JACK NELSON S PROBLEM
As a new member of the board of directors for a local bank, Jack Nelson was being introduced to all the
employees in the home office. When he was introduced to Ruth Johnson, he was curious about her work
and asked her what the machine she was using did. Johnson replied that she really did not know what the
machine was called or what it did. She explained that she had only been working there for 2 months.
However, she did know precisely how to operate the machine. According to her supervisor,she was an
excellent employee. At one of the branch offices, the supervisor in charge spoke to Nelson confidentially,
telling him that something was wrong, but she didn t know what. For one thing,she explained, employee
turnover was too high, and no sooner had one employee been put on the job than another one resigned.
With customers to see and loans to be made, she continued, she had little time to work with the new
employees as they came and went. All branch supervisors hired their own employees without
communication with the home office or other branches. When an opening developed, the supervisor tried
to find a suitable employee to replace the worker who had quit after touring the 22 branches and finding
similar problems in many of them, Nelson wondered what the home office should do or what action he
should take. The banking firm generally was regarded as being a well-run institution that had grown from
27 to 191 employees during the past 8 years. The more he thought about the matter ,the more puzzled
Nelson became. He couldn t quite put his finger on the problem, and he didn t know whether to report his
findings to the president.
Questions
1. What do you think is causing some of the problems in the bank s home office and
branches?
From the case study it has been observed that though the employees are well trained on
operating the machines, they are not taught on what the machine did nor the name of the
machine. This has caused monotonous work for the employees who quit due to lack of
recognition, lack of proper training and lack of job satisfaction. Secondly, recruiting employees
without the lack of the home office should not be encouraged because this shows the
irresponsibility of the home office. Also, the record of the employees is not maintained by the
home office which would result in delayed or no remuneration for the employees’ work.
Problems:

There is no centralized planning on recruitment and training

The head office does not have complete control over the branches

The head office does not seem to have a control over employee's place of work. It does
not have powers to transfer employees
2. Do you think setting up an HR unit in the main office would help?
Yes, From the above case, we can infer that a HR department at the head office is the need of the
hour. It has to take control of powers vested with branch managers and should be the one point
stop for recruitment, training and placement of employees. setting up an HR unit in the main
office would definitely help. The main HR unit will be responsible for the recruitment, training,
employee welfare and retention of the employees. If there is a vacancy in the branch office, the
employee screening process can be done by the main office and the branch office can complete
the interview and send the feedback to the main office. This would help team work between the
main office and the branch office and also the main office will have control over the recruitment
process
3. What specific functions should an HR unit carry out?
What HR functions would then be carried out by supervisors and other line managers?
What role should the Internet play in the new HR ORGANIZATION?
From the above case, specific functions that an HR unit should carry out They identified the
problems for employee’s attrition, what are the reasons, how they can overcome. next they
describe each job/role/task analysis and job analysis for all works in the offices. next they notice
number of vacancies in each branch and plan centralized recruitment process. they will define
the work, job analysis, conduct drives, place people at various branch offices after required
training.
here the HR team clearly distinguish the Managerial functions and operative functions of all, and
who is superior, what are their roles and responsibilities, to who they are responsible and
accountable. similarly, all the subordinates must know what they are doing, to whom they are
reporting, and so on.
Functions of the HR department;

Recruitment of employees

Training and placement of employees

Grievance redressed of employees

Compensation planning and other benefits

Promotion and other related activities
Functions of supervisors and line managers

Appraisal of employees under their control

Allocation of work based on skill and need

Communicating requirements to the central HR department
The HR functions that should be carried out are recruitment and selection, on the job/well
planned classroom training, educating about the work culture and the interrelationship between
other departments, maintaining employee relations, training and development, post recruitment
activities like retention. The bank’s HR supervisors and other line managers should carry out the
HR functions like orientation, training and development, maintain good working conditions,
motivating the employees, and ensuring the employees are satisfied on the job.
Role of Internet in HR Department:

All activities should be uploaded in the internet for executives to understand what is
happening as far as human resources are concerned

. Recruitment, training and placement of employees should be uploaded in the internet for
easy access of supervisors, manager, etc.
When the people have a clarity of things about what they do, then internet helps them to simply
complete the tasks. it helps to find new ways of work procedures, helps to increase knowledge
over work and it helps to minimize attrition rate.
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