Managing Human Resources HRMT For Automobile Firms – Challenges And Strategies

Key Challenges for Recruiting the Workforce

Discuss about the Managing Human Resources HRMT for Automobile Firms.

Holden Car Manufacturing Company is regarded as one of the oldest automobile firms in Australia with its existence in the country being traced back to the early 1850s. The company was officially started in the year 1856 as a leather and saddlery producer, and later it shifted operations into automobile manufacturer in the year 1908 (Heritage Center, 2017). The company became the subsidiary of the US-based General Motors (GM) in the year 1931 after which it was renamed General Motors Holden Ltd in the year 2005.  The cars operations expanded significantly outside the Australian market and it became one of the major automobile firms in the country.  General Motors Holden Ltd has gained its position in Australia as the largest employer giving numerous employment opportunities to the population and is the largest car exporter in Australia (Heritage Center, 2017). To maintain its competitive edge in the automobile industry, Holden has employed the use of appropriate human resources practices which contribute to the low attrition rates in the company. Despite its success in the industry driving from its innovativeness and viable human resource practices, the company still faces some challenges in its recruitment.  The present paper, therefore, delves in identifying the primary key challenges that the firm faces in recruiting its workforce. The paper then provides recommendations on the appropriate strategies that can be employed to address the challenges.

The recruitment process in any organization is always regarded as an essential function for human resource department. The process involves bringing new and fresh talents into the organization workforce and therefore, it requires good business perspective, diplomacy, good marketing skills as well as the ability to find and accurately match the best potential candidates with the need of the organization. Owing to many internal factors such as an aging workforce, the increasing gap between supply and demand and organizational image, human resource professionals are always in constant need of new personnel to be recruited in the organization personnel (Reiche et al., 2016). However, most human resource professionals in large business enterprises such as Holden car manufacturing industry in Melbourne are always faced with new emerging challenges in their effort to get the best workforce for the company.

Like in any industry, Holden car manufacturing is facing the challenge of sourcing and recruiting only the best and suitable potential candidates for various positions in the firm. The contemporary job market is characterized by stiff competition for the available talents, and this makes it considerably hard for companies to get credible individuals in their work teams (O’Brien & Linehan, 2014). The problem is further aggravated by the constantly emerging technologies and a shortage of particular talents in specialized areas of the industry (Peppard & Ward, 2016). Given the stiff competition for a skilled workforce, the companies are also at constant risk of losing their workforce through practices such as talent poaching and raiding.

Competition for Talent

The success of the automobile industry is highly dependent on its ability to utilize a considerable wide range of skills from advanced engineers to professional marketers.  The rising growth in the production volume of vehicles by the company has contributed to an increase in demand for the skilled workforce at all the levels of production.  With the modern technological advancement, the automobile industry has embraced the use of more sophisticated engineering and production practices resulting in the demand for highly skilled personnel (Aswathappa, 2013).  At Holden, there is sufficient availability of young graduate engineers who contribute significantly to the production process. However, the company experience acute shortage of experienced engineers who have the desire to remain in mainstream responsibilities for a long time as most of its experienced workforce tends to quite to other less demanding duties (Ewing et al., 2013).  It is thus noted that the human resource department faces the challenge of identifying experienced engineers who are vital in its production. 

Additionally, the company faces the risk of having a skilled workforce in the near future due to the public perception of the manufacturing and automobile industry. The rise in egalitarian society has led to the loss of respect for trade and the misconception that individuals have on automobile industries which they regard as old, noisy, lacks fair remuneration and does not provide opportunities for career development (Jones & George, 2015).  Based on this perception, Holden most individuals shy away from securing job opportunities in the manufacturing industry especially the fresh graduates who have the desire for quick career development.  This situation has contributed the loss of skilled labor at the firm despite the rising demand for the highly-skilled labor force. The company has thus faced a great challenge in securing skilled labor in the highly democratic modern society (Miller & Gordon, 2014).

The company is also faced with the challenge of getting the perfect match for individuals with the required skill sets. While Holden as an international company has a vast array of potential recruits from all over the world, getting the required people who have just the right skill combination is not always easy. According to Purce (2014), although organizational recruiters may get application from passive job seekers, they are always meet with the problem of finding the right people for the specified job in the company.

Conventionally, the recruitment process is often characterized by filling vacant positions with individuals who have matching requirements, and this leads to the inability of getting the perfect individuals for specific positions. According to Timming, (2015) to remedy the situation organizations must make a strike a balance between sourcing for position-need and recruiting people based on their skill and expertise regardless of position. It is of great importance for hum resource professionals to stop the popular mindset where they hire expertise simply for positions rather they need to adopt hiring great talents in the respective fields. After selection and recruitment, while the recruiters may be obligated to fill the vacant positions, the newly hired individuals must be open to training and learning the needed skills (Stone & Deadrick, 2015).

Skills Shortage

Given the changing technological landscape and continuing talent poaching and raiding, a business organization can shelter their limited talent pool by providing their staff with adequate training and technical exposure. Kultalahti and Viitala, (2015) observe that proper talent management within an organization is an important strategy for shielding the firm’s specialized workforce from talent vices such as poaching. While it is true that the challenge of stiff competition that companies face is real, firms must diversify their hiring practices to ensure that they get the required skilled personnel. Companies that demand special training must start recruiting their staffs from mentorship stage where they recruit individuals while still in colleges and then provide them with necessary training. In this way, Hurn, (2014) observe that firms will have escaped the problem of every company rushing for the limited pool of talents after their graduation.

With the rising alarm due to the loss of skilled labor, Holden strives to employ some appropriate strategies to prevent the continuous fall in both new and experienced workforce.  These strategies are also aimed at attracting an adequate number of professional into the company to enhance the quality of its operations (Ruël & Bondarouk, 2014).  One of the adopted strategies is the creation of Youth Opportunities Program in South Australia which is designed to maintain students in school for a longer period giving them sufficient opportunity to learn the different dynamics of manufacturing industry. 

It is observed that Holden’s vehicle assembly plant is situated in a location which has high unemployment rates and thus the company has ventured into initiating both medium and long-term training programs aimed at equipping the local communities with necessary skills to secure jobs at the firm (Burns, 2014). With such initiatives, the company is creating appropriate mechanisms among the local community which make individuals ‘work ready’ thereby nurturing and securing their labor skills. Other than creating avenues for securing job opportunities, Holden also provides opportunities training for already qualified individuals who have the desire to re-enter the automobile industry and this is geared towards enhancing the firm’s workforce diversity (Clibborn et al., 2016).

Conclusion

General Motors Holden has grown to be the largest automobile company in Australia due to its expansive operations and economies of scale which provides a competitive advantage.  With its broad scope of operations and market share, the company uses a modern method of production and advanced labor practices to make it remain at the top of the industry.  Despite its success, the company faces numerous recruiting challenges which to a great extent interfere with its efficiency.  Labor force plays a vital role in the production and management of the firm and therefore, adopting appropriate strategies aimed at enhancing the skills of the workers, lowering the attrition rates, improving the competency and efficiency of the workers and also those which expand the employment opportunities.  Human resources majorly focus on two primary issues which are the recruitment of new workers having the required skills in an organization and the limiting of the excess workforce through various forms of downsizing initiatives. On this basis, therefore, every strategy adopted by Holden should be aimed at ensuring high retention rates of the qualified and experienced staff to meet future customer demands and also to cut down on company’s operating costs.

References

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Heritage Center (2017, September 29). Generations of GM History: History of Holden. Retrieved from https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/History_of_Holden

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