Background to HRM at General Motors Corporation Essay

General Motors mountain (NYE GM) is the leading American carmaker in the world with its operations spanning in 157 countries. The car manufacturer was established in 1908 in nautical mile and today it is headquartered in Detroit, the joined States of America. Besides the domestic industry of the United States of America, General Motors manufactures cars and trucks in early(a) 30 countries around the world. Among its brand products argon Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Hummer, Holden, Opel, Saab, Pontiac, Vauxhall, and Saturn. Besides these brands that are owned by the automaker, GMC to a fault ope grade joint ventures in chinaware and Japan.That is, Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile respectively. From its Website, General Motors Corporation is among the leading American employer with 204 000 employees distributed throughout its worldwide markets. The employees include production engineers, financial auditors, marketers, and researchers among others. Before r estructuring and retrenching that took place in 2008 following a harsh global financial crisis that resulted into a loss of $37.3billion by the automaker, General motors corporation was the leading American employer with 284 000 employees (GMC, 2008).Because of its large network of global presence in 31 countries, General Motors human option focus practices entail international practices that are designed in accordance to the international operation requirements and the validational shade designed to reduce practicable costs. Majority employees of the corporations subsidiaries in the 31 countries are bony from the domestic pool of local labour markets and neverthe slight a few expatriates are drawn from ground forces as back office managers due to their wide knowledge of its arrangement culture (Cappelli, 1999). The Board of directors which draws from the cheeks international market presence is charged with the responsibilities of making major decisions critical to the co mpanionships operation. fit in to Gustin (2008), General Motors Corporation spent up to $103 million in settling wellnesscare indemnification benefits of its retired employees in 2007.From this information, it is evident that the American automaker provides life insurance covers for its employees upon retirement. However, following restructurung, these benefitswere stripped off and only a few employees still enjoy them today. From January 1, 2010, pension scheme of retired hourly employees of General Motors Corporation was transferred to United Autoworkers a third party insurance firms and all permanent employees who were hired after january 1, 1993 nolonger receive health care insirance benefit upon retirement(GMC,2008).The entry salary of the global automaker is dictated by the labour laws of apiece market of operation and thus varied with the United States of America being the highest irrespective by cable categories ( Main et al., 2007). The organization has invested in a k ind Resource Management system that allows close interraction of its global employees through technology such as e-mailing and enterprise resource Management (Azrul, 2010). Marketing system entails presentations by field marketers to the organizations large distributors and online follow ups.Reccommended HRM practices for GMCFrom the above background analysis of General Motors corporation, it is top out that the organization requires international Human Resource Management practices that pass on integrate the cultural diversity of its employees.The blasting impact of the 2008 financial ciris that resulted into massive restructuring and retrenching of its human resources also underscores the organizations poor human resource planning. The following good words are prescribed for the automaker on the basis of figure 1 below.The first recommendation, is Re-designing the blood strategy to target the bottom line of the market. According to Azrul (2010), one of the main reasons for th e $37.4 billion loss incured by the American automaker is external market forces from competitors like Honda and Hyundai that were producing far cheaper vehicles with high efficient engines and low fire consumption rates as compared to Genereal Motors brands. In the heat of global financial crisis, the market shifted to consumption of cheaper and less fuel consumers produced by the competitors resulting in huge losses by the General Motors Corporation.The new business strategy should entaildesigning cars and trucks with high eficent engines and electric cars that can survive an upsurge in oil prices. This leave alone involve an investment in manufacturing technologies that ensures high quality at reduced costs such as electric engines that uses bateries.This leave give the Amecan leading automaker a competitve advantage against the stiffening market competition.The arcminute recommendation is outsourcing of labour from China and Japan. Many Corporations prefer to manufacture thei r products from China because of the availability of a relatively cheaper labour force when compared to western counterparts. General Motors corporation can either outsource its human resoure from China or undertake most of its production from its Japanese and Chinese Subsidiaries. The labour laws in the two countries are relatively flexible and firendly than in the United States of America. This will help the American Automator reduce huge useable costs incured in meeting the big grantroll of over 200, 000 employees.The third recommendation is integration of employees breeding in high involvement work practices. According to Konrad (2006), engaging employees of an organization in job detail nurture improves their productivity by increasing their job-related skills, reducing propensity of committing costly errors, and increasing their job confidence. formulation of General Motors employees on their job specifications will improve their productivity. Ofshore trainings in Chin a and Japan are recommended.This will allow the corporations manufacturing engineers to learn new efficient production technologies of Japan and China in making cheaper and highly effiecient cars. Motivational incentives such as team building sessions, delegation of duties, self-managed leadership styles, and monetary rewards will boost their commitment to the organization. The combined effect of training and motivation will necesitate restructuring of a lucre roll while leveraging on improved productivity of highly plentiful employees.The fourth recommendation is embracing technology in Human Resource Management system to enhance global cordination of its business. According to Dreher and Dougherty ( 2002), the use of technology such as centralised Enterprise Resource Management system to set up human resourceactivities of General Motors will enhance quick sharing of ideas and consultation among the global employees of the company without barriers. This will allow the organizat ion to carry out its marketing strategies efficiently and effectively without limitation by geographical distances. Effective Human Resource Management through streamlined sofware-based systems enhances fast communication and online training which gives an organization a higher competitive advantage.The fifth recommendation is integration of kindly benefits such as pension and health care schemes in the reward system. From the backround information above, it is evident that General Motors Corporation with-held social benefits for employees who were hired after January 1, 1993 and transferred the remaining ones to third pary insirance firms. The American automaker also stripped healthcare benefits for retired employees beyond 65 years. Acording to Konrad (2006), social rewards like health care insurance schemes make employees feel more wanted by their organizations than monetary rewards in terms of bonuses and salary increments. Also pension schemes improve employees commitment to their employer because of early guarantees. This reduces employees turnover which is essential in retaining critical human resources for continuity of operation of General Motors. High mental faculty retention improves an organizations competitive advantage in a complex market of operational rivalry.The sixth recommendation is the implementation of employee productivity management and monitoring systems such as Balanced bump off Card (BSC) and High Performance Work System (HPWS) (Rouse, 2000). The latter system refers collectively to open systems, autonomouas teams and teamworks, and performance-based gift back (Azrul, 2010). The implementation of the two Human Resource Management systems will improve organizational performance by providing real time employees information storage database from which future managerial decisions, and rewards will be based.According to Konrad ( 2006), employees of an organization are more productive when they are aware that their performance is re corded for review in determine their future rewards. Effective implementation of the Human Resource Management systems will help General Motors Corporation in categorising employeesaccording to their productivity rates. This information is important in determining the relevance of job training and objective restructuring in the event of a crisis like that which befell it in 2008. In this case, only high productive employees will be retained.The seventh recommendation is the implementation of an integrative feed/ reward system to inculde performance- hazard cede scheme, skill-based pay, and seniority-based pay scheme. According to performance-contingency pay scheme, the employees reward will be based on the performance of their running(a) teams. This will help the automaker in creating effective self-managed and motivated teams. Skill-based pay will ensure that employees pay schemes are based on their job skills.For instance, production engineers will be given high pay than market ers because of their technical skills required by the organization. Seniority-based pay scheme demands that those employees who have stayed longer in the organization will get a higher pay than new comers because of their cumulative salary increements along their carrier path. Seniority-based pay scheme promotes lag retention even when the entry salary is relatively lower than the market rates because employees know that there is a room for growth.In general, General Motors Corporation should ensure total entry with the labour markets and legal environments of their respective countries of operations before implementation of the proposed recommendations. For instance, the employment laws regarding hourly leases, minimum wage policy, employment opportunities, labour regulations, and safety rules in China are different from those of the United States of America. Therefore it is arrogant that the American automaker consider their implications in setting the minimum entry wage in t o each one country of operation.Conclusion.In conclusion, General Motors Corporation can sustain its competitive strategy as a leading automaker by embracing the above prescribed Human Resource Mangement system that integrates staff training on job related skills, outsourcing, social reward scheme, technology, andperformance-contingency pay scheme among others as strategical competiencies in its operation. The implementation of Balanced Score Card and HPWS is critical in improving the productivity of the organizations employees. The proposed system will enhance high staff retention, high staff productivity, and objective contingency planning in times of global crises like the 2008 global financial crisis that lead to massive downsizing by the automaker.ReferencesAzrul, A. (2010). Human Resource Management & General Motors. Monash University Publication, p.1-13.From http//www.scribd.com/doc/14812855/Human-Resource-Management-General-MotorsMain, B.G.,Jackson, C., Pymm, J.,& Wright, V. (2007). GMCThe Remuneration Committee and Strategic Human Resource Management. University of Edinburgh publications, p.1-49.Cappelli, P. (1999). Employment Practices and Business Strategy. Oxfford, ew York Oxford University Press.General Motors Corporation. (2008). Restructuring Plan for Long-Term Viability Submitted to Senate Banking Committee & House of Representatives monetary Services Committee. Detroit General Motors Corporation.Rouse ,D. (2000). Manufacturing SdvantageWhy High Performance Work Systems Pay off. Journal of team up Performance Management, vol 96(5) , p.1420.Dreher, G., & Dougherty,T. (2002). Human resource strategy A behavioral perspective for the general manager. Boston McGraw-Hill/Irwin.Gustin, L. R. (2008). nightstick Durant Creator of General Motors. Ann Arbor. Michigan University of Michigan Press.Konrad, A. M. (2006). Engaging Employees Through High-Involvement Work Practices. IVEY Business Journal , n.p.From