Huawei’s HR Policies and Recommendations

Huawei’s HR Policies and Recommendations
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Huawei’s HR Policies and Recommendations
Human resources are arguably the most important asset for an organization as they directly contribute its daily running as well the strategic activities. Given the value of human resources to organizational performance, companies have to set up policies and practices that ensure that productivity is maintained and improved. Huawei is a Chinese-based company that strives to succeed in the competitive technology sector. In its effort to advance its position in the technology sector, the company has prioritized the affairs of its employees to a great extent. This paper examines the HR policies of Huawei and offers comprehensive recommendations that can help the company further boost its position in the global technology sector.
Huawei and its Cultural Context
Huawei is a major technology company based in China that was founded in 1987. The company has operations in more than 170 countries, employs about 195,000 people, and serves over 3 billion people on the planet (Huawei, n.d.-a). It is the mission of the company to “bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world” (Huawei, n.d.-a, par 2). The website of the company indicates that its leadership is made up of a board of directors as well as a supervisory board. The board of directors is made up of thirteen members with only two of them being women (Huawei, n.d.-b). As for the supervisory board, there are fifteen members, with only three of them being women. Therefore, an issue that emerges from the leadership of the company is the limited number of women on its boards of management.
Huawei also has an interesting way of governance that is characterized by the collective leadership model, since its running cannot be trusted to a single individual. This model of leadership of features a central authority that is democratic where leadership is rotated regularly. In this sense, the rotating chairperson of the board of directors serves as the leader of the company in the course of their terms. Therefore, the leadership of the company embodies the collectivistic nature where the interests of the group are prioritized over the needs of the individual. According to the lectures, individualism-collectivism is one of Hofstede’s dimensions, and to a significant extent, it explains the leadership structure of Huawei. While Huawei comes from a highly collectivistic culture, it has operations in other cultures, some of which are characterized by individualism.
The biggest challenge that Huawei is facing is arguably its restriction in the U.S. market following the ban of the company’s products by former President Donald Trump. As reported by Hille et al. (2021), the ban by the U.S. means the federal government cannot use the company’s products and U.S. firms cannot easily sell products to Huawei. The authors note that the effect has been brutal as the company’s revenues dropped by about 30% (Hille et al.,2021). Apart from the ban, the company still faces challenges in form of competition from other major players in the technology sector, including Samsung and Apple.
HR Policies and Practices
Huawei’s HR policies and practices can be said to be robust. According to the lecture, HR refers to the practices, systems, and policies that affect the performance, behaviors, and attitudes of employees. Huawei’s 2020 annual sustainability report provides an overview of the policies and practices that influence the behaviors, attitudes, and performance of its employees. In the annual report, the company notes that its most valuable asset is its employees and that it prioritizes their affairs (Huawei, 2021). The HR policies and practices of Huawei are characterized by health and safety, healthy work-life balance, training and development, and diversity and inclusion.
Employee and safety is the first element of Huawei’s HR policy and practice and according to the company’s sustainability report, it prioritizes the health and safety of not only its employees but also that of its partners and subcontractors (Huawei, 2021). The report notes that it has started applying for the ISO45001 certification, which is the international standard in the world for the health and safety of employees. It is evident, therefore, that while the company has started applying for the certification, it has not attained it. An important part of the company’s health and safety measures is Safety Awareness Month, a program that covers fire safety, electrical safety, and mechanical safety among others (Huawei, 2021). For its employees, the company has in place medical insurance, commercial insurance, and social insurance. The health support provided by the company includes lifestyle guidance, health checks, and medical emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company conducted lectures on preventive measures for its employees (Huawei, 2021). Such measures are integral to improving job satisfaction according to Gopinath (2016). Therefore, with employees understanding that the employer cares for their health and safety, they are more likely to be satisfied with their job, which is an important variable in organizational performance.
Work-life balance is another key aspect that characterizes the HR policy and practice of Huawei. The company considers itself an advocate for a healthy work-life balance and has put in place accommodation, dining, and entertainment facilities on its campuses. The company notes that regardless of whether it makes a profit or not, it focuses on providing a quality working and living environment for its employees. In regards to accommodation, the company houses some of its employees in sea-view dormitories while others in comfortable apartment complexes (Huawei, 2021). The company’s perception of work-life balance appears to be rather different from how the literature views it. A key aspect of work-life balance according to different scholars is family (Brough et al. 2020). However, from the annual report, the work-life balance focuses less on the family and more on the entertainment, food, and accommodation of the employee...