Recent Question/Assignment
Assessment-Lead n manage eff work relation BSBLDR502
Task 1A:
1-Review and summarised the scenario in Appendix 1.
2- List and explain strategic and operational plan.
3- Develop a draft communications strategy for meeting organisational needs that includes:
a. two to three communications objectives:
b. at least two different audiences, for example, senior management, work teams, or individual employees:
c. at least two methods of communication or media:
d. at least two provisions to facilitate bottom-up consultation (from employees to management); for example, consultation on employee health and safety, consultation on continuous improvement of work processes, consultation on employee conditions and pay, or consultation on job roles and performance expectations.
4- Develop a short Grievance procedures.
Task 1B
10-15 minutes presentation:
- Identify organisational needs (Appendix 1)
- External regulatory needs (legislations)
- Organisational policies
- Ethical requirements
- Discuss your communication strategies based on the assessment instruction
- (at least 10 PowerPoint slides)
Task 2:
Appendix 2: Questions
For the following scenario-based questions, put yourself in the position of the new Brisbane Branch Manager and answer the questions accordingly.
Question 1:
In your written response to the above question:
• Describe at least two pieces of JKL Industries’ policy or procedure that conflict with the team’s behaviour towards the employee.
• Identify the relevance of one piece of relevant legislation.
• Describe how policies and processes can help to promote cultural diversity, ethical values and relationship-building.
• Describe any changes or additions you would make to JKL Industries’ policies, processes or communications to further promote cultural diversity and ethical values.
• Describe how you would approach the team and any suggestion you would make to resolve the issue fairly and consistent with organisational policy.
Question 2:
• Describe what potential problems you anticipate from the team.
• Describe how you would confront the team with their unacceptable behaviour, while maintaining trust and avoiding the impression of taking sides.
• What communication style would you consider adopting for this scenario?
• Describe a previous situation in which you adapted your communication style to meet the needs of others in the workplace or achieve a work goal.
Question 3:
In your written response to the above question:
• Describe how networking with internal and external people could help you build positive relationships to achieve organisational and professional goals. What networking or networks would you suggest?
• Describe a situation in which you joined a network to achieve an organisational or professional development goal. Describe the network. How did you build stronger relationships within the network? What was the result of the networking for you and your organisation?
Question 4:
Appendix 3: Networking plan
Networking activity Person Schedule Description/rationale for networking activity
Task 3: Dispute Resolution Guidance Session
Appendix 1 – Scenario – JKL Industries
JKL Industries overview
JKL Industries is an Australian-owned company, selling forklifts, small trucks and spare parts to industry. They also have a division that leases forklifts and small trucks.
The company’s head office is in Sydney and has branches in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
Change
After 12 years in business, focusing on forklifts and small trucks, JKL Industries has negotiated the sales rights to a range of medium and large trucks from an overseas supplier. This opportunity will provide JKL Industries with an advantage in range over its competitors.
Sales results over the past five years have indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales, which have averaged 10% sales growth per annum. The rental market has been in decline for the past three years due to the reduced costs of these vehicles and some taxation benefits to industries who purchase these vehicles.
Taking the sales rights opportunity will, however, entail some significant changes, including significant changes to the current organisational structure. The company will reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market, in which forces such as competition and consumer choice reduce potential profitability.
In accordance with the organisation’s values, JKL Industries intends (to the extent feasible) to recruit from within the company and up-skill or re-skill existing employees presently working in rentals who wish to remain with the company.
Given the company’s previous history of employee grievances over pay and conditions and current plans to restructure, JKL Industries has identified poor communications and an organisational climate of conflict as a risk to business goals.
Moving forward, the organisation intends to build and maintain a positive organisational culture, reduce risk and achieve organisational goals through:
• developing an effective policy framework for managing internal communications and consultation, in accordance with organisational objectives, business ethics, and compliance requirements
• communicating and building support for organisational initiatives and objectives
• managing information flow to:
o provide managers and employees with at-hand information to perform their work responsibilities
o communicate ideas for improvement (top-down and bottom-up)
o facilitate feedback both to and from employees and management on relevant work performance and outcomes of consultation.
Role-play information: HR Business Partner
You are an HR Business Partner working in the JKL Industries Brisbane branch. You report directly to the HR Manager in the Sydney Head Office. As an employee of the Brisbane branch, you also report to the Brisbane Branch Manager. You work to provide information to employees, team leaders and managers at the branch, facilitate service delivery through HR centres of excellence, such as compliance and training and development, and partner with managers to assist them
in workforce planning and development, and in meeting the needs of their customers, employees and the business as a whole.
A peer manager (from Rentals) has made an appointment to come to you about an employee grievance.
You know that the Rentals Manager is very concerned about the impact of the grievance on team cohesion and, potentially, the goals and objectives of the organisation. You also suspect that the manager will be hurt or angry themselves, as they have indicated their sincere desire to improve employee relations within their team through better communication and relationship-building.
The trouble is that while the manager may have the best intentions, they are relatively inexperienced and may not be approaching the conflict with the most productive mindset. And they may not have all the conflict resolution tools, tactics and strategies that you are equipped with as a more experienced HR specialist.
In addition, you are aware of the following facts:
• JKL Industries’ firm policy and intention is to retrain rental employees to retain talent (retraining is in JKL’s interest).
• So far the employee has adhered to the grievance policy as intended by the organisation. The grievance procedure sets out a process whereby disputes are kept at the lowest level. Employees should take their grievance first to their immediate supervisor, which the employee has done. This gives managers the first opportunity to respond appropriately, which is only fair. The Rentals Manager now has an opportunity to resolve the dispute early.
• The employee is paid to the terms of the relevant modern award (MA000089 Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Services and Retail Award 2010), but that all employees will soon be able to negotiate possibly much better pay and conditions in upcoming enterprise bargaining.
In your meeting with the Rentals Manager to provide guidance, lead the meeting through the following stages:
1. greeting the manager
2. listening to their side
3. responding to the manager appropriately
4. working with the manager to come up with viable solutions
5. documenting activities in an action plan.
You will also, as appropriate:
• listen to the manager: understand the facts as they see them and understand their feelings
• adopt an appropriate leadership/communication style
• be reflective, regulate your emotions, and refrain from reacting
• explain the facts as you understand them, including providing an explanation of the grievance policy, its benefit to the organisation, and the relevance of at least one piece of legislation
• help the manager to understand reasons for the grievance
Note: Given the climate of fear and suspicion that has existed within JKL Industries, such a grievance may not be very unlikely. It is also possible that plain communications of facts and organisational intentions may have failed because of the underlying emotional work context. As such, the complaint should not necessarily be a cause of offense
• using your knowledge of dispute resolution, collaborate with the manager to determine a series of at least three activities to resolve the conflict with the employee and complete an action plan (use the template provided in Appendix 2)
• offer to mediate in the dispute, if required, or help to provide assistance if it requires further escalation.
Given the company’s industrial relations history and restructure plans, and history of conflict and mistrust, contributing to positive employee relationship-building through assisting managers will constitute a key measure of your value to the organisation.
YOU NEED:
1- Summarise the scenario (above)
2- Complete the following action plan.
3- Conduct a roleplay (provide the scripts)
Appendix 2: Action Plan Template
Action/activity Timeframe Person/s responsible Description of strategy/ tactic/rationale for action Resources, if required
HR meeting with manager (rental) HR Business Partner (you)