Human Resource Management (Introduction) 200 Assessment 2 Case Study Analysis and Essay INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this

s essay is to identify and describe four human resource issues faced by the companies affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. As a human resource consultant working for the New Zealand government, four human resource solutions will also be discussed and suggested in order to assist these companies with the problems faced after the earthquake. The key issues brought about by the earthquake are; the shrinking talent pool for staff and the senior management, a fall in demand, a decrease in the morale of both staff and management and the temporary chance of Christchurchs population to fall. It is important to address these issues because they affect the operations of the companies in a very negative way. These issues can be dealt with by using solutions which have been utilized in other countries which have faced natural disasters, as well as creating new ideas for future problems caused by such disasters. The issues and propositions will be discussed in further detail. Even though there is a low chance of such an event occurring in New Zealand again, they still leave companies not well prepared for the consequences of such an experience (FM Global, 2009). HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES: The very first issue Christchurch faced was the shrinking talent pool of both their staff and senior management within their companies. This is due to the fact that people living outside Christchurch are less than likely to move to the town for work, due to the fear of experiencing another devastating earthquake. This issue will also have a negative impact on both the wages and salaries of the current workers in Christchurch. Bram Lowsky of Right Management has stated that many feel that lost talent can be replaced by new recruitment. Maybe some companies in Christchurch are maintaining this mentality, but it is not a good way of thinking though. It takes time for individuals to become skilled, so it would be better to have retained their talent. The second issue was the fall in demand; this has been considered as the most significant issue, since it impacted 48 percent of those affected by the earthquake. Businesses across all of New Zealand have been affected by this issue, not just Christchurch. Retention strategies of staff can be suggested to these businesses, since it will slow down the falling demand, and at least continue the businesses operations until new staff has been hired. Earthquakes always seem to have a tendency to decrease demand. Teikoku Databank did research into the earthquakes in Japan and discovered that about 60 percent of companies saw a decrease in demand due to the earthquake disaster in eastern Japan. The third issue was the reduction in both the morale of staff and the management. This occurred due to the fact that 20 percent of the staff and management witnessed the destruction of their homes, which can be a horrible thing to go through. 18 percent of businesses also experienced
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the destruction of their premises. Therefore, the businesses are more focused on recovery plans contingencies for the future. The earthquake also had a short to medium term impact on certain businesses in New Zealand. Pam Newlove of Grant Thornton has stated that almost a quarter of businesses in the country have confirmed that their staff and management morale has dropped. A decrease in morale leads to less work being done by a business. The last, but not least issue was the temporary chance of Christchurchs population to decrease. Businesses require constant monitoring of their staff to ensure and find out if any staff members have been unavailable for a specific amount of time. This interim potential of a population drop is due to the fact that another earthquake can occur at any time. Another reason is that people who are hospitalized after suffering from the effects of the earthquake have a possible chance of passing away. It is plausible to say that most of the population drop has occurred due to the effects of the earthquake. An example of population decrease due to a natural disaster is the earthquake and tsunami which hit Fukushima, Japan (Mike Weightman 2011, 62). HUMAN RESOURCE SOLUTIONS: To address the first issue of the shrinking talent pool of staff and senior management, the businesses in Christchurch should make sure that strategies for maintenance and retention of staff has been implemented (Mark Geary, 23). Satisfaction surveys are an example to find out, even though the earthquake had struck, if the employees were still satisfied with their work. If the results are mostly negative, then the HR consultants should derive strategies to make sure that the current staff is satisfied so that they do not leave the businesses. If the staff is provided with psychological treatment, and they are happy with it, then they possibly might remain in the organization. They must also be ensured that they can get through the turmoil brought about by the disaster. The positive aspect of this solution is that it will uplift employees, so in a way, it will assist with the falling morale issue as well. The negative aspect of the solution is that employees might get the impression that the businesses are only trying to make them feel better only for the continuation of the businesses operations. It would be reassure employees that this is not the case. In order to address the second issue of the fall in demand, Human Resource consultants would firstly have to discover what exactly is in less demand for the businesses. This would most likely be the demand for the services of a business have fallen or the demand of staff for the business has fallen. If the demand of a business services has fallen due to the earthquake, Human Resource consultants can attempt to convince residents of Christchurch that their services can assist in recuperating from the damages caused by the disaster. This can be done by simply visiting some residents, or sending out letters, to inform them that they are not alone when it comes to recovering from the incident. Michael Voelker of Claims Technology stated that if demand for staff is falling than the supply of willing staff must be increased by making a workplace more attractive. The negative aspect of this strategy is that it will be difficult to make a workplace attractive since an earthquake destroyed many facilities of some of the businesses.
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The positive aspect is, if it is possible to make a workplace more attractive, than other incentives can be introduced for the new staff so that both demand increases as well as the job satisfaction of the workers. In order to address the third issue of the falling morale of both staff and management, human resource consultants can firstly introduce therapy sessions for the remaining staff. They could also put significant emphasis on their staff which remained loyal to the business, since talent has reduced greatly after the earthquake. These sessions can be done privately with each individual worker, so that they will notice that they are being prioritized as important to the businesses. The Queensland Government developed a plan relating to methods of keeping and raising staff morale to high levels. One of the most significant methods was to establish work groups. By doing so, staff will both get work completed faster and will also interact with other employees. This will make them focus less on the trauma brought about by the earthquake. It will also raise their spirits and make them feel more at home within the organizations. The pros of this method are that employees will have a feeling of relief plus operations of the businesses will be completed at a faster pace. The cons of this method are that employees might start thinking that they are only being comforted so that work can be done quicker, so therefore they may not feel entirely satisfied with the group work strategy. In other words, they are basically being used. The issue relating to the temporary chance of Christchurchs population to decrease can be addressed by informing staff on what to do during an earthquake. Seminars can be held during working hours so that safety professionals can inform workers on exactly what to do during such a disaster and how to ensure the safety of their family as well. The seminars can be conducted by both the human resource consultants and the safety professionals. Tome Love of the Sapere Research Group stated that the growing migration and population of Christchurch will most likely have an offsetting effect on the population decrease. This therefore means that the population decrease due to the earthquake will not have a long term effect on the citys population. Human resource consultants can take this into consideration and might not have to do much to resolve this issue, but if the population decrease persists, than the seminar method would be best to resolve the debated issue. The recommendations made above are the ones which have been viewed as the most suitable for the issues faced after the disastrous earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. A large variety of other solutions are available but the ones discussed appear to be the most appropriate for the businesses of Christchurch. It is also very noticeable that the issues mentioned directly link to each other, so using one solution to fix one of the issues can assist in partially resolving another issue, and so on and so forth. The recommendations made above are not only ones which have been implemented in the past. Some of them are original thoughts as well. It is wiser, however, to utilize successful methods first instead of testing out a new idea. It is important for the organizations of Christchurch to know where they have been, where they are and where they would like to go for the future of both the city and New Zealand (Stevenson et al. 2011, 73-74).
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CONCLUSION: The issues faced by Christchurchs businesses were identified as being four key problems. As a human resource consultant, solutions have been suggested and discussed in order to assist the New Zealand government in overcoming the tragedies brought about by the earthquake. The evidence brought about by the case was dealt with by suggesting various solutions such as seminars, therapy, group work, making suggestions to residents of Christchurch etc. Alternatives were also suggested to some solutions. Therefore businesses would have the choice of utilizing one solution instead of the other in order to resolve a certain issue. The positives and negatives of each solution have also been discussed in order to determine which one is more appropriate for a business than the other. My original thought on some of the issues and solutions has also been provided, since I have had my own decisions on the benefits and negatives of some of the solutions I have suggested. The recommendations made have proven to be successful in countries which have faced natural disasters in the past. For example, Japans businesses have been experiencing slow but steady recovery for their operations after the earthquake disaster which struck the country. It is also notable that with hard work anything can be accomplished. Therefore, the businesses of Christchurch should not give up hope and keep moving forward with their operations despite the traumas brought about by the earthquake disaster. It is important to address issues before trying to continue with a business operations because they affect the success of the companies greatly. The issues are of particular priority if they have been brought about by a natural disaster, since the solutions need to be ones which can be used again in the future, if such an event were to occur again. Even if the chances of another natural disaster are low in New Zealand, companies must always be prepared for whatever could happen. The smart businesses are the ones who take action via planning methods before a disaster strikes.

REFERENCES: Lowsky, Bram. 2010. The Shrinking Talent Pool: How To Keep Your Top People From Slipping Away. Right Management: 2. http://www.right.com/thought-leadership/enewsletter/the-shrinking-talent-pool-how-to-keep-your-workforce-from-slipping-away.pdf Stevenson, Joanne, Hlekiwe Kachali, Zachary Whitman, Erica Seville, John Vargo and Thomas Wilson. 2011. Preliminary Observations of the Impacts the 22nd February Christchurch Earthquake Had On Organizations and the Economy: Report From The Field. http://www.resorgs.org.nz/pubs/EconImpacts_22Feb_ChristchurchEarthquake%20JUNE%202011%20NZSEE.pdf Geary, Mark. 2012. Reaching Out Globally. HR Magazine: 23. http://www.asianetconsultants.com/Articles/ArtGlobal_Recruitment_in_a_Shrinking_Talent_Pool.pdf Voelker, Michael. The Shrinking Pool. Claims Technology: 54. http://web.ebscohost.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d670127b7f23-4d98-8ba7-07abef1c3b5d%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=123 Weightman, Mike. 2011. Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami: Implications for the UK Nuclear Industry. HSE: 62. http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/fukushima/interim-report.pdf Newlove, Pam. 2011. Focus On: New Zealand. Grant Thornton: 6. http://www.grantthornton.co.nz/Assets/documents/pubSeminars/focus-on-new-zealand2011.pdf Love, Tom. 2011. Population movement after natural disasters: a literature review and assessment of Christchurch data. Sapere Research Group: 2. http://www.srgexpert.com/Population%20movement%20after%20natural%20disasters%20 -%20%20a%20literature%20review%20and%20assessment%20of%20Christchurch%20data .pdf Preparing for the worst: Natural Disasters and Supply Chain Risk Management. 2009. FM Global. http://www.fmglobal.com/assets/pdf/P09179.pdf Improve Employee Morale. Queensland Government. http://www.ajml.com.au/downloads/resource-centre/references/managingpeople/Increase%20employee%20morale.pdf Survey on Corporate Attitudes towards the Effects of the Earthquake Disaster and Reconstruction Assistance. 2011. TDB: 1. http://static.globaltrade.net/files/pdf/2011041816140080.pdf