Caselet on Personnel Management

SHORT CASES FOR DISCUSSION: 1. The town mayor of Sta. Catalina, where the plant of Ruiz Manufacturing Company is located, sent to Mr. Ruiz, general manager, his private secretary the two former domestic helpers. They arrived at the company compound in a police car, and the secretary told Mr. Ruiz that the two maids were compromise recommendees of the mayor. What would you do if you were Mr. Ruiz? If you were the personnel manager, what would you do if the general manager referred the maids to you? The above case calls for a compromising situation on the part of Mr. Ruiz being the general manager as against to the recommendation of the town mayor of Sta. Catalina. If I were Mr. Ruiz, I will accede to the request of the mayor because in business there is some sort of a goodwill. Meaning, the company should not only be a profit oriented but rather should a take little risk in order to establish a goodwill among the officials of the town, in this respect the mayor of Sta. Catalina where my business is located. Because I believe in the long run, I will benefit from it like in the processing of my business permit which is the primordial concern of my manufacturing company. On the other hand, if I was the personnel manager and Mr. Ruiz, the owner, referred to me the two domestic helpers, being in that position I presumed that I have great responsibilities that are very vital to the success or failure of the organization. My decision to whether accept or not is somehow a turning point to draw the lines. It is more difficult to be a personnel manager than being a general manager because my discretion is very limited. Here, I have to evaluate if the two compromise recommendees have meet the standard of the company. If they do, there is no harm but if otherwise, then that is the problem because strictly speaking I should not employ them if they do not meet the standard because that will pose disadvantages on the part of the company. But on the other hand, turning them down will put the company into bad light considering that I might insult the mayor of the town. So, the best solution to the problem at hand is, I will employ the two maids according to their qualifications. If they need training and seminar in order for them to be equipped with the necessary skills needed I will send them. During the orientation process, I will give emphasis on the output base since this is a manufacturing company and production is very essential to the survival of the company.

2. You have been requested to help develop a simple performance appraisal system for a modest and relatively new but successful fast food pizza delivery business. Most of the sales come from phone-in delivery because the dine-in facilities are limited to a standing counter and two small tables good for 10-12 customers. This company currently has four outlets in Metro Manila but since franchising is the goal for the next year, the owners want to improve on all the system immediately. You want to make sure that the new employees are guided on how they should do their job and that their continued employment will be based on how well they perform. Also, you want to manage your cost of doing business and are not prepared as yet to increase the pay of the better performing employees. However, you are considering some form of special recognition bonuses to high performing employees but only after very careful study. Performance appraisal is a method of evaluating and providing feedback on where and how the employee meets work expectations over a given period of time. Based on the facts above, it shows that the business is new and still growing but it has a promising ambition to engage in franchising business. I guess it is not yet ready to engage in franchising for next year. But be that as it may, there are some things that I have to take into consideration. The performance of the employees vis-à-vis with the compensation. That is the equation that I have to deal with. At this point in time the appraisal system should be simple so that it will be easy to execute. Example, giving incentives to employees who showed extra performance on the job maybe not in monetary but giving them due recognition like “model employee of the week” to be posted at the wall of the counter. It is simple yet worthwhile to the one that is chosen to make him more motivated on the job. Another thing, on the hiring process of the expected employees. There must be an orientation and training system in order to process the expected employees before they will be exposed on the job giving emphasis on cleanliness, politeness, and prompt in attending the customers. During its transition period from a fast food pizza delivery into a franchising business, the management should evaluate present employees on the above criteria – is the employee observed cleanliness in the performance of his job? Was he polite and prompt in attending the customers? Then, if an employee met this then he will be continued to be employed with corresponding increase on his

wages to make him more enthusiastic on the next level. But if the desired result is not favorable, the company should not hesitate not to renew them on the job so that the company’s standard should not be compromised. 3. You are task to develop a benefits program for a new call-center company that was recently set-up. The company expects to quickly hire teams of call center customer relations officers on a 24-hour basis, with the peak time set at the work time of the West Coast in the United States. Therefore, working hours maybe demanding to your target employees, with your better-skilled ones assigned to the 12 midnight to 9 a.m. slot on a five-day worksheet. The Customer Relations Officers are in their 20s and would probably be in their first or second or third jobs. Facility with the spoken English language, quick thinking, customer orientation, teamwork are key competencies. There are many other call center operations that have been set up in the last two years, so your company expects competition from them. The current industry turnover rate is 20%. It is important that the benefits package of your company’s call center is at least comparable to those others. Benefits are one aspect of compensating employees aside from basic salary that an employee may receive. And if it is property managed, an organization is a better place to work. The more attractive the benefits packages are the more chance of keeping the employees and the end result would be minimizing turnover cost. The above case concerns about a 24 hour business operation and it demands skilled employees particularly Customer Relation Officers working at the peak hours of between 12:00 midnight to 9:00 A.M. in five-day worksheet. And the present trending of this kind of business especially the turnover is around 20%. Moreover, there are already established businesses of same nature ahead of you for two years. Question, what is our edge against our competitors in order to keep our employees in the company? Considering the stiff competitions between and among call centers, there is a really a need to strengthen the benefits package of the organization. The company should introduce more innovative offerings that are more attractive to entice employees to stay especially given more preferential attention to those assigned at nighttime. Example, aside from those legally required benefits – like social security system, employee’s compensation, thirteenth month pay, Pag-Ibig and paid vacation, paid sick leave and paid holidays, the company should offer other benefits like a sponsored social and recreational events like outing, picnics, song and dance parties on a scheduled basis (giving the employees choices where they can avail of such benefit) in order not also to hamper the operation of the call center since it is a 24 hour

operation. Counseling services is also paramount to this kind of business because according to studies those people work during night time are more prone to stress. So, there is a need to unload these stresses by way of some psycho-social intervention. Another important thing to consider is in terms of food services. The company should provide some sort of a canteen where foods are always available at the employees reach because they will no longer go out the premises just to find for food. With those benefits packages that the company is offering, I believe that the company is now at par with other competitors. 4. The President/owner of a company was so disgusted over the unreasonable demands of the union. He was also incensed by the arrogant behavior of the union officers. A day before the start of the CBA negotiations, without consulting his Board of Directors, he decided to lockout all employees, close shop, stop the entire business operations of the company. Is the lockout legal or illegal? Why? Lockout is any temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a result of an industrial or labor dispute. The act of the president/owner of the company is illegal despite the fact of unreasonable demands and arrogant behavior of the union officers. I said so because under the Labor Code of the Philippines, there are requisites of lawful strike/lockout, to wit: That it must be based on a valid and factual ground; and a strike or lockout Notice shall be filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation board (NCMB) at least 15 days before the intended date of the strike or lockout if the issues raised are unfair labor practices, or at least 30 days before the intended date thereof if the issue involves bargaining deadlock. From the above requisites, it is clear that the declaration of the president/owner is not within the bounds of his authority. If his act was prompted by the unreasonable and arrogant behavior still it does not give him such right because there is a right forum for that and it can be raised there during the CBA negotiations where everyone has the right to be heard and the right to defend himself. 5. After 4 months of negotiations, the union declared a deadlock and filed a notice of strike. On the 16th day from filing of the notice, the union submitted to the general membership for secret balloting its intention to strike. The “yes” to strike was overwhelming. Seeing the clear mandate of the members, the union struck on the 18th day from date of filing the notice to strike. Is the strike legal or illegal? Why? The strike was illegal. Why? Because under provision number of the requisites of a lawful strike or lockout, and I quote: a strike or lockout Notice shall be filed

with the National Conciliation and Mediation board (NCMB) at least 15 days before the intended date of the strike or lockout if the issues raised are unfair labor practices, or at least 30 days before the intended date thereof if the issue involves bargaining deadlock.” The issue here about the declaration of deadlock because it should be done at least 30 days before the intended date thereof if the issue involves bargaining deadlock. 6. A semiconductor company was able to maintain a no-union status for 25 years. It gives its employees above-average pay and benefits plus stock options. It trains its supervisors and managers in good people management and communications. It has always been operating profitability. One day, a group of employees wrote a letter asking management to recognize the union they have organized. One week after, citing retrenchment as a reason, the company laid off 20% of its employees including most of the organizers of the union. Is the act of management a case of union avoidance or a case of anti-union action prohibited by law? Why? The act of management is anti-union act that is prohibited by law because under Section 3, Article XIII, second paragraph of the Labor Code, “it shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work and living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.” So, citing retrenchment as a reason for the company to lay off 20% of its employees including most of the organizers of the union is very shallow and very apparent of an anti-union act as prohibited by law. The employees have a good chance of winning the case because if there is seemingly dispute between the rights of the labor and the rights of the employer, it shall be construed in favor of the labor (Article 4, Labor code of the Philippines). 7. In one year, in the Quality Department of a non-unionized pharmaceutical company, five good Chemists and Pharmacists resigned citing as reason in their exit interviews the highhandedness of the Manager. If you were the HR Manager what would you do? Exit interview is one practices of business organization to find out from an employee the actual reasons for his quitting the present organization. If I evaluate the above case there is something alarming on the situation at hand because five employees resigning on the job at one time is not a joke. The reason revealed by the employees is very appalling on the part of the company in general. Being an HR Manager one of my tasks is to convince employees to

retain on their job. I should try my best to persuade them to stay in order to minimize the cost because turnover is more costly than undergoing the process of hiring and training. If the alleged claim is correct, being the HR Manager I should institute some measures and recommendation to the top management according to the established code of ethics of such organization in order to have some sort of damage control in the future should same situation arises. Unethical practices will definitely do no good to the company especially if the employees are good performing. The manager should be subjected to some disciplinary action so that future managers will not emulate the act of said manager. 8. Your company has a limited budget allotment for a computerized human resource information system. It will be conducted in phases, and the budget is good for only one module for this year. You have been asked to recommend to the Executive Committee which of the following modules will be targeted first (see Computerized HRIS section for detailed description):        

Personnel Management Benefits Module Recruitment Module Training Module Performance Management and Administration Module Medical Information/Wellness Module Time and Attendance Module Safety Management Module

On the above enumerations, I should recommend the personnel management module to be the first priority. 9. The Executive Committee of your company has, for the first time, scheduled a strategic planning workshop that will be done for a full three-day period. As the head of the Human Resource Management function, you are asked to help design and facilitate then workshop. You have two months preparation time have the liberty to hire an external consultant to assist you. Your initial draft of the three-day workshop outline is due for presentation. 10. You have a relatively simple change agenda to work on. Your company which is in the importation, trading and sales of industrial chemicals has decided not to renew the lease of the office in Malate where you have been staying for the last 10 years. Your management has decided to sign a lease for an office in Ortigas, Greenhills which is nearer to the offices of most of your key accounts. You have been asked to manage the move, including announcing this to your 45

employees is minimized. How will you go about it? What steps, programs and communication plan will you utilized? 11. A reputable computer company has the policy of attracting the best and the brightest among the graduates of leading universities. It trains them rigorously as System Engineer or Sales Engineers. After two to three years, these cream of well-trained, productive, and high potential engineers normally resign and join other competing companies. What could be the reasons for this high turnover? If you were the CEO, what would you do to stem this loss if valuable human capital. 12.

Mr. Pedro dela Cruz was strongly recommended by Mayor Punongbayan to work at the ABC Company located in the Municipality University where the Mayor himself is the President. His transcripts of record reveal that he is an average student and had no extra curricular activity in school. His father happens to be the supporter of the mayor in his political career. Juan dela Cruz took the examination given by the company and he failed to make it due to his poor communication skills. To give in to the Mayor’s request the HR Manager gave him a position in the production department as machine operator and not a clerical position that a mayor would like him to have. But Mr. dela Cruz did not want to accept the position and insisted that he should get the job because of the mayors recommendation.

13. There is no job analysis program at XYZ Company. The personnel work without knowing exactly their specific duties and responsibilities. The company executives think it is cheaper this way. What are probably the bases for the company executives on the matter. 14.