OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

Amid the pandemic, the owners of the facility where I work as the director decided to
open their second location. Because of the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, opening
another location was an already risky move. The owners decided to announce our opening to the
public without first speaking with our contractor and obtaining city permits. We were forced to
push our opening back months at a time which left many customers that were planning to begin
classes disappointed. We finally opened our facility without the proper equipment for quality
classes, no marketing strategies in place, and limited policies and training for our staff because of
the financial crisis. The lack of communication the owners had with myself, the contractor, and
the rest of our team left us confused and frustrated regarding how we maintain class quality
without foundational operating procedures and equipment in place. The team lost pride in their
jobs and as a result, staff turnover was high and morale was low.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

My company did a great job retaining its staff during the pandemic. While we didn’t have
great communication once our second location opened, the owners of the facility were excellent
at updating the team throughout our closure of when they planned to reopen and what new
procedures that would be in place. They gave each staff member an option of remaining
furloughed, returning to work in person, or staying home and help run our online classes. Every
single member of our team decided to return to work as soon as we reopened and they were able
to. Because we are considered a childcare provider, our employees were able to get vaccinated
early which eased a lot of our minds and helped aid our decision to return. Other My Gym
facilities, however, were not as lucky. Many locations had difficulty having employees choose to
return, therefore, once they were able to reopen, they did not have a team trained and ready to
lead classes. This was a testament to how much our location's team enjoyed their positions,

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respected the organization, and wanted to continue being part of the My Gym San Diego team.
All of this changed once the second location was involved.

Being a small business, we didn’t have a designated human resources department. If there
was an issue, we would work it out together and brainstorm to collaborate and find a solution.
Many of the issues that arose, however, were problems regarding communication with leadership
in the facility. Because “human resources” was our leadership, our team feared going to them
with issues they had out of fear of losing their jobs or being penalized for their opinions. Once
our second location opened, there was an intense amount of stress felt by everyone on our team.
Our owners did not do a great job of ensuring we had enough employees to support two locations
causing our staff to feel overworked and underappreciated. The owners stopped coming to our
weekly meetings and didn’t seem to be invested in the organization any longer. As a result,
although we managed to keep all team members through the pandemic closures, we lost quite a
few once our second location opened.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

An assumption people have regarding human resources is that they are there to resolve
issues that arise in the workplace. While this is true, HR responsibilities are much more complex
than that. The human resources structure is also responsible for motivating employees and
helping each team member understand how their goals align with the goals of the company
(Bolman & Deal, 2017). This is what my previous workplace was missing. If we were able to
redo the scenario, I would ensure the needs of each employee are met to eliminate their want to
find a new job. Showing my team just how much they are appreciated and how the specific
skillset they bring to our team is irreplaceable would have provided more motivation for each
employee to continue working on our team.

My Gym’s mission statement is simple: “to love and nurture all children through
meaningful play” (My Gym, n.d.). Reinforcing this mission statement and demonstrating to our
team how this mission aligns with the goals of each member of our team could have prevented a
few of the terminations we experienced. My Gym strives to be inclusive for all children and
because of this, we hire instructors that want to begin a career working with children. All of our
instructors are required to have high energy, be willing to play with the children, and have a lot
of patience. It can be a difficult and draining job, but being reminded of the good we are doing in
our community and each instructor has a sense of pride in the work they do can help ensure we
retain our staff. Lastly, I would have routinely asked my staff how they were feeling regarding
their work and not let the stress of the new facility get in the way of being empathetic and
understanding of the feelings that my team was experiencing.

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 4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

Regarding the human resources frame, a priority for leaders should be remembering that
people are always at the forefront of the organization. We have organizations to fulfill the needs
of people, not the other way around (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Having empathy and being
personable with those in and out of the organization will go a long way. Something I struggle
with personally is allowing stress to get in the way of my actions and forgetting that everyone is
experiencing their own difficulties. As a leader, I need to validate the feelings of others while
discovering methods of motivating teammates to achieve the goals of the organization.

While I am pleased with how my leaders handled the pandemic, I was not pleased with
how they opened their second location. Communication started strong but quickly grew faint and
I could have prevented this from occurring by speaking out. Reflecting on this scenario has
helped me understand this mistake to ensure it does not happen again. As a leader in my
organization, I feel it is my responsibility to speak up on behalf of my teammates to discover
what each individual on my team needs to be successful. In this case, we needed more efficient
methods of communication. If this had occurred, the scenario could have been avoided
altogether.

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 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

My Gym. (n.d.). My Gym. Retrieved August 22, 2021, from https://www.mygym.com/why-my-

gym