Workout
Content
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
Soul Psique Workout
Author: Pedro Quintero Igeño
Internship company: Airbus Helicopters España
This document develops the answers to the questions which were proposed as work for the Soul
Psique Module.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
1
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
1.
You work for a small company (less than 10 workers) that it has been in the tax
code and account consultancy business since 1999. Two employees (a man and
woman with children) have family responsibilities, which can’t comply with their
current working hours. The HR responsible had not had a procedure for this
situation, how would you solve this situation?
This problem could be faced from different points of view, and the final choice will obviously
depend on which kind of work the employees are responsible of (it is not the same situation if
the worker is part of a production line or if his/her work is more related with administration).
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th (Frederick Winslow) this workers would
have been fired, because past theories tried to maximize the benefits thinking on workers only
like material resources.
However, the experience and new theories (Elton Mayo, Peter Drucker…) have demonstrated
that this (apart of being inhuman) is not really the most efficient way because it is necessary to
understand the needs of the workers and motivate them in order to they have the desire of being
productive.
So, depending on which kind of work each worker develops, as example, some of the next
solutions can be taken:
a) Part-time contract: With this kind of contract they will have to be at work less hours and
conciliating the private and job life will be easier.
b) Flexible schedule: The previous solution can be complemented with a flexible
scheduled where the worker can choose which hours he/she works at the company
facilities.
c) Telecommuting: The recent technologies of the communication can let workers to
develop their activities from their own home.
As it was said the correct choice will depend on the kind of work developed which each person.
Also, when the family responsibilities of the worker become less strict they will be able to go
back to their normal work.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
2
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
2.
During the last months, a telecommunication multinational company has detected
a decreasing in the duties and performance of the sales area what lead an
overstaffing issue in the mentioned area. What do you think would be the best way
to act in this situation?
First, it is extremely necessary to evaluate the complete situation in order to be able to locate
which are the real root causes of the decreasing. These causes could be external (a new
competitor, economic crisis, changes of regulation...) or internal (a lack of motivation, poor
development of some workers, inappropriate material resources, a bad organization…).
If it is the case of an external cause and this cause will continue on a mid-long term, probably a
reorganization of the staff will be necessary. However it should have had into account that (if
possible) it is preferable to relocate people better than to fire them.
If it the case of an internal cause it will be necessary to fix the internal problems which lead to
the poor performance because, although reorganization is made, the new staff will have to face
to the same problems and the solution will not be valid on a mid-long term.
3.
We will introduce a startup case in the business of selling electronic items through
the Internet and apps. The founders and unique workers are two friends, but in
the last few months they have noticed an important increasing in their sales and
they need to hire some employees; they are new in the market so they don’t know
where to start or what profiles they really need to be more competitive in the
electronic market. What would you advise them to do? Where should they look for
in order to find candidates according to their needs?
The main problem this business is going to face is the lack of knowledge about the market, and,
in the case of electronics this is crucial.
Probably, due to the limited size of the company outsourcing or HR agencies are not the best
solution and they should to make use of e-recruitment tools.
First, they should develop a list of which features they need from the worker. This list should be
as adjusted to reality as possible, they cannot look for a person too overqualified for the role and
the features must be reachable (it is normal to see over the internet job offers which look for a
young person with 10 years of experience, although everybody knows this is completely
impossible).
At last they will have to set the salary they think is fair enough and they will have to have in
mind that an expert worker will not earn the same salary than a worker with no experience.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
3
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
Pedro Quintero Igeño
4
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
4.
This is the case of an NGO, which treats drug addicts with a high risk of social
exclusion. In the last months, the directors have been noticing the middle position
and collaborators high turnover. This turnover is affecting their results because of
the long periods spent in training new people. What actions would you take? 1) In
order to obtain more information about the causes and, 2) to reduce the off-works
and/or mitigate their harmful effects.
The fact of the appearance of a phenomenon of high turnover may indicate that it is an internal
problem (lack of organization, lack of motivation, lack of resources…). However, it will be
necessary to investigate which is the cause of this problem.
1) First of all, I would recommend organizing a meeting with a representative person
chosen by the workers in order to find out the roots of the problem. It is true that
probably not too much workers will want to have this meeting. However, if possible
direct feedback will be better than other means.
If this method does not work it would be necessary to organize an internal audit, which,
in conjunction with a kind of anonymous suggestion mail, will make possible the
knowledge of the real causes of the problem.
2) Now, we are going to suppose that we found out that the problem is an internal
phenomenon only. We can figure that the phenomenon of the turnover will be a
consequence of a lack of motivation of the workers. Some actions could be taken in
order to reduce these effects.
a. Implanting a system of personal incentives.
b. Checking the current schedules of the staff and, if necessary, making them more
flexible.
c. Checking the current structure of the NGO in order to know if it would be
necessary to make any kind of change.
d. Getting the necessary resources which permit workers to make their job
properly.
Also, because it will be necessary some kind of negotiation it would be nice to organize
a collective bargaining, i.e. a process of negotiation between employers and a group of
employees to regulate labor conditions.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
5
Psique &
Balzac
Soul Psique Workout
Author: Pedro Quintero Igeño
Internship company: Airbus Helicopters España
This document develops the answers to the questions which were proposed as work for the Soul
Psique Module.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
1
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
1.
You work for a small company (less than 10 workers) that it has been in the tax
code and account consultancy business since 1999. Two employees (a man and
woman with children) have family responsibilities, which can’t comply with their
current working hours. The HR responsible had not had a procedure for this
situation, how would you solve this situation?
This problem could be faced from different points of view, and the final choice will obviously
depend on which kind of work the employees are responsible of (it is not the same situation if
the worker is part of a production line or if his/her work is more related with administration).
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th (Frederick Winslow) this workers would
have been fired, because past theories tried to maximize the benefits thinking on workers only
like material resources.
However, the experience and new theories (Elton Mayo, Peter Drucker…) have demonstrated
that this (apart of being inhuman) is not really the most efficient way because it is necessary to
understand the needs of the workers and motivate them in order to they have the desire of being
productive.
So, depending on which kind of work each worker develops, as example, some of the next
solutions can be taken:
a) Part-time contract: With this kind of contract they will have to be at work less hours and
conciliating the private and job life will be easier.
b) Flexible schedule: The previous solution can be complemented with a flexible
scheduled where the worker can choose which hours he/she works at the company
facilities.
c) Telecommuting: The recent technologies of the communication can let workers to
develop their activities from their own home.
As it was said the correct choice will depend on the kind of work developed which each person.
Also, when the family responsibilities of the worker become less strict they will be able to go
back to their normal work.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
2
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
2.
During the last months, a telecommunication multinational company has detected
a decreasing in the duties and performance of the sales area what lead an
overstaffing issue in the mentioned area. What do you think would be the best way
to act in this situation?
First, it is extremely necessary to evaluate the complete situation in order to be able to locate
which are the real root causes of the decreasing. These causes could be external (a new
competitor, economic crisis, changes of regulation...) or internal (a lack of motivation, poor
development of some workers, inappropriate material resources, a bad organization…).
If it is the case of an external cause and this cause will continue on a mid-long term, probably a
reorganization of the staff will be necessary. However it should have had into account that (if
possible) it is preferable to relocate people better than to fire them.
If it the case of an internal cause it will be necessary to fix the internal problems which lead to
the poor performance because, although reorganization is made, the new staff will have to face
to the same problems and the solution will not be valid on a mid-long term.
3.
We will introduce a startup case in the business of selling electronic items through
the Internet and apps. The founders and unique workers are two friends, but in
the last few months they have noticed an important increasing in their sales and
they need to hire some employees; they are new in the market so they don’t know
where to start or what profiles they really need to be more competitive in the
electronic market. What would you advise them to do? Where should they look for
in order to find candidates according to their needs?
The main problem this business is going to face is the lack of knowledge about the market, and,
in the case of electronics this is crucial.
Probably, due to the limited size of the company outsourcing or HR agencies are not the best
solution and they should to make use of e-recruitment tools.
First, they should develop a list of which features they need from the worker. This list should be
as adjusted to reality as possible, they cannot look for a person too overqualified for the role and
the features must be reachable (it is normal to see over the internet job offers which look for a
young person with 10 years of experience, although everybody knows this is completely
impossible).
At last they will have to set the salary they think is fair enough and they will have to have in
mind that an expert worker will not earn the same salary than a worker with no experience.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
3
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
Pedro Quintero Igeño
4
Soul
Psique &
Balzac
4.
This is the case of an NGO, which treats drug addicts with a high risk of social
exclusion. In the last months, the directors have been noticing the middle position
and collaborators high turnover. This turnover is affecting their results because of
the long periods spent in training new people. What actions would you take? 1) In
order to obtain more information about the causes and, 2) to reduce the off-works
and/or mitigate their harmful effects.
The fact of the appearance of a phenomenon of high turnover may indicate that it is an internal
problem (lack of organization, lack of motivation, lack of resources…). However, it will be
necessary to investigate which is the cause of this problem.
1) First of all, I would recommend organizing a meeting with a representative person
chosen by the workers in order to find out the roots of the problem. It is true that
probably not too much workers will want to have this meeting. However, if possible
direct feedback will be better than other means.
If this method does not work it would be necessary to organize an internal audit, which,
in conjunction with a kind of anonymous suggestion mail, will make possible the
knowledge of the real causes of the problem.
2) Now, we are going to suppose that we found out that the problem is an internal
phenomenon only. We can figure that the phenomenon of the turnover will be a
consequence of a lack of motivation of the workers. Some actions could be taken in
order to reduce these effects.
a. Implanting a system of personal incentives.
b. Checking the current schedules of the staff and, if necessary, making them more
flexible.
c. Checking the current structure of the NGO in order to know if it would be
necessary to make any kind of change.
d. Getting the necessary resources which permit workers to make their job
properly.
Also, because it will be necessary some kind of negotiation it would be nice to organize
a collective bargaining, i.e. a process of negotiation between employers and a group of
employees to regulate labor conditions.
Pedro Quintero Igeño
5
