Lincoln Electric Has a Human

Lincoln Electric has a human resources philosophy that emphasizes independence and communication. This philosophy leads to a degree of self-actualization among employees as they feel like they are an important part of the Lincoln Electric team. In addition, the company utilizes incentives to motivate superior performance. These incentives have become expected, but the company has also delivered consistently strong performance.

Lincoln Electric has very low turnover, which indicates that the firm is oriented towards hiring good people, training them, and utilizing that knowledge throughout the entire working career of the employee. The cash rewards system is long-standing, and can be very generous, which encourages lifetime employment. In addition, Lincoln utilizes other forms of compensation effectively. The company offers a potential plan to encourage retention, but it combines this with a policy of hiring from within.

When a firm hires from within, it creates opportunities for employees who are already oriented towards staying with the firm to achieve a level of self-actualization as they grow into more challenging and sophisticated roles. The merit rating system is used with pay raises based on a formal job evaluation process, although this process is fairly subjective in nature. This gives employees the opportunity to understand what their key performance measures are and work towards those.

As long as management designs the key performance measures well, the company should have a high degree of congruence between its objectives and the actions of its employees. Lincoln has a strong anti-union attitude. That the company provides well for its employees has effectively convinced employees to ignore union overtures. The company treats its employees as though they are partners in the business, and this is reflected in Lincoln's HR policies.

In response, the employees have largely been focused on achieving the same results that managers want to achieve, knowing that they will be rewarded if they succeed. The result is a longstanding culture of excellence and one of cooperation between management and the workers. These human resources practices compare favorably with others in the industry, and seem to form a competitive advantage for Lincoln. The policies create a positive work atmosphere and strong motivation for the employees to contribute to the generation of corporate profits.

Workers are highly skilled and there is low turnover, so there is a considerable amount of expertise in the company. In general, Lincoln's HR practices are excellent and contribute to the company's long-term track record of success. Certainly the view that employees come before customers is a positive view for Lincoln, because the quality of employees that they are able to attract, retain and subsequently motivate results in employees capable and motivated to deliver on customers' expectations --.