Assignment for Final Examination
Course No.# HRM 201
Course Title# Human Resource Management
Name of the Student: Yasir
1960
Class Roll No. #
192490
Examination Roll No. #
Registration No. # 20193550219
Academic Session # 2018 - 2019
Total number of written pages in the assignment #5
Date of Submission: 15th October, 2021
Instructions:
1. Don’t copy from other’s assignment. Copying from others will be punished
severely.
2. The student must submit the assignment online (Google
classroom/email/google form etc.) as the course-teacher prescribes.
3. You must use your name# your EXAM ID only for naming your submitted file.
Contents
1. How can the HR functions of the Walton group contribute to creating and maintaining a high-
performance work system?.........................................................................................................................3
2. “Proper HR practices helps to attain the mission and corporate culture of Walton group.”-explain the
statement....................................................................................................................................................6
1. How can the HR functions of the Walton group contribute to
creating and maintaining a high-performance work system?
High-performance work system starts with building a company culture that
supports growth and development, empowers leadership and open communication,
all while ensuring job satisfaction and work life balance. But to reach there is no
easy task. It takes the collaborative effort of all functions to convert a transactional
work culture into a transformational high-performance work culture. Now, we all
know that HR is a staff function. It advises and supports the Line function in
actually implementing a high-performance work system. Think of a multi-storied
building. It has to be built on a strong foundation and structure to be strong enough
to withstand any natural calamities. If we consider the line function, for say sales,
to be the building, then HR, the staff function, would be the foundation or structure
of the building. A company’s HR function plans and strategizes the policies and
activities for the Line Function to put it in motion. But how does the HR Function
actually do it? Well, we are about to find out.
Let’s revisit some of the roles HR performs from our HR Classes.
1. Strategic HR Planning: Forecasting HR Requirements, Effective Management
of Change, Career Progression planning, Implementing Organizational goals.
2. Acquisition of Talents: Employment Planning & Forecasting> Recruitment>
Selection> Interview> New Recruits.
3. Employee Engagement and Retention: Training, Performance Recognition
programs, Team building exercises, Work retreat programs, etc.
4. Learning & Development
5. Rewards Management: Compensation, Benefits, Promotion, Rewards
scheduling, etc.
6. Performance Management: Performance Appraisal, Direction Sharing, Goal
Alignment, Performance Monitoring, Feedback, Coaching and Support,
Rewards & Recognition, etc.
7. Career Management, and many more.
These are some of the most fundamental HR functions we've covered throughout
the course, and now let's look at their implications in building a High-Performance
work system for Walton.
Strategic Human Resource Planning entails that an organization has the right
people, in quality and quantity, at the right place and in the right time. It is about
effective and efficient capability management to ensure that an organization
achieves its organizational goals. SHRP begins with asking the questions: How
much human resource do we need? What skills are we looking for in our
employees? In order to plan for its human resource, Walton should evaluate the
talents of its own employees first. Understand if there’s any gap and assess the
trends within the organization while keeping in mind of the future organizational
plans and economic conditions. From there on, Walton will come to an
understanding of its Internal supply of talent and future demands. Planning for
shortfalls or overstaffing while having an understanding of the talent demand
trends will help Walton to create a High-Performance work system for years to
come. In addition, Walton should be on the look out for change management, for
example Technological applications that might make some Line functions
redundant. In that case, how to effectively utilize HR capabilities while achieving
the organizational goals becomes an important context for High-Performance work
system.
Talent Acquisition might be considered one of the most fundamental HR function,
but it is also one of the toughest. It is not always easy to attract the right talent.
When it comes to technology companies like Walton, such companies face constant
challenges with retention. However, like in most cases, low retention in such
industries is not caused by compensation issues, rather by BRAIN-DRAIN
problems. Most engineers who spend some quality time in such companies are only
there with the intention of gathering some experience in the field. Soon after, they
move to foreign countries for higher education or better job offers. Then, how can
Walton optimize its Talent acquisition to have low turnover and high retention?
Walton needs to build a talent pipeline throughout their recruitment and selection
process. Effective HR policies will come in handy to maximize Retention for the
company, such as Scholarship programs, Higher Study Breaks, Promotion to Global
roles, etc. There needs to be certain changes with the recruitment, selection, and
Interview process as well. A Centralized Recruitment process will be pivotal in
creating a centralized candidate talent pool. Using Simulation Interview will help
Walton to match the skills of the talent with the Job, and matching the right talent
for the right job will lead to a high-performance working system.
Up next, Learning and Development. In the previous section, we mentioned how
BRAIN-DRAIN contributes to high turnover in the technical industries. Learning and
Development programs could be a solution to this problem. If employees have
access to the best in world instructors for learning within the organization, they
would experience self-growth and job satisfaction. Walton should introduce its own
INTRAPRENEUR program like Axiata. Since, Walton has the best R&D facilities in
the country, Walton should empower employees to form Venture Teams and work
on projects of their interest. The venture teams could be sent outside the country
for training and conducting research, and after the lapse of the training period, they
could produce innovations that will not only help the company’s portfolio to grow,
but will also enhance job satisfaction, employee growth, and motivation, leading to
maximum retention and high-performance work system.
Employee Engagement concerns Training, Performance Recognition programs,
Team building exercises, Work retreat programs, and others. Walton by reputation
has the best employee engagement programs in the country. However, they need
to periodically reevaluate the effectiveness of these engagement programs. For
example, Training Need Evaluation should always be done before designing
training programs for employees. Task Analysis and Performance Analysis could be
key tools for evaluating the training needs of new and existing talent pool. After
finding the appropriate candidates for training, Walton should also do post-training
evaluations with a control group or settle for a performance-based measure. Either
way, effectively managing the employee engagement programs helps to reduce
costs, and design the proper training course.
Rewards Management, Performance Management, and Career Management
are all sub-functions of Strategic Human Resource Planning. However, each of these
functions have had broad applications over the time. Every company has their own
policies when it comes to compensation and benefits, and this is something I can’t
suggest out of the blue for Walton to comply with. However, I do think a Cafeteria
approach to benefits management will be an essential hygiene factor to bring the
motivation level from negative to neutral zero. In addition to monetary benefits,
Walton could introduce programs that will support the Job Environment for
Employees. For example, Day-care for kids, Flexible Working Hours, Hybrid
Working Culture, Employee referral programs, Home and Car buying
assistance, and many others could be wonderful additions to the rewards package.
Performance Appraisal is an important part of performance management. To
maintain a high-performance working system, Walton should establish specific,
measurable performance targets or standards against which actual performance will
be evaluated. A proper performance appraisal approach is a necessary for planning
corrective actions against deficiencies, career planning, compensation basis,
promotion, and retention. Succession planning is another very important concept
related to both Career Management and Performance Appraisal. While developing
career management programs, Walton’s HR must include career counselling
programs for all the employees. Walton as an organization should offer variety of
career options for its employees while establishing a fund for routine training
programs and employee development. Walton should support the choice of its
employees to work in cross-functional roles to experience new challenges and
understand the dynamics of other working environments.
These were some of the applications of HR Functions that Walton could leverage in
creating and maintaining a high-performance work system.
2. “Proper HR practices helps to attain the mission and corporate
culture of Walton group.”-explain the statement.
HR's role is to help the organization achieve its goals by hiring, training, and
retaining the right people for the right job. But it's not quite that basic.
Organizational Goals include both mission and vision goals that must be met in the
short and long term. A rock-solid corporate culture, like that of Walton's, is required
for the realization of the overall mission and vision, such as appreciating team
members, working for progress, positivism, and creativity, owning the job, and
being socially responsible. All of these practices must be ingrained in the
organization, which necessitates strong HR policies. And so, over the years,
Walton's HR function has introduced a variety of HR policies that have assisted the
company in not only meeting its organizational goals but also in building a strong
employee centered culture around the organization itself.
Walton's mission is to offer its customers with the highest quality products at the
lowest possible price. In selling its products, the corporation employs a strong
Ethnocentrism approach: "Walton, Amader Ponno." The company takes pride in
being the first Bangladesh-based electronic manufacturing company to expand
globally. This sense of ethnocentrism is strongly ingrained in the culture of the
company and its employees. Walton employees support the company's beliefs and
link their own goals with the company's ambition, which is to be one of the top five
electronic manufacturers in the world by 2030. The determination to excel and be
among the best is the result of the company's strategic human resource planning.
Walton uses a cross-functional stint program in its new recruit orientation program
to ensure that its personnel understand the business at all levels. Since the
pandemic, the company has implemented a company-wide e-learning program to
oversee the growth of both new and existing personnel. It makes no difference
where an employee comes from; having diverse knowledge related to the
company's field has become a trend in the corporation.
Walton has computerized its recruitment and selection process over the years. The
Walton I-Recruitment portal serves as a portal for staying up to speed on Walton's
job postings and applications. Walton has launched the Walton Future Leaders
Program in order to attract new talent from the market. Despite the lack of a strong
employer brand, Walton has emerged as the preferred employer for the majority of
engineering graduates.
Last year, in 2020, Walton distributed a profit of Rs. 77 crores to its employees. At
a time when most businesses were laying off staff to cut expenses, Walton stayed
by its employees and made no changes to their salary or benefits. Instead, the
company rewarded its staff with a profit incentive for perseverance in the face of
adversity. Compensation, rewards, and benefits are simply the tip of the iceberg
when it comes to Walton's Brilliant HR functionalities. Walton has successfully
implemented an Equitable Pay Structure for men and women since 2009. The
corporation has set up free transportation and residential quarters in its High-Tech
Parks for its factory line workers. The corporation has developed tough regulations
with its CODE OF CONDUCT 2010 to take quick action against sexual harassment.
In addition, in 2010, the company implemented a Contributory Fund Scheme for its
employees, followed by a Welfare Fund Scheme in 2015. In 2016, the Employee
Profit Participation Scheme was also launched with the goal of improving morale
and work ethic.
Such are the HR practices and policies that make the Walton dream a Reality! In
the future, Walton will hopefully continue to flourish as a modern technology
corporation and a hotbed of outstanding innovative talent.