How a multi-industry company became the world leader in mobile communications with Nokia's human resource strategy

Wireless wizard Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services, ahead of Motorola, Siemens, and Samsung among many others. Today, the Nokia Group comprises Nokia Telecommunications, Nokia Mobile Phones and Nokia General Communications Products. Nokia's corporate world headquarters are located in Helsinki, Finland, and Nokia is listed on the New York, Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges, has sales in over 130 countries and employs more than 47,000 people worldwide. In the last few years, the company has experienced explosive growth in terms of both profit and headcount. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion. Frankly, It is hard to believe that less than a decade ago, one of the world's leading innovators in the field of mobile communications today, Nokia Mobile Phones, was hardly known. However now it is one of leading mobile phone brands worldwide. Here, the essay concerns that how a clear and stable human resource strategy to achieve such phenomenal growth and become the giant among the communication rivals.

"HRM in the new economy ought to be human centric with a strong technology focus. We need to leverage on emerging technologies to better satisfy the wants and needs of the knowledge workers, and in the process, build a competitive advantage that lasts."
Guest-of-Honour Mr. Lim Swee said on the conference held on 15 February 2001 by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which was on "Transforming HRM: How IT Can Enhance HR Capabilities" for some 500 HR practitioners. Mr. Lim said that the employee-employer relationship in the new economy would be one where employers demand greater flexibility in hiring and firing of employees, and where employees expect more responsive rewards, and a greater balance between work, personal pursuits and family responsibilities. He spoke about the importance of handing this relationship well, so as to create a win-win situation, where employees can trust their employers to invest in their skill and knowledge upgrading and employers can be confident that their employees would give of their best to the organization. Mr. Lim mentioned the Nokia experience:
Mr. Alan Bentley, Vice President (human resource) of Nokia Mobile Phones (Finland), spoke on the development of strategic HRM in his company. He emphasized that the main role of HR would be to align HR practices to business strategy and to address the implications of change management. He said that the shortage of talent in software engineering, IT and e-business has resulted in a global war for talent.
Attraction and retention of talent have become the main external influence on Nokia's human resources strategies, as other companies also strive to be the employer of choice.
At Nokia, the development of human resources is a business proposition, which endeavours to delight its customers, motivate its employees and increase the agility and flexibility of the management to address specific HR needs.
Mr. Bently also stressed the importance of optimizing productivity while promoting work-life balance. The HR manager is also challenged with the task of providing the skills, cultures, atmosphere and processes necessary for e-knowledge and capabilities

Firstly, according to customer satisfaction, many companies are aiming for high satisfaction to get high customer loyalty. They Create customer satisfaction by manufacturing and delivering products, solutions and services to meet customer needs. All of these are Nokia's employees' basic action; they must respect and care their customer, and create them get the most value from Nokia, both of products and service. In china, Nokia promise repair service within one hour, you can get a present for regret if the repairing works were beyond one hour. And there are over 250 Nokia customer services. The hot lines for Nokia customers are available 365 days one year.

Secondly, Nokia is a global and multicultural company, in which individuals have a great deal of responsibility and freedom to make independent decisions. Nokia believes in the importance of the individual, whether he or she is an employee, business partner or customer. Nokia has nine markets in the world, distributing the entire world. Therefore in different place, there is different culture, language, value system, and business customs. So Nokia provides diversity opportunities for different people who want to enjoy themselves. Making handsets profitably is one challenge. Figuring out what increasingly confused customers want is another. Mobile phones used to be about talking--anytime, anywhere. Now they're becoming devices for sending and receiving data as well. More than half of new phones come with built-in browsers, and a growing number include digital cameras or music players. Leaders in the PC business, including Microsoft and Intel Corp. (INTC), have concluded that this is their moment to barge in. "The trends are playing to our expertise," says Intel Vice-President Ron Smith, who is spearheading the chipmaker's bid to sell processors and other technology to phone makers.

Nokia is committed to having a positive impact on society that extends beyond the advanced technology, products and services the company creates. Through its cooperation with IYF and other regional philanthropic and social responsibility programs, the company prepares young people to embrace opportunities and possibilities created by the global economy and new technological advancements. The company has been an active regional contributor to youth and education causes for many years , with Nokia employees making their own contributions as volunteers in a range pr programs throughout the world.
The Asia-wide conference for Nokia's corporate citizenship program Make a Connection was kicked off today in Seoul, Korea. The two-day conference on 20-21 November 2003 is designed to boost the degree of regional cooperation in the Make a Connection Network and encourage the cross-utilization of best practices in corporate community involvement. Nokia's Korean Youth Program has reached more than 4000 Youth Families and Friends after its first year.

Siemens eroded the position of the world's biggest handset maker, Nokia, whose global strength is based on its position in Europe. Nokia's share fell to 34.2 percent from 35.9 percent a quarter ago and 35.5 percent a year earlier. Nokia's weakness in Europe was partly offset by its strengthening position in other regions, like Russia, India and China, but also by its new range of cheap CDMA phones used in the Americas and parts of Asia.

Gartner's (which published third-quarter statistics for the industry) numbers confirmed a trend also spotted by rival research firm Strategy Analytics on Friday, which noted that Nokia's European market share had dwindled to 42.1 percent in the third quarter from 48.8 percent in the second quarter. Strategy Analytics measures sales to distributors, while Gartner measures sales to end-users.

The market for mobile phones could reach half a billion units this year, but its leaders, Nokia and Motorola, are increasingly under pressure from rivals Siemens, Samsung and LG, a survey found on Monday.

Nokia's strong performance with its CDMA products in the United States and China could help offset the pressure from Siemens. Nokia's strong ties with component makers could also help it overcome supply problems more easily than Siemens. The market for mobile phones could reach half a billion units this year, but its leaders, Nokia and Motorola, are increasingly under pressure from rivals Siemens, Samsung and LG, a survey found on Monday.
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