Question:

Your CEO has asked each departmental head to undertake a critical review of their systems, processes and practices as part of a major organisational change agenda.  You have been asked to review an area of HR/business practice and present a business report to key stakeholders with recommendations for improving practice.  To provide the basis for your report, you have been asked to conduct a critical review of information sources relevant to the area of practice. You should:

• Select an area of HR/business practice and give the reason for your choice
• Undertake a critical review of different information sources (at least three) e.g. research digests, academic and professional literature, online databases, key texts relevant to the selected area of practice.
• In your write up of the literature review you should explain why you selected that particular source and highlight some of the different research approaches adopted by the authors and comment on the advantages and disadvantages of these different approaches.
• Draw meaningful conclusions from the review of the different information sources.
• Make justified recommendations to named stakeholders for sustaining and/or improving practice.

Your report structure should include:

• Title page (report title and their name, submission date)
• Executive summary (overview, methods of analysis, findings, recommendations)
• Table of contents (list of numbered sections)
• Introduction (terms of reference)
• Main body (headings and sub-headings – these could be for each information source reviewed). Candidates should use a mix of narrative and diagrammatic formats where appropriate to present their findings.
• Conclusion (including major inferences and recommendations for change)
• Reference list

Appendix if used i.e. information supporting their analysis but not essential to its explanation.

Evidence to be produced/required

A written business report for stakeholders of approximately 2500 words.  The title page, executive summary, reference list and any appendices are excluded from the word count.

You should relate academic concepts, theories and professional practice to the way organisations operate, in a critical and informed way, and with reference to key texts, articles and other publications and by using organisational examples for illustration. All reference sources should be acknowledged correctly and a bibliography provided where appropriate (these should be excluded from the word count)

Solution:

Executive Summary

This paper has focused on critical analysis of secondary sources for informing a best practice in an area of HR. the selected area is flexible hours of working and employee retention targeting the best practice in modern organizations. The choice for the secondary sources and HR areas has been informed by the interest of an organization with a direct involvement. Through a critical analysis of the sources literature, data management, findings and their conclusions, valuable insights on the issue of flexible hours and employee’s retention rates has been obtained. It has been noted that there is a myriad of factors that influence the different variables of employee retention, turnover, working hours and satisfaction in their organizations. It has been recommended that research should be undertaken by the involved organization to determine the needs of their employees in terms of working hours and what influences their stay in the organization. Additionally, shifting from traditional management and employee working practices to a more digitalized and modern environment is another critical undertaking that the company can adopt. This would enhance an improvement of customer relations, reduce workload and improve their capacity.

Contents

1.0 Assessment Criteria 4.1: Introduction. 4

2.0 Assessment Criteria 2.1: HR area of Choice. 4

3.0 Assessment Criteria 2.2: Critical Review.. 5

4.0 Assessment Criteria 1.1: Summary of Research Process and Different Data Collection Methods. 8

5.0 Assessment Criteria 3.1 : Conclusions and Reccomendations. 11

Recommendations. 11

References. 13

1.0 Assessment Criteria 4.1: Introduction

There exist a broad range of literature in the human resource area of impact of flexible hours on employee retention. This could be attributed to the complex nature of this issue and the nature of which it directly implications on the overall performance and productivity of employees and the overall organization. As noted by Kar and Misra (2013), the workplace flexibility both formal and informal has been linked to employee retention. Studies by (Deery & Jago, 2015; Aruna & Anitha, 2015; Steinmetz et al., 2014) have evidence that both the formal and occasional use of hours’ flexibility concept is directly linked to perceived flexibility, employee engagement and expected retention. The rationale for this is that flexible working hours could decrease the turnovers through encouraging employees to remain working at an entity, be committed hence become retained in the organization.  Hence, it is possible to review this is of HR practice and offer a report to the main stakeholders with recommendations for improving practice. This is the fundamental target of this task with a focus on Moen et al. (2011); Richman et al. (2008) and Hausknecht et al. (2009). A critical review of these sources has been provided with different approaches adopted by the authors highlighted and drew meaningful conclusions from the information sources review. Lastly, justified recommendations to identified stakeholders for sustaining and improving practice has been delivered.

2.0 Assessment Criteria 2.1: HR area of Choice

The selected HR practice is on the employee retention through work-life balance. Particularly, the focus is on the impact of flexible hours on Employees Retention. The rationale for this choice is based on my positionality as an HR manager in a retail firm located in Dubai, UAE. In the retail company, the HR department has intended to introduce a strategy which targets to offer the employees significant options on how they schedule their work. This has been done to ensure they are happy, satisfied, serving the customers dedicatedly and cementing their loyalty to the company. In addition, the strategy will seek to strengthen the company mission of fiercely monitoring its expenses through avoidance of costs and business disruptions involved in high employee turnover. This is a tandem to Kar and Misra (2013) study that noted that employee with more access to flexibility workplace working hours has a more likelihood of being able to plan and be retained in an organization more than those lacking the practice. In an event employees are allowed to exercise control on their schedule, a culture demonstrating employee value is established in an entity.

3.0 Assessment Criteria 2.2: Critical Review

Hausknecht, J. P., Rodda, J., & Howard, M. J. (2009). Targeted employee retention: Performance‐based and job‐related differences in reported reasons for staying. Human Resource Management, 48(2), 269-288. The research paper by Hausknecht et al. (2009) “Targeted Employee Retention: Performance-Based and Job-Related Differences in Reported Reasons

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