OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

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

The situation that I will be analyzing in my PCA is that of a tough decision that had to be
made regarding the employment of two people. A new District Manager was hired and after the
hiring decision had been made it was found out that one of the locations that this new DM would
be covering had employed his niece as a barista. The difficulty was that we were unsure if this
would be a conflict of interest, or what our next steps would be if it was a conflict.

The relationship was determined to be a conflict and the barista was separated to eliminate
the conflict. My role in the organization is that of an internal District Manager and I was charged
with supporting the decision and communicating that to the barista and new District Manager.

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

The human resources of my organization lean into several of the theories we discussed in the
text. The first one is the sentiment expressed in “Model 1. Theory-in-Use” that relationships in
organizations are dangerous and that the appropriate action strategy is to design and manage the
environment unilaterally (Bolman & Deal, 2021) As the concern for deeper relationships causing
conflict is an established part of the organization, the decision to eliminate the conflict was the
obvious next step.
However, there were additional organizational human resource aspects that played a part
as well. As an organization, it is established that everyone’s voice and perspective matter.
Participation and advocacy are encouraged. Even for things such as basic policy violations, we
do not move forward with reprimands until the employees have shared their thoughts and given
us possible reasons for why they would have violated policy. This meant that we had to sit down
multiple times with both the barista and the DM to have discussions on why this was a potential
issue and if they had additional information or thoughts we should consider. While this is usually
a positive, it meant that both employees were anxious about their jobs being at risk for the two
months it took to resolve the situation. Despite an overall organizational focus on rewards,
investing in employees, sharing wealth, and more, when the barista was finally let go, her view
of the organization had sunk dramatically.
3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

As stated, previously, I don’t necessarily think there would be been an alternative course of
action for resolution, but there are things we could’ve done differently and still come to the same
decision. The first one would have been leaning into the environment of participation. It
would’ve been a benefit to sit down with both of those employees at the same time and have a
discussion about the situation. They possibly could have found an alternative solution or just

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sped up the process so that they were not just sitting in limbo for two months. I think the face-to-
face collaboration would have ensured the employees felt heard and included in the decision-
making process.

The second thing that could have been done would have been with the reward aspect. As our
Organization offers the highest rate of pay and benefits in retail/food service, our company does
a great job of ensuring that employees feel appreciated. However, more could’ve been done in
this instance. Although not traditional, rewarding the employee with a separation package, or a
one-time bonus payout would have helped that employee leave without feeling thrown away.
The value that they had and been rewarded for during their time with us, should not have been
ignored when we eliminated their job.

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

Knowing more about the human resource frame, I would’ve encouraged egalitarianism and
had the employees be part of the decision-making process. If that idea had been rejected by
upper management, then I would not have brought them into the situation to avoid the stress
brought on by the deliberations. In addition, when the decision was shared with them, the only
people in attendance were myself, the district manager, and the barista. The decision was mostly
made by the HR representative and the next-level manager. With neither in attendance, the
employee felt disrespected and undervalued. I would have asked for one of them to be in
attendance or to at least call the employee after and share their regrets.

As we look at rewards and sharing the wealth as part of my organization’s frame, there is an
argument that an investment in the employee’s rate of pay could have given them the flexibility
to transfer to a store that was 40 minutes away. At the time, we offered them a transfer to that
location, but there was no financial investment, and the employee would have lost money with
the longer commute. It was presented without much tact as “You can transfer or we are
eliminating your position”. If I could do it over again, I would have several alternatives to
present or at least lead with more collaboration in mind.

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 Reference:

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and
Leadership (7th ed.). Wiley.