Citigroup diversity talent management (HRM) analysis
Explain why choose Citigroup,
Citigroup Inc. is one of the largest and most vibrant investment banks worldwide employing more than 350,000 people in all its branches. Citigroup was created from a merger that was, in fact, the largest in the history of mergers involving banking companies such as the Citicorp and Travelers Group in the year 1998. The bank has its main offices in the town of Manhattan, New York City where all its operations take place. In the financial year 2015, the company was ranked third in terms of asset holdings in the United States alone with its shareholders from Singapore and Middle East (AHLSTROM, and BRUTON, 2011). The company has the capability to handle assets of more than 200 million clients worldwide and with this figure of customers, the amount of money it handles yearly is more than a countries budget, therefore, the need for extra willing and capable employees who can sacrifice their time and energy for this job. The rate of employment in Citigroup Inc is very high and this calls for talented and willing employees who can handle the pressure from such huge amounts of work and figures. Citigroup considers itself as one which has the responsibility of making a difference in the society around it either the workplace or residential areas where they reside. Citigroup Inc reaches out to every part of the society from forming a partnership with the civic groups, nonprofit organizations, the local governments around to the educational institutions (NELSON and QUICK, 2013). This is all to reach out to the different diversity cultures and natures in the society and the company makes to it that the community is always a better place then and in the future.
Explain how you have gone about researching this organisation (your methodology)
The research on Citigroup Inc involves the use of qualitative research where the results are obtained from having collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data which basically involve people and their actions. As indicated above, the company has over 350,000 employees and with this kind of figure as employees the workload is speculated to be very high. Data collection involved issuing questionnaires to a number of willing employees around the New York City where some filled in and others preferred a one on one interview instead of a questionnaire (KUMAR, 2010). The interviews involved questions that mostly show how the company manages its finances and how well the talents around the company are managed by the stakeholders. The response on how talent management is viewed in the company showed a rather impressive outcome where employees are encouraged to work for their own gain and also to benefit the company in the end. The company promotes individuals based on the work volume and the results not because of gender and another basis. Diversity is the ruling value in this company where more females are encouraged to work extra harder in order to occupy the most senior positions which are mostly occupied by men at least 85% of these positions. To gain competitive advantage fully in the world of banking, the company has designed a series of ways in which the employees are given certain skills to have the potential of development internally (Thanem, 2011). Background, perspective, and ideological details are highly considered and each individual responded positively on how the management takes actions on developing these talents.
Explain the talent management facet that is the focus of your evaluation
Citigroup Inc works in respect to the strategy it has designed to see to it that success of the company, employees, and the clients are assured. The four pillars include workforce development, attracting talent, work environment, and finally management accountability. Under the attracting talent strategy, the company recruits among the partnership agreement which is from diverse cultural backgrounds, therefore, ensuring that every candidate on the list from whichever background is considered and shortlisted in the case of new job opportunities (AHLSTROM, and BRUTON, 2011). The company works to fully make the council involved with recruitment that it has followed the required steps in hiring new individuals. The progress against any diversity strategies is regularly checked to ensure that no favors or discriminations on selections and operations. The company checks to it that it shares the best practices ever across all businesses. The diversity policies are similar and are followed to the latter globally in all its branches, however, remote or popular the branch is to the society. Citigroup Company creates, promotes, and finally executes global diversity initiatives across the businesses using its council of diversity that basically focuses on the four dimensions of diversity including ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and disability. The managers employed to handle the diversity strategies are fully held accountable for any activity that goes against the stipulated diversity agreement strategies (KUMAR, 2010). In every year, the council of diversity calls a meeting with the board of directors to discuss and showcase how well the goals of the company have been achieved and if not achieved, what it is being done to improve in order to reach the goal.
Explain why you are focusing on this facet
Talent management is highly considered in Citigroup Inc since every employee by the company is employed at entry level meaning that the individual has less or no skills in what he/she is up for at work. The new employees are taken for training and any talent realized among them is considered and given work according to how much he/she can perform. This strategy gives the employees the comfort and encouragement they need in order to rise from being junior employees to the most senior positions in the company. Citigroup Inc gets its professional and managers from the junior employees and not from outside (WANKEL, 2009). Strategically, the company works to see to it that the hard work of employees does not go into waste since they are motivated to progress from juniors to seniors. Top talents in the society around are recognized through the partners such as the non-profit organizations and other career placements offices either at graduate or undergraduate positions. Code of conduct around Citigroup Inc does not allow discrimination or any kind of harassment. It works extra hard to foster that culture of respect and tolerability across Citigroup and offers ample training to all employees on success topics such as how to value diversity and leadership in every aspect of life. The senior managers are obligated with becoming mentors to the employees and the employees are encouraged to be involved as mentors also and seek women in the society for new opportunities to equalize every bit of work life (Thanem, 2011).
Service delivery in the company involves the use of reliable and ready workforce. To achieve such rewards one has to apply certain strategies that influence positive minds at the workplace. Therefore, the diversity which is among the employee's assists in a huge way in understanding the needs and requirements of clients while products allow smooth service running of the business. Citigroup Inc works to enhance the livelihood of every individual through a mutually and beneficial relationship among the minority, in this case, the women and local businesses. Citigroup Inc has created a network program of employees globally which is based on affinity grouping. This network exists among the employees to further improve the knowledge on diversity and reach the goals of the company effectively. Such a group in the company is open to all its employees and has an objective of continuing with the Citi’s diversity program even after recruitment and in the society around (AHLSTROM, and BRUTON, 2011). Employee network groups create the opportunities for mentoring, professional development, community involvement, and networking in every aspect. Every affinity group gives focus to a diverse community across the country focusing on diversity policies strategies stipulated in Citigroup Inc diversity strategy. Some of the diversity standards among the employee network involve the African heritage, Hispanic heritage, Asian pacific heritage and many other strategies. Women in Citigroup Inc form at least half of the total workforce worldwide. This clearly shows that the company gives opportunities to every individual without considering the gender or race affiliated with the individual.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s approach to your chosen talent management facet
The strength of diversity is the fact that the larger the number of individuals who qualifies either at the community level or graduate level, the higher the rate of success and opportunities for growth within the company. Citigroup Inc works to benefit the society and its operations at large and therefore having a defined relationship with clients, suppliers, and the government (GOLDSWORTHY, 2010). Developing talents and skills is a task that has allowed the company to gain a full competitive advantage in the market since employees work tirelessly to improve their position and status in the company. The weakness of using diversity as a medium for success is that the larger the population involved the higher the risk of conflicts (WANKEL, 2009). In every branch where Citigroup Inc has chosen to recruit employees, the challenge of hiring is an issue since it takes the time to train an individual on how to use company resources and policies in the job description. This issue leads to loss of time and also the loss of professionalism in the case that every location requires more than is available bringing down the company profits.
Draw on scholarly literature to help you evaluate what the organisation is doing well and how they could improve, according to cutting edge research in the area
Citigroup Inc can improve on how it manages the talent management program through involving a training program that is workable every year. This training program should involve every member of the company and show its members on how to improve and develop fully. The training should allow specialization on that which every individual is best at and encourage more working to develop their minds fully. Working on this strategy can increase the working capacity of every member and therefore improving the sales (GOLDSWORTHY, 2010). Offering incentives and bonuses can also act as an encouragement for the employees. Every employee in any company works in order to improve the lifestyle he/she is in and therefore offering bonuses and rewards to hardworking employees encourages them further on their talent and skills. Talent management is a considerable topic and employees can improve their working capacity through offering them with gifts alongside discounted prices on items bought within the company. Encouraging the employees to engage in community projects can also improve the employee morale, therefore, giving a chance to a successive business.
Talent management can be a tricky topic considering the fact that every individual has either similar or different from the other. Some individuals develop and discover talents while still young while others discover them while aged (WANKEL, 2009). These implications can lead to a lack of the best from the society if talent does not align with a chosen profession therefore both the profession and the talent go to waste. The short-term effect of using diversity as a basis for employment is that some individuals regard some actions as monotony; therefore, they might leave the job at a very early stage (Thanem, 2011). The long term effect of using this strategy basically is the fact that it saves on time for hiring since in the case of retirement or job opening, the organization promotes or fills the gap with one of its own that is considerably equal to the previous individual.
Implications and discussion
The findings relate to other organizations which use promotions rather than hiring new employees. It is advantageous to promote employees since they save on resources that could have been used to hire new employees and also time. This strategy is mostly used by the managers to reduce the cost as they increase the revenue. Government and private organizations also use these strategies to invite new talents which will bring productivity to the organization. New talents increase the production and in various ways reduce the cost of running the business (KUMAR, 2010). Women in the society are encouraged through the same medium in both the private and public sectors. This works effectively in eliminating gender inequality which undermines the earning capacity of an organization. Women and new talents are in most cases the type of resource a company needs as they will be working tirelessly to be considered equal to the male gender and the experienced partners.
References
AHLSTROM, D., & BRUTON, G. D. (2010). International management: strategy and culture in the emerging world. Australia, South-Western Cengage Learning.
KUMAR, R. (2010). Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners. https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?ark:/81055/vdc_100025410580.0x000001.
WANKEL, C. (2009). Encyclopedia of business in today's world. Los Angeles, Calif, Sage.
NELSON, D. L., & QUICK, J. C. (2013). Organizational behavior: science, the real world, and you.
GOLDSWORTHY, A. (2010). Effective leadership: learn from the animals. Indianapolis, Dog Ear Publishing.
KAPFERER, J.-N. (2012). The new strategic brand management: advanced insights and strategic thinking. London, Kogan Page.
REILLY, F. K., & BROWN, K. C. (2012). Investment analysis & portfolio management. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning.
THANEM, T. (2011). The Monstrous Organization. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Pub. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10496389.
SOCIETY FOR SERVICEOLOGY, MOCHIMARU, M., UEDA, K., & TAKENAKA, T. (2014). Serviceology for Services: Selected Papers of the 1st International Conference of Serviceology. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1731492.
