Ford Motor Company - Diversity and Inclusion & Employee Engagement

3. Explain how the company has dealt with the cultural shock of its staff or company members (if any).

source https://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2013-14/people-workplace-employees-diversity

Diversity and Inclusion

Henry Ford saw the wisdom of creating a diverse work force, long before such a concept was embraced by other business leaders. A century later, we continue to attract a highly skilled work force that reflects diversity across culture, ethnicity, race, perspective, age, religion, physical ability and sexual orientation. We are committed to the advancement of women and minorities in our operations.

Throughout the history of Ford Motor Company, inclusion has been as much a part of the company’s success as the products our diverse employee base has created. Ford is a leader in diversity and inclusion, and both remain key business strategies. Our diversity makes us a better and stronger company, by bringing in fresh ideas, perspectives, experiences and life responsibilities, and by fostering a truly collaborative workplace.

In 2013, approximately 27 percent of our U.S. work force (including both hourly and salaried) were members of minority groups and 22 percent were female. Among our global salaried work force, 74 percent were male and 26 percent were female. Among managerial positions globally (defined as middle management and above), 17 percent were female. More information on our U.S. work force by minority groups and gender can be found in our Engagement and Community data.

On our 16-member board of directors, two are women and two are members of minority groups. Of our 42 corporate officers, four are women and eight identify themselves as minorities.

In recent years, Ford has received hundreds of diversity awards from a wide variety of publications and organizations that recognize the value we place on building a diverse and inclusive culture. Our employees also recognize Ford’s efforts in this area. According to our 2013 Pulse survey, 87 percent of our workers globally believe Ford’s management is committed to diversity. This is up from 86 percent in 2012 and is one of the highest scores on Pulse survey topics. On the global hourly survey, 71 percent responded favourably to the question: “Having a diverse work force contributes to the company’s success.”

If we want to continue delivering market-leading features and technologies that will appeal to an increasingly diverse customer base, we must ourselves reflect that diversity. Serving a global customer base requires employees with different viewpoints and perspectives, all working together as members of a skilled and motivated team.

In the U.S., for example, female buyers are outpacing males among the millennial generation – the first time that has ever happened. Women account for 55 percent of all millennial purchasers, compared to 40 percent among the baby boomer generation. Our research indicates that women in key developing markets will follow, resulting in millions more female customers around the globe.

At Ford, we are focusing on women as a key demographic as we launch our biggest product expansion in our history – 23 new or significantly refreshed vehicles to market in 2014, including 16 in North America. We especially need talented women to develop and market our vehicles if we want to reach this key demographic.

4.  Explain the kind of employees the company hires in order to fulfill their vacancies, explain why?

source  -https://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2013-14/people-workplace-employees-engagement

Employee Engagement

Keeping our employees engaged with our company overall, and encouraging them to stay connected with their peers and their communities, is an essential component of our people strategy here at Ford. We know there is a strong benefit to the business when employees are engaged with their work and encouraged to be creative and innovative. A more engaged work force helps us to attract – and retain – the talent we need to be an industry leader.

We believe it’s important to communicate with our work force in ways that are open and transparent. We do so through a variety of interactive forums, from “town hall” meetings to intranet surveys and chats, from joint labor-management committees to diversity councils. We also use several publications, such as plant newsletters and our @Ford magazine, to communicate the latest information on the state of the company and our products. In recent years, we have also increased our use of social media applications, such as Facebook, to inform and connect with our employees.

This annual Sustainability Report, and the high-level executive summary we produce, are also designed to engage employees and inform them of our efforts in our most material sustainability issues. The summary is distributed to employees who receive the @Ford magazine. Employees who are more engaged in sustainability can help us further advance our goals.

For our hourly employees, we work closely with their unions to develop agreements and governance plans over changes in our operations (e.g., reorganizations, plant shutdowns, employee transfers and reductions). Joint labor/management committees are set up at each plant to give employees an opportunity to influence working conditions and practices. Manufacturing operations rely on an aligned and capable organization to engage teams of hourly workers. They strive to build cars and trucks that are “Best in World” and constantly look for opportunities to improve our processes and products.

For our salaried employees, most of whom are not covered by union agreements, we have a strong Code of Conduct and comprehensive Policy Letters and Directives covering topics, including diversity, relevant to our employees. We also practice regular two-way communication with all employees through webcasts, executive Q&A sessions between senior leadership and staff who wouldn’t typically have face-to-face meetings with top-level management, quarterly “town hall” meetings, manager-to-employee business cascades, surveys and informal communications. We survey our salaried employees twice annually using the Global Pulse and Engagement survey.

Our employees are also our customers, and they can be strong ambassadors for our products. In Michigan, information sessions called “Go Further Employee Events” are held to give employees the opportunity to view, learn about and test drive yet-to-be-released vehicles. This lets the employees see how our products are meeting the needs of customers, while providing factual information about the vehicles. Our employees can then promote the vehicles to their friends and families, which, in turn, can increase sales and help to strengthen the Ford brand.

Our Employee Resource Groups also conduct a number of events and initiatives each year to engage our employees, provide product insights and reach out to our communities. (See the Promoting a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce section for more on these groups.)

We believe it’s important to engage our people within the communities in which we operate. Each year, we offer ways for thousands of our employees and retirees to participate in volunteer programs. We see these programs as not only critical to helping those in need, but pivotal to inspiring and energizing our employees around volunteerism and community service. Through these community initiatives, we support teamwork and build a sense of shared purpose and commitment. For more information, see the Communities section.

5. Explain about the trade and investment policies this company has to trade with the foreign market.

Font: https://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2013-14/people-communities-engaging

Engaging with Communities

To create and sustain an effective community relations function, we look at the needs of the communities in which we operate around the world and focus on those needs. We also recognize that we must embed community issues into our core business practices and manage them with the same rigor as other aspects of our business.

Several trends have reshaped our industry and our company in recent years, including increased competition globally and changing markets for our products. The bulk of future sales growth is expected to occur in emerging economies. In response, Ford is increasing its footprint in emerging markets: We are expanding or building new plants at seven locations in the Asia Pacific region and we are hiring employees across that region. Ford and other companies are also expanding our supply chain in these lower-cost emerging markets. These changes are affecting not only how we manage our operations, but also how we engage with and affect the communities in which we operate.

In recent years, we have taken steps to develop a more integrated approach to managing the different dimensions of our community involvement. Our goal is to more closely connect our traditional community relations programs, community impact assessment processes and key sustainability priorities such as human rights, access to water and driving safety. To address these changes, we have refocused our community efforts to reflect the global nature of our business, while recognizing that Michigan is our headquarters state and will always remain an important part of our focus. (Please see “Expanding Our Global Reach” for more information on how we are globalizing our approach to community projects.)

Whether doing business in Michigan or Malaysia, we seek to respect and make a positive contribution to our host communities. Operating in emerging economies, however, does bring with it some new community issues for us to understand and manage.

One of these issues is human rights. Specifically, we must ensure that our products, no matter where they are made, are manufactured under conditions that demonstrate respect for the people who make them. We also must respect the rights of people living in the communities around our facilities, as well as our suppliers’ facilities, who may be affected by those operations. We view respect for human rights not only as a core operational issue, but also a key to maintaining the trust and respect of local communities. That trust is critical if we want to continue to operate and sell our products in those locations. In 2003, we released our Code of Basic Working Conditions reinforcing that our behaviors and actions as a company must include a focus on issues outside the walls of our plants and facilities. This Code is formalized as part of our business practices as Policy Letter 24: Code of Human Rights, Basic Working Conditions and Corporate Responsibility. It addresses important working conditions and human rights issues including working hours, child labor, forced labor, engagement with communities and indigenous populations, bribery and corruption, and environment and sustainability. We assess Ford owned and operated facilities on several key community issues and evaluate engagement with members of the local community. (See the Governance section for more on this topic.) Policy Letter 24 also extends to our supply chain by enforcing similar policies for our suppliers and their subcontractors consistent with our Global Terms and Conditions for suppliers. (See the Supply Chain section for more information on this topic).

As we expand into new markets in more water-stressed regions, we are also expanding our engagement with local communities on water issues. We have developed a comprehensive water strategy based on both environmental and social risks and opportunities in local communities where we operate. For more information on this topic see the Water section of this report. Over time, we also want to link all of these efforts with our development of new products and services to meet the unique mobility needs of communities in emerging markets. (See the Mobility section for more on this topic.) In our view, this approach will not only increase efficiencies, but also maximize our impact and effectiveness.

As we seek to embed these and other key issues and values into our business practices, we are also giving them life through our investments in communities through strategic contributions and volunteer efforts. For example, our commitment to human rights isn’t just a corporate policy governing our business practices, it is also the driving force behind many of our community projects. Baby Safe, a project we helped fund in South Africa, provides one example. Through this project, we helped to fund an anonymous system through which mothers can safely leave babies they cannot care for with organizations who can care for them and help find them homes. Before the Baby Safe program was implemented, unwanted babies were frequently left to die. The remainder of this section, which describes our community investment programs and projects, helps to illustrate how we are following through on our One Ford commitment to contribute to a better world through our philanthropic and volunteer efforts.