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.

My employer has a hierarchical organizational structure and the most notable issue that I
have with the company is its managers. They are generally not supportive, work against
you instead of for you, and do not seem to take accountability for their lack of managerial
skills. The last position that I was promoted to was similar to the level of a team lead, and
it is one of the higher positions within a sub-level of the support hierarchy. My manager
at the time suggested that I apply for the role. I applied and got the job however, there
was no guidance, and no training for the position–just an overview of what was needed
weekly and the tools that myself and my colleague would be permitted to use to complete
the work.

Later, when it was time for our reviews, our manager graded us with lower than average
scores despite constantly checking in with them on ways to improve (which were always
implemented) and contributing to some major changes to company policies and the BPO
support team’s workflow. It simply seemed like we were being set up for failure and
being graded based on the manager’s opinion of us, instead of more objective features
like the results we produced.

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

Since managers have little to no proximity to the work that constituents perform (due to
the fact that team leads are one step under them and are responsible for actually
managing and leading the team), this means that when it is time for reviews, managers
are the worst people to ask as they have no relationships with their lower-level
constituents and they do not understand the work that we do. According to Bolman L,
and Deal, T (2021), “Managers typically see themselves as more rational, open,
concerned for others, and democratic than others see them” (p.167). Although my
manager felt during our review that they may have been rational and objective in their

1
 assessment, this was impossible as they hardly met with us, and were always in oblivion
to the work that we were doing week after week.

We were not able to meet to discuss our scores as our manager felt that his say was final
and there was nothing that we could’ve done to change his mind, and once these scores
are submitted, they are in fact final (despite his lack of presence for us during our time in
this position). This seemed like a missed opportunity to put their interpersonal skills to
use. It is suggested that “managers' effectiveness is often impaired because they
over‐control, ignore feelings, and are blind to their impact on others” (Bolman & Deal,
2021, p. 167), and this was one of those instances. Ultimately, this entire experience
demotivated us. If he had better people management skills, I think that we all would have
gotten more from that working experience.

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

If I were a part of the human resource team, I think that I would first develop and
implement an HR philosophy for managers to adhere to. Essentially, the entire company
would want to adhere to these, but since our focus is on managers, they are illuminated
here. Well-rounded, people persons, where everyone serves everyone would be the motto.
This would urge managers to rise to their level of human, technical, and conceptual skills
and show whether they require more development in any area, or are not a good fit for the
company.

If I was the manager, I would start by highlighting the importance and impact of the role,
what stakeholders may expect from the team, and what the team could expect from
managers and stakeholders. I would then define the goals while addressing what the
team’s personal goals are and look for some alignment, and identify ways that I could
support the team based on our initial conversations and future conversations
(acknowledging that these goals are subject to change over time). I would also promote
egalitarianism. Knowing that “egalitarianism implies a democratic workplace where
employees are an integral part of the decision-making process” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.
156), I would’ve ensured that decisions being made involved the team.

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

I would have found ways to do some job crafting and make the position my own.
Offering new ideas on how to enhance our own processes as well as the outsourced
team’s processes may have shown my interest and all-around commitment to company
improvements. I probed stakeholders a lot and they always advised us that the work that

2
we were doing was very valuable. I may have also requested that my manager met with
the stakeholders to assess performance as it would mean more coming from them, than
from my manager.

I would have probably not taken the role. In essence, the job turned out to be a
self-managed team which was the equivalent of no leadership for this company. I think
that I would’ve requested more meetings especially prior to our reviews so that we knew
exactly what we were being assessed on. This would have given me more insight into my
manager’s thought process when grading us. It would have also given me the opportunity
to compare how I felt I performed to how I was being assessed based on more objective
criteria and not an enigma.

3
 Reference

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

(7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.