Lenovo company

Lenovo company

History

Lenovo company was formally established in 1984 by a group of engineers in Beijing. Despite officially starting the processes of design and manufacture in 1984, the idea and establishment of the company had started earlier. The development of the company was based on the IBM personal computer produced in 1981. In 1984, the company purchased and set up the company based on the design and structure of IBM. According to the company website, “Liu Chuanzhi launches the New Technology Developer Inc. with ten colleagues, RMB200,000 (US$25,000), and funds from the Chinese Academy of Sciences” (Lenovo, 2020). The company which was referred to as Legend took time to study the PC developments of IBM thus basing the research on developing a Chinese character-based computer. In 1990, the company successfully launched the first PC thud affirming the role of producer and manufacture. However, in 1992, IBM developed the think pad thus triggering the company to do better. In 1994, the company entered the Pentium era and was able to have the first server in 1995. Before the end of the decade, the company made several strides becoming the market share leader in China in 1996 and top PC producer and seller in Asia. In 2001, the company appoints Yuanqing Yang as the CEO and president of the company. In 2002, the company made a mark by “launches DeepComp 1800, China’s first computer with 1,000 floating-point operations per second, China’s fastest computer for civilian use, and #43 among the world’s fastest computers” (Lenovo, 2020). In the next years, the company changes the logo and targets the international markets. In the 2006 Olympics, the company supplies the hardware and software as well as taking the mantle in the development of the torch hence reaching the international market. In 2009, the company reached the one-millionth sale target under the leadership of Yuanqing Yang as CEO and founder Chuanzhi as the chair. In the 2010s, the company joins the smartphone market producing its first phone. In the current decade, the company has sold over 100 million think pads and invested more in cloud computing and smartphone technology. The company has also been accorded the number one rank in terms of PC design and production in 2013 as well as getting to the top 500 on the fortune list. One of the main achievements in the current decade is the acquisitions with Motorola company and system X from IBM.

The company currently has over 54,000 workers worldwide. The company has progressed from the initial ten engineers in 1981 to currently having dominance in different parts of the world. According to the 2014 report, the company had total revenue of “US$38.7 billion” (Lenovo, 2014). The company has continued to thrive under the leadership of Yang as President and CEO. However, the main policies and stipulations are made by the board members who were 10 with an additional two executives in 2014. Intellectual property and the employee policies are adhered to and followed in the company. As mentioned in the 2014 report, “All employees undergo a training program to promote further understanding and compliance with the Code” (Lenovo). The company has been able to establish a stringent working and ethical working environment. Lenovo has a high level of customer retention based on the increased sales and reputation in the design and manufacturing of smartphones and personal computers in the international market.

HR practices Analysis

Staffing

The company makes use of internal and external recruiting exercises to fill the positions that are vacant and new positions opening up based on the expansion. Internally, the company makes use of promotions and shifts in working ranks to achieve the aspect of internal sourcing. In this process, the HR department is tasked with finding the best person within the firm to be offered the promotion and advancement in the working environment. The company also makes use of external recruiting through the website. The website to advertise for the positions that have opened up in the company. Through the support link on the official site, it is possible to find the job ads in different parts of the world. The company also makes use of an external company, CTG, that aid in the staffing procedures. According to the company’s main portfolio, “When Lenovo moved their sales departments in-house, they turned to CTG to provide talent through our efficient employee vetting and training processes, and today, CTG staff consistently makes up one-third of their salesforce” (CTG, 2020). The company aids in the procedures of recruiting and finding the best employees in the technical department and other units of the company thud, ensuring their needs are presented in the chosen candidate.

The main advantage of the incorporation of both the internal and external processes of recruitment is that it allows the company to have a high-skilled workforce. The benefit of the external employees, as seen in the text, is that “Can help an organization obtain diversity goals” (2011, p. 118). The external process of acquiring the staff for the company limits the possibility of having a person with similar and receding skills as those internally sourced. Finding professional in the field of manufacture and design of PCs and Smartphones allows the company to continuously improve the products and services. The internal process of recruiting also offers an advantage to the company in that “Rewards contributions of current staff and improves morale” (2011, p. 118). The sourcing from within the company acts as a reward for the current employees as they are promoted and recognized for the time and resources devoted to the company, thus improving cohesion. As a result, the company takes advantage of the positive aspects presented by both styles of recruitment. The advancement of the company relies on getting people with a different understanding of the market and people with experience in the company policies and leadership in the nation.

Nonetheless, the processes of staffing pose two main disadvantages. The first challenge based on the internal procedure of recruiting is the recycling of talents and lack of growth. With internal recruiting, the company relies on the knowledge and strategies that have been used in the company for a long period. For example, the company’s first CEO Mr. Yang was replaced by Armelio and shifted back to Yang in 2009 (Lenovo, 2020). The form of internal sourcing limits the development of the company as it is bound to the practices and structural leadership experienced in the past. Moreover, the style of recruitment making use of external sources is expensive to conduct. The process of external recruitment requires a lot of resources to process the documents and conduct the interviews. The involvement of CTG also increases the challenges as the company has to incur more in the sustenance of the partnership and recruitment services. Both systems of a recruitment offer valid challenges to the company in terms of cost and skill.

Workplace policies

The workplace policies implemented at Lenovo are the pillars for the employees based on the ethical standards practiced in the firm. The workplace policies include the role of the employees as well as the role of the company in regards to protecting against sexual harassment, child labor, and competitive rewards. According to the 2014 report, “Lenovo’s human resource policies strictly comply with labor laws and government regulations and also provide competitive rewards, equity policies, and development opportunities. Lenovo’s labor policies apply to all operations and locations globally” (Lenovo, 2014, p.35). The company discourages against different forms of harassment and bias based on race, gender, and religion. As a result, the company has developed a diversity policy aiding the human resource department with the hiring of people from different cultures and societies in the world. The company also focusses on the compensation procedures that allow the workers to be motivated in the development of new technology and maintenance of current resources. The company is also dedicated to the protection of the environment in the manufacture and production procedure. The company employees are trained on the different workplace policies and expected to adhere to the policies during their employment period. The consequences, such as termination of employment, are also explained during the training for the employees.

The main workplace policies in the company are based on the United Nations Global Compact. The UNGC is used in the advancement of the main workplace policies that are reported annually by the signatories. As a signatory, the company affirms the labor principles each year with a report on the progress (Lenovo, 2014, p. 35). The company focusses on various challenges of the workers and eliminates different forms of labor violations in the various locations of the company. The strategies applied in the company based on the involvement with UNGC aids the workplace policies to be simple and well expressed in the working environment by executives and employees.

Benefits and compensation

The benefits and compensation policies of the Lenovo company are inclusive, depending on the location of the employees. According to a review of the package done by Glassdoor company, the main benefits include the health insurance, flexible spending account, health savings account, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan, and maternity/paternity leave. The 401k and insurance benefits are expressed as being impressive and rated at 4.1 (Glassdoor, 2020). The reviews by the current and former employees are positive in terms of the benefits offered by the company. Based on the report by Lenovo company, “To supplement the income of employees and survivors after retirement or separation from Lenovo, a variety of savings programs are offered. These programs may be mandatory or voluntary, depending on legal and marketplace considerations” (Lenovo, 2014, p. 37). The company allows the members to be protected during and after the employment periods through a wholesome package.

The company fairs relatively well compared to other technology-based companies in China and in the international market. The main competitors of the company are Dell and HP, whose benefit packages are more or less similar to the package by Lenovo. For instance, Dell packages include health insurance, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, life insurance, disability, retirement benefits (Glassdoor, 2020). The company offers a comprehensive benefit plan that is similar to the package offered at Lenovo. Lenovo packages are slightly less impressive as the package offered by other companies such as Facebook where “Healthcare on-site, four months maternity and paternity leave, $4,000 in “baby cash” for new employees, internal professional development classes, free meals” are included in the package (Bradford, 2016). Even so, the package offered by Lenovo covers all the basic needs of the employees. The majority of the employees with the firm for the long term do not show regret or disappointment with the company’s package and ability to fulfill the required items.

Retention

Lenovo has a high employee retention rate. The company has four main strategies for employee retention. According to the financial report of 2018, “Conducts a global employee engagement survey (Lenovo Listens) to help identify retention opportunities, Leverages compensation programs such as long-term incentive stock-based awards and recognition, Ensures pay (base and incentive) is differentiated, so top performers are paid on par with peers in the marketplace, Takes specific “critical save” actions to retain certain key, critical employees when they find opportunities outside Lenovo” (Lenovo, 2018, p. 59). The company ensures the employee retention rate is maintained by the different strategies. The company ensures that it listens to the employees and appreciates their concerns in working for and with the company. The inclusivity of the employees thus gives them a sense of belonging. Secondly, the company ensures the compensation strategies are well expressed in the company. The benefits package is revised and modernized to supplement government healthcare and employee benefits in different nations. Furthermore, the company shows the interest and follows through with employee saving procedures that allow them to retain the current employees. The company is tied on the aspect of happy and contented employees, thus improving its retention rate immensely in different employment locations.

The majority of the reviews by former and current employees offer a positive reaction to working in the company. According to a summary offered at Glassdoor, “good work environment, great leaders” (in 114 reviews), The work-life balance is unmatched and management is fantastic” (in 105 reviews)” (Glsssdoor, 2020). The company is recommended by the majority of the former workers due to the ability to grow in this working environment and a good work-life balance. The majority of the former employees also rated the CEO over 80% in terms of leadership and improved leadership skills. However, a common query of flexible working hours was presented. In that, the company was accused of requiring extreme flexibility in the employee working hours to cater to the different needs of the company. The China firm was rated as one of the companies in the region requiring long working hours. However, the benefits and retention rate based on skills were commendable in the majority of the reviews written on the Glassdoor website.

Training

The company has an extensive training program for new and current employees. The training sessions range from technical to workplace policy training. The current employee training is based on ensuring the employees are safe and secure in the working environment. According to the 2018 report, “Lenovo’s OHS success begins with training. We ensure our employees receive health and safety training and detailed, site-specific safety information. All manufacturing personnel engages in an annual safety awareness training that is compliant with local governmental regulations” (Lenovo, 2018, p. 41). The company ensures that the employees are aware of their role in self-protection and hazards in the working environment. Similarly, the company conducts different forms of internal training on the suppliers, supply chains and global personnel. In the form of training, the employees are able to learn of the different RBA, environmental issues, and supplier’s ability to avoid conflict minerals. An essential form of training in the company also includes information and privacy training. As a technical company, the information and data produced in different experiments is essential to afford the competitiveness in the company. As a result, the company ensures a continued briefing of the employees on their role in information protection in the company. The company also conducts training on the workplace policies focused on environmental and bias strategies and repercussions in the company. Lenovo “receives second consecutive recognition on Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and earns 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC ) Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index for the third consecutive year” (Glassdoor, 2020). The form of recognition expresses the main aspects of equality and diversity as being central in the expansion of the company training. Different forms of training conducted at Lenovo companies aids in safety, protection, equity, equality, and better working conditions for all people in different locations.

The company also receives essential external training to ensure interaction with other stakeholders is effective. As highlighted in the 2018 report, “Lenovo acknowledges that a variety of external perspectives are relevant to identifying material issues. We regularly engage with a variety of stakeholders and consider their feedback as we affirm what is material to our business, develop our sustainability strategy, set our goals, and report on our progress” (Lenovo, 2018, p.13). The company interacts with technology and members of the technical markets in different ways. As a result, training by external trainers is effective in ensuring that the company is effective in the daily running of systems and the advancement of the company. The external trainers would include institutions such as OSHA to clearly indicate the different workplace requirements in safety and personal protection. The partnered institutions in training are focused on offering expert opinions and increased knowledge on various issues in the technology market and industry.

Conclusion

Lenovo is a leading company in terms of the design and manufacture of personal computers and smartphone technology. The recruitment procedure is based on both internal and external procedures, which aid in building the morale of the workers and the improvement of diversity in skills. However, the style of recruitment can be expensive and limited to the advancement of knowledge for the workers. The reviews of workers on a reliable website expresses the company benefits and compensations as being satisfactory. As a result of the satisfactory benefits, the company is able to have a higher retention rate compared to others in the community. The company has stringent workplace policies, especially on the environment and bias. Different acknowledgments of the working environment at Lenovo show equality based on gender, race, sexuality, and religion, to mention but a few. The company is accused of several issues, such as the intense working hours at times, especially in approaching deadlines. However, the idea is not different from other companies in the market, such as Huawei. Lenovo is located in different locations across the universe, although the headquarters are in Beijing and North Carolina. The company has been able to ensure the employees in the vast physical locations enjoy the high and efficient working environment and resources. Nonetheless, improvements can be made to adjust the working hours and effective working conditions.