Nordam Europe, Ltd.
Nordam Europe, Ltd. is a joint venture between The Nordam Group, Inc., and GE. Aircraft
Engine Services, Ltd. The Nordam group is an acknowledged leader in aircraft component
manufacturing and repair with facilities on three continents, and is the largest privately held
The company has a strong, though brief, history of adoption and practice of equal opportunity
in its hiring and HR practices. The company’s Equal Opportunities policy prohibits hiring,
placement, or dismissal based on gender, race, religion, or age. The HR Department is currently
in the process of reviewing most of the company’s HR policies in order to develop a Staff
Handbook containing all employee related policies. The policies were originally set up in 1997,
The company’s early HR policies were developed in a period of rapid expansion. The internal
promotion of the Head of Support Services as the senior HR manager has resulted in
development of a new, systematic approach towards upgrading all aspects of employee relations
Recruitment
In the past, Nordam Europe had used an employment agency for recruitment, but recently it has
set a policy to place all recruitment advertising for operative staff with the local JobCentre, a
government supported agency. Nordam continues to use some employment agents to fill certain
positions, and at the senior management level, the company has made use of a headhunting
Selection and Retention
Nordam Europe’s business is heavily dependent on a high level of safety, quality, and working to
precise standards in order to maintain aircraft jet engine nacelles and thrust reversers. Nordam
continues to work on policies that will provide stability in its workforce. The following is a brief
summary of the company’s selection process.
1. Applicant’s résumés are received.
2. Screening of applicants is performed by a departmental manager and a personnel officer to
develop a short list of those they would like to interview. Suitability for the job is assessed
3. The short-listed applicants are invited for interview with the departmental manager and
personnel officer. The latter is a trained, experienced interviewer who provides consistency
Nordam Europe’s Head of Support Services was voluntarily separated from his previous job
after 30 years in the automotive industry, where he worked primarily in finance, administration,
and operational areas. He sought alternative work in those areas. He circulated his résumé to
numerous companies, but was concerned that his age (50) would count against him. The
Training and Development
Nordam Europe engages in extensive training and development. Because of the industry’s need
to maintain safety and precision standards in aircraft components, there are ongoing training
requirements. These are related to technological advances in the context of repairs to aircraft
engine nacelle and thrust reversers. All new employees receive a copy of Training and
Promotion
Because of the newness of the company, a formal promotion structure has not been developed,
although a few individuals have been promoted to fill key posts, when vacated. Age is never a
factor in selection for promotion. The post of Head of Support Services was created in 1999. As
mentioned, the individual who was hired for the position in production engineering had broad
experience in finance, administration, and operational areas in the automotive industry. He was
Redundancy (Layoff) Policy
Recently, the company faced the situation of having to make several employees redundant
(British term for layoffs). The company’s redundancy policy had several options including
Discussion Questions
1. How do the approaches used by Nordam Europe seem to support high performance work,
drawing upon the ideas presented in this chapter?
2. How do employee education, training, and development address the organizational needs
associated with new employee orientation, diversity, ethical business practices, and
management and leadership development?
3. What are some possible leadership and motivation advantages of using older workers for
the type of work done by Nordam Europe?
4. How are the problems of age discrimination in hiring and layoffs in the United States and
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