1. Human Resources Planning/Organizational Development
Fatima Shaikh
An organization should have at least one position to review the organization’s human
resources requirements, so that enough focus is placed on human resources in the organization.
Ivy Child meets this requirement. There is a HR consultant in Massachussetts that does a
semiannual review with the CEO (also the HR consultant is next in succession to the CEO).
Other HR positions in the organization include a HR coordinator in California, Michigan,
Virginia, and Connecticut.
Ivy Child has job postings for the Virtual Fundraising and Development and Virtual
Human Resources job titles. For the Virtual Fundraising and Development position, the job
requirements are to identify, define and develop funding sources; research data and resources;
and coordinate the development, writing, packaging and submission of grant proposals. This is
an unpaid internship with no degree requirements but a GPA requirement of 3.20. The other
Virtual Human Resources position has many job requirements including: participating in
ongoing recruiting, orientation/training sessions; serving as an intern leader managing interns
based on the intern calendar and your weekly schedule; analyzing and identifying opportunities
to improve the intern experience and overall intern management process; completing specially
designed major interest projects focused around job incumbents interests in nonprofit
management, participating in leadership development and networking programs focused on
social entrepreneurship and intern management; be comfortable with remote management skills
and use of a virtual space for managing interns. The degree requirements are either bachelor’s,
master’s or MBA degrees. The GPA requirement is 3.20.

2. These job postings give job specifications, which are defined as “an overall written
summary of worker requirements” (Cascio, 2010, p. 167), Ivy Child may want to look into
behavioral job descriptions because “they tend to be more stable even as technologies and
customer needs change” (Cascio, 2010, 168). Cascio says that job specifications should “reflect
minimally acceptable qualifications” and that they frequently do not; instead listing the
qualifications for an ideal candidate not a minimally acceptable one (2010, 168). However, I feel
that Ivy Child does list minimally acceptable qualifications for their positions. Ivy Child may
want to list “requirements” that are desirable but not required, however the briefness of their job
specification is also a positive feature. They also might want to add a job description, which is an
overall written summary of the requirements.
If desired, another way Ivy Child can beef up their job posting is by using job analysis
methods such as job performance, observation, interview, critical incidents, and structured
questionnaires such as the PAQ. With the job performance method, there is exposure to actual
job tasks as well as the physical, environmental, and social demands for the job. It is appropriate
for jobs that can be learned in a relatively short period of time, which is probably the case for
these jobs. Job performance is inappropriate for jobs that require extensive training or are
hazardous to perform. With the observation method, direct exposure to jobs can provide a richer,
deeper understanding of job requirements than workers’ descriptions of what they do. However,
if the job is mainly a mental one, then observations by themselves may not give much useful
information. Some critical job requirements such as being able to cope with emergencies, may
not be observed. With the interview method, information about standard as well as on standard
and mental work are provided. This method allows reporting of activities that are difficult to
observe. However, workers may be suspicious of interviewers and their motives and interviewers

3. may ask ambiguous questions, both of which can cause distortion of information and means that
this should not be used as the sole job analysis method. With the critical incidents method, focus
is put directly on what people do in their jobs, and provides insight into job dynamics. The
behaviors are observable and measurable so information gained through this method can be used
for most possible applications of job analysis. However, it takes a lot of time to gather, abstract
and categorize the incidents. It may be difficult to develop a profile of average job behavior,
which is the main goal with job analysis, because the incidents describe either very exemplary or
very egregious behavior. With the structured questionnaires method, the method is generally
cheaper and quicker to administer than the other methods. If it is administered during work
hours, then lost productive time can be avoided. Web based questionnaires can allow large
numbers of geographically dispersed members to be surveyed in English and other languages,
which gives this method a breadth of coverage and a speed of analysis and feedback that isn’t
possible with other methods. However, the questionnaires are usually time consuming and
expensive to make. An analyst may not be there to explain items and make clarifications. The
impersonality of this method can have adverse effects on respondent cooperation and motivation
(Cascio, 2010, 173). The most popular methods are observation interviews, and structured
questionnaires (Cascio, 2010, 172).
According to the manual, “as an intern/volunteer working with Ivy Child International it
is your responsibility to ensure that you acquire the skills that you need to develop as a
professional. So once you identify these skills you can have a one-on-one with your Supervisor
and find a training webinar that you could attend to build the specific skills.” Though the
supervisor does help the intern/volunteer developmentally, I think the policy places too much
responsibility on the intern/volunteer to improve him or herself, and that the supervisor needs to

4. take a larger role in the professional improvement of the intern/volunteer. A way that the
supervisor helps the volunteer/intern is through the performance appraisals, which are given 45
days after starting and quarterly thereafter. However, volunteer/interns may be discouraged from
improving themselves because there is not much career development they can undergo; they
cannot become paid employees at this time though they can get a chance to work with people of
other departments to get more exposure and they can also get a letter of recommendation.
One way that interns/volunteers can be motivated is by having the possibility of being in
the succession plan for the CEO position. This may be a good thing to do because that a lot of
emphasis is placed on the CEO position in Ivy Child making the succession plan very important
(and that being said the work load should be made more equitable with less emphasis on the
CEO). The succession plan should be driven by the CEO with commitment from the top; a
common set of leadership attributes should be identified and communicated; candid
comprehensive performance reviews should be conducted regarding performance and potential; a
regular schedule for performance reviews should be maintained; all decisions should link talent
to the strategy of the organization (Cascio, 2010, 182).
Employee Relations and Communications
Fatima Shaikh
Ivy Child utilizes several forms of communication. There are weekly meetings on
Mondays via Skype. Ivy Child also communicates via email and phone, if necessary. The email
used is Go Daddy! workspace webmail. They use Google docs to update information on what
they did, to communicate what needs to be done, and what has been completed. They have an

5. online manual detailing policy, which is given to all members through email. However,
acceptable behavior is not detailed out, which needs to be done.
Ivy Child has a grievance procedure. Grievance procedure is a method to resolve
conflicts because they introduce justice systems into the workplace (Cascio, 2010, 553). They are
now found in at least a half or more of all nonunion firms. They “increase organizational
commitment and performance by treating employees fairly and by identifying problem areas”;
avoid expensive lawsuits; and prevent unionization (Cascio, 2010, 553). Ivy Child’s grievance
policy has a formal and informal procedure. Whenever possible, complaints are dealt with
informally between the volunteers concerned or the complainant and their supervisor. At any
point, the complainant can try to get support from any member of the Ivy Child staff such as for
moral support, to get an explanation of the grievance procedure or to help identify the options the
complainant has. These informal discussions are not officially recorded and it is made clear they
are not official or formal grievance procedure. If the complainant feels that the informal
discussions have not resolved the problem, then they can write a letter to Human Resources, or if
it involves Human Resources, then in writing to the Executive Director. A virtual or face-to-face
meeting will be held between the volunteer and Human Resources (or other appropriate person)
to respond to the complaint. The volunteer can explain their complaint and how they would like
it to be addressed. The volunteer can be accompanied by another employee of Ivy Child. After
the meeting, Human Resources (or other appropriate person) will give a written response within
five working days of the meeting telling what the response to the complaint will be. If further
investigation is needed, Human Resources (or other appropriate person) will need to conduct
further meetings or investigations. In this case the five working day limit may have to be
extended. The response will follow this meeting and will bring up the right to appeal. If the

6. volunteer feels the issue is still not resolved well, the volunteer can appeal and repeat the process
again. The ability to appeal, being able to consult another Ivy Child volunteer/employee, and
being able to have another Ivy Child volunteer/employee with you in the meeting are
characteristics that make this process fair. The four qualities a grievance procedure should have
are that all employees should know about it and exactly how it operates (this system does);
employees must believe that there will be no reprisals taken against them for using it;
management must respond quickly and thoroughly to all grievances; and an appeal process
should be provided (this system does) (Cascio 2010, p. 555).
Ivy Child also has a disciplinary procedure. The informal procedure is for a volunteer to
talk to Human Resources if another volunteer’s actions or behavior is a problem. The volunteer
can get support from Human Resources or Executive Director for things such as to have
someone to listen and offer moral support, have someone to explain the procedure, to help
identify options, and to help draft a letter. If informal procedures don’t result in the desired
behavior change or the initial incident is very serious, a written report detailing the nature of the
alleged incident or offence will be made to the Executive Director. Violent behavior, theft or
vandalism are examples of very serious initial incidents. Within ten days, the Executive Director
will make an interview with the volunteer, who may be accompanied by another volunteer.
Human Resources and the Executive Director will lead the meeting and investigate the
allegation. The volunteer will have a chance to speak. Within five days, the volunteer will be
informed in writing of any action that will be taken. The Executive Director will be able to
suspend a volunteer, if necessary. There is a possibility to appeal, if the volunteer is unhappy
with the decision taking as a result of disciplinary action. They can contact the Executive
Director who will hear the appeal at a second meeting. The Executive Director’s decision is

7. final. Again, the ability to appeal, being able to consult another Ivy Child volunteer/employee,
and being able to have another Ivy Child volunteer/employee with you in the meeting are
characteristics that make this process fair.
Ivy Child’s recognition program is informal and is supposed to be tied to performance
and behavior. The manual says recognition is supposed to be part of the workplace culture,
because employee recognition creates motivation because it gets people to do their best. One
possible way the manual says that people can be rewarded is by having the chance to work with
people from other departments so they can get more exposure and enhance their knowledge. The
manual mentions that employee of the month and month brochures can show which employees
stood out and it can be emailed out. There is a light bulb award given out for new ideas, and a
star volunteer is highlighted in detail on the website. The manual suggests that praise can be
given in staff meetings. The manual also suggests emails and thank you notes. The manual
suggests that tokens of recognition can be given out. The manual also suggests those being
recognized say who else helped them to achieve such a great result. The manual is somewhat
nice in giving suggestions, but the recognition program should be more formalized rather than
just giving suggestions. That way recognition will truly take root in the workplace culture.