National Lewis and Clark Corporation - Case Study Example

1. For a growing company like National Lewis and Clark Corporation (NL&C) whose workforce is expected grow increasingly diverse, incorporating diversity is essential in improving a company's overall bottom-line (Velasquez, 2004a). One company that succeeded in this regard is Nestl. Honored as the "Best International Company for Leadership Development"; Nestl's philosophy is built around fostering inclusiveness among employees and customers. As Nestl's CEO describes it, the company's philosophy is grounded on the belief that there is no global customer, but rather only a local one, which in Nestl's case translates to 86 distinct environment profiles from 86 different countries (Reichlin, 2004). In this respect, diversity within Nestl is viewed as an opportunity, which enables the company's managers to fully adapt to its 86 foreign markets by integrating a diverse set of cultures, allowing them to become more responsive to its customers' needs. Thus, Nestl's philosophy focuses on developing a diverse workforce, which mirrors the needs of its equally diverse consumer. Furthermore, Nestl, together with other European companies, views diversity as "inseparably intertwined" with leadership development (Reichlin, 2004). Hence to effectively incorporate diversity, Nestl focuses on more than just developing a diverse workforce, but on integrating diversity with leadership training and advancement and workforce retention and recruitment. 2. Two notable diversity initiatives implemented in Nestl lies in its value-added leadership approach and emphasis on the company's leadership training program focused on honing its internal workforce for top management positions (Reichlin, 2004). First, through its value-added leadership, Nestl successfully develops a highly-motivated workforce, where minor employees are given the chance to excel and play larger roles within the organization. As Reichlin (2004) explains it, everyone, regardless of their position, are given responsibilities within in the company insofar as they add value to the firm, hence fostering inclusiveness. Its leadership training program, on the other hand, fosters collaboration and cooperation across the management spectrum. One characteristic of this program is its focus on mentoring. By giving one-on-one attention and monitoring potential leaders' development and maturity, Nestl succeeds in maintaining its employees' original cultures while integrating individuals into their corporate culture and honing them for advancement to top-management positions. Furthermore, company executives also gain better knowledge regarding its workforce, allowing them to make better decisions with regard to diversity. 3. Taking Nestl and other top companies' experiences as benchmark, several key practices can be identified. First, as stressed by European companies, lead by Air Liquide chairman Benoit Potier, "Diversity has to become a manager's policy", such that apart from assembling a diverse workforce, company leaders must also learn how to manage such diversity (Reichlin, 2004). Second, companies must understand that successful diversity training lies in the collaboration of internal employees, management and staff, with the guidance of external consultants (Velasquez 2004b), such as the role IMD played in the success of Nestl. In this respect, diversity training must also be inclusive and integrative. Hence, companies must strive to ensure that differences co-exist harmoniously in a manner that benefits both the workforce and company. Fourth, companies must ensure that diversity training takes into consideration a company's employees and its customer base. As Velasquez (2004b) explains, effective diversity policies accommodate the needs of its customers to improve its bottom-line, while ensuring that employee diversity suffices these needs. Lastly, diversity training must be understood not as an end in itself, but as a means to improve the company's bottom-line (Velasquez 2004a). 4. Prior to any diversity initiative, companies must first begin with "building a case for diversity" (Velasquez, 2004a). As Velasquez (2004a) explains, diversity is an opportunity, which companies can only benefit from if its implementation is inclusive, integrative and collaborative (Durkin, 2004). In this respect, it requires the support of a company's entire internal workforce in order to succeed. However, as a major organizational change, it is not surprising for a workforce to react to such change with resistance. Hence, to generate support and cooperation from both employees and management alike, implementing diversity requires making a "business case" supported by facts and statistics, "not because it is the right thing to do", but rather because it is what the company needs (Durkin, 2004). Furthermore, because diversity is an opportunity, which can only theoretically bring about numerous advantages by improving the company's bottom line through of increased cost savings, better worker productivity and efficiency, and improved customer satisfaction (Velasquez, 2004a); designing an effective diversity strategy therefore requires developing a business case for diversity by determining what a company's customers need, how diverse its workforce is, and what conditions the company exists within to determine how diversity can be effectively implemented. References Durkin, C. K. (2004). Why is Diversity Training Not Working Diversity Training Group. Retrieved 10 July 2001, from http://www.diversitydtg.com/. Reichlin, I. (2004). Getting the global view: Nestle, led by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, climbs to the #1 spot in this year's Best Companies for Leaders. The Chief Executive. Retrieved 10 July 2001, from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4070/is_202/ai_n8576050. Velsquez, M. (2004). A Starting Point...Making a Business Case for Diversity. Diversity Training Group. Retrieved 10 July 2001, from http://www.diversitydtg.com/. Velsquez, M. (2004) Successful vs. Failed Diversity Programs. Diversity Training Group. Retrieved 10 July 2001, from http://www.diversitydtg.com/. Within any organization, a company's workforce plays a crucial role of adding value to a firm by contributing their expertise and skills in performing their jobs. Hence, maintaining and developing an efficient and effective workforce becomes necessary for firms to ensure that employees not only succeed in their current jobs, but develop for the future, as well (Noe, et.al., 2006, p.256). In this respect, Human Resources are therefore responsible for creating value for the company by developing a "high-performance, superior workforce" through effective training and development (Heathfield, 2006). For a growing company such as National Lewis and Clark Corporation (NL&C), training a strong workforce is necessary to ensure that its employees are able to cope with the growth that has occurred during the past two years. In this respect, Human Resources carry the crucial responsibility of training NL&C's workforce, to ensure that they meet the demands of their job, while coping with the changes occurring in the company and preparing for future developments. In relation to training a company's workforce, Human Resources are also responsible for anticipating possible needs or demands that the company's workforce may encounter in the future (Noe, et.al., 2006, p.261). This is especially important for NL&C given its young age and recent growth, such Human Resources must be alert in ensuring that its workforce has the necessary skills required to match the company's expansion demands, while at the same time ensuring that its employees are also equipped with the essential training, materials, infrastructure and technology that are necessary to perform their jobs. In this respect, the proper training of a company's workforce comprises a Human Resource Manager's most crucial task. On one hand, it provides the company improvements in its bottom-line by increasing its worker's efficiency and effectiveness. On the other hand, proper training also contributes to a company's growth by ensuring that its business strategies are met by its valued employees. References Heathfield, S. (2006). Want a Superior Workforce Human Resources. Retrieved 10 July 2006 from http://humanresources.about.com/cs/performancemgmt/a/super_workforce_3.htm. Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. & Wright, P.M. (2006). Human Resource Management. (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Read More