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Losing It By Diane L. Case Study

44). Clearly, human resources has to be closely involved in this decision and the intervention, because there are so many legal implications for the company. If handled poorly, Katharina has numerous grounds to sue this global organization, and that could be disastrous to the company's reputation and bottom line. This situation indicates the need for specific human resource planning, and how it is imperative for an organization to develop crisis plans, not only for natural disasters and emergencies, but for employee emergencies, as well. This is extremely important not only to save Katharina's overall mental health, but also to spare the organization from lawsuits and sexual harassment suits, which could be extremely damaging to the organization. Harry should not make his decision alone that is clear. He needs guidance from human resources, the firm's legal advisors, and medical personnel, and he needs to get that guidance quickly, before Katharina implodes. This case is a human resources nightmare, because there are so many variables and there is no one, clear conclusion. The many factors that face HR include everything from creating a new organizational culture that includes recognizing the signs of mental illness to ensuring Harry handles the problem without implicating or damaging the company in any way. If Harry handles it inelegantly, Katharina could have numerous reasons to sue, and human resources would be right in the middle of this employee rights case. If Katharina baulks at the intervention or other attempts to get her help, she could create a terrible problem for HR to manage,...

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HR needs to develop a strategy on how to deal with her, and quickly, and they have to face that her situation may bring unwanted attention on the company from the outside. They also have to ensure that other employees do not become dissatisfied with Katharina's treatment, lest they become disgruntled or angry over what they could see as "kid-glove" treatment of a "crazy" person. This is extremely important because it has so many implications for the company's legal risk. Lawsuits are the most common legal issue, but in this case, there could be many other implications, from medical to psychological, and they could cripple the company if they went too far. It is extremely clear that human resources must develop a plan of action for cases like these, and they need to develop that before any other problems like this arise.
Personally, for the most effectiveness in this situation, Karl and Harry, and perhaps another human resource strategist have to intervene, and quickly. Katharina needs help, and they need to take responsibility for her getting that help. Human resource planning should immediately begin developing a comprehensive plan to deal with situations like these, since they seem to be so common, and they should begin training managers how to spot mental illness. This is essential to maintain the human capital and competency of the organization.

References

Coutu, D.L., Jamison, K.R., Meen, D.E. Pearlstine, N., and Primus, R. (2004). Losing it.

Harvard Business Review; Vol. 82 Issue 4, p. 37-42.

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References

Coutu, D.L., Jamison, K.R., Meen, D.E. Pearlstine, N., and Primus, R. (2004). Losing it.

Harvard Business Review; Vol. 82 Issue 4, p. 37-42.
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