Holden's Closure and HRM Challenges

This assignment analyzes the human resource management (HRM) implications of Holden's closure in Australia. It explores the economic and social context surrounding the decision, the impact on employees and communities, and the challenges faced by HRM professionals in navigating this difficult situation. The analysis draws on relevant academic literature and real-world examples to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved.

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Managing Human Resources HRMT
Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Executive Summary
The success of any business organization is dependent on the availability of its core
assets. Human resource is one key component that ensures that various activities of the company
are operating within the stipulated parameters to achieve the desired outcome. Recruitment of
personnel, therefore, is a critical stage of introducing a new workforce in an organization. In this
light, the present report provides some of the challenges that Holden Car Manufacturing
Company which is an organization used as a case study during the recruitment of personnel. It
highlights the key challenges that the company faces in their effort to hire new staffs into its
workforce before recommending some of the useful strategies that the firm can adopt to address
the mentioned challenges.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Key Challenges for Recruiting the Workforce................................................................................4
Competition for Talent.................................................................................................................5
Skills Shortage.............................................................................................................................5
Talent Mismatch..........................................................................................................................6
Strategies to Address the Challenges...............................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Holden Car Manufacturing Company is regarded as one of the oldest automobile firms in
Australia with its existence in the country being traced back to the early 1850s. The company
was officially started in the year 1856 as a leather and saddlery producer, and later it shifted
operations into automobile manufacturer in the year 1908 (Heritage Center, 2017). The company
became the subsidiary of the US-based General Motors (GM) in the year 1931 after which it was
renamed General Motors Holden Ltd in the year 2005. The cars operations expanded
significantly outside the Australian market and it became one of the major automobile firms in
the country. General Motors Holden Ltd has gained its position in Australia as the largest
employer giving numerous employment opportunities to the population and is the largest car
exporter in Australia (Heritage Center, 2017). To maintain its competitive edge in the automobile
industry, Holden has employed the use of appropriate human resources practices which
contribute to the low attrition rates in the company. Despite its success in the industry driving
from its innovativeness and viable human resource practices, the company still faces some
challenges in its recruitment. The present paper, therefore, delves in identifying the primary key
challenges that the firm faces in recruiting its workforce. The paper then provides
recommendations on the appropriate strategies that can be employed to address the challenges.
Key Challenges for Recruiting the Workforce
The recruitment process in any organization is always regarded as an essential function
for human resource department. The process involves bringing new and fresh talents into the
organization workforce and therefore, it requires good business perspective, diplomacy, good
marketing skills as well as the ability to find and accurately match the best potential candidates

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with the need of the organization. Owing to many internal factors such as an aging workforce,
the increasing gap between supply and demand and organizational image, human resource
professionals are always in constant need of new personnel to be recruited in the organization
personnel (Reiche et al., 2016). However, most human resource professionals in large business
enterprises such as Holden car manufacturing industry in Melbourne are always faced with new
emerging challenges in their effort to get the best workforce for the company.
Competition for Talent
Like in any industry, Holden car manufacturing is facing the challenge of sourcing and
recruiting only the best and suitable potential candidates for various positions in the firm. The
contemporary job market is characterized by stiff competition for the available talents, and this
makes it considerably hard for companies to get credible individuals in their work teams
(O'Brien & Linehan, 2014). The problem is further aggravated by the constantly emerging
technologies and a shortage of particular talents in specialized areas of the industry (Peppard &
Ward, 2016). Given the stiff competition for a skilled workforce, the companies are also at
constant risk of losing their workforce through practices such as talent poaching and raiding.
Skills Shortage
The success of the automobile industry is highly dependent on its ability to utilize a
considerable wide range of skills from advanced engineers to professional marketers. The rising
growth in the production volume of vehicles by the company has contributed to an increase in
demand for the skilled workforce at all the levels of production. With the modern technological
advancement, the automobile industry has embraced the use of more sophisticated engineering
and production practices resulting in the demand for highly skilled personnel (Aswathappa,
2013). At Holden, there is sufficient availability of young graduate engineers who contribute

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significantly to the production process. However, the company experience acute shortage of
experienced engineers who have the desire to remain in mainstream responsibilities for a long
time as most of its experienced workforce tends to quite to other less demanding duties (Ewing et
al., 2013). It is thus noted that the human resource department faces the challenge of identifying
experienced engineers who are vital in its production.
Additionally, the company faces the risk of having a skilled workforce in the near future
due to the public perception of the manufacturing and automobile industry. The rise in
egalitarian society has led to the loss of respect for trade and the misconception that individuals
have on automobile industries which they regard as old, noisy, lacks fair remuneration and does
not provide opportunities for career development (Jones & George, 2015). Based on this
perception, Holden most individuals shy away from securing job opportunities in the
manufacturing industry especially the fresh graduates who have the desire for quick career
development. This situation has contributed the loss of skilled labor at the firm despite the rising
demand for the highly-skilled labor force. The company has thus faced a great challenge in
securing skilled labor in the highly democratic modern society (Miller & Gordon, 2014).
Talent Mismatch
The company is also faced with the challenge of getting the perfect match for individuals
with the required skill sets. While Holden as an international company has a vast array of
potential recruits from all over the world, getting the required people who have just the right skill
combination is not always easy. According to Purce (2014), although organizational recruiters
may get application from passive job seekers, they are always meet with the problem of finding
the right people for the specified job in the company.

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Strategies to Address the Challenges
Conventionally, the recruitment process is often characterized by filling vacant positions
with individuals who have matching requirements, and this leads to the inability of getting the
perfect individuals for specific positions. According to Timming, (2015) to remedy the situation
organizations must make a strike a balance between sourcing for position-need and recruiting
people based on their skill and expertise regardless of position. It is of great importance for hum
resource professionals to stop the popular mindset where they hire expertise simply for positions
rather they need to adopt hiring great talents in the respective fields. After selection and
recruitment, while the recruiters may be obligated to fill the vacant positions, the newly hired
individuals must be open to training and learning the needed skills (Stone & Deadrick, 2015).
Given the changing technological landscape and continuing talent poaching and raiding, a
business organization can shelter their limited talent pool by providing their staff with adequate
training and technical exposure. Kultalahti and Viitala, (2015) observe that proper talent
management within an organization is an important strategy for shielding the firm’s specialized
workforce from talent vices such as poaching. While it is true that the challenge of stiff
competition that companies face is real, firms must diversify their hiring practices to ensure that
they get the required skilled personnel. Companies that demand special training must start
recruiting their staffs from mentorship stage where they recruit individuals while still in colleges
and then provide them with necessary training. In this way, Hurn, (2014) observe that firms will
have escaped the problem of every company rushing for the limited pool of talents after their
graduation.
With the rising alarm due to the loss of skilled labor, Holden strives to employ some
appropriate strategies to prevent the continuous fall in both new and experienced workforce.

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These strategies are also aimed at attracting an adequate number of professional into the
company to enhance the quality of its operations (Ruël & Bondarouk, 2014). One of the adopted
strategies is the creation of Youth Opportunities Program in South Australia which is designed to
maintain students in school for a longer period giving them sufficient opportunity to learn the
different dynamics of manufacturing industry.
It is observed that Holden’s vehicle assembly plant is situated in a location which has
high unemployment rates and thus the company has ventured into initiating both medium and
long-term training programs aimed at equipping the local communities with necessary skills to
secure jobs at the firm (Burns, 2014). With such initiatives, the company is creating appropriate
mechanisms among the local community which make individuals ‘work ready’ thereby nurturing
and securing their labor skills. Other than creating avenues for securing job opportunities,
Holden also provides opportunities training for already qualified individuals who have the desire
to re-enter the automobile industry and this is geared towards enhancing the firm’s workforce
diversity (Clibborn et al., 2016).
Conclusion
General Motors Holden has grown to be the largest automobile company in Australia due
to its expansive operations and economies of scale which provides a competitive advantage.
With its broad scope of operations and market share, the company uses a modern method of
production and advanced labor practices to make it remain at the top of the industry. Despite its
success, the company faces numerous recruiting challenges which to a great extent interfere with
its efficiency. Labor force plays a vital role in the production and management of the firm and
therefore, adopting appropriate strategies aimed at enhancing the skills of the workers, lowering
the attrition rates, improving the competency and efficiency of the workers and also those which

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expand the employment opportunities. Human resources majorly focus on two primary issues
which are the recruitment of new workers having the required skills in an organization and the
limiting of the excess workforce through various forms of downsizing initiatives. On this basis,
therefore, every strategy adopted by Holden should be aimed at ensuring high retention rates of
the qualified and experienced staff to meet future customer demands and also to cut down on
company’s operating costs.

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References
Aswathappa, K. (2013). Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill
Education.
Burns, J. (2014). The human cost of the shifting economy: Holden’s closure and Elizabeth’s
future. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 0004867414526790.
Clibborn, S., Lansbury, R. D., & Wright, C. F. (2016). Who Killed the Australian Automotive
Industry: The Employers, Government or Trade Unions?. Economic Papers: A journal of
applied economics and policy, 35(1), 2-15.
Ewing, M. T., Wagstaff, P. E., & Powell, I. H. (2013). Brand rivalry and community
conflict. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 4-12.
Heritage Center (2017, September 29). Generations of GM History: History of Holden.
Retrieved from https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/History_of_Holden
Hurn, B. (2014). The challenges facing international HRM in an increasingly globalised
environment. Industrial and commercial training, 46(7), 371-378.
Jones, G., & George, J. (2015). Contemporary management. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Kultalahti, S., & Viitala, R. (2015). Generation Y–challenging clients for HRM?. Journal of
Managerial Psychology, 30(1), 101-114.
Miller, V. D., & Gordon, M. E. (Eds.). (2014). Meeting the challenge of human resource
management: A communication perspective. Routledge.

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O'Brien, E., & Linehan, C. (2014). A balancing act: Emotional challenges in the HR role.
Journal of Management Studies, 51(8), 1257-1285.
Peppard, J., & Ward, J. (2016). The strategic management of information systems: Building a
digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New
Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67.
Reiche, B. S., Mendenhall, M. E., & Stahl, G. K. (Eds.). (2016). Readings and cases in
international human resource management. Taylor & Francis.
Ruël, H., & Bondarouk, T. (2014). E-HRM research and practice: facing the challenges ahead.
In Handbook of strategic e-Business management (pp. 633-653). Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.
Stone, D. L., & Deadrick, D. L. (2015). Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of
human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), 139-145.
Timming, A. R. (2015). Visible tattoos in the service sector: a new challenge to recruitment and
selection. Work, employment and society, 29(1), 60-78.