Microsoft Hr Practices

Like most large corporations Microsoft has a human resources department that has a large impact on the overall operation of the company. Microsoft’s HR, like most has implemented practices that are critical to the company’s success, and others that prevent the company from reaching even greater heights. An HR practice which always has been crucial to Microsoft is its recruitment style. Microsoft is only interested in the best, to the point where they prefer to leave a position vacant rather than settle for someone who just gets by. This practice began with Microsoft’s founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who would recruit the best minds from the colleges and confirm they are the best through an interview process that relentlessly tested their pure intellect. The recruitment was not only selective, it was aggressive. When growth in the late 90’s forced Microsoft to target not only students but experienced professionals, the style was the same. The company maintained a large team of recruiting experts who identified the industry’s finest and worked relentlessly to bring them to Microsoft. While it did not offer the highest salaries, Microsoft showered its best with stock options that turned many employees into millionaires. Recruitment of new elite talent is still a priority of all of Microsoft’s managers. Even Gates gets involved with the occasional phone call to a hot prospect. A practice which warrants a revisit is Microsoft’s n minus 1 staffing rule. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer believe in hiring fewer employees than is needed to perform the work. While the feeling is that it keeps the selection process even that much more exclusive, it is also the type of practice that can hurt the morale of employees. Even when the company’s massive growth required them to increase staffing levels, those levels have always been set at bare minimum amounts. To compensate, employees have traditionally worked ridiculously long hours, they type of