Introduction
The case scenario “A. P. Moller-Maersk Group: Evaluating Strategic Talent Management Initiatives” is expounded retrospectively, throughout the company’s ideological changes since the pre-2003 era till recent times. After reading the article, it becomes clear why human resources function is crucially important and should be aligned with the strategic plan of an organization. Likewise, it is impossible not to place a high emphasis on the impact of current global conditions in Maersk’s industry, which strongly affects human resource management within this organization. Thus, different factors brought significant changes to Maersk’s company’s whole structure, and now it is the right moment to explain how Maersk’s talent management strategy works.
Main body
As a matter of fact, HR’s primary objective is to recruit, develop, and retain the best talents for the company. Those talents become not only leaders and role models for the subsequent employees but also a sustainable base for Maersk’s company development (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013). There is the following main reason why such people should fit in the process of growing alongside the company, complying with the plan.
Employees must know what the company’s goals are to provide the workforce that will help the company attain its goals and succeed. In order to make it possible, Bill Allen, head of Human Resources (HR), has focused on essential three areas: “getting the right people in the right jobs at the right time”, “leadership development [because it] drives business results” and “differentiation in terms of rewards and pay for performance” (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013, pp. 5). Since 2008, these three revolutionary rules have made Maersk’s industry flourish.
Next, as Maersk family-owned firm transformed into a global publicly-traded one due to the current world-wide changes, its head of Human Resources, Bill Allen, had to allocate significant resources in implementing sophisticated recruitment procedures. Historically, there have been a special training program for young people, who have just graduated from school or college (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013). Hence, they could start knowing the company’s culture from the very youth.
However, more experienced seniors, who had high potential and already proved their excellent performance, were not able to manage self-development within the Maersk’s industry. Consequently, Bill Allen found the solution again by creating a “Development Shop” — “an online depository for training and learning resources” (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013, pp. 10). Engaging in the individual needs of the employees, Maersk Group’s HR department has actually benefited from their development.
Moreover, the head of the HR reconsidered the taboo of re-hiring people to make the staff more diverse in some way. In other words, boomerang alumni gained various skills in another organization, and now he or she is ready to apply them at Maersk. Besides, they still understand Maersk’s process and values, already have good connections with colleagues, and fell “as much like family as coworkers” (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013, pp. 12). Accordingly, the decision to invent alumni networks in order to inform former employees about new opportunities at the firm was vital in the current global conditions.
Then, one should claim that it is necessary to compare and contrast internal recruitment with the external one to determine the beneficial way of selecting people. First of all, there is a similarity between the two candidates. Both internal and external employees may be professionals in their field, and they could aim at the particular positive outcome for the organization, especially when both of them are paid well.
However, others state that there are many more distinctions between internal and external candidates. The key differences were detected while analyzing the case scenario. The first one is that the person that has already worked for the firm has a clear picture of his job, the peculiarities in the structure, and career development possibility within the Maersk’s industry, while an external candidate needs some time to adapt.
On the other hand, it is not profitable to keep law performance staff for many long years and the good decision is to hire a broad-minded and experienced person from the outside. Not accidentally, there was given a statistic in the case scenario: “In recent years, the percentage of senior positions filled by external hires had increased from virtually none to 30%” (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013, pp. 2). What is more, deployment was a homogeneous part of the talent management process, so the company established a connection with external consultants where management was coping without the skill-set internally. Nevertheless, if the question concerns specifically the recruitment, even then, the external candidates are mostly in the requisition.
Afterward, Maersk’s recruitment strategies should be described in detail to explain how the staff remains aligned with the organization’s vision and goals over the years. As it was mentioned before, the practice of rehiring people has occurred to be one of the best methods since 2010 (Groysberg & Abbott, 2013). The Maersk’s industry did not need high risks and enduring recruiting processes, so a boomerang was less costly than other hires. Thus, training costs are lowered; employees have more precise notion, why do they join the firm this time, and finally, they probably returned due to the values and favorable conditions. Besides, one should recommend paying bonuses for every year staying at the firm (seniority) to improve employee success and retention.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to highlight that human resource function and an organization’s strategic plan and its outlook are interconnected. As soon as Bill Allen has become the head of HR at Maersk’s company, the talent management strategy principle was put in action. It revealed that to form a successful staff, the leader should pay attention to the importance of personal and organization coincidence. In addition, current global conditions in the industry and the selecting process of new employees, either internal or external, resolve the industry’s future.
Reference
Groysberg, B. & Abbott, S. (2013, May). AP møller-maersk group: Evaluating strategic talent management initiatives. Harvard Business School Case, 1-20.