Human Resource Director
From the case study, Transworld Development lacks a flexible workforce and a person who can oversee the overall role of staffing. Nielsen has tried to address the problem facing the firm; but for the business to succeed, she is considering hiring a professional human resource manager who will strategically manage the staff as the key factor that can improve and develop the organisation. Different candidates have shown an interest to work for Frieda Nielsen, but she has to select the best applicant so that the chosen candidate can help the company acquire optimal profit, gain competitive advantage, and venture into other markets. Thus, in this discussion, the three applicants are reviewed by comparing the strategies they propose to implement at Transworld Development. The strategies will be examined in terms of strength and weaknesses, and then suggest the best candidate for the job based on the significance of the strategy proposed.
Strategy Proposed by Candidate A
From the HR’s point of view, Candidate A has the potentiality to manage Transworld Development and in turn ensures that the company is at its best through various human resource activities. With a 15 years working experience, candidate A’s strategy has both strengths and weaknesses. The applicant proposes employees redundancy as the best strategy that will improve the company and give it the best workforce possible. The candidate also suggests the organisation should focus on hiring the local people rather than employing expatriate staffs.
Strengths of the Strategy
Employee redundancy will help Transworld Development reduce the cost of operation and enhance organisational success. Nyasha (2016) reveals that redundancy is an inevitable HR process that organisations use to address the issue of labour costs and if implemented, it assists businesses to reshape their financial positions. As proposed by candidate A, redundancy will also make the company effective and efficient in the context of monetary stabilisation and growth.
Weaknesses
First, employee redundancy is distressing to employees who survive the redundant practice. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD (2017), employee redundancy requires the employer to make sure that the method is based on fairness treatment, as businesses may terminate the wrong employees. The strategy should also be considered as the last resort in the cases where a firm wants to reduce workforce size, as it undermines morale, confidence, and trust in the workplace (CIPD, 2017). Therefore, Transworld Development should consider alternatives to redundancy, because the strategy can affect human resources negatively, which will in turn affect their productivity.
Candidate B Strategy
With a working experience of 20 years, applicant B recommends that for the company to create more income, it should focus on hiring new staff and training them. The candidate feels that Transworld Development should start hiring new graduates and train them to become more skillful and experienced for the task that they will be given. The applicant quotes that this will expand the company, which will, in turn, bring sufficient income.
Strengths of the Strategy
The training approach will identify employee’s weaknesses, improve their skills, and give them the experience to work under different circumstances. Training is part of business strategy, which will give the Transworld Development an opportunity to develop its workforce and orientate the new graduate into experienced people who will deliver company expansion and financial stability. Sahu (2009) cites that training is an essential element of the HR, as the practice imparts skills and knowledge to the employee, thus, helping them to contribute to the firm’s efficiency.
Weaknesses
Training in businesses is a powerful tool for success within its environment, but the practice requires a lot of money and resources for sustainability. Hiring new employees will increase the company’s expenses in terms of revenue, management, and increasing available capacity to accommodate them. Transworld Development will also have to pay the trainer and hire venues for training if it does not have enough space for training and development.
Strategy Proposed by Candidate C
The candidate has 7 years working experience, and he proposes that Transworld Development should focus on creating a partnership with local businesses, and employ expatriate staff to working with local employees. Although this is an appealing idea, it can influence the company in different ways.
Strengths
The expatriates will serve to the company whenever it wants to expand to foreign regions. Moreover, the expatriate staff will enhance the company’s image in the host country, which will be beneficial for Transworld Development, as the company will have an additional bargaining power with the local clients.
Weaknesses
Hiring expatriates may be problematic in different ways. For example, expatriates may fail to complete their tasks, either due to lack experience in the local environment or high burnout rate due to the aspect of jobs that are demanding (Tan & Mahoney, 2006). For Transworld Development, the concept of expatriates may be expensive, as hiring employees from other countries will require the company to spend a large amount of money for travelling, visa issues, and relocation allowances. Rahim (2012) posits that HR managers use more time to develop effective payment programs for international employees, as they are paid an enormous amount of money, which means that a company will overspend on the workforce through expatriates.
Recommendation
Based on the case study, one can see that Transworld Development is about to employ more workers, which means that it will spend more money on staffing, and this will influence its performance, as well as the profit margin. From the analysis of the three candidates, Transworld Development should consider hiring Candidate B because his working experience reflects what Transworld Development needs, and the strategy of this candidate matches with the need of Transworld Development business. As the development of the firm depends on the skills of the employees, training will allow the new graduates to align their abilities to organisational success, based on corporate expansion and income. The reason that makes redundancy and hiring expatriates strategy unsuitable for Nielsen’s company is that the two techniques require redeployment and a tremendous amount of money for sustainability.
References
CIPD, (2017). Redundancy: An introduction. Retrieved from: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/redundancy/factsheet
Nyasha, M. (2016). Impact of redundancy on organisational performance. International Journal of Innovative Research and Development, 5(6). 530-536.
Rahim, S. A. (2012). Compensation issues relating to expatriate managers: A review of related literature. ASA University Review, 6(2), 185-195.
Sahu, R. K. (2009). Training for development. Excel Books India.
Tan, D., & Mahoney, J. T. (2006). Why a multinational firm chooses expatriates: Integrating resource‐based, agency and transaction costs perspectives. Journal of Management Studies, 43(3), 457-484.
