Resolving Human Resource Issues and Strategic Demands with a Balanced Scorecard Essay

Introduction

Effective business management often requires company leaders to make uncomfortable decisions to increase employee performance and make operations more financially successful. A highly competitive and efficient company faces certain challenges in the provided case study. It has to implement changes to its talent management to meet the demands of the board of directors. This paper aims to answer the following case study questions, which will help Jan Samson, the CEO at CalleetaCO, prepare for the next meeting with board members.

Identifying Critical Business Challenges in the Current Scenario

In the case study, it is described that the board of directors has several concerns regarding the current and future operations of CalleetaCO. Firstly, employee costs are growing rapidly, which results in slowed financial returns. Further, CalleetaCO plants in Vietnam and Mexico have inappropriate working conditions, and this concern draws the attention of local activists. These two issues have resulted in the board members’ refusal to expand CalleetaCO globally, another issue Jan will need to consider. The case study also mentions that some groups express their doubts regarding RFID systems maintaining client privacy and being protected from hacker use. If these concerns arise, the organization must urgently address them, proving that RFID devices are protected from privacy violations.

Evaluating the Impact of HR Operations on Organizational Success

Although the HR operations and strategies are costly and must be reviewed, they significantly cause CalleetaCO’s success and strong competitive advantage. There are two primary ways in which HR management is beneficial to the organization. Firstly, the firm’s human capital talent acquisition attracts the most skilled, devoted, and professional employees from the relevant labor market.

According to Acikgoz (2019), the better the initial job offering, the higher the chances that the company will receive the most talented and loyal workers. Thus, these qualified staff members boost CalleetaCO’s performance, increasing its success. After talented employees are included in the team, it is essential to retain them, and the company’s HR strategies achieve this goal perfectly (Singh, 2019). Therefore, CalleetaCO attracts and maintains the most talented workforce by offering above-market benefits and compensation.

Aligning HR Contributions with Strategic Objectives

Since Jan and John Nosmas paid increased attention to devising a human capital talent acquisition and retention plan, one may explore how it helps the firm achieve its strategic objectives. To become one of the top providers in the industry and expand globally, CalleetaCO has to be recognized as an innovative, reputable, profitable, and rapidly developing firm. Thus, its loyal workers boost innovation and creativity, maintain a friendly working environment contributing to their performance, and are highly motivated to increase organizational growth. Such an extended employee support and reward and compensation system likely result in lower workplace error rates, which also plays a role in CalleetaCO becoming one of the best in the industry.

Proposing Changes to Meet Leadership Expectations in HR Operations

To meet the requirements of the board of directors, John is asked to offer certain changes that can reduce the costs of HR operations. Firstly, John needs to consider allowing HRO companies to manage CalleetaCO’s employees from Mexico and Vietnam at the offshore locations. According to Widarni and Bawono (2020), this agreement can save resources such as finances and time so that the organization can focus on other tasks.

Next, the reward and benefits package should be reconsidered, and some options can be lowered to save the firm money. For instance, four weeks of paid vacation annually instead of six, 401(k) matching at 7% (Ocho, 2023), and either elder or child care being temporarily removed would still count as above-market compensation, especially added to all other benefits. Some rewards can be replaced with more frequently provided feedback and a positive appraisal from managers, as this is yet another effective reinforcement method (Elrehail et al., 2019). Lastly, one can offer to reduce the number of personal HR managers and implement other temporary workforce reduction measures.

Assessing the Impact of Proposed HR Changes on Competitive Advantage

Not all proposed changes can help the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. For instance, workforce and compensation reduction measures can result in employee resistance and dissatisfaction, as they will be asked to put in more effort for fewer benefits. Moreover, talented workers will likely fall under the staff reduction, which will also reduce the company’s performance.

At the same time, positive feedback as a substitute measure for some canceled rewards can boost motivation, allowing the firm to succeed. Finding HRO companies should also be a good step. If I were in John’s position, I would choose one or two benefits to reduce or remove and seek help from HRO firms, as these are the most beneficial options.

Using a Balanced Scorecard to Demonstrate the Value of HR Strategies

Using a balanced scorecard can allow Jan to visualize the company’s smaller successes and improve her strategic communication with the board of directors. Thus, she can refer to the cash flow measure in the financial category. Providing client and employee satisfaction rates in the customer and learning and growth dimensions can also support Jan’s position, especially if worker retention rates are added to the second category. Lastly, she can demonstrate a high-quality control measure in the internal sphere, proving that the staff’s performance is great.

Conclusion

To conclude, CalleetaCO faces several severe issues that require prompt and close consideration. Although HR operations contribute greatly to the company’s success, they are also quite costly, which prevents the firm from having high financial returns. CalleetaCO needs to remove some of its employee benefits and find HRO companies to manage workers in offshore facilities. Lastly, a balanced scorecard can help Jan explain her position to the board of directors.

References

Acikgoz, Y. (2019). Employee recruitment and job search: Towards a multi-level integration. Human Resource Management Review, 29(1), 1-13. Web.

Elrehail, H., Harazneh, I., Abuhjeeleh, M., Alzghoul, A., Alnajdawi, S., & Ibrahim, H. M. H. (2019). Employee satisfaction, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: The case of Northern Cyprus. European Journal of Management and Business Economics, 29(2), 125-149. Web.

Ocho. (2023). What is the average 401k employer match for 2023? Web.

Singh, D. (2019). A literature review on employee retention with focus on recent trends. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 6(1), 425-431. Web.

Widarni, E. L., & Bawono, S. (2020). The basic of human resource management: Book 1. BookRix.