Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation – your company is restructuring its corporate strategy which will significantly impact the company's enire workforce planning process.

Issue: Which aspects of workforce planning should be considered?

Learning points:

• workforce planning should examine demand and supply on four different dimensions: current and future demandcurrent and future supply
• internal factors and factors external to the organization need to be considered

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation – significant training dollars and productivity are being lost due to a restrictive collective agreement regarding training.

Issue: Do we really understand the issue? does more research/discussion need to be involved? Who needs to be involved?

Learning points:

• Employees will never ratify changes to collective agreement language for an issue they do not understand completely
• involving the union eliminates surprise ideas presented at the bargaining table
  

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation – Your company is adding a new line of business that requires staffing

Key points:

- under a tight deadline

- new organization

Issue: What needs to be involved in developing a recruitment strategy?

Learning points:

Before beginning recruiting, the recruitment strategy needs to:

• be aligned with the business strategy
• include all HR functions (such as job descriptions, compentency profiles, performance measurement, and organization design)
  

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation – A hiring decision has been made without your knowledge and the salary is not in alignment

Issue: Can you address the salary situation? If so how? How do you address management problem to prevent future occurrences?

Learning points:

• It is critical that internal compensation systems and procedures are followed to ensure consistency of approach and to maintain equality
• Red circles policies are used to withhold increases from individuals who are already earning more than the maximum pay rate for their pay grade until the maximum pay rate catches us to their pay rate
  

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation – an employee where's an offensive shirt to work. Management doesn't seem to care.

Issue: How large is the Human rights issue? Is it an isolated issue or company wide? How far up does the problem go?

Key points:

• Management has done nothing about it in the past
• President laughs when you explain the situation to him
  

Learning points:

• The solution should address both the specific situation as well as the company wide issue
• The president, management, and the employees need to be educated on basic Human Rights and sensitivity issues
  

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 40 – A test pilot training program is being implemented in order to reverse the shrinking market share trend

Issue: how to best evaluate the training program? What comparisons should be used?

Learning points:

An effective evaluation should include:

• the best approach to evaluating the effectiveness of any training program is to follow a pre-test, post-test, control group methodology

• the previous results of those who took the training (pre-test)

• the results of those who took the training (post-test)

• the results of those who didn't take the training (control group)

Situation 41: there is a need to plan for an increase in turnover due to an ageing workforce, however senior management is not current concerned about this issue.

Issue: Do I need management's buy in before moving forward? Do I wait until management says something?

Learning points:

• succession planning needs to be proactive and not reactive

• an analysis needs to take place before the implementation of any programs

• senior management needs to be involved from the beginning

Situation 42: You have just heard that a candidate we are about to hire was given the questions to the interview prior to the interview by one of the interviewers.

Issue: How do I address the allegation? How do I move forward to select a candidate? Who needs to be involved?

Learning points:

• it is important to involve the accused's manager in addressing the serious allegation

• When a selection process goes awry and there are qualified candidates, re-interviewing (2^nd interviews) can be an option. If there are no qualified candidates or the qualified candidate opts out, it is best to start over

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 11 – two employee's are caught being unsafe at work

Key points:

• you witnessed the event

• the employees are both conscientious workers

Issue: Should the employees be disciplined ?

Learning points:

• safety is a manager's responsibility

• proving due diligence requires that the employer discipline employees when safety procedures are not followed

Situation 12 – an employee you hired 3-month's ago is not working out. He has been previously warned on two occasions. Another employee who desires to fill the position is also disgruntled and not cooperating.

Issue: Is there sufficient evidence to terminate the new employee with cause? Should the disgruntled employee be given an opportunity to fill the position?

Learning points:

• there must be enough groundwork laid in order to terminate with cause

Situation 13 – After a manager is let go, he claims that his manager said he'd be compensated for overtime, even though it is stated in his contract that he is not.

Issue: Should he be compensated for the overtime? Should the money be deducted from his pay-in-lieu notice?

Learning points:

• first step - substantiate the claim

• a written contract does not override a verbal contract, if the verbal contract is made in good faith

• the pay-in-lieu was provided in good faith and should not be taken away

Situation 14 – you are on an open-ended contract at a reduced rate. You have been paid up front and are charging for the hours as worked. It has been four years and the organization still has a credit.

Key points:

• your rate has increased

Issue: should you charge the company at your new rate?

• It would be unethical not to honour the terms of your contract

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 6 – you need to create a communication strategy to keep anxiety down and maintain morale of employee's during the company merger

Key points:

• 75% of staff either speak little or no English

• large manufacturing plant with employees distributed in 5 locations

Issue: How to communicate the message to employees in all locations and so that they understand?

Learning points:

• communication method should suit the size of the company

• it is not important that the method of communication be consistent, as long as the messaging is consistent

Situation 7 – you are developing a comprehensive learning strategy for a Government Department

Issue: How do I create a learning environment?

Learning points:

• There are 5 characteristics that describe a learning organization:

1. Systemic problem solving

2. Experimentation to support innovation

3. Learning from experience through action learning

4. Learning from others by benchmarking others in the industry; and

5. Transferring knowledge throughout the organization through such things as rotational assignments

Situation 8 – There is a high turnover of part-time staff because they are led to believe they can obtain full-time position fairly quickly

Key Points:

• morale is decreasing

• training costs and service disruption is increasing

Issue: How do I deal with this false perception among PT employees? How do I fix the hiring process for future PT employees?

Learning points:

Think about the order of things (ie first step)

• listen to and address employees concerns

• deal with misperceptions about career mobility opportunities

• assess potential solutions

• discipline hiring manager for misleading candidates

Situation 9 – An employee survey has indicated some areas which need improvement

Key points:

• target the one that needs the greatest attention

Issue: Which area needs the greatest attention? How do we improve that area?

Learning points:

• the smaller the standard of deviation, the more people that agree with the statement

• make sure enough information is gathered before moving forward with a strategy

Situation 10 – In a company of unionized and non-unionized staff, the unionized staff receive a $500 signing bonus.

Key points:

• non-unionized staff are currently ineligible for any bonuses

• non-unionized staff are unaware of the bonus

Issue: Do we tell the non-unionized staff about the bonus? What if the non-unionized staff find out about the bonus? How will we deal with the situation?

Learning points:

• communication in a proactive manner is critical in order to manage the situation in a positive manner.

• it is important to at least match the gains made by unionized employees

• tying a larger bonus to performance is a good strategy to reinforce achievement

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 1- an employee has been hurt and damage has been done to production as a result of an unsafe action

Key points:

• employee is long-term with a good record

• employee belongs to a union

Issue: What disciplinary action should be taken? Who should be involved?

Learning points:

• always ensure the safety of the employee first

• always involve a union representative in the investigation for union employees

• discipline the employee to show due diligence

• file a report with appropriate regulatory authorities

Situation 2 – a minority employee is breaking a rule and claiming he is being discriminated against if disciplined

Key points:

• the supervisor has met with the employee

• the unwanted action is still taking place

Issue: Can we discipline the employee without the employee successfully filing a Human Rights claim?

Learning points:

• make sure an investigation is done to substantiate any false claims

• don't involve the whole team unless the investigation shows the practice is wide spread

Situation 3 - employees are telling off-color jokes but nobody's complained.

Issue: do you approach the individuals or the company, as a whole?

Learning points:

• since there was a group of people involved, it is better to address the whole company

• you need to get buy-in from the top. Start with the leader.

Situation 4 – an employee on STD was denied LTD and wishes to return to work on a PT basis

Key points:

• the company has not facilitated PT work requests in the past due to legitimate operational reasons

Issue: does the company need to accommodate the employee's request?

Learning points:

• the organization has a responsibility to investigate the possibility of accommodation without undue hardship

Situation 5 - a candidate a filed a complaint based on the decision that she was not hired because of her lack of typing skills despite it not being a requirement

Issue: is the employer justified in its hiring decision?

Learning points:

• there must be a bona fide occupational requirement for candidates to function successfully in areas being tested

HR and terminating for or without cause

Most HR professionals find employee dismissal difficult, regardless of the reason of the dismissal. However, when a dismissal is necessary HR professionals should examine each case carefully to determine whether to terminate for or without cause.

Key points to remember:

• in termination for cause, you must ensure that enough groundwork has been laid. (ie. the employee has been specifically advised, in writing, of the consequences he or she would face if they did not change their behavior)
• termination without cause is possible for any reason that is not discriminatory
  

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Termination with cause: occurs when an employee is dismissed for a serious reason related to the employee's conduct.

Termination without cause: employee is being terminated for reasons that are not related to misconduct and notice of the termination and possibly severance pay is required as outlined in the employment/labour standards.

Notice: amount of time between informing an employee in writing that s/he will be terminated and the date upon which the termination will take effect.

Payment in lieu of notice: an employer may choose to have the termination take effect immediately, and pay the employee for the weeks of notice required by the legislation or as agreed to in the employment contract.

HR and Merger communication

During a merger, HR Professionals may encounter scenarios where communication with employees may present challenges. For example, not all employee may have English as their first language. Some employees may be assigned to a remote location or be frequently traveling on business.

Key points to remember:

• It is not important that the "method" of communication be consistent, as long as the "messaging" is consistent
• Different methods of communication may be suited to one group over the other
• Supervisory communication is good, but only if you can ensure consistency of message
  

HR and OHS

As an HR Professional, you may come across scenarios where employees are working unsafe or using equipment unsafely. It is important to involve the employee in correcting the action. In addition, speaking with the supervisor will serve as a reminder that it is their responsibility to enforce safety procedures and provide the necessary training. Bringing the incident to the attention at the next health and safety meeting will also help to ensure others are aware of the steps.

Key points to remember:

• Under Occupational Health and Safety Legislation, in the event of an accident, an employer is deemed to be guilty until proven innocent
• Proving due diligence requires that the employer discipline employees when safety procedures are not followed
• Supervisors are responsible for employee's safety; to provide proper equipment, information and training on workplace safety

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Due Diligence: employers shall take all reasonable precautions, under the particular circumstances, to prevent injuries or accidents in the workplace

HR and Employment Equity

As an HR Professional, providing equal opportunities is not only ethical, it is the law. However, providing equal opportunities does not mean not hiring the most qualified candidate, even if that candidate is not within one of the designated groups (ie female, disabled, Aboriginals, visible minority).

Key points to remember:

• compliance with Employment Equity is not quota based
• ensure the recruiting process is targeting designated groups
• provide targeted internal candidates with additional development opportunities so that they are more likely to be successful the next time a suitable advancement becomes available

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Employment Equity Plan: outlines the policies and practices that an employer proposes to use in order to hire, train, promote and retain members of the designated groups

Employment Systems Review (ESR): examines the impact of an employer's human resource policies and practices on designated groups and includes an analysis of all reasonable steps taken to accommodate the special needs of these group membersRepresentation

Representation: refers to the percentage of all employees in a particular occupation, salary range, industrial sector, etc. who are members of a particular designated group

Harassment and Hesitant Employees

As an HR professional, you may encounter scenarios where an employee has been harassed, but is hesitant to make a formal complaint. Regardless of whether or not the information was obtained confidentially, harassment is serious and in claims of harassment, nothing is confidential that is made known to a manager.

Key points to remember:

• There are serious implications to ignoring a harassment claim
• The law requires that the employer take immediate action upon any indication of harassment
• The obligation to provide a safe environment overrides any privacy concern
• Requiring an individual to confront their harasser is a violation of Human Rights
  

HR and Benefits

In order to keep costs down, yet remain competitive, HR Professionals may find themselves in scenarios where they need to present benefits plans for consideration. The following article provides more depth on benefits.

Key points to remember:
- typical cafeteria type plans tend to encourage plan participants to choose the benefits they are most likely to use, therefore countering the fundamental insurance principle of pooling for risk
- This behavior is assured to increase the cost to the employer, but it is difficult to predict by how much
The spending account allows the employer to control the flexible-benefits costs by capping the costs of the flexible plan

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Pooling for risk: the handling of an uncertain risk posed to or by a single person by combining it with the same risk affecting a large group, which can be calculated

HR and Pensions

HR Professionals may find themselves in scenarios where they need to implement a benefits plan. Prior to gathering information regarding related services from financial services organizations and then developing a defined benefit pension plan, the following initial step should be considered first.

Key points to remember:
- clarify how a pension plan will support the organization's business and human resource strategy

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
A mandatory earnings-related pension plan implemented January 1, 1966 to provide basic retirement income to Canadians between the ages of 18 and 70 who work in all the provinces and territories, except in the province of Quebec. Quebec operates its own pension plan similar to the CPP for persons who work in that province.

HR and Restructuring

When restructuring, HR professionals may come across scenarios where there is a surplus of employees who may not fit within the company's new strategy.

Key points to remember:
- conduct systemic evaluation of new business needs to ensure right changes are being made
- identify critical work activities and job specification through job analysis
- evaluate internal and external candidates to fill new roles
- proceed with layoffs, as necessary

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Job Analysis: the process used to collect information about the duties, responsibilities, necessary skills, outcomes, and work environment of a particular job. This information is used to put together a job description.

HR and Expatriates

Human Resource Professionals dealing with relocating employees for an overseas assignment may come across scenarios where employees are reluctant to accept the assignment.

Key points to remember:
- diagnose problem
- obtain input from expatriate and manager
- develop career goals and expectations on an individual basis

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Expatriate: An employee working in a unit or plant who is not a citizen of the country in which the unit or plant is located, but is a citizen of the country in which the organization is headquartered.
Repatriation: The process of bringing expatriates home.

Skills Gap and Employees

HR Professionals may come across scenarios where new employees lack sufficient skills due to flaws in the recruitment process or employee career planning. This article describes how they implemented a system to address their gap and was able to succeed with an return on investment.

Key points to remember:
- the skills gap needs to be determined for each individual
- a plan should be developed on an individual basis
- involve the employee who is lacking skills and management

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Skill gap analysis: compares a person’s skills to the skills required for the job to which they have been, or will be, assigned. The result is an improved understanding of exactly which skills employees need to develop further.

HR and Privacy Laws

HR Professionals need to know how privacy laws applies to the workplace and be able to communicate the privacy policies to employees. This article discusses the effects of B.C.'s Personal Information Protection Act, which governs the collection, use, retention, and disclosure of personal information by businesses, non-profit organizations, and charities

Key points to remember:
- educate yourself about privacy as it relates to your direct responsibilities
- ensure peers are aware of privacy concerns

Training Programs and ROI

HR Professionals need to know the value training programs are providing to the company. Lynn Johnston, president of the Canadian Society for Training and Development, provides HR Reporter with a talk about the return on investment from training initiatives in the workplace.

click HERE.

Key points to remember:
- training should be measured on four different levels:
1. trainee assessment of the learning
2. testing the trainees
3. application of the skills on the job
4. impact on employee productivity and departmental financial results

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Fixed costs: independent of the number of participants
Needs assessment: identifies gaps between what is and what should be in the organization.
Task analysis: investigates the specific skill(s), knowledge or attitudes and at which point there is a breakdown in use or performance.
Variable costs: dependent on the number of participants

Harrassment and Workplace Boundaries

HR Proffesionals may have to deal with workplace harrassment that extends beyond the workplace and work hours. Stephen Hammond (keynote speaker, author, and educator in the field of workplace harassment) provides real world examples in this article. In another article, 3 main points are covered on moving forward with a complaint: 1) take the complaint seriously, 2) investigate the complaint, 3) take steps to address the situation . Whether or not a formal complaint has been made HR should take steps in addressing harrassment in the workplace.

Key points to remember:
- a harrasssment policy should be in place
- the company is liable for employees gathering outside the workplace, especially when a manager is present. (It is considered to be an extension of the workplace).
- the company has an obligation to correct a poisoned work environment

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

HR and Compensation Strategies

In a tight marketplace, HR professionals may encounter scenarios where employees leave for more lucrative opportunities at competing companies.

Key points to remember:
- collect internal and external data to support the need for changes to salary scale
- make adjustments to reflect what is happening in the labour market

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Classification: systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to established criteria
Compa-ratio: the ratio of average pay to the midpoint of the pay range (ie. average pay= $2960/month/ midpoint of range= $3000, compa-ration= .98)
Hay Guide-Chart Profile method: method of job evaluation that creates a profile for each position based on its required know-how, degree of problem solving, and accountability
Midpoint: the middle value of the reported salary range
Pay grade: sets of jobs having similar worth or content, grouped together to establish rates of pay.
Pay ranges: A set of possible pay rates defined by a minimum, maximum, and midpoint of pay for employees holding a particular job or a job within a particular pay grade.

HR and Contract Compliance

When awarded Federal Government contracts, HR Professionals have a legal and professional obligation to comply with the requirements. Although, resources may be thin, preparing an Employment Equity Report can be turned into a valuable marketing tool, as seen in RBC's example.

Key points to remember:
- complying with requirements is a matter of legal and professional duty
- what are your priorities? (ie. resources might not always be available to hire additional help or outsource to consultants)

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Employment equity report: a report which provides both qualitative and quantitative data on the representation of designated group members for review, publication and dissemination to the public of a specific employer.

Employer collection of employment equity data fulfills two purposes:

1. it provides the individual employer with information for an internal analysis, for setting goals in the employment equity plan and for monitoring development; and
2. it permits external examination of employer progress in improving the employment situation of designated group members (i.e. by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and the public).

Absenteeism Abuse

Employees in the workplace are not immune to sickness or other unfortunate events that may keep them from attending work . However, HR Professionals may encounter employees who take advantage of the system, thus causing strain on workplace resources. An article in the HR Voice outlines several steps in managing absenteeism. 1) Communicate Attendance Expectations, 2) Ask the Right Questions, 3) Don’t Ignore The Problem, 4) Accommodate any Disability, 5) Meet with the Employee, 6) Carefully Consider Whether Termination is Appropriate. This article provides an interesting strategy to combating absentee abuse.

Key points to remember:
When presented with an concern of an employee's absense:
- Act don't react (ie. while termination for violating a company policy is a valid option, it is harsh and may result in an unjust dismissal claim. On the other hand, ignoring shows lack of concerns for the manager)
- Investigate (ie. Review the employees file to determine whether complaints are valid)
- Meet with employee upon their return (ie. try to determine root causes for absenses)

Merging Cultures and Policies

HR Professionals in merging companys may face challenges of alligning cultures. This article provides some real-world examples of merging companies and HR's approach to alligning key policies.

Key points to remember:
- assessnent and inventory (gain a better understanding about the impact and ensure changes are necessary)
- communication and transparency (ease uncertainty and fear, and squash rumors)
- empower employees (reduce resistance to change through employee participation, when possible)

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

The Four Stages of a Merger or an Acquisition process:
Pre-Deal - acquirer searches for or asseses potential targets and develops a plan for executing the deal.
Due Diligence - makes offer and ensures deal is strategically and economically sound
Integration Planning - creates comprehensive plan for integrating two organizations
Implementation - builds on all the planning that has gone before

Office romance and HR

HR professionals should not be surprised to find personal relationships in the workplace form, flourish, and disintegrate. As one article suggests, our job is to monitor these relationships while providing reasonable solutions which don't necessary send a negative message or make employees feel like you’re interfering in a very personal part of their lives. Relationships between supervisor and subordinate can be potentially dangerous and should be addressed as discussed in another article .

Key points to remember:
- Have a clear and well communicated policy in place regarding work-place relationships
- Act don't react (ie. while termination for violating a company policy is a valid option, it is harsh and would result in the loss of an employee who may be very competent. On the other hand, ignoring could also lead to potential human rights claims)
- Empower the employees to resolve the problem

HR and Downsizing Etiquette

Whether due to economic conditions or strategic business decisions, HR Professionals may find themselves in a scenario where they will need to layoff employees. Despite the number of individuals effected, downsizing with dignity is important to minimize any damages.

Key points to remember:
- treat employees with respect and dignity
- be available to answer questions and concerns

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Automation: If office or plant automation makes it possible to maintain production levels with fewer employees, the result may be employee layoffs.

Offshoring: When companies move part or all of their business operations to overseas locations, domestic employees are affected by layoffs.

Outsourcing: If an organization decides to utilize independent contractors to handle tasks that employees have been taking care of, the end result will often be staff layoffs.

Severance pay: A security benefit voluntarily offered by employers to employees who lose their jobs.

Non-Unionize Employees vs. Unionized Employees

HR Professionals in union environments with non-union employees may come across scenarios where unionized employee receive a signing bonus as part of the negotiated collective agreement while being left to deal with non-unionize employees. The following article displays the effects of not sharing the wealth.

Key points to remember:
- Communication and transparency
- Equity among the two groups while recognizing their differences (ie. signing bonus vs. performance-based bonus)

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Collective agreement: A contract negotiated between the employer and the union which states the terms and conditions of employment for unionized staff.

Collective bargaining: the method used to determine wages, hours and other conditions of employment through direct negotiations between the Employees’ Association/Union and the employer.

Accommodating working parents

HR Professionals will come across scenarios where working parents will need to be accommodated (ie. returning from maternity or parental leave). The following article describes how to best set up policies in order to protect your company from discrimination cases.

Key points to remember:
- What does employment standards require? (ie. employees returning from maternity leave must be given an equivalent position to the one they left).
- Has the company established a precedent? (To change the employee's conditions now could be construed as constructive dismissal).

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

Alternative work arrangement: Non-traditional work arrangement such as flextime and a compressed work week that provide staff more flexibility while still achieving operational goals.

Constructive dismissal: Occurs when there is a significant change in the employment relationship without the employee’s actual or implied consent and the employee resigns within a reasonable time after learning of the changes.

Prima facie case: Latin for “at first view” or “at first appearance,” a prima-facie case is a lawsuit that requires an employer to articulate a reason that sufficiently proves that any decision or action taken was made based on legitimate and nondiscriminatory factors

Reasonable accommodation: A modification or adjustment to a job or work environment that enables a qualified individual with a disability to have equal employment opportunity.

Undue hardship: Condition created when making a reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities that imposes significant difficulty or expense on an employer.

Orientation

A. When an employee is hired, commonly they go through an orientation program.

B. That’s right, orientation programs provide employees with the information they need to perform their jobs satisfactorily, in addition to being a component of the socialization process.

A. What do you mean by socialization process?

B. Well, socialization is an on-going process of instilling the attitudes, standards, and values required by the organization. In other words, the socialization helps the employee fit in to the workplace culture.

A. Okay, so what kind of information should be provided to a new employee?

B. Well, some examples could be: an overview of the firm, including the firm’s vision, value, strategies and structures; specifics like: working hours, vacation, company benefits, payroll dates; in addition, any training information needed. Some companies may provide more information then others but hopefully the result is that the job expectations are clarified and the reality shock is reduced.

A. How can a firm know if its orientation program is effective?

B. Simply interviewing or surveying the new employees for their opinion of the usefulness of the orientation program is one way. In addition, firms should do a cost/ benefit analysis comparing the orientation costs of such things as printing the handbooks to the benefits of the orientation. In other words, is there a reduction in errors by the new employees?

Key Terms
This week’s HR terminology includes:

- orientation

- socialization
- workplace culture

Multiple-choice quiz
*Answer found at the end of the post.

1. Some problems with orientation programs are:

A. Information provided by the HR department is too broad to be meaningful

B. Little or no orientation is provided
C. Too many forms need to be filled out
D. Too much information is provided in a short time
E. All of the above


Answers: 1) E