Introduction
The human resource management function determines the quality and quantity of output an organization gets from its employees. Recruitment and selection processes enable an organization to assess its professional needs to ensure it chooses suitable personnel who have the required levels of competence to fill vacant positions. In addition, a willingness by employees to accept changes helps an organization to improve its internal work systems to help it attain good results in the long run. Any organization that intends to attain positive performance needs to satisfy the expectations of its employees by improving their working environments to motivate them. This essay will analyze various human resource management issues that affect the school district of Philadelphia and how they can be addressed to improve overall results.
Discussion
The department had to deal with a lot of complaints from teachers and other employees in the district, and this shows that its human resource systems were not well structured to satisfy employees’ expectations. In addition, hiring procedures used by the district were centralized, and this made it difficult to attract and retain highly skilled teachers who were needed to fill various vacant teaching positions. Senior officials in the department were accused of gross incompetence and lack of dedication to their duties, which negatively affected the morale of teachers and other employees working for the district. Therefore, this made it difficult for the district to satisfy the professional expectations of teachers in various public schools, which led to poor results.
Principals do not have effective leadership skills, and this makes it difficult for them to inspire teachers working under them to attain good results. In addition, schools that perform poorly in the district find it difficult to attract highly qualified teachers, and this has eroded the quality of education offered by some public schools. The district’s HR department failed to develop beneficial relationships with other stakeholders, and this made it difficult for the department to address labor issues faced by its employees.
This situation caused the department to deal with constant labor conflicts with teachers and other employees working in the district. As a result, before Hanna’s promotion, this situation had a negative impact on the image of Philadelphia’s education system. The district was unable to coordinate various human resource roles that were part of its strategy, and this led to systematic failures in the whole educational setup.
One of the first tasks which Hanna undertook after being appointed was to change recruitment practices in the district. Hanna focused more on improving working conditions for new teachers and other employees that were recruited by the district to increase retention rates. As a result, these changes helped to increase the number of applicants for vacant teaching positions in different public schools. Within two years, the district’s public schools retained most of their teachers who were satisfied with the new HR policies which had been implemented. Since then, public schools in the district do not face chronic staff shortages as they used to in the past because the new human resource policy is responsive to their needs and expectations.
The human capital management strategy which has been implemented has helped the district to attract highly skilled teachers. The district’s decision to reform selection processes by allowing schools to participate in the hiring of new employees has helped to decentralize important human resource functions. As a result, public schools are able to choose suitable teachers who are able to help their students attain good learning outcomes. The decision made by Hanna to sack the four human resource directors was difficult, but in the end, it allowed him to carry out important reforms in the human resource department. As a result, this drastic action enabled the district to hire new officials who are willing to work in a restructured human resource department whose main vision is to satisfy the needs of its workers.
The sackings of the four managers have enabled Hanna to create a more competent human resource department that focuses more on satisfying employees’ needs and expectations. He has also managed to reorganize the department to make it more efficient in executing its functions. In essence, this has improved labor relations between the new directors and other employees performing different duties in the district. More importantly, payroll systems have been improved to ensure all payments made by the district are recorded and closely monitored, and this has enhanced financial transparency in the organization. However, the introduction of site-based selection has experienced a lot of challenges which the district needs to resolve to help it attain good results in the long run.
Hanna needs to improve site-based selection and recruitment processes to reduce high rates of turnover in schools based in dangerous zones of Philadelphia. He needs to address concerns associated with site-based selection that it is likely to result in inequitable access to education in the district. Therefore, he needs to come up with long term strategies that address selection disparities, which have denied public schools in poor areas an opportunity to get highly skilled teachers. More importantly, school committees that are involved in the selection of new staff need to be equipped with good human resource skills to make them more competent in their duties. This will enable them to use more effective strategies to attract good teachers who are willing to make sacrifices to attain good results.
The district also needs to streamline its working processes to retain more teachers for longer periods of time. Hanna also needs to develop appropriate systems that enable principals to transfer important leadership skills to their juniors. In addition, they need to be involved in supervisory and mentoring roles to allow employees working under them to acquire new skills that help them attain good results in their workstations. The district also needs to improve its reporting systems to ensure principals liaise with other senior education officials to address the different challenges they are facing. This approach will improve the quality of education offered by public schools in Philadelphia. Lastly, the human resource department needs to develop more efficient communication systems that allow it to respond to different issues raised by teachers in various public schools.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the district of Philadelphia needs to develop an effective human resource system that encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and high levels of employee satisfaction. This approach will enable the district to improve the relationships it has with teachers and other employees to improve the quality of education, which is offered in different public schools. More importantly, this will reduce high levels of inequalities that are experienced in public schools due to inefficient recruitment and selection practices.