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After reading the case below, how would I answer the following questions:

1. Discuss the challenges faced by HR management when significant staff cutbacks occur and how they should be addressed.

2. Use of technology, employee retention, and HR development have been at the core of HR becoming more strategic at Xerox. Why have those areas been so key?

CASE:

Xerox is a widely known firm worldwide, but it has been through numerous crises in the past decade. In fact, at one point several years ago, there were questions about Xerox surviving as a firm. But no longer. Under the leadership of Anne Mulcahy as CEO, Xerox has rebounded. Numerous strategic business and financial decisions had to be made, including reducing the workforce by 30,000. But Mulcahy also stressed that HR had to become a more strategic contributor. One of the actions taken was to consolidate a number of HR functions from different busi-ness units into a corporate HR Service Center. This center performs many administrative trans-actions, and has added Internet- based systems to make HR services more accessible to managers and employees. To track employees' views on the company and HR, employee surveys on the company in-tranet have been used for several years. Areas at which lower scores were recorded have been addressed by HR staff and other managers. The survey results have led to another primary focus at Xerox: employee retention. With all of the reductions and organizational restructurings, keeping the remaining employees, especially high- potential ones, has been a continuing emphasis. Xerox has invested significant time and resources into training and development of its employees, an important retention factor. Greater use of e- learning, technology, and leadership development have paid off in reducing turnover and convincing employees that career opportunities exist at Xerox. Continuing com-petitive pressures are presenting new challenges for Xerox and its HR staff. The strategic importance of HR has been demonstrated in the past, and looks to be a part of the firm's future.

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1. Discuss the challenges faced by HR management when significant staff cutbacks occur and how they should be addressed.
The challenges that face HR management when significant staff cutbacks occur are several. The first task is to build a new organizational structure. Each person must be placed at the right place. This must be done with proper assessment of the skills and abilities of the person.
Further, when there is a cutback of 30,000 employees, this large layoff creates severe motivation problems. The morale of those that remain is weak and everyone feels that she will be the next person to be fired. Some of the steps that HR can take are to re-assure the Xerox employees that the layoffs have been completed and there will not be any further lay-offs. The next step is to place the right person in the right position. The HR also needs to undertake the training and development of the remaining personnel so that it improves the morale of the employees.
The greatest challenge that HR management faces is ...

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