1. Running Head: BEST PRACTICES 1
Best Practices in Human Resources:
FedEx Corporation, Sage Products Incorporated, and Google
Kaitlyn A. Potter
Texas Tech University

2. BEST PRACTICES 2
Introduction
The success of an organization to succeed is directly related to the company’s
treatment and care of their employees. Li-Yun Sun’s article, High-Performance Human
Resource Practices, Citizenship Behavior, and Organizational Performance: A
Relational Perspective written in 2007 and contained within The Academy of
Management Journal, says that “there is considerable evidence that high-performance
human resource practices are associated with organizational performance” (p. 558).
The following companies are known for great Human Resource practices as well as fair,
sometimes lavish, treatment for all of their employees including FedEx Corporation,
Sage Products Incorporated, and Google. Included in this paper is examples of why
these prosperous companies are used as role models for other companies regarding
development and effectiveness of Human Resources and employee relations.
FedEx Corporation
According to Jain Manish in the article titled HR Best Practices at FedEx, a Best
Company to Work For written in 2008, Fortune magazine and the Great Places to Work
Institute named FedEx as one of the 100 “‘Best Companies to Work For’” in the United
States (p. 1). Fredrick W. Smith founded FedEx in 1971 when he noticed the need for
an airfreight system that could deliver overnight and felt that the success of the
business was directly related to the employees (Manish, 2008, p. 1). FedEx was
incorporated as ‘Federal Express Corporation’ at Little Rock Arkansas, United States, in
June 1971 (Manish. 2008, p. 1). From the beginning, management at FedEx made it a
priority to make their employees feel comfortable in their work environment and
encourage them to come up with innovative ideas (Manish, 2008, p. 1). Manish (2008)

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states that during the first few years, FedEx was experiencing harsh financial difficulties
that prompted the employees to sell their personal belongings and “even use their own
credit cards to purchase fuel to deliver the packages to the customers” (p.1). The
employees were even okay with receiving their paychecks late during this time (Manish,
2008, p. 1).
Throughout their existence, FedEx has created many “innovative human
resource programs” and has even served as a role model for many companies and their
Human Resource departments (Manish, 2008, p. 1). Fredrick Smith created and put
into place FedEx’s philosophy known as “‘People-Service-Profit’ (PSP)” in 1973 which
stated that if FedEx took appropriate care of their employees then the employees would,
in turn, take great care of the company’s customers, which simultaneously increased
profits for the company (Manish, 2008, p. 1). Another key employee relations and
satisfaction program that facilitated management in regards to promotion decisions,
according to Manish (2008), is the SFA program which stand for “Survey-Feedback-
Action” (p. 1). Before 1992, the SFA program was given manually by Human Resource
professionals until an online survey system, along with “other automations”, was
introduced in the United States (Manish, 2008, p. 1). Manish makes the point that every
employee is asked to complete the online survey every year in April and once the
results are produced managers will plan meetings with their employees to discuss the
findings of the survey, as well as pinpoint any problems within and outside of their
departments (Manish, 2008, p. 1).
According to the official Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) government
website the company in question can “Develop the potential of employees, supervisors

4. BEST PRACTICES 4
and managers with EEO in mind, by providing training and mentoring that provides
workers of all backgrounds the opportunity, skill, experience, and information necessary
to perform well, and to ascend to upper-level jobs” (EEOC, n.d., p. 1). Apparently FedEx
has heeded their advice and eventually, in 1988, a program known as the “‘Leadership
Evaluation and Awareness Process’ (LEAP) to encourage non-managerial cadre
employees to move to the managerial level within the company” was established
(Manish, 2008, p. 1). Another program that was implemented by FedEx is the
employee communication program that included the Survey-Feedback-Action program,
Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure, and the Open Door Policy (Manish, 2008, p. 1).
FedEx also created an instrument to “address and resolve employee grievances” “apart
from employing a formal communication system to inform employees about their major
events taking place in the company” (Manish, 2008, p. 1). Finally, FedEx has programs
in place to reward their employees for their performance including the “‘Bravo Zulu’ and
the ‘Golden Falcon Award’” (Manish, 2008, p. 1). FedEx has created effective and
satisfying Human Resource strategies that promotes efficiency and lucrativeness by
taking wonderful care of their employees who feel devoted to the company that has
taken such great care in providing a comfortable and pleasant work environment.
Sage Products Incorporated
According to a press release by News Room (2008) Sage Products Incorporated
was named as one of “‘Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For’ by
the National Association for Business Resources (NABR)” (p. 1). Sage Products is
located in Cary, Illinois, and is a healthcare product manufacturer and was chosen the
first year it was nominated for this award (News Room, 2008, p. 1). In order to receive

5. BEST PRACTICES 5
this accommodation, the Sage Products employees were randomly selected to
complete a confidential survey regarding their work environment that was scored based
on a point system by judges who volunteered for the position (News Room, 2008, p. 1).
There were many categories involved in the evaluations “including communication,
diversity and multiculturalism, work-life balance, and community initiatives” (News
Room, 2008, p. 1).
Sage Products’ Code of Ethics online states “Our reputation and our brand are
affected by what we all do every single day. Ethical behavior is more than a statement
on a piece of paper, but by putting our commitment in writing, we clearly set out the
business practices that we at the Sage Group plc will operate and set clear standards of
behavior for everyone in our organization” (Sage Products, n.d., p.1). They point out
that their organization promises to promote ethical business practice, ensure equal
opportunities, provide a safe and healthy work environment, value diversity in the
workplace, trade ethically, and provide a safe route for people to highlight non-
compliance and that these practices are the “heart of all our dealings” (Sage Products,
n.d., p.1). Sage products understands the importance of taking care of their employees
that will provide them with the vital tools to continue to be a successful company.
Google
In the article from Slate.com titled The Happiness Machine: How Google became
such a great place to work, written by Farhad Manjoo in 2008, Google refers to its
Human Resource department as “People Operations” and is shortened by most to
POPS (Manjoo, 2008, p. 1). People Operations is run by Laszlo Bock who looked into
Google’s problem of not being able to retain female employees that was resulting in a

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deficit of profits because recruitment for Google is a costly process (Manjoo, 2008, p. 1).
According to Manjoo (2008), Bock discovered that originally Google gave twelve weeks
maternity leave to women who gave birth and for all other new parents in its California
offices they offered seven weeks of paid leave which did not, unfortunately, include out
of state employees (p. 1). In 2007, Bock changed the policy so that new moms would
receive five months of full pay and full benefits and allowed the mothers to split that time
in any manner they wished such as pre-delivery time off as well as offering seven
weeks of “new-parent” leave to all employees globally (Manjoo, 2008, p.1).
This policy shift falls under the compliance of the federal Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA) which “requires employers with 50 or more employees to allow
eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period for
treatment of a serious health condition of the employee or the employee’s immediate
family, the birth of a child, or acquiring a child through adoption or foster care” stated by
Sharon Armstrong and Barbara Mitchel in The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and
Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional published in 2008 (p. 79).
Other employee perks include free gourmet food, on-site laundry, Wi-Fi
commuting shuttles, payment to a dead employee’s spouse that totals half of their
salary for ten years, and many more luxuries that have allowed Google to be named the
“best company to work for by Fortune magazine (Manjoo, 2008, p. 1). These policies
and incentives help Google to maintain their status as an extremely successful business
as well as their efforts in recruiting top quality and highly sought employees.

7. BEST PRACTICES 7
Application to Future Career
It is important to remember that the fundamental reason for greatness of a
company is directly related to the employees and their devotion to the company. In the
book titled Human Resource Management written by John M. Ivancevich and Robert
Konopaske in 2013, they stress that at the three levels of strategy within Human
Resource management including, strategic, managerial, and operational, “the efforts to
formulate and implement sound HRM strategies are designed to achieve desirable end
results such as high-quality products and services and socially responsible behavior” (p.
47).
Directly related to success is the onboarding of perfect employees into the
organization. “Over time, the cost of turnover, poor quality, and low productivity will
always be more that the costs of investing in an effective hiring process” according to
Kevin Klinvex, Matthew O’Connell, and Christopher Klinvex in their book Hiring Great
People, published in 1999. It is vital that a great hiring process is implemented that will
ensure that the employee hired will be a great asset to the organization and will
positively affect the company and their products while providing them with the best
benefits and Human Resource practices to ensure they stick with the company.
Conclusion
All of these organizations have exhibited desired Human Resource practices by
employees that have resulted in outstanding customer rapport and success of their
businesses. From FedEx’s policies that ensure their good standing with their
employees and customers to Sage Product’s devotion to the safety and well-being of

8. BEST PRACTICES 8
everyone in their organization along with Google’s jaw-dropping incentives and
extravagant benefits for their employees America has provided the world with great
blueprints for satisfying Human Resource practices. Businesses such as these
encourage others to create work environments that people seek when looking for a job.
By doing so, the company with stay in the top competitor’s bracket when recruiting
desirable candidates that will greatly impact their productivity and profits.

9. BEST PRACTICES 9
References
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