Professional Development Program Proposal

Strategic Human Resources

Propose how you would ensure the HR strategy is in alignment with the business strategy.

Ford’s business strategy is based on the One Ford plan which is anchored on its four-point business plan that will enable the company to achieve success globally. The four-point business plan consists of the company’s plan to work together effectively as a team, aggressively restructure to operate efficiently in the current demand and model mix, speed up development of new products to the customer’s demands and finally, to finance the plan and improve their balance sheet (Ford). The Human Resource (HR) strategy should ensure that the employees can use their skills to come up with innovative products that will satisfy the customer demands. The HR department, therefore, needs to implement policies that ensure their employees are trained to work in teams and use their creativity to come up with good corporate ideas for the company to exploit. This is seen in the labor affairs division of the HR department where innovative labor solutions are provided to develop a capable workforce that can develop high-quality goods (Ford). I would also ensure that the HR strategy promotes team work among the employees by holding training and orientations that teach the employees how to act as a team and make logical independent decisions.

Describe the HR job positions and the responsibilities listed for that HR department.

The HR job positions listed include the occupational health nurse position, the workers’ compensation supervisor, a supplemental occupational health nurse position, a talent assessment manager, and health and welfare benefits specialist. The Occupational health nurse responsibilities include processing medical leaves of absence, processing clinical records, conducting medical examinations, conducting fitness for duty, opening, extending and closing medical leaves and finally processing reinstatement to name a few (Ford). The workers’ compensation supervisor’s responsibilities include supervising claim adjusters in their day to day operations and ensuring employee compliance with workers’ compensation laws. They are also responsible for file management and quality review for the teams they are assigned to, providing technical and jurisdictional direction regarding complex compensability and litigation problems to the staff and addressing and resolving escalated complaints. The Talent assessment manager’s responsibilities are to lead a team to develop, justify, launch and manage pre-employed assessments for the workforce and using science and data to ensure that the tools used are effective (Ford). The health and welfare benefits specialist responsibilities include supporting the design, strategy, and development of healthcare and wellbeing programs for the workers, assessing the company health plans for efficiency and cost reduction, developing legally required documents and aiding in the benefits change implementation in project management and request for proposals.

Determine which HR job positions you would prefer and explain why.

I would prefer the talents assessment manager position because this position allows you to play a key role in the achievement of the company’s goals and execution of their business strategy. The position also allows you to design and implement hiring tools that will ensure that the people employed in the company are capable, creative, and hardworking and can work in teams to execute their roles. Such a workforce will provide the company with excellent products that will boost the success of the company. One can also assess the effectiveness of these tools to ensure that they only lead to the company hiring the best in the business. While not necessarily a high profile position, it is an important one, and I think serving in that role will have a direct positive impact on the company’s business objectives.

Analyze how the selected company can establish HRM strategies to improve competitive advantages.

The company can improve on its’ competitive advantages by ensuring a diverse workforce. People that come from different backgrounds have different experiences and therefore different ideas and understanding of the market. Combining this information will allow the company to design innovative products that will satisfy members of the target market and thus increase its competitive advantage over the other companies (Hill & Jones, 2013). Ford can also incorporate teamwork into their training programs for their employees. This will ensure that the employees can work as teams and will, therefore, combine creative ideas to come up with new products for the company. All of these measures will ultimately result in greater competitive advantage for Ford.

Propose three (3) ways that the company can increase diversity.

The company can offer free daycare services or allow employees paid time off in order to attend/observe religious holidays. Offering such benefits will tend to attract a diverse range of applicants and will consequently improve the diversity in the workplace (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2010). The company could also ensure that prospective candidates are aware of their hiring policies that encourage diversity. This will attract people from many diverse backgrounds as they will see that they have a fair chance of being employed by the company. The company can also engage in local events or register with organizations that help minority groups seek employment. This will allow the minority groups to learn of and apply for positions in the company, thereby creating a diverse workforce.

References

Ford. Careers. Ford. Accessed on 2017, July 18. Retrieved from:

http://corporate.ford.com/ListJobs/All/Search/Ford-Department/Human-Resources/Ford-Experience/Experienced-Professional

Ford. Human Resources. Ford. Accessed on 2017, July 18. Retrieved from:

http://corporate.ford.com/careers/departments/human-resources.html

Ford. Strategy. Sustainability 2012/13. Ford. Accessed on 2017, July 18. Retrieved from:

http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2012-13/blueprint-strategy.html

Hill, C. & Jones, G. (2013). Strategic management theory. Mason, OH Australia Brazil Japan Korea Mexico Singapore Spain United Kingdom United States: South-Western, Cengage Learning.

Pride, W., Hughes, R. & Kapoor, J. (2010). Business. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.