ASSIGNMENT

Assignment 2: Evaluate Your Data Notes

Introduction

Tesla is considered by many to be one of the most innovative companies today. The company is headed by Elon Musk its CEO and is presently headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. It operates in the automotive industry. In essence, Tesla happens to be one of the pioneers in electric vehicle manufacture. Its key competitors at present are inclusive of, but they are not limited to, Nikola Corp., Ford Motors Co., General Motors Co. and Li Auto Inc. Primarily, this write-up seeks to assess and evaluate one of the key business challenges that the company faces at present. In this case, I will be assuming the role of HR Partner.

Step 1: The Business Challenge

1a.

Like many businesses, Tesla faces a wide range of business challenges. Three of the most prominent challenges that the company faces will be highlighted below:

i. Competition from established automakers: This happens to be one of the most significant business challenge that Tesla faces at present. It is important to note that although the company had little competition a few years ago when it was just starting out as a small electric vehicle manufacturer, big players in the industry appear to have come to terms with the fact that electric vehicles are the future especially given the push by environmental conservation groups and scientists to cut back on CO2 emissions. Traditional players in the automotive industry who have raided the electric vehicle market could give Tesla a run for its money given the extensive global networks and industry experience that they have gathered over time.

ii. Attracting top talent: According to Tillemann (2016), it has historically been challenging to find skilled and competent employees in certain high-demand fields. Indeed, in the words of the authors, in high-demand fields like engineering, software development, and nursing, employers are fighting to find people with the specialized skills and qualifications necessary to perform the job at hand (Tillemann, 2016, p. 216). This is a challenge that Tesla faces owing to the technical skills required to develop feature-laden electric motor vehicles. It is also important to note that as the company continues exploring opportunities for global expansion, it needs to find and hire a diverse pool of employees. This is especially important in as far as the promotion of cultural competence is concerned.

iii. High employee turnover: This is yet another significant challenge that Tesla grapples with today. In basic terms, employee turnover could be conceptualized as the loss of talent in the workforce over time (Sims and Bias, 2019, p. 95). Teslas employee turnover rate appears to be significantly higher than that of its peers in this particular industry especially at the executive level. In one recent assessment of the companys executive-level employee turnover rate, specifically in relation to executives who report directly to the CEO, it was found that in comparison to a cohort average, Tesla had a rather high turnover of 44% (Assis, 2019). The cohort average turnover was identified as 9% (Assis, 2019).

1b.

In the present scenario, I have been roped in to solve one of the problems highlighted above, i.e. high employee turnover rate. Towards this end, this is the specific problem that I will be addressing.

Step...

…[i.e. amongst executives who report to the CEO] with the overall organizational employee turnover ratio. This will give me a good perspective of the extent of the problem at this particular level i.e. in relation to whether high employee turnover could be an organization-wide problem or is largely limited to the highlighted executive level.

Next, when it comes to external benchmarking, I will be comparing the turnover rate of Tesla with the industry average within the 10 year period under consideration. This will help establish the extent of the problem at Tesla or paint a picture of how bad this particular problem really is.

Step 6: The Data I Wish I Had

This would be an important step as it would come in handy in efforts to assess the limits of the data already obtained. This step would also help in the evaluation or assessment of the quality of conclusions arrived at. Any deficiencies identified would inform the relevant corrective actions, i.e. in relation to the collection and integration of additional data.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, it would be prudent to note that this was a rather informative exercise that enabled me to develop better understanding of the process and relevance of data evaluation. More specifically, I established that a business challenge is best tacked by gaining access to all the relevant data that would come in handy in efforts to address the said challenge. As a matter of fact, I established that without identifying the data available, one would essentially be groping in the dark in efforts to find a solution to the prevailing business problem. The needed data might, however, be hard to…