Managing Human Resources Employment Trucking Relations

Question: Discuss about the Managing Human Resources for Employment Trucking Relations. Answer: Introduction This is a report on a case study. The case study is on constructive relations at top Trucking Company. The case study is on Wollongong yard which belongs to Top Trucking Company. This yard is very successful and ranked highly in the company, but not a conducive environment for its employees and the yard manager is said to be very autocraticyelling and commanding the drivers at his will. This makes the drivers feel belittled, and many arguments are experienced at the yard. This coupled with the fact that the company owners are not willing to service the old trucks, makes the working conditions at the company very un-conducive (Snell et al., 2015). When the company is bought by a big national transport group, a new manager was hired, new trucks were bought and the drivers were bought new uniforms. This report will discuss the importance of managers, change in organization structures, and challenges in managing employment relations in relations to the case study. How the New Workplace Practices Complement Each Other The new managers was nothing like the retired manager, instead of being autocratic, he listened to the plight of the employees and their ideas: he talked to the drivers and their union representatives in order to create good relations with them. This in essence creates trust between the drivers and their yard manager(Hunter 2008). Using systems theory it is clear that the manager understands how the different systems affect a worker, and how the worker affects the different systems. Therefore, he makes sure that he listens to the workers, so that he can understand their views and perceptions regarding the various systems in the yard and their concerns. Because he knows whatever affects the employees will definitely affect the company and whatever happens to the company will in-return affect the employees. System theory reiterates that a system is made up of parts working together for a given goal. Therefore, any one part that becomes affected ends up affecting the other parts, and in the end the whole system is affected(Need 2006). At another instance, the new manager is seen to work on training the drivers on technical and customer service. This is in line with the systems theory, where improving one component in a company, ends up improving the whole system. For example, when the drivers are trained on customer service, more customers would want to come to the company. This increases the customer base and enhances the success of the company. On the other hand shouting at the drivers at the slightest mistake, makes them demoralized and they do not work at their best; and neither do they relate well with the clients. This in effect makes customers to shy away from the company, reducing the client base, and affects negatively the overall success of the company(Feldman 2007). Chaos Theory Change theory states that change in an organization is inevitable, and while some factors during the changes can be controlled, others cannot. As the organization grows, it becomes more complex, some events are susceptible. The new manager understand this theory well and when disputes and problems ariseregarding operations in the yardhe does not blame the drivers; but investigates the matter rationally. This is because he understand that in an organization there are some events that cannot be controlled and simply happen, and therefore passing blame to the drivers will only worsen the situation. The end result is a conducive working environment for the employees (Foot Hook, 2008). Employee Motivating Most successful managers employ different tactics to motivate employees. This induces willingness to work and makes employees very productive. In the Top Trucking Company, the new manager purchases new uniforms for the drivers and the trucks are serviced. He does this to motivate them to work (Beardwell Claydon, 2007). Furthermore, he consults them on matters regarding the operations of the company, such as the issues affecting the company and the success of the company. When employees are involved in decision making, they feel like they are part of the company and are motivated to work at their best for the success of the company(Nohria et al. 2008). For managers to be successful in running companies, they have to know how to motivate their employees. Employees motivation creates a sense of satisfaction and employees feel appreciated for their work. When employees are not motivated, as in the case where the old manager used to shout and blame the drivers for any mistake that arose in the yard, they felt like they were treated as children. This had a negative impact on the success of the yard. The notion behind employee motivation is Theory Y, which states that workers are naturally driven and usually take responsibility in their duties. This is the theory used by the new manager, while the old manager leaned more towards Theory X, which states that workers naturally lack ambition and would require to be controlled in order to be productive (Eniola Sule, 2013). Managers that follow theory X are mostly authoritarian and believe that employees have no say in decision making and are only passive components of the company. Employees must be able and willing to work (Storey, 2007). In the case of Top Trucking Company, the new manager tried motivating the drivers by training them on technical and customer service. This in essence is very important because it makes the drivers feel that they are part of the company and the company values them; that they are valued enough to be trained in order to improve their skills, is enough to motivate them (Becker Huselid, 2007). Once the new manager got to the yard he immediately started initiating some changes. Though these changes did not augur well with the employees, once they saw the benefits that the changes brought to them, they accepted them (Huemann et al, 2007). This shows that employees would want to work in an organization that is not only benefitting them financially, but also an organization that is growing. Using the policy of intrinsic satisfaction and intrinsic reward, managers can motivate their employees by ensuring the employees feel that they are part of a successful organization. As the new manager did, he motivated the employees by improving the success of the business. So that they felt a sense of achievement that in itself motivated them (Jiang et al., 2012). As discussed above, it can be seen that most of the new workplace practices complement one another, in that, the new manager set out to improve the drivers working conditions by improving their occupation health and safety; when faced with problems he never accused the drivers but investigated the matter (Need, 2006). This made the new manager gain trust of the drivers. Even though some of the drivers did not like the new changes, they gladly accepted them when they realized their benefits (Collins Smith, 2006). For example, the new manager trained the drivers on technical and customer service. This had a positive effect on the success of the yard, and this gave the drivers a sense of achievement, and in return motivated them to work even harder and support the new incentives; to a point where their union representative George, would not want the new manager to be promoted to the head office. This shows the level of trust the new manager has gained from the drivers and their union representative. The Risks of Sustaining These Changes If the New Manager Moves On The union representative seems to be concerned that the new manager might be promoted to the head office, due to his success in managing the yard. Mostly not because he does not want him to get promoted, but because he is afraid that they are not going to be able to sustain the new changes once he is promoted. However, the new manager seems to have used the Kotters 8-step change model(Kotter 2010). By first creating a sense of urgency. He does this by showing the drivers the need for change by training them on technical and customer service skills. The second step is creating a guiding coalition (Jackson et al, 2011). He does this by sharing information on the yards performance, with the drivers and the union representatives. This in essence encourages the group to work as a team, because they are involved in the running of the organization. The third step is developing a change vision (Klingner, 2006). The new manager did this by developing strategies for achieving his vision of change in the yard. For example, he started by buying the drivers new uniforms, improving their occupation health and safety, and trained the drivers on technical and customer service. Once he realized that the drivers were disgruntled and did not like the new changes, he quickly changed tact and started to consult them more on issues related to the operation of the yard. This coupled with the fact that the new changes were improving the performance and growth of the yard, eased things up for the drivers and they gradually accepted them. Employees take time to accept change, and they require patience and belief that the new changes will benefit them and give them a sense of satisfaction(Gursoy et al. 2008). The fourth step is to communicate the vision of these new changes to the concerned people: the workers unions concerned and the workers themselves (Noe et al., 2007). This is meant to inform the employees, and show them how relevant and essential the changes are. Most employees will not be comfortable with the new changes, unless they see how beneficial the changes are, not only to them, but also to the organization. The fifth step is to empower a broad based action by removing obstacles and any change systems that undermine the vision. The company that bought Top Trucking Company, started by first changing the old manager that was autocratic, and brought in a new manager that was, a breath of fresh air into the firm. This action was very important for the changes that were expected in the company. All this steps that were taken by the new manager would go a long way in ensuring that the new changes initiated by the new manager, would be sustained even if he moves on. Therefore, George the union representative should not be worried. Comparison of Blue collar unions and Service or Public Sector Unions. Blue collar unions are more aggressive in engaging in these changes compared to their counterparts in the public and service industry domain. This is mainly because the workers in the blue collar jobs like top Trucking Company, are highly affected by any new changes that affect their working conditions (Jacoby, 2007). Therefore, they would be highly sensitive and would want to be engaged in the work place changes. Considering the fact that the workers form the union and they are seemingly happy with the changes brought about by the new management, we can be certain that the union will surely engage in these changes compared to service or public sector unions (Guest, 2011). The public sector union is not as familiar with the transition being experienced at the Top Trucking Company as the blue collar union. Therefore, we would not expect a similar reaction to the changes unless otherwise (Boxall, 2015). Conclusion Conclusively, the transitional changes being experienced in the company are what most contemporary companies facing the same challenges as the Top trucking would wish for. It is therefore true to say that Human resource management plays a critical role in the success of a company. References Feldman, S.P. (2007) Moral memory: Why and how moral companies manage tradition, Journal of Business Ethics, 72(4), 395409. Gursoy, D., Maier, T.A., Chi, C.G. (2008) Generational differences: An examination of work values and generational gaps in the hospitality workforce, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(3), 448458. Hunter, J.C. (2008) The Servant: A Simple Story about the True Essence of Leadership, Crown business. Kotter, J. (2010) Kotters 8-step change model, Mind Tools. Retrieved from https://www. mindtools. com/pages/article/newPPM_82. htm. Need, W.C.D.H.P. (2006) Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., Lee, L.-E. (2008) Employee motivation, harvard business review, 86(7/8), 7884.