People and Organizational Management at Microsoft Corporation

This report addresses the human resource practices at Microsoft Corporation including selection and recruitment policies, flexible offerings to the employees, strategies used to manage the stress of the employees at the workplace and methods used to evaluate employee's performance.

Running head: PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT
people and organizatioal management

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 1
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Task 1:........................................................................................................................................2
Microsoft Corporation: Human Resource Functions:............................................................2
Workplace Culture of Microsoft Corporation:.......................................................................3
Task 2:........................................................................................................................................4
Recruitment and selection:.....................................................................................................4
Task 3:........................................................................................................................................5
Measurement of employee performance at Microsoft:..........................................................5
Task 4:........................................................................................................................................7
Flexible working facilities at Microsoft:................................................................................7
Advantages of flexible working for employees:....................................................................7
Advantages of the company:..................................................................................................7
Task 5:........................................................................................................................................8
Management of Employee’s Stress:.......................................................................................8
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 2
Introduction:
Human Resource function involves the management of the employees working in an
organization so that they can work and perform in their best possible way. Therefore. Human
resource management can be defined as a part of business management that deals with the
management of people. HRM is mainly concerned with handling the four distinct areas of
organizational objectives, staffing, performance, administration and change management
(Javed, et al., 2017).
Microsoft Corporation is the leading software development company in the world which
develops, licenses, manufactures and supports a range of services and products mainly related
to computing. It was established by Bill Gates and Paul Allen with its headquarters in USA.
The company is serving the customers all around the world with the help of its five business
units. The values and mission of the company help businesses and people to realize their full
capacity and potential while working within the organization. This report addresses the
human resource practices at Microsoft Corporation including selection and recruitment
policies, flexible offerings to the employees, strategies used to manage the stress of the
employees at workplace and methods used to evaluate employee's performance (EMC, 2013).
Task 1:
Microsoft Corporation: Human Resource Functions:
The human resource function and practices of Microsoft are known for the success and
growth of the organization. Human Resource department is strictly directed to follow all the
rules related to the management of employees. The employees of the organization are known
as most profitable and valuable assets, thus Human Resource department tries to manage such
assets in most effective and efficient manner. The company ensure to develop a sound and
effective process for the recruitment and selection of employees that may not result in any
harm to the ethics and emotions of applicants. After hiring the employees, HR department
organizes training and development programs for new employees so they can learn about
their jobs and roles. Training and development programs are also organized for old
employees to furnish their skills and to provide them updates about the new technological
advancements (Wiley, 2014). HR department also take care about the workplace environment
of the company. HR department organizes such activities which increase the morale of
employees and thus results in achieving organizational objectives. HR management of the
company is also famous for facilitating flexible working to the employees. After taking this

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 3
steps, a major changes in the employee productivity has been seen through the annual reports
of the company (Naviorldasia, 2014).
Introduction of the concept of flexible working is continuously is resulting into developing
relations of employees and the managers. Because employees feel free to work and complete
their work as according to them. This forced them to think that their managers and
organizations are helpful and understand the need for work-life balance.
Further, Human resource department of Microsoft Corporation is also very well concerned
about the health of the employees. The company provides many types of facilities and
practices which can help in the reduction of mental stress of the employees so that they can
perform better and desired manner. The organization does not give values to their equipment,
technology of premises in comparison to its employees because employees are the main
resources and are responsible for the growth of such equipment, technology and premises
(katyayani & Rani, 2017).
Workplace Culture of Microsoft Corporation:
As the company works on the international level, its working culture is very dynamic and
features with diversified employees. Microsoft hires employees from different countries and
thus their management is not easy. HR practices are developed in such a way that supports
the working of people from different religion, beliefs, societies, and races. The company
makes no difference on the basis of such factors and also encourages the appointment of
persons with disabilities having talent and knowledge similar to the other persons. At the
workplace, Microsoft provides an open communication environment to its employees so that
they may not feel hesitated about discussing their problems with each other (Brito & Oliveira,
2013). This reduces the chances of miscommunication which may lead to generating fights
and conflict among the employees or the managers. Microsoft also provides childcare
facilities for female employees so they can work freely without worrying about their children.
Further, Microsoft is featured with the beat performance evaluating practices in the
industries. It provides the process in which employee can evaluate their performance on the
self-assessment basis. This makes easy to understand the employees that how they are ranked
and at what stages, improvement is required. Human resource policies of the organization
ensure that all employees may feel secure, happy and free from burden in all manners and for
this purpose, related teams are regularly working for the improvement of the same (Selvan,
2015).

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 4
Task 2:
Recruitment and selection:
Microsoft believes in hiring and recruiting extremely talented and intelligent staff from the
very beginning. Co-founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates prefer to hire such fresh and
inexperienced employees whose talent and knowledge can beat the experienced persons. The
recruitment policy of Microsoft Corporation reflects the philosophy of the company.
Microsoft Corporation is considered as an aggressive recruiter and is the first organization to
provide jobs to elite graduates by career fairs and campuses across the world.
The recruitment policy of Microsoft includes:
 Compliance of government policies.
 Cost effective for the company
 Ensures job security to the employees.
 Flexible for required changes
 Facilities the opportunities of employment development
 Provides job opportunities for a long time.
 Includes hiring employees as per the objectives of the organization.
There are many factors that affect the processes of recruitment including environmental,
technological, social and other factors. Microsoft has designed its recruitment and selection
policy after considering all such factors so that the process cannot get interrupted. The
process of recruitment and hiring of employees can be described as follows:
Microsoft Corporation conducts recruitment process form worldwide campuses. Desired
candidates are required to register through official website of the company. Along with
campus recruitment, the company also takes part in job fairs and job festivals to find eligible
and talented professionals. A recruitment test is conducted to measure the capability, talent
and the subject knowledge of the applicant. Tests are conducted by the company through
offline and online modes. In such tests, applicants can expect the queries from different topics
including databases, algorithms, computer languages and structures (Hitbullseye, 2018).
Further, a written test is conducted check command over English language, aptitude
knowledge, mental and programming ability of the candidates. In this section, applicants can
expect the questions from data interpretation and data sufficiency etc. Programming section
of the test paper includes such question which can help in checking programming capability

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 5
and knowledge of the candidates. This sector of the paper is considered as the toughest one
because of this required extensive knowledge of the concept of software programming.
At Microsoft, recruitment of the candidates is not influenced by their academic degrees but it
is focused on their interest and knowledge in computer science, aptitude and their passion for
technological development. Applicants who qualify the written test with high marks are
further selected for the purpose of the personal interview. The interview process may consist
6-7 rounds to check the professional capability and communication skills of the applicant.
Interviews also help the company to know about the practical knowledge of the applicant
instead of their bookish knowledge (Epic, 2010).
Microsoft Corporation conducts some special programs which are known as Leap
Engineering Acceleration Programs (LEAP) for the candidates who don't have any working
experience. In this programme, small projects ate given to selected fresher candidates to
compete with their existing knowledge. This programme is conducted for a period of 6
months after which candidates are recruited on the basis of their performance during these 6
months.
After the selection, final interviews are conducted for the candidates. During this final
interview development in the knowledge of the selected candidates is evaluated. Thus
employees are hired and are informed about their roles and responsibilities. Further, HR
department conducts all the joining formalities with selected candidates.
Task 3:
Measurement of employee performance at Microsoft:
Performance evaluation and measurement is a process which enables the organizations to
evaluate the performance of employees. For this function, HR department is known as the
main supportive factor of the company. HRM considers the employees as the most valuable
asset of an organization thus the measurement of their performance lies in the hands of HR
department (Kline & Carr , 2016).
At Microsoft, the methods of performance measurement can be divided into two main
categories:
The objectives methods are used on basis of measurable data and criteria including sales
percentage, number of production, number of failures and errors etc. Microsoft uses these
methods in measuring the performance of those employees who are engaged in producing

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 6
quantitative results for the company. Because the major drawback of this method is that it can
be used to measure the performance of employees giving their output in qualitative terms like
secretory, software engineers, directors etc (Qureshi & Hassan, 2013).
Microsoft uses subjective methods of performance measurement more frequently to make
judgments and results. These are used to measure the qualitative outputs by individuals. But
these methods also cannot ensure the complete and absolute accuracy of outcomes or results
of the performance measurement because these can be influenced by biases and prejudices of
the evaluators. For example, an assessor can be influenced by a single dimension, either in
negative or positive about the employee being evaluated and this influence can affect all other
related aspects of performance measurement. Along with this, managers are often considered
to provide high ratings to their closure one and ignore others because of some little issues.
This can affect the result of performance measurement programs conducted by the
management of Microsoft.
Microsoft simultaneously uses both methods subjective as well as objectives in measuring
and appraising the performance of its employees. The company uses self-assessment
approach so that employees can evaluate their own performance as well. At Microsoft, the
employee writes about his goal and tasks that he/she is going to complete in next six months
and also writes the requirement for completing the same form their superiors and gets
approval regarding the same. At the time of performance evaluation and appraisal, employees
access themselves according to the objectives and goals defined by them. After this
assessment, employees discuss with their line managers to get the feedbacks and ranks for
appraisal.
In Microsoft, the performance of employees is ranked from 3 to 5, in which 3 is the symbol
of minimum performed and 5 is considered for the best performance. Most of the employees
get 4 which is the symbol for average performance. Both the methods are used as per their
requirements. Further, the process of performance measurement includes some following
steps:
 Providing the objectives and goals of employees at the beginning of the year.
 Providing them sufficient resources for facilitating the same.
 Measurement of improvement in work on monthly basis.
 Arranging workshops and training so the employees can improve their performance.

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 7
 Clearing all parameter that is involves in measuring the performance of employees so
that they can focus on each parameter.
Microsoft evaluates the performance of its employees very carefully and this can be said on
the basis of its annual report and employee feedback. The organization is working well in
terms of employee satisfaction and this the main reason for its success and growth (Chopra,
2016).
Task 4:
Flexible working facilities at Microsoft:
Microsoft is one of the big advocates of remote working. It understands that all individuals
have their own preferences about how, where and when they want to work. The company
offers a mixture of opportunities to its employees with equal amount of privacy and
teamwork. This enables creativity, productivity, innovation, deep work and team building.
Microsoft provides flexible working facility in terms of enabling them to work from home,
facilitating 24*7 shifts of working, five day week and providing shift of 8-9 hours as per the
job responsibilities of the employees. In case of female employees, the company provides
maternity leaves as per the requirement (Imaz, 2017). Microsoft also provides the facility of
doctors and healthcare at workplace especially for the female employees if they are working
at their maternity time. Microsoft provides flexibility to its employees up to an extent that
their results and productivity does not get affected in a negative manner. It ensures that is an
employee is working from home then he delivers his responsibilities in the desired manner by
the company (Company, 2018).
Advantages of flexible working for employees:
Women employees of Microsoft uses this flexibility to manage their work and home life.
Female employees are able to spend their time with children and families. Similarly, male
employees are benefitted because they can work as per their preferences and at the time when
they want to work. Flexible working increases the liability on employees to work and
perform in a better way. At the same time, it also increases the chances of loss of job and
deduction in salary. In order to avoid such situations, employees work in their best possible
way considering the fact that their organization is providing leniency and they should not
misuse the same. It also reduces the cost of fuel and transportation, time to travel and
tiredness of employees. It encourages and motivates the employees to complete their jobs and
assigned works on time (Kozokov, 2018).

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 8
Advantages of the company:
By providing the facilities of flexible working, Microsoft saves a huge amount of sum which
it can invest in developing its business. Cost saving is done by allowing work from home to
employees and by introducing the culture of hot-desking. It also may cause the reduction of
cost spending on extra healthcare, gym, cafeteria and other facilities related to the wellbeing
of employees. Microsoft is able to hire experts and talented employees on the basis of its
flexible working hours and facilities. As a result of all practices, the productivity of Microsoft
Corporation is continuously increasing with the growth and development in employee's
morale, commitment, and engagement to the company. Microsoft is developing an image in
employee’s minds as an organization of choice with family and friendly flexible working
schedule (Hubspot, 2015).
Microsoft is adopting the concept of work-life balance by facilitating the employees their
choice of working. The company has an opinion that if a person is not able to manage his
personal life and professional life at the same time, then he cannot perform in his best
possible way at his workplace. For gaining the results from an employee, it is necessary to
provide him ease in working practices related to time and health. It is also a scientifically
proved fact that imbalance of working and personal life can lead to conflicts and fights either
at the workplace or at home (Loew, 2015).
It shows that Microsoft is an employer that fully support the concept of flexible working and
has adopted this concept in a good structures manner. This adoption is paying a great
profitability to business in terms of employee satisfaction, productivity, and ease in hiring
experts and talented professionals. But the management of Microsoft also has an opinion that
such flexibility should provide up to an extent that employees cannot make misuse in terms
of laziness and delay in working (Toppo & Prusty, 2012).
Task 5:
Management of Employee’s Stress:
Being a leading company of software industry, the company has to face the challenges related
to the stress of employees at the workplace. Sometimes employees get overstressed because
of the workload or other workplace-related issues. To deal with such type of circumstances,
HR policies of the company manages some practices so that employees can get relief from
their stress and work with the fresh mind. Such practices can be described as follows:

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 9
 Microsoft provides first aid and wellness training for Mental Health to its employees
and managers so that every person working in the organization may have the
understanding the effects of mental health issues. In addition, the company also
provides education related to the healthy and unhealthy stress levels and its signs. It
helps the employees to recognize and ignore the situation which can result in creating
unhealthy stress.
 The company encourages its culture to have open and straight communication about
wellbeing and mental health so employees may not hesitate to talk about stress with
their managers and co-workers and can ask for help (Kushwaha, 2014).
 The company has adopted clear communication policies and avoids calling and
emailing the workers after their working hours. It facilitates the employees to spend
time with their families and remove their mental stress.
 The company provides facilities of the gym at their premises so that employees can
live physically fit and can reduce their mental pressure and stress. Similarly, it also
has beautiful gardens at all its workplaces which work as a place for employees to sit
and rest during their interval hours or tea breaks. These all facilities describes the
management practices of human resource department (Jahanian, et al., 2012).
 As every organization has some irrelevant policies, Microsoft Corporation also has
some irrelevant policies which may have a negative impact on employees. The HR
department of the company review these policies time to time and alter them in order
to remove the extra stress and burden so that employees can work freely and can give
their contribution in their best possible way.
 Microsoft also organizes cultural events and fun activities on quarterly, half yearly
and yearly basis. Employees take part in such activities which makes them feel free
from burden and stress. The arrangement of fun activities at every weekend makes it
employees to freshen up their mind.
 Microsoft also provides flexible working facilities to employees. It means that
employees can work form their home or any other place in case of any health issue
that resist them to come into the office (khan, et al., 2018).
Conclusion:
On the basis of above report, it can be concluded that an effective and efficient HR
department helps as the business partner and also contributes in formulating the required
business policies. The way in which Microsoft has initiated its HR strategy is a great example

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 10
of how the organizations that function with the common vision and objectives make money
for their stakeholders and investors with the help of available human resources. The company
make an investment on a very large scale in the process of recruitment, selection and
providing training to the employees. The study also concludes that company provides a
workplace to employees with maximum feasibility and flexible working conditions. These
facilities at workplace motivate the employees to perform in their best possible way.

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT 11
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