Introduction
Today’s employees are often exposed to more information than ever before, which makes them have more ambitions, and they will seek to realize themselves in the workplace, which makes human resource management more and more important. According to that kind of situation, nowadays, human resources is called the hero of the workplace. 3M is an example of an organization leveraging good employee relations to influence business growth and profitability. 3M believes in the capacity of human resources to change the business dynamics. First, 3M created a flat and egalitarian organization to enhance cooperation, sharing of ideas and openness between junior and senior workers. This was achievable by overhauling the internal labor market from traditional HR practices to contemporary practices. Contemporary HR practices consider employees’ affairs, motivation, and status affecting their performance.
Since adopting non-tradition HR management, 3M has revolutionized its operations and performance to become a pioneering employer globally. Effective recruiting and selection allow the organization to benefit high-talent workers in a competitive labor market. Worker development initiatives improve employees’ existing competencies and skills to support the organization’s goals. Regarding financial motivation, 3M is among the highest paying organizations in China. The digital economy and post-globalization demand creative and agile business organizations to enhance labor relations. Therefore, organizations should possess the capabilities to diagnose and forecast the evolution of HR practices in the digital economy (Amirova et al., 2019). 3M can include transformational leadership and Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) to gain from the contemporary HRM practices. This research paper evaluates how 3M illustrates organizations leveraging effective HRM to achieve growth, sustainability, and innovation.
Discussion
Since 3M was just established, it has struggled with the competition. Then, an opportunity for job application for two young men accidentally took 3M out of the predicament. Human resources are also under pressure to change with the state of 3M’s business. Finance and manufacturing are growing rapidly, and it turns out that 3M has handled this situation very well. For example, firstly, 3M has always been known for taking care of its employees. For instance, when an employee is eliminated due to competition, the company will first consider placing them into another position instead of firing them directly.
Secondly, 3M allows employees to be more informal when interacting with their superiors. For another example, on Saturdays, senior executives will also go to the restaurant of ordinary employees to dine with them. This casual atmosphere is exactly what 3M is trying to create. Thirdly, 3M will approve, or in other words, even encourage employees to pursue their creative selves. In the beginning, let employees not be afraid of being punished for encouraging employees to innovate to the greatest extent without any concern.
Thirdly, 3M seeks some development of the internal labor model. In other words, 3M was also trying to turn micro-work into a non-traditional labor model, which means 3M focused on greater use of non-traditional workers. To meet those evolving business needs most effectively, 3M already is using different kinds of workers (both employees and non-employees). 3M has a history of doing so, and under this circumstance, the requirement of diversity of businesses and business needs within the organization can both be attended to. With more receptive and inviting labor situations, more 3M is attractive to new employees. Thus, 3M has long been at the forefront of pushing for changes and revolution in human resources and relationships with its employees.
In terms of paying, 3M has also paid a lot of attention to motivating their employees, covering all aspects, not only their salary. In addition to the base salary, like annual incentive plans, sales incentives, or other incentives. Moreover,3M also cares about the health of its employees. It buys things like sickness and accident insurance for employees and even cars and pets. Retirement benefits are no exception.HRM plays a crucial role in an organization as it allows the organization to manage and utilize people in the organization efficiently. 3M recognizes this importance and has many HRM policies and programs that earned them global rewards, such as World best employers 2021 by Forbes and World’s best workplaces 2021 by Great Places to Work. The roles of HRM can be broken down into three levels: corporate level, professional level, and social level. The corporate level refers to recruitment systems and employee training; The Unassigned list system and designated requisition program are some recruitment systems of 3M that allow the company to get quality people at entry-level jobs, helping 3M establish employees that are both efficacious and committed to the company. Professional level refers to the management of an employee’s performance level, integrating the objectives of 3M with the goals of their employees; 3 M’s Talent management programs promote mutual understanding within the departments of the company, allowing them to strengthen their heavily staffed company and help them anticipate disruptive innovations. Moreover, 3 M’s competency-based leadership development programs help 3M to identify the necessary leadership needs, and the edited competency model development will enable the company of employees of 3M to perform their jobs more efficiently and successfully. Lastly, the social level refers to job satisfaction and the atmosphere of discipline at the company. Other than improved benefit plans, employee assistance, health benefits, and support, 3M has been recently prioritizing its focus on inclusion and becoming more people-centric, increasing diversity in the leadership teams, and making employees feel more included. The percentage of employees feeling included has increased up to 76% by the end of 2020. 3 M’s Advocates Training Workshop also allows employees to transcend from just affiliation to becoming advocates for diversity which has significantly increased the workplace atmosphere; 3M landed many awards such as America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2021 by Forbes, Best Places to Work for People with Disabilities 2021 and Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality 2022.
Next, we will analyze the performance and engagement of employees in the organization. Foremost, 3M has a unique system called the “15% rule”, which means that technical employees can use up to 15% of their working time to develop projects and products of personal interest. This paid interest development system greatly improves the enthusiasm of employees and improves the innovation ability of the whole company. At the same time, we can also see the high level of mutual trust between 3M and employees from the 15% rule. In addition, 3M also has a long-term incentive plan (LTIP), in which management employees can receive equity compensation based on performance and individual contribution. This rewards outstanding employees and motivates them to do better and better, aligns employees’ interests with those of the company, and ensures their loyalty. Data show that the average monthly salary of 3M employees in China is 16,520 RMB, among which the salary of 20000 RMB to 30000 RMB people account for the largest proportion, reaching 39.5%, which is higher than 63% of Enterprises in China, such a generous salary greatly inspires the motivation of employees. Also, 3M set up a fitness center in its office to provide convenience for employees to exercise.
What’s more incredible is that 3M company also provides benefits to employees’ family members so that employees can be relieved of their worries and struggle in the workplace. It can be seen that 3M’s care for employees is meticulous from psychology to the body, so employees will certainly live up to the company’s expectations. Under the management of this series of systems, employees work harder and more seriously, give full play to their autonomy, constantly innovate and develop, advance and retreat with the company, share honor and disgrace, and form a united and progressive team.
Conclusion
In conclusion, 3M needs to constantly update its HR policies and initiates to keep up with the changing labor markets in the digital economies. I recommend transformational leadership in HRM to 3M to anticipate future prospects in the labor market. Transformational leadership has heightened awareness of internal and external labor factors and makes strategic HR planning with designated goals (Top et al., 2020). Idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration in transformational leadership will go a long way to enhance employees relations for 3M. Transformational leadership will reinforce the HR practices at 3M corporation. Developing a vision for the future is an aspect of idealized behavior.
The contemporary world is environmentally sensitive, resource-efficient, and socially responsible. I recommend green human resources management to introduce policies, practices, and systems at 3M to stimulate the green behavior of the employees. Green HRM will enable 3M to undertake environmental-friendly HR practices to minimize carbon footprints through electronic filling and car-sharing. Green HRM improves corporate social responsibility to improve brand image. Corporate social responsibility demonstrates the organization’s interests in the general public and the environment, attracting customers who share similar values (Islam et al., 2020). Corporate social responsibility will improve employee engagement and brand image for 3M. Transformational leadership and green human resources management will significantly support the HR practices at 3M.
Reference list
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