Background on Samsung

Write a report as if you were a consultant to an organisation. You will write about one of the three news stories on Moodle (i.e. one on penalty rates, one on gender equality, and one on performance and rewards), identifying the problem, analyzing it in terms of the relevant theory and literature, and providing practical solutions.

The news story that has been selected for this report is “Samsung rewards Mobile division employees despite poor performance in 2015”. The story deals with the details and the information regarding the incentive and bonus structure that the company had incorporated after having a difficult business year. The human resource management is one of the most significant management departments of any business enterprise. This department ensures that the strength of an organisation which is the employees are satisfied with their job in turn develop a commitment towards the organisation. Strategic human resource management helps the company build policies and take decisions regarding the staff and the employees (Jackson et al., 2014). One of the topics of discussion in this report is motivation and how it impacts the performance as well as the commitment of the employee. With the help of the news stories several topics of human resource management like employee relations barriers, understanding diversity, managing the performance of the employees, career development and learning opportunities, motivation and rewards and employee turnover and retention etc.

Samsung group is an organisation that operates in the electronic and technology industry. Established in 1938, the headquarters of the organisation is in Seoul, South Korea. The organisation with the help of innovation has been able to make a mark in the industry as well as in the minds of the consumers. Pricing the latest technology within a reasonable reach of the target customer is one of the major principles that the company operates in. the organisation is known to encourage and welcome innovation and creativity and gives the employees significant position in the business operation as the motto of the company is “Inspired by people, creating the future” (Samsung.com, 2018).  Some of the objectives of Samsung are:

• To achieve valuable consumer relation
• To provide the customers with new and improved technology
• To achieve success and develop a sustainable future

To build a valuable and healthy relationship with the employees it is importation to develop a strategic human resource management plan. The human resource department is responsible for employing people ensuring their health and safety as well as their career development in the organisation so that they are able to commit to the organization and grow with the company. In Samsung, the focuses of the human resources are to ensure the workplace environment is healthy, work-friendly, stress-free and safe for all the employees. The management of the organisation focuses on innovation and wants to encourage the employees to use their creativity in their work therefore the policies and the decision that are taken by the organisation are based on flexibility of the employees. The performances of the employees are directly responsible for the growth and expansion of the department and in turn of the business. These performances are managed and encouraged by the HRD in Samsung and the bonuses and incentive structure are also decided accordingly.

The Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management

Samsung follows a hierarchal corporate culture in the organisation which ensures that the employees understand the structure of the organisation easily. This helps the people to approach the right person when required. Samsung focuses on developing job satisfaction among the employees as the company understands the role the human resource department plays in the operations of the business. Some of the most common challenges faced by any business organisation are: workplace harassment, workplace bullying, dissatisfaction with the remuneration structure, out of expertise job role, work load, work-life balance issues and miscommunication etc (Cloutier et al., 2015). These issues result in an employee who is not satisfied with the job and increased employee turnover of the company. In the news story, the people of the organisation are provided with the incentive even when the profitability of the company is significantly lower than other financial years; this is a positive approach of the company. The human resource department of Samsung formulates the process of employee performance and ensures there is transparency in the process so that there is no issue or conflict in the long run. One of the major challenges that is faced by the employees is the work load and the work stress in this industry, the organisation keeps the employees engaged in several extracurricular activities and refreshment opportunities, this is also the responsibility of the human resource department.

As Samsung is a multinational organisation it is evident that the population of the people in the organisation will be diverse in nature. Some of the issues that employees face in a diverse environment are workplace racism and workplace bullying. In such instances, if a complaint is logged with the management, actions should be taken immediately in order to understand the gravity of the situation as well as analyze the role of the victim and the accused. Samsung has rules and regulation against racism and workplace bullying (O’Leary & Sandberg, 2017). The employees of the organisation and expected to maintain professional discipline and decorum within the workplace. In order to maintain the diversity the organisation should encourage and respect every culture and every ethnic background employees. Holidays and leave approvals based on festivals, occasions are one the policies that Samsung have to encourage diversity in the organization. The organisation does not have a biased perspective of an individual based on their diversity, Samsung believes in the skill and expertise of a person during recruitment. The organisation encourages and recognizes the importance of sharing knowledge therefore the departments have a diverse population. Samsung has many policies and programs for people with disabilities and exceptional talents form high school. The company views diversity as an opportunity and encourages the same for the development and betterment of the organisation (Kundu & Mor, 2017).

Motivation and Employee Performance

Job satisfaction among the employees are dependent on several factors like: healthy work environment, satisfaction of the job role that has been allocated for example a person who is a management expert in finance is asked to undertake the responsibilities of human resource will be unsatisfied with the job role. Other aspects are like: rapport with the colleagues and peers as well as the seniors, work pressure, work-life balance etc. Similarly performance of the employees is also one of the reasons for the people to be satisfied with the job, if an employee is continuously performing poorly then it is the duty to examine the reasons and help the person to grow (Gerrish, 2016). Every company has their own performance management procedure and policy, depending on this evaluation is the appraisal that the people are entitled to get. Samsung has a transparent system of performance management which is also dependent on the departments; the factors that are associated with the performance management procedure in Samsung. Samsung has developed the process based on the situational environment and the departmental requirement. The results of the performance prove to be the strengths and weakness evaluation of the employees, the organisation encourages the people to use their strength to gain an edge over the opportunities. The bonus structure is also based on the performance but on the performance of the department and the department’s contribution to the profitability of the business.

Based on the evaluation of the performance people should be given an opportunity to learn and grow in their career as well. It has been observed that many people leave a company as they do not find any future prospects of their career with the organisation. The ambition of an individual should relate to the growth and expansion of the organization only then the commitment of the employee will be ensured. Samsung ranked third in talent development in 2015. The awards are organized by the Association for Talent Development.  Samsung has employee an internal system called MOSAIC which will help the employees in developing collective intelligence as the company believes in innovation and creativity for the growth and development of the business (News.samsung.com., 2018). Samsung have several skill development and training program planned for the employees so that the people get an opportunity to grow in the process of working with the company. Samsung has provided help and support for training and education of around 34 thousand students from over 54 countries, the objective of this program was broadening the horizon for talented youth creating jobs opportunities etc.  The country specific details about the program make it unique and effective in achieving the objectives (Ploom  & Haldma, 2013).

Managing Diversity and Job Satisfaction

According to the theory developed by Douglas McGregor, there is a positive and a negative approach of an individual towards work. According to theory X, the people are not motivated to work by themselves they need external push in terms or rewards or penalties to keep the employees engaged and focused in their work. In this theory he says that people lack ambition and willingness to improve hence they also run away from taking risks and responsibilities. Therefore rewards and penalties play an important role in ensuring high performance of the employees (Lawter et al., 2015).

However, in the theory Y he states that the interest of the employees is associated with the objective of the organisation which is like a positive situation for both the employees and the employer. Rewards and appreciation are some of the added advantages for the employees who are already performing and putting their best effort (Lawter et al., 2015).

Encouraging or inspiring an individual or a group of people in achieving an objective or an aim is called motivation. Motivation can be wither intrinsic or extrinsic depending on the behaviour of the person and the situational condition of the environment the person is in. In the news story Samsung announced the rate of bonus of the employees despite of having a rough financial year. The step taken by the organisation seem to be encouraging for the employees as they recognise that the company is accepting and rewarding the hard work and the effort the employees put in their jobs throughout the year (Mafini & Dlodlo, 2014). The human resource department structures the bonus rate with the help of the management. Motivation plays an important role in helping the employees improve the performance the impact of motivation can be long term or short term depending upon several factors. Motivation can also lead to job satisfaction and retention. For example: if an employee is unhappy with the work environment and complains regarding the same to the concerned person and necessary steps are taken in the process to ensure that the problem is resolved, then the employee will be affected positively and motivated (Yoon et al., 2015).

One of the major limitations of the bonus structure that has been discussed in the news story is that the individual performance in the process of evaluation does not get importance. The collective performance of the department is taken into consideration; this is an unfair situation as the performance of an individual may be better than the collective performance and they may feel in this case that their efforts are not getting their due recognition. This situation is a negative impact as the people who have good performance record may get de-motivated a start underperforming (Khan et al., 2017).

Performance Management and Career Development

Motivation and reward are some of the most important aspects of ensuring employee retention. This situation is also directly responsible with the rate of job satisfaction. The employee retention rate of Samsung is considerably low owing to the employee friendly policies that the company have (Yoon et al., 2015).

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the discussion that though the company wanted to establish a healthy and valuable relationship with the employees with the bonus scheme, in order to align the interest of the employees with the objective of the company, many employee may have felt negatively from the situation. With the help of innovation and creativity Samsung ensures to stay on the league of the industry, the dynamics of the industry is dealt with the help of the employees and the company ensures skilled development and training for the employees who are promising and talented. 

References

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Gerrish, E. (2016). The impact of performance management on performance in public organizations: A meta-analysis. Public Administration Review, 76(1), 48-66.

Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Jiang, K. (2014). An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 1-56.

Khan, A. A., Bashir, M., Abrar, M., & Saqib, S. (2017). The effect of organizational culture on employee’s creativity, the mediating role of employee’s cognitive ability. International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 9(2), 217-230.

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Lawter, L., Kopelman, R. E., & Prottas, D. J. (2015). McGregor’s theory X/Y and job performance: A multilevel, multi-source analysis. Journal of Managerial Issues, 27(1-4), 84-101,7

Mafini, C., & Dlodlo, N. (2014). The relationship between extrinsic motivation, job satisfaction and life satisfaction amongst employees in a public organisation.SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40(1), 1-13.

News.samsung.com. (2018). Samsung Receives ‘2015 ATD Best Awards’ for Excellence in Talent Development. news.samsung.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018, from https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-receives-2015-atd-best-awards-for-excellence-in-talent-development

O’Leary, J., & Sandberg, J. (2017). Managers’ practice of managing diversity revealed: A practice-theoretical account. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(4), 512-536. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.2132

Ploom, K., & Haldma, T. (2013). Balanced performance management in the public education system. Baltic Journal of Management, 8(2), 183-207. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17465261311310018

Samsung.com. (2018). About Us. www.samsung.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018, from https://www.samsung.com/aboutsamsung/home/

Yoon, H. J., Sung, S. Y., Choi, J. N., Lee, K., & Kim, S. (2015). Tangible and intangible rewards and employee creativity: The mediating role of situational extrinsic motivation