|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Lesson #1: Practice Management the HP Way
Article Overview: “It is important to remember that both Dave and I were products of the Great Depression,” said Hewlett. “We had observed its effects on all sides, and it could not help but influence our decisions on how a company should be run.”
 |
Free Download - William Hewlett and David Packard Quotes By William Hewlett David Packard |
Lesson #1: Practice Management the HP Way
“It is important to remember that both Dave and I were products of the Great Depression,” said Hewlett. “We had observed its effects on all sides, and it could not help but influence our decisions on how a company should be run.”
If you were working at HP in its early days, you knew you were in for something different. From the very beginning, Hewlett and Packard had a very unique idea about what it meant to manage, and it was not something that everyone else understood.
In 1942, when Packard was just 29 years old, he attended a conference at Stanford on wartime production. Most of the other attendees were the heads of major corporations like Standard Oil. At the time, Packard was still just starting out.
“Somehow, we got into a discussion of the responsibility of management,” Packard later recalled. “[The moderator] made the point that management’s responsibility is to the shareholders - that’s the end of it. And I objected. I said, ‘I think you’re absolutely wrong. Management has a responsibility to its employees, it has a responsibility to its customers, it has a responsibility to the community at large.’ And they almost laughed me out of the room.”
Packard might have seemed like a fish out of water at the time, but today, most of the management practices he implemented are considered the standard throughout Silicon Valley. First, HP decided to give every worker bonuses based on their levels of productivity. Soon, that turned in a profit-sharing plan. The company was also one of the first to adopt flex-time schedules. And, HP even broke ground when it launched its company-wide catastrophic health insurance plan.
In the 1970s, when HP and most other companies were hit hard by the recession, Hewlett and Packard struggled to come up with a way to avoid layoffs. “We did not want to run a hire-and-fire operation, but rather a company built on a loyal and dedicated work force,” said Hewlett. “Further we felt that this work force should be able to share to some extent in the progress of the company.” To that end, they decided to enforce a ten percent pay cut and require employees to take every other Friday off.
As significant as those big gestures were, the HP Way became much more about the little things. Everyone – even the bosses – was to be addressed by their first name only. Managers were to maintain an open-door policy, in the rare case that there were doors, that is; HP wanted a wall-free office in order to encourage teamwork and the free flow of ideas.
The HP Way paid off for the company in the form of staff loyalty and stability, both of which helped it get through some of the tougher times of the 1980s and 1990s. Today, now that their ideas have become entrenched in almost every Silicon Valley company, it can surely be said that neither Packard nor Hewlett would ever have their ideas laughed out of a room again.
Practice Makes Permanent
An Indexing Filing System Software Will Help Professors and Teachers with Paper Files
Who Is Your Proud Family?
9th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies That are Key to Building a Sales Culture
Leadership Styles - the Amazing Story of the Hawthorne Effect
Related Forum Posts
No B.S. Time Management
- A great book I read on Time Management is No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.
Which kind of industries are you interested in?
- Ecological or E-business or Investment or Finance or Management or Non-Profit or Retailer or others.
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
- We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her.
Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails.
I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out.
So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
HRPreneur
- Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum and I recently started my own Human Capital (HR) consulting firm called HRPreneur Inc. HRP focuses on making human capital a strategic differentiator for SME's.
Below is a summary about HRP;
Who We Are:
HRP is a Human Capital consulting firm with 30 years of experience that becomes an extension of your company by providing a full array of services to help you create a highly engaged workforce focused on achieving strategic results in order to build a long lasting great company!
Mission:
HRP provides small and medium sized businesses a Strategic HR Business Partner to increase employee engagement, resulting in cost savings, increased productivity and results at an affordable rate!
Vision:
To inspire and warrant SME's reach their full competency!
Cost Effectiveness:
We provide over 30 years of experience at a fraction of the cost at a strategic executive HR business level
You will save between 50% to 60% in costs per year on salary, bonus, benefits, training, office space alone
We will provide you additional cost efficiencies through our services
Services:
• Strategic Human Resources Planning
• Organizational Redesign
• Change Management
• Organizational Culture Development
• Employee Engagement Programs
• Leadership Assessment and Development
• Compensation Design
• Talent Acquisition
• Assimilation and On-Boarding
• Performance Management
• Talent Management & Succession Planning
• Human Resources Due Diligence
• Human Resources Audit
• Full Service HR Outsourcing
Re: what position to request?
- What do you think of:
Executive Manager?
Director of Product Management?
I am not interested in working as a freelancer. As I mentioned, the purpose of what I am doing is to get involved into a startup that may become successful in the future. This is a situation when a group of people get together to launch something promising and invest into this their time and energy and even may be money.
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
by: Stan Prokop, Canadian Business Financing
February 2012 Top 100 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter
Please Stop Calling it Coaching!
Measuring the Quality of Your Hires
The fine line 
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Earn More Money - Easy Home Business Ideas
Selling What Sizzles vs. Delivering Real Value
The Neglected Art of Receiving
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.