PROJECT REPORT ON

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Submitted to:
Prof. Debi S. Saini

Submitted by:
Group – 2 , Section D

Mithila Das PGP33181 Aakash Mehta ABM14016

2. Morale of the Story/Case-let:

Unlike other firms, Amazon has employed different strategies to get the most out of its employees.
From communication lines to raise any questions about others to energy-sapping appraisal
system, many employees of Amazon worked under the extreme surroundings of highly competitive
co-workers and are monitored using data based system to track their performance. Many have
left the firms, unable to cope up with cut throat environment, which only support the best of the
bests. But, few have remained, to get the most out of the learning from high-growth company.

3. Source:

a. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-
in-a-bruising-workplace.html
b. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, Book by Brad Stone

4. Story/Anecdote/Practice:

Amazon is changing the boundaries of customer experience every day, by implementing new
innovative processes and services like Amazon Prime (Online portal for entertainment videos),
Drone delivery and many more. This rapid growth in services and products provided have
motivated many aspirants to be part of ever-expanding enterprise. Agam Raghav joined Amazon
in June 2015, in transportation department, overlooking efficient use of truck space and their
movement. While preparing for the interview, he studied the 14 leadership principles of Amazon,
underlying vision of founder Jeff Bezos. The principles are focused on customer satisfaction to
delivering results. From day 1, He felt Amazon to be a lot different from his previous employer.
The power-point slides were replaced by single page summary. No additional incentives of free
food or goodies were given, unlike his previous company. Every business discussion meeting was
nothing short of a war, where ideas are ruthlessly countered and people are challenged on every
details.

In first month, He was asked to overlook the amazon prime delivery in Europe and his
performance was mapped, in alignment to the improvement in delivery system. He developed a
detailed program to achieve the targets, using knowledge of his successful project in previous job.
His ideas were countered vigorously and even, said not to be following core principles. Lack of
support from peers and pressure to give better plan pushed him to work till late in nights. At first,
He was surprised to see his senior manager crying at her desk, after she got review on project and
now that has to come common for him. He told his friend that “Nearly every person I worked
with, I saw cry at their desk.” Besides this, He was shocked to know that one of co-workers have
complained about him using company communications and reported that he was slow in work
and lack amazon level skills. To counter that, he pushed more efforts and toiled even harder till
brink of psychological barrier.
 During his first performance review, he received a punishing review from his boss, detailing every
missed deadlines and skills he lacked. After half-hour of bantering, his boss told him that he has
been given bonus for his work. The emotional roll-coaster review has put Agam in position to
rethink about his stay in the company. Demanding Work-culture has changed his personal life and
also competitive co-workers has given no respite. On the other hand, he is getting 20% more than
market salary and there is possibility of promotion in next year. Now, He wants to make a decision
whether to take his skills to more friendly company or to stay in high-growth company.

1. Title of the story: Leader-Centric Approach

2. Moral of the Story/Case-let:

Employees are looking for a competitive environment and also looking for opportunity that helps them to
have a perfect work-life balance. Analysis of a series of well-established programs/initiatives and how such
programs works as an incentive and motivator for the employees. Employees are not only looking for
compensation by numbers but they additionally want to have family care programs, inspiring workplace,
leadership program.

3. Source: Book/article/Interviews, etc.

a. http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/american-express

b. https://www.peoplematters.in/article/hipo-week/developing-people-managers-american-
express-11592

4. The Story/Anecdote/Practice:

Today companies are facing lot of shortage in terms of expertise, talent. They also face a crisis in
terms of high attrition due to dissatisfaction working environment, these scenarios make the company
feel that the internal customer also more important equally.

American Express understand the need of the employees and thus think out of the box programs that
would help the company to achieve its objectives in the long-term. The company has established a
consistent set of HR practices focused towards equipping employees with the leadership skills and tools
these initiatives help the employees to deliver excellent client service.

The company continuously looks for competencies for developing their people managers. The company
through its Leadership Competency Frameworks helps to highlights typical behavior that a leader at Amex
is required to exhibit. It uses a 9 –box grid assessment tool, where they plot employees on the basis of
performance and potential of employees. This approach helps the employees to achieve the
organizational and personal goals. This grid helps to evaluate the current level of performance that an
employee showcase and its potential level in the future.

The company has always try to make the employees feel empowered. In 2017 the company launched
Leadership Academy, the enterprise-wide program offers an enlightened, curated gathering of the best
tools. It focuses on high potential employees and emerging leaders. This program blends the personal
skills of the employees with business skills and generates one-on-one sessions and formal follow up
activities.

The company also initiated a policy of Parental Leave Policy. This newly enhanced policy gives 20 weeks
paid parental leave to both moms and dads welcoming a child through birth, adoption, or surrogacy.
Additionally, six to eight weeks fully paid leave available to mothers following childbirth. Amex also
constantly recognizes the personnel who make both family and career fit into their lives through its
program called Working Parent/Caregiver of the Year Award.

The company inspires workforces to develop a network which plays an active role in many aspects of the
business and culture at Amex. The company’s Global Rotation Program provides on-the-job experience
for Bands ranging from 35 to 40 which includes high potential employees, these initiatives help them to
develop their global mindset in a new line of business or location.

Amex strategic initiative of leadership centric approach helps the company to achieve service excellence,
thus all these initiatives helped the company to a leader in the financial service sector. The company has
also built a network of human resource program such as employee empowerment and career
opportunities helps the company to achieve its goals of increasing productivity and employee well-being.

1. Title of the Story: Chobani: Employee Ownership

2. Morale of the Story/Case-let:

Most of the companies reward their high performing employees with stock options and pay rise.
Chobani have raised a bar by giving stakes to every employee of the firm. Sharing the success of
the company with everyone create a sense of ownership and renewed motivation. The notion of
having highly motivated employees give an extra edge to outperform the competitors and ensure
that values of the company further strengthen the quality of product delivered. Uniqueness of this
step like this one shows renewed efforts by upper management to have better employee
engagement.

3. Source:

a. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/business/a-windfall-for-chobani-employees-
stakes-in-the-company.html
b. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryjosephs/2016/04/29/what-does-chobanis-founder-
get-for-giving-10-of-his-company-to-workers/#91572ca26b35

4. Story/Anecdote/Practice:

Somerita Dhara, an employee of U.S. based Greek yogurt company Chobani, Inc. is excited about
the gift her firm has given, not only to her but to all the employees. She has been working with
Chobani for the last 12 years and her loyalty to the firm has fructified her with millions. Hamdi
 Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani, had announced giving all this 2000 full-time employees the shares of
the company worth 10% of the privately held company's future value. Each employee is given
“Chobani shares” based on their tenure and role at the company, which can be converted to cash
and shares in case of IPO. The current Market value of the firm is estimated to be $3 billion to $5
billion. At $3 billion, average payout to employees would be $150,000, but for long tenured
employees, it could go worth more than $1 million.

With such a move, Ulukaya has diluted his own stake to motivate and reward his employees. “I’ve
built something I never thought would be such a success, but I cannot think of Chobani being built
without all these people,” Mr. Ulukaya told The New York Times. The goal, he said, is to pass along
the wealth his employees has helped him in building since its inception as an acknowledgement
of what his employees has put in. Researchers believe that employee-owned companies, even
those where employees hold a minority stake, tend to out-perform the competition. This could
adopt with employees with habit of business owners, resulting in higher productivity, engagement
in less friction between front-line workers and management, self-policing in reducing errors.

Chobani is well respected firm among its employees. According to the survey by Great place to
work, 83% of employees say their workplace is great. 94% says “I Feel Good About the Ways We
Contribute to The Community.”, 90% says “I'm Proud to Tell Others I Work Here.” and 85% says
“I Am Able to Take Time Off From Work When I Think It's Necessary.”. Also 94% employees rated
Great Pride showcasing Chobani have moved in right direction in terms of employee’s satisfaction.

1. Title of the Story: Unusual Policies, Remarkable results

2. Morale of the Story/Case-let:

Employees are the greatest assets of a firm, democracy in workplace can do wonders,
Empowering the employees can empower the firm, the method of stick and carrot is no longer
relevant in today’s world

3. Source:

Maverick!: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace By Ricardo Selmer

4. Story/Anecdote/Practice:

Imagine a world where you get to decide your own salary, choose your own working hour, pick
your own vacation, have no official dress code and get a say in each of management’s decision.
Seems like a distant dream? Well, not if you are an employee of “Semco”
Semco is a Brazilian marine manufacturer company with more than 3000 employees. The
company was started by Antonio Selmer in 1952. He was a retired army veteran and believed in
conventional form of business. He believed that workers where mere resources and should be
treated as such. But his son Ricardo Selmer, who succeeded him, had a different point of view. He
believed that people are the company’s greatest assets. In his 2014 presentation at TED Global he
said,
 “We looked at it and we said, let's devolve to these people, let's give these people a
company where we take away all the boarding school aspects of, this is when you arrive, this is
how you dress, this is how you go to meetings, this is what you say, this is what you don't say,
and let's see what's left. And so, the question we were asking was, how can we be taking care
of people? People are the only thing we have.”
Upon becoming the CEO, he brought upon many key changes in the company. First he
stripped of all the privileged enjoyed by the upper management. There were no executive dining
rooms, and parking was strictly first-come, first-served. there were no power-packed job titles;
employees including top managers themselves did the photocopying, sent faxes, typed letters,
and made and received phone calls.
Ricardo wanted everyone to pick their own salary. The idea seemed crazy to everyone,
but it proved to be one of their best decision. Salary of each employee (even top executives) were
put on display and everyone came to know what everyone else was paid. It was also agreed that
top salaries would be no higher than ten times entry level pay. When setting their own salaries,
people began to assess their own worth quite realistically.
Semco allowed its workers a say in the appraisal and appointment of senior executives.
Mangers were evaluated by their teams twice a year via anonymous multiple choice
questionnaires judging various aspects of the leader’s performance. Supervisor were even
interviewed by the workers as recruitment process.
He also introduced a system of ‘concentric circles’ in an attempt to break down the
transitional hierarchical pyramid of control which decreased level of hierarchy to 4 from 12. He
said-

“My circles would free people from hierarchical tyranny; they would act as leaders when they
wanted and command whatever respect their competence earned them.”
He was a firm believer of democracy and made sure that say of each employee (even
workers) were heard while making any big decision be it choosing new location for the plant or
salary hike.All his effort made Semco one of the sort after company to work for in Brazil. Talking
about financial aspect, the company was making profit at a times when Brazil was suffering from
400% inflation rate and companies were going bankrupt. In a span of 2 decades its revenue rose
from $4 million to over $250 million