Organizational Analysis and Current Operations at AT and T Inc - Research Paper Example

Organizational Analysis al Affiliation Organizational Analysis Introduction AT&T Inc. is an American multinational corporation in the telecommunications industry, headquartered at Whitacre Tower, downtown Dallas in Texas. The firm is the largest provider of fixed telephony, and the second largest provider of mobile telephony in the U.S. AT&T Inc. furthermore is also engaged in the provision of broadband subscription television services, thereby widening its market reach in the lucrative telecommunications sector. In addition, the telecommunications giant is also the third largest entity in the state, being the largest in Dallas. Globally, the entity is rated at the 23rd largest firm-entity in terms of composite scale measurements of assets, market value, revenues and profits. AT&T Inc.: Current Operations Importantly, the entity is rated as the 20th-largest mobile telecom operator globally, providing key telecommunication services to an estimated 120 million plus mobile subscribers. Throughout its years, from the initial government-authorized monopoly of phone services (the Bell System) when the entity was the largest phone company globally, to the 1982 breakup of the monopoly by U.S. regulators, it has been a force to reckon with. As Smith (2013) presents, through subsequently created subsidiaries, the entity was able to be re-founded, after the 2005 SBC acquisition of the former parent company. Further expansion has been witnessed since 2013, when the entity planned entry into Latin America through partnership with America Movil. Additionally, through agreed purchase of DirecTV in 2014, the entity further aims at widening its consumer base to include the fast-growing Latin American market arena. Further acquisition of Mexico’s Iusacell and NII Holdings is expected to solidify its presence in the wider North American frontier. Globally, the entity also offers a variety of services in different locations spread around the Asia Pacific (Smith, 2013). Human Resource Management Human resource management (HRM/HR) pertains to the functional role-play present within organizational entities, designed specifically towards maximizing existing employee performance. As Collings and Wood (2009) portray, this is mainly in terms of service of the employer’s core strategic objectives. Accordingly, HR primarily is concerned with the manner in which individuals are managed within various organizations, focusing keenly on present systems and policies. Such responsibility falls upon existing HR departments and associate units within organizations. These are mainly tasked with a variety of core activities such as employee hiring/ recruitment, their subsequent development and training, as well as rewarding and performance appraisal. Furthermore, HR is keenly concerned with existing and potential industrial relations. This pertains to the balancing of existing organizational practices through informed regulations, which arise from government laws/ regulations and collective bargaining (Collings & Wood, 2009). In the contemporary globalized working environment, a majority of firm-entities are continuously striving on how to best lower employee turnover rates This is in addition to their retention of the knowledge, expertise and talent held by their workforces. Informative is that new hiring processes not only entail increased expenditure, but also portend to the lack of effective flow of processes and service quality by newcomers. Accordingly, HR departments continuously strive to offer a variety of benefits which are appealing to their workforces, aiming at reducing overall risk of losing critical knowledge through employee turnover (Conaty & Ram, 2011). As Ulrich (1996) portends, the functions of HRM are as follows: listening and adequately responding to existing employees, the re-engineering of prevailing organizational processes, the aligning of business strategy and HR, and the management of change and transformation. In addition, HR is tasked with overseeing organizational culture and leadership at the macro-level. Furthermore as a department, HR also ensures the entity’s compliance with existing labor and employment laws. This is as influenced by the organization’s location/ geography, in addition to supervising security, safety and the health of the workforce. The presence of trade Unionism further adds to the role-play of HR, where employees are legally authorized and desire to hold ‘collective bargaining agreements.’ Consequently, HR typically serves as the entity’s primary liaison with pertinent labor unions which represent employees. Thus, through representatives, HR engages in diverse lobbying efforts with different entities such as: pertinent governmental agencies and trade unions (Ulrich, 1996). Organizational HR: Hiring Practices and Challenges Due to the complex nature of the AT&T parent company, in terms of role-play and management of pertinent subsidiaries, as well as partnerships, the HR management processes are uniquely specific. As a global entity, AT&T is a leader in terms of employee development. This is in terms of talent acquisition, learning services, HR support and international HR operations. The presence of college development programs that recruit students of undergraduate and graduate levels are primarily designed with the aim of hiring future leaders of the organization. The aforementioned programs are exceptional, being structured towards providing wide-ranging on-the-job experiences. This is across the entity’s sectors i.e. General Leadership, Technology and Sales. Typically, the entity hires well over 1,000 individual graduates in both full-time and internship roles. A variety of challenges that were however prevalent in the entity’s overall hiring processes included: - issues concerning uptake of employees of acquired entities, the streamlining of work procedures at various subsidiaries, future and existing concerns pertinent to the deregulation of the information-services and telecommunications sector, corporate downsizing, operational growth, and employee retention vis-à-vis turnover While hiring fresh talent from universities and colleges was an added advantage, the lack of strong mutual relationships with staff and faculties reduced maximum gains to be acquired. Additionally, interns were less engaged in terms of experience, skillful and technical know-how exchange. Some of these issues have been successfully tackled, through effects such as integration of new technologies and processes, multi-platform interconnectivity, continued training and retention of talent and work-specific hiring processes. Recommendations to AT&T’s HRM In order to get the best qualified human resource, the entity’s HR has initiated different measures such as: the new AT&T College Recruiting team, delivering the best-possible engaging experiences for its interns (especially during summer) and the establishment of an executive ambassador program. As Smith (2013) eludes, delivery of the best attractive experience for its existing interns increases the likelihood of the entity’s conversion rates (of interns) for opportunities on a full-time basis. The executive ambassador program engages senior AT&T executives, who work with various teams towards recruiting the best human resource. This is achieved via opportunities such as speaking at events, representing of the entity at various schools’ administration and enhanced collaboration with pertinent university senior faculties. This is achievable through the AT&T College Recruiting team ventures into the diverse colleges and universities in the U.S. which provide accredited degrees and services in telecommunications (Smith, 2013). A factor that however needs to be put into consideration is the continuously dynamic nature of the technology field. This necessitates AT&T as well as other employers to look for employees having diverse skills. Accordingly, a recommendation that I would provide would be to aim at hiring and retaining a workforce that is not only qualified in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths, but more so employees possessing a mix of requisite 21st century skill-sets. Such skills would be vital in such fields as the entity’s retail stores, where employees (both potential and existing) need to possess technical proficiency. This is especially vital in regard to not only explaining to the entity’s consumers about its various services and products, but also in the need to enhance responsibility skills, professionalism, verbal communication and teamwork. Fundamentally, the entity’s technical sales positions necessitate strong foundations in STEM (aforementioned). However more so, is the need for entrepreneurial know-how critical in understanding prevailing customer pain points (Conaty & Ram, 2011). This is essential in the subsequent crafting of pertinent technical solutions vital in solving such existing and potential business problems. Further informative is the fact that due to the evolving nature of technology service provision, future and current employees need to also evolve. This is majorly in terms of enhancing their technology-centric roles, in line with emerging technology within Digital Life, Cloud, mobile business solutions and Security. This accordingly necessitates demand for talent, especially those which posses expertise in architecting solutions and developing business requirements. Thus, there is need for enhanced training and targeting of employees with IP expertise. This is in addition to increasing recruitment of software engineers possessing expertise in micro controls and RF protocol. Furthermore, its various software developers need to possess expertise in Web User Interface development, especially in working on Ruby on Rails and HTML5 (Smith, 2013). Conclusion While AT&T continues to both recruit and subsequently employ the brightest professional and technical talent in the telecommunications industry, there is need to evolve with the changing times. Accordingly, as the entity’s customer base and U-verse footprint expands, so is the need to enhance uptake of qualified personnel. Such employees should not only posses superior technical skills, but also pertinent customer service skills. Critical is that its B2B sales teams need to further develop their expertise into effective solution-based sellers. Such employees should be focused on selling various service and product suites, which work in tandem towards meeting the entity‘s consumer needs, wants and desires. The ‘selling’ employees are required to utilize both their business and technical/ technological acumen, with the aim of designing pertinent technical solutions which are critical towards solving various business problems brought forth by the entity’s diverse clientele. References Collings, DG & Wood, G. (2009). Human resource management: A critical approach (Eds.). London: Routledge. Conaty, B & Ram, C. (2011). The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders put People before Numbers. Crown Publishing Group. Smith, S. (2013, Oct 23). What Sets AT&T Apart as a Leader in Employee Recruitment? Argyle Conversations, by Argyle Executive ForumSM, retrieved from: http://www.oracle.com/us/c-central/chro-solutions/scott-smith-att-argyle-2061599.pdf Ulrich, D. (1996). Human Resource Champions. The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Read More