Introduction
Trimo is one of the European companies that is leading in offering solutions in the field of building envelope with the tradition continuing to fifty years at the moment. It is a highly technological company that is developing- oriented, and that helps in providing its customers with functional, innovative and aesthetic accomplished architectural solutions. These solutions are however upgraded with the exceptional care of the users. This discussion focus on addressing the significance of adopting a holistic and strategic approach in employee deployment decision making. This is to avoid the adoption of a plan that is reactive based.
Resourcing and Retention
Resourcing and management of talent is a very significant aspect of any organization. This is because it ensures that the company has competent personnel to help in beating the competition and also in the retaining of customers for an extended period (Sims, 2016). The process of recruiting and retaining employees is important tasks by the human resource of any company as it facilitates the growth and increase of a company’s returns. This report is concentrated on the Trimo company, a Slovenian MNC. The success of any organization is dependent on the quality of the workforce, their skills, and the wear and tear rates. These factors affect the growth and performance of a company. It is therefore very significant for a company to ensure that all its departments are comprised of highly competent and skilled personnel that work towards the common goal of the organization (Pinnington, 2011). The company uses several methods of recruitment. These methods comprise of traditional methods, online and social media ways of attracting employees and consumers.
Resourcing
Trimo company employed 522 employees in 2009, in the parent company and an approximate of 1213 employees in total were employed in the entire Trimo group company. Out of these numbers, 85% of the employees have been employed permanently and have full-time jobs. 70% of the total employees comprise of the men due to the nature of work that is performed and the competencies that are required by the company. The average age of employees in Trimo company is 40 years. In the year 2018, the turnover of staff in the parent company was 9.5%, whereas the number mounted to 19.5% in the afflicted companies (Hayton, 2012). The HR practices of Trimo tries to find a fit that is optimal for both the individuals and the organizational goals. The company monitors the effectiveness of the HR department through the measure of the satisfaction of the employees through annual standardization survey of employees regarding their job satisfaction. Further effectiveness is measured through the turnover rate of the key employees, education levels, each employees training hours, absenteeism and the value added to cost per employee ratio. The new strategies of resourcing are mainly developed in the parent company; after which they are disposed to the other afflicted companies.
In the recruiting process, Trimo benefits from its reputation of being among the best employers in Slovenia and in the broader southern Europe, this is in regard to its efforts of being recognized in global market (Hayton, 2012). Most attention is paid to the recruiting of managers, developers, engineer project managers and international salesmen. According to Hayton (2012), One of the main sources of recruitment is international competition and scholarships. The international competitions provide the best research theses, visions on urban space and architectural solutions, which act as opportunities where the company is able to identify future employees and collaborators. The international competitions also act as relationship strengtheners and builders of ties with relevant research institutions and professionals.
Scholarships on the other hand help in attracting the best undergraduate and master’s students from different disciplines. The disciplines most considered by Trimo include: civil engineering, architecture, electro technology, information technology and construction. These disciplines are significant in the development and growth of the company as well as in the remedy of unbalanced supply and demand problem. The scholarship includes mentoring of the student’s papers and their language to enable their orientation on international duties and a company’s summer training. Trimo company helped 30 students in their scholarship program in 2012 (Hayton, 2012).
The Company uses both online and traditional strategies to recruit its employees. In addition to occasional advertisements in printed media, it also has a career leaflet known as: creating a global story together”. It has also created a special segment on its website entitled why Trimo. In addition to this online strategies, the company also uses employment portals, video presentation on you tube and business- related social networking applications, an example of LinkedIn. In other occasions, personal direct searches are employed, through in rare occasions (Hayton, 2012). The professional experts sin Trimo are usually high notch people who give talks in professional and networking events, guest business speakers at the universities and also distinguished professional members in associations. The faculty is able to be alert of future Trimo employees as they are in the expertise pool.
The selection process in recruitment of HR specialist. After this is the panel interview that is conducted by the HR specialist and the head of the department in which the employee is designated t work. Then is the psychometric interviewing for key position interviewees. In the final interview, the company’s general manager is present. The interviews focus on the special knowledge of the employee and the accomplishments. In addition, the preparedness of an individual in accepting international tasks and how well they can fit into the organizational cultures also considered.
Trimo company strategies of resourcing has helped it acquire competent and quality employees who have contributed to the growth and development of the company. In addition, its dynamic operations are still enabling it to have more talent.
Retention
Retention in a layman’s language means keeping high quality and competent employees for a long period of time. For retention to take place, the it is required of the managerial team of any organization to provide a favorable environment for the employee so that they can stay. It is significant for an organization to have a good working environment so as to motivate the employees to find it easy to offer their services for a long period of time. Companies that have a high retention rate mostly have the pecs of offering high wages, they have a welfare program for the employees and have employee beneficial programs. These benefits act as a way for the employees to build their trust in the company, this way there is a developed mutual consideration of work and they work with the aim of reaching the organization’s goals (Holland & Pyman, 2016). The Trimo company has several strategies on how they ensure that they have retained their employees.
In Trimo the employees are well informed of the key goals of the company both the financial year goals and long term goals through several communication channels. Employee development in Trimo is based on the special competencies model of the company and the Trimo Dialogue. The dialogue is an appraisal process of employee development. The development also looks into strengthening the culture of the company (Duysters, Ulijin & Meijer, 2010). In this case, employee development is not only about being knowledgeable on the expertise but also on developing the values of the corporate. The main objective of Trimo is to facilitate the employees in their responsibility of developing themselves professionally and personally (Duysters, Ulijin & Meijer, 2010). In the Trimo dialogues for instance, the employees and their managers discuss the individual achievements of each employee. In addition to considering the organizational goals, the company also put in to consideration the individual goals of its employees and customers (Duysters, Ulijin & Meijer, 2010). This strategy has enabled the employees and the customers of the company to remain, since they feel as part of the group and valued, an important aspect in retention.
There is a broad existing culture in Trimo. The company has however ensured that the employees and the customers accept, understand and personalize the goals and mission of the company. The management of Trimo has also succeeded in motivating the workforce towards teamwork and also motivated them to work for more than just themselves or the company (Duysters, Ulijin & Meijer, 2010). The company has set high standards for itself and its employee. Their consistence verification on the fulfillment of its goals has enabled the management of Trimo to acquire the trust of its employees and their respect and thus the high rate of retention.
The management team of Trimo lead by example. The team has accepted work values and company visions that they ensure that they pass down to their employees through their own examples. Through communication and training, the managerial team of Trimo has ensured that the staff understand and work towards positive change, be able to enjoy and work towards being responsible for quality work as individuals and also as members of a team. Through his type of teamwork, the company is able to make more revenue, which in turn results to an increase in the wages of the employees (Duysters, Ulijin & Meijer, 2010). High wages are one of the benefits that promote retention.
In addition to this, the company consists of strategies like succession planning. Succession planning is a type of technique in which staff working at a lower level are trained for higher positions (Harrington, 2007). In Trimo for instance, the company’s seminar training for scholarship beneficiaries, the students are trained on becoming business men and also on how to work internationally. Career management is another strategy that enhance retention. Career management aims that ensuring that the employees enhance their skills and knowledge within the right timeframe (Krishnaveni, 2008). Trimo company helps their staff when it comes to educational upgrade through offering scholarships and offering employee trainings. This strategy enable the employees gain knowledge on how to develop the company and also it enables the employees gain their target of life. Career management promotes the workforce level of competence, skill and knowledge for the betterment of themselves and the company (Inkson, 2008). With this strategy, then an employee will consider staying in Trimo, since the company is helping then grow and become better in life.
Another retention strategy used by Trimo is the reward strategy. Trimo assess its employees’ performance on a set criteria and later on analyze it within a time span. The company then rewards those employees who have achieved their targets. Rewards act as motivations for employees. When employees are motivated, then they work hard to ensure the success of the company and the also develop themselves (Harrington, 2007). Everyone wants to stay in an upward developing company. Trimo being such a company promotes retention.
Indian Labor Market
A labor market is an environment in which workers and employees interact. In a labor market, the employers compete into hiring the best employees, while the workers strive to acquire the most satisfactory of the jobs. The labor market in India can be classified into three categories, the rural workers constitute of 60% of the labor force, then there is the urban unorganized structure that makes up 32% and finally is the organized sector making only 8% of the total workforce. The market in Indian is believed to be imperfect compared to other labor markets in the world. However, no labor market is perfect due to work peculiarities or characteristics of labor.
An Indian labor market has the following attributes:
Majority of the labors have a rural background
There is no teamwork, everyone wants to work alone
The employees hired in Indian organization have minimum job qualification but with high educational qualifications.
Hired employees in Indian Organization are only interested on the position they hold in the company and compare the work that do with the wages they get. Indian labors desire high job security.
Just like in many other countries, there are some trends that are threating the labor industry in India.
Advancement in technology
Due to the development and advancement in technology, the companies that have embraced the technology are looking into laying off most of the employees. The growing ability of technology replacing human labor is a big challenge for the workers. A study conducted by the McKinsey report reports that out of the 3.9 million workers in India, half of them will be irrelevant in a few years’ time (Wright, 2017). This is a challenging issue for the laborers in the Indian Market.
High Population
India is one of the countries with a large population. It makes up to 1.34 billion people (Wright, 2017). In addition to this it also has the highest population of youths in the world. Research shows that 30% of the youth in India have no education, training or employment (Wright, 2017). Due to the high population, there is surplus labor force. Because of the high population, more laborers are being added to the labor pool resulting to a large surplus in the labor industry. In addition to this challenge is unskilled labor. Since most of the people lack the skills, then work is not adequately done. The large number of people lack the skills to employ themselves and thus add to the large number of rural areas labors.
The recruitment and selection process in the international context should be planned correctly to ensure that the right candidates are employed for the job. Failure of obtaining the right personnel could lead to a waste of time, resources and would also put the reputation of the company at stake. Multinational companies should therefore consider various issues when it comes to international selection and recruitment due to the differences in culture and nations in which the headquarters are located, the parent companies and the countries where the subsidiaries are locating, the host countries ((Potocnik & Felisa, 2014). The job market is a challenge in every country. Therefore, no good country will fully satisfy the needs of the employers and the employees. The sustainability level of international employees in the Indian Labor market is not very good. The jobs of sale representatives and sales directors are best done by international employees. This is because they act as agents of socialization who transfer the culture of the cooperation to the host countries (Potocnik & Felisa, 2014). The culture aims at making the business valuable and more easy and therefore they are able to find their way about the countries (Potocnik & Felisa, 2014). On the other hand, they speak the language of the host country and are able to deal with the complaints presented to them.
Redundancies and Managing Survivors
Redundancy talks place when the employers reduce the number of their workforce because the position in which the staff occupy are no longer required. However, it can only be defined as redundancy if that position disappears, not if someone else takes up the position, then that is replacing (Haddon, 2017). Redundancies are usually forms of dismissal and happens when one’s position of work is no longer required. Redundancy can be due to an employer need to reduce on the work force, close of a business or when the position is no longer important for the organization. In cutting the costs of a business, redundancy is usually at the top of the list (Haddon, 2017). Redundancy affects everyone in the organization, even the employer. Most commonly, when restructuring and redundancy is announced in an organization, there is a reported increase in performance, as employees try to demonstrate their worth with the hope of keeping their jobs.
Survivor syndrome is a common problem that is experienced after a redundancy. The survivors of redundancy as much as they are happy for keeping their jobs, they also develop anxiety over the future of their jobs. The survivors get ill of they find the restructured process stressful and also they are angry for the loose of their friends jobs. Worry about the future redundancies and how to manage the new structure can bring about negative emotions among the survivors (Haddon, 2017). If the survivor syndrome is not addressed, then it can interfere with the motivation and production of the employees.
The Trimo company in 2018, decided to give up on steel constructions as part of their effort in streamlining. The company decided to still continue with the survive to its clients, but instead through contractors. The company decided on this as it decided to focus more on being a slim production company that is effective and market-oriented. The cutting off of the steel construction will make the company concentrate more on its key products which are high quality, innovative, aesthetic and sustainable building envelope solutions (Irvine, 2018). This action led to the redundancy of 45 employees. The company however helped these employees find other jobs and reassigned jobs to almost 20 of the employees (Irvine,2018). The survivors of the redundancy were scared about the future. However, in order to manage the survivors, the company did the following:
Open communication
This is possible by allowing the surviving employees too talk openly about how they feel on the layoffs. Lack of transparency among the employees after redundancy only adds to the survivor syndrome (Haddon, 2017). It is therefore important for an organization to inform the survivors if their jobs will be laid off and after how long. This way an employee will be able to plan and know the way forward for their future (Leary, 2019). Explaining the significant of redundancies is also significant to the employees. Having an open communication also helps in keeping rumors in control over loss of jobs. Open communication also involves allowing the employees to ask questions when necessary or to get a clear elaboration on an issue (Leary, 2019). When employees feel valued and important, they also feel consulted and important. Giving them future information helps them to be less fearful of their future.
In addition, communication will help with the confusion in the organization after a redundancy episode. Employees will want to know their new roles and responsibilities as things will have changed (Haddon, 2017). This means that the staff will need to be informed on the new structure. They will want to know who is working where and who is in charge of which process, for effective working environment (Haddon, 2017). The procedures will also be affected and it is important to be communicate and reviewed upon.
Team Building
After a cut off, the surviving employees face a lot of workload. it is important for the organization to work with the staff on how to deal with the situation. Leaving everything to the employees only overwhelms them and adds to the survivor syndrome (Haddon, 2017). Building teams is also an excellent idea. Every staff will need to know their responsibilities, roles and the expected performance standards. The teams will help in improving and building motivation and productivity among the survivor staff members.
Succession Planning
Succession planning is a key talent strategy in a business. It involves the cultivation of a pool of talented workforce who are poised to take over leadership responsibilities as the business grows, changes and develops, when leaders and significant employees step down (Robert, 2016). Organizations who have the succession planning strategy have a talent- oriented culture and they recruit top talents and skilled workforce. Trimo is a good example of a talent- oriented company. When the organization resources the talent, they work in developing the staff’s skills, knowledge and expertise so that they are prepared to take over leadership positions in future when the existing leaders step down or retire.
A change in leadership does not only involve resignation or retirement. Leadership positions can open if an employee’s gets sick, gets fired, take a long leave or quit without notice (Robert, 2016). Succession planning therefore ensures that there is a strategy in place for someone to step in and for work to continue as normal with no gap created that can lead to productivity loss (Harvey, 2014). For a multinational company like Trimo, a succession plan is a great idea, since the future is wide and full of potential. The company can use the following process for their succession planning
By first identifying the most significant roles in the organization that need to be filled immediately a gap is developed. Trimo is a big company and any leadership gap can cause loss and a low in productivity and work morale. It is therefore good to be ready with plan B in case a Gap is found. Knowing the most critical positions and having remedies to them is a good strategy.
Having an open and clear communication channel on the responsibilities, requirements and competencies for every job is significant so as to have the right pool of talents. Everyone is different and is talented differently. With this in mind, a clear communication on the requirements of a certain position will enable the company to acquire the right pool of talent for a specific position.
The company can then use an established criterion to assess the candidates and determine those who fit the position(s) being planned for. After the assessment them, one is left with a team of qualified candidates who are capable of taking over the position(s).
The employees who have been selected are then developed through training, and valuable experience of work. This type of development will help them in being ready to take over the leadership position whenever it is necessary.
The majority of the firm’s recent internationalization efforts were aimed at
expanding and strengthening its sales network and establishing fully operational
subsidiaries with manufacturing possibilities to enlarge the radius of its potential
business activity. This is a position that is meant to have several leaders to ensure that business runs smoothly (Harvey, 2014). The company can therefore use the above process to ensure that the right talent pool has been established and the right employees with the adequate skills get the position. In addition, Trimo has been very active in non-contractual modes of international
cooperation, which is consistent with its stakeholder and open-innovation
approaches. For example, it has cooperated with foreign architects, engineers,
designers, and researchers on multinational projects, facilitated formal
networks of its suppliers and business partners and trained them, and organized
open-ended international competitions in relevant research areas and design (Harvey, 2014). The talent pool of the Trimo company is made of highly skilled, knowledgeable and competent staff that would make good leaders through proper training and adequate work experiences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Resourcing and management of talent is a very significant aspect in any organization. This is because it ensures that the company has a competent personnel to help in beating competition and also in the retaining of customers for a long period of time. The success of any organization is dependent on the quality of the workforce, their skills and the wear and tear rates. These factors affect the growth and performance of a company. It is therefore very significant for a company to ensure that all its departments are comprise of highly competent and skilled personnel that work towards the common goal of the organization. Retention means keeping high quality and competent employees for a long period of time. For retention to take place, the it is required of the managerial team of any organization to provide a favorable environment for the employee so that they can stay. Companies that have a high retention rate mostly have the pecs of offering high wages, they have a welfare program for the employees and have employee beneficial programs. These benefits act as a way for the employees to build their trust in the company, this way there is a developed mutual consideration of work and they work with the aim of reaching the organization’s goals. Trimo company uses strategies like reward strategy, training, employee development and open communication to retain its customers.
The Indian labor market is not the best in the world, however there is no perfect labor market. The Indian market also suffers great challenges of high population and technological advancements. It is also clear that there is sustainability in appointing either host or third country nationals to the positions of managing director, director of sales and sales representatives.
Redundancy talks place when the employers reduce the number of their workforce because the position in which the staff occupy are no longer required. Survivor syndrome on the other hand is when the survivors of redundancy as much as they are happy for keeping their jobs, they also develop anxiety over the future of their jobs. Some of the ways of managing survivors of redundancy are team building and having an open communication in the organization.
Succession planning is a key talent strategy in a business. It involves the cultivation of a pool of talented workforce who are poised to take over leadership responsibilities as the business grows, changes and develops, when leaders and significant employees step down. The Trimo Company is one of the companies that use the strategy and it helps it be on time in dealing with challenges of leadership.