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Case Study An Analysis of Human Resource Practices at Newcross Healthcare

Student ID: C3343299 Programme: University of Newcastle MBA

Table of Contents 1

1.

INTRODUCTION

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2.

FACTS

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2.1 2.2 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.

OVERALL HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIES OF NEWCROSS HEALTHCARE ISSUES DERIVED FROM CASE STUDY IDEAS EMPLOYEE AS STAKEHOLDER VIEW ENABLING OF VOICE, COMMUNICATION ETHICAL CLIMATE AND CULTURE ROLES OF HRM RECOMMENDATIONS

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4.1 STRATEGIC 4.2 FUNCTIONAL 4.3 OPERATIONAL

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5.

CONCLUSIONS

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6.

REFERENCES

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7.

APPENDIX

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1. Introduction

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Plenty of earlier human resource management (HRM) researches focus on ‘strategic fit’ and ‘best practice’ without considering the ethical dimension is the fundamental of HRM in the earlier history of it. Laborers are named ''assets,'' which involves that they are dealt with like products, whenever paid attention to, it affronts laborers' personhood. They are viewed as like some other generation factor, paying little mind to the way that they are (also) people (Alzola, 2018). The Harvard model of HRM suggests that despite organisational gain, stakeholders like employees’ interest influences HRM policies. It is one of the earlier models to reaffirm the power of the stakeholder as opposed to shareholder model of the firm and also viewing employee as stakeholder (Winstanley & Woodall, 2000). Different stakeholders that experience different unethical behaviours because of the presence of different moral obligations within the organisation, according to Kaptein (2008) (as cited in Agonga). Ethics and HRM comes hand in hand. Newcross Healthcare Solutions is a firm that provides agency social and health care workers which focuses on profit maximisation and expansion. They facilitate employee participation in the performance of the company, and foster employee knowledge of financial and economic factors (Newcross Healthcare Solutions Limited, 2018). The purpose of this case study analysis is to give a compelling understanding of the Newcross Healthcare’s misalignment of human resource strategy and a good proposition for the firm based on varied HR theories. The analysis will address the issue regarding employee’s handbook, internal and external communication, and union participation.

2. Facts

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2.1 Overall Human Resource Strategies of Newcross Healthcare Voronov & Vince (as cited in Adigüzel, Erdil & Artar 2017) proposed that in the stakeholder theory, establishing a communication link with the employees through the means of providing them with practical roles beyond the company’s bottom line can increase their motivations. Internal stakeholders like employee are sometimes neglected or not prioritised. Newcross Healthcare Solutions, a Totnes, UK based agency social and health care company, follows values of trust, empathy and expertise (Newcross Healthcare, 2020). The company realising these values through the means of employee, to make sure their clients receive the best services possible. They provide training and guaranteed number of hours per week that fit around employees’ schedule. 2.2 Issues Derived from Case Study 2.2.1

Unreasonable terms in employee contract

The quantifying measures of Newcross’ employee handbook regarding sick leave is creating problems like increasing employee’s stress level and affecting morale negatively. This measure is to prioritise client and to prevent their appointment from being cancelled last minute but without considering the fact that the employees are forced to work unwell.

2.2.2

Management’s image misaligned with organisational strategy

The human resource values of Newcross aim to provide genuine empathy and be caring to all personnel. However, the controlling parties of the company is exhibiting extravagant lifestyle on their Facebook page which later deleted. The action not only discouraged morale among staff, it also diminished trust in management.

2.2.3

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Internal communication issues

From the case it is deduced that internal communication is not well established. Instead, employees have to voice out through agency and third-party channels like the local press and union. Besides, line managers blindly follow instruction according to the manual and fail to provide basic right protection to their employees. Furthermore, line managers’ voice is not heard.

2.2.4

Overly enforced employment contract terms

Employees of Newcross Healthcare are still wrongly charged fine even when provided with valid reason. This a sign of the company overly weighing in on punishment instead of reward system. Besides, this negative culture has infiltrated through and even internal staff cared more about losing clientele than employee wellbeing by saying “Thanks for losing us a client” when employee called in sick.

2.2.5

Reactive involvement of labour union

The type of involvement of the care workers union, The Unison in the case is considered passive instead of active. The involvement came only at the later part of the incident, treating the symptom instead of preventing it. 3. Ideas

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3.1 Employee as Stakeholder View It is acknowledged that the employees are main or internal stakeholders having an impact on the financial and business success. The effective communication and relationships that have been formed with employees reflect on the performance of the company and impact productivity, leading companies to achieve their long-term goals and strategies. Employees are known as internal stakeholders that affects the company’s overall performance (Galbreath, 2006). The quantifying measures (unreasonable regulations) of Newcross display Hard Human Resource Management (Hard HRM), which often focuses on strategy goals, organizational achievement instead of triple bottom line, where people is one of the big aspects of it (Mankin, 2001; Sitalaksmi, Zhu, 2010).The employees in Newcross are not treated as an important internal stakeholder, instead, it is just a mere tool, or resources to utilise and achieving organisational performance. 3.2 Enabling of Voice, Communication The degree to which employees communicate upward with suggestions, problem knowledge, or issues of concern can have significant consequences for the direction of which the organisation is going. Because voice conduct is not always viewed as positive and could result in personal risks and other undesirable consequences (Morrison, 2011). In Newcross, employees are constantly faced with decisions about whether to speak out or remain silent about critical workplace issues. This is an exhibition of ineffective direct employee involvement; employees’ perceived efficacy of voice is low. Besides, trust level in management is not sufficient. If the employees have enough trust, they are more willing to take risks in order to convey suggestions and issues (Hu & Jiang, 2018). In this case, employee doesn’t feel safe or efficient talking to upper management or even line manager. The need to create informal employee voice channels is high.

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3.3 Ethical Climate and Culture According to Victor & Cullen (1988), ethical climate is defined as “prevailing perceptions of typical organizational practices and procedures that have ethical content”. Employee’s perceived ethical climate depends largely on company’s leadership. Instrumental leadership is crucial to the implementation of an ethical climate, since it defines clear ethical behavioral boundaries (Mulki, Jaramillo & Locander, 2009). In the Newcross’ context, the image of the company, which is displayed by the controlling party, is perceived as a company that only cares about clientele, and often neglect employee’s wellbeing. With the controlling party exhibiting lavish lifestyle, it is actually misaligned with the company’s image and focus. 3.4 Roles of HRM Companies that focus on profit maximisation is often neglecting stakeholders eg: employees’ group, community, union. According to Ulrich (1998), the roles of HRM includes: strategic partner, administrative expert, employee champion, and change agent. In Newcross, the HR personnel is nowhere to be seen in the case study, as if the employee have no channel to voice out or complain about. Implementation of HRM must benefit from line managers, both middle and first line, that will be driven autonomously when it comes to their HR tasks. For their positions in the HR. Therefore, the HR department will encourage this sort of reinforcement. Rather than implementing the HR role of line managers in a controlled manner; mandatory, reward, or sanction), it is worthwhile making it "enjoyable" and "satisfactory" for line managers to take on their HR duties (Op de Beeck, Wynen & Hondeghem, 2018). Furthermore, the involvement of union as an employee champion is also not achieved. The union might have established rule or guidelines for healthcare companies to adhere for employee wellbeing, but the implementation is not adhered. This is probably due to the

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decline of union in British workplaces, even when studies showed that HRM doesn’t substitute union (Machin & Wood, 2005). 4. Recommendations

4.1 Strategic The Harvard model is an ideal model to use in the public sector setting, as it is helpful in monitoring how a transition in HRM policy choices resulting in workers in the public sector suffering expanded workloads, decreased relative wages, worse working conditions, inflexible scheduling and lack of flexibility in function (Buchanan & Considine, 2002; Newman, Maylor & Chansarkar, 2002; Gould-Williams, 2004; Adcroft & Willis, 2005; Brunetto & Farr- Wharton, 2005, 2006b, 2007; Ackroyd et al., 2007 as cited in Brunetto, Farr-Wharton, & Shacklock, 2011). While using Harvard model as a guideline, employee should be placed higher in the stakeholder analysis and stakeholder mapping. Because human resource, or human capital is healthcare’s biggest asset, the strategic priority of the company should be human resource development. The vision of the company should be to create an empowering and trusting workplace where employees feel valued. According to Chew & Horwitz (2004), human resource strategies are usually not standalone. The most effective way is to implement more than one strategy. While employees are placed as one of the major stakeholder of the company, the relationship has to be bidirectional, which means HR or the effort of the management has to be appreciated at the same time. To achieve that, we can implement both soft and hard HRM (as it was only hard HRM before). The need for applying both Hard HRM and Soft HRM in the case is to increase morale and encourage transparency.

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4.2 Functional To achieve the HR strategy mentioned above, the importance of external fit and internal fit and contingency in the implementation is high. Effectiveness in HRM delivery has to do with corporate resources, independent inspiration and encouragement from peers (Op de Beeck, Wynen & Hondeghem, 2018). In low-skilled workers with minimal career and time control, psychological flexibility assistance from managers plays an important role in meeting the demands in autonomy, productivity and relatedness, which in effect leads to better job performance and well-being for employees (Yong, Roche & Sutton, 2019). Line managers are considered a key element in recognizing the HRM-performance partnership because they put HR processes to existence. In doing so, they affect the expectations of workers about the current HRM program as well as their beliefs, actions and results. Employee involvement and participation can be increased by involving employees in decision making to increase autonomy and accountability. The voicing out of employees should be allowed. Instead of punitive, the company should implement rewarding measures. With good HRM procedures, line managers will be able to align certain goals and employees’ interests with the corporate objectives and thus effectively implement HRM (Gilbert, De Winne & Sels, 2015). 4.3 Operational Positive linkages between line managers ' impressions of good HRM systems and perceived ability, opportunity and motivation, indicating that line managers feel better positioned to perform their HR function with clear signals regarding HRM within the enterprise (Gilbert, De Winne & Sels, 2015). With clear HR strategies, line manager should have a clear mind of putting employees’ wellbeing instead of cancellation rate first.

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In the operational context, line managers should have measures to increase job satisfaction, like providing financial incentives for employees that stay within a threshold of sick leave days. To encourage organisational citizenship and decrease turnover, the company should allow employee to have share in the company to increase ownership. 5. Conclusions Employers are asking employees to work hard, be pleasant and deliver results. When a strategic management system is in place and well-used, the investment of time and money into human resources can and will pay off in positive organizational outcomes. Newcross is an example of a healthcare agency that didn’t invest enough in human resource and capital. The conclusion of the case study analysis is that although the human resource management system of Newcross is not perfect, sometimes flawed, usually the reason behind it is because of the misalignment of strategy, and different focus from upper management, middle management and employee.

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6. References Adigüzel, Erdil & Artar (2017). A Study of the Effects of the Stakeholders Relationship on Company Performance by the Intervening Variables of Evaluation of the Company by the Employees and Social Aspects. Electronic Turkish Studies, 12(3), 19-40. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.7827/TurkishStudies.11536 Alzola, M. (2018). Decent Work: The Moral Status of Labor in Human Resource Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(4), 835–853. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1007/s10551-017-3507-5 Angonga, M. C., & Florah, O. M. (2019). A theoretical Account of Human Resource Management Practices, Ethical Work Climate and Employee Ethical Behavior: A Critical Literature Review. Business Management Dynamics, 9(4), 1–8. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bsu&AN=140446951&site=eds-live Brunetto, Y., Farr-Wharton, R., & Shacklock, K. (2011). Using the Harvard HRM model to conceptualise the impact of changes to supervision upon HRM outcomes for different types of Australian public sector employees. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(3), 553–573. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1080/09585192.2011.543633 Chew, I. K. H., & Horwitz, F. M. (2004). Human Resource Management Strategies in Practice: Case-Study Findings in Multinational Firms. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 42(1), 32–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038411104041536 Galbreath, J. (2006). Does primary stakeholder management positively affect the bottom line?: Some evidence from Australia. Management Decision, 44(8), 1106. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edb&AN=22694903&site=eds-live

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Gilbert, C., De Winne, S., & Sels, L. (2015). Strong HRM processes and line managers’ effective HRM implementation: a balanced view. Human Resource Management Journal, 25(4), 600–616. https://doi-org.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1111/1748-8583.12088 Hu, X., & Jiang, Z. (2018). Employee-oriented HRM and voice behavior: a moderated mediation model of moral identity and trust in management. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(5), 746–771. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1080/09585192.2016.1255986 Klikauer, T. (2012). The Ethics of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management: Kohlberg’s Seven Levels of Morality. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, 37(2), 1–20. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/login.aspx? direct=true&db=heh&AN=86889053&site=eds-live Machin, S., & Wood, S. (2005). Human Resource Management as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces. ILR Review, 58(2), 201–218. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1177/001979390505800202 Mankin, D. P. (2001). A model for human resource development. Human Resource Development International, 4(1), 65. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1080/13678860121714 Morrison, E. W. (2011). Employee Voice Behavior: Integration and Directions for Future Research. Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 373–412. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1080/19416520.2011.574506 Mulki, J., Jaramillo, J., & Locander, W. (2009). Critical Role of Leadership on Ethical Climate and Salesperson Behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 125–141. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1007/s10551-008-9839-4 Newcross Healthcare Solutions Limited. (2018). Annual report and financial statements. Retrieved from http://tiny.cc/sydgjz Our people | Newcross Healthcare. (2020). Retrieved 7 February 2020, from https://www.newcrosshealthcare.com/about-us/were-proud-our-people Op de Beeck, S., Wynen, J., & Hondeghem, A. (2018). Explaining Effective HRM Implementation: A Middle Versus First-Line Management Perspective. Public Personnel Management, 47(2), 144–174. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1177/0091026018760931

Sitalaksmi, S., & Zhu, Y. (2010). The Transformation of Human Resource Management in Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises since the Asian Crisis. Asia Pacific Business 12

Review, 16(1–2), 37–57. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fapb20#.UcCmgtiE7xU Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The Organizational Bases of Ethical Work Climates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), 101–125. https://doiorg.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.2307/2392857 Winstanley, Diana & Woodall, Jean. (2000). The ethical dimension of human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal. 10. 10.1111/j.17488583.2000.tb00017.x. Yong, A. P. C., Roche, M., & Sutton, A. (2019). Psychological autonomy and well-being of employees in low-skilled occupations. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, (1), 37. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsibc&AN=edsibc.444029409899492&site=eds-live

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7. Appendix

1.1

Facts Newcross Healthcare enforcing coercive legal contract terms, eg: sickness policy regarding employees calling in sick.

Ideas Quantifying measures (unreasonable regulations) of Newcross display Hard Human Resource Management (Hard HRM).

Thus, affecting employees’ stress level and morale for calling in sick.

The need for applying both Hard HRM and Soft HRM in the case is to increase morale and encourage transparency in the procedural justice.

The lack of grievance procedure implies that the firm is .. Unitarist approach is overpowering the pluralist approach which in this case, conflicts of interests are usually inevitable thus the need to apply both approaches is emergent.

1.2

Controlling parties/ founders of Newcross exhibiting extravagant lifestyle on social media, discouraging morale among staffs.

The external fit between upper management and strategy of the company is misaligned because Newcross stated in their website, about how the company value trust, empathy but exhibiting lucrative profit at the same time. Moral identity of upper management and line

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Learning Issues What are the legal requirements/ guidelines regarding employment rights in UK? How to balance between the integration of bot...