People & Organisations MBA 7000: Assignment 2 (Individual Work)
People & Organisations MBA 7000: Assignment 2 (Individual Work)
People & Organisations MBA 7000: Assignment 2 (Individual Work)
The core objective of this project for the subject of “People and Organizations” is to
understand the theories of management of people in organizations, evaluate the
methods in which these theories could be regulated in practise to ultimately succeed
in managing a successful work environment
The task in specific for the project was to properly identify and classify the age
demographics in a work environment, of a Sri Lankan company with more than 100
employees.
For this I have selected the Hayleys Public Company, which is leading Sri Lankan
conglomerate which consists of approximately 30,000 employees. I have chosen this
company for reasons such as its versatile employee demographic, availability of
proper resources, easiness in identifying and critiquing management theories in
context to the company etc., Many Primary sources such as the company annual
reports, company sustainability report, Sri Lanka labour force survey annual reports
as well as secondary resources such as Journals and text books were used to
collect data to carry out the research.
Firstly, the age demographics were identified in the company, while also properly
defining and evaluating the generations of the company. The challenges faced by
each different category of generation was first identified, evaluated and presented. I
have then illustrated the suitable recommendations, management practices and
structures which can be used to effectively hinder these problems faced, in context
to Management theories and principles used throughout the world. Finally, the
conclusion with my summarized analysis for this report was detailed, to successfully
conclude the report.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................... 3
List of Figures......................................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction...................................................................................................................... 5
2. Classification of Generations..........................................................................................6
03. Employee Generations with Context of the Company.................................................7
04) CHALLENGES FACED BY DIFFERENT GENERATIONS...........................................10
01) Challenges Faced By Employees of Traditional and Baby Boomers’ Generations
......................................................................................................................................... 10
02. Challenges Faced By Employees of Generation X.................................................11
04. Challenges Faced By Employees of Generation Y.................................................12
05. Challenges Faced By Employees of Generation Z.................................................14
06. Common Challenges Faced By All Generations....................................................16
3. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS................................................17
5. CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 20
6. REFERENCES................................................................................................................. 21
LIST OF TABLES
Hayleys Public Limited Company is one of Sri Lanka’s most expanded and
diversified business corporations with over a 140 years of history. It is a Sri Lankan
conglomerate which has a broad spectrum in operations such as manufacturing,
agriculture, power and energy, transportation and Logistics, leisure and aviation etc.
which has also expanded its operations to overseas. The Group accounts for 3.53%
of Sri Lanka’s Export Income and is also the first company to generate an income of
1 billion USD in Sri Lanka, in the fiscal year 0f 2017/18.
It was founded in the year 1878 by Chas P. Hayley, in the British colonial era as
mainly a maritime business. The main objective being to export Sri Lanka’s then
popular export commodities such as cinnamon and other spices, luxury oils and
coconut based products, as well as to import other modern and luxury items from the
west. Chas P. Hayley then made a partnership with P. Kenny in the year 1909. The
company then continued to grow and expand becoming a public limited company in
the year 1954 (65 years previously).
Hayleys PLC is now a business entity which has over 130 businesses, including 9
publicly listed companies in the Colombo Stock exchange, and other subsidiaries.
Hayleys PLC has also ventured for overseas operations in 5 continents.
The major sectors of Hayleys PLC are listed below; (16 in total)
1. Eco Solutions
2. Hand Protection
3. Purification
4. Textiles
5. Construction Materials
6. Plantations
7. Agriculture
8. Consumer
9. Leisure
10. Industry Inputs, Power and Energy
11. Transportation and Logistics
12. Others
FIGURE 1 SECTORS OF HAYLEYS PLC
Therefore, as noted above Hayleys PLC is a
conglomerate having a vast number, and
expanded range of operations which are handled over by approximately 36,000
employees. Hayleys PLC is led by the Chairman and Chief Executive and governed
by the Board of Directors.
Hayleys PLC highly values its employees as the diversity of its employees is
considered and as a vital strength and strategic advantage. The company strives to
be an ‘Equal Opportunity Employer’ while focusing on the suitability of the individual
to the specific post without any rejection or differential treatment due to race, religion,
ethnicity or cultural background (Company Annual Report 2019).
2. CLASSIFICATION OF GENERATIONS
A visual representation for the above age categories is given below for better
understanding; (Refer figure 3)
FIGURE 2 REPRESENTATION OF GENERATIONS
As of Mar 31st 2018, Hayleys PLC records a total of 31,388 employees across the
globe, out of which 94% are based in Sri Lanka; which is approximately 29,505.
These employees comprise the different sectors of the conglomerate, as well as the
different locations (Company Annual Report).
Hayleys PLC consider the employee capital a major factor in the productivity and
income generation of the company. The capabilities and achievements of the
employees are considered as a direct asset and, hence an indicator of the overall
success of the company.
A graphical representation of the employee productivity over the years, with the
revenue earned by the company is shown below; (Company Annual Report)
FIGURE 3 EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
Demographical segmentation according to Sector, Location and Gender is visually
represented below (Company Annual Report)
Total Number of
Generation Age Limit %
employees
Generation Z 7 yrs. – 22 yrs. 820 3%
Generation Y 23 yrs. – 38 yrs. 17,341 59%
Generation X 39 yrs. – 54 yrs. 10,688 36%
Baby Boomers 55 yrs. -73 yrs. 623 2%
Traditional 74 yrs. - 91yrs 33 0%
29,505 100
TABLE 2 EMPLOYEE GENERATIONS
*Above figures have been rounded off to maintain the percentage values
However, it is difficult to analyze the human behavioral aspect without the
functionality or operational level of an employee, therefore a more detailed
breakdown of the employees according to the managerial functions is illustrated
below.
It should be noted that these details are based on projections, and under the assumption that a similar
trend was shown in recruitments based on age.
Generation Z
Generation X
36% Generation Y
Generation X
Baby Boomers
Traditional
Generation Y
59%
This generation consist of the employees aged 39 to 54 (born from years 1965 to
1980). Hayleys PLC encompasses roughly 10,688 employees within this category,
which is almost 36% of the total work force. It should be noted that more than 70% of
this workforce is engaged in a supervisory role / management role.
a) Improving quality and productivity
Hayleys PLC is an organization which emphasizes that the quality of work by
employees is high and that the targets and goals are met. The Human Resource
(HR) policy framework has ensured that a Performance Management (PMS) policy is
implemented and maintained. Although this policy helps provide a framework to
improve performance quality, the proper management of the employees so that this
performance quality is ensured is a responsibility of the middle management, thus
becoming a daily struggle for the generation X. (Refer figure 7)
b) Work Stress
This generation is involved in middle management and is involved in day to day
decision making, managing and leading a department or team, therefore the work
stress level is particularly high.
The generation X, should also carry out the goals and tasks set by the top
management (CEO’s, Chairman’s etc.), while also ensuring that their subordinates
are managed efficiently as well. They undertake a leadership role as well as a
subordinate role, therefore being stressed by both the top and bottom levels of the
company
Therefore I think it is fair to assume that the inevitably caused stress and pressure
experienced by the Generation X is at the highest level
The generation Y consist of the people who are 23 years to 38 years old. They were
born from 1982 to 1996. Generation Y is also sometimes referred to as the "Echo
boomers", because they mostly consist of the children of parents born in the "Baby
Boomers” generation. Hayleys PLC has a number of 17,341 employees from this
generation, which is roughly 60% of the total workforce. Therefore it is safe to
assume that Hayleys PLC is company which is being driven by the Gen Y or the
youth of the nation.
Some of the challenges faced by this generation is listed below;
a) Coping with Temporariness
Hayleys PLC, even though consisting a large population of the organization, also
experiences a high level of employee turnover. Employee resignation of 2009 for the
age group of 21-30 has been recorded at 83% (Figure 6).
The generation Z consist of the workforce from the ages 7 years to 22 years. They
are basically the novices of the employee task force, freshly out of school or
university and typically consist of Trainees / Interns.
The Gen Z has 820 employees, which is approximately 3% of the total work force.
The company is involved on hiring young recruits. The Hayleys Management Trainee
Program which is focused on fresh graduates demonstrates this fact effectively.
(Refer Figure 12)
1) Organization Structure
Organization structure is crucial for the effective management and operations of an
organization. “Formal hierarchies offer advantages like unification of mission and
goals, while employees in excessively rigid hierarchies can feel they have no power
or autonomy. As with specialization, the key is striking the right balance” (Robbins S
& Judge T, 2010).
Organizational structure determines the Performance and Satisfaction of the
employees of an organization (Refer figure 13)
3) Performance Management
It is fairly obvious that any employee who is plausible for a performance reward will
be more susceptible to higher employee performance levels.
Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory states that employees will be motivated to exert a
higher level of effort when they are lead to believe that they will be appropriately
rewarded.
In this report I have strived to explore the different “People and organization
management approaches and theories they are based on with specific reference to
the age demographic of the organization.
First I have identified and defined the generations of employees, then I have
evaluated the employees of the organization in relation to the different generations. I
have then critically researched and depicted the various struggles and challenges
faced or experienced by each generation, as well as challenges faced by all
generations in uniform. The challenges were then critically analyzed, so that a set of
solutions and recommendations were presented which may help overcome each
type of challenge. The recommendations were also expressed with the specific
theories and management principles articulated where the suggestion was based on.
In completing this project I gained an in depth understanding of the various
management principles which are used by different industries for people
management. I was able to study the various types of challenges faced by the
employees, factoring in the age demographic. The critical knowledge I received
when establishing my recommendations with a proper basis of the management
principles is valuable as a management student as well as an employee.
The challenges I faced were in collection of data. Especially because Hayleys PLC
is a company which operates in different sectors, data was specific to each sector.
Time management, academic writing, gathering source books etc. were also some
of the challenges.
Therefore, I would like to conclude that I have critically analyzed organization
management approaches and principles and successfully evaluated a set of
solutions for problems faced by employees in the industry.
6. REFERENCES