Case Study: The Evolution of HRM Practices at IBM*

This assignment is related to the case of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) as per attachment. IBM is an American multinational technology company headquartered in New York with more than 350,000 employees serving clients in 170 countries. It is also a major research organization, as of 2020 holding the record for most U.S. patents generated by a business for 27 consecutive years. IBM employees have been awarded five Nobel Prizes, six Turing Awards, ten National Medals of Technology (USA) and five National Medals of Science (USA).

Attachment The Evolution of HRM Practices at IBM*

IBM has moved from a business that primarily focused on manufacturing and selling computer hardware and managing clients on-site data centers to becoming a key player in cloud-based services, artificial intelligence-based products, and block-chaining (a security system for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies). In the 2000s, IBM's revenue declined for 22 consecutive quarters as it made the transition. Today, more than 50% of IBM's revenue comes from business they entered in the 2000s, and 50% of its employees have joined the company in the last five years. The business focus at IBM today is speed, innovation, and a focus on the client experience.

To attract and retain talented employees, to support change, and to facilitate the creative and innovative thinking that IBM needed to transition to new businesses required adopting new HRM practices. To do so, IBM's chief human resource officer, Diane Gherson worked collaboratively with employees, managers, HR staff, and technical experts, listened to their ideas, asked questions, and was open to new ideas and different perspectives. She also had to find leaders who would support the implementation of new HRM practices. For example, IBM's new performance management system known as Checkpoint provides managers and employees with an app they can use to provide and receive feedback on a timely and more continuous basis. This allows employees and managers to change behaviors and modify performance goals in real-time" due to business or team needs rather than waiting for their mid-year or annual review when it is too late. Checkpoint was based on the ideas and suggestions of more than 100,000 IBM employees who now use blogs to comment on what they like about Checkpoint and how it can be improved.

Innovative products and services often result from employees with diverse backgrounds working together. Recognizing this, as well as wanting to be an inclusive employer, IBM has taken several steps to develop a pipeline of skilled and diverse tech employees. The company's New Collar program helps identify and hire individuals from nontraditional backgrounds who have the potential to master technical skills but might otherwise get ignored because they don't have the necessary education background, such as a college education. In 2017, 15% of IBM's hires in the United States came from the New Collar program. IBM provides opportunities for women who have not been working for an extended period of time to develop the skills needed for tech jobs. The company has also been recognized for its efforts in hiring graduates of historically black colleges and universities.

Many of the new HR practices involve using state-of-the art Al applications and data analytics. IBM's traditional learning management system provided many training and development opportunities. The new system still does but it is customized to match employees' interests and needs. Al is used to review employees' skills, current position, and career path and to provide personal learning recommendations including specific courses, webinars, YT videos, and TED talks. Learning opportunities are organized on the learning management system by channels, similar to what you have experienced on Netflix or Amazon. Employees can get answers to their questions about the learning opportunities by accessing a live-chat adviser. They can also see how their peers have evaluated the various learning opportunities. Since the redesign of the learning management system, employees are using it over one-third more than in previous years and course completion rates have increased. IBM's Blue Matching tool helps employees identify new opportunities within the company. It identifies jobs that match employees skills, experiences, current location where they work or their location preferences, and historical job performance. IBM estimates Blue Matching saved the company more than $100 million by reducing turnover and improving productivity.

Effective leadership is an important ingredient for a successful business transformation. IBM identified 36 characteristics that its leaders need to help employees navigate the business transformation. IBMs leaders are involved in 360-degree feedback assessment that identifies their strengths and opportunities for improvement in leadership characteristics. Coaches are provided to the leaders to help them improve in the area they need to develop. This initiative is especially important for support leaders who are responsible for business units undergoing significant change.

Assignment Questions:

Please answer the following questions with justification based on the 5 steps (Recruit, Select, Train, Compensate and Retain) of HR Planning.

1. IBM uses the New Collar Program to identify and hire staff. Is this an effective method as compared with other recruitment sources?
2. IBM uses Blue Matching tool to identify new job opportunities for current staff within the company. Please comment if this tool fulfills the Criteria (Reliability, Validity, , Utility and Legality) of Selection Method.
3. IBM uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide personal learning recommendations to staff. Please analyze if the AI approach meets the 7 Conditions for Learning.
4. IBM estimates Blue Matching reduced the staff turnover and improved productivity. Please suggest other staff retention programs that would fit into IBMs culture.
5. IBMs leaders are involved in 360-degree feedback assessment. Please evaluate the appropriateness of this assessment in IBM and then comment if this assessment can be used to all other companies.