Contingent Workforce Planning at the Motorola Inc

Section 1: Situation Identification 

Abstract

Contingent workforce planning is one of the complicated and urgent issues of management practice. Due to the numerous strategic and tactical attempts, Motorola Inc. achieved an effective approach to maintaining the stable social policy of the human resources management and filled it with innovative ideas. Moreover, the contribution of the company has brought the principles of the management of human resources into conformity with informational and economic advances.

Introduction

The key issues coming up, in this case, concerning the transformation of the labor use and the peculiarities of the staffing model of the contingent workforce of Motorola Inc. The successful implementation of the created and developed model of the contingent workers was expected to promote the business success for the organization and its shareholders. Motorola Inc. was faced with the necessity to employ a growing number of contingent workers.  Thus, their efficient integration into the organizational structure and the business performance was included in the plans of the corporation.

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The contingent workforce represents the separate group of human resources among the full-time staff and requires a specific approach of utilization. The effect of the involvement of these employees in the company’s performance is to ensure the flexibility and sustainability of the socioeconomic system. Furthermore, the established relationships with the suppliers and shareholders were assumed to be provided by the talented personnel of different categories of employment. Therefore, the mixed composition of the personnel was needed to become the competitive advantage rather than a spontaneous trend in the labor market. The appropriate utilization of the contingent and full-time employees of Motorola Inc. referred to the adherence to the principles of human resources (HR) that can be applied to the examined tissue. They were assigned to orient the managerial decisions on the correct and rational directions, basing on the HR practice.

Section 2:  Key Facts/Supporting Information

The business of Motorola Inc. had gradual and progressive growth in the industry of electronics and communication technologies. The leading position has enabled the company to expand the supply, gain a substantial market share in different areas of the national economy and market segmentation, and focus its efforts on the research and the development of human resources (“Human resource management principles”). Moreover, the business division and expansion encouraged the company to employ more people around the world. The subsequent peculiar changes consisted in the separation of the personnel and production according to the needs of the company’s sectors. Different levels of the volatility of the demand on the products from various production sectors compelled Motorola Inc. to revise the business model and work out a new strategy aimed at the flexible performance of the company in the changing conditions of the external environment.

In the framework of the new strategy introduction, the company intended to engage talented people in business activity. This goal was realized through the work of the established group of employees responsible for hiring and recognizing talented human potential.  The creation of the Global Talent Supply attested to the purposeful and active initiative of Motorola Inc. to gain benefits from the creative and professional employees (Hamblen, 2012). Among the first experimental issues of the social reformation, there was the creation of the separate office that was responsible for the management of the contingent workforce, mainly within the particular production sector. The activity of this department was directed at centralizing the coordination of the contingent employees, contacting the staffing company, resorting to the help of the contingent workforce, and solving the issues of appropriate employment.

The difficulties might happen with the decentralization of the corporate management as the business was conducted in several countries. Therefore, the permanent dynamics of the contingent worker’s recruitment in Motorola Inc. and the dispersal of the workforce make HR management complicated and particularly uncontrolled. The obstacles of the contingent workforce utilization partly violated the principle of congruence that has to be implemented in the HR management, because the efforts of such staff as the contingent employees were used only for a short period and did not provide career opportunities within the organization. Nevertheless, the recruitment of talented employees for the development of research and innovative activities responded and was congruent with the companies and management goals.

By the use of the contingent workforce, Motorola Inc. faced the principles of competence and cost-effectiveness. It should be noticed that the joint practice of the managers and staffing companies experienced the spiraling costs of this workforce and the low level of the managers’ awareness of the professional qualities of candidates. Due to the lack of time and collected information, the managers were unable to make sufficient decisions in the process of recruitment. These negative aspects of the management of the contingent human resources referred to the higher risks and costs. Moreover, the disparity of the payment rates of the contingent workers and the sum of compensation for the full-time employees occurred owing to the increased wage costs. The shortage of the procurement system enhanced the costs inefficiency and led to controversy with the principles of fairness and equity. Thus, the low motivation of the full-time workers had influenced their decision to work for the company.

The inequality of payment has happened due to the working time fund and the budget of the particular department. The salary of the full-time worker was traditionally set, while the contingent worker’s compensation for the program development weighed more. Yet, the managerial decisions of Motorola Inc. were focused on the opportunity to experience workplace costs. This peculiarity has created contingent planning in the organization and should be guided by the best principles of the HR management to maintain the highest level of motivation and the accordance of the employees’ goals to the corporation’s mission and objectives.

The principle of the HR management such as commitment was not also supported, as the employees were not contracted for a long-term period and the management of Motorola Inc. invited the people on occasions of a full workload. Nevertheless, the contingent and full-time workers were tending to demonstrate the commitment to the company’s short-term objectives through the time-limited work (“Principles & policies for managing human resources”). The existing practice of the temporary arrangements with the staffing companies encouraged Motorola Inc. to evaluate the professional skills of the potential contingent employees according to the contract of employment. Thus, the recruitment processes ensured the company with high-performed workers according to the requirements of the work position.

The specifics of the contingent employment forced the principles to be changed, as the temporary occupancy did not allow the corporation to manifest the management performance. Although Motorola Inc. used contingent labor for the quick tactical goals, the managers were interested to recognize the new skills and efforts applied in the temporary work positions. Thus, the company promoted individual development in the framework of business growth. The HR management was aimed at withdrawing the valuable benefits of the advanced workforce.

During the implementation of the contingent workforce practice, the recruitment policy of Motorola Inc. had shifted from the traditional relationships with the staffing companies to the strategic sourcing model. The introduction of the new model provided advanced agreements with small staffing companies within the entire supply chain management. The essential form of the connection concerning the webbing infrastructure of the business created the opportunities to link with the suppliers of the contingent workforce. The model was filled with the experience of developers and included the adherence to HR management. The introduction of this model has allowed the company to plan precisely the professional level of the applicants, examine the demand for work positions, sort the candidates among the available individuals by the expected characteristics, etc.

The developed model contributed to the improved equity of the compensation and accurate payment for both contingent and full-paid workers. The model has liquidated the disparity of the salary and at the same time set the appropriate payment for the less-professional contingent employees. Thus, the principle of equal pay was successfully achieved.

The planning of the recruitment and management of the contingent personnel was performed easily and was based on the company’s needs in additional labor. The team of the developers and managers was encouraged to form the base of the seat allocation that allowed planning the possible gap and filling it by the attraction of other staffing companies. Therefore, performance management as the condition of the efficient managerial decision was realized simpler (Cascio, & Aguinis, 2008).

Despite bringing a significant contribution to the common process of contingent workforce planning, Motorola Inc. faced different challenges of the external social and economic environments. To support the long-term development, the company should move to a more flexible and socially adaptive model of the organizational structure and create deeper integration of the contingent workers in the corporate system.

Section 3:  Recommendation(s)

The tentative solution for the improvement of the planning process, touching the issue of the contingent workforce planning at Motorola Inc., should be based on the appropriate managerial concept and toolset. The management system should return to the primary principle of efficient HR management to ensure sustainability for the corporate shareholders and stakeholders. The technical and technological base should support the managers’ decisions of the staff recruitment and release. Furthermore, the employees’ base will rank and select the different groups of the performers by the contribution and role in the business development of Motorola Inc. Consequently, the further managerial decisions will be well based, forecasted, and applied to a particular individual from the contingent candidates, especially if the repeated processes laid in the functioning of the model and the network with the same staffing companies were provided.

The developed models of the company assist the managers in the complicated and permanent processes of staff selection. The right choice should be based only on the determination of the appropriate criteria to the candidate that should reflect the mission, conceptual statements, objectives, and tactical measurement of the company. Due to the concurrence of these organizational positions and the goals of the contingent candidate, the company may increase the level of labor productivity and execute the corporate plans more accurately. If the contingent and full-time employees are motivated enough through the developed system of equal working conditions, the activity of the high performer, and other material and non-material remuneration, the productivity will be obtained in every structural group of the company’s staff. Thus, the design of the motivation model will enhance the foreseeing and planning processes. Moreover, planning of the training and individual development will ensure the increasing of the demand on the work positions of the company.

The principles constituting the HR management promote the relationships of the employer with employees and suppliers of the contingent workforce. Therefore, their introduction in the managerial approach to the planning of the contingent staff should be provided. As Motorola Inc. invited the skilled workers to take a place within the socioeconomic system, the grievance and non-ethnic conduct should be handled in the same manner as with the full-time workers. The application of such measurement will favor the equal and ethical relationship between these groups of staff. The company’s policy focused on the responsibilities of every individual will protect the company from unfulfilled work and the defectiveness of the production and management. When the hired contingent workers get the proper and clear responsibility, except the benefits of the work position, the planned number of the applicants will raise.

To sum up, the planning of the contingent personnel refers to modern requirements of the flexible and sustainable performance of the advanced company. Therefore, the provision of a company with high-skilled human resources demands clear compliance with the principles of efficient HR management. As it is the primary base of the common managerial process, the planning function needs to rely on them. The attempts of Motorola Inc. demonstrated the professional and modern approach to solve the defined problem with a contingent workforce. Nevertheless, the company has experienced a lack of essential concepts and economic crucial defects. To develop proper positions and adopt the available capacity to the required needs, the company should transform the model by the initial concept of HR management. Therefore, the appropriate principles concerning fairness, equal working conditions, parity of salary, individual training, and development should play an essential role in the improvement of contingent workforce planning.