human resource management

1. Human resource problems evident in Denver Mint Include:

i. Lack of equal employment opportunities: most of the posts in Denver are held by male employees. In this organization, the ratio of women to men is 31:107. Also, most of the highest ranked posts are held by male employees. This is evidenced by the fact that the highest ranking woman holds the position of administrative services chief.

ii. Retaliation: The employees of Denver Mint are not given freedom to air their grievances. Some of the employees who tried to file charges were retaliated against. For example, one woman who filed a charge was retaliated by having most of her job duties reassigned and was then required to work at home.

iii. Delayed response to issues requiring immediate solutions: This is sluggish response to claims filed by the female employees. For example, a female employee filed a case in 2000 which was heard in 2003 (about sexual harassment). This may result to erosion of material facts relating to the case

iv. Sexual harassment: Women in Denver Mint have had issues of being sexually harassed by their male colleagues. Issues relating to harassment are also not addressed well by the organization. For example, we have a case pending up for three years before hearing and after hearing, the judge ruled out in favour of the Mint.

v. Violation of personal ethics: behavior of some of the employees (at the workplace) is contrary to what is expected as per professional ethics. For example, a female employee came across 40 or 50 sex magazines when inspecting male’s rooms for cleanliness. Another male worker offered to pay female worker for sex while another propositioned a woman after she returned after a short bereavement leave.

vi. Injustice: women in Denver Mint, in most cases, are not able to obtain justice whenever they filed a case against male workers or the company. For instance, nothing was done after a female employee reported of having found pornographic magazines in a male’s room, despite there being evidence against that charge. A case was also ruled out in favour of the Mint when a female employee filled charge of retaliation and sexual harassment. When the same case was filed in the Federal court, it ruled out in favour of the employee and she was compensated. When Milne, the EEO manager demoted, the investigator never focused on the facts but on Milne.

2.
i. Yes;
Zero tolerance policy is very useful in ensuring employees’ safety and consequently providing a good work environment. It is an effective measure in preventing deviant behavior. In addition, zero tolerance policies are consistent, meaning; they are clear cut and unarguable punishments for each specific behavior and infraction. This usually means that employees are well aware of the consequences of their actions and they must be responsible for their decisions. ii. No;
Under zero tolerance policies, there is a heightened risk of employees who are innocent being punished for behavior that they do not exhibit that is misinterpreted or misconstrued. They also harm an employee’s opportunity to improve or gain access to help.

3.
i. Gender equality training: Female employees should be trained concerning their rights with respect to issues such as; equal pay, equal treatment of married, unmarried, expectant and women with young children as well as equal employment opportunities. Each employee should also be presented a copy of the Act containing the rights of women with respect to equal employment opportunities

ii. Sexual harassment: The employees should be educated about the acts that amount to sexual harassment and the kind of punishment each attracts. They should also be taught on the right procedure to follow if one is sexually harassed. The training should include demonstrations as well as employees being presented with copies of the institutional laws concerning sexual harassment.

iii. Training on professional conduct: Employees should be trained on the way to conduct themselves at the workplace. The training should involve discussions in groups and demonstrations. They should also be given a copy of the institutional professional ethics.

iv. Corruption, integrity and transparency training: Employees should be educated on various forms of corruption, how to prevent corruption and on the institutional laws regarding corruption. Employees should be encouraged to report corruption cases, following the set procedures

4)
Human resource is probably the most important asset of an organization. HR is called the most important asset because the organization run by the human being and human resource are the image of any organization. If the employees are well trained and skilled then they do work for the organization and show well performance and by which the organization earn profit as well as build good image in the competitive environment. The employees struggled to get competitive advantage by get profit against the competitor. The following steps should be undertaken to ensure that Hostile Mint Company becomes a model workplace.

a) Prevention of sexual harassment and other types of harassments; There are two main actions that company must take to avoid liability for sexual harassment.
i) Take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. In order to prevent sexual harassment an employer should have a sexual harassment policy, implement it as fully as possible and monitor its effectiveness. ii) If sexual harassment does occur, the management should take appropriate remedial action. In order to remedy sexual harassment an employer should have appropriate procedures for swiftly dealing with complaints once they are made.

b) Prevention of all types’ discrimination in the organization by the management; as a general rule, the actions of supervisory employees are considered actions of the employer. Thus, if a supervisor engages in discrimination, harassment or retaliation, the organization can be held strictly liable for those actions should they culminate in a tangible employment actions such as discharge, demotion, reassignment, or a significant change in benefits. When harassment by a supervisor does not result in a tangible employment action the employer can raise an affirmative defense to liability in which it must prove that:
i. The employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any harassment; and ii. The employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise.
In particular, Hostile Mint need to train their supervisors to deal with discrimination and harassment claims. All responses by a supervisor are considered the organization’s response.

c) Come up with a clear method of reporting discrimination and harassment. An organization greatly improves its position by having grievance procedures that encourage employees to come forward with complaints. It is crucial that a victim not be required to address complaints to a supervisor who is involved, condones, or ignores the harassment. Because women lodge the majority of sexual harassment complaints, companies may want to consider involving a female employee in their assessment of a claim. That way, female victims may be more willing to come forward, thus enhancing an employer's ability to take prompt and effective remedial action. Upon receipt of a complaint, a prompt and thorough investigation should be made and corrective action taken if any policies were violated. The complaint should be kept confidential to the extent possible and the victim must be protected from retaliation.

d) Establish special emphasis programs and observances (SEPS). SEPS emphasize employment and advancement opportunities for underrepresented groups, observances and events. In this case, Women have been underrepresented in Hostile Mint. There should be equal employment opportunities for both Men and women.

e) Maintaining a healthy and safe environment; Employees should feel their work environment healthy and safe. To ensure safety of employees, fair and just implementation of the institutional laws (when an issue arises) is important. For example, cases relating to sexual harassment should be addressed accordingly as per the institutional laws.

f) Effective communication: The employees should be given room to air their grievances. The organization should not ignore the employee’s concern or retaliate against them. Action should be taken against the organization in case of retaliation or when an employee’s complaint is ignored.

g) Timely addressing of employee’s conflicts. When a conflict arises, it should be addressed directly, quickly and in private, with the parties concerned before the problem snowballs into a large problem.

h) Maintaining continuous interaction with the employees; the employees should be kept updated about company’s policies, procedures and decisions. As time passes, some of the company’s procedures and policies may be scrapped and others added; it is important to inform employees when such changes occur. Employees should also be informed about any decisions made by management that will have an impact on them.

i) Peer review procedures: This allows a disciplinary decision to be reviewed by the employee’s own peers. The panel is generally made of five people: two management and three non-management employees. A majority vote on the ultimate decision is needed for one party or the other to prevail. Having a peer committee demonstrates fairness and leads employees to believe that they had a chance to be heard. In other words, it shows that the management trusts the employees enough to give them some veto power over disciplinary decisions.