Human Resource Management assignment focusing on the HR practices of Commonwealth Bank Australia

Question

Task: How to identify HR practices to be implemented by the commonwealth bank Australia using Human Resource Management assignment research methods?

Answer

Introduction
This report is associated with the examination of the issues that affect the human resource practices of the company. Factors associated with the external environment can impact the performance of the company that can further impact the operations overseas. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a financial services company that will be focused on in the report in order to understand the functions that help in sustaining the position in the overseas market. This report is significant in determining the external factors that can have an impact on the practices associated with human resources. Therefore, significant strategies will also be recommended in order to help company mitigate the issues associated with external factors.

Background of the company
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is an Australian company that operates in the banking sector and specialise in providing financial services to its customers. It is a multinational company operating across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It offers a variety of financial services such as business and institutional banking, retail, superannuation, insurance, broking, and investment services (Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). The company is successful in fulling the demand of the customers which as a result helps them in gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors. The company specifically considers New Zealand as a country where most of the revenue is generated. Its constitutional part was the commonwealth savings bank of Australia, Commonwealth trading Bank of Australia, and Commonwealth development bank. The organisation is effective in performing the CSR practices across its units.

Figure 1: Total assets of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) from financial year 2012 to 2021.
(Source:Statiata, 2022)

The above graph shows the rise of assets of the company since 2012. The company is located across 875 branches and has 2,492 active ATMs. 43, 858 are the total employees working with the company. The company’s recruitment process is strong in terms of selecting highly efficient and talented individuals. The firm is significantly focused on hosting New Zealand as a country where operations can be improved and made more efficient with great and efficient human resource management. There are some external factors such as covid-19, political, and economic which are impacting the HR practices of the company. This has been impacting the performance of the company’s branches in New Zealand and Australia. These external environments can become a massive risk to the growth of the company which can further affect the overall revenue generation capability of the company (Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). Therefore, the managers and leaders of the company are striving towards improving its management system in order to mitigate the issues that occur due to external environmental factors. This will help build and maintain a competitive advantage over the competitors.

HR policies and practices
There are several HR policies and practices that the organisation performs. The main job of HR is to manage the employees’ payroll effectively. This involves offering employees competitive salaries and staying in compliance with the government rules and legislation. HR of the company is effective in managing the payroll system of the employees which as a result ensure an effective movement of capitals within the organisation (Krithika, et al., 2019). This allows in keeping the salary record on track. According to The Minimum wage Act, 1948, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has set a particular wage for skilled as well unskilled workers. The act ensures that the employees earn the salary capable of clearing necessary living expenses. Also, as per The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 states that the employees should receive their concerned or agreed salary on time regardless of any unwanted deductions. This policy is also considered in New Zealand Branch.

Code of conduct is the organisation’s policy associated with its mission, vision, and ethics. This policy is mandated in order to ensure positive behaviour and maintain discipline while at the workplace. According to this policy, employees need to adhere to the rules. This HR policy involves, conflict of interest, electronic usage policy, equal rights to all. If employees break the rules of the company, then they may be imposed with penalties. Employee training and development is also one of the most effective HR practices that helps Commonwealth Bank of Australia experience increased business performance results(Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). This practice helps in developing the skills of the employees which as a result improves the overall performance and productivity of the organisation. Leaders employ significant tools and techniques that helps engage the employees for skill development practices which as a result increases the efficiency of the employees (Cristiani and Peiró, 2019). Employees training play a critical role in the organisation management practices as it associated with developing skill among the employees. Also, HR of the company is also responsible for providing access to knowledge and tools to the employees. Better accessibility to the tools and machinery is a way to teach the employees about the usability of the tools, otherwise, theoretical learning is more helpful to the limited extend. Compensation and benefits are a fundamental HR policy that Commonwealth Bank of Australia has mandated in order to improve the performance of the employees(Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). Organisation has specially mandated this policy in the all the branches mainly in New Zealand.

Impact of External environmental Factors on the HR practices
There are several external environments that are responsible for creating impact on the HR practices of the company. Covid-19 is one of the main factors that is responsible for the respective concern. Covid-19 has impacted the organisational practices and its operations. Commonwealth Bank of Australia has faced a lot of issues due to this factor. This factor has affected the working conditions of the company which as result has affected the performance of the organisation in host country too. Pandemic has imposed social distancing norms which has bought remote working concept(Gurmu, 2020). Remote working has remained fruitful for the company but specifically impactful for the management and its employees (Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). Employees were facing challenges while performing their duties and operations due to poor connectivity and engagement. This has drastically affected the HR norms of the company. Leaders have remained successful in mitigating the issues, however, remained unsuccessful in overcoming them from the root.

Pandemic has also caused economic instability in Australia and New Zealand due to which has affected the performance of the firm. Currency exchange and money transaction practices were reduced due to which the organisation has faced loss and financial crises (Commonwealth Bank Australia, 2022). Therefore, the organisation has several faced challenges due to the Covid-19 which as a result has reduced the profitability and performance of the firm on the international level. This has also led to unemployment, economic recession, and societal collapse. Also, the organisation was not capable of meeting the expanses of manufacturing and credits taken from debtors. This has affected the overall performance and productivity of the firm. Economic instability has reduced the access to the resources which are necessary for operating in the competitive environment of banking industry. Employees were not capable of performing duties through manual techniques. Leaders were unable to provide resources and technologies for training purposes too (Cooke, et al., 2020). This has bought uncertainties in working conditions of the company. Therefore, the organisation has taken significant steps to combat all the respective issues. In order to improve operational performance, organisation has chosen effective methods and techniques that possess potential in mitigating the negative impact of the respective issues.

Changes made in response to environmental Factors
There are several changes which are made in response to environment factors. One of the most significant steps that has taken is associated with improving network connectivity for better employee connectivity. It organisation has significantly focuses towards the network and connectivity between the remote workers as in the uncertain times, this was the only way that could solve this massive problem, otherwise the organisation may have experienced a sudden loss of revenue. Another basic improvement that the organisation has focused towards was employee training and development. This is the only way through which the skills the employees can be improved on a faster rate in order to get the enhance the overall performance of the organisation. It is important for the firm to get into a more skilful mindset in order to create a competitive upliftment’s in the management of the organisation. Employees have observed a sudden growth in their working patterns (Memon, et al., 2020). Also, in such stressful times and uncertainty, leaders have provided flexibility to their employees in order to improve their performance. 5 days working was mandated while remote working. This has improved an overall performance of the employees (Kaabi, et a., 2018). Hence. These changes have helped the companies in mitigating the challenges associated with the environmental factors.

Recommendations
There are several strategies and human resource policies that can help the organisation in mitigating the challenges associated external environmental factors. One of the most significantly and effective strategy is employee development and skill improvement. This is a strategy associated with employee training that can help in improving the overall skillset of the employees for the collective improvement of the firm(Memon, et al., 2020). This can uplift the overall efficiency of the firm. It is important for the firm to improve its working conditions and organisational culture in order to build and maintain a competitive edge in the rivalry market of banking. It is important for the firm to creates a compatible working environment with working ethics imposed in the company’s policies and rules(Cooke, et al., 2020). This can help in motivating the employees towards performing their duties with whole determination and awareness. This can help in inspiring the employees towards following the basic working ethics. Effective leadership practices can help leading the employees more effectively and efficiency. This can help in guiding the employees towards following their job roles as a prior duty. Leaders can make the employees capable of performing their duties extreme efficiency and effectiveness. Also, adoption of technology can lead to create flexibility in the working conditions of the management. Monitoring of employee performance is the main duty of HRM; therefore, it can be managed through the elimination of manual techniques and adoption of advanced technologies(Memon, et al., 2020). These ways can help the organisation in managing its operations more effectively which as a result can overcome the negative impact of the external environment. Providing compensation benefits to the employees can help in motivating them towards performing their duties more effectively. Leaders must ensure that employees are getting benefits as it helps in improving the overall working culture of the organisation.

Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that Commonwealth Bank of Australia has set a specific wage structure for all the employees. This act ensures that the workers earn the salary compatible for clearing necessary living expenses. Also, as per The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 posits that the works can receive their agreed salary on time without any unwanted deductions. Employees training and technology adoption are the two main strategies that needs to be adopted in order to improve the performance of the employees. This would enhance the working patterns of HR management.

References
Commonwealth Bank Australia., 2022. Economic research & insights. [Online]. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/newsroom.html#:~:text=CBA%20announces%20an%20increase%20in,lower %20loan%20loss%20pr...[Acccessed on: 26.05.2022].
Commonwealth Bank Australia., 2022. Reimagining Banking. [Online]. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/newsroom.html#:~:text=CBA%20announces%20an%20increase%20in,lower %20loan%20loss%20pr...[Acccessed on: 26.05.2022].

Cooke, F.L., Dickmann, M. and Parry, E., 2020. Important issues in human resource management: introduction to the 2020 review issue. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(1), pp.1-5.
Cristiani, A. and Peiró, J.M., 2019. Calculative and collaborative HRM practices, turnover and performance: Evidence from Uruguay. International Journal of Manpower.42(2), pp.1-5.
Gurmu, A.T., 2020. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation of human resource management practices influencing construction labour productivity. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.21(3), p.77
Kaabi, A.A.A., Elanain, H.A. and Ajmal, M.M., 2018. HRM practices and innovation performance with the mediating effect of knowledge sharing: Empirical evidence from Emirati ICT companies. International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 24(1), pp.41-61. Krithika, J., DivyaPriyadharshini, N. and GokulaPriya, J., 2019. Green HRM-Practices In Organisations. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), 21(3), p.74.

Memon, M.A., Salleh, R., Mirza, M.Z., Cheah, J.H., Ting, H., Ahmad, M.S. and Tariq, A., 2020. Satisfaction matters: the relationships between HRM practices, work engagement and turnover intention. International Journal of Manpower. Statiata., 2022. Total assets of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) from financial year 2012 to 2021. [Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/692561/commonwealth-bank-of-australia-total-assets/ [Acccessed on: 26.05.2022].