INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT/QUESTION As a Project Manager, you are tasked with a massive Water and Sanitation Project that has to be completed within a specified period. However, the below HR functions have the potential of disrupting your operations if not well planned and executed. Choose any three (3) of the functions and in four (4) pages discuss how these functions could pose potential risks to your project it not well planned and implemented. Provide full details on how you will mitigate or overcome these risks. Substantiate your answer with suitable examples and/or references where applicable. 1. 2. 3. Workforce diversity Finding and placing qualified employees Employee Assessment and Development Employee relations/Labour Relations End of assignment 4. . Assignment Specifications

Question summary : how the HR functions can have the potential of disrupting operations if not plnned and executred well

Answer :

1) Work force diversity

Modern companies often strive for greater diversity among their employees, hiring workers of different races, creeds, genders and ages to bring a more varied experience to their ranks. Diversity carries with it a tangible number of benefits, but it also entails new challenges and obstacles to overcome. various challenges and problems may occur such as :

• Communication Barriers and Problems :Language barriers could mean that team members ineffectively communicate and have difficulties understanding one another. Failure to fully comprehend instructions could lead to a significant drop in productivity and team synergy. Eg : if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes if he tries to complete the task without receiving clarity. For example, female employees may talk more politely, avoid swear words and use more tag questions than male employees, which could lead to misunderstandings. Or younger employees may use different terminology and slang which older generations are unfamiliar with.

• Too many opinions :With their different backgrounds and experiences, diverse employees have different ways of approaching the same scenario and putting forth their ideas.However, an excessive number of opinions can lead to failure to reach a consensus. Particularly innovative solutions to problems may go unnoticed amongst the plethora of other ideas. Too many opinions can compromise the organisation’s ability to stick to tight deadlines due to this reduction in productivity.

• Hostility : humans make decisions based on biases, rather than on facts and logic. Employees will base their decisions and judgements on unconscious biases despite their best intentions. Distrust can arise as employees doubt each others ability to do their jobs. Eg : “They’re different to me so I can’t trust them” or “They don’t know what they’re doing” are common thoughts.

• Cultural differences : Workplaces with employees from other cultures may not be aware of the norms and expectations of workplaces in the United States. For example, employees from more reserved cultures may not feel comfortable filing a grievance or complaint if there is a workplace issue.

2 ) Finding and placing qualified employees :

Businesses rely on their employees to be successful. Hiring the right people is imperative, and there are many repercussions when recruiting and selection systems fail. More than just losing money from lack of productivity, hiring the wrong people negatively affects many aspects of daily business and productivity.

• Revenue loss :A huge percentage of the position’s annual salary is often used for staff replacements. These costs may include job posting fees, on-site or off-site training expenses, and more. If you hire a person you didn’t realize was unsuited for a salesperson or account manager job, then the company may suffer great losses for sales not made or clients lost. This is especially dangerous for small companies and start-up businesses. Hiring the wrong person could be the most significant thing that brings you down.

• Employee Turnover :When you hire the wrong person for a position, it typically results in having to do the whole process over to quickly refill the new vacancy. This results in wasted time, money, and energy during the downtime, as well as additional recruiting and training expenses. Having an open position hurts the company in many ways: loss of productivity, frustration about repeated training, and inability to effectively progress with business initiatives.

• Morale :A wrong hire resulting from an ineffective recruitment and selection process can also hurt the teamwork and productivity of good employees. This is less likely to happen for upper management employees, but lower-level workers may have to take up that person’s slack and they may feel overworked, frustrated, and underappreciated. Also, bad hires often instigate negative attitudes in the workplace. Additionally, since bad hires affect morale, good employees may leave the company, creating an even greater turnover problem.

3) Employee Assessment and development :

Performance management programs can provide considerable benefits to government organizations; help them align and track measurable goals, create ongoing feedback loops for coaching, and boost engagement through recognition.

However, poorly implemented performance management programs can lead to detrimental organizational outcomes.

• Lack of Employee Engagement :Poor performance management programs can quickly erode employee engagement. For instance, when a performance plan is unclear, employees are unsure how their everyday work contributes to the agency’s mission. There’s no sense of growth or progress—essential ingredients for developing engaged and high-performing employees. Also, if employees see the program as unfair, they are likely to feel uninspired about their future at the agency, experience lower motivation, perform at lower levels, or leave the job altogether.

  When you have talented employees, it’s up to the managers to find areas in which they can improve. Options for development include expanding their gifted personnel’s skill set and providing training and support. Talented employees want feedback and it’s the manager’s job to deliver. If they don’t, the agency’s best people will grow complacent and disengaged.

• Low Employee Self-Esteem

  Performance management systems that lack structure are more reactive than proactive, meaning that employees will typically only hear from managers when they’ve done something wrong—a common practice that takes a toll on staff confidence. Also, if an employee feels that they are evaluated unfairly, they may lose self-esteem, which is a crucial element to success.

  Low self-esteem could create resentment towards management and even the organization as a whole. Showing appreciation, approval and attention to employees with a healthy mix of constructive and positive feedback will make them feel confident in their job and motivate them to perform at even higher levels.

• Wasted Time and Money

A poorly implemented performance management program puts a strain on managers. The average manager spends 210 hours a year on performance review activities, usually during an annual feedback cycle. The large amount of time and energy spent on performance management is magnified if the performance management program is not providing the benefits that come from a well-implemented program. Unless managers check in with employees regularly, a single conversation at the end of the year may prove useless. Ongoing performance management is time- and cost-efficient, and it produces optimal results.

• Damaged Relationships

Manager-employee relationships are also at risk under weak performance management systems. Employees subject to ineffective systems and performance review practices are likely to feel upset, demoralized, and demotivated. This can lead to personal relationships that are damaged, sometimes permanently.

• Increased Legal Risks

Giving negative evaluations with no data or proof to back them up can increase litigation risks. If an employee feels as though they’ve been evaluated unfairly they could seek costly legal action against the agency.

• Unclear Reward Systems

Due to poor communication, employees may not understand the link between their behaviors and results, and how those translate into performance ratings. Likewise, employees may not comprehend how their ratings translate turn into rewards. The absence of clear links makes it unlikely employees will be motivated to perform at a high level.