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Response to the Case Study of Twitter

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Response to the Case Study of Twitter

Total word count: 1626

Introduction

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a vital knowledge imparted to people on

employment (recruiting and hiring) and management of employees in organizations. In the
presented case study of Twitter, Elon Musk is an investor who makes a step in purchasing
Twitter for 44b dollars. Musk realizes that the company has many workers who receive
almost two-thirds of the company’s earnings. He fails to understand that the progress of a
company like Twitter, lies in the hands of workers: in terms of labor innovations, and
branding of products. Various HRM issues are raised after Musk acquired Twitter. First, he
changes the nature of corporative assets which interferes with its tradition. He fails to take
into account that innovation, expertise, and innovation lie in the hands of employees. Musk
also uses an unacceptable approach where he fires half of the employees and threatens the
others. In turn, more workers resign and he later wishes to re-employ them. Thirdly, the issue
of employee motivation is raised in relation to Musk’s unethical approach. With most
employees gone, the future of the Twitter company is put in doubt as per the case study. Most
employees are gone and hence loss of knowledge, innovation, and expertise. In this paper,
various strategies for recruitment, career management, performance, and compensation
management for Twitter are discussed.

Recruitment

Recruitment aims at identifying, attracting, and select candidates based on their

qualifications and competencies to fill job vacancies identified in an organization (Hassan et
al., 2020). Twitter, just like any other company, recruits workers. For instance, in cases like
that of Musk firing workers and others resigning, there are strategies that can be put in place
to recruit other workers for Twitter. The strategies can be internal or external.

In terms of internal recruitment strategies, Twitter uses electronic record systems and
an intranet. The company is able to maintain data for potential employers and enable
recruiters to find qualifications that suit the job requirements (Neal & Rhoades, 2017). The
intranet is used to communicate with present employees and advertise job vacancies within
the company. The systems offer room for referrals which in turn give valuable information
for candidates with high quality for the advertised job opportunity (Stone & Dulebohn, 2013).

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Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter are also utilized to reach many people.
Hence, the use of electronic record systems and intranet has helped in attracting highly
qualified individuals and improving the efficiency of the Twitter company.

Twitter also utilizes external recruitment strategies. Advertisements, educational

institutions, social networks, online talent attraction, and employment referrals are used
(Pynes, 2008). Employees on the Twitter company are encouraged to refer potential
candidates to advertised positions. Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp,
and Twitter are also used as recruitment strategies (Neal & Rhoades, 2017). Graduates from
colleges and universities are recruited to Twitter jobs through events like internships and
partnerships with educational institutions. Top talents are targeted and recruited by a talent
acquisition team. These strategies help the Twitter company go for the best quality
candidates.

Career Management

Career management involves the identification of opportunities and taking the

required steps to achieve them. It encompasses career planning and transition. For Twitter
company, various career management strategies have been used to support employee
development (Guan et al., 2015). Twitter uses career pathing for career management. The
career pathway can be vertical. The employee enters the company and is able to move from
junior levels to senior positions (Greenhaus et al., 2010). It can also be lateral. Here, instead
of moving upward, the employee undertakes different functions within the same level. Twitter
gives workers job descriptions and skills necessary to advance in their job levels.

Career management on Twitter is done through learning and development. Twitter

provides opportunities for learning and gaining more skills (cclab, 2011). The learning is
initiated through training programs, workshops, and conferences. The gained skills enable
individuals to advance in their job positions (Hooley et al., 2013). Career mapping and
monitoring are also used for career management. Twitter gives employees a chance to explore
their skills and other job opportunities. The employee identifies the necessary skills and
actions to be taken in order to achieve the organizational set goals (Creed et al., 2009).
Through monitoring, Twitter encourages team working and career advice. The strategy allows
employees to share knowledge and skills necessary for the improvement of the company.

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Twitter offers leadership development programs to employees. For the purpose of

career management, the employees are equipped with the necessary leadership skills to
prepare them for future management or leadership duties at the Twitter company (Griffith et
al., 2019). Through leadership training, employees learn their weaknesses and strengths. In
turn, they are able to improve and take charge whenever circumstance arises.

Performance Management

Performance management is a process of setting goals and employing the necessary

measures to monitor and assess workers and providing feedback to better achievement of the
organizational set objectives (Walker et al., 2010). In the case of Twitter, several strategies
have been put in place to ensure employees meet the company’s set goals. Twitter has set
clear goals and objectives. The employees are frequently given feedback on their
performance towards achieving the goals. The strategy keeps employees on track and ensures
they are committed to their roles and know what they should do (Shields et al., 2015). The
feedback helps employees improve. It also serves as a reinforcement and motivation to
employees.

Digital innovation is also used in the Twitter company. Employees are tracked
through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The metrics help managers to identify areas of
competencies and incompetence of the employees. It is through this approach that
reinforcement and motivation are done to employees for improvement (Ferreira & Otley,
2009). In addition, performance reviews are conducted to gauge the performance of
employees. Regular reviews are done in relationship with the set goals and objectives. The
managers are able to give feedback and help employees to improve in their positions of work.

However, Twitter’s strategies for Performance management face some criticisms.

The uses of KPIs can only be applied to short-term goals. Furthermore, monitoring and use of
metrics focus on meeting goals rather than the overall performance of the company. Tracking
employees is at most times viewed as dictatorship and they lack the freedom to work freely.
Generally, the strategies are effective but need improvement.

Compensation Management

Compensation refers to what workers receive in exchange for their labor. It includes
payment and other accrued benefits such as bonuses and allowances among others (GOEL,
2012). Twitter company has various compensation management strategies for employees. It

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offers a competitive base pay. Twitter offers competitive payments to workers and helps the
company to attract top talent in their organization (GOEL, 2012). Research on competitive
markets is done to ensure payments are fair and comparable to their similar competitors.
Twitter also offers bonuses to employees. The bonuses are offered based on the individual or
team output of the company.

The Twitter company offers benefits and perks to its employees. Employees on
Twitter company enjoy the benefits of retirement, free meals, health insurance, and fitness
services among others (Salisu et al., 2015). Employees on Twitter company enjoy non-
financial benefits. These benefits include recognition, performance feedback, advancements,
and responsibility. In addition, environmental benefits such as a safe and healthy work
environment, open communication, opportunities for learning and development, and career
security are also offered to employees.

Another strategy for compensation management used by the Twitter company is pay
transparency. The company is open to how it determines compensation for employees
(Nellore, 2018). In addition to that, payments and rewards are done in a timely manner. These
compensation strategies help in improving the performance of workers. The merits of
employees are also motivated. However, some critics argue that Twitter needs to address the
issue of pay equity. In addition, some workers claim that bonuses and benefits are
unpredictable and can lead to dissatisfaction of workers.

Conclusion

The Twitter company applies current strategies in recruitment, career management,

performance management, and compensation management of the employees. For recruitment,
the organization uses both internal and external strategies for hiring employees. These
strategies include the use of intranet and electronic record systems. It also employs external
strategies such as advertisements, educational systems, social networks, online talent, and
employment referrals. In terms of career management, Twitter company has used leadership
development programs, career pathing, monitoring, and learning development. Strategies
such as setting clear goals and objectives, providing feedback, and evaluating employees’
performance have been used for performance management. For compensation management,
competitive payments, bonuses, benefits, and perks, and pay transparency strategies have
been used to motivate employees in the organization.

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In terms of recruitment and career management strategies, I agree with the current
Human Resource (HR) activities used in the organization. The current strategies used for
recruitment have attracted many candidates for different job opportunities. The higher the
number of candidates the higher the competition and hence the quality of employees selected.
Current career management strategies have given employees diverse opportunities to add
skills and climb the job ladder. In turn, innovation and creativity are encouraged.
Furthermore, quality skills are retained through motivation and retention of employees.

On the contrary, I disagree with performance and compensation strategies being

applied. In terms of performance management strategies, the employees lack the freedom to
carry out activities freely. Likewise, regular feedback and reviews demotivate some workers
and hence hinder their freedom. For compensation management strategies, the issue of equity
and equality is not addressed. There is more to achieve as an organization rather than the set
goals only. Therefore, the organization’s benefits should be enjoyed by each worker based on
their best areas of achievement. In turn, teamwork will be encouraged and the company do
well in every field.

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