Professional Documents
Culture Documents
GE International
"As one of the world’s most diverse and best performing global enterprises -
recognized repeatedly for leadership and innovation - they offer our employees an
environment where what we imagine we can make happen, developing new
technologies and services to grow our businesses.
GE is a company where possibilities are unlimited. You can change jobs, change
industries, even change career direction, without ever changing companies. Our
diversity provides limitless educational opportunities, which is unmatched in world
business. We invest $1 billion per year in training our people.
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Why we choose GE
GE and its employees are committed to being a good corporate citizen through
high ethical standards, leadership in corporate governance, environmental
compliance and community engagement.
GE continues to earn the respect of the business world. Once again, GE topped
Fortune magazine’s top 500 companies. It holds 6th position consecutively for the
second time.
GE is recognized as being among the world's best-run companies and was named
the World's Most Respected Company for 2003 for the sixth consecutive year by
the "Financial Times". GE was also presented with the Catalyst Award 2004 for its
innovative, effective and measurable initiatives to advance women employees. GE
was honored as one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
GE has a long and proud history of supporting the communities where its
employees live and work. Contributing more than $140 million and over one
million volunteer hours worldwide in 2003, GE is making an impact in local
communities, educational standards and the environment in its communities all
over the world.
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BIBLE OF GE
‘THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER’
Former CEO Jack Welch (now retired), introduced this concept at GE. During his
work period GE was prized most deal-making, cost-cutting and efficient
organization. Every day, everyone at GE has the power to influence company’s
reputation — everywhere they do business. The Spirit & the Letter helps to ensure
that, after more than 125 years, we still conduct our affairs with unyielding
integrity. For well over a century, GE employees have worked hard to uphold the
highest standards of ethical business conduct. They seek to go beyond simply
obeying the law — they embrace the spirit of integrity. GE’s Code of Conduct
articulates that spirit by setting out general principles of conduct everywhere, every
day and by every GE employee.
It also provides other information regarding the rules and regulations of the
business like hoe to deal with the government; customers etc. Employees and
leaders who violate the spirit or letter of GE’s policies are subject to disciplinary
action up to and including termination of employment.
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OTHER IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE
• Six sigma
Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and
delivering near-perfect products and service. The central idea behind Six Sigma is
that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can
systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects"
as possible. To achieve Six Sigma Quality, a process must produce no more than
3.4 defects per million opportunities. An "opportunity" is defined as a chance for
nonconformance, or not meeting the required specifications. This means we need
to be nearly flawless in executing our key processes.
• Fair practices
On job qualifications (e.g., education, prior experience) and merit. Merit includes
an individual’s skills, performance, values, leadership and other job-related criteria.
without regard to a person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including
pregnancy), sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status or other characteristic
protected by law.
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• Respect the privacy rights
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Working Environment
Employees’ performance can only flourish in a sound work environment.
The way they deliver results is as important as the results themselves. GE seeks to
lead in workplace and marketplace integrity by respecting the human rights of
everyone touched by our business, and by enforcing legal and financial
compliance.
Naturally, the passion that our people bring to their work extends to their own
private worlds, and GE is committed to enabling a healthy balance between the
two. GE encourages our people to meet their work commitments while balancing
their own life responsibilities.
To support this balance, flexible work arrangements are an integral part of the way
we conduct business. The Company also offers many programs and resources to
support employees including financial management, family counseling and more.
GE assures complete support to all its employees on both professional and personal
fronts. Apart from creating a friendly and stimulating work environment, GE also
extends support to its employees in their domestic lives.
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AT GE
1) Leadership at GE
Leadership Development
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• Communicate and strengthen our employee's commitment to GE and the GE
Values.
• Build bridges across boundaries by letting people interact across businesses,
functions, and hierarchies.
• Enhance our customer focus; build relationships with strategic customers and
other key stakeholders.
GE works at being a true learning organization - instilling learning not only as part
of the everyday work life but also counting on employees to help train their
colleagues in their field of expertise
2) Communication
GE views communication as the most critical element. The most important thing
that they see with the HR function is that there always is a constant dialogue, as
they don’t like to hide things in GE. GE offers several channels for raising
concerns. Use the channel that is most comfortable for its employees.
• GE Board of Directors
An employee may report concerns about GE’s accounting, internal accounting
controls or auditing matters, as well as other concerns, to the Board of Directors
or the Audit Committee.
directors@corporate.ge.com
• GE corporate ombudsperson
The GE Ombudsperson process allows an employee to voice his integrity
questions and concerns,
ombudsperson@corporate.ge.com
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Generally, the supervisor or manager will be in the best position to resolve an
integrity concern quickly. However, the direct supervisor is not your only
option. Other resources include:
• Your compliance leader or auditor
• Company legal counsel
• Next level of management
3) Measuring performance
Beyond the idealized growth traits, GE also upholds four basic actions to drive
performance: imagine, solve, build and lead. Stemming from those action-oriented
qualities are the foundational values that represent GE and its common set of
beliefs: passionate, curious, resourceful, accountable, teamwork, committed, open
and energizing. This specific set of corporate values lies at the heart of GE’s unique
approach to leadership development.
Ongoing appraisal processes and evaluations help to measure performance and also
to sustain the values that GE leaders aim to embody. “Your ticket to entry at GE,
your base premise to be a part of this game, is you have to perform and you need to
have the GE values,
5) ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
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individual effort is much more important than group or collective efforts
rebels are heroes (Jack Welch was an effective rebel against most of GE's
official management practices throughout his career before he became CEO)
going around the hierarchy is encouraged (this is the hidden purpose of
work-out, not team-based participation and improvement)
competition is king, internally and externally
loyalty is determined by performance
poor performers lose face publicly
communications are direct and confrontational
leadership comes from individuals, not groups or teams
At General Electric, they have all begun programs aimed at keeping women
professionally engaged. The results are starting to show, as more women who
skipped out on companies that did not offer them intellectually challenging work
resurface at companies that do.
G.E. has women's networks, coaching and mentoring programs, and family-balance
policies. But Susan P. Peters, vice president for executive development, says G.E.'s
insistence that "everyone has quantity and quality to their work" may be most
responsible for the fact that 15 percent of its officers are women, up from 9 percent
in 1997.
Jeanne M. Rosario is a case in point. While rearing her two children, she worked
truncated hours and even turned down a big promotion. But, she said, G.E. never
put her on a mommy track. "They gave me as much work as I could handle; they
always let me be the one to say, 'No more!' “She said. Ms. Rosario, 53, is vice
president for commercial design and services engineering at G.E. Transportation,
making her G.E.'s highest-ranking woman in technology.
Women’s network
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opportunities in a variety of ways including information, education and networking
with other men and women to learn best practices.
GE was honored as one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.
GE’s life and accident insurance plans provide eligible employees and their
families with financial protection. And, if you need more coverage than the
company provides, you have the option to purchase additional coverage at
excellent group rates.
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• Employee Programs
• United Way
GE’s partnership with the United Way goes beyond employee campaigns and
financial contributions.
• Parenting assistance
The company helps employees find resources foe home safety and making living
arrangement for dependents. It even helps employees develop their own retirement
plan.
• Financial assistance
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• Legal advice
It assists in providing legal resources for sorting out problems regarding family,
law, immigration, tenant’s right etc.
• Work advice
• Special Programs
Through the Operation Home front and Operation Yellow Ribbon programs, we
provide special recognition and support for our employees and their families before
and during deployments and when the employee returns to service at GE:
Operation Home front assists GE employees and their families to prepare for
upcoming military deployments.
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Operation Yellow Ribbon provides a welcome home package of benefits for our
military heroes returning from extended periods of active duty.
GE has a long history of hiring enlisted military and veterans and has appeared on
GI Jobs Magazine's Top Military Friendly Employers for the last five years. GE has
dedicated a careers webpage to U.S. Military Veterans Careers and more than 35
recruiters participated in career fairs on military bases in 2007. Additionally, GE
offers an entry-level leadership program, Junior Officer Leadership Program,
designed specifically for military officers as well as supporting specialized
programs for reservists and guard called to active duty.
The AAF provides employees with mentors, seminars, networking, and career
discussion. The forum also contributes to the development of local African
American communities.
The APAF supports the Asian Pacific American community with a career
development network while promoting broader awareness of differences in Asian
and American cultures.
• Hispanic Forum
The Hispanic Forum supports coaching, mentoring, role modeling and the
recruitment of Hispanic talent. It also reaches out to Hispanic communities with
service and corporate sponsorships.
• GLBT Forum
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• Disaster Relief Fund
• ECOmmunity in Asia
GE Volunteers
For more than a century, volunteerism has been a vibrant part of GE’s culture. At
GE, giving back is both an individual employee activity as well as an
organizational effort. We coordinate our resources - including product donations,
matching gifts, grants, and volunteerism - to create responses tailored to local and
individual challenges. Today, the ultimate measure of GE’s business is found in the
improvements to the lives touched by our work.
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• GE coordinates volunteer efforts company-wide by keeping a close eye on
societal needs and inviting all employees to build stronger communities
where we live and work. Our employees volunteer over 1 million hours of
community service every year, discovering opportunities through our online
Volunteer Portal or in their own neighborhoods. And during Global
Community Days, we coordinate our efforts company-wide to address urgent
projects around the world.
GE Volunteers Foundation
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A CAREER AT GE IS OPPORTUNITY FOR LIFE LONG LEARNING
When you work at GE, you work with people who have a passion for excellence.
Their obsession with finding better ways to do things creates exhilarating work
environments. And to fulfill this desire, GE invests nearly $1 billion a year in
career development for employees.
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Managers are excellent resources for information about career development.
They've often been in the same position as you, and can provide valuable insight on
what you need to achieve your full potential
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Growth Prospective in GE
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experiences that powers our growth. As a Global Employer of Choice,
Capital Solutions embraces the significance of employee training and
development. We strongly support GE training and development efforts
complemented with an impressive mix of Capital Solutions programs
and development tools to discover your potential…your future. There
are many GE and Capital Solutions resources, training and development
programs available to strengthen your overall development.
INTERPRETATION
• The ability to select from among the best practices available the ones most
relevant to its immediate (2-6 year time horizon) needs,
• The ability to flawlessly implement these practices,
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• Most important - the ability to periodically change its formula of
management practices as new needs emerge - adopting new practices,
ruthlessly discarding the old formulas for success before they led to
weakened performance.
• GE knows better than most every company in the world how to manage the
life cycle of a business idea: put it in place, exploit it, and then abandon it.
• GE’s operating system, referred to as its ‘learning culture in action’, entails
year-round learning sessions where leaders from GE and outside companies
share intellectual capital and focus on generating the best ideas and
practices. Conversations about developing talent and reaching business
objectives are side-by-side so there is a continuous link.
• GE is very critical on their intake of talent and participates in behavioral
skills interviewing in order to predict behaviors moving forward, specifically
looking at how experiences people have had can translate back into GE.
• GE also offers intensive management training outside of its facilities through
leadership programs that maintain a curriculum for GE’s highest performing
employees. Beyond its sophisticated development system, its leaders are
groomed with depth and substance through simple and natural approaches
such as consistent ongoing dialogue and ingrained corporate values paired
with various assignments for on-the-job development.
Initiatives taken by GE
Imagination is the starting point for any kind of growth from GE’s view. “If you
want to drive a growth culture, you have to have imagination.”
Clear thinking, involves being able to transform those imaginative ideas into clear
business actions and to articulate clearly, and also be clear in terms of your
strategy and where you want the business to go.
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As a direct offshoot of inclusiveness comes, external focus, which is being able to
expand your focus outwards.
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The basic objectives of a QWL program are improved working
conditions for the employee and increase organizational
effectiveness.
Providing quality work life involves taking care of the following
aspects:
Providing quality at work not only reduces attrition but also helps
in reduced absenteeism and improved job satisfaction.
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