Akbar and Sons HRM consultancy report Part 2

Introduction

In the scenario, Akbar, and Sons which is an oil company located in the United Arab Emirates and it has been operating in the region for some time. On the other hand, BP oil is an international oil form that is based in the United Kingdom, and it is set to acquire Akbar and sons and also take over its operations. Akbar and sons tend to be family owned firm that does maintain a tradition of social responsibility through giving back to the society through initiatives and projects so that to help elevate the lives of the communities within its operational environment.  During acquisition of a company, several HR issues must be examined to make sure that the process is a success. Therefore, in this paper, it examines the human resource issues that may impact the scenario, analyze the role of adopting diversity management initiatives, and consider the issues of power and politics that may arise in the teams. The paper will also examine how performance management systems can help the organization in addressing the identified issues and provide proposed solutions to the issues. 

Identification of issues

Organizations normally acquire other businesses to expand into new markets, reduce competition, or even acquire new technology. Through acquisitions, they can help organizations to be more powerful, profitable, and efficient. In this case, the acquisition of Akbar and Sons will mean that it will have to extend its operations beyond UAE and thus it will move internationally because of the acquisition by a multinational corporation. Some of the HR issues that have the potential of impacting this scenario include power and politics, team development, and employee selection and training.

Team development

Another human resource issue of great concern after the acquisition is developing a team that can complete tasks effectively. Developing a team that can work together and ensures effectiveness is vital to ensure that tasks are completed on time. When a firm acquires another, it also acquires the employees in the firm; thus, employees need to work together so that to help the firm achieve the expected objective. Team development is vital in this case as it is necessary that the teams need to understand the objective of the firm and make sure that everyone is on the same page (Bohlander et al. 2015). The acquisition of Akbar and sons by BGP is going to present a lot of issues regarding team development since these are companies in different geographic locations and also the culture is different. Because the company wants to retain the employees at Akbar and sons, there will be a change in the working relationship due to the different new management that will be created.

The aspect of team development involves communication, and the communication between the employees and the management can be challenging mostly when the new senior management is introduced (Bagad, 2008). Without proper team development, there is likely to be instances of poor communication and this can lead to a lot of misunderstanding; thus, affecting how employees are working and also having a negative impact on the employee-management relationship (Bohlander et al. 2015). When in the UAE, the senior managers from the UK are going to meet a team of people with a different background, culture, and values. The business practices of these two groups may be different, and the way they handle issues can also differ. Thus, it is necessary that the management should identify how they will incorporate the culture of BP oil into employees at Akbar and Sons in a manner that does not contradict with their values and culture.

As a means of developing an effective team, the management needs to change its philosophy and also realize that people are not the same and should also ensure they learn about the culture of these employees so that to have an idea of how they work and the way they do business.  The managers should develop teams that compose employees from varying cultures and the geographic locations effectively. In the case of team development, the goal of the management should be in building a diverse workforce.

Power and politics

Organizations usually provide power based on its individuals. When considering the economic standpoint, the organizations tend to exist to create a surplus of income over the costs through meeting the needs of the marketplace. However, organizations are also political structures that offer opportunities for people to develop their careers; hence, offer platforms for the expressing of individual motives and interests. Organizations normally composed of human resources and materials and the human resource tend to be responsible for transforming the material resources to consumable products (Bratton & Gold 2012). In any case of which materials to be used, the resources of production to help ensure production efficiency, and are the capital requires, in each of these circumstances, decisions have to be made.

In these choices that have to be made, there are some politics while the individuals who are responsible for making decisions do have some power of ensuring the decisions made are accepted. It is thus evident that power and politics tend to affect the process of decision-making and the results and this is a major human resources issue when examining this scenario. Politics and power is an issue that also affects the relationship between the management and the employees (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). With a large international organization such as BP oil Company or a small organization, the political influence tends to be the same, and the power influence usually depends on how people use it. In the case of this acquisition, it is vital for the organizations involved to be aware of the negative influence that politics have in a form. BP oil must make sure that satisfaction is vital in this case where there are different cultures involved so that to reduce the chances of conflict, friction, and frustration. During the acquisition of Akbar and sons, politics and power can influence the company’s management after this acquisition, and it is vital that the management should know how it can deal with this issue to ensure success and excellent performance.

Employee training and selection

In an organization, selection of employees with expertise and experience in the business operations is vital in the realization of the goals and objectives of the firm. The management that will be sent to oversee operations at Akbar and sons need to have the necessary skills and also understand the operations of the culture of the firm. The new employees and the management must be oriented to understand how the firm operates before they can start their duties in the stations (Bratton & Gold 2012). Training and selecting the employees with the necessary qualities that will help ensure that they are effective in the new work environment is vital. Training is necessary for this scenario so that employees who are sent to work in the new work environment may acquire the skills and also have some knowledge of the new business environment. Sending employees who are just randomly selected without any training about the new culture and how business operates in the geographic location will lead to failure, and that can make the acquisition not profitable to BP oil company (Bratton & Gold 2012). BP oil is looking forward to retaining the employees from Akbar and sons; thus, it is challenging to transform employees to the new culture. However, through training the employees to adapt to the new working strategies and allowing them to interact with the home country employees may help in this situation. However, BP oil does have a major challenge in this area as it has to ensure that it puts in place measures that will help ensure coordination and cooperation between the employees from the different regions.

Diversity management

For the successful transition during the acquisition, the adoption of diversity management initiative may help in building a diverse workforce. The management of diversity does accept that the workforce tends to consider of a diverse population of people. In this case, diversity may consist of factors such as race, work style, sex, age, personality, and background. Therefore, diversity management will be based on the aspect that harnessing these differences will help to create a productive environment where everybody will feel valued and where their talents are fully used (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). Diversity management is very necessary for the acquisition of BP oil as it will help make sure that people do maximize their potential and their contribution to the firm leading to the creation of an inclusive company culture. Implementation of diversity in the workplace does help in acquiring a competitive advantage and leads to an increase in productivity, lower legal conflicts, and employee commitment.

Unlike Akbar and Sons, BP oil is a multinational firm that operates in various nations across the world. Therefore, it has to institute workplace diversity through developing organizational teams that have varied characters to enhance the composition of staff from diverse backgrounds. That will make sure that the firm does have a pool of talent and skills that will help in improving the overall performance of the company (Amagoh, 2008). When considering how diverse the organization is, BP oil will have to come up with solutions that will help resolve the identified issues and make sure that Akbar and sons are efficiently integrated to BP oil.

Proposed solutions

Developing proper training and selection strategies

The human resource department does play a vital role in the process of acquisition of two companies. The HR department acts as a trusted adviser to employees along with the management who aim at entering into an acquisition deal. Finding the right people for a particular position is normally challenging, and it does involve selecting and recruiting people to fill different positions (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). So that to help create a good team, creating a good job design and providing job training will help in improving productivity. In this scenario, BP oil will need to reconsider the job design and also recruitment methods that will be effective after the acquisition. Training is vital to help make sure that employees are aware of their expectations and it also helps to boost the morale of the anxious employees. During the acquisition, some employees might be reluctant to adapt to the new culture; hence, create a culture class.

It is usually common for humans to resist change and since acquisition does bring an element of the apprehensions and change for employees of both companies, the human resource must act as a comforting factor and make sure that it takes measures for improving the transitions process for employees (Amagoh, 2008). That can be made possible through BP oil offering adequate training to managers so that they may adjust to the nature of change and the new organizational culture. Another strategy that may be used is through upholding efficiency through identifying the leaders from both organizations, ensuring job security, removing doubts and fears of employees, and boosting the confidence level of employees.

Employee retention and laying off less committed staff

A proposed solution to one of the issues is retention of experienced employees and laying off those employees who are less committed. It is vital that the human resource department must reconstitute the teams responsible for the daily operations of the company so that to have varied individuals from different backgrounds who can perform to the expected standards (Recardo & Jones 2013). Before the changes, the employees were briefed on the expected changes to happen and also provide the option of embracing these changes or leaving the company if they feel the need to do that. For those employees who are committed to making sure that they will help take the company to the next level and achieve success, the human resource should retain them. However, those employees who feel that they cannot work in this new business environment should be laid off so that to avoid them dragging the company behind. Through giving the employees the chance of leaving the company if they feel they will not adapt to the changes, does help reduce the chances of resistance to change because those who feel the changes as inconsistent do have the chance of leaving without causing any conflict (Daft, 2015).

Based on Akbar and Sons Company, the average age of employees working in the company is 46 years old while that of BP Oil Company is 65 years. Thus, in an effort of retaining experienced workers, BP oil should consider recall those employees forced to retire at 46. Such employees may have sufficient experience in doing business and may help to steer the company’s operations. When considering the classical observational theory, those people who have the right expertise are vital for an organization since they do understand the day to day operations of the firm (Recardo & Jones 2013). As a result, after an acquisition, the only orientation that such people need in about the change in how to work with the new culture that is followed by BP oil. To make sure that the employees are committed to performing their jobs and being ready to adapt to the changing environment, the human resource must adapt good motivation strategies. The classical observational theory purports that punishment and rewarding may help to improve the performance of the organization. By ensuring that the employees who performed well are rewarded, it will help to motivate them even to perform better. For those employees who will be less dedicated and do not show effort in their jobs, they will be punished through being laid off since they will be of no help to the company in helping achieve its objectives.

Ensure balance of power and politics

Politics in organizations can hurt an organization and even the employees when it is done to excess. Too much politics may lead to higher turnover, lower morale, and even wasted effort and time; thus, leading to lower performance. Therefore, to help make sure that these issues do not happen, the management of the company needs to combat political behavior when it is dysfunctional and excessive. Power and politics may be controlled through ensuring proper accountability (Daft, 2015). There is a need for a balance of politics and power in the firm so that to ensure that things are running smoothly. The senior management at BP oil must make sure that control is provided to the use of power in Akbar and sons after the acquisition has occurred. Despite the fact that Akbar and his sons have been provided with a chance to continue working in the company as managers or even quit, it is best if BP oil decides to let them leave the organization. BP oil needs to ensure that it looks for a new management that will run the new company a fresh because retaining Akbar and his sons as managers may have a negative influence on the employees. Ensuring a balance of politics and power can have a positive impact through motivating people to work together and accomplish goals that provide collective and individual benefits (Chandani, & Kansal 2014).

A talented and skilled workforce tends to be the lifeblood of any organization. So that BP oil can be able to build a skilled and empowered workforce, it needs to do more than just audit the achievement of employees. The company should work towards a management cycle where the judgment is not the sole focus, but there should be ongoing support and improvement. Ongoing performance management should ensure that every employee has a clear understanding of the expectations from their work (Deb, 2009). After the acquisition, the management must make sure that employees do understand where they fit into the company and how they are contributing to the success of the firm. Through aligning the workforce with higher arching business goals, it set clear direction and priorities that ensure that every person in the firm does feel ownership of the business through the individual objectives.

The performance management system also involves the aspect of rewards and recognition. In the case of addressing the human resource issues that may be encountered in this scenario, creating a system to reward and recognize the efforts of employees is vital (Deb, 2009). The reward system should be developed in such a manner that it will examine the needs of employees and how the cultures differ so that it can be effective. Recognition normally helps the employees to get a balance of position to negative feedback. Recognition and rewards work positively through satisfying the fundamental need for praise and also reinforces the right culture and behavior. The system is vital as it helps to improve employee engagement and retention and also creates the ambassadors of the organization and its culture.

Conclusion

The successful acquisition of BP oil will be possible if the company consider the proposed solutions to the human resource issues. Since BP oil is acquiring a company that has a different culture and geographic location, it is necessary that the management should work hard in making sure that they understand the different cultures. In the case of power and politics, communication is vital to the employees and the management. The attributes which are valued by the society need to be stressed to help in creating a positive relationship among workers. It is necessary to consider the various issues that may differ between the two cultures such as body language, values, attires, and how business is conducted to ensure that you respect one another when doing business.

With the acquisition, one risk that the company is likely to encounter is resistance to change. Resistance to change in this scenario may happen because of lack of communication, lack of good reward system, frustration, and confusion, and also fear of insecurity. Therefore, to minimize resistance, the human resource department should establish a clear system of communication, ensure employee understand their roles, create a proper rewards system, and also assure employees of their position in the organization. It is of great benefit to BP oil if it evaluates all the factors to create an environment that will satisfy the needs of employees and also help grow the company.

Reference

Amagoh, F (2008) Perspectives on Organizational Change. The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 13(3),

Armstrong M. & Taylor, S., (2014). Armstrong's Handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers

Bagad, V (2008). Management Science. Technical Publications

Bratton, J. & Gold, J., (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan

Chandani, A & Kansal, S (2014). Effective management of the change during merger and acquisition. Procedia Economics and Finance 11

Daft, R., (2015). Organization theory and design.  Cengage Learning

Deb, T (2009). Performance appraisal and management. Excel Books India

Recardo, R & Jones, D (2013). Leading and implementing business change management. Routledge

Snell, S., Shad, S. & Bohlander, G., (2015). Managing human resources. Nelson Education

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in urgent custom research papers. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from nursing school papers services.