HR Policy Making Human Resource Decision Making at Calgary Impoprters Ltd Calgary Importers Ltd is a

HR Policy Making
Human Resource Decision Making at Calgary Impoprters Ltd
Calgary Importers Ltd is a large importer of linens, china,and crystal It has branch offices in 6 provinces and has long been plagued byproblems in its human resource practices These problems led to the followingdiscussion between the vice-president of human resources and the vice-presidentof distribution:
Rob Whittier: You may not agree with me, but if we are goingto have consistency in our human resource policies, then key decisions aboutthose policies must be centralized in the human resources departmentOtherwise, branch managers will continue to make their own decisions focussingon different aspects Besides, the department has the experts If you neededfinancial advice, you would not ask your doctor; you would go to a banker orother financial expert When it comes to deciding compensation packages orhiring new employees, those decisions should be left to experts in salaryadministration or selection To ask a branch manager or supervisor to makethose decisions deprives our firm of all the expertise we have in thedepartment
Henry DeLahn: I have never questioned your department’sexpertise Sure, the people in human resources are more knowledgeable than theline managers But if we want those managers to be responsible for theperformance of their branches, than we must not deprive those managers of theirauthority to make human resource decisions Those operating managers must beable to decide whom to hire and whom to reward with raises If they cannot makethose decisions, then their effectiveness as managers will suffer
1 If youwere president of Calgary Importers Ltd and were asked to resolve thisdispute, whose argument would you agree with, why?
2 Can yousuggest a compromise that would allow managers to make these decisionsconsistently?