Retaining Valuable Human Capital: A Whirlpool Case Study" (70 Characters)

You report should encompass the following points:

1.Discuss the importance of retention strategies in the current global competitive environment for human capital recruitment.

2.Identify at least three major retention strategies of Whirlpool and evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies.

3.Recommend two more retention strategies for Whirlpool which are not mentioned in the case study and discuss why these may be effective in retaining valuable human capital.

4.Conduct a further research in to the Whirlpool’s relationship management practices including the relationship with trade unions. Provide comparative analysis with two other companies.

5.Evaluate Whirlpool as a growing organisation with a global scope in terms of their human capital management practices and recommend five strategies that manage key relationship issues including the relationship with trade unions.

6.You are further required to summarize your answers in a report that reflect professional standards of practices within business organisations.

7.You must also use correct referencing style throughout the report.

Importance of retention strategies in the current global competitive environment

This is a report which will analyze the case study of whirlpool, a global market leader in manufacturing of appliances all over the world. The focus of the report will be on the significance of global retention strategies in global competitive environment and the major strategies that has been taken by the organization for improving the retention rate so that the can prevent the reduction in turnover rate in the organization. However, the report will also highlight the relationship management practices in Whirlpool which will identify the relationship with the employees, trade unions and consumers. The report will conclude by providing a reflection on global business standards in an organization.

Global retention strategies will have a significant impact on maintaining competitive advantage and long-term sustainability. The increase in the turnover rate within an organization will increase the overall cost structure a and will have a negative impact on the performance and productivity of the organization. Thus, it is essential that the employees remain in the organization by maintaining the required level of productivity and performance (Deery & Jago, 2015). However, the implementation of the global retention strategy not only ensures that turnover is decreased but also attracts new talents in to the organization. Moreover, retention strategies are focus on developing effective between the employees and the management. The various retention policies used by the organization are the means of keeping the employees satisfied. Effective retention strategy will reduce the overall cost as cost of replacing an employee is high and if the turnover rate is high it will affect the organization significantly. Thus, retention strategy will reduce the replacement cost of the employees in the organization. High retention rate will ensure high productivity and enhances the recruitment processes. The employees stay in the organizations that tend to fulfill their promises made during their recruitment and global retention strategies ensures transparency in the human resources parties within the organization. Moreover, it will boost the morale of the employees and improve their level of commitment to the organization.

The three retention strategies taken by Whirlpool are as follows:

• Measuring the influence of resignation of an employee on the organization
• Understanding the probability of resignation of a particular employee
• Developing plans which will be able to prevent this loss

These retention risk tool kit has been a success for the organization and it can be understood form the pilot study they have conducted within the organization. The talent management and diversity unit within the organization developed a set of questionnaires which were asked to the managers. The questionnaire consisted of 25 close ended questions that attempted to find out how much the managers were aware about their employees and their relationship with the employees. These methods have been effective as the organization has been able to identify the extent of the managers interaction with their employees and the underlying problems in it. Thus, the problems that were addressed were mitigated with effective strategies which included quarterly meetings where they shared their experiences and learned form each other. Thus, it was seen that the employees and managers that were involved in pilot test were able to develop a better communication among them.

Three major retention strategies of Whirlpool and effectiveness of these strategies

Relationship management is important as improve the quality of the organizational culture. Whirlpool’s strategy of implementing relationship management ensured that the retention rate decrease especially among the employees that took part in the pilot test. Moreover, the managers and the employees were able to identify their lacking which enabled them to grow at a personal level. Thus, these strategies show that whirlpool focused on developing a better communication between the workforce and the managers within the organization. Communication in an organization has to be two-way as flow of information is important for better understanding of the goals and objectives of the jobs they are performing. Thus, the tool that the organization developed is incorporated with the human resources and the managers use this tool to develop effective relationship with the employees. This enables them to know more about the problems the workforce is facing and how it can be mitigated to retain the employees that are getting dissatisfied with the policies within the organization. Moreover, the organization also developed programs for training the managers so that they can improve their interpersonal skills. Thus, Whirlpool focused on improving the manager and employee engagement within the organization which will motivate them and facilitate in being more productive.

The recommended retention strategies for Whirlpool are as follows:

• Planning of careers instead of filling of roles
• Investing in line managers

The organization will consist of top performers and it would be wrong to think that they would stay in their position forever. The employees have their short term and long-term goals and it is the responsibility of the organization to provide them with the opportunity of moving forward towards their career objectives. Thus, the organization will have to provide more challenging roles, enable them to grow at a personal level as well as at an organizational level. Individual growth is important for the employees as stagnancy ion growth will demotivate the employees and they will look for better options for fulfilling their goals and objectives (Dennis, 2016). Thus, it is essential for the organization the needs and wants of the employees so that they can develop paths for each of them in their own way. Thus, if employees want to shift to different roles, it is feasible to provide them with the desired job profile they are looking, it may happen some employees wants to move up the ladder and reach a level of a manager. Thus, it is the responsibility of the organization to provide him/her with the opportunity of moving up the ladder. It may also happen that an employee is driven my money and so it is viable to provide him/her with the opportunity of earning more.

It is essential to invest in the managers as they have the maximum level of interaction with the employees. The turnover rate is dependent on the environment the manager creates among its workforce and it can be said that most of the employees quit because of their managers. Thus, it is essential to spent on training and development program for the managers so that they can improve their interpersonal skills and leadership skills. The managers should have essential skill of communicating the goal, objectives and role of each of employees within an organization. Moreover, the managers should be able to motivate their workforce and discuss with them about their career goals (Bryant & Allen, 2013). This will enable to keep their p0erosnla goals in alignment to the organizational goals. Thus, it is essential to have individual conversation with employees on a regular basis so that it increases the team bonding. Thus, it can be seen that the responsibility of the manager are crucial in highly motivated and effective workforce. Thus, maintaining skillful leaders within the organization will improve the retention rate and productivity.

Recommended retention strategies for Whirlpool and its effectiveness

Whirlpool has focused on developing good relationship with the consumers and the indirect stakeholders in the organization. Thus, the organization has focused on using customer relationship management to provide the organization with better customer experience. Thus, the organization focuses on developing cooperative, ongoing and long-term relationship with the customers. Whirlpool has implemented CRM in to their business model where they are using technology to provide the consumers with a better customer experience. On the other hand, they are using the retention strategies to develop a smooth relationship with the employees (Terera & Ngirande, 2014).

Various instances suggest that Whirlpool have had issues maintaining good relationships with the trade unions. Whirlpool follows all the global trade laws maintaining diversity and providing equal opportunity to the workers. Thus, the organization is focusing on maintaining a good relationship with the trade union as they belong to the manufacturing sector. The organization is highly dependent on the labors working in their factories and thus, Whirlpool is focused on maintaining all quality standards in terms of health, safety and work environment.

 The comparative analysis of Whirlpool suggests that the major competitors in the industry are making use of similar strategies to develop a good relationship with the consumers. Jenn-Air is using similar strategies as they are belong to the manufacturing sector and highly dependent on their workforce. Similarly, Indesit is following similar strategies in maintaining appropriate relationship with the trade unions (Ahammad et al., 2016).

Whirlpool is a growing organization in terms if their global human resource practices. The diversity in the global human resources is increasing at a rapid rate and the organizations will have to keep on changing their human resources to improve the quality of their workforce. Thus, there are new challenges faced by the organization on a day-to-day basis and the organization is focused on acquiring talent that is more global. Thus, they want to increase their intellectual property and use innovation gain competitive advantage in the market.

 The five strategies, which will facilitate in managing global relationship issues, are as follows:

• Focusing on relationship with customers and suppliers:

It is essential to maintain good relationship with the suppliers and the customers at the same time, as they are the indirect stakeholders in the organization. Thus, communication is one of the most essential parts of building a relationship with the customers and the suppliers (Howard, Turban & Hurley, 2016). The organizations will have to communicate effectively with the suppliers to develop a bond, which is based on mutual understanding.

• Changes in the expectations:

The organizations will have to be focused on the quality and the quantity of the inventory. This will enable to identify the weaknesses of their suppliers in the market and data analysis will ensure them to create a competitive strategy for business. Thus, they will be able to manage effectively their relationship with respective suppliers by keeping track of their data (Shaw, Park & Kim, 2013).

• Maintaining trust, loyalty and openness:

The relationship between the organization, suppliers and the customers are based on the trust, loyalty and openness.  The organizations should be transparent about their policies and should develop a relationship based on trust. This will provide competitive advantage in the long run. The suppliers should be treated equally as partners, which will facilitate in achieving innovation and collaboration. Thus, this increases the success are of the organizations (Hancock et al., 2013).

• Setting standard agreements on beforehand:

The organization will have to set standard agreement with the trade union even though they have minimum in this age of globalization. However, they may cause problems so it is necessary to maintain all the necessary factors. However, there are differences in trade union laws in different countries, their effectiveness vary and the organizations will have to evaluate the situations carefully.

• Use of technology:

The organization should make use of technology so that they can manage their supply chain and relationship with the customers in a better way. Thus, innovation in technology and vertical integration is required to maintain this.

This report has highlighted organizational human resources in terms of marinating relationship with the employees and the trade unions. Whirlpool was going through a phase where they had high turnover rate but they were able to change this by implementation of global retention strategies within the organization. Thus, the repot has been able to highlight the retention strategies that are implemented to improve relationship management.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded from the report that Whirlpool had issues with their retention rate but they have been able to make changes to their retention strategies, which have had positive impact on the human resources of the organization. The manufacturing companies always face problems with trade union and even though the significance of trade union has decreased significantly, there are some implication which has been able to portray.

References 

Ahammad, M. F., Tarba, S. Y., Liu, Y., & Glaister, K. W. (2016). Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention. International Business Review, 25(1), 66-75.

Bryant, P. C., & Allen, D. G. (2013). Compensation, benefits and employee turnover: HR strategies for retaining top talent. Compensation & Benefits Review, 45(3), 171-175.

Deery, M., & Jago, L. (2015). Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention strategies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), 453-472.

Dennis, M. J. (2016). Practice effective retention strategies to increase enrollment. Enrollment Management Report, 20(8), 1-3.

Hancock, J. I., Allen, D. G., Bosco, F. A., McDaniel, K. R., & Pierce, C. A. (2013). Meta-analytic review of employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance. Journal of Management, 39(3), 573-603.

Howard, L. W., Turban, D. B., & Hurley, S. K. (2016). Cooperating teams and competing reward strategies: Incentives for team performance and firm productivity. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 3(3).

Shaw, J. D., Park, T. Y., & Kim, E. (2013). A resource?based perspective on human capital losses, HRM investments, and organizational performance. Strategic management journal, 34(5), 572-589.

Terera, S. R., & Ngirande, H. (2014). The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and employee retention. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 481.