How PepsiCo sustains its competitive advantage
In today’s marketplace, performance is the key element of every organization, or company consistency is the central issue in the marketplace. PepsiCo has been able to utilize its ability to use the right people to do the right job; this is the genesis of its competitive advantage over the past years. PepsiCo has developed a conceptual model that analyses its growth, significance, and sustainability of its important resource, the employees. Any organization must use the right people in delivering its service to sensitive clientele and the ever-changing market trends (Silzer, 2009). The case study of PepsiCo shows how vital the correct placement of individuals at the right job can enhance sustainability and competitive advantage in an organization.
The framework of PepsiCo is made up of four main planks, acquisition of appropriate talent, development and management of talent, provision of learning facilities, and culture integration. These four major planks utilized by PepsiCo ensure that the company acquires the right people (talent in this case), maintains the talent, enhances the talent through training facilities availed to them, and finally culture integration to meet the internal and even the external or global needs of the company. Unlike other organizations that give more concentration to market acquisition and lack sustainability because of the inefficiencies that such organization has, PepsiCo, on the contrary, optimizes the functions of the human resource at its disposal to the maximum.
Key elements of PepsiCo’s career model growth
PepsiCo has several elements that create its career growth model, unlike other organizations; some elements create a distinction between PepsiCo and other organizations. These elements are unique to PepsiCo and thus create more market advantage for the company. To have a clear overview of PepsiCo’s uniqueness, the following three key elements unique to PepsiCo will be succinctly discussed, understanding the business cold, leadership abilities, and functional excellence.
Understanding the business cold, according to PepsiCo is the key element of business success. In essence, keeping people who understand the business through experience is one of the key elements of enhancing the sustainability of an organization. The step by PepsiCo to retain the services of Mike White after appointing another CEO was essentially to retain the wealth of experience and core knowledge about the business of the organization. In most organizations, this couldn’t have been the case. PepsiCo focuses on different lines and business models intending to create an advantageous uniqueness based on unique sight and perception of the issue, which could have been easily ignored by other organizations.
The leadership issue in PepsiCo is another imperative element that the organization has the 360-degree monitoring process is important for the organization to determine the progress and behavioral growth of its employees. The behaviors of PepsiCo employees are expected to reflect the values of the organization. There are different expectations of the company’s employees based on the level of these employees in the organization. The senior employees have attached values tailored to them, on the other hand, the midlevel also have values attached to them all of these people are monitored on a 360-degree process to ensure their delivery.
In PepsiCo, functional excellence is aimed at limiting the gap through gaining knowledge during rotation training and exposure. With time, leadership skills are expected to have matured and developed as the company’s employees practice the functional excellence monitoring process. PepsiCo thus promotes development and growth through this exercise and the experience that these employees gain in the process.
Key elements of PepsiCo talent management
The talent management process in PepsiCo is one of the key concerns that aids in the business development process. There are three major key elements in the talent management model namely; identity, development of readiness, and movement. The identity of talent is one of the key issues that are of great importance to PepsiCo as it enables the company to identify the right people for the right tasks that the organization offers. The talent management process is done through a systematic review of different organizations’ levels and acquiring the right talent for every level in the organization.
On the other hand, development readiness, according to PepsiCo is based on the fact that about 70 % of the overall development originates on the course of employment, 20 % originates from feedback response, coaching, and mentoring, and 10 % comes from formal tutoring. By further analyzing the process, it is evident that the contributions of all these factors are imperative in improving the talent and performance levels of different employees in the organization (Vaiman, 2008). It has been confirmed through practice that development occurs through a series of training, practice, and coaching these may include attending seminars and getting access to further coaching and mentoring.
As one of the major processes in the talent management process, the movement of talent has proved not only to PepsiCo but other companies to be a tricky and difficult task apart from acquiring the right talent in the first place. PepsiCo has managed the movement of talent by integrating the process from the initial game plan. The key issue here is the ability to move people to higher levels when they attain adequate competence and others who are potentially blocking potential removed from the way. The movement of people to higher talent levels places an organization at a strategic point to face the future.
PepsiCo challenges its talent management system
Despite the success that PepsiCo has been able to attain, there are several challenges faced in the talent management system which are developed and implemented successfully. In essence, the talent management process has been based on the tools and outlined action plans that clearly create pressure on the company’s employees and thus in a way failing to give their employees self-satisfaction and time to concentrate on their issues (Schweyer, 2004). More so, the feedback process and the talent acquisition process may leave out the most talented people this is clear in the career growth model where PepsiCo opts to retain a CEO instead of looking for another equally potential person.
The other major challenge that PepsiCo faces is the Human Resource need to be consistent in accurately executing the career and talent management process. This is difficult given the changing customer behaviors and the trends in the market. The pressure on the company’s HR department creates tension and may thus fail to meet all the objectives of the organization. The resistivity of the employees because of the 360-degree monitoring process may result in burnout or job dissatisfaction from employees who feel too much pressure on their shoulders.
References
Schweyer, A. (2004). Talent management systems: Best practices in technology solutions for recruitment, retention and workforce planning. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Silzer, Rob., & Dowell, B. (2009). Strategy-Driven Talent Management: A Leadership Imperative. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Vaiman V., & Vance, C. (2008). Smart talent management: Building knowledge assets for competitive advantage. Michigan, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.