HRM Assignment

By,
Nishit Sapat,
114038,
I2MBA,
SIBM Pune.
One: First Day On The Job
Sheila felt ready to get to work after her one day job orientation for new employees.
When she got to work, however, she was shocked. She was not prepared for the fast
pace, sophistication and skill level found in her new department. By noon that day,
Sheila felt like she was not cut out for the job. She felt underskilled and under prepared
to meet her department's challenges.
On her way to the company cafeteria one of her co-workers, Tammy, caught up with her
and they had lunch together. Sheila was glad that Tammy was so friendly to her and she
was able to relax a little bit. During lunch Tammy talked about their manager, Mr. Smith.
Sheila learned that Mr. Smith was in trouble with his superiors. Next, Tammy told her
about James, the computer programmer. She told Sheila that James spread rumors and
was not to be trusted. She talked about Mrs. Tyler, the accountant. She said that Mrs.
Tyler was an alcoholic and frequently took sips from a whisky bottle in her desk.
Tammy asked Sheila to join her for coffee after work. She said, "Trust me, Sheila. Once
you come to understand how screwed up everyone is around here, and get the feel of
the place, you'll do fine."
Question: Why would Tammy be so friendly towards Sheila? What might happen
if Sheila gets close to Tammy? Have you ever been in a similar situation?
Answer: Tammy in this situation seems to be the employee who likes to gossip about
others most of the time. She has negative things to say about others and also impress
her negative perceptions on others. As Sheila was new to the organization and relatively
uninfluenced by others, Tammy found in her an opportunity to influence and thrust her
beliefs about the other employees on Sheila. She saw that Sheila is looking a little out of
place and would love to talk to someone to break the ice. In Sheila, Tammy found a way
to vent her feelings about everyone else and also influence her with her thoughts.
Sheila feels that Tammy is so helpful that she tried to make her feel comfortable and
also gave her insights about her peers in the organization. She was feeling out of place
in this new organization and was glad that there is someone with whom she can
converse and share her feelings. But in the long run, this bonding with Tammy wont
help her as Tammy would spread negativity and impose her own negative perceptions
onto Sheila. This can be harmful for Sheila in the long run as it can create conflicts and

lead to friction between her peers. Sheila must maintain her distance from Tammy and
try to gel with other employees of the organization and try to gel with them as well.
I have also witnessed people like Tammy at the workplace who always spread negativity
in the team and like to gossip about others most of the time. The only solution that I
considered was to maintain my distance from such people as far as possible.

!
Two : Moving Up, So Fast?
Rosa feels really good about her new job. Her supervisor seems happy with her
performance. She's learned everything she needed to learn and is all around proving
herself to be a good employee.
Most people at the factory are close to one another and seem like a family. Rosa hasn't
spent any time getting to know any of them since she has been spending her time
learning her new job. Now, she can perform her job as well as or better than any of the
other workers.
Lately Rosa's been thinking about the possibility of becoming a supervisor at the factory.
She figures that since the job comes so easy to her that she needs a new challenge.
She plans on making an appointment with her supervisor next week to discuss what
steps she would need to take in order to move up to a supervisory position.
Question: Do you think it would be a good idea for Rosa to move ahead on her
desire to become a supervisor? Have you ever been in a similar situation?
Answer: Rosa has been a good employee with regard to performance and job skills
necessary for her role. Shes a good learner and uses that learnings in her job
efficiently. But this has come at a cost as she has not been able to gel with the team and
has been busy getting acquainted with her new job.
The company in which Rosa works is known for the close bond shared by the
employees. The employees are considered as one family thanks to the friendly culture
that exists in the company. Rosa has missed such interactions and hasnt been able to
know her colleagues better. Now Rosa wants to try for the role of a supervisor. Though
she does posses the necessary skills and efficiency for the role, She must reconsider
her decision as she has not been able break ice with her peers. Her organization lives
like a family and hence its important for her to meet and know about the people with
which she is working as it help her to manage them better once she becomes a
Supervisor.
According to me, Rosa should not desire to apply for the post of supervisor right now as
she needs to first get to know about her peers and gel with them informally. Then later
once she gets an understanding of her team, she can apply for supervisor post as it will
help her in her tasks as she will be well aware about the people shell be managing. She
can assign tasks to them accordingly and get optimum efficiency out of them. Especially

in this case where there is a friendly culture among the employees, its even more
necessary that Rosa first gets to know her peers, gel with them and then apply for the
post of Supervisor.
I have not yet been in such a situation as I just have 2 years of experience and was not
eligible for promotion in my previous organization.
!

Three: Decisions
After one year on the job, Lima was called into her supervisor's office. Lima was
nervous and thought back over the last few weeks to see if she had made any mistakes
at work. She couldn't think of anything she had done wrong.
Lima was relieved when Mrs. Peterson asked her if she would like to take a higher
paying position in one of two departments. As it turned out, both departments had
openings and had heard about Lima's excellent skills and work performance. Lima could
have her choice between the two departments.
Department A is supervised by Mr. Kent, a long-term employee. Department A has the
reputation for promoting its employees faster than any other department. On the other
hand, Mr. Kent is known to be highly authoritarian and have a short fuse if things don't
go the way he wants. In fact, his employee turnover rate is higher than that of any other
department.
Department B is supervised by Ms. Lee, a young manager recently out of college.
Under Ms. Lee's supervision people seem to be very productive and have a good time
in the process. Many workers envy the people who work in Ms. Lee's department. On
the other hand no one has been promoted from Ms. Lee's department in the two years
since she's been manager.
Question: What should Lima do? Why?
Answer: This is a tricky decision for Lima to make as she needs to decide between
Career growth and a conducive working environment. In Department A, there is an
opportunity for Lima to grow in her career and take on a better role in a shorter span on
time, but at the same time there is the non conducive work culture and the short
tempered manager Mr. Kent makes life difficult for its team members.
On the other hand, there is the department of Ms. Lee which has a very productive and
conducive work culture which is envied by others but with minimal chances of career
growth as none of the employees have been promoted in her department in the last two
years.
According to me, since Lima is an excellent performer and possessed adequate skills,
she should opt for Department A as in department A shell get the opportunity to grow
and advance in her career as the department is known to give swifter promotions. There
is the unfriendly working environment in department A but there always need to be a

trade-off somewhere in life and people need to prioritise things accordingly. Instead of
wasting her skills in department B where there is minimal chance of growth she should
go for Department A and advance her career and if there indeed is a non conducive
environment then she can switch to a new department/company post her promotion in
that department. She needs to make that trade-off and decide on whats more important
for her- Career growth or a healthy work environment.