Work Life Balance at Volkswagen

This assignment discusses the importance of work life balance and how Volkswagen is providing opportunities for its employees. It explores the concept of work life balance, tips for achieving it, and the benefits it brings. The assignment also highlights the work life balance initiatives taken by Volkswagen.

People and Organisation

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PORTFOLIO 1.................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION: .........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BIODY:................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION:...............................................................................................................................2
PORTFOLIO 2.................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY:.................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION:...............................................................................................................................3
PORTFOLIO 3.................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY:.................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION:...............................................................................................................................5
PORTFOLIO-4................................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................6
MAIN BODY:.................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION:...............................................................................................................................8
PORTFOLIO -5:..............................................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................8
MAIN BODY: ................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION:...............................................................................................................................9
PORTFOLIO -6...............................................................................................................................9
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................9
MAIN BODY:.................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION:.............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................12

PORTFOLIO 1
INTRODUCTION:
This will show the various dimensions of national culture on the basis of which the company
makes its recruiting policies. The HR policies is always linked to the culture of that country.
These cultures affect the environment of organisation and the behaviour of people. It is important
to know what are the different cultures prevailing in the country so that according to this the
policies can be made. It also shows the HR policy of Volkswagen and how the hofstesdes model
relate to the policy.
MAIN BIODY:
Hofstede model shows that how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. In this the
culture is defined as collection of programs of distinguishing minds of one member of people to
others. There are six dimensions of national culture. The first one is PDI, which stands for Power
distance index which shows that the less powerful members of society accept that the power is
distributed unequally. The main issues here is how society handles inequalities among people. It
consists of two elements (Bolman, and Deal, , 2017) These are high power distance that accept
everybody has equal place. and low power distance shows that people strives to equalise the
distribution of power. Second one is IDV, which stands for Individualism versus collectivism.
Individualism states that individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their family
whereas collectivism states that people expect their family to look after them. Third one is MAS,
which stands for Masculinity versus femininity. Masculinity states for achievement, heroism and
rewards for success in society whereas femininity states for cooperation, quality of life in
society. Fourth one is UAI, which stands for Uncertainty avoidance index. It expresses the
extent to which the members of society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The
main issue here is how society deals with the future. Fifth one is LTO, it stands for Long term
versus short term orientation. Short term means society maintain norms while change and long
term means society who encourage efforts in change to prepare for future. The last one is IND,
which stands for Indulgence versus restraint. Indulgence allows society to free gratification of

natural human needs that relates to enjoyment of life while restraint suppresses gratification of
needs by restricting societal norms.(.Uhl-Bien, and Arena,, 2017.)
The Volkswagen HR policies are based on family friendly human resource policy. They work
continuously on increasing the participation of women to maintain equality. The culture of
Germany is based on the values. The German people priority is highly on structure, privacy and
punctuality. They put efforts in hard-working to make sure that the trains run on time. They are
more focused on managing time carefully.
CONCLUSION:
From this it is concluded that the Volkswagen is using proper HR policy according to the culture
of country. The people are very well know with the policy of Volkswagen. This is helping the
company to provide appropriate resources to the people so there is no discrimination. A
company must put efforts to develop the society. In UK the individualism score is among the
highest I.e 89 which means in small age children are taught what is their purpose in society.. It is
having the lowest score of 35 in uncertainty avoidance which means that people are quite happy
in changing daily plans. With a score of 51 the dominance of culture can not be determined. The
British people are generally indulgence as they fulfil l their desires by enjoying life and having
fun.
PORTFOLIO 2
INTRODUCTION:
Training and development is essential part f every organisation. Training helps in completing a
task effectively while development helps in overall growth of individual. These both are directly
related to each other. Training helps in learning and learners behaviour affect the training
program. There are various types of learner which is described by honey and Mumford model.
According to the features of learner the training is given to them. It is important so that cost and
time both can be saved.

MAIN BODY:
The executive chef Jean Poussin of a large hotel gives training to the 30 trainers. They go
to training to the south city college for two years training. At college they receive theoretical
knowledge of food preparation, food hygiene, kitchen health and safety which they bring to
practice at workplace. The problem arises is that very few trainees are able to translate their
skills in getting good results (Worline, and Dutton, 2017). Jean blames the trainee for this but he is
surprised by their lack of progress. He thinks that there may be problems with instructions that
are given in college. So the chef jean has come to thPORTFOLIO 1
INTRODUCTION:
This will show the various dimensions of national culture on the basis of which the company
makes its recruiting policies. The HR policies is always linked to the culture of that country.
These cultures affect the environment of organisation and the behaviour of people. It is important
to know what are the different cultures prevailing in the country so that according to this the
policies can be made. It also shows the HR policy of Volkswagen and how the hofstesdes model
relate to the policy.
MAIN BIODY:
Hofstede model shows that how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. In this the
culture is defined as collection of programs of distinguishing minds of one member of people to
others. There are six dimensions of national culture. The first one is PDI, which stands for Power
distance index which shows that the less powerful members of society accept that the power is
distributed unequally. The main issues here is how society handles inequalities among people. It
consists of two elements (Bolman, and Deal, , 2017) These are high power distance that accept
everybody has equal place. and low power distance shows that people strives to equalise the
distribution of power. Second one is IDV, which stands for Individualism versus collectivism.
Individualism states that individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their family
whereas collectivism states that people expect their family to look after them. Third one is MAS,
which stands for Masculinity versus femininity. Masculinity states for achievement, heroism and
rewards for success in society whereas femininity states for cooperation, quality of life in

society. Fourth one is UAI, which stands for Uncertainty avoidance index. It expresses the
extent to which the members of society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The
main issue here is how society deals with the future. Fifth one is LTO, it stands for Long term
versus short term orientation. Short term means society maintain norms while change and long
term means society who encourage efforts in change to prepare for future. The last one is IND,
which stands for Indulgence versus restraint. Indulgence allows society to free gratification ofe
training manager for help. The tutor and the trainees make pastry by using the choux pastry
recipe.
1) Honey and Mumford style that is created according to children preference to learning. It states
that a child is naturally learning can be theorist, reflector, pragmatist and activist learner. A child
learning is maximised if child's parents seek to understand the style he or she associates with
most. Further opportunities can be used to use that type of style. There are four types of
identifying style in children. First one are activist learner. These are the people who learn things
by doing. They are open minded to take part in group discussion and problem solving sessions.
They like brainstorming and don't come to situations with biases. Second are theorist learners.
They understand the theory behind the action. They enjoy reading facts and models while
learning process. Reading theories and quotes are their hobbies as it helps in collecting
background information. Third are pragmatist learners. These are the people who knows how to
put the learning into practice. They like to experiment with theories , ideas and techniques. Time
is taken by them to think what they have done and how it relates to reality. Fourth are reflectors.
These people learn by watching the things. They collect data and works to find out appropriate
conclusion. In the given case the learner that can be mostly benefited will be theorist learners .
As the pastry making is based on choux recipe these learners will easily be able to learn that
recipe. The trainer will show the recipe one time and then the learners will catch that. This will
help them to understand the theory by making it into practise. The tutor also tells that they have
to make pastry by choux recipe. (Arlitsch,. and Edelman,, 2014).the tutor should apply the activist
learner theory so that the trainees can easily discuss among themselves and can make pastry. It

will help them to learn new techniques of making a pastry. It will help them others trainees to
watch and learn from one trainee. In this way they will be able to work in groups.
2) The first thing that can be done is to make the recipe with choux theory and identify the
trainees who are not able to perform with this theory. Then make the recipe in own way and
show to the trainees who can learn that by doing. The second thing that can be done is to identify
a simple method of making the recipe and then show it to the trainees.
CONCLUSION:
It states that there are different forms of learners which can be identified by the way of their
working and grasping things into the mind. These are activist, theorist, reflectors and pragmatist.
They all do things in the training program according to their way of learning. This shows that
some learn from theory, some learn by doing things, some learn by doing experiments and others
learn by watching the things.
PORTFOLIO 3
INTRODUCTION:
Work life balance is crucial for every employee who is working in the organisation. It helps in
improving the performance by maintaining the balance between work and family life. In today's
world every freshers is looking for job opportunities which provides them better work life
balance. Organisation are making efforts in providing good work life to employees. Locational
and flexible working hours improves the productivity of employees. The importance of work life
has been shown in this assignment. It shows how Volkswagen is making efforts in providing this
t their employees and what are the opportunities provided by them while recruiting graduates.
MAIN BODY:
Work life balance is very important in maintaining balance between professional and
personal life. It is a concept that includes proper distribution between work and lifestyle. The
work includes ambition and careers and lifestyle includes health, family and leisure. It does not

mean an equal balance between life and work but the right amount of balance today will lead to
better tomorrow (.Smith,, 2014) Work life balance is different for everyone according to different
priorities and lives. The achievement and enjoyment are two basic concepts of work life. These
two concepts provide a positive work life balance. Here enjoyment do not mean happiness but
also pride, love, celebration, etc. these both are the front and back of coin in life. They both are
dependent on each other. You cant have one without the other. No individual can live a one sided
life. The full value of life is achieved from both achievement and enjoyment. The tips that can
help in better work life balance is exercise and meditate whenever you get time. It helps a lot in
reliefing stress. Other than that stay away from people who waste time. Also do not do the
activities that waste time. These will help in focusing on what is most important in life. It will be
easy to determine what needs to be trimmed from schedule. Changing the structure of life will
maintain a better work life. (Ryan,, 2015.)At last start from small and build from there. It means
that the focus should be on small goals, if they are achieved effectively then it will not be
difficult to achieve big goals. Work life balance is important because it prevents from health
problems. The immune system will work properly. The diet taken will help in better thinking of
ideas. Stress can impact the health of a person so it is important to maintain a healthy work life
balance. If the work is left at office then the full focus will be on personal life. By this a better
relations can be maintained with friends relatives and family. Also it helps in paying attention
where we are lacking. Volkswagen offers a better work life as compared to all other companies.
It is called as the best employer in its whole industry. (Manuti, and De Palma,. Eds., 2014) They
provides various programs such as fitness club, sports club, health screenings, etc so that each
employee is able to perform effectively. There are various events held like annual day, sports
day, etc which refreshers the minds of employees. They feel fresh and stress relief. The work life
at Volkswagen has changed. Volkswagen have now decided to shut down the after hours emails.
It means that the server will stop sending work emails to employees after 30 minutes ending of
work and starts again before 30 minutes before they return to work. But the staff can use their
device to make calls. Volkswagen provides a various health check ups programs for employees
as they consider the health of employees most important.. These programs includes hearing test,
eye test, body composition analysis, cancer screening, etc. Also there are after work activities

like birthday celebration arrangement for employees where they can feel the warmth of family.
there are various programs offered by Volkswagen for university graduates like training
program, cross programs which helps in international focus and also PHD programs where you a
combination of opportunities are available for Volkswagen ( Smith,., 2014)
CONCLUSION:
This portfolio shows what is the importance of having a balanced work life and how unbalanced
work life can affect both the organisation and the employee. Due to the various options provided
by Volkswagen it has made them the best employer in their industry. The various programs
started are health check ups, sports day, etc. what was the changes that has occurred due to these
programs in Volkswagen.
PORTFOLIO-4
INTRODUCTION:
this case shows the use of social media in the elections that was won by Barack Obama in 2008.
how the social media campaign started by the supporters lead to a huge victory. It helped in
transforming the ordinary people to engaged in social media through email, text messaging and
online video. This shows the effectiveness of social media in making the organisation successful
and communicating their message to public. Various sites such as Facebook, you tube and twitter
have a dominant force in elections campaigns. This shows the growth of followers on social
media by comparing the years 2008 and 2012. the website mybarackobama responded quickly
to any negative publicity, and step by step approached used by lutz which lead to his second
victory. Lutz outlined a number of social media methods which included early start and
innovating channels. A step by step approach was given by him first establish a website then
develop that, engage online influencers through blogs and sponsorships and finally embracing
the people through social networks. (Ryan,, 2015)

MAIN BODY:
Vodafone is a telecom company that helps millions of people in communicating. It is the
industry that has impacted every aspect of people lives. The marketing of telecom industry has
heavily been increased on social media. Vodafone apply the strategy of platform. They have
segmented the Facebook in two ways. First one is Vodafone India and second one is Vodafone
zoo zoos (Bolman,. and Deal,., 2017) The Vodafone India page is updated once in few days
while the zoo zoos are created for the entertaining the public. Zoo zoos is quite an old concept
but still it was very much watched when it was launched in India. Now the customer service is
been effectively handled by Vodafone as they have created a fan page on Facebook named happy
to help where almost 15 - 20% queries are been handled by them. They also have an official
twitter account where their job to handle queries and respond within quick time for a complaint.
The best thing is that if your number is with them they will call directly if you have any
complaint. You tube is also effectively been used by them in order to see videos on zoo zoos
which are made by them. In comparison to its competitors they are best using the social media
for customer support service. This is same as step by step model used by Lutz in Obama
campaign. There are similarities between both the models as in the first one the first step was to
create awareness and then making aware the people about the existing social media sites.
Vodafone also created awareness by making a fan page on Facebook and then making aware
people by solving their problems through this. On twitter also they created an official page
named Vodafone India and provided the facility to solve public complaints by twitting the
solution or calling directly on their number.
Yes people still believe what they see on social media. It is like that a intangible assets which can
only be felt. The trust of people on social media is gained by giving them authentic sources f
references. These references can be customers feedback, official website of company. And
citations that can be used to attract audience. The trust of people helps the awareness of products.
If there will be no authentic source on social media then it will be difficult to make believe the
customer about the products and services offered. Vodafone did that on twitter by calling directly
to customers to solve their problems. This started building trust among the customers. They
started doing mouth publicity by telling to others. Once the trust is gained it automatically allows

the marketing of product. In today's world it is not a difficult task to make believe the customers
about the product.(Manuti, and De Palma eds., 2014) Most of the companies are using social
media in marketing their product. Today social media had become an essential tool for every
company. Without the use of social media techniques it is not possible to cover a huge amount of
audience.
Conclusion: it is concluded that social media plays a major role in election campaign as well as
in marketing of products. The effective use can help in creating awareness and making believe
the public that what they are seeing in true. Once they get attached it becomes very easy for them
to know what is wrong and what is right. As it happened in campaign once the supporters got
attached they found the difference between what is wrong and right. It helped the wining party in
retaining them in next campaign. So it results in effective use of social media.
CONCLUSION:
it shows that the use of social media has resulted in a big success of elections campaign. It has
helped the company like Vodafone in solving customer related problems through social media.
Also the information that is available on social media has won the trust of customers. They are
now more reliable on social media for any new information about the product. The other telecom
companies can also use this platform for their customers. People need some sources through
which they can trust that the information provided is authentic.. there are some changes required
which can help to believe on what they hear or see on social media. People still do not trust on
what they see on these platforms.
PORTFOLIO -5:
INTRODUCTION:
Selection and recruitment process helps an organisation in selecting talented and experienced
employees. This process must be very smooth so that it can attract a large number of talented
people to work for the organisation. It shows the selection process of penguin random house that

how the writers are selected. What is the selection process of Volkswagen and penguin random
house and how it differs from one another. It shows what are the reasons of that difference.
MAIN BODY:
the recruitment program of penguin random house aims to reach the future editors from a wide
range of background. It is purely based on candidates potential to write. The company recruits
young talent by partnering with secondary schools and via social media site snap chat.(Ballard,,
2015) the application process asks the candidate to respond to four questions six core strengths,
publishers need, an ability and to stay tuned to the detail. They provide 13 month internships
including two six month placement within their publishers division. It provides opportunities for
trainers to work with high profile authors. In this stage they will also work with the manger and
mentor who will give full support to them in personal development. There main objective is to
ignore the background of candidate and see the potential (Worline,.and Dutton, , 2017)
Company will benefit by talented candidates from a wider range of background and from
different perspectives and experience. During the second stage the candidate have to prepare a
creative brief. A video interview will demonstrate their creative story telling skills. The last stage
will be selection stage.
The recruitment process in Volkswagen is similar to penguin random house. In Volkswagen the
first step is same as looking for applications. (Uhl-Bien, and Arena,., 2017). The second step is
of application selection in which the requirements are compared with the job profile. The third
step involves the assessment centre where the selected applicants are given a task to perform this
a German language test is given to them. The fourth step is interviewing the candidate which is
done by done the Human resource manager and the last step is decision. Both the firm is having
similar process but the different is that in penguin house the internship given is of 13 months
while in Volkswagen the time if assessment m\centre is not decided. This is due to in writing
various skills of candidate are check like creativity, ideas, language, story skills, etc but in
Volkswagen only a limited number of skills are checked. This also happens as these both
industries belong to different sector..(Smith,., 2014)

CONCLUSION:
this portfolio shows that the selection process of both the Volkswagen and penguin random
house are similar. Volkswagen provides training in assessment centres whereas penguin house
provides in the company. The major difference is that the time of these period is not determined
in Volkswagen but in other it is fixed. This difference occurs because both of these focus on
talented young graduates but Volkswagen prefers taking graduates according to their policy as it
operates globally. In Volkswagen the recruiting process in dependent on the culture of the
country but in penguin it is not like that. The penguin house determines the writing knowledge of
candidates whereas Volkswagen determines the overall experience of candidates.
PORTFOLIO -6
INTRODUCTION:
This will show the book that is written by author who is inspired by the technological changes
that has been occurring on the world. The advantages that will help the young generation of UK
in improving their lifestyle. The factors which inspired the writer in digital campaign. The
benefits that can be used by penguin random house in organising a digital campaign.
MAIN BODY:
the book which will help the young generation of UK will be transforming UK. It will contain
all the various elements that helps the young generation in transforming themselves. These
people will get to know about the benefits of using digital media in gaining knowledge . The
book will include all the articles that will lead to digitalising UK. The various components that
are needed en today life. With the use of these the youngster will get to know how they can reach
the other parts of the world communicated with peoples of other caste , creed and colour. How
the transformation will create a digital wave in UK industry. The use of the latest technologies
will change the living standard of people. It will have a positive impact on the lifestyle of people.
They will be able to save cost and time and a improvement will be there in work life balance of

people. The youngster will be attracted more towards the gadgets. The primary target will be
youngster and people between the age of 25-45. you tube will be effective in promoting the book
because a large number of audience can be reached within quick time. The book can help
researchers to research on different latest technologies. This will help in discovering of
technology. The people who are technology freaked might be reading the book. The companies
which are purely based on technology will be reading this (Worline. and Dutton, , 2017.)
This book will help in generation of innovative ideas. The new ideas will bring change in the
lives of people. The obstacle that they will face will be availability of resources and time. The
resources available will be very costly and the youngster do not have any resources to fulfil l
their need. Also time is very crucial elements in digital transformation. If the proper actions are
not taken on right time it will lead to delay in new projects. To overcome these first of all the the
resources must be available to youngster.
Digital campaign influence on penguin random house company.
The digital campaign is very helpful in creating awareness among the customers. The creativity
that is brought in digital campaign helps in encouraging the people to get attached with the
product. The promotional tool that makes a digital campaign successful is advertising. The logo,
technology,people, visuals, sounds, etc are the things that attracted the attention of people. It was
so good that the emotional feelings of people got attached with it. The people got involved with
the campaign very quickly. The penguin random must take use this for promoting their product.
They must use the visuals that have been shown in the campaign. It will help them in recruiting
talented youngster from different backgrounds. Youngsters will get a chance to involve with the
company and express their ideas or thoughts. It will also boost the sales of books written by them
(Ryan, , 2015).
CONCLUSION:
The writer is inspired by the digital campaign that has been done. The title of the book is
transforming UK which shows that how the use of latest technology can bring change in lifestyle
of people. What were the ways the author used in promoting the book. Also what were the

difficulties that he faced. The company started a digital campaign which helped them to attract
new talents.

REFERENCES:
Arlitsch, K. and Edelman, A., 2014. Staying safe: Cyber security for people and
organizations. Journal of Library Administration, 54(1), pp.46-56.
Ballard, J., 2015. Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations:
50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations. ABC-CLIO
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons
Manuti, A. and De Palma, P.D. eds., 2014. Why Human Capital is important for organizations:
People come First. Springer.
Ryan, D., 2015. Ghosts of Organizations Past: Communities of Organizations as Settings for
Change. Temple University Press
Smith, C., 2014. Disruptive religion: The force of faith in social movement activism. Routledge
Uhl-Bien, M. and Arena, M., 2017. Complexity leadership: Enabling people and organizations
for adaptability. Organizational Dynamics.
Worline, M. and Dutton, J.E., 2017. Awakening compassion at work: the quiet power that
elevates people and organizations. Berrett-Koehler Publishe