What happens when HR policy fails?

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Policies are human constructs, and therefore not infallible. There can be many reasons why HR policies do not serve an organisation as well as they should, from issues with alignment to poor implementation. HR leaders who strive to design and implement good policy can learn a great deal from ineffective policies.

In this Key Concept Exercise, you will draw from your experience to identify and analyse a ‘failed’ HR policy that may have negatively impacted you, your co-workers or the organisation as a whole.

To prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:

• Read the required Learning Resources forWeek 1.
• Identify an example of an HR policy that was detrimental to an organisation you know well. This should not be a policy for which you were responsible – ideally, it will be a policy that impacted you or people you know as employees of the organisation.

To complete this Key Concept Exercise:

• In approximately 500 words, analyse why the policy you identified might have been ineffective. Consider alignment with business strategy, alignment with organisational culture, implementation issues or other issues.
• In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
  • Was the policy detrimental to the staff as well as the business, or did it favour one over the other?
  • Was the policy implemented as it was intended, or was something ‘lost in translation’?
  • Would the policy have been more effective in an organisation with a different type of culture?
  • Would the policy have been more effective in an organisation with different business goals or strategy?
• By Day 3, submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin.

When writing your responses you should synthesise the theory with real-world experience and use examples of the theories in action in a real organisation about which you have read or one in which you have worked.

Be sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.

The Key Concept Exercise for this week is not graded, but you will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you improve your work. Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your Instructor’s feedback. Give the assignment your full effort and ask for clarification on any feedback you do not understand.