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.

Happening after the initial lock-down of the pandemic, our building, a hotel and

conference center owned by Aramark, was vacant, everyone was on furlough, and we

awaited word to return. I was the pastry chef of the kitchen. During this time, managers,

and the only people having access to the building, decided to keep all staff paid their

regular average salary until further notice. However, several months later, we got a

message from our General Manager (GM) stating that a future of reopening sooner than

later looked dim. The decision of Aramark to terminate employment was decided.

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

I see management as having a high concern for people. While the concept of continuous

payment to staff was empathetic, a steady flow of income for the business is still needed

to pay these people. Human resources takes this understanding that a business needs

people to make it function. And their people have to have certain needs met, in order, to
 make the business highly successful. Maslow (1943, 1954; as cited in Bolman & Deal,

2021, p. 125) “started with the notion that people are motivated by a variety of wants,

some more fundamental than others.” This lead to his hierarchy of needs model that

provides five stages of development.

My understanding of what the organization was doing during the COVID situation was to

provide some of the basic needs that Maslow highlights. This being physiological (in

terms of money to buy food), safety (money to pay for rent), and love/belonging (an

acknowledgment their job will still be there when they reopen). I was informed through

active communication on how these three needs can continue after termination.

Management actively invested in its people (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 137). It was

because of this that the return rate of employees, eighteen months later, was reported at

85%.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of

action regarding your case.

A different course of action is empowering the workers. This is touched upon by Bolman

and Deal (2021, p. 150) as they define it as, “keeping employees informed, . . .

encouraging autonomy and participation, redesigning work, fostering teams, promoting

egalitarianism, and infusing work with meaning.” I believe that communal participation

during the first couple months of COVID would have helped foster stronger bonds with

those that work in our building. Instead, those with administrative power had authority to

determine our next course of action.

What I also like is Semco’s example of egalitarianism. “At Semco, workers hire new

employees, evaluate bosses, and vote on major decisions” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.

156), If we were to absorb their way of handling business, then everyone’s minds would
 be pondering the next step while we wait for government approval to reopen back into a

normal, somewhat profitable operation. At the same time, CEO’s and others in higher

management positions that are paid multiple times that of the lowest paid worker could,

temporarily, forfeit their pay to help those in need, seeing the empathic side of these

leaders. REI has portrayed this well in their public announcement regarding the pandemic

(Artz, 2020, para. 4). The president and board of directors forfeited their salary for six

months to offset the disparities that would occur from the closing of stores and the impact

it would have on their staff.

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

this frame.

What I would do differently is offer myself to learning about administrative work or

other areas to pass the time and feel involved. This, of course, would need to be cleared

with the general manager because only select people were allowed in the building during

this time. This would allow me to learn about the ins and outs of office work while

helping the staff during a slow time. Part of this is learning the details surrounding the

human resource department.

Another thing I could have done is taken the time to contact other businesses and conduct

interviews on their business model. This would benefit me and my job by reporting back

my findings on what others do differently and how it’s worked for them. I would include

questions that involve the hiring process, giving feedback, evaluations, hiring and

advancement practices, and more. This is, of course, assuming that my work would be

okay with my research. There would be lots of work, but I feel the outcome would make

me highly valuable to the organization.

 References:

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and

leadership (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass

Artz, E. (2020, April 6). Stewarding the Co-op Through Unprecendented Times. REI,

News. https://www.rei.com/blog/news/stewarding-the-co-op-through-

unprecedented-times