Assignment 1: Need for Human Resources Management

Required Text and Materials

Dessler, G., Chhinzer, N., & Cole, N. D. Management of Human Resources: The Essentials plus MyManagementLab w/ Pearson eText. 4th Cdn ed. Toronto, ON: Pearson Education Canada, 2015.
Type: ISBN: 0-13-380733-9 / 978-0-13-380733-2

Introduction

Assignment 1 is organized in three parts. Parts A, B, and C total 100 marks and will count for 15 per cent of your final course grade.

The mark distribution is as follows:

Part A: Every Manager is an HR Manager (30 Marks)

Based on what you have learned in this module, reflect on the following:

• The role and responsibilities of HRM
• The relationship between the HR professional and the manager
• The role of the manager

Write a report approximately two pages in length—not more than 700 words—which should include your comments in response to the following:

• Human Resource is every manager’s business. Why is the management of human resources key to every management job in every organization, regardless of whether there is a human resources department in the organization? (20 marks)
• Describe your own view of how HR is managed within your organization. (10 marks)

Submission Criteria

• Your report must incorporate some of the key concepts introduced in this module.
• You must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking and analysis.
• You must present a logical and persuasive argument.
• You must support your arguments with examples or illustrations from the textbook.

Part B: Responding to the Changing Environment (40 marks)

Human resources professionals play an important role in environmental scanning to enable organizations to formulate their overall strategic business plans. Using your organization or an organization that you are familiar with, respond to the following:

• Provide brief background information about your chosen organization, including the organization’s goals and values, business activity/activities, number of employees, and so on. (5 marks)
• Conduct a SWOT analysis for your organization identifying the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats.(10 marks)
• Comment on the business challenges and trends affecting your organization today, including changing demographics, increasing workforce diversity, aging employees, skills shortages, and so on. (15 marks)
• Explain the organizations’ key goals for the next year and how it will achieve these goals through effective management and organization of its people. (5 marks)
• Will changes in staffing levels be needed? Will employees with new skills be required? (5 marks)

Part C: The Legal Environment (30 marks)

Research the employment legislation in the jurisdiction you are working in. Explain the implications of these laws on HRM policies and practices that you encounter. To assist you in answering the questions, refer to Chapter 2 of your textbook and Topic 4 of Module 1. Your written answer should not be more than two pages, which is approximately 500 words.

Topic 4 of module 1: Legal Issues in HRM

• In Canada, accepted practices and behaviours of managers toward their employees are governed through a variety of employment legislation at both the provincial and federal levels. Approximately 90% of Canadian employees are governed by their respective provincial legislation, while the remaining 10% are governed by federal legislation. While there is a great deal of commonality to the legislation, there are differences.

The legal framework for employment includes constitutional law, particularly the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; acts of Parliament; common law, which is an accumulation of judicial precedents; and contract law, which governs collective agreements and individual employment contracts. Governments in each jurisdiction have special regulatory bodies to enforce compliance with the law and aid in its interpretation. These bodies include human rights commissions and ministries of labour. For an overview of some of the major pieces of federal and provincial legislation, refer to Chapter 2 in your textbook.

The general types of employment laws in Canada are:

• Employment standards legislation, which includes the Employment Standards Actand Regulation, describes the basic obligations of employers. This legislation covers minimum wages, vacations, statutory holidays, and standards at work.
• In organizations where the employees belong to a union, the employer also needs to follow the pertinent labour relations legislation or relevant provincial statutes such as BC’s Labour Relations Code. The labour legislation governs both the process by which a trade union acquires bargaining rights and the procedures by which trade unions and employers engage in collective bargaining.
• The Canada Labour Codegoverns fields under federal jurisdiction including banking, broadcasting, and inter-provincial or international transportation.
• Human rights legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of such areas as race, ethnic origin, marital status, and gender. For further information, visit the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and scan through the BC Human Rights Code. Human rights legislation also protects individuals from sexual and other types of harassment.
• Health, safety, and workers’ compensation legislation describes the expected standards for health and safety in the workplace and the impact of an employee injury. Find out more at WorkSafe BC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of BC).

Equal opportunity and equity legislation has an impact on virtually every manager and HR function. Human rights legislation applies to all aspects and terms and conditions of employment. Pay equity affects job evaluation and compensation administration, and employment equity systems reviews involve an examination of all policies, procedures, and practices in the workplace.

Diversity management involves a set of activities designed to integrate all members of a firm’s multicultural workforce and to use their diversity to enhance organizational effectiveness.

All decisions made by HR professionals require not only creativity, but also an acknowledgement of the legal ramifications of the decision. A sound knowledge of the legal concepts in HRM will help the HR professional to add the most value to an organization. In short, no decisions affecting employees can be made without a consideration of the legal ramifications.

Various aspects of the legal environment and their impact on HRM activities will be covered in later modules.