Human Resources Plans and Organisational Context

Human Resources Plans and Organisational Context

Introduction

Human resource management consists of the attraction, selection, retention, utilization, motivation, rewarding, and disciplining of employees in organizations—in short, the management of people at work. During the last century or so, profound shifts have occurred in the industrial mix of the economy, the nature and extent of competition, and the types of work that employees perform (Budd, 2005). In particular, economic activity has shifted from agriculture to manufacturing and from manufacturing to services, with more and more employees performing relatively higher level analytical, professional, and technical work, and fewer employees performing relatively low-level, low-skill, and manual work. In the wake of these shifts, it has become common for businesses to claim that they (increasingly) compete based on intellectual or human capital rather than physical capital or “hard” assets.

The aim of this report is to identify the current and future issues that may affect the volunteer management function of Attend, with a specific focus on Attend Creative (referred to as 'Creative').

The report will consider how need for volunteers will be affected by external factors (beyond the organisation's control), and by the proposed developments to the organisation's services as per the business plan. It will also explore whether volunteers are currently available to meet the needs identified, or whether there is an excess of volunteers (due to a potential reduction in the organisation's services).

The report makes several recommendations around volunteer management designed to equip the organisation with the 'right number of volunteers in the right place at the right time with the right skills' (Budd, 2005).

Background

Attend (formally the National Association of Hospital and Community Friends) is currently celebrating its 60th year, and is a membership organisation to approximately 750 independent local volunteering charities working in health and social care. Services provided, including insurance, legal advice, a group deposit account, HR support, training and publications. Creative are responsible for:

• Design and production of Attend's publications, such as the Annual Review, magazines, leaflets, flyers and other marketing materials

• Maintaining the Attend website

• Designing retail focused magazines, shop fronts, interiors and promotions sheets for Attend Retail

• Designing learning materials and textbooks for Attend Academy

• Design, branding and video editing for members and other charities.

Creative volunteers contribute to the work of the department by:

• Photographing events and activities

• Editing videos

• Creating illustrations

• Building websites

• Graphic design of publications

• Writing articles.

Methodology

The following research was undertaken to investigate the various issues outlined above:

• Principles of HR planning were reviewed by reading textbooks on the subject. This helped to provide a structure to the report (see subheadings in the findings section).

• An interview with the Chief Executive was undertaken (see appendix 1), to establish the main external drivers affecting the work of the organisation. The ones relating specifically to volunteer management were then presented within a PESTLE framework to help identify potential trends and patterns.

This interview also explored the CEO's perspective on which of Creative's services may be developing and which may be reduced or outsourced in the ...