SAVE SMOCK CASE STUDY

SMOCK has been in operation for many years but has been operating

traditionally. The organisation is considered to be working in a traditional

industry. SMOCK has two departments, technology and services, with $300$

employees, including professionals working in a cross$-$disciplinary teams. The

government division has performed well over the past five years but is based on

a $20-$year$-$old platform.

Over the years, the company leadership was considered informal. As the

organisation grew, it expanded into a soft HRM approach. Individuals were

trusted to manage their workload,, and performances were expected to be

standard. Pay levels were higher than other similar departments to recruit and

retain staff who were operating this way. Staff were offered considerable

opportunities to develop their skills through formal and informal training and

continued organisational learning and information sharing. Persons were

working together and in the same direction.

The organisation has moved to an informal approach which has become more

challenging to sustain. With multiple teams working together, communication

has become more fractured, and teams do not come together to discuss issues.

In addition, staff with similar education and experience have received different

compensation packages, creating friction.

Kathy, an entry$-$level officer, started working at SMOCK nine months ago. When

she started, she was enthusiastic and loved what she did. Kathy arrived early at

work, completed tasks promptly, and left $1$ hour late in the afternoons. She

enjoyed her role and was very persistent in what she did. However, there was no

on$-$the$-$job training She decided to finance herself to pursue studies to improve

her role and came out on top of her class; however, management never

congratulated her. One of her coworkers, whom she$$s close to$,$ congratulated her

and decorated her workstation with congratulatory balloons and stickers. Kathy

explained that it's not surprising given the company's informal approach.

Further, as Kathy became empowered with the new skills she has now acquired,

she decided to meet with management to share how she can incorporate the

knowledge gained from her studies. The manager in charge told Kathy her

theoretical exposure is not the reality on the ground and that she must do things

the way the organisation does. She defended that their human resources

structure needs a holistic change, and a strategy that can turn the organisation

around but the manager insists that it would be too problematic and timeconsuming to make changes. Kathy was warned that she was new and needed

to fit into the culture. Kathy, the best staff, started changing for the worst.

She behaved differently as she could not use the knowledge gained from her

studies. She explained that she has a strategy to turn the organisation around,

but her supervisor insists they follow the rules or bear the consequences. Some

shifts in Kathy's behaviour included arriving at work late, sucking her teeth

when her manager instructed, and slamming files to demonstrate her anger.

Further, Kathy was caught rolling her eyes and not maintaining eye contact with

her manager during a one and one discussion. The supervisor decided she would

take disciplinary action against Kathy and wrote to the discipline committee that

recommended that Kathy be punished for her actions and fabricated details that

did not occur. The officer on the discipline committee is a cousin to Kathy's

manager. There and then, Kathy knew things were not going in her favour.

Since their high school days, Marcus and Kathy have been friends, and he gained

employment at SMOCK one year after Kathy concluded her studies in the same

firm. Marcus arrived and gravitated to the manager. Kathy got upset as she

believed he betrayed their friendship by befriending the manager. She said,

"Marcus remember I warned you to stay away from her" he responded, "relax".

Now, Marcus gets whatever resources he needs and innovates new approaches,

while Kathy is forced to wait until later and cannot innovate. This created a

conflict between Marcus and Kathy. Later that year, Marcus was chosen to

represent the department at a conference internationally.

Moreover, he was travelling almost everywhere to every workshop. Marcus

explained to Kathy that he was a winner and hoped to be promoted. Finally, a

monthly quarterly meeting was held among staff, and the manager constantly

praised Marcus for his exceptional work. She offered Marcus an on$-$the$-$spot

salary increase to compensate him for his hard work. The other staffs were not

excited but cheered for him nevertheless. Shavon, a staff member, decided to

write a letter to the Director complaining that they were there for years and was

never promoted, nor did they receive an increase in their salary. That staff asked

to remain anonymous and explained that Marcus, the new staff, was favoured

m than. Part B: Explore $/$investigate the current status of the circular and steps to make it easy