Brief history
Barclays bank was founded in 1690 in the city of London, which has remained its headquarters to date (Berclays Bank PLC, 2011). From a meager start, the company has gradually but steadily grown to become a key player in the banking industry.
Through its parent company and a host of other subsidiary companies, the firm has diversified its services to investment and corporate banking, retail banking, credit cards, and wealth management.
Currently, the bank’s reputation is universally acclaimed, with a customer base of forty eight million customers in fifty countries.
According to Dr., James, the local branch Human Resource Manager, the journey to the top has been long fought, but staying on top against the prevailing market competition is the company’s primary objective (S. James, personal communication, April 7, 2012).
Strategic plans
As an international firm, Barclays Bank faces stiff competition on the international platform. Most of its competitors are firms well endowed with financial might such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Lloyd Banking group.
Remaining profitable in such a market is a formidable challenge that requires excellent strategic measures. This far, the bank has been able to grow its customer base, thereby increasing its profitability through offering relatively lower interest rates on loans, and more personalized customer experience.
However, as globalization gains momentum, the already fierce competition is expected to intensify. As a result, the company intends to adopt many strategic options to gain a competitive edge.
- Exploit the Middle East market
- Launch massive marketing campaigns across the globe
- Reduce social responsibility programmes, which already consume a lot of money
- Seek funding through issuing of shares but not debts
- Pursue mergers and acquisitions
Dr. James’ Roles as Human Resource Manager
As the branch human resource manager, Dr. James is responsible for many tasks relating to human capital. First, he is responsible for recruitment, selection, and placement of personnel. In liaison with the operations manager, they identify areas of shortage; establish the required qualifications for the position before organizing for interviews.
He is also responsible for organizing training and development of employees. Training needs are essential for employees to remain competitive. It also ensures that the quality of employees’ services is unrivaled. After identifying training needs, he contacts the executive manager for approval and then contacts the finance officer for funding.
Additionally, Dr. James is responsible for employees’ discipline. With over 152 employees holding different capacities in the bank, cases of indiscipline cannot be ruled out. He says, “Despite the gravity of the case, the approach of handling it can make a great difference.”
Manpower planning also falls under his docket. In liaison with all departmental heads, he finds out how many employees are required to complete departmental tasks and assign them.
He is, therefore, responsible for defining the scope of every job for employees. Finally, yet importantly, together with other managers, he is responsible for setting specific management policies for organizational leadership.
Applying Open Systems and Training Models to The Company
Describe any additions, alterations, or substitutes for the Models that you discover.
As a branch of an international bank, the bank adopts many strategic resolutions made at the headquarters. However, this is subject to the evaluation of the branch executive manager and other managers. This reevaluation is meant to ensure that any operational model adapted is in line with the banks local communities’ beliefs, values, and economic situation. As a result, the bank has been able to attract more customers and hence become highly profitable.
The bank’s management values training as a key component of growth. As such, their training process has been modeled to ensure little expenditure with high results. They call it “a high return less investment” programme (S. James, personal communication, April 7, 2012).
Instead of the traditional training process model involving analysis of the current situation and establishing training needs, designing of a training programme, developing training materials, implementing of training and carrying out an evaluation to establish the effectiveness of the training, which can take months, the company employs a daily evaluation and mini trainings.
After setting organizational goals, the goals are broken down into small tasks, which are then assigned to each employee. The goals are further broken into daily targets. Employees who meet their targets assist those who fail to through giving tips. This has proven remarkably effective and minimized frequent training needs.
Reference
Berclays Bank PLC. (2011). Annual Business Report. London: Barclays Bank.