The effects of change management on skills retention in a division of a multinational company.

Abstract

Automotive heat exchanger manufacturing in South Africa has been challenged since the 2009 worldwide economic recession. With increased globalisation the commodity has been exposed to extensive pricing wars, so manufacturers like Company X have to reassess and review current strategy with change becoming inevitable in support thereof. In the process, the issue of key skills retention became fairly pertinent to the success of such change. The need to understand the business change process and the human factor are key drivers. In terms of skills, there is a review of skills planning, assessment of skill makeup and consideration to talent management. The research methodology applied here was a quantitative approach while utilizing descriptive research methods. The research instrument used was a questionnaire and due to the dynamics of the manufacturing plant the application of face-to-face questionnaire issuing, assured a 95% completion rate. The main finding reflected the need to improve communication to all staff as well ensure that HR manages the link between performance reviews to training needs, and skill enhancement. Other findings indicate that the turnover of essential skills has a direct linkage to service delivery and skills ranking is therefore a pre-requisite in achieving stability post transformation, there is a trend evident whereby older employees display greater organisational commitment, insecurity issues is a concern which management must address and finally benchmarked compensation needs to be established which will improve the level of confidence In conclusion the research problem has been rectified through this study and has presented an interesting platform of information that management of the company can proactively use for future transformation initiatives