinguish that the knowledge required for the business to be competitive can only come out of employees heads. Voice is defined most typically in terms of two-way communications, an exchange of information between managers and employees or having a say about what goes on in an organization (CIPD, 2012). Some managers feel that voice is a way for employees to represent their views to managers, and the different views presented by employees can be taken into account which, in turn, can be positive for the company. On the other hand, other managers take the more limited view that voice is not so much of a dialogue o r a two-way exchange of thoughts as a method for the employees to be able to pass on their thoughts to managers in order to develop the companys organizational performance. Employee voice is the most important characteristic of employee participation. If employee participation strongly contributes to a greater customer service, then it straight away shows that employee voice is a significant feature in this equation. According to McCabe Lewin (1992, p. 112), whilst participative management programs can be assorted depending on the company, the general scope and the amount of intended participation, the fundamental hypothesis remains the same, which is that employees possess sufficient ability, skill, knowledge, and interest to participate in business decisions. For Dundon et al (2004:1149), employee voice is best understood as a complex and uneven set of meanings and purposes with a dialectic shaped by external regulation on one hand and internal management choice on the other. The re is a long tradition in employee relations literature of focusing on the level and effectiveness of employee involvement and participation in the workplace (Marchington, 2005). 2.2 Purpose of Employee Voice According to Michael Armstrong (2006), there are four specific purposes for employee voice. The first purpose is basically to articulate dissatisfaction for individuals with the management team or in the organization. The second purpose provides as an expression of collective organization to management. The third purpose lets the management contribute towards decision making in particular concerning quality, productivity and work organization. Last but not the least it expresses the mutuality relationship between the employee and the employer. In addition towards the specific purposes for employee voice, Gorden (1988b) proves a fifth purpose. He had conducted a study with 150 students and the study confirmed higher employee satisfaction with his or her career and employer when the organizational conditions are conductive to creating and receiving opportunities for employee voice. These rationale supports in defining voice and offers a background on which one can base all of the studi es and research. 2.3 Types of Employee Voice Since Employee Voice is vast within Human Resource there are many types of employee voice. According to McCabe and Lewin (1992), there are about four specific types that help engage the process for the grievance resolution. The first type of voice is the ombudsman; it is similar to a confidant that is proposed to considerately take note to the injustice and to offer any help to solve the issue. The ombudsman operates more like a channel of employee voice, relative than actual employee voice. McCabe and Lewin (1992) state for this to work, the ombudsman needs to be thoroughly familiar with the organization and also needs to promote particularly for the employee. The second type of employee voice, again defined by McCabe and Lewin, is the mediation. Yet again, mediation also acts as a channel for employee voice. In this situation, the mediator goes through an argument between the two parties and supports in reconciling and resolving the problem. He or she does not particularly make the resolving decision but persuades solutions for the employees to eventually decide from the provided options. The third type of employee voice is arbitration and it is distinguished by the fact that the arbitrator can make the final, binding decision. The arbitration is usually seen as the preceding step in a grievance process and needs to completely follow the standards, policies and procedures as written in the handbook for the employees. Last but not the least are, again discussed by the aforementioned authors, tribunals and peer reviews. As the same for arbitration which is the third type of employee voice, the ultimate decision is requisite and needs to be in capacity of the employee handbook. The advantage to the internal tribunals is that employees are preferred to be judged by their peers rather than an administrator or manager: The advantage to these internal tribunals is that employees generally prefer to be judged by a jury of their peers rather than an administrator or m anager (McCabe and Lewin, 1992). Other than the grievance procedure as mentioned above, there are two other types of voice: 1. Representative participation, and 2. Upward problem solving (Armstrong, 2006). Representative participation is characterized by collective representation. Representative participation involves a formal mechanism which allows for the employee representation to solve issues of mutual interest and work more like a partnership between employer and employee, tackling issues together in a cooperative manner. Examples of representative participation would include trade unions or other staff associates/association. Employee voice is heard through an organized channel. The second type of employee voice is the upward problem solving. In this type of employee voice it works towards more of a teambuilding perspective. It basically involves two-way communication between the manager and the staff. Thus communication is characterized by suggestion schemes rather than partner schemes where employees indepen dently suggest ideas or changes and then employer generally rewards them (Armstrong, 2006). It includes the application of attitude surveys for employees in order to seek their opinion/speak through questionnaires which can be beneficial for the organization. In this case employee voice is more on the basis of being communicative on a direct level from employee to employer. The main method of expressing voice is through questionnaires and forms instead of formal representation. 2.4 Benefits and success factors Within the high performance workplaces, skills and knowledge are developed and enhanced which leads to high value enterprises and increasingly knowledge based economy. Having a greater voice for employees leads to the following (CIPD, 2012): Employees skills and knowledge can be better used, leading to higher productivity. Employees feel more valued, so they are more likely to stay and to contribute more. The organization gains a positive reputation, making it easier to recruit good employees. Conflict is reduced and co-operation between employer and employee is based on interdependence. 2.4.1 Benefits for employees Employees benefit from the following (CIPD, 2012): Having more influence over their work Higher job satisfaction More opportunity to develop skills More job security at their employee is more successful as a result of voice initiatives. 2.4.2 Success factors The factors that ensure success are the following (CIPD, 2012): Leadership: without having active commitment from the top, initiatives will not succeed. Further down, managers also need to lead by example, while employee representatives should be effective leaders of those who they represent in the organization. Training: middle managers who have brought up a top-down tradition of communication might find it complicated to acclimatize to a more open way to doing things and might need to be trained in communication skills. Likewise, employee representatives may need training. Trust and openness: without being honest, the communication initiatives will not succeed, even when messages may not be palatable. The possible barriers of the success factors are reversed. The reasons for failure are cited as absence of leadership and lack of commitment from the middle managers in the organization. 2.5 Employee Involvement The objective of employee involvement is to engage employees to a greater extent in the administrative activities of the organization. This facilitates employees in empowering, and moreover informs them to understand the corporate activities and policies of the organization in a better way. It facilities the psychological relationship between the employee and employer, which provides, to an extent, an allowance in the decision making process. Employee involvement has two major benefits, which can only take place after empowering the employees and decentralizing the management; employers are relieved by some portion of its administrative responsibilities. Secondly, when employees are given the empowerment, their responsibilities for the organization lead to success and so does their commitment and accountabilities. It moreover helps in elevating overall employee morale and job satisfaction. Thus it enhances in employee performance. 2.6 Employee Voice and Organizational Performance Normally, having lack of proper communication leads to organizational conflicts. Employee voice facilitates in making the relationship between the employer-employee information flow. It has been argued that Employee Involvement and Employee Participation is essential for organizational performance and management employee interrelationship, which plays an equally important role in enhancing job satisfaction and hence in enhancing organizational productivity (Brown Heywood, 2002 p.103). Within the context of Employee Voice, psychological contracts can also be analyzed which may also be involved with employment. The interrelationships of management are largely supported by exchange of compensation and services. This regularly escorts the employees awareness to be obstinate with the growth strategies of the management. Employee participation in every organizational activity increases personal involvement. With an increase in involvement the employees naturally perform optimally thereby proving that employee voice is of immense importance in enhancing organizational performance and productivity (Kirkman, Lowe Young, 1999 p. 42). 2.7 Employee Voice Chart The following figure presents the meanings and purpose of employee voice articulated from journal called The International Journal of Human Resource Management (Dundon et al, 2004). Figure 1: Employee Voice Voice represents Purpose of Voice Possible mechanism or channels of voice Potential positive/negative outcomes Articulation of individual dissatisfaction To remedy a problem and/or prevent deterioration in relations Informal complaint to line manager; formal grievance procedure (Reinforced) loyalty to organization/employee exit, withdrawal of beneficial discretionary behavior or inform expressions of dissatisfaction Expression of collective organization To provide a countervailing source of power to management Recognition of trade union by employer; collective bargaining; industrial action Partnership between management and employees/non-or de-recognition of union; anti union management tactics Employee contribution to management decision-making To seek improvements in work organization, quality and productivity Employee involvement and participation (e.g. upward problem-solving initiatives; suggestion schemes; attitude surveys; self-managed teams) Employee commitment and identification with aims of organization; improved performance/disillusionment and apathy Mutuality and co-operative workplace relations To achieve long-term viability for the organization and greater people added-value Partnership agreements; joint consultative committees; works councils Significant employee influence in decision-making/management communication-service to employee contribution. Source: Dundon et al. (2004) The meanings and purpose of employee voice, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15 (6): 1149-70. Reprinted by permission of the publisher Taylor Francis Group. 2.8 Organizational Background Heritage Hotels, India 2.8.1 Introduction Heritage Hotel is a joint venture between ITC Ltd. and Jodhana Heritage, signifying some of the best tradition of heritage hospitality and tourism in India. It presents over 37 selected heritage destinations, ranging from grand palaces to traditional bungalows (havelis) and magnificent forts: from adventure-filled jungle loges to tea garden homes and quiet nature resorts in different states of India, for instance Rajasthan, Jammu Kashmir, West Bengal, Karnataka, Punjab, Goa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. A holiday with the Heritage Hotels is always special: timeless bazaars, elephant and camel safaris, local festivals, desert camps and a selection of various adventure and sport activities. Rich in history, these destinations are enriched by stories of heroic fighters and illustrious queens of royal courts and princes who enjoyed their pomp, pageantry, gracious, and splendid living in these places. On the journey of the relentless passage of time, many legends have been relegated to the pag es of history; others extolled in verse and sung by traditional bards and folk singers. Even today some of the legends live in palaces, forts and royal retreats. Their private homes indicate the visitor with elegant Heritage Hospitality from the hotel and offer a slice of history with one major difference. 2.8.2 The Secret of a Great Escape Heritage Hotel offers the secrets of a great escape. At every Heritage Hotel, customers will get the chance to experience the rich heritage and culture. Such cultures include a fort resort at the rim of a desert, or a county manor in the lap of a green valley. A jungle lodge in a wildlife forest reserve, or a palace or bungalow, resonant with the past. A picture-postcard cottage ensconced in mystic mountains or a splendid mansion on the spur of a hill. A spa in a heritage home, a houseboat on a sparkling lake, a colonial hill residence with tea gardens for a view, a mist-wrapped palace in fragrant plantations. Each hotel has a secret to share, a story to tell and so will you. Moreover, each Heritage hotel has the blueprint of a great holiday, all laid out for tourists. Each hotel provides the opportunity to go where you get away to all that is not ordinary. All that is exclusive, while being affordable and unusual, without being over the top. Heritage Hotels over 40 hotels are sited expediently at stunningly scenic locations and are easy accessible from major cities, making it the perfect holiday option. In particular, customers usually find atmospheric and boutique experience when it comes to selecting a hotel but Heritage Hotels are far removed from standardized sameness. Hospitality comes from the heart provided with a slice of heritage within modern amenities. 2.8.3 Heritage Hotels Mission The Heritage Mission is to assist and support the restoration of Heritage properties. They encourage owners of these properties to convert them into productive assets, and assist them, in providing technical expertise, sales, marketing, reservations and operational support, and services. Through other initiatives, they help in the preserving the environment while at the same time promoting their rich culture, cuisine and handicrafts. They endeavor to: Providing a unique, enriching and affordable experience to customers Generate local employment and well being Set standards in Heritage Hotels Tourism while promoting Heritage tourism They hope to succeed in their mission with customers whole-hearted support. Employee voice is an important issue in studying participative management. From the point of view of an organization, having a participative management program that incorporates several employee voice mechanisms would be in the companys best interest. By promoting employee voice within the workplace through a range of techniques, it will help an organization to fulfill the ethical and political need through revitalizing their bottom line by avoiding resignation rates and high exit. Employee voice takes various forms in terms of both individually and collectively, and verbally and non-verbally. Furthermore, the concept behind employee voice appears to be timeless, as many of the publications throughout the past forty years have agreed with each other (employee voice: theoretical frameworks and organizational methods). Employee voice plays a huge role in participative management because in order for employees to work in an organization being able to communicate, presenting ideas, and b uilding relationships is required and essential according to the author. This is how participative management links to employee voice. 3.0 Methodology 3.1 Introduction The way in which the research is carried out can be considered in terms of the philosophy of the research which it is pledged to, the strategy of the research employed and, moreover, the research instruments utilized (and perhaps developed) in the pursuit of a goal the research objectives with the search for the resolution of the aim which basically links to the research question. The research has been outlined for the research question and the research objectives in the introduction as well as in the literature review. The purpose of this chapter is to: Discuss the research philosophy and relate that to other philosophies; Develop the research strategy, together with the research methodologies adopted; Introduce the research instruments that has been developed and utilized in the search of the goals. 3.2 Research Philosophy A research philosophy is a conviction regarding the way in which the data about a phenomenon should be analyzed, used and gathered. The term epistemology what is known to be true as opposed to doxology includes different philosophies of the research approach. The rationale of science is the process of converting things known from doxology to epistemology. The two major research philosophies have been categorized in the Western tradition of science, explicitly positivist, which is sometimes called scientific and interpretivist which is known as an positivist (Galliers, 1991). 3.3 Positivism Positivists believe that reality is stable and can be observed and described from an objective point of view (Levin, 1988), i.e. without interfering with the phenomena of being studied. It should be argued that the phenomena should be isolated and that the observations should be repeatable. This frequently engages with the manipulation of reality with differences in only a single independent variable so as to recognize regularities in, and to form relationships between, some of the constituent elements of the social world. Predictions could possibly be made on the foundation of the previously explained and observed realities and their inter-relationships. Positivism has a long and rich historical tradition. It is also embedded in our society that knowledge claims not grounded in positivist thought are simply dismissed as scientific and therefore invalid (Hirschheim, 1985, p33). This view is indirectly supported by Alavi and Carlson (1992) who, in a review of the research articles, ha ve found that all of the empirical studies were positivist in its approach. Positivism has been a particularly successful association within natural and physical sciences. There has, however, been a debate on the concern of whether or not the positivist paradigm is entirely suitable for the social sciences (Hirschheim, 1985). Many authors are calling for a more pluralistic attitude towards the research methodologies an example being Bjorn-Andersen, 1985; Kuhn, 1970; Remenyi and Williams, 1996. 3.4 Interpretivist Interpretivists argue that only through the subjective interpretation of an intervention in reality can be fully understood. The study of phenomena in its natural environment is vital to the interpretivists philosophy, together with the acknowledgement that scientists cannot avoid affecting those phenomena that are being studied. There may be many interpretations of reality that can be admitted, but maintaining these interpretations are in themselves a part of the scientific knowledge they are pursuing. There is a tradition which has been followed by the interpretivisms, which is no less glorious than that of positivism and nor is it shorter. 3.5 Methods of Research Used For this study, the descriptive research method was utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest an unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study used the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the stu

The Nuances of Nature Essay -- Literacy Analysis, Robert Penn Warren

It is no secret that Robert Penn Warren’s novel, All The King’s Men, is a powerful peace of literature that gives useful insight into the lives of characters in the United States in the early twentieth century. Though many believe this novel should be considered for its political applications, it is the social aspects of this book that really provide Warren’s perspective on the human experience. Warren uses nature both as a guiding and transcendent force to steer his main character, Jack, along the path to realize his humanity and as a tool to reveal valuable insights on the communion of mankind. Jack is first described in relation to a â€Å"sunset on a summer day.† He is caught watching the â€Å"light stretching out† and proclaims himself to be â€Å"a brass-bound Idealist† (Warren 30). Jack effectively establishes his fundamental connection to nature very early on in the novel. He strengthens this connection when he describes Burden’s landing by how â€Å"the air would smell† and how the sights would look as well as his memories of fishing and sailing â€Å"all over that end of the Gulf of Mexico† (Warren 37-39). Already, his experience is defined by the variance within nature. As Jack grows up, he becomes more jaded and leaves his childlike state of mind. Maturing out of his idealist phase, Jack begins his romantic stage of characterization. This stage in Jack’s development is most effectively embodied in the image of Anne with her arms â€Å"still spread out wide† and her hair floating â€Å"free[ly] on the water from around her head† (Warren 118). It is clear that Jack idealizes Anne just by the way in which he describes her. He is content just to stare at Anne and relate her to nature, showing the true connection he feels to her. After Jack’s romantic ide... ...dentalism Web. American Transcendentalism Web. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. . Justus, James H. "All the Burdens of All the King's Men." The Achievement of Robert Penn Warren. Louisiana State UP, 1981. 192-206. Print. Mitchell, Mark T. "Theological Reflections on Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men." Business Library. Intercollegiate Studies Institute Inc, 2006. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. . Warren, Robert P. All The King's Men. 2nd ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and, 1996. Print. Harvest. Warren, Robert P., and Clark Eleanor. "Interview with Eleanor Clark and Robert Penn Warren." Interview. New England Review Autumn 1978, 1st ed., sec. 1: 49-70. JSTOR. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .

People and Organization- Human Resources, Semco

Section one: Introduction to SEMCO I don't want to know where Semco is headed. It doesn't unnerve me to see nothing on the company's horizon. I want Semco and its employees to ramble through their days, to use instinct, opportunity, and ingenuity to choose projects and ventures. † – Ricardo Semler, CEO, Semco Semco was established in 1953 by Austrian engineer Antonio Curt Semler. Company started with manufacturing of centrifuges for vegetable oil industry but soon owing to development in naval area it sown its seeds in manufacturing of variety of equipments like hydraulic & load pumps, axles,etc. In 1980’s when Ricardo Frank Semler, founder’s son took over, company explored various other segments & started manufacturing industrial refrigeration equipments, air-conditioners, food processors & mixers for chemical & mining industry. In 1990’s company moved into innovative service area. ERM Brazil (Environmental consultancy), Cushman & Wakefield (real estate consultancy), Semco Johnson controls (facilities in industrial sector), are the classic examples of companies efforts to establish network across the globe. Year 2000 onwards Semco extended its arms into electrical and civil maintenance services by forming Semco Manutencao. It formed partnership with Pitney Bowes & marked its existence in postal and document management solutions. Semco venture also entered bio-energy market and formed BRENCO (Brazilian Renewable Energy Company) in 2006. (web1) Purpose of Study To study standard organizational design & structure, theoretical models of human resource planning in terms of recruitment, retention, success planning & to compare these aspects with similar models operational in Semco organization, to define the deviations & to critically evaluate the approach used by Semco. Organizational Structure Conventional v/s â€Å"Semco Way† Every organization has its own structure & culture. Organizational structure is basically framework which can be defined and altered over a period of time while culture cannot be altered. It is very difficult to design or change culture within the organization. Structure and culture within organization goes hand in hand. It is essential for the organization designer to classify tasks based on mainly four concepts of Function, Territory, Product & Time-Period in order to get work done in organized manner. (Torrington, 1998) â€Å"Organizations are as different and varied as the nations and the societies of the world. They have different cultures-sets of values & norms ad beliefs-reflected in different structures & systems and the cultures are affected by the events of the past and by the climate of the present, by the technology of the type of work, by their aims and the kind of people that work in them† (Handy 1993, p. 180) best defines the organizational structure & culture co-relation. Three forms of conventional organizational structures are compared with the democratic form of Semco’s organizational structure. THE ENTREPRENEURIAL FORM OF STRUCTURE CONVENTIONAL THEME 1. This form emphasis central power. . Power is concentrated in hands of one person or a group called as ‘key entity’. 3. As the business expands this type of structure becomes unviable since too many peripheral decisions cannot be made without taking approval of the ‘key entity’, 4. This form is suitable for small and growing organizations as they owe their existence to expertise or initiat ive or just one or two members. 5. It is difficult if by any means ‘key entity’ leaves the organization. It would be difficult to maintain business in the event of new non potential ‘key entity’. SEMCO WAY 1. It is a unique kind of ‘open management model’ wherein power and rights are equally distributed amongst the group members from the respective departments, but care is taken to see that it’s not misused. 2. The hierarchical signs are removed, everyone is treated equal. 3. Peripheral decisions can be made by implementing democratic way. 4. This form is suitable for developed and expanding organizations which are financially strong. 5. Even if the ‘key entity’ leaves the organization the system is in place and the process of production or delivering services is not affected. FUNCTIONAL DESIGN CONVENTIONAL THEME . Positions, terms & departments are designed based on specific activities. 2. It is most widely used & accepted form of departmentalization, since grouping tasks and employees by function can be efficient & economical. 3. It is possible for members in group to undertake similar tasks & troubleshoot similar problems. 4. Employees are not in direct contact with the clients; hence they fail to meet the customer’s expectations, except marketing product line. 5. It is effective for organizations having narrow product line, competing in uniform environment, pursuing low cost or focused business strategy. hellriegel, 2005) SEMCO WAY 1. Positions, terms & departments are designed by the owner based on functions. Labors are allowed to select wages & their own managers. 2. The employee has only four titles Counselors who are like vice presidents, Partners who runs the business units, Coordinators who are part of first level management, & Associates who are workers. 3. The factory workers set their own production quotas, come in on their own time, help to redesign the products they make & formulate the marketing plans. 4. The ompany is divided in individual business units which are self governed, managers run business units with freedom, determining business strategies without interference from the top. 5. Semco undertakes part nership with established foreign companies & give them access to customers, risk monitoring & extensive network of contacts. They seek partner who has domain in their product & services. (web 2) PRODUCT DESIGN CONVENTIONAL THEME 1. Self contained units are established. Each unit is capable of developing, manufacturing, marketing & distributing its own goods or service. . Organizations that produce multiple goods & services generally adapt this type of structure. 3. Problems arise when new product line is established or there are diverse customers or there is complexity in technological advances in functional design. Product design takes care of these limitations. 4. Company generally start with functional design & add some features in order to meet limitations of the functional design in terms of management aspects. Generally company doesn’t completely discard the features of function organization. hellriegel, 2007) SEMCO WAY ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF SEMCO THREE CO –C ENTRIC CIRCLES FIRST CIRCLE CONSIST COUNSELLORS SECOND CIRCLE CONSISTS PARTNERS THIRD CIRCLE CONSISTS ASSOCIATES 1. Semco devised a new structure which had three concentric rings. 2. The small innermost circle consisted of 6 counselors who determined general policy & strategy, and attempted to catalyze the action of those in the second circle. Each of the counselors took a six month turn as a CEO. 3. The second circle, known as partners included 7-10 leaders of each Semco division. . All remaining employees comprised the third circle, scattered within this circles are the triangles representing permanent & temporary team leaders. Marketing, sales & production managers, engineers and foreman all fell within this classification. 5. The managers work as facilitators providing workers with the tools they need make informed decisions. Managers provides training, information (financial & operations), & all other necessary support for workers to perform their jobs more effectively. (Maveri ck, 1993) Critical Evaluation Semco’s organization is based on three core values employee participation, profit sharing & free flow of information. These core values are in line with the variables of socio-structural model of empowerment which are power, information, knowledge & rewards. Hence the hypotheses which were derived from the author’s understanding of the theories were easily verified. Other companies may have achieved workplace democracy in other ways by having their own pattern of working. Liberty given to the employees would benefit only if there is supervisory control otherwise it may happen that there is misuse of the available resources. Human Resource Planning Recruitment & Retention Recruitment plays a vital role in any industry. Whenever there is vacancy, individual is recruited after he is being thoroughly evaluated. It is essential to find out how the vacancy is generated, either because someone has left the job or there is the expansion within the company. Recruiting a person just because there is vacancy owing to person leaving the job is the appropriate way but not mandatory. Employer can reorganize the work within present employees, or ask them to work overtime, subcontract the work or make it part time in order to reduce the expenses. It would be ideal to find out the nature of job, aspects of the job that specify type of candidature, highlight the job profile to the applicant before recruiting a candidate. There are several ways through which people are recruited. Once employers realized a need to fill the vacancy within the department or in organization, he can recruit by several means. Survey (Torrington, 1998) Investigated the method used by more than 1000 professionals when they were questioned (Torrington 1998) Table: Usage of various methods of recruitment by more than 1000 professional questioned. Advertisement in regional press87% Advertisement in specialist press80% Advertisement in national press78% Job centers71% Employment agencies62% Recruitment consultants61% Executive search consultants36% Career Conventions35% Open days32% Recruitment fairs 32% University ‘milk rounds’21% Radio advertising17% Other forms of recruitment6% (Source: Torrington Hall, 1998) There are various selection methods available and employer needs to implement combination of those available since one method won’t suit the requirements. Choice is generally dependent upon selection criteria for the post to be filled, administrative ease, accuracy, cost, time factor, abilities of the staff involved in the selection process etc. Interviewing is the most popular method of selection. Bio-data of the candidate is initially asked for. It is checked whether candidate meets the necessary specification and has relevant work experience in the same field, if found so he is been called for the interview or rounds of interview, where his domain is thoroughly checked either through verbal interaction or through written test. Written test generally includes Aptitude tests, General Intelligence test, Trainability test, Personality test & Attainment test. Critical features of test use being validity, reliability, use of interpretation & context of texts. Group selection methods are also used if there are more candidates applying for one job. Three main types of group tasks were invented by Plumbley (1985) Leaderless group, command or executive exercises & group problem solving. Also at times for critical job profiles there is factual as well as character check wherein candidate is asked to get references. Other methods include hiring a consultant or recruitment agency that would already interview the candidate and filter out the one from the masses. It reduces efforts of the employer since candidate is interviews before by the agency for the desired profile. Also sometimes candidate is asked to fill the application form and submit it, wherein entire details of the candidate are asked for. Application form is customized per the need of profile unlike bio-data which has information which may or may not be useful for that particular job profile. (Torrington Hall 1998) Retention is generally maintained by introducing attractive policies for welfare of the employees, giving employee shares of the company at very low rate, market supplements, revising salary structure, providing with additional perks and cost to company components, depending upon the nature of appraisal received from colleagues and subordinates. Providing employees with free medical facilities, pension schemes, and loans at affordable rates encourages employee to stay with organization. Semco has altogether different way of recruiting people and retaining them. Ricardo Semler, CEO of the company believes that workers or the Associates have the liberty to recruit their managers. In short the subordinates have the right to choose with whom they wish to work. Since everyone is treated equal in Semco, owner doesn’t interfere with the decisions taken by the subordinates. People that are to be hired to leadership positions are interviewed and approved by all with whom he/she will be working with. Twice a year subordinate receives questionnaire that enables them to anonymously say what they think about their boss and evaluate their performance. Anyone that gets constantly bad grades at the evaluation usually leaves Semco (average is 80 out of 100) Preference is also given to friend or acquaintances of employees, but no family member is considered for job at Semco if all these ways fails then they move for head hunters & newspapers. Semco business unit has a committee comprising everyone from different operations. Members in the committee have time off, with pay to do their work they also have job security as in they cannot be fired while they serve on committee. Semco has another salary programme called as ‘risk salary’in which about third of employees have the pay cut of upto 25% and then receiving supplement raise of 125% of normal salary if company is making profit. (Maverick, 1993) References: 1. Torrington & Hall (1998) Human Resource Management. Edition 4. Prentice hall, Europe 2. Slocum/Hellriegel (2007) Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior International student edition, USA. 3. Semler, Ricardo (1993). Maverick! Century random house UK. 4. Semler, Ricardo (2003). The Seven Day Weekend. UK Century. 5. Hackman, J. R, & Oldham, G. R (1980). Work Redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-wesley publishing company Inc. 6. web1: http://semco. locaweb. com. br/en/content. asp? content=1&contentID=610

Why Mathematics Is a Language