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LONDON SCHOOL OF COMMERCE
COLOMBO CAMPUS SRI LANKA
MBA FOR EXECUTIVES
MODULE ASSIGNMENT: Managing Human Capital
Student Name Marian Amanda Perera
Student Registration No. A0034SSSSSS0316
Module Lecturer Professor Mervyn Sookun
Module Tutor Ms. Apsara Hewage
Date Submitted 17th April 2016
Total Word Count 4670
2
To: Board of Directors
From: Human Resource Management Consultant
Subject: The possibility of restructuring the HR Practices of John Keells Group to compete more
effectively in the market
Source: www.jkcsworld.com /About-Us.html
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 4
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................. 6
2. The Organisation......................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Historical Development of the company together with its HR Practices ............................. 6
2.2 Profile of the Company’s Human Capital............................................................................. 7
2.3 Current HR practises and the current HR models of the Company...................................... 8
3. Recruitment and Selection practises of the Company ................................................................ 9
3.1 Critical analysis of recruitment and selection practises........................................................ 9
3.2 Recommendations to enhance recruitment and selection practises of the Company ......... 10
4. Human Resource Development practises of the company ....................................................... 11
4.1 Critical evaluation of the HRD practises ............................................................................ 11
4.1.1 Training........................................................................................................................ 11
4.1.2 Development................................................................................................................ 12
4.1.3 Learning....................................................................................................................... 12
4.1.4 Career Progression....................................................................................................... 12
4.2 Recommendations to enhance the HRD practises of the Company ................................... 13
5. Staff Motivation and Leadership .............................................................................................. 14
5.1 Critical Evaluation of Classical Motivation Theories......................................................... 14
5.2 Proposed hybrid motivation model..................................................................................... 15
5.3 Impact of effective leadership on staff morale and motivation .......................................... 16
6. Management of Change ............................................................................................................ 17
6.1 Change Management Process ............................................................................................. 17
6.2 Critical analysis of the possible Challenges in change management and Recommendations
to overcome them...................................................................................................................... 18
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 20
4
Table of Figures
Figure 4.1 Career Plateau.............................................................................................................. 14
Figure 5.2 Hybrid Motivation model for John Keells Group ....................................................... 16
List of Abbreviations
HR – Human Resources
JKH – John Keells Holdings
ILO – International Labour Organisation
HRM – Human Resource Management
IQ – Intelligence Quotient
HRD – Human Resource Development
CEO – Chief Executive Officer
KPMG - Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (Accounting Firm)
5
Executive Summary
The following report identifies the current HR practices at John Keells in terms of recruitment
and selection. More effective methods such as using mass media to advertise on available
opportunities, a more suitable role specification document have been proposed to carry out the
recruitment and selection processes smoothly. The training and development requirements at the
organisation are identified next. Training programs and learning activities that are required to up
build the career progression of the employees are recommended after a critical evaluation.
Staff motivation is an important component in the HR process. Hence the classical motivation
theories are evaluated to reach a hybrid model which is more applicable to the culture at John
Keells. The effective leadership skills that would generate staff motivation are highlighted in
detail.
As the final section the possible change management challenges that would arise with the
recommendations made for the HR practices at John Keells are identified with the methods to
overcome them and carryout a successful change management process to restructure the HR
practices at John Keells Group.
6
1. Introduction
John Keells Group was originated in early 1870s as E. John & Co later changed to John Keell
Thompson White Ltd with the acquisition Keell & Waldock Ltd (John Keells Group 2016). After
becoming publicly quoted in the Colombo Stock Exchange today it is known as John Keells
Holdings. The group has many sister companies under its umbrella where some of the companies
operate on their own and some still being administrated centrally by JKH. The human resources
department in the Group is centralised even though there are departments placed in each
subsidiary for the convenience and effectiveness. The HR practises and policies are mainly
developed by the central department passing on subsidiary policies whenever needed.
The following report has been prepared with the objective of improving the human resources
practises of the John Keells Group. The available possibilities to restructure the HR procedures
and policies are recommended with the anticipation of the Group will compete more effectively
in the respective industries. The different components of the HR department has been analysed
from the employee acquisition to employee retention.
As the final outcome new training methods, leadership skills, recruitment policies and
motivational theories will be identified to improve the working conditions of the employees who
are a part of John Keells Group.
2. The Organisation
2.1 Historical Development of the company together with its HR Practices
At the inception of the company the vision was to achieve higher revenues and expand its
business volumes in the market. Top level managers only considered the achievement of the
results for which they were ready to incur a cost. As a result, the employees were given tasks to
complete for which they were paid. Money was considered as the main motivator of the
employees, reflecting what Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1993) describe as the hygiene
factors. The relationship the company had with its employees was contractual due to which the
employees were not working towards succession of the company but for themselves.
Executive and management level employees were recruited if they possess the required
experience in a similar role where the company is taking a minimum level of risk in recruiting.
7
The culture was not allowing the employees or applicants to have equal opportunities when
being selected to the company.
The tendency towards lesser risks was impacting the overall decision making of the business
which is why John Keells moved towards the rewarding systems such as pension schemes and
insurance policies for the employees by which they would get feeling of being a part of the
company and work towards achieving the company mission. Goal congruence helped John
Keells to reach the stage where they are today in the market and everyone from the new
generation entering the corporate world wants to be a part of this prestigious company.
2.2 Profile of the Company’s Human Capital
John Keells Group employs about 19000 staff of which 82% are male and this also includes the
staff hired through the third party contractors. The top level also has a higher male representation
of which the Board of Directors have 89% and all are above the age of 50. Half of the members
of the group executive and operating committees are between age 30-50 and the rest is over 50
years (John Keells Group 2012).
There are several initiatives that have been taken up from the company in which students are
given proper training on required skills, etiquettes and other general areas to make them ready to
seek jobs. Moreover, John Keells extend their hands in supporting the career guidance
programmes held at different universities and professional institutes to sharpen the professional
skills of the students.
In addition to the above, the company strongly believe in employee engagement where the
approaches such as open door policy, ombudsperson, employee direct access to chairman via
secure email and welfare committees has been taken in to practise to enrich the employee
relations.
The policies at John Keells ensure that employees feel comfortable and consider the company
more than just a workplace. The recruitment policy makes sure that the employee hiring
procedures are methodical and ethical whilst the unbiased recruitment is reflected through the
policy on equal opportunity. All the people related decisions are made by committees and not by
individuals to eliminate any sort of discrimination. As a result John Keells has been able to
8
provide a favourable working environment for all the employees in a unique culture build with
inclusivity and trust (John Keells Group 2012).
2.3 Current HR practises and the current HR models of the Company
The company conduct its business by considering the applicable laws in the country and ILO
codes where child labour as well as forced labour is fully disregarded. In addition, a regular
monitoring process via checklists and questionnaires is taken place to verify the compliance to
these policies and ethical standards.
John Keells operates in a way that they promote a performance centric culture with regular
appraisals for the employees based on which the rewards decisions are made. The HR practise is
to carry out appraisals for executive cadre twice a year and for others at least once a year
adhering to the performance management policy. Rather than depending on a feedback of a
single supervisor on the employee performance, career committees ensures a fair minded
judgement. As a part of the appraisal a benchmarking process is also carried out to look at the
learning and development, performance, rewards, future promotions and career aspirations which
reflects Storey’s Soft model of HRM (Storey 1999).
John Keells also rewards employees by providing them bonuses to settle them comfortably in
any area even if they are from outstation. As a proactive step the company has also put effort to
amend their remuneration structure based on the demographics of their employees to reduce any
possible employee turnover.
Moreover, a committed function for learning and development is maintained for all the business
units by the central HR unit. Average of 40 hours per employee, 42 hours and 36 hours for male
and female respectively has been allocated for training overall. New strategies, policies and
initiatives as well as industry focused training are carried out to develop leadership skills and
competencies considering the possible future learning needs. The belief of John Keells is that,
this provides employee motivation as explained by McGregor (2006) Theory Y because they
seek responsibilities with the confidence gained via learning and development.
Long term consequences such as organisational effectiveness can be achieved with the employee
learning and development because the company accepts that the employees are an asset for the
company rather than a cost. Therefore, individual well-being and reward systems will ensure that
9
the HRM system will achieve its outcomes such as congruence and commitment leading towards
stakeholder interests as explained in Nyambegera (2005) by the Harvard Model for HRM. This
philosophy all together will gratify sustainable competitive advantage through lifelong learning.
3. Recruitment and Selection practises of the Company
3.1 Critical analysis of recruitment and selection practises
As a foundation to reach the company vision of creating businesses that are leaders John Keells
acquire employees with high skills and competencies. The recruitment procedure is supported by
a role specification document which includes the required competencies, experience and
qualifications for a particular job role (John Keells Group 2012). Relying fully on this document
and not often amending this document taking current business situations in to consideration
creates a gap between the current business requirement and the requirement specification.
Advertising of the job vacancies are done on well-known websites such as Top Jobs and cv.lk as
well as on LinkedIn. The company also uses executive search firms such as KPMG to recruit
executive and higher cadre employees. Mass media advertising such as on newspapers is used to
publish available vacancies at a minimum scale. Educational institutions and career guidance
programmes at universities is also used to identify young talents from which the suitable
candidates are recruited if there is an available vacancy.
Equal opportunities are awarded for job seekers where even the differently-able persons are
given the chance to be a part of the John Keells family. More flexible options such as shifting to
a job role within the Group have given rise to internal recruitment.
In the selection process John Keells makes sure that they invest in the best suited person for a
particular job role. For executive cadre selections as the first phase IQ and personality tests are
given to the candidates as most of the companies in the industry. In the latter part of the selection
phase subject related or job role related presentations or face to face interview questions are used
to identify the best from the rest.
It is evident that till date the company has not taken any out of the box methods to recruit or
select the best employees but rather used the accustomed methods where the similar companies
10
in the industry also work with. This probably has created a drawback in reaching the objectives
of the company as there may be more skilful and competent employees out there who were not
properly recognised.
3.2 Recommendations to enhance recruitment and selection practises of the Company
As the recruitment and selection identify who should and who should not be taken in to be a part
of the Company it is important to first identify the proper need for recruitment. Planning process
makes sure the underlying costs for recruitment are spent effectively. A proper recruitment
process will also makes sure the selection process to work out smoothly.
John Keells already uses a role specification document in the recruitment procedure but
completely relying on this document would give wrong indications in some scenarios. It is
important that the HR regularly amend this document based on the business and external
environment factors such as government policies, education levels and technology development.
The feedback of a previous employee will add value as input for this document in a situation of a
replacement of a position. This might support to select the best employee who is more suitable
with the required skills and qualities. For example if the previous employee has left due to
working late and not having a way to go home because he/she lives far, when selecting the new
employee people who are willing to work late and who are comfortable in a such working
environment can be recruited.
More advertising on mass media of the available vacancies would interpret the policy on equal
opportunity better as job seekers in rural areas who do not have access to internet will only have
access to newspapers. Moreover, in Sri Lanka even though the literacy levels are high the
language barriers still prevail. Therefore discriminating based on language needs to be
eliminated where such applicants can be taken in to provide proper training on language. This
could be beneficial for the company if their rest of the skills and competencies would be superior
to other applicants.
Turning to executive search firms to recruit applicants would promote objectivity as applicants
would not be aware of the company they are actually applying to. This would reduce any
irrelevant applications coming in, as the tendency of applying without fitting for the role is high
11
when the company name is known and especially if the company is one of the best in the country
as John Keells.
At the selection process it is important to separate the best fit for the job and organisation
through valid assessments and testing methods. The IQ and personality tests are not always
sufficient if they are not fitting for the job role. It is important to identify the other facets such as
innovativeness, creativity and honesty in addition to the educational qualifications via the
assessments. As experience and qualification will also not define a better employee, perceiving
employees with self-confidence, openness and adaptability to a certain culture through
psychological tests is crucial.
Case studies are also a better way of understanding the candidate’s attitude as it would require
them to identify the problems, prioritise and provide solutions allowing the company to
recognise the problem solving skill. In addition, the leadership skills need to be identified in
order to empower the employees and allow team work. In a situation of an interview a hybrid of
structural and situational interview would make sense in most of the cases as structural would
make sure the questions are general to all, and situational would allow to throw in questions to
know more about the employee character and work attitude which is the ultimate objective in the
selection process.
4. Human Resource Development practises of the company
4.1 Critical evaluation of the HRD practises
4.1.1 Training
Currently John Keells provides on the job training for cadres lower than managerial level.
Usually a new employee is taken through an induction program to familiarise the working
environment and culture. After which the employee is taken through a basic training such as
sitting next to Nelly, where the current working methods and practises are taught by a senior
employee. This method has its own disadvantages because the new employee would adapt all the
blunders the experienced employee has been using. The opportunity to bring in fresh ideas of
working by the new employee is limited in this method. In addition, the expected strategic
12
outcomes of efficiency and improvement in that job role will not be achieved through this
technique.
For a managerial role and above mostly the induction program is carried out deeper where the
decision making structure and other related procedures are communicated from the senior
management. In addition, for the Managers there are one to two day trainings probably with the
company CEO or a senior manager to familiarise with the organisation operations.
4.1.2 Development
The company considers talent as their biggest asset. Therefore the employees are given
opportunities to get them exposed to cross functional activities by which they open multiple
career paths. Moreover, tools such as development centres, leadership development programs
and talent chats are also promoted by the company in supporting the employees to identify their
future career progress and build them towards it. Coaching and mentoring the employees to
understand the competencies required for their career development is also provided for the
current employees. (website)
The top level employees are also put forwarded to external programmes by which they are
encouraged to identify their inner strengths to be used positively in their personality
development.
4.1.3 Learning
The company currently maintains a learning portal where the employees are given the
opportunity to engage in their learning activities much easily as a click of a button. The senior
employees have the ability to track the learning progression of their subordinates also nominate
them to any of the relevant trainings on offer. In addition an e-library is also on offer on this
portal where e-book summaries under different categories are made available for the employees
to enhance their knowledge and support their career development.
4.1.4 Career Progression
The company has so far supported the employees in progressing on their career ladders. Through
training and development as well as opening opportunities to learn by themselves John Keells as
a Group has contributed to the employee development. Funding required for post graduate
studies for certain employee cadres are also provided by the company to motivate the employees
13
to grow personally. This progression has allowed the businesses to grow and the talent to move
across the business leading to enhance the performance of the Group.
4.2 Recommendations to enhance the HRD practises of the Company
In order to make effective HRD practices it is important to make them in line with the company
strategic objectives. The need for training, development and learning can only be identified after
the examining the existing resources. Categorising the employees who require training based on
their capacity and capabilities is also crucial in enhancing the training and development. For
example, there are visual learners and auditory learners who learn faster in one way than the
other. Identifying them would increase the effectiveness of training.
The opportunities given to the employees to learn by themselves via the portal should not be
limited to the workplace subject matters but rather should include modules that would allow the
individuals to develop their personal skills which might help them in future or add value to their
personal life.
The trainings carried out in the company should not be limited only to the beginning of a career
of an employee. Employees should be reviewed as to their requirements and any hints identified
during appraisals should take forward to support the employees in making themselves
comfortable in challenging areas where by the organisation efficiency would improve.
Creation of career plateau (Byars & Rue 2006) can be achieved by categorising employees based
on their current performance and likelihood of future promotions. Employees who have high
performance currently but does not have a possibility of receiving promotions also known as
‘Solid citizens’ can train the ‘Learners’ who does not perform well currently but have future
possibility of getting promoted. Then learners would be improved and replace the ‘Stars’. As
John Keells invest a lot for graduates to develop as professionals, training them through the elite
employees in the company would lead the graduates to become the stars in the organisation.
Employees who are not performing well and have no likelihood of promotions in future (dead
wood) need to be examined why they have reached this point. Moreover, appraisals can be
carried out to see whether they have not got proper development and reconstruct their training
sessions more effectively.
14
Figure 4.1 Career Plateau
(Byars & Rue 2006)
5. Staff Motivation and Leadership
5.1 Critical Evaluation of Classical Motivation Theories
It is critical to keep the staff motivated in any organisation. Understanding the different factors
that would motivate employees would allow organisations reach efficiency in organisation.
Theory Y people according to McGregor (2006) would prefer work and hold responsibilities. But
if the employees are not getting the required job satisfaction no matter how hard they work the
efficiency levels would be low. Empowering employees will not sufficient as work life in a
company should be a balance of status, open communication and future career prospects for the
employees to be motivated. Motivating factors such as job rotation among different departments
may not be possible at John Keells as employees are specialised most of the time. Through more
skill development and training job enrichment can also be achieved. Even though money has
been identified as a hygiene factor by Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1993) there is an
impact on motivation as high performance in a workplace is always expected monetary rewards.
When considering the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the Sri Lankan context, the first three
levels can be considered as sufficient to motivate majority of the Sri Lankan employees and there
15
will be a very limited segment that would want to satisfy the ego needs and self-actualisation
needs.
5.2 Proposed hybrid motivation model
Motivation levels will vary based on the cultural and behavioural backgrounds of the individuals.
Therefore John Keells first need to understand the local culture. The Hofstede and Hofstede
(2005) Cultural model can be used as a base for this analysis.
In Sri Lanka people tend to work for themselves, even though they are pushed towards working
in teams, it is still new for the employees because the culture is more individualistic. In addition,
the culture is still high masculine with gender wage gap and fewer females in management. As
discussed in section 2.2 there is only 11% female representation in the board of directors at John
Keells Group. The power distance is also gradually reducing specially with the initiatives such as
dedicated email for the Chairman by John Keells, but it is not totally eliminated.
The motivation therefore should be achieved from an individual point of view in the local culture
where the physical, security and social needs are the most important levels to provide motivation.
The type of people are more of theory Y and money is somewhat considered as a motivation
factor than a hygiene factor. As a result when conceptualising the ideal motivation model for
John Keells the components such as, individual needs, money, safety and social needs should be
put together for effective employee motivation at the workplace.
16
Figure 5.2 Hybrid Motivation model for John Keells Group
Maslow, A. H., 1997 (Author’s Work)
According to McClelland (1987) the needs for achievement keeps an individual motivated.
Hence perceiving achievements in challenging environments leading to recognition is an ideal
way to keep the employees motivated who prefers more work and responsibility (Theory Y
individuals). In addition the lesser masculinity within the company will keep the female
employees motivated as they would feel secure and see a future ahead of them to progress in
their careers.
5.3 Impact of effective leadership on staff morale and motivation
Leadership is different to the management of employees because in management the employees
are ordered to get done the work. This approach would have worked for Theory X people as
explained by McGregor where the people need to be controlled as they dislike work. In a culture
where people are likely to be in Theory Y category much control would de-motivate and lead to
inefficient work practices. Therefore a person who handles such employees should contain the
leadership qualities where they can influence people to attain goals and inspire them to overcome
challenges.
Blake and Mouton’s grid (Cecil and Rothwell 2007) has provided a systematic way to
conceptualise leadership and the best outcome of their model is the Team Management. This is a
17
balanced leadership concept where the concern for people and the concern for the results are
both at high levels. This would lead to achieving employee motivation due to the high empathy
received from the leaders. As a result of the motivation achieved, employees will put more effort
to complete the tasks and leaders’ role will be to clear the obstacles, conflicts and add creativity
making tasks easier for the employees.
Effective leadership will build trust and respect between the employee relationships, where there
will be interdependencies between the organisation and the people. More commitment is also
expected from the effective leadership as employees are motivated by the strong bonds created.
John Keells also has taken initiatives to inspire people through leadership development as the
motivation created will make employees feel “more than just a workplace”, the HR vision of
John Keells. (website-workplace)
Care should be taken that if leadership is lacking in an organisation it would lead to employee
de-motivation as they do not have guidance. Hence the company will face problems such as high
labour turn over, employee clashes and ultimately unachieved workplace goals.
6. Management of Change
6.1 Change Management Process
The change management process can be organised based on the Kurt Lewin’s three stage theory
to change (Cummings and Worley 2013). The initial step would be to understand the need for
change and communicate it clearly among the employees. Appointing change agents for the
upcoming change would build a mind-set that the change is necessary and they will be
responsible in promoting the change throughout the organisation. The expected outcomes from
the change as well as the benefits for the employees need to explained for them be change-ready.
The training and development programmes that are going to be introduced as a part of the HR
restructuring initiative at John Keells Group should be communicated beforehand as it would not
be surprise for the employees.
Moving on to the next stage which is the change implementation change is the most crucial step.
Change should take place in a way that it is accepted by the employees and they should not feel
that the changes are being imposed on them. Working hand in hand with employees at this stage
18
would allow John Keells to understand the employee attitudes and manage change more
effectively. More care should be taken in a stage where cultural change is implemented as the
culture is what binds the entire organisation together. Any misstep would be costly to the future
growth of the company.
As the final stage the implemented change needs to be normalised within the organisation
through refreezing. Benefits achieved from the change initiatives for example, benefits achieved
from the training programs provided, leaders appointed and the promoted less masculinity
culture should be highlighted. Kirkpatrick’s four stage training evaluation model can also be
used at this stage to examine the reaction for the training provided (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick
2009), the level of learning achieved by the employees which influenced their behaviour and the
outcome of the trainings in terms of performance results can be evaluated to know the
successfulness of the change took place.
6.2 Critical analysis of the possible Challenges in change management and
Recommendations to overcome them
In any organisation when a change process takes place it is bound to have resistance from the
employees. John Keells being one of the oldest companies operating in Sri Lanka has built up its
own culture over the years.
The employee composition contains higher percentage of older employees who has been
working in John Keells for more than 10 years who would not prefer changing their ways of
working and training would seem unnecessary for them. Their attitude towards training would be
negative and when they have more work to get done participating in training programmes are
considered as a time killer.
The initiatives taken to train the graduates and bringing in to the employee cadre would also be
considered as time and money consuming. The mind set of some Sri Lankans is that the younger
generations join the company to take the training but later joins a new company where the
investments made on trainings are actually turn out to be a cost. The implementation of the
change will therefore be impacted from the different mind sets of people where they will try and
argue the disadvantages of having the change in the company.
19
The increase of female employees in the company will not be accepted by the current culture at
John Keells. Having a female employee as the senior manage would discourage the male
subordinates and also would create problems for the female manager carry out her work
smoothly without providing their support.
The above challenges need to be handled well in order to make the change successful. As the
first step feedback can be taken from the employees as to what sort of training that they require
to work in John Keells and to develop their personal skill level. These inputs can be used to
structure the training programme scope where the employees would feel a part of it. A separate
launch programme can be held to make the employees be aware of the benefits of going through
these trainings. As a benefit for the employees John Keells can introduce an intranet portal
where the employees will be interactive with each other, get to know the each other in the John
Keells group and share their knowledge through videos and posts. This would help to change the
mind set of wasting time for trainings as everyone will be part of it. The portal can also be used
as a mode to reach the employees, address their concerns and motivate them.
The attempt to bridge the gap between gender discrimination should be supported by sharing
inspirational stories of women where the mind set of male employees would change and start to
respect their female bosses. According to a research done by McKinsey & Company (2012) high
gender diversity has a favourable impact on company’s operating profits due to different
leadership approaches by men and women leading towards an effective combination of
leadership behaviour which adds value to the company. These facts can be shared within the
organisation through the intranet portal where the employees would see the benefits of working
in collaboration with both men and women.
On the other hand, the female employees should have a favourable working environment by
giving consideration to work life balance as most of the working women have kids to take care.
Introduction of a day care for children would be a relief where they will work well without being
discouraged. Allowing flexible working hours would encourage women to work as well as
manage their household activities.
20
7. Conclusion
In conclusion, this report caters the current HR requirements arising within the John Keells
Group. As the author of this report, I was able to identify the current HR practices within the
organisation accurately, by which the current recruitment and selection practices are criticised in
suggesting more suitable HR practices. In the mid-section of the report, existing training and
development practices are discussed where more comprehensive training initiatives are
recommended to support the employees to progress in their career ladders.
Evaluation of the classical motivation theories are followed by in order to propose a best fit
motivation theory for the John Keells Group. The current culture, organisational structure and
the work practices have been considered when developing the hybrid motivation model to make
sure a positive impact on the organisation. This section is concluded by scrutinizing the impact
of effective leadership on employee motivation.
As the final section of the report, the process of managing change is identified. The possible
challenges the company might have to face when implementing the recommended changes
discussed in the content of report are highlighted followed by proposed recommendations to
overcome the challenges and effective way to carry out the change management process.
21
References List
CECIL, R., D. and ROTHWELL, W., J. (2007) Next Generation Management Development: The
Complete Guide and Resource. San Francisco: Wiley.
CUMMINGS, T., G. and WORLEY, C., G. (2013) Organisational Development and Change.
10th
Ed. California: Cengage Learning.
HERZBERG, F., MAUSNER, B. and SNYDERMAN, B. B. (1993) The Motivation to Work.
New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
HOFSTEDE, G. and HOFSTEDE, G., J. (2005) Cultures and Organisations: Software of the
Mind. 2nd
Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
JOHN KEELLS GROUP. (2012) Annual Report 2012. [Online] Available from:
http://www.keells.com/annual-reports.html [Accessed: 22nd May 2016].
JOHN KEELLS GROUP. (2016) Our History. [Online] Available from:
http://www.keells.com/our-history.html [Accessed: 04th June 2016].
KIRKPATRICK, D., L. and KIRKPATRICK, J., D. (2009) Evaluating Training Programs: The
Four Levels. 3rd
Ed. Accessible Publishing.
MCCLELLAND, D., C. (1987) Human Motivation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
MCGREGOR, D. (2006) The Human side of Enterprise. Annotated Ed. Delhi: Tata McGraw-
Hill Publishing.
NYAMBEGERA, S., M. (2005) Human Resource Management – A Biblical Perspective.
Nairobi: Uzima Publishing.
STOREY, J. (1999) New Perspectives of Human Resource Management. 2nd
Ed. London:
International Thompson Business Press.

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Managing Human Capital at John Keells Group

  • 1. LONDON SCHOOL OF COMMERCE COLOMBO CAMPUS SRI LANKA MBA FOR EXECUTIVES MODULE ASSIGNMENT: Managing Human Capital Student Name Marian Amanda Perera Student Registration No. A0034SSSSSS0316 Module Lecturer Professor Mervyn Sookun Module Tutor Ms. Apsara Hewage Date Submitted 17th April 2016 Total Word Count 4670
  • 2. 2 To: Board of Directors From: Human Resource Management Consultant Subject: The possibility of restructuring the HR Practices of John Keells Group to compete more effectively in the market Source: www.jkcsworld.com /About-Us.html
  • 3. 3 Table of Contents Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 4 1. Introduction................................................................................................................................. 6 2. The Organisation......................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Historical Development of the company together with its HR Practices ............................. 6 2.2 Profile of the Company’s Human Capital............................................................................. 7 2.3 Current HR practises and the current HR models of the Company...................................... 8 3. Recruitment and Selection practises of the Company ................................................................ 9 3.1 Critical analysis of recruitment and selection practises........................................................ 9 3.2 Recommendations to enhance recruitment and selection practises of the Company ......... 10 4. Human Resource Development practises of the company ....................................................... 11 4.1 Critical evaluation of the HRD practises ............................................................................ 11 4.1.1 Training........................................................................................................................ 11 4.1.2 Development................................................................................................................ 12 4.1.3 Learning....................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.4 Career Progression....................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Recommendations to enhance the HRD practises of the Company ................................... 13 5. Staff Motivation and Leadership .............................................................................................. 14 5.1 Critical Evaluation of Classical Motivation Theories......................................................... 14 5.2 Proposed hybrid motivation model..................................................................................... 15 5.3 Impact of effective leadership on staff morale and motivation .......................................... 16 6. Management of Change ............................................................................................................ 17 6.1 Change Management Process ............................................................................................. 17 6.2 Critical analysis of the possible Challenges in change management and Recommendations to overcome them...................................................................................................................... 18 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 20
  • 4. 4 Table of Figures Figure 4.1 Career Plateau.............................................................................................................. 14 Figure 5.2 Hybrid Motivation model for John Keells Group ....................................................... 16 List of Abbreviations HR – Human Resources JKH – John Keells Holdings ILO – International Labour Organisation HRM – Human Resource Management IQ – Intelligence Quotient HRD – Human Resource Development CEO – Chief Executive Officer KPMG - Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (Accounting Firm)
  • 5. 5 Executive Summary The following report identifies the current HR practices at John Keells in terms of recruitment and selection. More effective methods such as using mass media to advertise on available opportunities, a more suitable role specification document have been proposed to carry out the recruitment and selection processes smoothly. The training and development requirements at the organisation are identified next. Training programs and learning activities that are required to up build the career progression of the employees are recommended after a critical evaluation. Staff motivation is an important component in the HR process. Hence the classical motivation theories are evaluated to reach a hybrid model which is more applicable to the culture at John Keells. The effective leadership skills that would generate staff motivation are highlighted in detail. As the final section the possible change management challenges that would arise with the recommendations made for the HR practices at John Keells are identified with the methods to overcome them and carryout a successful change management process to restructure the HR practices at John Keells Group.
  • 6. 6 1. Introduction John Keells Group was originated in early 1870s as E. John & Co later changed to John Keell Thompson White Ltd with the acquisition Keell & Waldock Ltd (John Keells Group 2016). After becoming publicly quoted in the Colombo Stock Exchange today it is known as John Keells Holdings. The group has many sister companies under its umbrella where some of the companies operate on their own and some still being administrated centrally by JKH. The human resources department in the Group is centralised even though there are departments placed in each subsidiary for the convenience and effectiveness. The HR practises and policies are mainly developed by the central department passing on subsidiary policies whenever needed. The following report has been prepared with the objective of improving the human resources practises of the John Keells Group. The available possibilities to restructure the HR procedures and policies are recommended with the anticipation of the Group will compete more effectively in the respective industries. The different components of the HR department has been analysed from the employee acquisition to employee retention. As the final outcome new training methods, leadership skills, recruitment policies and motivational theories will be identified to improve the working conditions of the employees who are a part of John Keells Group. 2. The Organisation 2.1 Historical Development of the company together with its HR Practices At the inception of the company the vision was to achieve higher revenues and expand its business volumes in the market. Top level managers only considered the achievement of the results for which they were ready to incur a cost. As a result, the employees were given tasks to complete for which they were paid. Money was considered as the main motivator of the employees, reflecting what Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1993) describe as the hygiene factors. The relationship the company had with its employees was contractual due to which the employees were not working towards succession of the company but for themselves. Executive and management level employees were recruited if they possess the required experience in a similar role where the company is taking a minimum level of risk in recruiting.
  • 7. 7 The culture was not allowing the employees or applicants to have equal opportunities when being selected to the company. The tendency towards lesser risks was impacting the overall decision making of the business which is why John Keells moved towards the rewarding systems such as pension schemes and insurance policies for the employees by which they would get feeling of being a part of the company and work towards achieving the company mission. Goal congruence helped John Keells to reach the stage where they are today in the market and everyone from the new generation entering the corporate world wants to be a part of this prestigious company. 2.2 Profile of the Company’s Human Capital John Keells Group employs about 19000 staff of which 82% are male and this also includes the staff hired through the third party contractors. The top level also has a higher male representation of which the Board of Directors have 89% and all are above the age of 50. Half of the members of the group executive and operating committees are between age 30-50 and the rest is over 50 years (John Keells Group 2012). There are several initiatives that have been taken up from the company in which students are given proper training on required skills, etiquettes and other general areas to make them ready to seek jobs. Moreover, John Keells extend their hands in supporting the career guidance programmes held at different universities and professional institutes to sharpen the professional skills of the students. In addition to the above, the company strongly believe in employee engagement where the approaches such as open door policy, ombudsperson, employee direct access to chairman via secure email and welfare committees has been taken in to practise to enrich the employee relations. The policies at John Keells ensure that employees feel comfortable and consider the company more than just a workplace. The recruitment policy makes sure that the employee hiring procedures are methodical and ethical whilst the unbiased recruitment is reflected through the policy on equal opportunity. All the people related decisions are made by committees and not by individuals to eliminate any sort of discrimination. As a result John Keells has been able to
  • 8. 8 provide a favourable working environment for all the employees in a unique culture build with inclusivity and trust (John Keells Group 2012). 2.3 Current HR practises and the current HR models of the Company The company conduct its business by considering the applicable laws in the country and ILO codes where child labour as well as forced labour is fully disregarded. In addition, a regular monitoring process via checklists and questionnaires is taken place to verify the compliance to these policies and ethical standards. John Keells operates in a way that they promote a performance centric culture with regular appraisals for the employees based on which the rewards decisions are made. The HR practise is to carry out appraisals for executive cadre twice a year and for others at least once a year adhering to the performance management policy. Rather than depending on a feedback of a single supervisor on the employee performance, career committees ensures a fair minded judgement. As a part of the appraisal a benchmarking process is also carried out to look at the learning and development, performance, rewards, future promotions and career aspirations which reflects Storey’s Soft model of HRM (Storey 1999). John Keells also rewards employees by providing them bonuses to settle them comfortably in any area even if they are from outstation. As a proactive step the company has also put effort to amend their remuneration structure based on the demographics of their employees to reduce any possible employee turnover. Moreover, a committed function for learning and development is maintained for all the business units by the central HR unit. Average of 40 hours per employee, 42 hours and 36 hours for male and female respectively has been allocated for training overall. New strategies, policies and initiatives as well as industry focused training are carried out to develop leadership skills and competencies considering the possible future learning needs. The belief of John Keells is that, this provides employee motivation as explained by McGregor (2006) Theory Y because they seek responsibilities with the confidence gained via learning and development. Long term consequences such as organisational effectiveness can be achieved with the employee learning and development because the company accepts that the employees are an asset for the company rather than a cost. Therefore, individual well-being and reward systems will ensure that
  • 9. 9 the HRM system will achieve its outcomes such as congruence and commitment leading towards stakeholder interests as explained in Nyambegera (2005) by the Harvard Model for HRM. This philosophy all together will gratify sustainable competitive advantage through lifelong learning. 3. Recruitment and Selection practises of the Company 3.1 Critical analysis of recruitment and selection practises As a foundation to reach the company vision of creating businesses that are leaders John Keells acquire employees with high skills and competencies. The recruitment procedure is supported by a role specification document which includes the required competencies, experience and qualifications for a particular job role (John Keells Group 2012). Relying fully on this document and not often amending this document taking current business situations in to consideration creates a gap between the current business requirement and the requirement specification. Advertising of the job vacancies are done on well-known websites such as Top Jobs and cv.lk as well as on LinkedIn. The company also uses executive search firms such as KPMG to recruit executive and higher cadre employees. Mass media advertising such as on newspapers is used to publish available vacancies at a minimum scale. Educational institutions and career guidance programmes at universities is also used to identify young talents from which the suitable candidates are recruited if there is an available vacancy. Equal opportunities are awarded for job seekers where even the differently-able persons are given the chance to be a part of the John Keells family. More flexible options such as shifting to a job role within the Group have given rise to internal recruitment. In the selection process John Keells makes sure that they invest in the best suited person for a particular job role. For executive cadre selections as the first phase IQ and personality tests are given to the candidates as most of the companies in the industry. In the latter part of the selection phase subject related or job role related presentations or face to face interview questions are used to identify the best from the rest. It is evident that till date the company has not taken any out of the box methods to recruit or select the best employees but rather used the accustomed methods where the similar companies
  • 10. 10 in the industry also work with. This probably has created a drawback in reaching the objectives of the company as there may be more skilful and competent employees out there who were not properly recognised. 3.2 Recommendations to enhance recruitment and selection practises of the Company As the recruitment and selection identify who should and who should not be taken in to be a part of the Company it is important to first identify the proper need for recruitment. Planning process makes sure the underlying costs for recruitment are spent effectively. A proper recruitment process will also makes sure the selection process to work out smoothly. John Keells already uses a role specification document in the recruitment procedure but completely relying on this document would give wrong indications in some scenarios. It is important that the HR regularly amend this document based on the business and external environment factors such as government policies, education levels and technology development. The feedback of a previous employee will add value as input for this document in a situation of a replacement of a position. This might support to select the best employee who is more suitable with the required skills and qualities. For example if the previous employee has left due to working late and not having a way to go home because he/she lives far, when selecting the new employee people who are willing to work late and who are comfortable in a such working environment can be recruited. More advertising on mass media of the available vacancies would interpret the policy on equal opportunity better as job seekers in rural areas who do not have access to internet will only have access to newspapers. Moreover, in Sri Lanka even though the literacy levels are high the language barriers still prevail. Therefore discriminating based on language needs to be eliminated where such applicants can be taken in to provide proper training on language. This could be beneficial for the company if their rest of the skills and competencies would be superior to other applicants. Turning to executive search firms to recruit applicants would promote objectivity as applicants would not be aware of the company they are actually applying to. This would reduce any irrelevant applications coming in, as the tendency of applying without fitting for the role is high
  • 11. 11 when the company name is known and especially if the company is one of the best in the country as John Keells. At the selection process it is important to separate the best fit for the job and organisation through valid assessments and testing methods. The IQ and personality tests are not always sufficient if they are not fitting for the job role. It is important to identify the other facets such as innovativeness, creativity and honesty in addition to the educational qualifications via the assessments. As experience and qualification will also not define a better employee, perceiving employees with self-confidence, openness and adaptability to a certain culture through psychological tests is crucial. Case studies are also a better way of understanding the candidate’s attitude as it would require them to identify the problems, prioritise and provide solutions allowing the company to recognise the problem solving skill. In addition, the leadership skills need to be identified in order to empower the employees and allow team work. In a situation of an interview a hybrid of structural and situational interview would make sense in most of the cases as structural would make sure the questions are general to all, and situational would allow to throw in questions to know more about the employee character and work attitude which is the ultimate objective in the selection process. 4. Human Resource Development practises of the company 4.1 Critical evaluation of the HRD practises 4.1.1 Training Currently John Keells provides on the job training for cadres lower than managerial level. Usually a new employee is taken through an induction program to familiarise the working environment and culture. After which the employee is taken through a basic training such as sitting next to Nelly, where the current working methods and practises are taught by a senior employee. This method has its own disadvantages because the new employee would adapt all the blunders the experienced employee has been using. The opportunity to bring in fresh ideas of working by the new employee is limited in this method. In addition, the expected strategic
  • 12. 12 outcomes of efficiency and improvement in that job role will not be achieved through this technique. For a managerial role and above mostly the induction program is carried out deeper where the decision making structure and other related procedures are communicated from the senior management. In addition, for the Managers there are one to two day trainings probably with the company CEO or a senior manager to familiarise with the organisation operations. 4.1.2 Development The company considers talent as their biggest asset. Therefore the employees are given opportunities to get them exposed to cross functional activities by which they open multiple career paths. Moreover, tools such as development centres, leadership development programs and talent chats are also promoted by the company in supporting the employees to identify their future career progress and build them towards it. Coaching and mentoring the employees to understand the competencies required for their career development is also provided for the current employees. (website) The top level employees are also put forwarded to external programmes by which they are encouraged to identify their inner strengths to be used positively in their personality development. 4.1.3 Learning The company currently maintains a learning portal where the employees are given the opportunity to engage in their learning activities much easily as a click of a button. The senior employees have the ability to track the learning progression of their subordinates also nominate them to any of the relevant trainings on offer. In addition an e-library is also on offer on this portal where e-book summaries under different categories are made available for the employees to enhance their knowledge and support their career development. 4.1.4 Career Progression The company has so far supported the employees in progressing on their career ladders. Through training and development as well as opening opportunities to learn by themselves John Keells as a Group has contributed to the employee development. Funding required for post graduate studies for certain employee cadres are also provided by the company to motivate the employees
  • 13. 13 to grow personally. This progression has allowed the businesses to grow and the talent to move across the business leading to enhance the performance of the Group. 4.2 Recommendations to enhance the HRD practises of the Company In order to make effective HRD practices it is important to make them in line with the company strategic objectives. The need for training, development and learning can only be identified after the examining the existing resources. Categorising the employees who require training based on their capacity and capabilities is also crucial in enhancing the training and development. For example, there are visual learners and auditory learners who learn faster in one way than the other. Identifying them would increase the effectiveness of training. The opportunities given to the employees to learn by themselves via the portal should not be limited to the workplace subject matters but rather should include modules that would allow the individuals to develop their personal skills which might help them in future or add value to their personal life. The trainings carried out in the company should not be limited only to the beginning of a career of an employee. Employees should be reviewed as to their requirements and any hints identified during appraisals should take forward to support the employees in making themselves comfortable in challenging areas where by the organisation efficiency would improve. Creation of career plateau (Byars & Rue 2006) can be achieved by categorising employees based on their current performance and likelihood of future promotions. Employees who have high performance currently but does not have a possibility of receiving promotions also known as ‘Solid citizens’ can train the ‘Learners’ who does not perform well currently but have future possibility of getting promoted. Then learners would be improved and replace the ‘Stars’. As John Keells invest a lot for graduates to develop as professionals, training them through the elite employees in the company would lead the graduates to become the stars in the organisation. Employees who are not performing well and have no likelihood of promotions in future (dead wood) need to be examined why they have reached this point. Moreover, appraisals can be carried out to see whether they have not got proper development and reconstruct their training sessions more effectively.
  • 14. 14 Figure 4.1 Career Plateau (Byars & Rue 2006) 5. Staff Motivation and Leadership 5.1 Critical Evaluation of Classical Motivation Theories It is critical to keep the staff motivated in any organisation. Understanding the different factors that would motivate employees would allow organisations reach efficiency in organisation. Theory Y people according to McGregor (2006) would prefer work and hold responsibilities. But if the employees are not getting the required job satisfaction no matter how hard they work the efficiency levels would be low. Empowering employees will not sufficient as work life in a company should be a balance of status, open communication and future career prospects for the employees to be motivated. Motivating factors such as job rotation among different departments may not be possible at John Keells as employees are specialised most of the time. Through more skill development and training job enrichment can also be achieved. Even though money has been identified as a hygiene factor by Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1993) there is an impact on motivation as high performance in a workplace is always expected monetary rewards. When considering the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the Sri Lankan context, the first three levels can be considered as sufficient to motivate majority of the Sri Lankan employees and there
  • 15. 15 will be a very limited segment that would want to satisfy the ego needs and self-actualisation needs. 5.2 Proposed hybrid motivation model Motivation levels will vary based on the cultural and behavioural backgrounds of the individuals. Therefore John Keells first need to understand the local culture. The Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) Cultural model can be used as a base for this analysis. In Sri Lanka people tend to work for themselves, even though they are pushed towards working in teams, it is still new for the employees because the culture is more individualistic. In addition, the culture is still high masculine with gender wage gap and fewer females in management. As discussed in section 2.2 there is only 11% female representation in the board of directors at John Keells Group. The power distance is also gradually reducing specially with the initiatives such as dedicated email for the Chairman by John Keells, but it is not totally eliminated. The motivation therefore should be achieved from an individual point of view in the local culture where the physical, security and social needs are the most important levels to provide motivation. The type of people are more of theory Y and money is somewhat considered as a motivation factor than a hygiene factor. As a result when conceptualising the ideal motivation model for John Keells the components such as, individual needs, money, safety and social needs should be put together for effective employee motivation at the workplace.
  • 16. 16 Figure 5.2 Hybrid Motivation model for John Keells Group Maslow, A. H., 1997 (Author’s Work) According to McClelland (1987) the needs for achievement keeps an individual motivated. Hence perceiving achievements in challenging environments leading to recognition is an ideal way to keep the employees motivated who prefers more work and responsibility (Theory Y individuals). In addition the lesser masculinity within the company will keep the female employees motivated as they would feel secure and see a future ahead of them to progress in their careers. 5.3 Impact of effective leadership on staff morale and motivation Leadership is different to the management of employees because in management the employees are ordered to get done the work. This approach would have worked for Theory X people as explained by McGregor where the people need to be controlled as they dislike work. In a culture where people are likely to be in Theory Y category much control would de-motivate and lead to inefficient work practices. Therefore a person who handles such employees should contain the leadership qualities where they can influence people to attain goals and inspire them to overcome challenges. Blake and Mouton’s grid (Cecil and Rothwell 2007) has provided a systematic way to conceptualise leadership and the best outcome of their model is the Team Management. This is a
  • 17. 17 balanced leadership concept where the concern for people and the concern for the results are both at high levels. This would lead to achieving employee motivation due to the high empathy received from the leaders. As a result of the motivation achieved, employees will put more effort to complete the tasks and leaders’ role will be to clear the obstacles, conflicts and add creativity making tasks easier for the employees. Effective leadership will build trust and respect between the employee relationships, where there will be interdependencies between the organisation and the people. More commitment is also expected from the effective leadership as employees are motivated by the strong bonds created. John Keells also has taken initiatives to inspire people through leadership development as the motivation created will make employees feel “more than just a workplace”, the HR vision of John Keells. (website-workplace) Care should be taken that if leadership is lacking in an organisation it would lead to employee de-motivation as they do not have guidance. Hence the company will face problems such as high labour turn over, employee clashes and ultimately unachieved workplace goals. 6. Management of Change 6.1 Change Management Process The change management process can be organised based on the Kurt Lewin’s three stage theory to change (Cummings and Worley 2013). The initial step would be to understand the need for change and communicate it clearly among the employees. Appointing change agents for the upcoming change would build a mind-set that the change is necessary and they will be responsible in promoting the change throughout the organisation. The expected outcomes from the change as well as the benefits for the employees need to explained for them be change-ready. The training and development programmes that are going to be introduced as a part of the HR restructuring initiative at John Keells Group should be communicated beforehand as it would not be surprise for the employees. Moving on to the next stage which is the change implementation change is the most crucial step. Change should take place in a way that it is accepted by the employees and they should not feel that the changes are being imposed on them. Working hand in hand with employees at this stage
  • 18. 18 would allow John Keells to understand the employee attitudes and manage change more effectively. More care should be taken in a stage where cultural change is implemented as the culture is what binds the entire organisation together. Any misstep would be costly to the future growth of the company. As the final stage the implemented change needs to be normalised within the organisation through refreezing. Benefits achieved from the change initiatives for example, benefits achieved from the training programs provided, leaders appointed and the promoted less masculinity culture should be highlighted. Kirkpatrick’s four stage training evaluation model can also be used at this stage to examine the reaction for the training provided (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick 2009), the level of learning achieved by the employees which influenced their behaviour and the outcome of the trainings in terms of performance results can be evaluated to know the successfulness of the change took place. 6.2 Critical analysis of the possible Challenges in change management and Recommendations to overcome them In any organisation when a change process takes place it is bound to have resistance from the employees. John Keells being one of the oldest companies operating in Sri Lanka has built up its own culture over the years. The employee composition contains higher percentage of older employees who has been working in John Keells for more than 10 years who would not prefer changing their ways of working and training would seem unnecessary for them. Their attitude towards training would be negative and when they have more work to get done participating in training programmes are considered as a time killer. The initiatives taken to train the graduates and bringing in to the employee cadre would also be considered as time and money consuming. The mind set of some Sri Lankans is that the younger generations join the company to take the training but later joins a new company where the investments made on trainings are actually turn out to be a cost. The implementation of the change will therefore be impacted from the different mind sets of people where they will try and argue the disadvantages of having the change in the company.
  • 19. 19 The increase of female employees in the company will not be accepted by the current culture at John Keells. Having a female employee as the senior manage would discourage the male subordinates and also would create problems for the female manager carry out her work smoothly without providing their support. The above challenges need to be handled well in order to make the change successful. As the first step feedback can be taken from the employees as to what sort of training that they require to work in John Keells and to develop their personal skill level. These inputs can be used to structure the training programme scope where the employees would feel a part of it. A separate launch programme can be held to make the employees be aware of the benefits of going through these trainings. As a benefit for the employees John Keells can introduce an intranet portal where the employees will be interactive with each other, get to know the each other in the John Keells group and share their knowledge through videos and posts. This would help to change the mind set of wasting time for trainings as everyone will be part of it. The portal can also be used as a mode to reach the employees, address their concerns and motivate them. The attempt to bridge the gap between gender discrimination should be supported by sharing inspirational stories of women where the mind set of male employees would change and start to respect their female bosses. According to a research done by McKinsey & Company (2012) high gender diversity has a favourable impact on company’s operating profits due to different leadership approaches by men and women leading towards an effective combination of leadership behaviour which adds value to the company. These facts can be shared within the organisation through the intranet portal where the employees would see the benefits of working in collaboration with both men and women. On the other hand, the female employees should have a favourable working environment by giving consideration to work life balance as most of the working women have kids to take care. Introduction of a day care for children would be a relief where they will work well without being discouraged. Allowing flexible working hours would encourage women to work as well as manage their household activities.
  • 20. 20 7. Conclusion In conclusion, this report caters the current HR requirements arising within the John Keells Group. As the author of this report, I was able to identify the current HR practices within the organisation accurately, by which the current recruitment and selection practices are criticised in suggesting more suitable HR practices. In the mid-section of the report, existing training and development practices are discussed where more comprehensive training initiatives are recommended to support the employees to progress in their career ladders. Evaluation of the classical motivation theories are followed by in order to propose a best fit motivation theory for the John Keells Group. The current culture, organisational structure and the work practices have been considered when developing the hybrid motivation model to make sure a positive impact on the organisation. This section is concluded by scrutinizing the impact of effective leadership on employee motivation. As the final section of the report, the process of managing change is identified. The possible challenges the company might have to face when implementing the recommended changes discussed in the content of report are highlighted followed by proposed recommendations to overcome the challenges and effective way to carry out the change management process.
  • 21. 21 References List CECIL, R., D. and ROTHWELL, W., J. (2007) Next Generation Management Development: The Complete Guide and Resource. San Francisco: Wiley. CUMMINGS, T., G. and WORLEY, C., G. (2013) Organisational Development and Change. 10th Ed. California: Cengage Learning. HERZBERG, F., MAUSNER, B. and SNYDERMAN, B. B. (1993) The Motivation to Work. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. HOFSTEDE, G. and HOFSTEDE, G., J. (2005) Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. JOHN KEELLS GROUP. (2012) Annual Report 2012. [Online] Available from: http://www.keells.com/annual-reports.html [Accessed: 22nd May 2016]. JOHN KEELLS GROUP. (2016) Our History. [Online] Available from: http://www.keells.com/our-history.html [Accessed: 04th June 2016]. KIRKPATRICK, D., L. and KIRKPATRICK, J., D. (2009) Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels. 3rd Ed. Accessible Publishing. MCCLELLAND, D., C. (1987) Human Motivation. New York: Cambridge University Press. MCGREGOR, D. (2006) The Human side of Enterprise. Annotated Ed. Delhi: Tata McGraw- Hill Publishing. NYAMBEGERA, S., M. (2005) Human Resource Management – A Biblical Perspective. Nairobi: Uzima Publishing. STOREY, J. (1999) New Perspectives of Human Resource Management. 2nd Ed. London: International Thompson Business Press.