Reference no: EM133141048
Don and Debra are partners in a growing firm called Redwood Industries Ltd. Over the past few years their business has grown from a 4-person deck and fence building business to include the manufacturing of wooden outdoor furniture, and design of garden landscapes. They have recently won an award for excellence from the local business association.
Dan's vision for their growing company is to produce high quality Canadian made wooden garden furniture, providing excellent advice (design) and service, to customers anywhere in the world.
Initially, Debra handled sales and design work, while Don managed the finances, and looked after staffing and administrative matters. Over the past two years, they have hired an office manager to handle financial and administrative matters, to try and free up Don's time to oversee production, operations and design.
Debra continues to handle sales. Don feels they should hire someone to head up a human resources function, as their business expansion and acquisition of two other small companies, to form Redwood Industries, has increased their staff to 150 employees (125 of whom are workers in the garden furniture, manufacturing, and plant area).
Don currently handles all interviewing; at times, assisted by the office manager. The paperwork interferes with the office manager's responsibility of following up on overdue accounts, or supplier problems. They currently use a payroll service to handle the payroll processing function.
Don was stunned to learn that a former employee, who worked in the office for six months, left abruptly, while Don and Debra were on vacation last month, and has hired a Lawyer to pursue her complaint of sexual harassment by the production foreman. Ultimately this incident was resolved with an out-of-court settlement, but highlighted the need for a policy, with stated practices and procedures, to prevent future occurrences. They wondered "what else could they be vulnerable to"?
Don is frustrated with the time requirements of performing human resource tasks and feels he lacks sufficient knowledge of employment laws and regulations. He is wondering if the local college has graduates, from any of its business programs, with the knowledge and skills to perform the role of human resource practitioner, and if this is something they should consider.
- Explain how the HR role in this [or any organization] would change, as it moves from addressing the needs of a smaller organization, to those of a much larger organization.