Human Resource Management Case Study: Square International Company

1. INTRODUCTION

Square International Company is a cleaning and maintenance agency in the UK. This case explores four major external influences affecting human resource management (HRM) that it must consider in its plans to expand. Along with this, employee motivation despite the recent recession-induced layoffs are discussed below.

2. PESTLE ANALYSIS

Successfully implementing necessary labor changes during a business expansion requires an understanding of the environment an organization operates in. The PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) analysis is a powerful assessment tool for external factors that are out of Square International Company’s direct control. Best used with the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,

Rotation or enrichment of jobs increases the intrinsic factors of work – such as achievement, responsibility, and growth – and hence, has a higher probability of motivating employees. Both methods also enable management to fill vacancies without much difficulty, be more flexible with timetables, and adaptive to changes. Additionally, evidence supporting improved performance in manufacturing settings due to job rotation is especially relevant to Square International Company. Yet, drawbacks such as increase in training costs and disruptions in the workflow related to job rotation, as well as the ineffectiveness of job enrichment caused by infrequent feedback and focus on past problems must also be considered.

Altering work arrangements (table 3.1.2) with flextime, job sharing or telecommuting is another approach to motivation. Increased productivity and reduced expenses in relation to overtime pay and office-space rent are claimed benefits of flextime and telecommuting. Furthermore, the flexibility of all three alternatives is indirectly addressed by the expectancy theory in the importance of the rewards-personal goals relationship. Management, however, has to determine the compatibility of the arrangements with jobs, and individual employees (Robbin and Judge,

As Square International Company faces a tighter budget resulting from the recession, the attractiveness of non-financial incentives increases. There are various ways of acknowledging employees’ efforts – from a private e-mail to team pizza parties in celebration of team successes. Praising a behavior immediately following it is likely to encourage its repetition. This is congruous with the reinforcement theory. Provided that managers refrain from manipulating the system and subjecting it to favoritism, employee recognition is an effective and low-cost means of stimulating performance (Robbin and Judge,