The case
You are a newly appointed interim consultant of HR at Greenwich
Pharmaceuticals, a UK based subsidiary of a US parent company. Your
company manufactures under licence a range of drugs developed in the United
States. There are 400 employees carrying out technical (laboratory),
manufacturing, sales, distribution and administrative duties. It is a highly
competitive market. Greenwich Pharmaceuticals has not been doing very well
recently – a new competitor has emerged in the same field and sales have
slipped which is affecting the morale and confidence of staff.
You have only been in the job for six months. A new Chief Executive has been
redeployed from the United States to turn things round. He has been reviewing
the performance of all the operating functions, especially sales, but he is now
looking at HR. Your predecessor had produced a mission statement for HR that
reads like this:
“To provide quality services and support in hiring, training, staff relations,
compensation, benefits and safety beyond the expectations of all
employees, enabling them to better serve their external customers’’
You had paid much attention to this – since you joined you have been
experiencing an acute shortage and high turnover of key staff that had
been poached and lured by competitors. You have also had to cope with a number
of employment issues, including unfair dismissal case, bullying and
harassment, issues with recruitment and selection, employee motivation and
training. Your HR Manager has resigned and has not yet been replaced.
In general, the HR function has concentrated on service delivery in recruitment,
basic training, day-to-day advice on employment matters, and pay and benefits
administration (there is a conventional multi-graded pay structure with
performance-related pay based on performance ratings, which, however, has
tended to result in almost everyone getting the same percentage increase).
Only some basic recruitment activities have been outsourced and a little
supervisory training.
The new Chief Executive has taken exception to the HR mission statement. As
far as he is concerned it is too much about providing services and not enough
about being accountable for enabling business success. He has told you
to redraft the HR mission statement and describe the key areas in which
HR activities should be developed so that they are aligned with company aims
and objectives to make a more significant contribution to the company’s
performance.
You accept that much needs to be done and you are only too well aware that
your job is on the line – you have to deliver. But you have misgivings (kept to
yourself at this stage) about the proper role of HR. Is it just there to improve
business performance or has it got a role as ‘employee champion’? You
are aware that this term may not go down well with your hard-headed Chief
Executive, who is likely to respond to it by saying quite forcibly: ‘Whose side are
you on anyway?’
Despite your perception of how he may react, you admire the Chief Executive for
his forthright approach. You feel that he will always be prepared to listen to a
reasoned argument and without talking about being ‘the employees’ champion’.
You do believe that HR should be actively concerned about the performance
management, HR planning, well-being of employees and this should
be reflected in the mission statement and be part of the HR strategy. You
recognise that this will go down much better with the Chief Executive if you can
make out a convincing business case.
Assignment Questions
According to an article by Trudy Brunot (2017), Functional Human Resource
Management is the glue that holds an organisation together and the functional
management areas are the ingredients in the glue. Hence, a functional HR
department should cover six functional areas: business management and
strategy, workforce planning and employment, human resource development,
compensation and benefits, employee relations and risk management
You have just been appointed as an interim HR consultant by Greenwich
Pharmaceuticals. With reference to the above statement and your knowledge of
HR management and functions as well as information from the given case
scenario, prepare a report to the Executive Board of Greenwich
Pharmaceuticals to suggest how a functional HR department can address the
current HR issues faced by the organisation. Your report should cover the
following tasks:
The Task
Introduction
-150wordsDo you think organisational mission statement provides purpose to organisation
and imbue the employees with a sense of belonging and identity If yes, how? Draft
a ‘’Organisational mission statement’’ for Greenwich
Pharmaceuticals, in the light of what the Chief Executive wants, the
context in which the company is operating and your conclusions on the
need to include employee well-being as part of the statement.
Task-1(LO1 developing organisational and HR strategies)
– 500 wordsDiscuss how HR strategies can be developed and aligned with the new mission
statement of the organisation which you drafted. Explain which HRM strategies
Greenwich Pharmaceuticals can apply to achieve the mission statement of the
organisation?
Task 2 (LO2: HR planning in a business environment).

• 600 words –
  What is human resource planning? Briefly outline how human resource planning
  ensures the ‘best fit’ within the workforce while avoiding manpower shortages or
  surpluses. You may refer to current and future issues faced by Greenwich
  Pharmaceuticals.
  Task-3 (LO3: Effective HR practices and performance management in
  organisations).
  -500wordsIdentify the employee performance and wellbeing issues in the given case
  study. Discuss how Greenwich Pharmaceuticals can implement viable HR
  practices to align employee performance and motivation to achieve its mission
  statement which you drafted.
  Task-4 (LO4: Influence of Employment legislation on HR practices in
  organisations)
  -600 wordsIdentify different employment legislations in relation to the given case study.
  Discuss how these legislations affect the employer and employee in the given
  organisational context (Use following examples to justify your answer)
  a. Recruitment and selection
  b. Bullying and harassment
  c. Disciplinary and grievance procedures
  Assignment Layout Instructions
   Introduction (150 words )
   Creating a mission statement for the organisation
   Task 1 (500 words )
   Task 2 (600 words )
   Task 3 (500 words )
   Task 4 (600 words )
   Conclusion and Recommendation(s)(150 words )
   Reference List (Not included in the total word count)
  Recommended Structure
  Introduction (150 words)
  This is the introduction to the entire assignment as a whole and not a particular
  task only. Thus, it should briefly introduce the purpose of the report, mission
  statement you drafted, what your work intends to cover as well as brief
  overview of the case study organisation.
  Main Body (2200 words)
  This is where all the tasks (1, 2, 3 & 4) should be discussed. Do use relevant and
  appropriate headings and sub-headings for each task. (Tasks 1:500 words;
  2:600 words; 3:500 words and 4:600 words)
  Conclusion and Recommendations (150 words)
  The conclusion should be a summary of what you have written in the main body
  of your report and then highlight some of the relevant case study
  company/industry-related recommendations you might have (i.e what can be
  done to improve the existing topical situations in the case study
  organisation/industry you have analysed within the tasks).
  Your recommendations should be specific and could include viable solutions
  and benefits of the issues identified.
  Total Word Count: 2500 Word
  General Information
  It is advisable to make further research about the organisational issues
  presented in the given case study scenario. It is also permitted to make logical
  assumptions and give viable suggestions relative to the case provided the
  original intent and essence of the case is not altered by what is added.

Sample Solution