In 2008 GM was a “near total wreck”. “There were too many employees, too much money tied up in benefits and legacy costs, too many brands, and too many plants. The insularity of the management team in choosing insiders with automobile credentials and the bureaucracy that hobbled and delayed decision-making had all contributed to the disaster” (Grossman, 2012, n.p.). People believe that HR had been responsible for many of the poor decisions made to push GM into bankruptcy. Rob Kleinbaum stated, “There were about 20 people at the very top level overseeing a lot of bad decisions, and she {Barclay} was one. If you believed that the culture contributed to the problems, which most people did, she had to go” (Grossman, 2012, n.p.).
In recent years GM has been focusing on cultural change and cost cutting programs. The new GM revealed its new emphasis after bankruptcy, which focused on “customers, cars and culture” (History & Heritage-Rebirth, n.d.). Brinkley introduced a new mandatory training program for all managers to take called “Leading in Today’s GM”. She has also implemented annual employee engagement surveys (Grossman, 2012). GM has been criticized for their top down approach of culture changing in the past. The company has a history of mistrust towards its employees. In my opinion it is a company’s biggest failure- not learning from other “top-down culture” changes that did not place trust in their employees. After learning about the conflict techniques, it’s so important to collaborate when making important decisions that require a solution. When you involve your employees they are more bought in and more involved with the change. I believe that in order for the cultural change to be completely successful, GM must empower their workers and encourage their workers to be an active part in the change program rather than just telling them what to do.