Maj Kristensen • C.L. • G.O. • S.Y.
MGMT 316 • HUMAN RESOURCE PROJECT
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Executive Summary Qualcomm’s human resource policies are designed to give the company a clear competitive advantage as an employer within the wireless ecosystem and as a leader in quality and innovation. Qualcomm takes great care to identify and hire talented employees who will help achieve to goals of the company, and provides its employees with tremendous opportunities to learn and grow. The company fosters diversity, not only through hiring, but also by providing resources for employees to connect with others who share similar backgrounds, beliefs, and interests. They offer professional development opportunities to employees in the form of individual and team skill classes, content development, and management/leadership development. Qualcomm values its employees, which is reflected in its commitment to work-‐ life flexibility, competitive pay, and generous performance rewards and compensation benefits program. Such practices have made Qualcomm a widely recognized brand, and have earned the company a spot in FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, as well as FORTUNE’S World’s Most Admired Companies for the past nine years.
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Company Overview Qualcomm is a company that focuses on innovative wireless technology. The company provides “the ultimate in personalization, putting you in control of what you want, where you want it” by accelerating mobility and working to move the global wireless industry forward. Qualcomm has a dual-‐path business model: research and design creates innovative ideas that produce intellectual property (which are then sold to manufacturers to make advanced features) or services and applications (company-‐produced chipsets), which are sold to operators and then to subscribers as wireless technology.
The company takes pride in its corporate responsibility, and as it develops
technologically, has become essentially paperless. Through the recent recession, the company was able to fare well and was not harshly affected. As will be evidenced by the following analysis, Qualcomm has achieved excellence in its human resource areas through strong policies that serve to help and appreciate its employees, with the goal of being “the best place to work for.”
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Analysis of Company HR Policies
1. Planning
Qualcomm is a team-‐orientated company. It is great for new hires; it has a young and dynamic work environment, which is based on your performance and contribution rather than seniority or how long you’ve been there. When applying for a jobs at Qualcomm they allow you to create a profile to keep your resume up to day when applying for jobs. This job search page also allows for career opportunities internationally. Qualcomm has a staffing team that screens all the resumes on the database. Qualcomm uses an Human Resource Information System (HRIS) called Self-‐Service Model, which allows employees to access all the their information such as paystubs and benefits online at anytime necessary. Qualcomm conducts their resource planning with recruitment, staff skills, hiring the right managers, and using outsourcing. Qualcomm uses in-‐house recruiting (Contingent Workforce) website with vendors that help them find permanent employees. They occasionally use an outside agency to hire temporary employees. Qualcomm manages the availability of skilled staff in the company by first observing which employees have which skills. They then decide if they need to improve skills within the company or hire new employees. Qualcomm offers various training programs, as discussed in the previous section, to improve/gain these important skills. The management skills that Qualcomm requires are specialized knowledge, decision-‐making, problem solving, team leadership, interactive/collaboration, and coaching development. If managers need training or need to expand on their skills, Qualcomm offers
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management training. Outsourcing is also used at Qualcomm they have 144 worldwide locations, including India, China, Australia, Germany, and Brazil. One of Qualcomm’s best qualities is their competitive advantage. Qualcomm has competitive pay; they bring employees into a high range so that they don’t end up over-‐ or underpaying them. They acquire many resources and great benefits. In their benefits there is no cost sharing for employees. As an outcome of these great things Qualcomm has a low turn over rate. Another special advantage is that Qualcomm has over 13,000 U.S. patents for wireless technologies, with more than 180 telecommunications equipment manufacturers licensing them worldwide (i.e. HTC, Sony, etc.). Qualcomm uses a forecasting method based on a fiscal year, and performs their forecasting quarterly and plan based on project needs.
2. Staffing
Qualcomm focuses heavily on staffing and selecting employees. These processes are necessary to ensure the company employs top performers to carry out strategic goals. Qualcomm has a Staffing Team, which helps during the interviewing of employees to ensure that the process is carried out efficiently. A member of the staffing team will be the main guide throughout the process. This individual will coordinate trips and provide instructions on completing the application before the interview is held. An interviewee will meet with about five staff members, and each separate interview lasts for 45 minutes. The goal is to conduct a very thorough interview so that the company is certain the interview is a right fit for the job. The Qualcomm website offers helpful hints to guide the person through the interview. Such tips including suggesting reading factoids to help start a conversation, or identifying specific
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examples of a time the individual showed excellent problem-‐solving skills which can relate to the company (this is an essential part of identifying oneself as a strong candidate, since Qualcomm’s mission is to provide innovative solutions to problems). Qualcomm has a recruiting calendar, which shows the descriptions and location of various events the company will be attending – primarily expos in California (where Qualcomm headquarters is located). Qualcomm will also hold technology showcases at places like Berkeley and Stanford Universities.
3. Diversity
Qualcomm has a strong involvement in global diversity – the company has over sixteen thousand employees in 144 worldwide locations, and employ citizens from over a hundred countries. Qualcomm believes that inclusion and diversity are at the heart of innovation, as evidenced by its global citizenship program. Their belief is that different perspectives help to perfect ideas and turn them into world-‐changing technology, so they strive to create an energetic and diverse workforce to foster those perspectives. Diversity is a key to developing strong business performance, so Qualcomm has taken many measures to provide for their employees. Qualcomm has many employee resource groups, which are voluntary, employee-‐driven groups that are formed around a common interest or shared background. Such groups allow employees to celebrate their diversity and serve as an open forum for discussion on relevant topics. AfroAm is a society of African-‐American employees which encourages further development of professional skills and cultural awareness. The Society of Hispanic Engineers at
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Qualcomm is comprised of Latin managers and engineers who work to bridge the company with colleges and other groups. GLBT@Qualcomm is a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and supportive employees who promote awareness. QWISE (Qualcomm Women in Science and Engineering) is a group of women scientists and engineers who take initiative to encourage and support women in the company. In addition to these special interest groups, Qualcomm hosts workforce inclusion seminars and special events to promote awareness. A recent even was the “Day in a Chair,” where employees volunteered to spend the day in a wheelchair, which helped them gain awareness of the complexity of living with disabilities. Qualcomm has also developed diversity networking resources, which allow employees to join groups related to their religion, nationality, backgrounds, and interested – these groups range from adoption support groups to team sports, and all that lies between. Through these programs, Qualcomm remains committed to providing all employees the opportunity to achieve their professional goals. Diversity at Qualcomm is not just about diversity of its employees, but also incorporates corporate responsibility. The company strives to give back to the community, through partnerships and donation. Qualcomm has a corporate giving budget which allows them to provide local organizations with grants to support their causes. Because of such programs and initiatives, Qualcomm has received countless awards for its achievement in diversity, including the Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award. This is the highest recognition from the Department of Labor, and was based on Qualcomm’s ongoing commitment to equal employment opportunity, addressing current and future employment issues, and corporate social responsibility efforts.
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4. Employee Training & Development
Qualcomm employees are offered tremendous opportunities to learn and grow. Numerous educational programs such as advanced degree programs, seminars, and professional management courses led by invited industry experts, professors, vendors, and joint research programs are held throughout the year. They offer internal trainings in different specific fields and on different levels. Every employee has to make a plan to his own views. Qualcomm provides innovative online development tool that allows customizing professional development and aligning learning with division's goals and objectives. In addition, all employees receive performance appraisals through the performance management program twice a year, to set their development plans (discussed further in a later section). All must report on their current development and they are told about such skill sets needed to achieve at their level. Employees can also choose a lot of specific minor programs for their specific fields. On Qualcomm’s intranet, employees can find details about any upcoming courses on the calendar, and choose to participate whichever they want to. In addition to traditional classroom trainings, Qualcomm offers thousands of e-‐learning modules. Qualcomm provides many training resources available online, including live classroom sessions, web-‐based programs and computer-‐based training in technical and professional areas such as leadership development, supervisory skills, time management, Qualcomm Technical Education Network and advanced wireless technology. These programs include 3G/4G Training, Agile Training, E-‐Room Training, and the company provides a library filled with educational and technical resources. Given the prominence of engineers at Qualcomm, particular attention is paid to providing unique development opportunities for this group. IEEE Xplore, which is a
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special training program designed by and for engineers, provides special training classes, mentoring, career development, and tutorial services. The most efficient training and development program that Qualcomm has is the QTech Forum. Since 2000, Qualcomm has consistently ranked in Training Magazine’s list of Top Training Organizations for their approach to individual development, the QTech Forum. Qualcomm also earned the Organization of the Year Award from the American Society of Training and Development for exceptional employee development programs since 2005, especially for their QTech Forum. QTech Forum is micro-‐blogging type of discussion forum where all of employees connect, regardless of their position or location, and share thoughts, information, and corporate knowledge anytime. The advantage of this program is that all employees, including a new employee, can make connections with people that did not know existed, and get answers to a question or guidance for completing a procedure very easily. This program builds communities within the organization and connects all employees for local, regional and international offices.
5. Workforce Flexibility
Qualcomm offers a lot of flexibility to its employees. Employees do not clock in – they can come in as early as 6 am and leave as early as 4 pm, or come in later at 10 am and leave around 7 pm. There is no set schedule for everyone. Telecommuting is also used at least once a week, twice a week at the most. They have many employees that work off site, under the guidelines of a telecommuting agreement. In an effort to use their own technology, every employee at Qualcomm is given a company laptop, so in the event of emergencies (i.e. snowstorms) they
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will be able to communicate with coworkers and connect to the corporate intranet. As a part of Qualcomm benefits package they offer something that is called Qlife, which helps employees balance their work/family life. Qlife has several features, including Community Life, Family Life, Healthy Life, Leisure Life, Life Resources, and Team Life. In Qlife, exempt level employees receive vacation time, FMLA, good leave of absences policies, on site gyms, resources for child and elder care (including on-‐site lactation rooms), on-‐site doctors and nurses, mobile spas, on site ATM, café, car detailing, and a variety of clubs. The company participates in Bring Your Child to Work Day, hosting children of employees and creating a special event for those children.
6. Performance Management
Performance is managed through biannual performance appraisals. Each employee is reviewed every six months in a process that includes a sit-‐down meeting with superiors. These meetings are very beneficial to both the employee and the employer, as it is a chance for them to discuss opportunities for training, developing new skills, advancement in the company, growth, and a multitude of other career-‐related issues. Qualcomm incorporates an innovative online evaluation system, which “allows customized professional development plans and aligns learning with divisions’ goals and objectives.” Performance appraisals culminate in a rating system, in which employees are rated on a scale of one to five (with half-‐point intervals). Employees with a rating under two will discuss an improvement plan to increase their performance – this involves a constructive discussion between the staff member and their supervisor in order to clarify the work performance so that it can be improved upon. Employees
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rated at four or above are identified as top performers and are accordingly rewarded with various pay incentives (discussed later). Qualcomm uses recognition tools such as their QualStar program. This is a peer-‐to-‐peer recognition program, where employees can formally praise other employees for excellent work. Recipients of a QualStar receive a certificate as well as a small monetary gift. The program has various levels of achievement: sapphire, ruby, emerald, and diamond. These rewards are an example of sport rewards, and can be received at any time as opposed to within the appraisal period. Qualcomm also offers QCards. QCards are meant as a reinforcement, or reminder, that an employee or manager is doing an excellent job. They are electronic greeting cards, specifically intended to recognize contributions that represent Qualcomm's ideals on innovation. These include “Creating and Innovating,” “Doing Whatever it Takes,” and “Mastering Technology and Achieving excellence.” Qualcomm also uses its performance management approach with its 400 members outside of the United States. The Vice President and a corporate human resources manager communicate Qualcomm's overall performance goals to their units abroad. HR ensures that the employee's personal performance standards reflect those of a particular region, which in turn reflect Qualcomm's overall corporate goals.
7. Pay Policies & Incentive Pay
Qualcomm values its employees, and thus takes great measure to reward its most important asset – its human talent. Their fiscal year begins on October 1st continuing until the end of September, and salary is paid bi-‐weekly (every other Wednesday). The company structures its
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salaries to be externally equitable to other policies. There are standard pay scales for starting positions, with increases through promotion and performance-‐based raises. In order to be competitive, the company’s policy is for employee salaries to be close to market rates. Entry-‐ level employees may be brought in at lower pay, but will be placed on track to be competitive after one to two years. Qualcomm works to balance new hires with current talent, which includes a budget to ensure yearly pay increases to match market rates. Because of such policies, the company has seen historically low turnover of employees. The company does not discriminate, and ensures equal pay. The company has periodic job evaluations, subscribes to benchmarks of similar jobs, and reevaluates salary ranges every six months.
Qualcomm pays for performance, which includes both merit and incentives pay. There
are three components to their Total Rewards program. Based on biannual performance reviews (consisting of appraisals and a subsequent performance rating – discussed earlier), rewards are granted in three forms: merit, bonus, and stocks. Merit pay is a salary increase, which most employees receive (with the exception of low performers). Performance bonuses are further provided for positive performance. Finally, top performers are provided with stock options or RSUs. RSU – restricted stock units – have no value when rewarded, but will instead vest on a certain day, where employees can sell them for the actual current stock value. Stock options allow employees to purchase company stock at a 15% discount off market value of shares.
Financial benefits include stock options – formally known as Employee Stock Purchase
Plans – and retirement plans. Employees are considered for stock awards every 6 months (coinciding with the appraisal period), and can also be awarded at the time of hire. Employees are required to contribute a minimum 1% of their salary to a 401(k) plan, and Qualcomm will match employee contributions. This 401(k) management is completely outsourced.
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Other benefits include an impressive 10 company-‐designated holidays as well as one
employee-‐designed holiday per year, and 3 weeks of vacation (after 5 years of working at Qualcomm, it is 4 weeks, and 5 weeks after 10 years). Sick leave may be used for personal illness and doctor’s appointment, and can be taken as needed on an honors system. Qualcomm follows all relevant laws on leaves of absences.
Perhaps one of its most impressive competitive advantages is Qualcomm’s health
benefits. There is no cost sharing for employees, which means no portion of an employee’s paycheck is lost to pay for health insurance. Spouses and dependents are also covered under Qualcomm’s healthcare insurance, which also covers dental and vision plans. Employees receive three times life insurance, and supplements for spouses and dependents. Qualcomm provides assistance for tuition and fees for academic education. The company will provide reimbursement for up to $5,250 per year for cost of tuition, books, and parking toward continuing education, certifications, associate’s or bachelor’s degree, and up to $10,125 per year for graduate and post-‐graduate degrees. Furthermore, Qualcomm offers up to $4,000 in adoption assistance to employees adopting a child. The Wireless Device Subsidy Program gives employees discounts on the purchase of wireless devices equipped with Qualcomm chipsets – $400 for a laptop and $150 for other devices. Qualcomm also has a Matching Grant Program, where the company will match (dollar for dollar) charitable donations by employees to IRS recognized non-‐profit organizations. Finally, Qualcomm provides a rewarding work atmosphere with many on-‐site amenities at its various locations. Such services include a small gym, game room, car detailing, free drinks, free bagels on Mondays and free fruit on Thursdays, and countless online services, including an e-‐book library and access to databases. Qualcomm offers mass transit subsidies and resources
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for eldercare and childcare (as part of QLife, discussed earlier). At Qualcomm’s San Diego headquarters location, there is also an on-‐site health center (offering group exercise classes and personal trainers) and a mobile spa (which includes hair, nail and massage services).
8. Employee Relations
Qualcomm applies the ideal of “be professional and act ethical” when serving employees. The company’s employee relations mission is to create and sustain a positive work environment and help resolve work-‐relate challenges, while “being the best place to work for.” Qualcomm’s code of conduct is one of the ways they put this mission into practice, including treating people equally and respecting every value and culture through programs such as Accessible & Disability and Global Diversity & Inclusion. Qualcomm does not judge employees based on time clocked at the office but on the results they produce. The company has a number of effective grievance redressal systems that are available to employees, vendors and customers. During training, managers learn to approach and handle all kinds of situations, and all mangers must attend harassment prevention programs two times every 4 years. To motivate employees and ensure healthy employee morale, Qualcomm provides its QLife program (discussed earlier), which offers a supportive environment necessary for everyone to be at their best in all areas of life. Qualcomm encourages an open flow of communication through the bi-‐annual Qualcomm Climate Survey. The survey is used to gauge employees’ perceptions toward the Company’s management, performance, operations and workplace environment.
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Recommendations As our group evaluated the policies of Qualcomm’s various human resource functions, it became clear that the company is dedicated to sound HR practices. We feel that not much improvement should be made – Qualcomm is right where it should be.
Minor improvements can of course be made in various areas. While ensuring that the
entire population has a company-‐provided computer, such connectivity outside the office may have an adverse effect on work-‐life balance – Qualcomm should be sure that employees understand that the ability to connect to work and coworkers does not require that they are always connected; a balance between work and life, and thus, disconnection, is important. The company should also make sure that the computers provided to its employees are up to the technological standards one would expect from a leading wireless and innovation company such as Qualcomm strives to be – it would not bode well to let their employees use out-‐of-‐date hardware or software.
Furthermore, Qualcomm has developed an impressive array of on-‐site amenities and
benefits for its employees at its San Diego headquarters location – an improvement would be to bring these services to other locations as well. However, it is important to note that Qualcomm does not intend to provide too many services. Again, Qualcomm values a balanced work-‐life equilibrium, and therefore tries to provide convenience, while still maintaining a professional work environment that employees will look forward to joining every day, but will also leave to enjoy life outside the workplace.
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References Qualcomm. “US Benefits – More reasons to feel great about working at Qualcomm.” Qualcomm Careers. Web. 25 March 2011. <http://www.qualcomm.com/careers/pro/us_sd/benefits.html> Qualcomm. “Global Workforce Inclusion at Qualcomm.” Qualcomm Global Citizenship. Web. 25 March 2011. <http://www.qualcomm.com/citizenship/diversity/diversity_at_qualcomm.html> Qualcomm. “Corporate Overview.” Web. 25 March 2011. <http://www.qualcomm.com/who_we_are/overview/index.html#/empowering> Interview conducted April 20th, 2011 at Qualcomm Bridgewater