Executive and managerial planning for Bosch-Kazakhstan Essay

The founder of the Bosch Group, Robert Bosch , described an important value of the HR philosophy of the company:† It is my intention, apart from the alleviation of all kinds of suffering, to promote the moral, physical and intellectual development of the people† which is greatly integrated into the employee development in the Bosch. Based on the company international executive and managerial planning and country-specific situation, this article will plan and reason the number in a chart for the future eight-year executive and managerial planning in Kazakhstan. An action plan related to the managerial staffing target will be provided. The EMP of the Bosch Group for Kazakhstan, a country with relatively small population and only 4 percent of the population holds a university degree, met four main problems. 1) The labor market for qualified and specialists is very small. 2) The production sites are located in rural places which are hardly attractive to qualified employees. 3) There is growing demand of expatriates for the diesel site. 4) Russian is used in everyday business by most of the people in Kazakhstan. In order to resolve these problems, the human resource manager has to make a plan according to the Bosch employee development scheme. In Bosch, the first typical staffing policy is that the managerial promotion of employees is mainly from within Bosch rather than from outside. For this principal, most of the employees of the manager level in Kazakhstan should be expatriates. Second, the Bosch headquarter constructed a complete and functional promotion procedure for the development of employees called â€Å"manager development plan† (MDP). Employees with outstanding performance in Kazakhstan will be systematically prepared for the next management level. Third, the promotion is directly connected with mobility potential as well as willingness to take on international assignment. This means the work experience in Kazakhstan will be helpful to career advancement. As a result, in spite of the tough work condition in Kazakhstan, these international HR management policies facilitates not only on company business side but also on employees’ development side. Based on the policies and Kazakhstan specific situation, I develop an executive and managerial planning chart for future eight years. Executive and Managerial Planning Kazakhstan This chart is separated into two periods. The first four years from 2007 to 2010 which focus on the input stemming from growing business planning of the diesel division. The second four years from 2011 to 2014 is more stable and more succession planning. So you may see in the chart that staffing needs 2011-2014 are mainly due to replacement rather than further growth. Staffing sources, as a result, are mostly expatriates and local MDP members but not new hire from outside the company. For example, the middle managers 2011-2014 are mainly comprised of expatriates from headquarter or cross-division assignments and the local MDP members who are promoted from lower managers in 2007-2010 and no external hires for middle management because of no growth 2011-2014. Then I will analyze the staffing sources in detail for four main reasons: 1. External hires are mainly from qualified local people who meet the requirement of the lower management level, are familiar with local condition and have language strengths. At the same time, compare with the other sources, they are low cost. However, the qualified and specialists in Kazakhstan is very small, external hires are limited and not as many as expatriates in low management level. In order to solve this problem, we can hire people from Russia, located close to Kazakhstan and share the same business language. I set a few external hires in the middle management level 2007-2010 because there still has a few local talented people who have the same international managerial experience and more familiar with Kazakhstan’s culture and situations. 2. All of junior managers  (JUMP) are set in lower management level. Since the case mentioned that the goal of the program is to recruit junior managers with the potential to assume a middle management position in 6-8 years. They stay in Kazakhstan for about six-month (short-term) to train a common set of worldwide standards, experiences and activities and then go back to Germany. 3. For local MDP members who show an above-average development potential and have already been familiar with both local environment and company cores are more likely to get the position of middle and upper management level than of lower management level. The target of the MDP candidates is to promote into the next management level in no more than four years (long-term). Some of the local MDP members in middle management level 2011-2014 are from those of lower management level 2007-2010. For upper management level, local MDP members are the ideal choices for all aspects such as capability, experience and environment familiarity. 4. Because labor market for qualified and specialists in Kazakhstan is very small and the rural locations hardly attract local employees, more expatriates are needed than other sources in lower management level. For example, it is a good opportunity for associates and supervisors who performed well from headquarter and divisions to gain managerial experience outside. In addition, expatriates show more loyalty to the company which is good for organizational control. Expatriates stay in Kazakhstan at least eighteen-month (middle-term) to meet the demand of technical shortage. However, they are not the best person for upper level because of the language and familiarity concerns. Action plan 1) External hires: qualified employees from local and neighbor states In order to attract local employees as many as possible, the Bosch can offer them higher compensation compared with local companies. Local candidates can also attend training with other expatriates to broaden their vision. In addition, due to the little mobility, local employees are more suitable for long-term work in their home country. Personnel exchange to other country is not necessary. 2) Programs (JUMP): According to talent management policy, the target for junior managers’ work in Kazakhstan is to increase their managerial skills and experience. Six-month rotation arrangement for each batch of JUMP is preferred. In my  plan, about two to three junior managers will be transferred to Kazakhstan semi-annually within future eight years. Training focusing on managerial practice and work under middle managers should be provided for the purpose of worldwide standards. 3) Local MDP members: Most of local MDP members are from Germany who had outstanding performances in headquarter and worked in Kazakhstan for couple of years. They need to stay in Kazakhstan for about four years (long-term) in order to promote into the next management level. Culture awareness programs and language training are necessary before the international assignment. 4) Expatriates: employees and managers from headquarter and divisions A majority of these expatriates are assigned due to technical, process expertise and management experience. For the first four years, part of the personnel needs is due to the fast growth of diesel division. Expatriates have to stay in Kazakhstan for 3 years. For the smooth transition, new expatriates to Kazakhstan should be separated into small batches to match the expatriates’ return and retirement. After assignment’s completion, they will go back to headquarter or their home countries. Culture awareness programs and language training are provided in advance.