Management, People and Teams Assignment 2 MGT600 Case Study PDF

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Group 5

MGT600 CASE STUDY

Executive Summary The objective of this report is to identify the problems of ComSyst Technologies (CST), a multi-national communications software and systems developer that serves in helping the defence and emergency services industries, as well as provide recommendations on how the company could resolve their existing problems and challenges for the last two years.

Recently, CST have been losing their major tenders to competitors while also facing a major decline on their market share. These problems have been augmented by the current people related issues faced by ComSyst such as poor employee performance, low employee engagement, a decline in staff retention and resignations of the company’s key specialists, which have impacted the overall company competence by the gaps between technical skills and capabilities of CST.

This case study by our group aims to analyse the crucial problems of CST while identifying key areas influencing these challenges and recommend solutions as to how CST can attain a better standing in the market for the next years by improving workforce capabilities and performance, creating team-based high-performance culture, and most importantly retaining the company’s essential assets in the workforce.

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Analysis of company’s major problems .................................................................................... 3 

Decrease of the market shares........................................................................................ 3

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Poor employee performance .......................................................................................... 3

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Low employee engagement ........................................................................................... 4

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Decline in the staff detention ......................................................................................... 4

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Resignation of the key specialists .................................................................................. 4

Reason behind the problems ...................................................................................................... 4 Problems faced by the employees .............................................................................................. 5 

Lack of motivation ......................................................................................................... 5

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Changes in technologies ................................................................................................ 5

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 6 

Attracting and retaining the best talent .......................................................................... 6

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Create a team based high performance culture .............................................................. 6

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Build employee capability and performance ................................................................. 7

Management and Development as a Guide for Future Practice ………………………………7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 7 References ...............................................................................................................................8-9

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

Introduction This is the recommendation report that has been made in order to make the client company meet the objectives that are set by the company. The aim of this report is to identify and provide possible solutions in the existing problems of ComSyst Technologies (CST) such as poor human resource management and development which results in high resignation of employees including specialists, as well as the company’s lack of proper technological advancements that creates gap in the company’s capabilities. It is important to state in this respect that the problems that are faced by the company and also by the employee are identified and analysed and recommendations are given to overcome the issue as well.

Background ComSyst Technologies (CST) is a multi-national communications software and systems developer that serves in helping the defence and emergency services industries. This company has offices across the globe such as in the United States, some parts of Asia like Philippines, India and South Korea as well as in Australia and New Zealand. In the last two years however, CST have been facing a substantial decrease on their market share and has recently lost its three major tenders to other competitors. These problems has something to do with the company’s poor human resource management as well as development which often results to low employee engagement and performance, short job tenure of most employees including specialists for essential positions. Furthermore, technological advancements are not showing proper enhancement which have created a gap in the capabilities of CST as a company.

Analysis of company’s major problems ComSyst Technologies (CST) was analysed to have been facing variety of challenges attributed to mostly people related issues. The major problem that is identified to be present is that the market share of the company is seen to be decreasing as the company has failed to win three major tenders. Other major problems that have been present in the organisation and have a negative impact on the company are the poor employee performance, low employee engagement; there is a decline in the staff retention and the resignation of the key specialists. The analysis of these problems is done below.

Decrease of the market share In the practice of strategic management, there is a positive association between market share and profitability, hence maximising one’s market share is a way to maximize one’s profit (Wernerfelt, 1986). The analysis of CST’s problem regarding its decrease of the market share has a negative impact on the business and the revenue generation of the organisation given that when there is a decrease in the market share, the company cannot carry out the business in the large scale hence the revenue generation is lowed and that affects the company financially.

Poor employee performance Like many other companies, CST has been facing poor employee performance which negatively impacts the company’s performance in terms of having poor innovation, low productivity, and inability to meet the goal or target. Employee performance includes executing duties, meeting deadlines, overall employee competence, effectiveness as well as efficiency in doing work, hence the need for strong leadership styles in order to stimulate the employee’s

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

performance (Iqbal, et al, 2015). Considering the relationship between investing in good human resource management and performance is mediated by resources and capabilities generated in the process is important for the success of the company and this can be relevantly observed through the financial performance of the organization (de Brito & de Oliveira, 2016).

Low employee engagement The low employee engagement has been affecting CST’s performance. Disengaged employees can cause disruption and dissatisfaction within the company (tolmanandwiker.com, 2020). The morale of the employees usually decrease due to this problem. Most of the companies, applies long term planning by investing in the building new skills of their workforce, which enables them to cope with the changing conditions that they may face in future, thus, it improves the employee performance by enhancing the level of motivation and commitment of the group (Elnaga & Imran, 2013).

Decline in the staff retention The decline in the staff retention is also analysed to be found that it impacts the quality of products and the devices that are seen to be provided by the organization to their customers in the market as the experienced employees are seen to be leaving the organisation that are affecting the organisational processes. Employee retention is considered one of the most critical issues faced by managers in organisations as a result of either shortage of skilled manpower, economic growth and high employee turnover (Wakabi, 2013). With the current competitive environment, the leaders of the company have to steer their organisations in the competitive business environment and retaining quality staff is very important in order to keep loyal customers while also preventing additional loss in the cost of replacing the employees (Wakabi, 2013). Any organization with a high level of employee turnover faces additional costs and effort of recruiting, inducting and training new set of employees considering the risks of having a disruption while the workforce is trying to speed up on the job (Wakabi, 2013). The company will be able to face and resolve the challenges if they show value employees as assets giving the organization a guaranteed competitive advantage especially when the essential employees are retained in the long possible time hence giving the continuity of good performance (Wakabi, 2013).

Resignation of the key specialists The resignation of the specialised is analysed to be results in the efficiency of the organisation in carrying out its operations the peregrinations of the specialist’s results in the deficiency of the skilled employees in the organisations as a result of which the overall quality of the organisation is affected. For organizations like CST, the availability of state of the art employee expertise has a strong influence on strategy formulation compared to stable and less knowledge-intensive markets like companies in food processing or utility fields (Toracco & Swanson, 1995). The availability of these required expertise should be considered up-front while the business strategy is taking shape with the help of human resource development, while providing reliable, high quality products in more stable markets that are less affected by the changing and continuous innovation (Torraco & Swanson, 1995).

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

Reason behind the problems The reason behind the problems CST is facing is mainly because of not having the proper knowledge of the employees, those who are seen to be present in the organisations as a result of which the management of the organisation cannot take up the necessary steps to satisfy the employees and the boosts their morale up so that the best performance can be taken out from them and also successfully retain them in the organisation. The company also does not have the proper knowledge about its competitors in the market, so it loses the tenders that results in decline of the market shares.

Problems faced by the employees The problems being faced by the employees of CST are described in details below.

Lack of motivation Leadership is a process of encouraging and helping colleagues to work enthusiastically in reaching the goals of the company and it us the human factor that binds the group together to motivate it towards the goal which transforms the organization’s potentials into reality (Wakabi, 2013). CST has been facing problems with their employee’s lack of motivation which in turn results to low employee engagement. Leadership is a process in which employees are encouraged to work enthusiastically proving them the drive towards the company’s goals (Wakabi, 2013). Capable leaders are those who can provide direction for the organization, leading employees or workforce in achieving their desired goals, and that human factor is responsible for motivating them in transforming potentials into reality (Wakabi, 2013).

Changes in technologies CST has been facing a problem regarding a gap in the technical skills and the capabilities of the organization according to the advancement in the technology in the market. The relationship between business strategy and human resource development usually depends on the organization’s the strategic context they are operating in, example, some technology companies in the communication and computer industries compete in the type of market where technical innovations are continuous and that the half-life of knowledge is measured in months and not years. (Torraco & Swanson, 1995). Knowledge drives these product innovations and employees are considered carriers of knowledge, therefore, human resource development is a crucial factor in the continuous development of employee expertise towards successful business strategy (Torraco & Swanson, 1995).

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

Recommendations 1. Ensure CST is well positioned for the future by attracting and retaining the best talent. ● Possible Recommendation In order to ensure that the CST Company is well positioned in the market by attracting and retaining the best talent in the market is that the concerned organisation can use Herzberg's theory. This theory is seen to be based on the two broad categories that help in the enhancement in the rate of the employee retention and also attract the talent employees in the market. The factors that are a part of the sprint are motivators and hygiene (www.employeepedia.com, 2020). The motivational factors include the recognition of the work and the achievements and the growth and advancement in the professional career that helps in satisfying the employee and makes them loyal to the company. The hygiene factors include salary, work conditions and company’s policy that helps in attracting the talent towards an organisation and also retain the employees in the organisations. ● Real life example The real life organisation that is seen to be using Herzberg's theory in order to retain the employees of the organisation and also to attract the talent that are present in the market towards the company is Google. It has been identified that Google always focuses on the working condition of the organisation according to the hygiene factor of the concerned theory and the employees are provided with happy and stress free working conditions (blogs.ubc.ca, 2020). 2. Create a team based high performance culture ● Recommendation There is research that has been carried out in order to find out the ways that the CTS can use in order to create a team based high performance culture in the organisation. In the research work it has been identified that the organisation can use the value and the leadership model or the value based leadership model. This model is seen to be based on the philosophy that the people are mostly seen to be motivated by the values, they are found to take care of them deeply and also lead their life according to them (www.businessballs.com, 2020). The team leaders are required to connect with the values of the team members and the aims and objectives of the team are required to be set according to the shared values so that all the team members work towards it productively which will create and enhance the team based high performance culture. Having a participative style of leadership provides a great positive effect on employee performance in which situation the employees feel power and confidence in carrying out their job and in making different decisions (Iqbal, et al., 2015). ● Real life example The real-life company that is seen to be using this model is Wesfarmers. It has been seen that the common values that are followed by the team members of the teams present in the concerned company are integrity, openness, accountability and entrepreneurial spirit (sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au, 2020). This is seen to help the concerned organization in enhancing the high performance of the teams in the organisation and also made it a culture in the organisation.

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

3. Build employee capability and performance ● Recommendation Effective training programs also affects employee’s motivation and commitment by developing the desired knowledge, improve their skill set, and abilities, therefore with improved capabilities of the workforce, it will give the company an advantage in the global market by increasing its competitiveness (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). There is a model that has been identified to be used by the CST company in order to build the employee capability and the performance so that the employee can overcome the issue that are faced by them regarding the changes that are made in the technology used in the organisation and also helps the enhancement of the overall quality of the firm. The model that has been identified is the DISC model. This model helps in assessing the behavioural styles and preferences (www.mindtools.com, 2020). The DISC stands for dominance, influence, conscientiousness and steadiness. This model helps in dealing with different people differently. According to the assessment of this model the training session can be planned that will help the employees to get the maximum benefits and build the employee capability and performance. This training model is seen to be effective as it has been seen that this helps the management of the organization knows the way the employees are required to be trained so that they will gain the required skills and capabilities that will help them in carrying out their respective duties efficiently that will in turn helps in the enhancement of the overall performance of the firm. Training provides employees to have a firm grasp on their different duties and responsibilities within the company making it an essential program that provides every workers with information, new skill set and professional development opportunities (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). ● Real life example The real life company that has been seen to be using this model is the Coles group. It has been seen that this training program has helped them in identifying the right people, reduce conflict, improve the skills and enhanced the team performance (www.thecolesgroupdc.com, 2020).

Management and Development as a Guide for Future Practice The effectiveness of having an effective people management and enhanced leadership to improve the organization’s performance have been critically evaluated. Understanding the importance and role of the people within the workforce in achieving the organisation’s goals can help in the enhancement of strategies and approaches effective for people management. In order to retain staff and attract them to be engaged in the organization, managers and leaders must effectively communicate and generate healthy working environment. In order for CST to overcome and improve their future organizational practices, CST must take a strategic approach in talent management and perhaps apply a good reward and recognition which will encourage employees to be enthusiastically committed.

Conclusion Human resource management (HRM), is a key player in the development and creation of highly productive workfore in any organization and it provides practices that promote employee motivation and effort, skill, knowledge and opportunities for employee’s to contribute in making development of resources which adds value to the organization and its competitiveness (de Brito & de Oliveira, 2016). CST must improve their strategy for human pg. 7

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MGT600 CASE STUDY

resource management and development in order to address the problems the company is currently facing as a result of poor employee engagement, performance, and retention. As a company, CST can attain its goals and cope with changes a...