39

Discussion

1.What problems did BMW face when it took over the Cowley car plant?

2.What changes do you think BMW made to transform Cowley into a successful plant?

Task

1.Discuss the problems of the plant regarding:

-productivity

-logistics

-relations with workforce

-environmental concerns

-customer satisfaction

Consider possible solutions of the problems and how they can benefit the plant. Make recommendations how to use these solutions.

Offer your own ideas how to recover the profitability of the plant and make it successful again.

-Investing money into robots on production lines

-Introducing flexible working schedule

-Relocating the main suppliers nearer to the factory

-Delivering components for cars from local producers

-Organizing workers into teams responsible for solving their own problems on production line

-Providing workers with some benefits for good work

-Transporting ‘Minis’ for European market by rail

-Offering customers a personalized car and the opportunity to choose extensive range of options after order is placed.

Unit 6 Staffing problems

Read the article about finding and keeping top talent and answer the questions below.

Things have changed since enterprises were labor-intensive (mining or textile manufacturing) or capital-intensive (chemical and steel production). Today, many of the world’s major corporations in fields like software, pharmaceuticals, music, publishing, entertainment, and sports are knowledge-intensive or talent-intensive. In these organizations the principle assets consist of the knowledge and special skills of talented people rather than their tangible assets. As knowledge quickly becomes obsolete, the companies with a competitive edge are those focused on creating new knowledge by finding, recruiting and managing talent.

40

One recruitment process is to attract people whose exceptional talent has already been recognized elsewhere. While payment may play a significant role in convincing a talented employee to change jobs, the reputation of the recruiting organization in its field is vital. Reputation building is therefore a key element in recruitment strategy. Top firms like Starbucks, Intel, Microsoft, have been focusing on employer branding or reputation for years. Many people can be proud to work for such famous companies.

A second recruitment process involves recruiting young people straight from school or university and helping them to develop their talents in the company. This is similar to buying plants at a store and nurturing them so that they can grow. Problems with this method can include the difficulty in predicting creativity and entrepreneurial abilities in young recruits and giving too much weight to their academic qualifications.

A less risky way is finding talents among existing employees. Research shows that the best quality applicants often come from an organization’s existing workers. If they have been employed for some time, a well-designed appraisal procedure can be effective in selecting promising candidates. Unfortunately, there is a widespread belief that certain individuals are remarkable while the other people are not.

The first step to retain talented people is to offer them an adequate rewards package including the ability to work flexible hours, extra days of paid holidays, private healthcare, etc. More important, however, is if the company can provide a working environment favorable to creativity, self-expression and the exercise of initiative. Organizations can be hierarchical, bureaucratic and conformist (obeying to laws or rules). Just these characteristics can make highly creative people turn off the offer to work for such companies. One possibility in organizations is to form small, informal teams and allow them to work independently so that they can remain as creative as possible.

Research shows that the main characteristics of a culture that nurtures talent are highly cohesive teams of specialists that can work undisturbed, the authority based on competence, recognition of all contributions, respected leadership, freedom, autonomy, flexibility, openness, trust and encouragement in risk-taking.

Comprehension questions

1.What is the difference between a labor-intensive enterprise and a knowledge or talent-intensive enterprise?

2.What stands behind the employer brand?

3.What can convince a talented person to change his job and join another company?

4.Why do employers try to avoid employing young people, recent graduates?

5.What type of applicants can be the best quality workers for a company?

6.How can company retain talented workers?

41

7.Why can the structure of the company make talented people refuse from working for the company?

8.What can the top management do to keep talented people in the organization?

9.What are the main characteristics that make a company attractive for talented people?

Language focus

1.Find English equivalents to the following Russian words and phrases in the text.

Предприятие, интенсивно использующее рабочую силу или нуждающееся в ней; предприятие с интенсивным использованием

большое значение академическим данным (умения, знания, степени); иметь способности; хорошо-разработанный метод оценки; подбирать подающих надежды (перспективных) претендентов; существует широко распространённое мнение; удивительный талант; удержать (сохранить) талантливых людей; достаточный пакет поощрений (вознаграждений); работать согласно гибкому графику;

2. Match the definitions to their terms given below.

to focus on talent-intensive company obsolete knowledge

1.an advantage that makes a company more able to succeed in competing with others ___

2.area of activity people are involved in ___

3.something physical or material that a business has and make money from, eg. land, buildings, machinery, which can be easily valued ___

4.something old-fashioned, no longer useful ___

42

5.to pay special attention to ___

6.giving a name to a product or a group of products so that they can be easily recognized by their name or design ___

7.a person who applies for a job; a candidate ___

8.to develop a talent ___

9.the process of discussing and evaluating the quality of an employee’s work ___

10.enough quantity of something that you receive because you have done something good or helpful ___

11.to keep; to try not to lose someone talented ___

12.a company which is interested in having competent, knowledgeable and gifted personnel ___

13.a skill, personal quality, type of experience that makes a person suitable for a particular job ___

14.a group of people closely related to each other ___

15.to lose interest in ___

3. Complete the sentences using words below. Translate them into Russian.

ineffective successful unemployed intangible unequal uncompetitive favourable

1.A company which can adapt easily to new methods or ways of working is usually more ___ than one which cannot. This can often be seen by looking at its reputation or the bottom line of the balance sheet.

2.Companies which do not encourage new knowledge and find talented employees are in danger of becoming ___ as their rivals may take advantage of this situation and use it to take business away from them.

3.Truly talented people usually do not remain ___ for long if they leave their jobs.

4.Openness, trust, cohesiveness and respect for each other are very ___

conditions for creative teams.

5.The knowledge and skills of the people in a company are ___ asset.

6.If employees feel they are being treated in an ___ way, they most likely will not do their best at work.

7.Forcing creative teams to work in a highly hierarchical and bureaucratic environment may turn out to be ___ as it is possible they will not manage to do their work very well.

4. Identifying talent. Read and translate the following text.

Leaders and HR classify the employees into the following groups. They came up with the following percentage.

Stars (10%) Managers whose performance is constantly high and who demonstrate high potential to take on significant leadership roles in the

43

organization. They clearly demonstrate strategic thinking, acumen (ability to think and judge quickly and well), team leadership, interpersonal sensitivity, and self-management.

Experts (15%) Managers with high level of expertise in business. They definitely demonstrate a high degree of innovation, initiative and passion.

Performers (70%) Managers who demonstrate the required performance and who are essential to keep the organization moving but who cannot contribute to the organization at a strategic level.

Dead wood (5%) Managers who demonstrate inadequate performance and who limit company’s activities.

Note: Those classified as ‘dead wood’ are not expected to remain in that category for long. Managers are aware of the need to train these people to improve their performance or to move them out.

5.Match the statements about the managers below with their classifications.

Stars ___ ___

Experts ___ ___

Performers ___ ___

Dead wood ___ ___

1.His contributions are not very innovative but he gets the job done.

2.When I need someone who always thinks strategically and can lead a team to new levels of achievement, she is the person I think of. Her business acumen and interpersonal sensitivity are excellent.

3.I wouldn’t ask her opinion when it comes to new directions for the company but I rely on her to make sure her staff does what is necessary.

4.I am afraid that keeping him may be a risk for the company.

5.He has got a very high level of understanding in his area and he would be difficult to replace.

6.His performance is starting to become a problem.

7.Her ideas are innovative and she shows initiative. She has a high level of expertise in her area.

8.At the meeting in Japan he demonstrated that he can work with a wide variety of cultures and has a clear vision of where the company should go. He should take on a significant leadership role in our organization.

6.Translate the following sentences from Russian into English.

1.Основной капитал любой организации – это знания и профессиональные навыки работающих в ней людей.

2.Работа руководителя заключается в том, чтобы учитывать потребности будущего и брать на себя ответственность за инновации, без которых организация всегда будет оставаться неконкурентоспособной.