Analysis of Cadburys Best Practices - Essay Example

Section/# A Human Resource Review and Analysis of Cadbury’s Best Practices Contents: Introduction: 3 Analysis: 4 Performance Management: 360 Degree Feedback 4 Diversity: Self Analysis and Diversity Audits 5 Conclusion: 7 Reference List: 9 Introduction: For several decades the Very name has been associated with a company that has grown nearly exponentially. Yet, this growth is not by accident and many scholars did note that the level of success that can vary has been able to experience throughout the years is a direct result of not only of the good they produce and its overall level of reception by the consumer market but also based upon the way that it treats its employees. Essentially, the human resources approach that Cadbury has historically taken has been one that has set it apart from many other firms operating within similar industries during the same time periods. Since its inception, Cadbury has placed a fundamental level of focus upon the needs fulfillment and satisfaction of its employee base. Whereas market dynamics are prone to shift and the cost of production is guaranteed to rise, Cadbury has prided itself in seeking to ensure that the human resources approach is the one saying within the industry that remains static. As a function of seeking to define some of the best practices and common approaches that are exhibited within Very, the following analysis will focus specifically upon the means by which 360° feedback and an emphasis upon diversity within the company allows it to continue to maintain a level of relevance to the marketplace and continue to drive its profitability and success. Through such an examination it is the hope of this author that the reader can gain a more informed and analytical understanding of the way in which these best practices essentially equate to the success that Cadbury has been able to exhibit. Analysis: Performance Management: 360° Feedback Firstly, in terms of the importance and relevance that is placed upon 360° feedback, Very has been a visionary leader in establishing this as a market standard. Many companies review ongoing best practices of their competition as a means of seeking to adopt these changes and further boosted their own success within the market, employee satisfaction/motivation, and profitability (Price, 2011). Yet, Cadbury was an industry leader in terms of establishing 360° feedback prior to this ever being established norm of business behavior within many companies. Essentially, at its heart, Cadbury utilizes a process of peer review that is not fully rely upon quarterly or otherwise expected performance reviews to determine where individual stakeholders are, where they need to be, and what opportunities family leverage. It is this, race and commendation for best practices and extraordinarily high performance are also awarded by the 360° feedback framework established within its resources department and throughout its entire organization. Within the 360° the approach that Cadbury utilizes, the role and importance that supervisors play in making an employee plays a secondary position to the role and importance that the peers, coworkers, colleagues, and the individual employee themselves range (Nowack & Mashihi, 2012). This is of pivotal importance; due to the fact that supervisors clear as to what actual products were accomplished by food, and to what extent certain inputs had to be leveraged in order for these projects to be completed at all (Singh, 2012). By decentralizing the feedback process, the human resources department within Cadbury has been able to encourage a level of consistent and helpful review and analysis upon its different branches. Not only does this provide for a more insightful understanding of what is actually occurring – it also encourages input and analysis from individuals that might otherwise be ignored within the value chain. Diversity: Self Analysis and Diversity Audits Whereas all companies that operate within the United Kingdom are required to abide by certain standards of maintaining diversity, it is rather clearly understood by most analysts that companies which are extraordinarily successful within their trade are those that go above and beyond these norms and standards of diversity representation within their organization. Cadbury is one such company that has done just that (Garavan & McGuire, 2012). For instance, whereas Cadbury has always abiding by the law and sought to reflect an appropriate representation of different minorities and groups within their workforce, the firm also conducts regular diversity audits as a means of making sure that the company reflect the diversity of society and is adequately capable of meeting the needs that their consumers will reflect. Recognizing the fact that merely meeting standards that the government sets forward is not enough, Paris has gone to great lengths and expended a large amount of money to ensure that these diverse of the audits take place every one to three years; depending on employee turnover rates and other incoming data in terms of social diversity and potential disparities that might be evident (Akanda, 2013). Another best practice that Cadbury exhibits has to do with the way in which the company focuses upon managing the individual and not “managing the group”. Essentially, many firms that seek to employ a higher level of diversity within their respective departments fall into a lazy approach in which different groups are treated in different manners; depending on whether or not they are representative of a diverse group/minority or whether or not they ascribe to what can be termed as the majority. However, avoiding this pitfall, Cadbury has come to the understanding that the cultural integrity and success of the firm is best approach by speaking to the individual and by speaking to the entire organization as a whole. Speaking to the individual and their needs is affected through attempting to understand and reinforce the importance of diversity aspects in terms of the way in which managers and supervisors interact with staff members. Likewise, the means by which the group is engaged, the organization as a whole in other words, is by seeking to craft a culture that extends beyond issues that might become entangled within diversity and otherwise misunderstood by certain groups. Naturally, this is, just like the diversity audit, an ongoing process that must be engaged continually in order for a positive benefit ultimately be affected. Many other firms have attempted to catch up with Cadbury’s representation of diversity and the means by which it is managed. Although it is not the intention of Cadbury to continually maintain one step ahead of other industries, it has facilitated a level of heightened profitability and success that doubtless would not have been possible if Cadbury had only focus upon maintaining adherence to legal standards of diversity and representation within the workforce (Li et al., 2011). In almost an identical way to which the diverse of the audit is capable of understanding and defining overall levels of representation within the workforce, a similar process is performed, with little fanfare, that helps to craft a vision for the company that will be effectively engaged and resonate with the increasingly diverse workforce that Cadbury reflects (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). Without an overarching culture that is capable of promoting diversity and reassuring stakeholders that diversity is a prized element of the overall success that is able to be experience, the ultimate degree and extent to which any human resources program aimed at developing further diversity can succeed is obviously suspect. Conclusion: From the analysis that has been presented thus far, it is clear and apparent that Cadbury illustrates some extraordinary S practices in terms of both employee reward/motivation and in terms of diversity. Notwithstanding these next practices, it is always the case that further development and improvement can of course be made as a means of facilitating Cadbury’s continued success and dynamism within the food market industry. Likewise, one of the key recommendations that should be considered by any individual that is able to make decisions within Cadbury and has a level of management oversight has to do with the degree and extent to which an increasingly diverse, global, and multinational company can continue to reflect and encourage a level of cultural cohesion. In this sense, cultural cohesion is not meant to evoke an understanding that the individual employees should have a level of cultural similarity or cohesion. Instead, it refers to the fact that the corporate culture is one that must find a way of her dating the many boundaries that its approach to diversity has established. Whereas it is not the argument of this particular analyst that Cadbury’s diversity has weakened the firm, it is doubtless the case that a singular and unitary corporate culture finds it more difficult to be reflected within such a group of individuals. Likewise, a key recommendation would be that the company reviews its cultural and corporate approach; inclusive of vision and mission statement as a means of ensuring that all of its stakeholders are able to be encouraged and ultimately engaged based upon these determinants. Reference List: Akanda, A 2013, The Practicalities of Human Resources. Author House. Armstrong, M & Taylor, S 2014, Armstrongs handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Garavan, TN & McGuire, D 2010, Human resource development and society: Human resource development’s role in embedding corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics in organizations. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(5), 487-507. Li, J Chu, C WL Lam, KC & Liao, S 2011, Age diversity and firm performance in an emerging economy: Implications for cross‐cultural human resource management. Human Resource Management, 50(2), 247-270. Nowack, KM & Mashihi, S 2012, Evidence-based answers to 15 questions about leveraging 360-degree feedback. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 64(3), 157. Price, A 2011, Human resource management. Cengage Learning. Singh, H 2012, Training and Development: A Prominent Determinant for Improving HR Productivity. International Proceedings of Economics Development & Research, 37. Read More