General Electrics Top Management Team - Case Study Example

Running Header: CASE STUDY: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: CASE STUDY: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Human resources at General Electric are considered to be the most significant benefits to the organization. Strategic human resource management involves striking a balance between employees’ needs and company’s objectives. It involves the integration of human resource strategies, policies and practices with human resource planning, job analysis and design thus committing to the organization values as well as its mission as argued by Cardy & Miller (2003). Human resource management strategy at General Electric Company has been evaluated based on soft and hard approaches. A soft approach to strategic human resource management at General Electric Company is replicated in the way the employee is being resourceful rather than just being a resource. This has attributed to the gain of various performance parameters like communication, motivation and leadership. This has enhanced commitment and loyalty among its employees thus a great improvement on job satisfaction. The organization’s hard approach to human resource management refers an employee as a resource or commodity thus equivalent to the company’s assets. General Electric’s top management team raises concern when there is inefficient supply or underperformance with regard to organizational goals. Therefore, human resource is considered as capital to assist in attaining monetary benefits. A hard approach used at General Electric confirms its business aspects based on significant scheming as well as aiding in thorough check of its assets. Furthermore, hard approach has a relation with performance based incentives, rewards, appraisals and recruitment. The modes of recruitment pattern at General Electric are classified into ethnocentric, polycentric and geocentric. Ethnocentric mode implies that the company’s head quarter is entitled to make all the major decisions to be adopted by its subsidiaries on provision of the necessary inputs. Polycentric mode refers to a situation where the subsidiary performs the major task of running the business following directives from a local employee. This is due to consideration that the head quarter doesn’t have adequate information of local area activities. Finally, geometric mode refers to the use of a set of skilled managers appointed from company’s different branches. This enables the company to tap diverse knowledge to be applied at various working levels as argued by Arthur (1994). The company’s recognition and reward system reflects its good will and attitude towards motivating its employees as well as showing its intention and organizational culture as a whole. General electric’s remuneration system is linked to performance of its staff. However, considering varied international environment, different economic systems, changing institutional and political phenomena, and varied development level makes it difficult to attain an even method for comparison as illustrated by Thompson, etal, (1992). Analysis of performance appraisals determines employees to undergo training, demotion, promotion, those to be retained or fired. General Electric’s human resource policies emphasizes on imparting the right skills thus achieve set goals through focusing on employees’ growth and personality development with of the company thus greatly improving employee efficiency. The company invests sufficient funds on yearly basis towards development and training of workers thus up to date with emerging technologies. However, when it deems very necessary e.g. during times of economic recession general electric adopts cost cutting measures which involves reducing working staff, pay freeze and appointing employees on cheap contracts. Based on my case study, General Electric is fully committed towards maintaining a mixture of both human processes (soft) and human capital (hard) strategy. General Electric’s comprehensive human resource strategy has played a crucial role towards attaining its overall strategic objectives ranging from short term to long term. The organization has ensured at all times that it has right staff possessing the right mix of skills, its employees are developed in the right way thus display the right attitudes and behaviors as illustrated by Thompson, etal, (1992). PART 2 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The organization’s human resource strategy adds value by articulating previously unidentified common themes which may lead to realization of other unutilized plans and strategies. It also identifies fundamental issues to be addressed to motivate the staff that in turn makes them to be committed and operate efficiently. Strategic human resource planning is applied by the company to show a formal top-down staff driven process; workable when external changes occur at a systematic and gradual pace. However, at a faster pace, human resource planning changes more frequently and often guided by events rather than being made on a predetermined time schedule as argued by Byars & Rue (2003). General Electric company engages human resource planning process proactively to shape its working environment thus maximize effectiveness. However, human resource planning is not exclusively top-down process; input may come from different organizational level since at times credible business ideas may come from staff at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. After putting in place human resource planning, the organization designs and aligns its human resource management practices and policies to achieve organizational success. Furthermore, human resource planning determines quantity and quality of General Electric’s human resources needed towards its total force. As argued by Byars & Rue (2003), a strategic human resource system is guided by these plans, policies and practices. These parameters contain the required mechanisms to impinge on necessary skills, productivity, performance and development of staff. The company also lays emphasis on delivering its business goals through continuous identification and adoption of modern human resource management policies and practices. The organization has structured its work and offers design training. Management of its performance, workers’ pay, and reward policies aids staff members to achieve anticipated organizational outcomes. This is a clear indication that it integrates and aligns human resource management policies and practices to strengthen workers’ behavior; a very critical communication and management tool between staff and leaders. Job Analysis and Design General Electric’s human resource management practices and policies involves outsourcing its non-core duties, allowing flexible work practices among its employees’ and increased use of upcoming information technology. Cost-benefit analysis is evaluated before implementation of new human resource management policies and practices (Fine & Cronshaw 1999). The organization calculates the cost of putting in place a new job grading system against the benefits to be achieved; helps in choosing a more cost effective option which could be available to the organization. Certain strategic objectives of the organization are supported by human resource management policies and practices. A good example is depicted by the retention of women in the organization or promotion of diversity to represent some designated groups amongst the senior management team. The company has adopted a good approach in choosing the most appropriate human resource management procedures, policies, and practices thus supporting organization’s strategic intent in relation to staff recruitment, training, planning of their career and reward management. The Company through its relevant staff member has determined future business requirements in relation to the manpower thus tackling the most prominent task encountered by majority of human resource practitioners. Development of a formidable job design is considered by the company as a crucial component of its human resource strategies. Based on case study analysis, workforce and succession planning within the company has recently revived thus being given great consideration unlike the past (Schermerhorn, etal, 1997). This has been attributed by the need to develop skills to be applied at the place of work, ensure that equity is exercised during employment and set achievable numerical employment equity targets. The company’s workforce planning helps in identifying its workforce competencies thus develop strategies to meet its requirements as well as set strategic goals. Job design process employed at General Electric enables its managers to make informed human resource decisions based on various strategic plans, mission, available budgetary resources and set of required workforce competencies. Workforce planning is an integrated process which helps the company to determine the required human capital; evaluate the required number of skilled workers that is when and where they will be needed (Schermerhorn, etal, 1997). Workforce planning also helps the company to come up with what must be undertaken to retain the number and efficient type of workers. It is worth noting that the company has compiled workforce profiles, identified designated groups, done an inventory of the current and future required workforce competencies, and identified existing gaps between competencies. The company also lays great concern on recruiting, hiring, classification, offering training and assigning duties based on its strategic workforce plan. The company has done a comprehensive check on the required workforce thus setting training priorities based on the current and future human resource plans. General Electric at times adopts emerging recruitment practices known to increase representation of various designated groups and also acquiring the most essential skills to the organization. It is quite evident that the company evaluates recruitment and selection practices in prior view of organization’s strategic objectives. Secondly, through effective training need analysis, General Electric generates and implements a comprehensive skills plan of the workplace. Furthermore, it also implements various learning and development strategies; acquisition of new concepts through a life long learning process needs to form an integral component of employee investment as argued by Schermerhorn, etal, (1997). Lastly, it clarifies, does critical analysis on category classification before adopting the most relevant occupational level. The organization measures effectively the rate at which different inputs affects its performance. Definite measures are in place to quantify staff’s contribution to the company’s overall outcome and also evaluate the effect of changes in policies, practices, systems and processes. The company’s career planning, employee development, management of rewards and performance appraisals is done with reference to its set objectives, vision and mission as reflected in human resource management plans, policies and practices. REFERENCES Arthur, J 1994, Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turn over, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 37, no.3, pp. 670-687. Byars, W & Rue, L 2003, Human Resource Management. In: Human Resource Management, McGraw-Hill, New York. Cardy, R & Miller J 2003, Technology: Implications for the HRM. In D. Stone (Ed.) Advances in human performance and cognitive engineering (pp.99-117), Elsevier Science, Oxford. Fine, S. & Cronshaw, S 1999, Functional job analysis: A foundation for human resources management. Erlbaum, New Jersey. Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn 1997, Performance Management and Rewards. [Book]. Organizational Behavior, Cengage learning, New York, pp.116-126. Thompson, A & Jr. Strickland, A 1992, Strategic Management – Concepts and Cases, Von Hoffman Press, London, pp. 265-68. Read More