MANAGE HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGIC PLANNING FACILITATOR MANUAL & ASSESSMENT BSBHRM602A

Transcription

1 MANAGE HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGIC PLANNING FACILITATOR MANUAL & ASSESSMENT BSBHRM602A

2 Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd 9 Koppen Tce, Cairns, QLD, info@precisiongroup.com.au Website: BSBHRM602A Manage Human Resources Strategic Planning ISBN: Copyright Notice No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information retrieval system without written permission from Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Legal action may be taken against any person who infringes their copyright through unauthorised copying. These terms are subject to the conditions prescribed under the Australian Copyright Act Copying for Educational Purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows 10% of this book to be copied by any educational institute for educational purposes, provided that the institute (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. For more information, info@copyright. com.au or visit for other contact details. Disclaimer Precision Group has made a great effort to ensure that this material is free from error or omissions. However, you should conduct your own enquiries and seek professional advice before relying on any fact, statement or matter contained in this book. Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage as a result of material included or omitted from this material. Information in this module is current at the time of publication.

3 Table of Contents 2 Legend 3 Qualification Pathways 4 Qualification Rules 5 Introduction 7 BSBHRM602A/01 Research Planning Requirements Key Points Analyse strategic plans to determine human resources strategic direction, objectives and targets Undertake additional environmental analysis to identify emerging practices and trends which may impact on human resources management in the organisation Identify future labour needs and skill requirements and options for sourcing labour supply Consider new technology and its impact on job roles and job design Review recent and potential changes to industrial/legal requirements 19 True or False Quiz 21 BSBHRM602A/02 Develop Human Resources Strategic Plan Key Points Consult relevant managers about their human resources preferences Agree on human resources philosophies, values and policies with relevant managers Develop strategic objectives and targets for human resources services Examine options for the provision of human resources services and analyse costs and benefits Identify appropriate technology and systems to support agreed human resources programs and practices Write strategic human resources plan and obtain senior management support for the plan Develop risk management plans to support the strategic human resources plan 27 True or False Quiz 29 BSBHRM602A/03 Implement Human Resources Strategic Plan Key Points Work with others to see that the plan is implemented Monitor and review the plan Adapt plan should circumstances change Evaluate and review performance against plan objectives 37 True or False Quiz 38 Summary 39 Bibliography 41 Assessment Pack 1

4 Use considered risk taking in your grey area...and others will follow you! Legend This symbol indicates the beginning of new content. The bold title matches the content of the competency and they will help you to find the section to reference for your assessment activities. Activity: Whenever you see this symbol, there is an activity to carry out which has been designed to help reinforce the learning about the topic and take some action. This symbol is used at the end of a section to indicate the summary key points of the previous section. This symbol is used to indicate an answer to the Candidate s questions or notes to assist the Facilitator. 2

5 Qualification Pathways There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it s easy. Source Unknown This unit of competency is provided to meet the requirements of BSB07 Business Services Training Package although it can be used in a range of different qualifications. The BSB07 Business Services Training Package does not state how a qualification is to be achieved. Rather, Registered Training Organisations are required to use the qualification rules to ensure the needs of the learner and business customer are met. This is to be achieved through the development of effective learning programs delivered in an order that meets the stated needs of nominated Candidates and business customers. 3

6 Qualification Rules You re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Eldridge Cleaver Qualification requirements include core and elective units. The unit mix is determined by specific unit of competency requirements which are stated in the qualification description. Registered Training Organisations then work with learners and business customers to select elective units relevant to the work outcome, local industry requirements and the qualification level. All vocational education qualifications must lead to a work outcome. BSB07 Business Services Training Package qualifications allow for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to vary programs to meet: Specific needs of a business or group of businesses. Skill needs of a locality or a particular industry application of business skills. Maximum employability of a group of students or an individual. When packaging a qualification elective units are to be selected from an equivalent level qualification unless otherwise stated. 4

7 Introduction Whether as an individual, or as part of a group, real progress depends on entering whole-heartedly into the process and being motivated to make you a more deeply satisfied human being. Source Unknown This unit of competency is all about developing, implementing and maintaining a strategic approach to the management of human resources in an organisation. It will help you with the skills you need to demonstrate competency for the unit BSBHRM602A Manage Human Resources Strategic Planning. This is one of the units that make up the Certificate in Business. This manual is broken up into four distinct sections. These are: 1. Research Planning Requirements. 2. Develop Human Resources Strategic Plan. 3. Implement Human Resources Strategic Plan. At the conclusion of this training you will be asked to complete an assessment pack for this unit of competency. The information contained in this resource will assist you to complete this task. You will also require someone who is able to assess your performance and verify the evidence you supply. On conclusion of this unit of competency you will have demonstrated skills and knowledge necessary to develop, implement and maintain a strategic approach to human resources. 5

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9 PART 1: Research Planning Requirements Key Points Section 1 A strategic plan for human resource strategies should begin by examining your overall business strategy and looking for improvements within them. An environmental analysis should then take place, looking at cutting edge research, trends and changes to the legal environment. The labour market also needs to be examined in detail as well as changes to technology. 7

10 This manual is all about the development of effective human resources management strategies in the workplace. In this manual, we will be examining the processes associated with researching, developing and evaluating Human Resources strategy and strategic plans. Let s begin by looking at some of the issues you may be confronted with in your organisation and examining how you can address these through effective strategy. Human Resource Issues Learning and Development: The HR function is heavily related to the development of staff. To this end, you may need to examine processes for identifying learning gaps, development program effectiveness, and case studies of personnel who have been through development. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS): OHS is a critical aspect of modern work in Australia; it keeps all staff safe and ensures that their wellbeing is considered while at work. Strategy in this area could involve examining current processes, looking at hazards, reviewing policy and procedure, investigating incidents and looking for trends in any such data. Performance Management: Performance management is closely related to learning and development. Performance reviews are a critical aspect of this area as is the development of performance improvement plans. Your strategies in this area could focus on the development of plans, their effectiveness, and the techniques used to conduct performance reviews. Rehabilitation and Return to Work (RTW) Schemes: If a staff member is injured, they are likely to become a user of rehabilitation and RTW schemes. These may be internal or external. Cost effectiveness of schemes, effectiveness of RTW schemes and rehabilitation processes may all be researched. Remuneration: Most staff work for money. Therefore, the amount of money they are paid can play an important role in ensuring staff remain loyal to you. Staff turnover, reasons for staff leaving, remuneration levels compared to other organisations, and how levels are set may all be considered during the development of your strategic plans. Selection and Recruitment: Getting the right staff in the first place is an important way of reducing staff turnover, therefore researching the strategies and processes used by an organisation is a useful way of making improvements to the function. You may consider current practices, tests used, how selections are actually made or how successful selection and recruitment has proven to be. Succession Planning: In human resources planning, you are looking to develop and move individuals through an organisation in such a way that they gradually move up through an organisation. Succession planning should be considered. Does the organisation have a formal system and strategies in place, and how effective is it? How does it relate to performance management and learning processes? 8

11 Any of these areas will prove fruitful in the development of a strategic plan for human resources. So how do you decide exactly what areas are of most concern to your organisation and how can you clarify the issues to ensure you know what you need to concentrate on? For some managers, the choice of areas to investigate more closely when developing strategy is relatively straightforward. However, for many it can be a slow and frustrating process. Selecting an appropriate area of concern (or areas of concern) can lead to better strategic plans at the end of the process and will certainly result in a more fulfilling process for the individual and the organisation. Strategic planning is worthless - unless there is first a strategic vision. John Naisbitt 9

12 Generating Ideas for Strategy Some people have a fairly clear idea of how strategy can improve their organisation at a very early stage in their planning processes; others may be given areas of concern by their managers for investigation. However, most people when faced with the task of examining the strategic implications of their HRM processes find it very difficult to pick out a single one from the different possibilities. Writing strategy can be psychologically as difficult as writing the first few sentences of a novel. However, it is possible to structure the process in order to ensure you have areas which are considered to be most important, strategically, to your organisation. Once ideas are generated, it is possible to evaluate them, choose the most appropriate topic and then clarify its focus and objectives. The Organisation For many HR professionals the organisational context within which they work is a very significant factor to consider when writing strategy. Yet the identification and selection of an issue for the investigation can be very complex and confusing. One reason for this is how interrelated many features of HR are. So, trying to isolate an issue for research while knowing that it is linked to others can prove frustrating and difficult. In the topic generation process, if you are undertaking an investigation in an organisation where you already work, take a step back and look from a different viewpoint. Where at all possible, part of the process should involve discussions with managers and colleagues. Listening to their ideas may allow you to determine how you might enquire into the issues. You should consider: What is currently not working? What changes are likely to happen soon? What developments in HR may impact on our organisation? Current Research Looking at the research that is being undertaken in universities around the world may also play an important role in helping you determine what to examine strategically. Browse through recent editions of any HR journal and make a list of the articles and features. Look at their titles and summarise what they are all about. Each of these could act as a trigger to identify one or more areas of research that could be incorporated into your strategic planning. Past Assignments You may like to look back at past work assignments and projects that you have worked on. If you are still studying, looking back over recent course work may also prove useful. What topics or assignments did you find most useful? Could you use your knowledge from these areas to implement strategic change within your organisation? 10

13 Once you have decided on two or maybe three topics, you now have to select the one that is most likely to lead to a successful strategy in terms of delivering value for your organisation. Look at: Organisational Relevance: A strategy that has clear potential value to the organisation and that permits the enquiry and investigation to be undertaken is more likely to be completed successfully. Access to data: A strategic investigation will only be feasible if the data needed, or sources for the data, actually exist or can be generated (within budget) within your time frame. Resources required: Although basic computer systems and the like will be available to most of you, specialist software or other resources may not be. Check to ensure you are able to gather everything you need to implement a particular strategy before you begin. This evaluation must be a major part of the decision making process when examining current and potential strategy within your organisation. You must also take into account all relevant stakeholders. It is important to identify any strategy that should be ruled out based on the factors above and then begin establishing a focus for the planning processes. We will now move on from selecting strategy to examining the aspects that are already in place within your organisation. Strategy is complemented by policy and procedures. Let s look at what these are and the role that they play. Policies: Policies are basic principles that allow you to identify formal expectations of your staff and visitors to the organisation on certain organisational matters. These policies are formally documented and require the approval of management. Within a policy you will find that there are boundaries defined and this in turn creates a framework within which operating procedures may be developed. Policy is an offshoot of strategy and allows you to ensure that you have expectations in place to ensure that strategy is reached and achieved. Procedures/Guidelines: These are standard, step-by-step methods of operating in line with best practice essentially they put your policy into practice (and so are also related to the achievement of appropriate strategy). They relate back to a specific policy statement and may offer advice or set expectations about how a policy or regulation should be implemented or how an activity is carried out. Policies and procedures allow an organisation to ensure that all staff are aware of: The nature of the organisation What they should expect from the company What the company expects of them How policies and procedures work at your company What is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour The consequences of unacceptable behaviour. The establishment of strategy and policy can help an organisation demonstrate that it meets requirements for the legal aspects of HRM, particularly in relation to industrial relations. 11

14 Reviewing Your Current Strategy Reviewing and revision of HRM Strategy are a critical component of effective management in HR. Establishing good strategy sets the ground work for improving operations through good policy and procedures promoting good practice. All organisations maintain policies and procedures. They offer staff a great opportunity to effect overall institutional behaviour, and they are extremely useful as a source of information about how things work (or how the organisation thinks they should work). They are a record of the organisation s official position on a number of matters. Reviewing policies and procedures helps to determine whether an organisation has addressed a particular issue and whether the policy instructions are in compliance with the law. The failure to provide a policy or procedure is not usually unlawful, so you as a researcher must assess whether such a failure indicates a problem that can be confirmed in other ways. But where a organisation has written a policy or procedure, it must conform to legal requirements. Review the policy and procedure manual and any other documents that set forth the organisation s operating standards, including inter-office memoranda, training materials and staff directives Reviewing Strategy A good place to start with reviewing your existing strategies is to examine model strategies that may exist within your organisation. Where they exist, these models will serve you as a guide to revising strategy, policies and procedures. Models of this type are generally developed to ensure that the organisation is consistent in their approach to developing strategy and ensuring that you meet with any legal and ethical obligations. Although they may go beyond current minimum legal requirements, many of the ideas included in models will be currently in use in organisations. Models for strategy also give direction to the organisation in making decisions about current practices. Model strategy may be found by reviewing policies and procedures from other organisations, especially those found on their websites. Review Organisational Strategy Once you have established a baseline for what should be included in a given policy, you should begin a process of reviewing the organisation s strategies that are currently in place line-by-line for compliance with statutes, regulations and organisation policy as well as internal and ethical standards. Draft an analysis of deficiencies in strategy and make specific recommendations for changes and additions. Encourage the organisation to promote understanding of the overall strategy to be taken as part of staff development and to use the strategies as a basis for staff training. 12

15 Ensure Implementation of Revised Strategic Plans Once a review has taken place, promote recommendations for revised strategies to staff. This should involve explaining how the proposed strategic plan is more consistent with organisational and legal requirements and provide better/clearer guidance to staff. Continue to Promote your Strategies Review the strategic plan annually and recommend revisions to address continuing problems or new legal requirements. Promote continued training of staff on organisational strategy. Refer to and use strategy in the training, emphasising revisions. Some Issues that May Need Investigating We will now move on and examine a few issues that may have strategic implications for your organisation in terms of Human Resources. We will look at the current labour market and industrial relations in detail. Industrial Relations The all encompassing piece of legislation covering Industrial Relations in Australia is The Fair Work Act The new Fair Work Australia industrial legislation commenced in January 2010 and will handle all claims regarding unfair dismissal. Other initiatives introduced by this piece of legislation include simplified awards. The simplified awards will be confined to ten conditions: Minimum wages: Fair Work Australia will set minimum wage rates to take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July of each year. Type of work performed for example, permanent or casual, facilitation of flexible work arrangements. Work arrangements for example, hours, rostering. Overtime rates. Penalty rates. Minimum annualised wage or salary. Allowances for example, work related and expense related allowance. Annual leave: including leave loading. Superannuation. Dispute Resolution processes. 13

16 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) This comprehensive change may require you to look deeper into your overall strategy in this area. This is the provision of equal access to jobs for all employees and your prospective employees in your workplace. EEO is aimed at ensuring that there are fair and equitable outcomes within your organisation with regard to recruitment, selection, access to information, supervision and management. Equal Employment Opportunity is about: Management decisions being made without any bias due to difference Fair practices in the workplace Employment practices which produce staff satisfaction, commitment to the job and the delivery of quality services to customers Skilled staff being retained Training and development being linked to employee needs and customer needs The workplace being efficient and free of harassment and discrimination The best people being recruited and promoted not basing these decisions on other factors Recognition and respect for the social and cultural backgrounds of all staff and customers. Diversity Both Federal and State law makes provision for equal employment opportunity, antidiscrimination and workplace and sexual harassment. The key pieces of legislation in this regard are listed below. Commonwealth laws Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Sex Discrimination Act 1984 Age Discrimination Act 2004 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 State Laws Australian Capital Territory Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Act 1996 (NT) 14

17 Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (QLD) South Australia Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) Tasmania Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (TAS) Victoria Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (VIC) Western Australia Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) The website listed below has a good summary of the provisions of each of these laws, as well as how to make complaints under them. You can view each piece of legislation, in its entirety at It is useful to examine your overall HRM strategies to ensure that you are covering all of your requirements under this legislation. 15

18 Parental Leave Parental leave is defined as being unpaid leave and includes: Leave for the birth of a child to a pregnant employee; Leave for the birth of a child of an employee s spouse; Leave for the adoption of a child. All full and part-time employees who have had at least 12 months continuous service with an employer are entitled to take parental leave. As well as this, long term casual employees (that is casual employees who have been with a given employer on a regular basis for at least 1 year) are entitled to take parental leave. Casual employees who are not long term casual staff, seasonal employees and pieceworkers are not entitled to parental leave. Provided that an employee has completed 12 months continuous service with the same employer, they do not have to complete another 12 months at work to be eligible for a further period of parental leave (assuming they become pregnant within 12 months of the previous birth. It does not matter whether an employee is married, unmarried or living in a de-facto relationship, there is still an entitlement to parental leave. There is also no required age to be eligible for parental leave. Industrial Relations Strategy Industrial relations strategies are those strategies that are concerned with the management and regulation of relationships between the organisation, the individual staff member, and groups of staff within the working environment. The industrial relations section of the Human Resources strategy is involved with looking at the way that you work with employee representative bodies, as well as any monitoring procedures that are in place and developing proposals for management s consideration with regard to improving the way industrial relations is handled (and any changes to the environment). Objectives of the Strategy and Policy Sound employee relations strategies must be are based on: An effective process for communication and participation. A safe and effective work environment. Commitment and motivation of all staff. To this end, your strategies in this area must attempt to: Promote communication at all levels of the organisation. Determine where conflicts may arise and look for ways of eliminating them. 16

19 Encourage staff to communicate their concerns and conflicts and look for ways to resolve the issues causing any such conflict. Providing channels for conflict resolution and developing mutual trust in their reliability. The Labour Market Let s now examine some of the key changes that are occurring in the labour market. The way that our society is operating is changing day by day. Think about the overall shift in the way that work is conducted. In the past there was an emphasis of primary production, now service industries are becoming increasingly common in Australia, while primary production shrinks. IT and the knowledge based economy are of primary importance in most workplaces now and we are changing from a national economy to a world economy with multi-national corporations becoming a larger part of our day to day working lives. The global labour market is critical to our success. People are willing to move around the world and IT has allowed us to operate from remote locations in a much easier manner. It no longer is sensible for an human resources strategy to think locally, rather we need to think globally about the way that we operate. Outsourcing and cheaper global labour are also leading to thousands of job losses here at home, and so any such strategy needs to be carefully considered by everyone concerned in human resources. Language and the ability to relate to other cultures is also becoming an increasingly common desirable trait among staff. If you know that your staff members are trained well in cultural differences and diversity, it puts your organisation in a strategically better position than those organisations that do not have this advantage. Contracting is also a significant strategic change that has occurred in the labour market. Think about your organisation or an organisation that you know. It is likely that at least some portion of their permanent work staff has been replaced by a contracted service even if it is something as seemingly simple as cleaning operations. This means that expanding an operation can lead to the organisation being downsized. There is also a trend towards using autonomous work teams rather than larger teams of people. These smaller, leaner operations allow you to try to work less hard by working smarter. Staff in these operations need to be skilled in many areas and be flexible, and this means that strategy needs to concentrate on recruiting the right people and ensuring they are trained the right way. There is also a greater need for individuals in a workplace to be part of a multi-disciplinary team (or MDT) this type of team allows you to ensure that you are more creative in your approach to work and your staff have transferable skills. While the modern workforce is more mobile than ever before, it is possible that work is likely to change and evolve for individuals in the workplace. This means strategy must be adaptable and able to offer staff support in many areas. Transferable skills are a very important development, which your strategies should be designed around achieving. 17

20 Activity One In this first Activity, you are going to come up with a brief research proposal and discuss this with your Facilitator. This is about which Human Resources strategies you feel need to be investigated in your organisation and describe the various sources of information you need to gather to address the research questions you have set yourself. After you have completed this, spend 5 minutes discussing this with the group and your facilitator. Facilitator s Notes for Activity One This activity is designed to get the Candidate started on their research. Talk with them about their topic, the types of data that they will require and the methods they have adopted. 18

21 Section 1 - True or False Quiz True False HR journals are not useful for setting strategy. The direction they provide in terms of practice can be very useful in setting overall strategy. HRM strategy requires careful consideration of the business environment. Reviewing policies and procedures helps to determine whether an organisation has addressed a particular issue and whether the policy instructions are in compliance with the law. Legislation never changes. There are always changes to legislation and you need to keep on top of these changes and their impact on your work. Strategy should be planned. Ergonomic planning would be part of a strategic HRM direction. Equal Employment Opportunity means providing equal access to jobs for all employees and your prospective employees in your workplace. Succession planning involves looking to your future work needs. Learning and development is not a function of HRM. It is an important HRM function. Policies are standard, step-by-step methods of operating in line with best practice. This describes procedures. 19