Ford Motor Company and its human resources

Ford Motor Company and its human resources management practice. The company’s human resources strategy is very closely tied to its strategy. As with other automakers, Ford’s labor costs can be quite high, but there are also related costs of labor, such as benefits and pensions that can result in the total labor cost today being very high, even when much of the company’s production is automated. Ford also must work closely with its main unions in order to negotiate the terms of each contract, something that also influences the company. Ford seeks to compete largely as a cost leader in its industry, but needs to have relatively low labor costs in order to pursue this policy profitably.
The HR position at Ford constitutes a number of different tasks. Labor relations is listed as the foremost specialty within the HR department, and with good reason given how critical it is to maintain a high quality labor force but to also remain cost competitive. Other specialties are typical of a manufacturing concern — business operations, compensation, benefits, workforce planning and recruiting, organizational development, personnel relations (for non-union staff), HR strategy and learning