(Ford Motor Company) - Research Paper Example

The company’s customers are brand loyal and keep returning to it. Ford has also created good will in the society through its efforts in community relations. It started a breast cancer awareness campaign in which numerous celebrities were roped in. more-over, the company has extensively donated to charities and has held fund-raisers. Ford’s employee base is very strong. It offers various incentives to its employees who are motivated and deliver quality work. For instance the “thumbie” award is handed over to employees who are proficient, show strong commitment to work and to customers.

The company is also known to offer high wages. As a result the staff remains content and happy. Ford has also maintained good relations and is well communicated with its current and prospective investors. The company is very prompt in its reporting’s of earnings and losses all of which can be publicly accessed. Ford’s network of distributors is very dense and has many dealers spread world over. The Weaknesses: Economic recession has worried investors at Ford about dipping sales and profits.

The cash position of the company has fallen down to $4 billion from $15 billion in just a year. It also faces the possibility of a credit downgrade. As a result share-holders are not getting their desired return on investment. Ford used a “voluntary separation program” to lay off its employees during recession times. The workers were not informed about the possibility of job cuts before hand. As a result, motivation levels got affected. Even though the HR at Ford, downplayed this, but layoff hit employees hard who become insecure of their jobs.

Ford also cut down on their overtime after 2001. This led to rising frustration amongst the workers for being worker and not being compensated appropriately. Around 10 plants work over time in Ford today. Ford’s relations with its customers have also been rocky. Last year it recalled around 2 million vehicles which coasted the company billions of dollars. (Drucker, 1995) Performance Gaps Ford’s relationship with its customers has severed over the years. Its customer benefit program’s performance should have driven revenues home but they did not.

Ford’s management was also under the wrong impression that it was handling its employees well. The performance of its employees should have improved over the years to dramatic results but it did not. Ford’s HR felt that they understood employee needs but they failed to realize that employees were more desirable of flexible benefits and communication existed within the Ford. There is a severe lack of motivation at the moment. Ford’s revenue should have been past 20 billion dollars but it is not Addressing the Gap Role of Human resource department is very important to bridge any gaps between performance expectations and performance delivered.

In-order to address the weaknesses Ford needs to revamp the morale of the employees. Conduct one-on-one performance appraisals with the employees, have a thorough understanding of employee expectations and set expectations of the company. Employees should be regularly compensated with bonuses and awards. This will automatically boost their confidence and their belongingness to the Ford. HRD should also work on good relations with the customers. For this the employees who are directly in touch with the clients should be sent through a training program on relationship management.

Conferences and seminars should be conducted to groom and train the employees on this aspect. Thirdly, HR needs to hire people who are pro at their communication and bargaining skills