Instructions
Read the scenarios below, and respond to each of these employee communication scenarios. Ensure to include the stated questions in your response.
First Scenario
You are the manager of the human resources (HR) department. The vice president of finance is talking about an operations issue and then makes a small remark to you about his staff being late or absent all of the time. His administrative assistant, Bryan, is often late getting to work. This is not the first time the vice president has made this comment. Just like last time, he is not asking for your help or for you to do anything; he is just complaining that he cannot get “good help” anymore. You know through other finance employees that the vice president tolerating this behavior has caused resentment and dysfunction in the department, and other employees now feel entitled to come in late, leave early, or call out since there are no consequences. You learn that the vice president has tolerated it for the past year and has not addressed it at all, and now it is starting to reflect poorly on him. This is causing a productivity drain and the chief executive officer (CEO) is asking you why finance seems to be lagging. The overall company workload has increased, and he needs everyone on board, or he will have to make some changes at the executive level. Since Bryan is not your direct report, you have to address the issue with the vice president of finance. You are concerned about having this difficult conversation since the vice president of finance is technically higher on the corporate hierarchy than you; based upon your past interactions, you fear that he will not respond positively to your interference in his department. What steps do you take to address the problem? Be as specific and detailed as possible. What policies do you reference? Provide an action plan for any communication and discipline. Make sure you describe how and to whom you need to communicate your information, and respond to the prompts below.
- What are some best practices in employee communications that you can use in this scenario?
- What tools can use to communicate your information to the employees and the organization as a whole?
- Explain how you and the vice president can use appropriate discipline to effectively manage the employee’s behavior.
- Explain the steps that you would take in both progressive and punitive discipline programs.
Second Scenario
You are the HR director who supervises 18 professionals. You have a great team who generally works well together, which allows you to be a hands-off director. They often work late hours and work closely together. You have hired Richard to be a new administrative support employee to help the team with their clerical workload. You learn through various employee complaints that one of the professionals on your team appears to be acting inappropriately toward the new employee. Diane, a manager and the team lead, is witnessed making harassing remarks about the “young new guy” and how he dresses and looks. These comments are not overt sexual harassment, and Richard has not made any complaints; in fact, he seems to laugh it off in staff meetings. There are two other employees who have complained that Diane’s behavior is negatively affecting the team. There are even claims that she has been seen touching and grabbing Richard when they are working closely together. As the HR director, how do you address the situation? What steps do you take to address the problem? Be as specific and detailed as possible. What policies do you reference? Provide a detailed, step-by-step plan for any communication and discipline. Make sure you describe how and to whom you need to communicate your information, and respond to the prompts below.
- What are some best practices in employee communications that you can use in this scenario?
- What tools can you use to communicate your information to the employees and the organization as a whole?
- Explain how you can use appropriate discipline to effectively manage the employee’s behavior.
- Explain the steps that you would take in both progressive and punitive discipline programs.
Your assignment must be a minimum of four pages in length, not counting the title and reference pages. Also, make certain to use 12-point Times New Roman font and double spacing, as APA formatting is required for this assignment. Research is required; therefore, you must include a minimum of three references (one of which can be your textbook), and at least one of the references must come from the CSU Online Library. When responding to questions, do not use a question-and-answer format. Instead, use subheadings to separate your academic writing.
