Analysis of People Management Practices at Nissan: A Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of people management practices at Nissan, a multinational automobile manufacturer. It explores key aspects such as leadership and its impact on performance management, highlighting the application of Path-Goal Theory. The report delves into training and...Read More

Introduction to People
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Leadership and Management.......................................................................................................3
Training and Development..........................................................................................................5
Talent Management.....................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
People management which is also known as Human resource management is a field of
management operations in the organisation which deals with matters related to people working in
the organisation. Among many of others one of the role and function of people management is
related to performance management of the people in the organisation. Nissan Japanese
multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1933 and headquartered at Yokohama, Japan.
Products of the company are automobiles, luxury vehicles, commercial vehicles, outboard
vehicles and forklift trucks. Nissan employs around 138000 employees and follows a effective
performance management system which focus on the individual commitment and organisation
and individual jointly enhance competencies.
MAIN BODY
Performance Management is a process of ensuring that activities and efforts of the
organisation and the employees are in direction of the objectives. Objectives can be effectively
and efficiently achieved by the organisation and this is why performance management
undertakes activities such as determination of objectives (organisational, functional and
individual). Later efforts are made so that these objectives can be effectively achieved by the
organisation.
Leadership and Management
Leadership is a process by which leaders direct and influence the employee of their team
and their organisation. Leadership involves directing, guiding and influence actions and
behaviour of others in the direction of achievement of objectives (Oshagbemi, 2017).
Management is set of activities which consist of planning, organising, coordinating controlling
etc. In relation with performance management at Nissan both leader and manager plays
important roles. Performance Management starts with determination of goals and objectives for
the Nissan. Goals and objectives are determined and directed by the leader at the Nissan. Nissan
is presently being leaded by Makoto Uchidao and the leaders plays important role in determining
what Nissan wants to achieve in particular time.

Performance management is carried out and completed on the basis of goals and
objectives and determination of goals and objectives is the first step in the process of
performance management. The leadership in performance is not only limited to setting the goals
and determination of objectives. Scope of leadership in performance management goes beyond
that role of leadership (Ikegami and Maznevski, 2019). Leadership extends to functional
leadership and later team leadership. Team leadership plays an important role in performance
management and performance and effective contribution of team in achievement of overall
organisational role. Measurement of performance at team level also requires assistance and
contribution of team leader. This way leadership plays important role from the setting of
objectives to its achievement. Some of the reasons because of which leadership is important for
performance management are as follows-
 To ensure the focus of team members on the achievement of organisational objectives
 Leadership is also important in performance management as it creates performance
strategy
 Continuous monitoring and analysis of performance data of team members
 Leadership is important as leader can provide the guidance whenever and wherever
required to the employees and team members
 Motivation plays important role in effective performance of employees and this is why
leadership is important for the performance management as leader can motivate
employees.
All these reasons suggest why leadership is important for performance management at
Nissan but leader needs to follow a particular style so that they can attain the best possible results
in form of objective achievement (Houck, 2019). In this regard Path Goal Theory of leadership is
most suitable and applied by the Nissan.
Path Goal Leadership Theory
This is the theory of leadership specifying a leader style that fits the best employee and
work environment in order to achieve predetermined goals. In this leadership style goal of the
leader is to increase the motivation of the employees, satisfaction and empowerment so that they
become productive for the organisation (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). Path Goal theory can be

considered as a process in which leaders select specific environment so that they best suit the
employees needs and the working environment so that they can guide the employee through their
path in attainment of their objectives.
Figure 1Path Goal Theory
This theory suggests that leadership behaviour and style of leader is based on two factors which
are employee contingencies and environmental contingencies and on the basis of this leadership
behaviours are applied which are of four types these are;
Directive- Leader gives guidelines and subordinates clearly know what is expected of them.
Supportive- Leader displays personal concern for the subordinates and remains friendly with the
subordinates.
Participative- Leader involves subordinates in decision making and share information with the
subordinates (Farhan, 2018).
Achievement Oriented- Leaders in this style sets challenging goals to motivate and encourage
subordinates and main concern of the leader is to achieve the goals.
Leadership style is decided on the basis of these factors and goals and expected result of this
style is to motivate employees and increase employee satisfaction.
Training and Development
Training and development this is another most important function carried out by the
people management functions in the Nissan. Training refers to a process which involves
enhancement of skills, concepts and changing attitude of the employee. The aim behind this is to

improve and increase performance and productivity of the employees (Jackson, 2019).
Development is a process through which employees are helped to understand various
organisational functions which are other than what they are presently doing. This involves
understanding of various concepts and enhancing managerial and leadership capabilities.
Training is meant for executive and shop floor level employees in the organisation whereas
development is meant for managerial level employees in the organisation though ultimate
objective of them remains the same which is to improve performance.
Training and development are important part of performance management and only
through effective training and development employees can achieve effective achievement of
objectives (Armstrong and Landers, 2018). Process of performance management specifically
includes development which means development of employees and their skills and knowledge.
This has been involved in the process as this will help and equip employees with all the required
knowledge and skills in their performance.
Training and development is given due importance in Nissan and stated by the company
they are committed to become most innovative, trusted and environmentally responsible car
companies in the world. In this Nissan relies on world class people and innovative. Company
states that current business environment encourages a culture of life ling learning and this culture
is supported and encouraged by the Nissan. Nissan along with also provides wide breadth of
choices and opportunities for continuous professional growth through diverse development
program and training opportunities. Nissan employs efficient candidates who arrive with proven
skills, knowledge and experience which is later actively enhanced and improved at Nissan
throughout the career of individual. Nissan provides training in several forms which are for new
hires and for seasoned professionals, training at Nissan covers wide range of technical matters,
leadership skills like coaching and listening skills and from problem solving to project
management (Fletcher, Alfes and Robinson, 2018). Some of the training provided by Nissan is
Targeted Leadership Training, Special accelerated development, cross-functional teams and
Foreign Service assignments.
Performance management involves effective achievement of goals and objectives and effective
achievement includes that results and performance in that direction is cost effective. In this
relation Human capital Theory of Training and development can be applied.

Human Capital Theory
Human capital is a intangible asset or quality which is not listed in balance sheet of a
Nissan. Human capital can be classified as the economic value of the skills and experience of a
employee. The assets included in this are education, training, intelligence, skills, health and other
things which are value for employer (Zhang and Gao, 2019). This theory considers that all the
employees are not equal and employer can improve the quality of their employee by investing in
education, training and abilities which have economic value for the employer.
Human capital is important because it contributes in increasing productivity and
profitability of the employer. Through training and development employer invest in increasing
economic value of the employee and through this performance of the employee will also improve
(Nemeth, 2017). This theory involves and considers training as investment for human capital and
this is why it also enables to identify and understand cost and benefit of the investment and will
enable Nissan to evaluate cost benefit on the overall performance of the employees.
Talent Management
Talent Management means the methodology which involves getting the right talent and
helping them grow and develop in the organisation and this is followed by retention of them in
the organisation (Collings, Scullion and Caligiuri, 2018). This is done so that organisation can
utilize optimal capabilities of the employees firstly by developing and then by utilizing them
keeping organisational objectives in the mind.
Model of Talent Management
Figure 2Model of Talent Management

The process of talent management in Nissan starts from the planning, planning involves
identifying talent gaps in the organisation in form of human capital requirement. How much
talent is required and what type of talent is required. This planning helps in sourcing right type of
talent.
Attracting is second stage in the process in this Nissan decides whether the requirement of talent
in the organisation will be filled from within the organisation or from external sources (Taylor,
2018). This stage involves that candidates are attracted to apply for the job vacancy in the
organisation.
Attracting is followed by selecting process in this stage, candidates those who has applied in the
Nissan are selected. This involves eliminating those who are not right for the job and on the basis
of various test and examinations right candidates in terms of skills, knowledge and experience is
selected for the job role.
Developing is next stage in the process of talent development and in this employee who has been
hired for the job is provided with required training. This training helps employee to understand
what they are required to do in their job and how they will be able to complete their tasks in their
job. Candidates those who are right in different forms are not required to provide any specific
training because they are already aware with the context of job and what they will need to do.
This helps employee and organisation both as this reduces the possibility of the errors and
mistakes which might cost Nissan (Taylor, 2018). Employees after training become more
confident and this contributes to their effective performance.
Retaining the talent is next stage in talent development process. This involves that employee is
motivated to continue to work in Nissan. There are various reasons for doing this like to ensure
availability of talent in the organisation and to reduce the cost of recruitment and turnover of the
employees. This is important and this is why company has to various measures to ensure long
term retention of the employees and this requires giving adequate remuneration, motivating
through rewards and recognition. Such acts ensure that employees are satisfied with their job and
retain in Nissan.
Transition is next stage after retention. In this stage of the process talent and employees are
included in succession planning and they are promoted to upper level in the organisational

hierarchy (Collings, Scullion and Caligiuri, 2018). This includes internal mobility, retirement
and knowledge management. This ensures further growth of the employee and they become long
term members of the organisation.
Effective Talent management is important for the success of performance management. It
can also be said that talent management practices become basis for effective performance
management in the Nissan (Kamal and Lukman, 2017). Performance management is aimed at
achieving organisational goals effectively and this can be done with the talent which is available
to the Nissan. Nissan effectively manage talent and this is the reason that they are able to achieve
their goals and objectives effectively.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above analysis it can be concluded that performance management is a
process which starts with setting objectives and includes various steps and end up at achievement
of goals. This performance management underpins various concepts and practices of the
organisation leadership and management, talent management and training and development were
discussed in the study. Leadership and management include influencing and ensuring that
employees work as they are expected to achieve organisational objectives. Talent management
ensures that organisation is never short of talent and training and development ensures that, skills
and knowledge of the employees give them confidence and organisation can achieve expected
and effective results and collectively all these contribute in success of performance management.

REFERENCES
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Phillips, A.S. and Phillips, C.R., 2016. Behavioral styles of path-goal theory: An exercise for
developing leadership skills. Management Teaching Review. 1(3). pp.148-154.
Farhan, B.Y., 2018. Application Of Path-Goal Leadership Theory And Learning Theory In A
Learning Organization. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR). 34(1). pp.13-22.
Jackson, K., 2019. Coaching and mentoring in the Asia Pacific; Coaching and mentoring:
practical techniques for developing learning and performance; Management training and
development in China: educating managers in a globalized economy.
Armstrong, M.B. and Landers, R.N., 2018. Gamification of employee training and
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Fletcher, L., Alfes, K. and Robinson, D., 2018. The relationship between perceived training and
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Collings, D.G., Scullion, H. and Caligiuri, P.M. eds., 2018. Global talent management.
Routledge.
Taylor, S., 2018. Resourcing and talent management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cappelli, P. and Keller, J.R., 2017. The historical context of talent management. The Oxford
handbook of talent management. pp.23-42.
Kamal, M.Y. and Lukman, Z.M., 2017. The effects of talent management on performance
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