Levi Strauss Human Resource Management

Levi Strauss & & Business offers a vibrant, performance-driven work environment and a business culture identified by ethical conduct and a dedication to social responsibility. They worth and depend upon the varied backgrounds, experience, understanding and talents of all their employees, and accept and show the ethnic, cultural and lifestyle variety of the communities where they live and work. Their human resource programs and corporate efforts distinguish them from others in their industry and in business.

According to its objective statement, Levi Strauss balances success with product quality and service.

The company focuses strategically on pleasing the clients' needs from the stage of product style to its packaging and delivery. To achieve this objective, large investments are being made in the most recent innovation, and the company is focusing its efforts on clustering production and circulation units on a regional basis. This technique has resulted in some justification of operations within the last couple of years, especially in the United States.

Get quality help now

Sweet V

Verified writer

Proficient in: Business

4.9 (984)

“ Ok, let me say I’m extremely satisfy with the result while it was a last minute thing. I really enjoy the effort put in. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The HR role is essential to Levi's commitment to client fulfillment. "Management comprehends," stated the senior vice-president in 1992, "that individuals concerns are service issues. You can go out and buy the innovation, however if you do not have individuals trained and dedicated to utilizing it, and making changes, changes aren't going to happen." At Levi Strauss in the 1990s, the HR focus has altered from being on the cutting edge to being more client-driven. For this purpose, the HR function is reasonably decentralized and conceptually divided along strategic, operational, and tactical lines.

In practice, those sectors of obligation connect and overlap so that the business partners might end up being totally incorporated at all levels of the company. The difficulty is to stabilize all these requirements and determine what the priorities are. Although the HR function was reorganized in 1993, concerns stay as to whether some of the functions might be contracted out - not to downsize in personnel however to allow them to do different work. Contrary to what has occurred in HR departments in other business, the majority of reorganization has not caused downsizing of the HR personnel however to a real boost in personnel.

The HR specialists are primarily strategically focused to the long term. They are developing the strategies around compensation and benefits, recruitment, policy development, organizational design, and training. While most of their time is occupied by strategic thinking, a small portion of their work is also operational and tactical, in the sense that they provide counsel and advice to other directors and managers.

In Canada, for instance, each of the five facilities --three sewing operations, a finishing plant, and a distribution center -- has an HR manager on staff. A small team of three to five individuals serves as advisor to the HR manager. Members may have specific expertise and responsibilities and some of their responsibilities may also be tactical. In each of those facilities, there is probably lots of work which falls into the tactical aspect of HR, where it could be outsourced, whether it is benefits administration, new-hire orientation, etc. In addition, the personnel responsible for health and safety, management of change, or organizational development are also reporting to the HR function. The on-site HR staff ultimately reports to the facility manager, who has a dotted line of communication with the Canadian HR director. This line of accountability to the HR central office appears to be taking greater importance.

The role of the HR director is to strategically orient the HR function so that it is aligned with the business. There is a dual responsibility to direct the work of the strategic and operational staff, while keeping current and influencing best practices within the industry. The responsibility is directing the HR organization on all the different dimensions, including recruitment, terminations, skill development, compensation, benefits, organizational development, and employee well-being. In addition, the director is a member of the management team, which allows the HR representative to be a partner in running the business.