Strategy. Discuss the role of matching Human Resource strategies/techniques to overall organizational goals. Using the case example below discuss how you would approach it if you were in charge of the HR Department and want to support the achievement of the agency’s goals. What would you do in terms of planning, recruitment, training, job descriptions, supervision structure, etc.? Why? How would you manage the relationship between the two offices? What, if any, policies and practices would be different between the two offices? Why?
Acme Legal is a mid-sized nonprofit that provides a range of legal services to low income individuals and families. Their fifty employees include 20 attorneys with the rest being paralegals, managers, and support staff and all are located on one floor of the same building. There is very little turnover and the staff is stable and overall performance has been very good for over a decade, in part to very clear policies and procedures, clear and narrow job descriptions, a bureaucratic and “high control” “top down” management style and a formal, conservative culture. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do and how to do it. New funding has been obtained and the Board of Directors has set a goal for the agency to develop a satellite office in a town 50 miles away. In addition to the legal services like those provided at the main office, this one will offer a wide range of counseling and case management services and a drop-in recreational center for teenagers. Staff will need to be much more flexible and informal in order to meet the needs of the teenagers and engage the community in order to obtain clients and acceptance.
