Introduction
Ford Motor Company has always been known for its focus on HR management and its timely and strategic alignment with the business goals of the organization. As noted by McKinlay and Starkey (1992), there exist two major sources of competitive advantage -differentiation and cost leadership; both of these types of advantages are achieved through the engagement of human resources. In terms of management of their human resources, Ford Motor Company has been one of the world’s leaders regarding the implementation of strategic HRM aligned with the business course; due to this achievement, a term “Fordism” appeared that refers to a unique approach to the management of people in this organization.
HRM and Business Strategy Alignment
In order to ensure that the HR strategy is in alignment with the business strategy, it is critical to view people as one of the main organizational assets. As a result, it is critical to focus attention on the recruitment and hiring practices that could help make sure that the organization attracts the employees with a high level of skills in the most sought and needed specialties – the strategy that has been employed by Ford Motor Company for a long time (Yang, 2014). In that way, the organization will remain well-equipped for the pursuit of differentiation and cost leadership – the main types of business advantages.
Job Positions
Ford’s official website offers three job positions – Workers’ Compensation Supervisor (the maintenance of staff compliance with organizational laws and rules, the management of files, complaints, compensability, and incentives, contact with internal and external clients of the organization, customer service, and process improvement), Health and Welfare Benefits Specialist (the management of health, benefit, and wellbeing plans, change management, conflict resolution), and Talent Assessment Manager (the provision of support of hiring process, the maintenance of internal and external selection, candidate evaluation, and the assessment of selection tools) (“Careers,” 2015).
Of them, I would prefer the latter position because it involves such tasks as the assessment of candidates’ suitability for their jobs, as well as the evaluation of selection instruments and strategies. I believe this position could be challenging and related to a lot of pressure; however, the use of critical thinking, objectivity, and fair decision-making based on a broad base of knowledge of job descriptions and requirements are my strong sides.
Competitive Advantage via HRM Strategies
To improve competitive advantages, Ford Motors Company can concentrate on the selection of rare talent in the field and the creation of successful retention plans helping them ensure employee loyalty. In addition, training and education provided to the existing workers for the purpose of the improvement of their knowledge and qualification could also help achieve competitive advantage by means of using the staff with more sophisticated skills.
Diversity
In the contemporary globalizing world, diversity is a serious advantage that helps many modern companies raise the level of their performance and become more relevant (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004). The first way in which Ford Motors Company can increase diversity is by expanding to new countries and adopting the styles of different cultures in order to obtain larger market shares in the new regions. Secondly, the organization could arrange the exchange of skills, knowledge, and experience between the employees working in various countries. This strategy would help the company ensure multicultural communication in the workplace and bring together workers of different backgrounds and with different experiences. Finally, Ford Motors Company could create specific jobs and positions for employees with disabilities and hire people for whom it is not easy to find jobs.
References
Careers. (2015).
Jayne, M. E., & Dipboye, R. L. (2004). Leveraging diversity to improve business performance: Research findings and recommendations for organizations. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 409-424.
McKinlay, A., & Starkey, K. (1992). Strategy and human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 3(3), 435-450.
Yang, Y. (2014). Employees management analysis at ford motor company. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(10), 80-85.