ASSIGNMENT 04

BZ420 Human Resources Management

Directions: Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) double-spaced pages.

Part A

As the new human resource manager of a multimillion-dollar service organization, you have been provided with a job description for new responsibilities.

For this assignment, please provide the following.

  1. A synthesis of three (3) environmental influences that affect the organization quantifying their impact and providing potential solutions for negative and positive influences.

One environmental influence that affects the organization is external competition. A company may operate in an environment of concentrated industry where there are relatively few competitors, or a thriving industry with many competitors. When there is a lot of competition, it is important to understand how to solve the problem by looking at quality of production, customer service, particular efficiency, or other operational advantages to set the organization apart from similar companies and build competitive advantage(Kokemuller, 2015).

A second environmental influence could be the political environment of the country the organization is invested in(Environmental Sites, 2014). Governments affected by political instability, for example, could impact the organization with general disorder, the potential for hostile takeovers, and malcontent leading to such activities as rioting and looting. Politics can also impact rules and regulations, as occurred with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002(Environmental Sites, 2014). This act, called into being as a result of mismanagement and misappropriation of investments and funds, created a dizzying array of regulations designed to ensure trust could be assured. In dealing with potential negatives such as these, the organization must first investigate the political environment thoroughly to ensure that it is not unwittingly trying to initiate enterprise in a location that is simply not feasible. If already in such an environment, the company could work with political officials to determine if there might be economic and business solutions to political problems.

A third environmental influence could be the economic environment the organization serves. The economy greatly influences a business, most obviously by affecting its performance in either positive or negative ways(Environmental Sites, 2014). In an economic recession, the government may try to stimulate the economy by providing various tax and interest rate benefits and conducting more spending, which may help the organization. The opposite may hold true during times when the economy is doing well(Environmental Sites, 2014). A solution for this influence is to understand the forces at work within the government and Federal Reserve, and anticipate how they will impact the organization financially. Be prepared to make adjustments in various areas of the organization if necessary to offset decreased income or increased expenditures.

  1. Create a brief job description for a specific job of your choice outlining the roles and responsibilities of this position. Next, design an employee-training program and outline its implementation for this position. Finally, provide an evaluation of the design and implementation of the employee-training program you have created.

Job Description

The position of Marketing Manager has become available within the organization. The individual hired for this position is expected to coordinate the organization’s market research, sales, pricing, and product development data. S/he will develop marketing, advertising, and public relations plans and policies. As this is a very large organization, this individual will oversee a marketing team in the Boston location, and is ultimately responsible for final version writing and creation of marketing materials, along with administrative duties(JobDescriptions.net, 2015).

This position requires, at a minimum, a BA in Marketing and Business Administration. Master’s preferred. Background experience or education in one of the following is not required, but highly recommended: law, accounting, finance, economics, management, finance, or statistics. Computer proficiency required. Minimum three years’ experience in marketing field required. Minimum three years’ experience in management required(JobDescriptions.net, 2015).

Employee Training Program

The Marketing Manager will begin working under the current Marketing Manager, and will perform all duties pertinent to the assigned job with supervision for a period of one month. The current Marketing Manager will utilize a gradual release of responsibility, wherein responsibilities for tasks are modeled, practiced with assistance, and shifted gradually to the incoming manager to ensure ease of transition and adherence to policy.

The program’s goal is to effectively and fully train the incoming manager with ease of transition for all involved personnel. The current manager will schedule relevant topics to cover with the incoming manager each day, in descending order of urgency. She will utilize power points and the department manual to assist with policy and procedure guidelines. At week’s end, progress will be measured (Business Bee, 2013).

Evaluation of Training Program

Feedback from both the current marketing manager/mentor and the incoming marketing manager is encouraged and necessary to determine the success and frailties of the training program. At each weekly progress report, while the incoming manager’s progress will be assessed, the program itself will also be assessed in terms of how effective it is, how thorough and helpful the information has been, how beneficial the mentor has been, and what improvements could be made (Business Bee, 2013).

Part B

You operate a small advertising agency. You employ two secretaries, a graphic designer, three sales representatives, and an office coordinator.

  1. Construct a multi-tiered approach for compensation for each position. What types of criteria would you consider when determining how to compensate each position? Describe two (2) considerations for each position. Students may choose to present information in a spreadsheet or table format for organization and interpretative purposes.

In determining compensation for these positions, the organization could construct a Wage Tier. “Tiers with different wage scales for employees in the same job classification are the most prevalent form of tiers and are generally what is referred to by the term ‘two-tier wage structures’”(Martin, 1990).With this kind of multi-tiered approach, employees hired more recently than others are placed on a lower wage scale than previous hires. The average difference in pay between the two tiers ranges between 20 and 29 percent(Martin, 1990). This is helpful in providing different salaries to individuals performing the same job duties.

These positions could also be tiered according to temporary or permanent classification, in addition to the Wage Tier. If tiered as temporary, the employees have the understanding that they are working their way to a higher wage tier, which provides incentive to remain longer with the organization (Martin, 1990).

  1. Evaluate the process and the associated outcomes for the approach you constructed. Defend the choices you have made including the type of compensation plan chosen for each position.

The multi-tiered compensation plans were chosen according to Cappeli and Sherer’s research on compensation and in particular high and low tier employees. According to Cappeli and Sherer, with temporary and permanent wage tiers, employees on a temporary tier are able to move, over a period of time, to the higher wage tier. I like this approach to providing wages, as I feel it offers motivation to continue learning and developing with an organization for the promise of rewards to come. This type of wage tier works for all of the positions in question. This approach can work in tandem with a simply structured wage tier, where new hires are placed on a low tier, and those with more seniority are on the high tier(Martin, 1990). Even if employees are handling the same duties (for example, two secretaries each performing the same desk duties) the one with the longer experience would retain a higher salary. If used in conjunction with a temporary/permanent tier, the individual would eventually be able to catch up with other employees, but only after a time period deemed appropriate to prove loyalty and capability.

References

Business Bee. (2013, August 05). 7 steps to develop an effective employee training program. Retrieved from

Environmental Sites. (2014). Environment. Retrieved from

JobDescriptions.net. (2015). Marketing manager job description. Retrieved from

Kokemuller, N. (2015). What are internal & external environmental factors that affect business? Retrieved from

Martin, J. (1990). An introduction to tiered compensation structures. Retrieved from