The largest customer of a small consulting firm demands that the project manager terminate an employee for poor performance or the customer will terminate its contract immediately. The account project manager has documented the employee's performance as meeting expectations, there is no documentation to support a termination, and there is no place to transfer the employee to.

The HR manager conducts a comprehensive investigation and learns that the employee and the customer had a verbal disagreement about how the employee had classified specific expenses and how it affects the customer's budget. The confrontation was significant but did not involve any unacceptable language. In addition, the employee's classification was technically correct; however, a reclassification was also acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles. The project manager was unaware of this conflict. The HR manager concludes that the employee did not follow the policy that requires an employee to advise the supervisor of a client issue. Because such a conflict could significantly harm the company's business, the policy states that an employee can be disciplined up to and including termination for this violation.

What steps should the company take with the customer to improve communication and ensure that all employees are aligned with how information should be communicated going forward?

A vice president (VP) of HR has responsibility for multiple manufacturing sites and is responsible for teams of HR managers and generalists that support each location. All locations operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day. These teams cover all shifts, providing support. Each location is in the process of rolling out updated policies, including enhancements to the company's progressive disciplinary process and an ethics policy that focuses on commitment to mutual respect, ethical decision making, and integrity.

One day, after the VP of HR has left her office, she receives a call from a site HR generalist. The generalist tells the VP that when he returned from his dinner break, the HR office appeared to have been ransacked. Books were thrown on the floor, and name tags were torn off doors and thrown into the trash. The generalist also reports that when security checked the cameras, they reached the conclusion that the site HR manager had done the damage and then had left the facility.

The VP knows that the site HR manager has a volatile personality and has been counseled about it previously. The VP also has recently discovered that the manager has been drinking routinely after work and wonders if the ransacking of the office occurred when the manager returned to the office after a drinking session.

The following day, members of the HR team separately contact the HR VP with concerns about the incident. Which action should the VP take address the concerns of the HR team?

The CEO of a manufacturing company decides that the organization needs to be restructured immediately in order to support current business needs. Productivity has been declining due to low employee satisfaction and engagement, particularly on the second shift where there are mostly new employees with only one manager. The CEO decides to implement a team-based work structure, believing that work decisions need to be made by the employees doing the work. The managers are to act as coaches for production teams and the employees are to act as team members, with each team electing a team leader. An HR consultant is brought in to help implement the new structure and provide training on team dynamics and collaboration in the workplace.

The structure has been implemented, and the organization is struggling with operating in the new model. Decisions that were once made quickly are now delayed due to confusion of roles and a lack of ownership among team members and coaches. Morale is low, tensions are high, and turnover is rising. Conflicts arise constantly between first and second shift teams because of incomplete work, and shipments are slipping.

The teams have decided to conduct performance evaluations on one another; however, no members want to address poor performance. What is the best action the HR consultant can take to ensure a fair evaluation process while respecting the decision of the teams?

How does the concept of civil law apply to the practice of HR?

A small publishing firm believes that it is too small to benefit from strategic planning. Which short-term benefit is the best choice for HR to use in influencing leaders to begin the strategic planning process?