Question one (40marks)

Study the case below and answer the questions that follow

Human Capital Management at the United States Postal Service

With more than 800,000 employees, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has the second-largest workforce in the country. The 230-year-old post service has an operating budget of $65 billion and has been under increased competitive pressure from organizations such as Federal Express, United Parcel Service, and Internet service providers, all of whom have eroded market share and offered alternatives to the traditional monopoly enjoyed by the USPS. Current projections are that 85 percent of its executives, 74 percent of its managers and supervisors, and 50 percent of its career workforce will be eligible to retire in the next few years.

The postal service has developed a strategy to ensure that it attracts the right people and then deploys them effectively to where they are most needed. To ensure that the best employees are retained, performance management and leadership development programs have been created to motivate and reward them. At the center of its human capital management plan are four key strategies: (1) aggressive recruitment of future leaders; (2) building of an effective, motivated workforce in which individuals and teams are recognized through a performance-based pay system; (3) establishment and maintenance of a good work environment, based on cooperative working relationships between unionized employees and management; and (4) creation of a flexible workforce that can be readily adjusted as conditions change and new needs arise.

To facilitate these goals, back-office functions have been reorganized and consolidated into 85 separate performance clusters. Each cluster has its own HR staff that applied reengineering principles and technology tools to repetitive transactional service work to create more self-service transactions for employees and managers. Performance management is being integrated into virtually every organizational initiative to ensure that rewards are commensurate with productivity. Succession planning and corresponding training and development initiatives have been established to ensure that vital skills are identified and transferred to up-and-coming employees. The Advanced Leadership Program has been developed as a premier program for high-potential future executives, which trains them to understand the strategic challenges being faced by the organization and to develop the skills that allow participants to creatively address those challenges.

Questions

1. What are the primary responsibilities of HR managers in United States Postal Service (USPS)? 4marks
2. What is the main purpose of HRP in USPS? 2marks
3. State the programs instituted by the Hr department in an effort to meet the identified HR needs. 2marks
4. Why do HR managers of USPS need to do environmental scanning? 4marks
5. Would you say UPSA engages in environmental analysis? Justify your answer. 3marks
6. What categories of personnel does USPS concentrate it HRP on? For each category, explain why the concentration? 6marks
7. What possible remedial actions are available to USPS HR managers if a reconciliation between Hr demand and Hr supply reveals a surplus in Hr requirements? 5marks
8. What planning programs have been instituted to ensure that the company does not lack the requisite executive personnel to run the organisation? 4marks
9. Discuss any two executive training techniques that may be used to train executive to understand the strategic challenges being faced by the organization and to develop the skills that allow participants to creatively address those challenges. Bring out their advantages and disadvantages. 6marks
10. Which instructional technique to learning would you use to train the executives of USPS; Pedagogy or Andragogy? Justify your choice. 4marks