Human resource Managment

UNIVERSITY OF BANGOR

Student ID: G1659569T

Student Name: Li Khen Cher

Module Code: BSFD11709A

Module Name / Title: Human Resource Management

Centre / College: MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF SINGAPORE

Hand in Date: 27 December 2018

Due Date: 27 December 2018

Assignment Title:

Reflective essay

Students Signature: (you must sign this declaring that it is all your own work and all sources of information have been referenced)

Table of content

1. Introduction

2. My group work experience

3. Analysis of my experience

4. Theories and application of human resource management

5. Recommendation

6. Conclusion

7. References

1) Introduction

Group assignment can be differentiated from individual one due to specific requirements what each of the team member have to bear. People have different personalities, attitude and work pattern, and it is crucial for group leader to adapt and adjust each of them to be able to operate efficiently. Failing to meet these requirements can lead to a conflict within group members and can drastically reduce marks for assignments due to inability to provide constructive elements of quality outputs which expected from organizations. Therefore, the team must choose a group leader who is able to control, cooperate, and lead group to desired result and success. It cannot be done without common knowledge about human resource management. Human resource management is a branch of management which helps us to strategically approach and help people within the organization, specifically on different policies and system. Based on this, my group experience will be observed and analyzed below to find good thing what our group did well, mistakes and suggestion how to improve it. Multiple human resource management theories will be used and applied to better understand the interaction and outcome of our group work which consist of video clip and paper work.

2) My group work experience

Our group were assigned with this assignment on the first week of new semester and consist of six people including myself. The topic of this group coursework were reward system within group organizations which we are willingly picked as we thought it would be easier for us to record and write this project. After assignment were handed, we started to discuss our tasks and schedule for different meeting and what should be done by this time period. My tasks were to find and analyze several theories regarding group organizations reward problem and possible solutions how to solve it. Also, we decided to finish our paper work first and then move out to a video recording. Some members of our group were particularly good at clip making and we mutually decided to let them do recording. Other half of our group focus on paper and content part. However, not everything went smoothly as we all expected. We struggled to find a group leader as nobody wanted to take full responsibility and after long discussion we decided to not have leader at all and just be responsible for the following group project. Also, lack of time and few sessions made it even harder, as time management become crucial in competing assignment and we felt pressure of it. For better communication, we decided to form a group WhatsApp where we can post any questions and doubts as well as see how our group progression goes. For the first week, we decided to look for any valuable information and write it down to show it to the lecturer and be assured what we go in the right direction. The meeting took place on Friday as we all showed our work and plans. After little debate we decided to follow my assignment structure as it was recognized as the most quality one. The lecturer approved our assignment structure and content, but told us to make slight alterations, as our information was not as detailed as he wanted it to be. The next meeting supposed to be the day after our second lecture ended but due to work overload from other assignments we decided to cancel it. Here the major problem arose, as some members of our group relied too much on their peers to complete the work and did not contribute enough for the next group meeting, prioritizing other assignments instead. However, nobody blame them, as we were fully aware what you need to sacrifice some assignments in exchange of others. What that means for me is extra work and I had no choice but accept it. After second week ended, we completed our paper part and tried to compile it to make a coherent story. After adding all parts, we showed our draft to teacher where he approved our work and other half of our group started to work on making the video. From this moment my task were completed and I hoped what my team members make a quality video. However, on our next meeting video were not ready as we had upcoming class tests, as we left with only five days to complete the video and submit to the office. We decided to check for plagiarism first as we got thirteen in plagiarism rate and after that, other members started to complete video part. Two days before deadline we submitted video draft assignment on YouTube and let our lecturer check our results. Our lecturer was not impressed by our work by it was too late to be fixed. From this moment, our group project were officially done and we were demoralized by our performance. However, it was a helpful experience for me as I learnt to work in team and gave me some hints how to solve conflicts and misunderstandings when you deal with group assignments.

3) Analysis of my experience

As we finished this assignment, I met with unexpected results, mainly because of internal conflicts within our group. Due to ineffective way of solving this problems we were unable to deliver the results we all wanted. However, the experience what we gained during this assignment will definitely help me in my future jobs as now I catch the glimpse how to resolve conflicts and it outweigh the results in the long run. Conflict is a disagreement or clash of interest where opposing demands and ideas encounter. It is a wrong belief what conflict is harmful within organizations. Controlled conflict can be turned into organization benefits as different ideas and actions can lead to unexpected results which can surpass the desired results. In our case we came up with the plan what we could not even think, thanks to team effort and different ideas what each group member contribute to our project. It could not be done without conflict and compromises. I learnt what compromises lead to great results, as it satisfy all people within the group and I changed my initial working structure and things what I wanted to include. However not all conflicts must be compromised and in some cases insisting on your ideas and beliefs are more beneficial to the group.(Eilerman,2006) You only compromise if the following steps are true

1) All parties should benefit from group decision

2) Decision should be resolved in short period of time

3) Impossible to satisfy everyone

4) When outcomes important for everyone

As all these following steps were met in our group projects, we decided to compromise my initial plan and to my surprise it worked reasonably well. I also experienced lack of interaction among group members when we did this assignment as some people in our group were introverts, and it is hard to involve everyone in conversation as they usually do not show any disagreement. This can lead to harmful results, as they do not work as passionate as they can if all parties achieved desired results. Therefore, I decided to talk to each of our group members individually so they do not feel pressure from other peers and let them express their opinion on our group decision. When dealing with introverts psychologists suggest to listen them, do not force them into conversation, understand them and do not try to fix them. (Flaxington, 2016) I followed some steps from above and it helped me to handle with some group members as we came up to a harmony. In my opinion, introverts members contributed the most in the group work which were really helpful and I wish other teammates were as passionate as them. In addition of mentioned problems, I also encountered motivation problem as some members thought that this assignment was not equally important as other assignment due to group nature of it. Therefore, they decided not to work hard on this assignment focusing on other tests and assignments from different modules. Reliance on the teammates were as serious issue as our work went slower as we expected leading to finishing video three days before deadline. Proper timing management is a key to a successful project and delaying it can lead to unsatisfactory results. Based on assignment experience, people have different perception regarding the quality of output and marks, as for some B mark is a good mark and for some it is a disaster. Therefore, some people were dissatisfied with other group members’ work which led them to redo some parts of it. All of them were correct in their belief, as they perceived their marks differently and should be discussed before assignment have started. People with bad outcome, still contributed enough to include them in the assignment list but not enough to satisfy all teammates which led to internal conflict in our group. Therefore, group members should discuss in advance all question regarding to this group project, not only task, duties, and schedules but their mark expectation as well so nobody would argue with their work quality. Unfortunately, we did not discuss these questions while we formed our groups which led us to unpredicted results. It is highly unlikely, what the group members stay the same if we have group project in the nearest future, as conflict of interest make our assignment less appealing as it could be.

4) Theories and application of human resource management

As we learnt from this assignment, several improvement can be made which directly related to human resource management theories. Based on these theories, we can substantially improve our group projects as well as managing each of group member’s performances. First, theory which can help us is Theory X, and Theory Y which were developed by Douglas McGregor in 1960. (McGregor, Bennis and McGregor, 1970) He divided people based on two behavioural personalities: the theory X (People who does not like to work and should be always controlled), and the theory Y (people are eager to perform their tasks well with no need of supervising them). These personality theory were directly involved in our group projects as some members of our group behaved according to theory Y and some as theory X. Theory Y personalities is always desired however, not many of them can be found in typical workplace and in the most cases you deal with theory X personalities. Our group also include some X personalities and to deal with them our group leader decided to do the following steps to make sure all works is done smoothly.

1) He made each individual task as clear as possible, avoiding any broad terms and narrowed down the task so no confusion can be encountered among group members

2) He made a strict schedule so everyone knew how much work should be done at each meeting.

3) He also made a group WhatsApp so everyone can ask any question regarding the assignment.

4) He also mix theory x, and theory y personalities so theory x person always feel pressurized by theory y person

Although not all steps were completed properly, this plan helped us to finish assignment on time. We could slightly improve his strategy by implementing theory y strategy. Based on empirical evidence theory y is more beneficial as it lets people to come up with new ideas. (Dharejo, Baloch and Jhatial, 2017) Therefore, our group leader should look for the reason why some members do not want to work without forcing them. One of possible solution is to verbally appraise them as thereat can lead to directly opposite results. Second major theory what directly affected us is leveraging human resource theory. Human resources are unique combinations of different skills and knowledge what each group members have. Wise usage of these skills can maximize the output of any organizations making it less time consuming and more cost effective. Identifying each individual strength and weaknesses is a task for a group leader. Based on this, the leader can properly distribute different tasks based on employee’s strength. In our example, our group principal distributed different tasks based on our strong points and our preference so no one feel dissatisfied with work given by them. Satisfaction and engagement in work place are crucial factors in maintaining high productivity of work. Failure of providing these can lead to work disruption which is very costly and time-consuming (Youndt, M.A. & Snell, Scott, 2004). The last theory what directly reflected in our group work is Fiedler’s contingency model which can be perfectly seen in our work. Leadership is a trait what not everyone possess as it is difficult to find connection with our people in work environment. According to Fiedler, there is no perfect way to lead people and each situation should be treated differently (Fiedler, 1967). Based on leadership style, the leader can focus on completing task ignoring human factors, or emphasize on human relationship within group. Balancing between two variables is a key factor as some situation required rough and fast decision and some more human approach. In our case, our group leader focused mainly on completing task rather than building strong connection within our team. It was determined mainly by time constraint and many group members, as it is harder to have good relationship with everyone in the group. With these rigid rules, we were continuously accomplished milestones and in the end finished our assignments. Based on this, I think it was the right decision, as time constraint is a huge factor and some sacrifices should be made, which in our case forming strong group bonds.

5) Recommendation

As we finished our group assignments, I noticed some mistakes what our group has done and which can be avoided in the future. If it is achievable make group projects as small as possible, as more people lead to less focused work due to differences in opinion. Given our time constraint four people would be ideal, but unfortunately we had six group members. Less group members make the tasks of each person more valuable and the contribution is higher which add more pressure to each of them. People tend to work harder when they are pressurized which cannot be obtainable if many people do the same tasks. Also, group leader should be nominated by teammates so no further disagreement will happen in the future. Our group members did not want to take any responsibility and we end up with two leaders in our team, which led us to internal conflicts what could be easily resolved if we vote for our candidate. These steps would definitely would helped us to deliver more quality content as we wasted so much time arguing with group members regarding our assignment.

6) Conclusion

This assignment was quite helpful as it taught me many stuff what I never know. I found group assignment to be more challenging as individual one as you need to share your ideas first until they approved. However, I understand what working in group is a crucial requirements in all places where you are going to work. No matter which job you choose you need to interact with people around you to achieve desired goals. Therefore, I learnt what I should adapt and compromise as people have different ideas and perception which can produce the result far exceeding your expectation.

7) References

Dharejo, N., Baloch, M. and Jhatial, A. (2017). PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AT WORKPLACE: APPLICATIONS OF THEORY X AND THEORY Y IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS. [online] Ejbss.com. Available at: http://www.ejbss.com/Data/Sites/1/vol6no02may2017/ejbss-1878-17-peoplemanagementatworkplace.pdf [Accessed 24 Dec. 2018].

Eiermann, D. (2006). Agree to Disagree - The Use of Compromise in Conflict Management. [online] Mediate.com. Available at: https://www.mediate.com/articles/eilermanD7.cfm [Accessed 26 Dec. 2018].

Fiedler, F. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. McGraw-Hill.

Flaxington, B. (2016). Understanding Introverts. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understand-other-people/201601/understanding-introverts [Accessed 26 Dec. 2018].

McGregor, D., Bennis, W. and McGregor, C. (1970). The professional manager. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

Youndt, M.A. & Snell, Scott. (2004). Human Resource Configurations, Intellectual Capital, and Organizational Performance. Journal of Managerial Issues. 16. 337-360.

8