REMOTE WORKING: FROM BENEFITS TO AN OBLIGATION FOR TALENT RETENTION STRATEGY INTHE SERVICE INDUSTRY

Purpose:This research seeks to investigate whether a remote working model has become a key factor influencing talent retention strategies during the covid-19 pandemic. Research Methodology:A mixed research methodology was applied following the grounded theory of conceptualization to assess data associations and explain their relationships. A situational analysis of relevant research related to the topic was conducted. Primary data collection included a total of 12 interviews issued to Human Resource personnel in the service industry and a survey to 115 people aged between 20-30 years who due to the covid-19 pandemic remain working remotely. Findings: We found out that 45% of people consider remote working as key when deciding on a new job. However much remote working has rapidly picked up momentum, managers still need to work on their management skills to enhance high-quality talent retention strategies and competitive advantage. Research limitations: We only focused on 17.47% of the labor force in the service industry who are between 20-30 years and due to covid-19 pandemic remain working remotely. However, most service industries had already implemented remote working models before the pandemic. Future research should include these companies as well and expand on the population scope. Practical Implications: The results could be used by managers to optimize productivity, efficiency and improve company talent retention strategies. Additionally, it offers employees work-balance benefits to consider for future jobs. Originality/Value: Remote working, talent retention strategies, and the service industry have been extensively researched. However, covid-19 influences a lot of these models and applicability especially in the service industry, unfortunately, it has been less explored.

Association of Multi-dimensional factors with Employee Satisfaction and Attrition using SEM Analysis

The study is to verify employee satisfaction significance with Attrition in reference to employees working in non-listed IT companies, using multi-variants like income, attitude, comfort, caution, HR policies, bench resources, the overall process, poaching, work culture etc. grouped under the head of Personal factors, Organizational Factors and Behavioral factors. Workers perform better with employee satisfaction, otherwise, they just leave the organization. There are various factors enhancing employee satisfaction. The findings are reliable as the study is evaluated using SEM analysis which is the latest analysis. The output result of this paper is to help Human Resource / Personnel managers to get equipped with knowledge of the relevance of employee satisfaction and turnover. The solution from the study is to help and motivate the Human Resource managers to build a bigger team and better growth to benefit the employers. Keywords: Organizational factor, Behavioral, Personal factors.

On the Other Side of the Table: Lessons Learned From Negotiations

District-level directors, principals, and human resource personnel can bring important viewpoints and information in assisting the school board and superintendent during the teacher negotiations process. Unfolding in this case study are the myriad pressures brought forth to the key players in the process, the negotiating process of interest-based bargaining (IBB), and the unique perspective of administrators who served as both labor negotiators and management negotiators in different settings. Also emphasized is the work of school boards and how fractious relations can lead to unintended consequences, as well as the key role of the superintendent in the negotiation process.

The communicative construction of workplace flexibility stigma

Workplace flexibility is becoming more and more common in American workplaces. However, most of these policies are created for professional and white-collar workers. Scholars have argued that the "missing middle," that is, workers who are neither in the professional class nor low-wage workers, are often ignored in formal policies. Scholars have argued that workers experience a stigma for using these policies; however, little is known about how this stigmatization process occurs. This dissertation employs a grounded theory methodology to analyze 29 semi-structured interviews with missing middle workers to understand how they communicatively construct workplace flexibility and its attending stigma. Analysis of the data suggested the missing middle constructed workplace flexibility by drawing upon macro, meso, and micro-level D/discourses. In doing so, my participants communicated a fine line between use and abuse of workplace flexibility policies based on a) the perception of a worker as lazy, b) the perception of a worker using flexibility too frequently, and c) the perception of a worker having a non-acceptable rationale for using flexibility. Thus, workers become stigmatized for being perceived to abuse, not use, the policies. Based on the data, I offer a ground theory of this flexibility stigmatization process, that includes: a) organizational norms surrounding flexibility, b) the use of workplace flexibility, c) talk surrounding flexibility, and d) stigma perceptions. I then offer potential ways this communicative process can be re-constituted and transformed by human resource personnel, managers, and workers to disrupt the cycle of workplace flexibility stigma.

Workplace bullying complaints: lessons for “good HR practice”

Purpose Current research provides an incomplete picture of the challenges facing human resource personnel (HRP) tasked with managing a workplace bullying complaint. The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic model of the complaint management process in order to advance the theorising of HRP’s role in this important process, and the challenges they face in undertaking it. Design/methodology/approach Cases of workplace bullying heard before the legal system were analysed – a novel data source in research on workplace bullying. Thematic analysis was undertaken on the case determinations to identify the challenges HRP faced that prevented the resolution of the complaint. Findings The analysis indicated two key phases in the complaints management process with five associated challenges. The first two challenges were related to HRP’s ability to assess the substance of the complaint. HRP’s ability or inability to “sort out” conflicting accounts and to follow the process saw the complaint follow one of three “resolution pathways”. Three further challenges were associated with HRP communicating the outcome to the complainant. Failure to overcome these challenges left the complainant aggrieved at the unfairness in which their complaint had been handled – triggering legal action. Originality/value This paper draws on a novel data source to provide a holistic model of the complaint management process related to workplace bullying which details the various components and challenges related to HRP throughout the process. Alongside advancing theory, this research has practical value for improving HR practice.

Personality Traits among Information Technology Officers and the Expectations of Human Resource Personnel

This study examined the importance assigned by Human Resource personnel to the personality traits of Information Technology officers. The extent to which these traits were evident among Information Technology officers was determined and compared to their level of importance among Human Resource personnel. The well-known 16 Personality Factors model was used and data was collected by questionnaire from 84 Information Technology officers working at operational levels in organizations and 64 Human Resource personnel with experience in the recruitment of Information Technology officers. For most of the traits the findings showed reasonable agreement between the level of importance of the traits according to the Human Resource personnel and the extent to which traits were evident among the Information Technology officers. However, there were differences with respect to the four traits Friendliness, Introversion, Sensitivity, and Intellect and the practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Mind Training for Innovation

This chapter fills a gap in the innovation literature by exploring why creativity and innovation are important in the workplace and how the process of creativity can be supported through the practice of mindfulness. At the group and organisational levels, the chapter examines what is required of an organisation through an HR perspective in order to facilitate the optimum context for supporting creativity and innovation through knowledge sharing and transfer. There is a key emphasis on an organisation's culture, structure, and ethos, utilising a knowledge-sharing framework, in addition to a focus on the physical workspaces that can support innovative and creative processes. Finally, proposals for managers and human resource personnel interested in building foundations for creativity in the workplace include: mindfulness training and support for mindfulness practice, the reduction of stress to allow creativity to emerge, and group/team support and training. Suggestions for future research are also offered at the end of the chapter.

Essence of human resource audit: an analytical study

The human resource is the most important asset of an organization, which helps in achieving competitive advantage. In order to response to the changing work environment, human resource personnel must determine ways to justify thier performance and operational workload.Human resource audit supports an organization to review and critically analyze the effective performance of employees and human resource functions. A human resource audit is a methodicalprocess that aims to investigate the underlying policies, strategies, systems, techniques, documents,functions, and practices of an organization with respect to its human resource management. The purpose of this study is to review the concept and essentials of Human Resource Audit. The current study is a desk-research in type and constructed on the basis of secondary data, attempts to review the existing literatures of human resource audit from different viewpoint. The human resource audit has distinct application in a diverse area of an organization such as human resource functions, managerial compliance, employee satisfaction, corporate strategy and human resource climate.Organizations should conduct human resource audit regularly setting and following a set of principles, where the auditors would enjoy full freedom in entire audit process. The thorough and objective evaluation of a human resource audit can generate information necessary to the successful improvement of the entire human resources of an organization.

The Role of Design Factors in Influencing Training Transfer among Small Businesswomen

The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of design factors which consist of training content, training delivery, trainer competency and opportunity to use on small businesswomen’s goal setting activities. The instrument for this research is adapted and modified from the Training Transfer Model and Model for Excellence (American Society of Training and Development Competency Research). Four independent variables: training content, training delivery and trainer’s competency and opportunity to use; and goal setting as dependent variable formed the framework for this research. Multiple regressions were used to investigate the relationship between design factors and goal setting. Findings from a survey of 246 small businesswomen attending training programs organized by government agencies showed that opportunity to use made the strongest contribution towards goal setting followed by training content, trainer’s competency and training delivery. Awareness on the constraints or barriers in the design factors can assist the primary stakeholders (organizer and trainers) and human resource personnel in developing effective training programs. Thus, this alertness can help to create a fair situation for them to accomplish their training objectives. Finally it is also beneficial to the trainees to transfer the knowledge and skills to their own businesses.

Attitudinal, personal, and job-related predictors of salesperson turnover

Purpose – To contribute to the understanding of how to manage turnover, the purpose of this paper is to determine if sales managers have the ability to predict high levels of propensity to leave (PL) from variables readily available in personnel records, and on commonly used employee surveys. Design/methodology/approach – The data used for the analysis of the study variables were collected from the sales forces of a total of ten firms across a variety of consumer and industrial product categories, resulting in a sample of 604 respondents. Data were analyzed via multiple discriminant analysis. Findings – The analysis and test results demonstrate that discriminant sets of attitudinal variables, personal characteristics, and aspects of the job can be identified and used to establish meaningful classifications of a salesperson's PL. Organizational commitment, satisfaction with pay, family status, job involvement, level of education, and compensation plan were all found to be significant. Analysis fails to support the existence of several attitudinal variables generally thought to be predictors of PL. Originality/value – The overarching implication to be drawn is that any effort to address salesperson turnover must be holistic, rather than limited to a narrow set of variables. These findings hold implications for sales management researchers and human resource/personnel managers.