HR ORGANIZATION

You will use Motors and More as the basis for your analysis.

Refer to the HR Project template for details regarding each component deliverable. Remember to complete and submit each deliverable as a standalone document.

[Type the document title]
[Type the document subtitle]
List author names
[Select the date]

[Abstract: Type the abstract of the HR Plan here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]

Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary 1
II. Business Strategy Report 1
III. HR Organization Design 1
V. Compensation Plan 1
VI. Training and Development Plan 1
VII. HR Forecast Plan 2
VIII. Conclusions 2
IX. Appendix 2
X. References 2
XI. Document Work Log 2

MBA 533 – Human Resource in Management – HR Project Template

Page 0 of 3

I. Executive Summary

You will complete this portion when the Comprehensive HR Project is submitted in Module 7.

II. Business Strategy Report – 100 Points (Module 1)

As a team, review and discuss the company strategy, including industry realities, competitors’ analysis, and differentiation in the market. Be sure to focus on the role of strategy in the competitive position of Motors and More. Your report should address the items below.

A. Using Porter’s Five Factors Analysis of competitive position, analyze the business strategy and describe your findings.

B. Review the role of strategy in company performance. What will be needed in the human resource strategy to support the company strategy?

III. HR Organization Design – 100 Points (Module 2)

A. Design a typical HR department and identify each HR unit. For each HR unit, provide roles/ responsibilities and job titles. Develop an organization chart of a typical HR department.

B. Given the size of Motors and More, indicate which positions identified in your typical HR department should be combined or eliminated to reduce the number of HR employees. Provide new job titles and develop an organizational chart specifically for Motors and More’s new HR department. Provide the total number of staff for each HR unit.

IV. Recruiting and Retention Plan – 100 Points (Module 3)

A. Given the increase in product demand, how many people will you need to hire and in what functional areas (manufacturing, operations, customer service, marketing and sales, finance/ accounting, and HR)? Provide your rationale for the proposed hiring in each unit. Consider the turnover rate. Identify the factors that could be causing turnover. Identify the costs of turnover.

B. Include the types of interviews you would conduct and why.

Develop strategies to recruit the appropriate applicants and include sources and tools used for recruiting and selection. Identify the possible areas and types of discrimination that could occur.

D. What can you do to retain current employees? What are the benefits of retention?

E. How will you assess the effectiveness of your recruiting efforts?

V. Compensation Plan – 100 Points (Module 4)

Develop a progressive yet competitive compensation plan that will support recruiting and retention efforts and lower the employee turnover rate. Traditionally, Motors and More has provided employees minimum wage and statutory beneﬁts.

A. How does Motors and More’s employee compensation compare relative to other organizations in the area? Will the organization meet, lead, or lag the local market? Explain your rationale.

B. Identify alternative pay methods and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

C. What beneﬁts will you offer? Include statutory beneﬁts. What are the costs of those beneﬁts? What is the rationale for offering those beneﬁts?

D. Develop a communications plan regarding how employees will be informed about the compensation plan. Define the sequence of communications considering the who, what, and when of the message.

VI. Training and Development Plan – 100 Points (Module 5)

Develop a human resource development (HRD) plan. Given the fact that Motors and More has no formal training program and promotions have been based on seniority, your plan should address:

A. New-employee training.

B. Current-employee training for current and future jobs according to a career path.

C. Manager and supervisory training.

In your training plan, address the following:

A. How will you conduct a needs assessment for each group (include methods and instruments)?

B. How will training content be developed or obtained?

C. How will training be delivered (e.g., classroom, intranet, blended, self-study, etc.) and by whom internal employee or external consultant/trainer)? Provide a rationale for your decision.

VII.
HR Forecast Plan – 100 Points (Module 6)

Develop a three-year HR forecast (prediction of the future) using the following assumptions:

A. Labor supply/demand will become more rigorous (demand for workers will increase, but the labor pool will remain the same or shrink). Labor costs will increase.

B. Demand for Motors and More products will continue to increase. Production defects will also continue to increase.

Motors and More’s workforce will become more diverse as the company hires more Hispanics, Kurds and persons from alternative workforces.

D. The president will start another company and will hire someone to manage the daily operations of Motors and More while he takes on more of an overseeing role.

E. Motors and More will decide to develop an additional product to broaden its portfolio. There is no existing capacity for the product, nor do the existing production lines meet the manufacturing requirements for the new product.

VIII. Conclusions

You will complete this portion when the Comprehensive HR Project is submitted in Module 7.

IX. Appendix

Add any supplemental information, diagrams, pictures, or forms that support your project work.

X. References

Include references to support your conclusions.

XI. Document Work Log

Complete the table to assist in assessing the contributions made by the individual team members.

Section

Team Member – Primary

Team Member – Secondary

I. Executive Summary

II. Business Strategy Report

III. HR Organization Design

IV. Recruiting and Retention Plan

V. Compensation Plan

VI. Training and Development Plan

VII. HR Forecast Plan

Page 2

Society for Human Resource Management

MOTORS AND MORE, INC. – A PROGRESSIVE HR CASE STUDY

By Don McCain, Ed.D.

Learning Objective(s)
Upper-level undergraduate students will work through issues associated with developing and sustaining
an HR department to support an organization facing labor shortages and high product demand. At the
end of the study, students learn how to:

1. Align HR initiatives with corporate strategy.
2. Develop a complete HR organization structure, including roles and responsibilities, and then

adjust the structure to support the organization.
3. Develop a basic staffing plan.
4. Develop a basic training plan.
5. Determine and support a pay and benefits plan.
6. Determine future HR requirements.

CASE OVERVIEW
You are hired as the HR director for the fictitious Motors and More, Inc. Motors and More, a business-to-
business sales company, manufactures small motors and accessories for industrial and home products.
The industry is highly competitive, and the company follows a prospector strategy.

A prospector strategy takes advantage of new markets and products (Gomez-Mejia, Galkin and Cardy,
2001). Organizational emphasis is on growth, innovation and new product development. A prospector
wants to be first to market. To respond to competitive and rapidly changing markets, prospectors have
flexible, flat and more decentralized organizational structures.

Motors and More is headquartered in a small southern town of 28,000 people, with a low unemployment
rate of 3.1 percent. This means that demand for workers exceeds the labor supply. There is a technical
school and a community college within 50 miles of Motors and More. Motors and More’s president is
former military and is highly patriotic. He is committed to staying in the community. Recently, several
other local companies have experienced labor organizing activities.

Motors and More employs 116 people. Until you were hired, there was no HR department. Recently, the
organization’s employee turnover rate has been higher than normal. The marketing and sales department
continues to sell products to an expanding market. Because of this increased product demand, output
must be increased by 96 percent.

Eighty-eight percent of Motors and More employees are Caucasian. With the exception of one female
supervisor in the customer service department, the president and all other managers are Caucasian men.
Management promotions have been based on seniority. The local labor market population is
approximately 48 percent minority. There is a growing Hispanic and Kurdish population that have not
been accepted into the community.

All the employees in manufacturing (including quality control), customer service and operations
(responsible for shipping and receiving; distribution of raw materials, components parts and finished
goods inventory; and maintenance and cleaning) have at least a high school degree or GED. The
organization provides some skills training courses. Please refer to the organizational chart in Figure 1 for
more details.

Figure 1: Motors and More Organization Chart

President

HR Director
Staff (TBD)

Finance and
Accounting
1 manager, 5
professionals
and 1 hourly
(includes
payroll)

Manufacturing
1 manager and
69 employees

Quality Control
3 employees

Operations
1 manager
14 employees

Customer
Service –
inbound only
1 female
supervisor
5 CRS

Marketing/
Sales
1 manager
9 salesmen

Maintenance
and Cleaning
1 leader
3 employees

DESIGNING THE HR DEPARTMENT

A. Design a typical HR department and identify each HR unit. For each HR unit, provide roles/
responsibilities and job titles. Develop an organization chart of a typical HR department.

B. Given the size of Motors and More, indicate which positions identified in your typical HR
department should be combined or eliminated to reduce the number of HR employees. Provide
new job titles and develop an organizational chart specifically for Motors and More’s new HR
department. Provide the total number of staff for each HR unit.

Organization Design
Organizing is a basic managerial function. Organizing is the process of designing jobs, grouping jobs into
manageable units, and establishing patterns of authority among jobs and groups of jobs (Griffin and
Moorhead, 2006). “Organization design refers to the framework of jobs, positions, groups of positions,
and reporting relationships among positions that are used to construct an organization” (DeNisi and
Griffin, p. 50). Organizing combines with organization design to form an organizational structure.

Using Anthony, Kacmar and Perreewe (2006) as a source, Figure 2 represents a comprehensive HR
structure. Some HR professionals may argue against including organization development as a part a
human resource development strategy. Nonetheless, this figure is helpful because it depicts the
organizational functions that must be included in a comprehensive HR department.

Figure 2: An HR Organization Chart

Roles/Responsibilities and Job Titles
All HR managers, regardless of their functional areas of expertise, must be able to hire, train, coach,
recognize and reward performance (performance management), plan, organize, set goals, develop and
implement strategies, lead employees, create and administer budgets, etc. These are responsibilities
common to all managers. In addition, a decision needs to be made regarding administrative support—
should it be centralized or should it be dispersed among the functional or operational areas?

HR Director or Manager
Roles/responsibilities

 Leads and manages the department.

 Develops relationships with senior management to align HR goals and strategies with
those of the organization.

 Scans the external environment for changes that could affect HR.

 Participates in organizational planning and review sessions.

HR (VP, Director, or Manager)

Organization
Development

Staffing or
Employment

Employee or
Industrial
Relations

HRD or
Training and
Development

Compensation Employee or
Industrial
Relations

Health and
Safety

Job and Salary
Administration

Benefits
Administration

Organization Development (OD)
Possible job titles: OD specialist, OD consultant

Role/responsibilities

 Develops relationship with internal client(s); formulates internal contract(s).

 Conducts organization research, analysis and diagnosis to identify organizational issues
with the goal of performance improvement. Issues may include the reward system or
performance management, management style, structure, processes, tools and
equipment, goal setting, etc.

 Develops interventions (or contracts with consultants to develop interventions) to address
issues or problems that can be solved by collecting survey data, coaching, training;
provides feedback to management and employees.

 Assists in creating a culture of learning, development and achievement.

 Facilitates and maintains organizational change.

 Supports performance management.

Staffing or Employment
Possible job titles: Employment manager, staffing manager, recruiting manager, staffing or
recruiting specialist or coordinator

Roles/responsibilities

 Develops candidate pools.

 Advertises job openings.

 Ensures accuracy of job descriptions and specifications. Ensures they are consistent with
performance management requirements.

 Screens candidates using instruments as applications, résumés and references.

 Conducts or contracts background checks.

 Develops or contracts with a consultant to develop instruments such as tests or pre-
employment processes, procedures or protocols.

 Conducts interviews and assesses candidates.

 Extends offers or recommends candidates for hire.

 Ensures legal compliance.

 Secures use of temporary workforce.

 Brings candidate on board and ensures that paperwork is complete.

 Supports diversity and affirmative action initiatives.

Human Resource Development (HRD) or Training and Development
Possible job titles: Training specialist, training coordinator or administrator, facilitator, learning
specialist, designer, developer, evaluator, training or performance consultant

Roles/responsibilities
HRD is responsible for the development of the organization’s intellectual capital. HRD
professionals are involved in needs assessment; design, development, delivery and evaluation of
learning experiences; development of career path models; employee orientation; etc. HRD
supports the performance management process by training managers and employees on
performance management. Specific roles and responsibilities are discussed below. Robinson and
Robinson (1996) provide some of the roles/responsibilities by job.

 Facilitator: Presents information; facilitates learning experiences; manages group work
and processes; maintains the agenda; provides feedback to learners, designers and
developers.

 Designer: Conducts needs assessment; writes goals and objectives; defines and outlines
content in conjunction with the evaluator; develops evaluation plans in conjunction with
the internal client; determines instructional strategies.

 Developer: Develops full content and instructional strategies; develops or secures
instruments, cases, assessments, etc.; develops leaders’ and participants’ guides and
materials; develops media; may conduct train-the-trainer sessions.

 Evaluator: In conjunction with designer and client, develops and implements evaluation
plans; conducts all levels of evaluation; reports evaluation findings to appropriate
persons; may assess facilitator skills.

 Training coordinator or administrator: Supports the delivery of learning experiences;
coordinates participant materials and media; enrolls participants and sends pre-course
materials; secures facilities; coordinates facilities, including hotels, training rooms and
breakout rooms; tracks attendance and maintains records; promotes the course or
learning experiences; ships materials; tracks expenses.

 Training or performance consultant and internal client (the recipient of the services)
liaison: Conducts organizational analyses for internal client organization; contracts for
performance improvement; consults with internal clients on performance issues;
prioritizes needs; secures support (including funding; access to subject matter experts;
collects audience profiles; supports learners’ participation; supports transfer of new
knowledge and skills to the job; has access to data necessary to carry out these
responsibilities); with client input, selects facilitators; provides feedback to internal clients;
manages the interface with the HRD staff.

Compensation has two primary areas—benefits and salary administration. In many organizations,
payroll is a function of the accounting department. In other organizations, payroll is placed in
compensation.

Benefits
Job titles: Benefits analyst, benefits specialist, benefits administrator

Roles/responsibilities

 Determines the level of benefits and packages as they relate to the internal requirements
of staff versus the competition and to retain employees.

 Determines the benefits to be offered.

 Administers the health plan (including HMO or PPO plans).

 Administers retirement plan(s), such as 401(k), defined contribution or defined benefit
plans.

Salary Administration
Job titles: Job analyst, job and salary analyst or specialist

Roles/responsibilities

 With management, develops types of reward pay, including merit, incentives, bonuses,
gain sharing, profit sharing, stock options and other rewards.

 With management, determines pay positions relative to the competition with the goal to
lead, lag or meet the competition.

 Conducts job analyses and evaluations to determine job responsibilities, job
specifications and pay grades.

 Writes job descriptions.

 Consults with management and employees on performance goals and standards;
supports the performance management process.

 Conducts salary surveys and recommends and implements adjustments to pay grades
based on survey results.

 Develops career path models.

 Possibly maintains payroll.

Employee Relations or Industrial Relations
Job title: Employee relations specialist

Roles/responsibilities

 Scans the internal environment for potential employee relations issues.

 Designs (or secures), implements and analyzes employee survey results. Develops and
implements plans to address identified issues.

 Ensures compliance with labor laws.

 Maintains labor relations in a union or union-free environment.

 Writes employee handbook.

 Writes and implements discipline procedures.

 Provides counseling and support for employees with personal issues (EAP role).

 Writes ethical policies and maintains ethical guidelines; maintains “ethics” hotline.

 Produces and distributes HR publications.

 In conjunction with staffing, supports relocation and outplacement services.

 Works with staffing to ensure accommodations for disabled employees.

 Supports diversity efforts.

 Ensures employee rights are not violated.

Health and Safety
Job titles: Safety specialist, safety coordinator, safety administrator, industrial nurse

Roles/responsibilities

 Conducts inspections to ensure OSHA compliance.

 Develops and implements procedures to ensure a safe work environment.

 Conducts or secures safety training.

 Conducts health and wellness information and training.

 Files accident reports. Maintains files in accordance with OSHA requirements.

 Facilitates the provision of medical care for employees hurt on the job.

 Ensures that security is provided for the facility.

Prospector Strategy
A strategy is a plan for interacting with the competitive environment to achieve organizational goals (Daft,
2003). According to Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy (2004), the objective of a prospector strategy is to
find and exploit new products and market opportunities.

Organizations that use a prospector strategy are aggressive in the marketplace, highly competitive and
quick to produce new products and services to be the first to market. Their key objective is to find and
exploit new products and market opportunities. They operate in an environment of uncertainty and
instability.

Organizational practices inherent in a prospector strategy include (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy,
2004):

 Emphasis on faster innovation, flexibility and creativity.

 Broad job classes with loose work planning.

 External recruitment (finding candidates), with the supervisor making the decision.

 Customized appraisals with multiple input used for development purposes.

 Generic training.

 Team-based and cross-functional training.

 Decentralized pay that rewards risk taking.

 Variable pay individualized and based on performance.

To be flexible, organizational structures in a prospector strategy are flat in organization design,
decentralized and/or team-based.

DEVELOPING THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN

A. Given the increase in product demand, how many people will you need to hire and in what
functional areas (manufacturing, operations, customer service, marketing and sales, finance/
accounting, and HR)? Provide your rationale for the proposed hiring in each unit. Consider the
turnover rate. Identify the factors that could be causing turnover. Identify the costs of turnover.

B. Include the types of interviews you would conduct and why.
C. Develop strategies to recruit the appropriate applicants and include sources and tools used for

recruiting and selection. Identify the possible areas and types of discrimination that could occur.
D. What can you do to retain current employees? What are the benefits of retention?
E. How will you assess the effectiveness of your recruiting efforts?

The Selection Process
This is a good time to review the selection process. According to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright
(2007), the steps in a selection process include screening applications and résumés; reviewing and
testing work samples; interviewing candidates; checking references and background; and making a
selection. Internal candidates would not require all of these steps.

Turnover
The Department of Labor uses the following formula to measure turnover:

(
Number of separations during the month

Total number of employees at midmonth
) x 100

Separations = those leaving the organization

Motors and More is not experiencing involuntary turnover, however. The organization is expanding its
workforce, and the community is experiencing a labor shortage. The turnover, then, is voluntary. Some
reasons for voluntary turnover include:

 Retirement.

 Job dissatisfaction—work overload, issues with the manager or other employees, little flexibility in
work scheduling, lack of challenge.

 Robust labor market—employees can easily find alternative employment because of the high
demand for employees in the area.

 HR issues—competitive pay and benefits, no career path, perceived unfairness in rewards
distribution.

 Issues related to stereotyping, discrimination and harassment.

 Personal or family reasons.

 Employee relocation outside the region.

 Individual values not aligned with company values.

Turnover is expensive for organizations:

Employee
Separation Costs

Recruiting Costs
Selection/
Interviewing Costs

Training Costs Less Direct Costs

• Severance pay
• Benefits
• Unemployment

insurance costs
• Exit interview
• Outplacement
• Legal fees

• Advertising
• Recruiter’s and

manager’s time
• Travel (applicant

and/or recruiter)
• Search firm
• Employee referral

fees
• Campus visits

• Interviewing: cost
of employees’ time

• Cost of travel: cost
of travel for
applicant to the
interview

• Instrument
development
(questions,

• Training new
employee
(orientation, job,
team)

• Travel for training
• Trainer’s time
• Lost productivity

during training
• Training materials

• Lost productivity
due to new
employee’s
productivity curve
or the existing staff
taking on more
work while being
less efficient/
effective while the

criteria, tests)
• Reference checks
• Background

checks
• Relocation
• Pre-employment

medical
• expenses

• Coaching time vacancy exists.
• Overtime for

current employees
• Loss of business

due to poor
customer service

• Not being able to
take on new
business due to
lack of resources

• Lost knowledge

Equal Pay
There is one supervisor who is a woman and four managers, all of whom are men. Motors and More
should examine the jobs to determine if they are equal in terms of skill (experience or training), effort
(mental or physical effort), responsibility (degree of accountability) and similar working conditions
(physical surroundings or hazards).

Is there enough difference between the positions to warrant a “supervisor” job classification and not
“manager” job classification? If job responsibilities (such as outbound sales) expand, will the job
classification difference still be warranted?

Sex Discrimination
Why is there only woman in a lower management position supervising the call center? It may appear that
Motors and More believes there are certain jobs better suited for women. Was gender a factor in the
hiring decision? Is stereotyping occurring?

Racial/Ethnic Discrimination
Motors and More is 88 percent Caucasian, and all managers are men. The local population is 48 percent
minority, indicating possible discrimination. Since promotions are based on seniority, it appears that
Caucasian men have been there the longest and received the promotions. Motors and More must
aggressively recruit, staff and promote qualified minorities. It should also promote based on performance
and job specifications, not tenure.

Because of Motors and More’s racial demographics, we can assume that the local Hispanic and Kurd
population has not been accepted at Motors and More. This lack of inclusion may lead to discrimination
allegations.

Benefits of Retention
Organizations with good retention:

 Retain critical knowledge and skills, which can provide a competitive advantage.

 Have employees who are prepared for new positions as they become available, thereby reducing
recruiting and training costs.

 Have good individual, team and organizational performance because employees know their jobs,
peers, products and customers.

 Can respond quickly to changes in strategy and direction.

 Retain skills that can support peer coaching to improve performance.

 Have continuity of the organization’s culture, values and goals.

 Can become an employer of choice, reducing recruiting and turnover costs.

Assessing the effectiveness of recruiting efforts
There are a number of ways to assess effectiveness of recruiting efforts. One way is to calculate costs
per hire. To calculate costs per hire, add total recruiting costs and divide by the number of candidates
hired.

A second method is to determine the yield ratio. According to Mathis and Jackson (2006), the yield ratio is
the comparison of the number of candidates at one stage in the recruiting process to the number of
candidates at another stage. To calculate a job offer yield ratio, divide the number of applicants by the
number of applicants offered a job.

You can also use a selection rate to assess your recruiting efforts. A selection rate is the percentage
hired from a given group of candidates. It equals the number of employees hired divided by the number of
applicants (Mathis and Jackson, 2006). Mathis and Jackson (2006) also discuss acceptance rate (the
percentage of job offers rejected) and success rate (comparing the number of past candidates who were
good performers to current employees). You can also identify effective recruiting sources by determining
where you found candidates who can be defined as good employees.

You may also try to determine which recruiting sources provide higher-quality applicants. For example,
many organizations regularly recruit from certain universities because, over time, those universities have
provided the organization with higher-quality candidates than other schools.

DEVELOPING A COMPENSATION PLAN

Develop a progressive yet competitive compensation plan that will support recruiting and retention efforts
and lower the employee turnover rate. Traditionally, Motors and More has provided employees minimum
wage and statutory benefits.

A. How does Motors and More’s employee compensation compare relative to other organizations in
the area? Will the organization meet, lead or lag the local market? Explain your rationale.

B. Identify alternative pay methods and discuss the advantages/disadvantages of each.
C. What benefits will you offer? Include statutory benefits. What are the costs of those benefits?

What is the rationale for offering those benefits?
D. Develop a communications plan regarding how employees will be informed about the

compensation plan. Define the sequence of communications considering the who, what, and
when of the message.

Merit Pay
Merit pay rewards employees for work already done, usually over the last performance year. Employees
are familiar with merit pay, and there is little resistance offering it. Over time, merit pay increases
employees’ base pay, thereby increasing organizational costs. It is also difficult to really link performance
to merit pay. Further, merit pay may not result in increased performance. Employees may not see the link
between merit pay and their performance.

Incentives and Bonuses
Incentives and bonuses reward individual performance without adding to base salary. Incentives and
bonuses also link pay with performance. For example, in manufacturing, a straight piecework plan pays
employees a certain amount for each unit produced. In a team environment, a group incentive could
increase group productivity. A disadvantage is that it may cause unhealthy competition among
employees.

Commissions
Typically, commissions are pay based on product sales. On a straight commission pay plan, pay is based
on employee performance; the more sales, the more commission the employee receives. A combined
commission pay plan pays a base salary plus commission. Commission pay plans directly link pay to
performance. Commissions can result in increased sales. Commission pay plans, however, may cause
employees to behave unethically in order to make the sale. Generally, commissions reward individual, not
team performance.

On-the-Spot Awards
On-the-spot awards instantly reward employees for good performance or behavior. The recipient is
usually nominated by a supervisor or peers. Awards may include gifts, gift certificates or cash. On-the-
spot awards focus employee attention on organizational goals and objectives. In addition, employees can
quickly see the link between performance or behavior and the reward. On-the-spot awards can lead to
feelings of resentment or unfairness, however, if managers use their own criteria for giving awards.

Gainsharing
In a gainsharing incentive compensation plan, employees are rewarded for cost reduction or improved
productivity. Savings are usually shared equally between the employees and the company. Organizations
using gainsharing incentives usually have participative management styles. Gainsharing plans can help
employees understand what is important to the organization, such as decreasing labor costs. Gainsharing
can also increase employee cooperation because employees are rewarded equally, reducing competition.
Gainsharing also reinforces continuous improvement. Gainsharing, however, can make it difficult to
determine a productivity baseline. It can also be difficult to determine who will participate in the program.
In a gainsharing plan, an organization could pay for cost reductions even when profits are declining.
Lastly, since all employees are rewarded equally, the payment may not seem fair to all employees.

Profit Sharing
In profit sharing, the organization pays employees above and beyond their base pay when the
organization earns a profit. Profit sharing allows the organization to reward employees when the
organization can most afford it. Profit sharing also provides flexibility in the distribution of the payments.
Employees may not see the link between individual performance and profits, however, minimizing the link
to performance.

These pay methods add value to the company while providing flexibility in pay. When suggesting possible
solutions, students may offer, as an option, issuing stock. However, the instructor should advise students
that Motors and More is not a public company.

Deciding What Benefits to Offer
Currently, Motors and More employees receive only statutory employment benefits. Statutory benefits are
Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation and FMLA leave.

Social Security provides retirement and disability income and can supplement unemployment insurance.
It is funded by equal contributions between the employer and the employee.

Workers’ compensation covers medical costs and employee pay if the employee is unable to work due to
a job-related illness, injury or disability. It is paid for by the organization.

Unemployment compensation provides income to employees who lose their jobs. The employer pays for
unemployment compensation based on the organization’s location and history of terminations and layoffs.

The Family Medical Leave Act requires employers with 50 or more employees to allow employees to take
up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period for narrowly defined personal and family health
issues. The Act ensures that the employee can return to the same position or one of equal status and
pay. In addition, the Act requires employers to maintain employee’s health coverage (if offered).
17
Communication plan
Developing a communication plan ensures that everyone understands benefits offerings. Figure 3
provides a sample communication plan structure targeting only the employee level.

Figure 3: Communication Plan

Audience Message Medium Desired Result Timing Frequency
Person
Responsible

Employees Explanation
of benefits

Large group
meeting

Employees will understand
the new benefits so they can
make an informed decision

Employee enrollment

At
enrollment
time

Quarterly HR Director

Benefits
Consultant

Website Understanding the new
benefits

Continuous Continuous Webmaster

Benefits
Consultant

Understanding the new
benefits

Based on
publication
dates

Semi-
annual

Editor

Benefits
Consultant

One-on-one
consultation

Employees will understand
the new benefits so they can
make an informed decision

Employee enrollment

By
appointment

Ongoing Benefits
Consultant

Different communication mediums (or methods) should be used for different audiences. The management
team may require group and/or one-on-one meetings. Employees will want to see the details in a
document they can read and revisit.

Desired results are also audience-specific. For example, you will want management to understand the
new benefits, enroll in the plans and also be supportive of the plans. You will want employees to
understand the new plans, with enrollment as the desired result.

A communication plan considers timing (when the message will be communicated) and frequency (how
often the message or a version of the message will be presented to the audience). For example, for
benefits enrollment, timing may be one month before the enrollment period begins. The frequency may be
once a week to start, increasing to twice a week as the enrollment period draws to a close.

For a communication plan to succeed, each person assigned to execute each phase of the plan must be
held responsible to complete it within the time specified.

DEVELOPING A HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Develop a human resource development (HRD) plan. Given the fact that Motors and More has no formal
training program and promotions have been based on seniority, your plan should address:

A. New-employee training.
B. Current-employee training for current and future jobs according to a career path.
C. Manager and supervisory training.

In your training plan, address the following:

A. How will you conduct a needs assessment for each group (include methods and instruments)?
B. How will training content be developed or obtained?
C. How will training be delivered (e.g., classroom, intranet, blended, self-study, etc.) and by whom

internal employee or external consultant/trainer)? Provide a rationale for your decision.

New-employee Training
New employees should undergo an orientation program. Comprehensive orientation should include
information about the industry, organization, job unit and position. To retain employees, orientation to the
team (job unit) and position are important. New-employee orientation should address individual employee
goals. New employees may also need specific job training to enhance their skills, to safely use equipment
and to follow procedures.

Current-employee Training
Current employees may need refresher skills training and diversity training. Evaluate whether English-as-
a-second language (ESL) training would support the work environment. If functional career paths are
developed, training should align to the functional career path. Because Motors and More will likely add to
team leaders, basic supervisory and team leadership training may be needed.

Manager and supervisory Training
Managers and supervisors were promoted by seniority, and there is no indication they have had any
management level training. Promotion by seniority also resulted in a lack of women and minorities in top-
level positions. Basic management training in areas such as budgeting and forecasting, employment
laws, performance management, goal setting, and giving and receiving feedback would improve their
capabilities. Diversity training is also recommended for this group.

Needs Assessments
Needs assessments should be conducted at the organizational, job and individual levels. At the
organizational level, a needs assessment should assess current and future training needs, identify
existing gaps and recommend specific training and development required to close the gaps. An
organizational needs assessment is client-based and considers organizational objectives and strategies.

A job (or task) needs analysis identifies the specific skills, knowledge and abilities (KSAs) needed to
perform the tasks in a current or future position (Jackson and Schuler, 2006). A job analysis identifies the
training requirements for the job. Additional sources include interviewing the incumbent and the
incumbent’s manager to identify specific skills, knowledge and behavior required to successfully do the
job. The goal of a job needs analysis is to define what successful performance looks like and identify the
KSAs required.

An individual needs assessment identifies the KSA gaps between existing and required performance. A
good method to assess individual needs is to measure performance against objectives. This is discussed
in the performance review where strengths and weaknesses can also be identified. Observation is
another way to conduct this needs assessment.

Needs assessments can be conducted by examining the existing (or extant) data, conducting individual
interviews or focus groups, implementing surveys, using multi-rater assessments, assessing employees
through various tests, and reviewing individual, functional unit and organizational performance records.

How will training content be developed or obtained?
Training content can be developed or purchased. Some training may need to be developed internally. If
so, given the limited HR staff, how will this be done? Using SMEs and/or an outside trainer is a possibility.
Buying training programs off-the-shelf is also an option. However, off-the-shelf training products are
generally not customized to the individual organization. Consequently, customization costs must be
considered. Cost, time to delivery and size of target audience are also factors to consider.

How will training be delivered (e.g., classroom, intranet, blended, self-study, etc.) and by whom
(internal employee or external consultant/trainer)?
It is important to match delivery methods to content and audience. Some training (such as new employee
orientation) can be self-study; employees can receive individual training material as such as workbooks or
CDs. Some of the new-employee orientation, though, may need to be classroom-based. If the target
audience has computer access, training can be delivered by Intranet, internet or CD. Classroom training
is always an option, but timing and space may be issues. When planning training, keep in mind that
managers and professionals usually have more flexibility in their schedules than hourly employees do.
This will affect classroom delivery. Consider using job assignments and job rotation to provide depth and
breadth of training.

Some criteria or decision factors in training delivery include:

 Costs to design/develop and deliver internally or hire external designers and facilitators.

 Availability of HR employees during training.

 Internal/external HR design/development expertise.

 HR employee’s perceived credibility.

 Audience preference for different methods of delivery.

 Time to delivery—it takes longer to develop an online course than a classroom exercise.

 Number and location of training deliveries. If the entire organization needs to be trained in remote
locations and quickly, you may need outside resources.

What processes and instruments will you use to evaluate the program’s effectiveness for each
group?
Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation is the model generally used for training evaluation. These levels are
discussed extensively in Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels and are summarized here for
your reference.

Level 1: Reaction
Level 1 assesses participants’ reaction to the training. Participants are asked to complete a
survey at the end of the training. The survey asks participants to indicate if training objectives
were met, rate facilitator skills, assess the relevancy of content and rate the appropriateness of
instructional/learning strategies, materials, group interaction, etc.

Level 2: Measure learning
Was there a change in knowledge, skills or attitudes? Learning can be measured through tests
for knowledge, assessments of performance during role-plays, demonstrations, case studies,
projects, work products, etc. These instruments, developed specifically for the training, are used
during the learning and feedback is provided during the learning activities. To accurately assess a
shift in learning, there a baseline must be established by administering a pre-test and post-test.

Level 3: Assess behavior change on the job
This is also referred to as transfer. Are participants using the new knowledge and skills on the
job? To what extent? To assess this, HRD professionals can follow up on performance contracts,
action plans, work products and similar transfer strategies to determine the extent to which these
are being completed. HRD professionals can also conduct individual interviews of training
participants, their managers and/or peers or conduct focus groups to determine transfer. Surveys
can also be used.

Another consideration in assessing learning transfer involves the environment. To what extent
does the environment enable or hinder the use of the new KSA? The same assessment methods
can be used.

Level 4: Measure results
Measure any changes in the initial business metric addressed by the training. Did the metric
(sales, defects, turnover, etc.) change? The return on investment (ROI) can be calculated if the
dollar value of the change in the metric (benefit) and total program costs are known. When
measuring results, it is important that only results due to training are considered. To do this,
separate the variables influencing the change in the business metric. Methods to measure results
include tracking the business metric, conducting individual interviews of participants and their
managers, conducting focus groups, and using surveys.

DEVELOPING THE HR FORECAST

Develop a three-year HR forecast (prediction of the future) using the following assumptions:

A. Labor supply/demand will become more rigorous (demand for workers will increase, but the labor
pool will remain the same or shrink). Labor costs will increase.

B. Demand for Motors and More products will continue to increase. Production defects will also
continue to increase.

C. Motors and More’s workforce will become more diverse as the company hires more Hispanics,
Kurds and persons from alternative workforces.

D. The president will start another company and will hire someone to manage the daily operations of
Motors and More while he takes on more of an overseeing role.

E. Motors and More will decide to develop an additional product to broaden its portfolio. There is no
existing capacity for the product, nor do the existing production lines meet the manufacturing
requirements for the new product.

REFERENCES

Anthony, W., Kacmar, K. M., & Perrewe, P. (2006). Human resource management: A strategic approach.

Mason, OH: Thomson Custom Solutions.

Daft, R. L. (2003). Essentials of organization theory & design. Manson, OH: South-Western, Thomson

Learning.

DeNisi, A. S., & Griffin, R.W. (2001). Human resource management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2006). Fundamentals of organizational behavior, managing people and

organizations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Galkin, D., &Cardy, R. (2001). Managing human resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Jackson, S., & Schuler, R. (2006). Managing human resources though strategic partnerships (9th ed.).

United States: Thomson South-Western.

Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1994). Evaluating training programs: The four levels. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler

Publishers, Inc.

Mathis, R., & Jackson, J. (2006). Human resource management (11th ed.). United States: Thomson

South-Western.

Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2007). Human resource management (2nd ed.).

Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Robinson, D. G., & Robinson, J. (1996). Performance consulting: Moving beyond training. San Francisco:

Berrett-Koehler Publisher.

Business Strategy Report- Team 2 MBA -533

Resource in Management- Business Strategy Report

Team 2 Analysis of “Motors and More, Inc”

January 16, 2018

Business Strategy Report – Motors and More, Inc.

In a small southern town of 28,000 individuals a fictional company by the name of Motors and More, Inc employs 116 employee but have found themselves in a dilemma of where the demand for employees has far outweighed the labor supply. The private company who manufactures small motors and accessories have determined that the current sales force has exceeded their objectives. The company recognizes this dilemma and attempts to counteract with an expansion of personnel. Recognizing the fact that employee growth and retainment is essential, the best course of action is resulting in the company reorganization to include a human resource department, a function that is new to the company and their employees after survival without. Motors and More must design a strategy to create a human resource structure in a decentralized organization structure (McCain, 2007). Corporate restructuring can be defined as, “a major change in the composition of a firm’s assets combines with a major change in its corporate strategy” (Heugens, 2004, p. 87). In this strategy, they must ensure that the labor force meets the market demands of their products, the new human resource department meets the demands of the company and the lines of communication are open during this corporate restructure.

Company Strategy aligning with Human Resource Strategy

Motors and More, Inc falls into line as a prospector strategic organization with the opportunity to grow with the advancement of markets and products (McCain, 2007). This growth into new markets mean that a strain could develop and possibly has developed on the employees. This outward growth will mean internal growth will be made on how to address the needs of the employees. Currently Motors and More, Inc does not have a human resource department and one cannot be created overnight. With Motors and More obtaining growth within the industry, management and leadership within the company needs to create a human resource strategy to address how employees to grow within the company and how the human resource management will be able to recruit more employees into the fold. The company must address the fact that a talent pool could be available, but they must look beyond their own walls and reach out to the current community and outline talent pools that could be harnessed.

Of the many factors in place, the true success of this restructure lines in place with the new Human Resource Department. They will find that their success strategy should be focused on retainment of the current employees but to also the recruitment of new employees. The Human Resource Department should go even further by assessing these employees new and old to determine the possibility of the creation of new products.

Industry Realities

The reality of today’s society and standard is the companies and communities need to be all inclusive. When industries and companies chose to alienate themselves from opportunities to encourage all genders, races and classes, a talent pool becomes much smaller. Motors and More, Inc has found themselves in a position in needing the workforce to meet the demand. Managers within the company need to take responsibility for the growth. This is not just an HR issues, it should be treated as a joint venture. The stance of it always has been this way, can no longer continue for a company that is starving for quality employees. The unemployment market in other communities is substantial so this where Motors and More, Inc could be viewed a competitive advantage not just for products but for internal industry growth.

Competitor Analysis

For Motors and More, Inc, employee turnover has increased. A company on the outside can view Motors and More as their own talent pool. Currently the company has taken the stance that seniority equates to promotional opportunities (McCain 2007). Without an appropriately working human resource department, recognition of individuals has been overlooked creating employee dissatisfaction. Dissatisfied employees do not stay with a company that fails to recognize their own talented employees. These employees will leave to seek other companies that appreciate what the employee has to offer. And there is rub for a competitor to take advantage and prosper off the back of Motors and More, Inc. Money is lost when an employee leave and more money is wasted with the time and effort to retrain a new employee. There is potential for competitor growth to offer Motors and More additional compensation and growth in turn for connections to new accounts. Competitors will exploit the opportunity to engage new employees who are developed and trained in the current industry.

Utilizing Competitive Rivalry in one of Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, due to the fact that there are other markets available to pull from the talent pool, Motors and More, Inc need to ensure their employees needs are being met with opportunities not currently being available. With these greater opportunities, Motors and More, Inc may obtain more than their share of available workers in the community and elsewhere. But the goal to keep in mind is that they create a sort of branding to attract these workers, not just to expect them to apply (Porter, 1979).

This issue presented with using Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis to focus on Motors and More Inc is that we are unsure of these other companies in the Market. We do have the quality of the their employees and workmanship. Do we know that their focus is on innovation also. If these companies have been successful in obtaining previous Motors and More employees, was it the fact that they already had in place a Human Resource Department? Is Motors and More, Inc rational is that if they do create a Human Resource Department, will all their issues just disappear? It is one thing to create the department, but this privately owned companies’ own management and leadership will need to follow and comply with the recommendations set in place by Human Resources. Human Resource Management should be viewed as leadership on all levels of the company structure.

Motors and More Difference from the Market

Motors and More, Inc has created many differences from itself compared to the market. The market is finding itself dealing with employees that want to unionize themselves. Wells addresses the fact that individuals “argue that human resource management (HRM) is only compatible with weak unions or the absence of unions, or that it exists where union avoidance is not an option, there is a large body of industrial relations opinion that asserts that strong, autonomous unions are not only compatible with these innovations, but even necessary to their successful development” (Wells, 1993 p 56).

Also, being that Motors and More, Inc is a privately-owned company, this could present the company as a more desirable company for a joint venture. Motors and More, Inc has a great advantage to work with the local community college and technology school to develop their own employee-in-training program (McCain, 2007). With a proper Human Resource team, a plan could be set in place to develop the students they need to become a employee with guaranteed skills already in place. Someone else trains and Motors and More, Inc can reap the benefits.

Motors and More, Inc should align themselves with the community in the southern town. Many companies include community outreach programs and volunteering to connect to the community but to also raise awareness of the needs of the people. The fact that Motors and More, Inc has not had a relationship with the Hispanic and Kurdish community, they are obstructing the possibility that these individuals might be the workforce to help them succeed in the growing market. The Hispanic and Kurdish population should not be seen as a threat but as a benefit to the employee deficit as Motors and More, Inc (McCain, 2007)

Motors and More Strategy Role to be Competitive

With the current model in place, managers were in place due to seniority and not necessary due to productivity treating longevity as the reward (McCain, 2007). Longevity does not always equate to a leader. Leadership involves traits and behaviors that a senior manager may not possess. If Motors and More took more of the strategy to incorporate gainsharing, a pay structure could be created to reward cost reduction and improve productivity. The company needs to attract individuals with the means to grow the company within or focus outward. Recently employee turnover rate higher than normal because of the lack of growth opportunities. This HR issue of turnover is expense, when a new reward system could be step to reward employee longevity. Rewards could also be put in place to award employees with successful recruitment utilizing an employee recommendation program.

With the creation of the new Human Resource Team, they can create a new opportunity by offering benefits that will attract a broader range of individuals. Currently with only one female team member, a team could be created to seek out what needs are requested from the female population in order to attract them to the industry in regards to tuition reimbursement or even onsite daycare..

Activities that Motors and More Inc can utilize to deem themselves as being more competitive presented by Pfeffer include but not limited to “selective recruiting, information sharing, cross utilization and cross training, participation and empowerment and incentive pay” (Pfeffer 1994). If the Motors and More, Inc Human Resource department is more selective, the turnover rate could greatly be decreased because the right people are in place. With information sharing, they company would find themselves with employees who are better aligned with the goals and mission of the company. Cross utilization and cross training would give the employees to opportunity to learn and grow and help the company understand what the company might be lacking, this is what happens when the same individuals are only performing the same jobs over and over again, people need a challenge to help them understand where the growth is needed. Since Motors and More Inc is considered a prospecting strategic company that is decentralized, with participation and empowerment, it would further “encourage the decentralization of decision making and broader worker participation and empowerment in controlling the work process” (Pfeffer, 1994). Overall, incentive pay will help reward others who are productive for the company.

Promotion based on seniority (Leaders vs Managers)- Communication with employees about changes- constituents

Motor’s and More, Inc will be designing a new Human Resource Department. Management promotions have all been based off of seniority and all of the managers including the president are Caucasian men excluding one female from the customer service department (McCain, 2007). According to the local labor market population there is a growing Hispanic and Kurdish community that could help with diversity in this workplace. Also, there is a community college and a technical college that is within 50 miles of the organization that could also help with building the educational needs of the employees. As the Human Resource Department grows as will the training and education.

As the training plan gets developed a way to devise a leadership plan could ensure that the managers of yesterday are shaped into the leaders of tomorrow. They will need to be educated on how to communicate with new more diverse workforce that will be created. How to empower and educate others as they are educating themselves. This leadership would also need to make sure that their own culture promotes the contributions of their team members to encourage participation and productivity.

Dentchev and Heene with their article Managing the reputation of restructuring corporations: Send the right signal to the right stakeholder examines that constituents might receive and how the messages being sent might be construed by different individuals. If the message is handled effectively, it ensures the correct message is sent to the correct individuals (Dentchev & Heene 2003). Ultimately, this Human Resource team should be transparent to ensure the communication is being heard but they should be open to feedback from the employees during this time of change.

In Conclusion

Motor’s and More are expanding and will be able to drive their output up by 96%. Using Porter’s five forces, supplier power is the pressure suppliers have over businesses. They can use the demand for their product to create more profitability. “Strong suppliers can pressure buyers by raising prices, lowering product quality, and reducing product availability. All of these things represent cost to the buyer” (Wilkinson, 2013). If Motor’s and More, Inc cannot find suitable employees and retain them they may be in trouble. Other suppliers may be able to produce their product at a lower cost. An example of this is like the tire industry relationship to automobile manufacturers, many competitive suppliers standardizing the product. Where the company is now is ideal and the next steps that it takes is vital. They need to ensure that their suppliers will be getting them the products they need at the best possible price so that they will be able to continue to produce at the current rate without decreasing.

The industry that Motor’s and More, Inc is in is highly competitive and is currently taking advantage of new markets and products. Its organizational emphasis is on growth, innovation and new product development. As a prospector wanting to be first to market having a threat of entry is high. New companies desiring the same success can cause a shake-up. “The seriousness of the threat of entry depends on the barriers present and on the reaction from existing competitors that entrants can expect. If barriers to entry are high and newcomers can expect sharp retaliation from the entrenched competitors, obviously the newcomers will not pose a serious threat of entering.” (Porter, 1979) These six major sources of barriers to entry are economies of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, cost disadvantages independent of size, access to distribution channels and Government policy. Keeping all of this in mind while developing the Human Resource Development plan will keep the company competitive and be able to strategize the competitions weaknesses if needed.

Resources

Argenti, P. (2016). Corporate communication (6th ed.). United States: McGraw- Hill

Dentchev, N., & Heene, A. (2004). Managing the reputation of restructuring corporations: send
the right signal to the right stakeholder. Journal of Public Affairs, 4 (1), 56-72.

Heugens, P.R., & Schenk, H. (2004). Rethinking corporate restructuring. Journal of Public
Affairs (14723891), 4(1), 87-101.

Ivancevich, J.M, & Konopaske, R. (2013). Human resource management

(12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Pfeffer, J. (1994). From competitive advantage through people. Harvard Business School Press 30-59.

Porter, M. E. (1979, March). How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Retrieved from hbr.org:

https://hbr.org/1979/03/how-competitive-forces-shape-strategy

Wells, D. (1993). Are strong unions compatible with the new model of human resource management?.

Relations Industrielles, 48 (1), 56-85.

Wilkinson, J. (2013, July 24). Supplier Power (one of Porter’s Five Forces). Retrieved from Strategic CFO:

https://strategiccfo.com/supplier-power-one-of-porters-five-forces/

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HR ORGANIZATION

I. Executive Summary

II. Business Strategy Report – 100 Points (Module 1)

III. HR Organization Design – 100 Points (Module 2)

V. Compensation Plan – 100 Points (Module 4)

VII. HR Forecast Plan – 100 Points (Module 6)

VIII. Conclusions

IX. Appendix

X. References

XI. Document Work Log

VII.
HR Forecast Plan – 100 Points (Module 6)