Succession Planning and Employee Relations: Addressing Labor Shortages and Diversity Issues at GMC and Bull Horns

Part A

Q1.

The current labor shortage in GMC could be addressed through succession planning. The qualified candidates who are working internally and are capable enough for the position can be considered once they are available. The company should refrain itself from depending solely on external sources as the process is time consuming and involves financial considerations. Instead they can develop internal talent pool by:

Identifying leaders who have potential: The employees who have high potential are identified in the process f of succession planning. These employees are evaluated on the basis of their past performance and the current potential they hold. On the basis of that they are considered for the critical roles within the organization. This approach is proactive in nature and beneficial to find right candidates for positions like marketing managers, operation managers etc.

Imparting Training through L&D: This is important to prepare the chosen employees for the desired roles. The training involves imparting skills related to leadership, management and technology. Through coaching and mentoring, encouraging them to attend workshops and allocating them rotational assignments will in equipping them with required skills and experiences.

Employee retention: Succession planning can also lead to employee retention as employees get opportunity for career advancement. The roles which witness higher turnover can be addressed through this technique. By offering career progression and continuous learning and development GMC can retain talented employees. Besides this GMC can save in terms of time and cost as the cost to recruit new employee is quite high as compared to filling the positions through internal talent.

Q2

Constructive feedback is a crucial step in performance appraisal process as it helps in identifying areas of improvement through performance evaluation. They often act as a foundation for taking informed decisions regarding promotion and salary hikes and helps in serving feedback for the development of employees. This requires clear communication between manager and employee with an aim of objective evaluation.

From the managers perspective feedback is a tool to clearly communicate the expectation form employees, focusing on strengths and improving areas which have scope to excel by fostering growth through development programs. This helps in ensuring high employee engagement and employee retention.

The employee perspective focuses on how his performance is perceived by manager. It helps in gaining confidence and work with high motivation for the upcoming projects and work on their professional growth. This further helps them to make themselves ready for leadership positions and stay in alignment with their immediate career goals.

To provide constructive feedback to an employee who is working for the company since last 15 years requires thorough preparation. The feedback should be started on positive note highlighting their achievements and then moving on to the areas where improvement is required. This should be further assisted with a plan for development and future opportunities available to them for growth. The communication channel should be a two-way mechanism where the concerned employee should also be encouraged to put his point forward and felt valued. It should be follow up through review meetings to ensure commitment.

Part B

Q3

Every organization is required to create a workplace where diversity and inclusivity is practiced. It means respecting the differences in terms of culture, values, background, work experiences etc. In similar way then the concept of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) helps in ensuring employees well-being is being taken care of and all the necessary steps are taken to ensure safety measures are followed.

At present Bull Horns is facing challenges like management of diversity issues. To begin with discrimination due to gender and harassment is the foremost concern. The old Le Mason cooking crew displayed behavior which was sexist in nature. They made demeaning comments and showed similar actions towards female chefs. Some content evidence to support this is the comments made by them for instance, Chefing is a mans job , only good as dishwashers, Old Le Mason cooks take a less thean subtle attitude to the role of women in the kitchen. Apart from this they also left inappropriate pictures in the lockers, which was enough to raise the concern of discrimination due to gender and harassment. This has violated the principle of right to equality and respect and created an environment which is not safe to work.

As per Sex Discrimination Act, 1984 any discrimination based on sex, allowing sexual harassment and victimizing employees in different areas of public life including place of employment is considered as an offence. It creates a mandate for all employers to take strict action against such discrimination and employ measured to curb its adverse effects.

Another diversity issue is Old Le Mason employees showed resistance to change and inclusion by not wearing uniforms and refuse to participate in diverse roles at workplace threatening to changes introduced by Delta. This is evident from following: Old Le Mason employees have little interest in developing new skills or dong jobs differently, They are still refusing to be fitted for their new uniforms, Hostility between the old employees and newly appointed Delta employees.
This indicates the need of having a flexible and trained employee pool as it is creating inefficiencies in the system and leading to chances of conflict at workplace. As per fair Work Act, 2009 fair treatment should be given to employees at workplace where there is no place of discrimination and they can work safely. It has to be noted that resistance to change often creates unsafe work environment.

Another concern under OHS is psychological safety and workplace harassment. The way Old Le Mason staff behaved with female chefs created an atmosphere of threat to psychological safety. They harassed and bullied them which lead to mental health issues, absenteeism and high stress levels. The content evidence like Female chefs walked out due to the harassment, The remaining sous chef reported finding inappropriate pictures in her locker and Sandra is concerned about potential legal action form the female chefs shows that the Old Le Masons chefs not only breached OHS Laws but also created risk of losing talented employees from the system.

As per Work Health and Safety Act, 2022 it is employers duty to create safe work environments which protects the employees from any kind of harassment and bullying.

Q4

1. Recruitment and Selection

To build a competent and diverse workforce it is important to recruit and select candidates which are most suitable for the position. This helps in attracting, selecting and finalizing potential which aligns with workplace culture and possess ethical and legal values.

In order to manage the diversity and OHS issues while indulging in recruitment and selection following activities can be helpful. (1) The job descriptions should encourage diversity and inclusion by inviting broader segment of applicants. The focus should be on desired skill set and required competencies providing equal opportunity of application to all candidate. (2) The interview process should be structured so that any kind of potential bias can be addressed and fair evaluation through tests and interviews can be done. (3) The recruitment strategies should stress on employing targeted diversity so that gender discrimination can be dealt with.

Bull Horns in order to manage challenges need to be committed towards removing gender discrimination right from the beginning. It has to maintain balance in its workforce so that existing culture can be changed with time. New employees can be hired who are more flexible and open to change. This will help in smooth transitioning to methods of Delta. These new employees can be change carriers and helps in implementing new processes allowing system to deal with resistance and create positive atmosphere.

2. Training and Development

The existing skill set of employees is refined through training and development. It also offers opportunity to learn new skills and improve the competencies and knowledge. It helps in developing a competitive workforce which follows agile methods, ethical codes and follow legal standards. This ensures consistent learning is fostered and overall organizational objectives are being achieved.

The enhance impact of training and development can be extracted through diversity and inclusion training. It will help employees to keep a watch on their actions and contribute in creating a respectful and safe workplace. This also helps in removing in any kind of biases by modifying any preconceived notions about same. Apart from this such trainings helps in identifying actions which are considered as workplace bullying and comes under harassment. It also makes aware about legal actions applicable to it. D&I trainings allows employees to become versatile and adaptable to ne circumstances.

In order to manage divert and OHS issues Bull Horns can address the behavioral concerns from Old Le Mason cooks by imparting training to them on diversity and inclusion followed by harassment. This will help them in understanding the value of same and modify their actions with immediate effect. This will also allow them to follow safety protocols and prevent any legal action against them which might lead to discontinuation of employment services and unnecessary legal obligations to fulfill.

3. Employee Relations

The relation between employee and employer is crucial for the success of any strategy implemented for their good. It not only ensures healthy and safe work environment but also helps in keeping employees motivated for a longer period of time. It also creates impressive impact over new joinees and add value to the work culture.

The relevant activities like establishment of policies and procedures clearly can contribute in making employees aware of expectations in terms of acceptable behavior and the consequences in case if they are violated. The conflict resolution mechanism is another activity which can lead to effective dispute management and ensures employees are treated fairly. Another activity is employee feedback which helps in understanding any prevailing issues and implement suggestions which can enhance positive work environment. The employees who initiates in supporting above plans should be recognized and rewarded suitably to set examples at workplace.

To manage challenges Bull Horns need to set up anti-harassment policies so that employees can follow that. They should be made aware about how to raise a complaint about any concerns it is hampering their productivity and mental peace at work. The open communication at regular intervals should be encouraged so that reaching authority is not difficult and conflict management can be effective. Regular audits are essential to managed OHS issues to ensure legal compliance is being done and potential issues are identified timely to implement preventive measures.

Q5

As Sandra Dee I would have followed a systematic approach by conducting regular employee surveys and taking anonymous feedbacks. This would have helped in determining the levels of morale and satisfaction. The surveys would have questions based on diversity, safety, job satisfaction and other concerns. This can prove to be handy as anonymous feedbacks could help in comparing before and after impacts of implementing HR strategies in this regard.

By holding interviews at individual and group levels (Old Le Mason and Delta) it would have helped in understanding their experiences and expectations, allowed access to deeper insights, support in designing and developing better training programs and understanding issues which are raised yet. In this way qualitative and quantitative data can be collected and cross sectional study could have been complied with.

By monitoring and evaluating key performance metrics like absenteeism, employee turnover rates, number and nature of complaints of harassment and discrimination a deeper understanding of current HR policies can be analyzed. It indicates how effective the current work practices are for instance, if the number of cases are decreasing it indicates a positive shift in HR.

The employee performance need to be checked regularly as per given standards to ensure that they are focused towards work and not being engaged in any unacceptable behavior and work. This not only impacts their productivity but also act as de-motivation for other employees who are offering high performance levels.

Measuring overall organizational performance as per industry benchmarks and conducting external audits would have helped in raising levels of satisfaction in Bull Horns.

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