Features - Go global, think local
By: Jacelyn Woo, Singapore
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Globalisation puts tremendous strain on companies. The free flow of information throughout the world makes it imperative that all of a company’s executives be on the same page in regard to strategies, product offerings, and clients, who often want just one supplier for a given service or product throughout the world. This makes it attractive for companies to implement a global human resources strategy, to help synchronise things like benefits and training opportunities for an increasingly mobile workforce. Nonetheless, companies still need to be sensitive to conditions peculiar to local offices. A global human resources strategy is important because of the diversity in the workplace. Laletha Nithyanandan, the group director, Asia, for human resources consultancy Kelly Services, says, “Within one workplace you’ll sometimes have many languages and nationalities. This is particularly important for big, international companies so that they can align policies, initiatives and benefits towards the strategy of the company as a whole.” “General Electric is a very good example of the benefits of a global HR strategy,” says John Read, managing consultant at Hudson Human Capital Solutions. He says that the company defines very clearly their expectations about the importance of managing people well, and have distinct managerial systems and processes that help to manage people strongly. “This is about empowerment, enablement, respect, and integrity. It's not just about the words, but actually operationalising those. Every single manager knows what the organisation expects of them when it comes to managing people.” But what do people in operations think of having more HR input than previously? Lynne Anne Stevenson, Asia Pacific Regional Director for Fleishman-Hillard, a public relations firm, explains, “We really experienced a growth spurt in Asia a few years ago at the same time the infrastructure for human resources was put on the ground here,” She adds that their talent development leader is based in Hong Kong and that she is absolutely invaluable. “I don’t think the growth we’ve experienced could be sustained without her participation.” Stevenson says the HR presence has been very useful in the company’s recruiting, and retention – in which training plays a part. “A big priority is training. We have a regional training program managed through human resources that I would say probably rivals anything conducted by any PR consultancy in the Asia Pacific.” In Asia, the firm’s HR team organises bi-weekly training teleconferences, face-to-face conferences, and visits from top people in the organisation. Employee surveys, she says, cite training as the thing staff value most about the company. We’re Not Homogenous Local conditions, however, are a crucial consideration. “One of the challenges of a worldwide people strategy is imagining that what works in New York is going to work in Mumbai, or even that what works in Washington DC is going to work in Singapore,” says Read. A worldwide people strategy is actually an extremely difficult thing to put together and make work. It's very easy to say you’ll operate a certain set of policies or take a certain strategic view about the importance of people, but actually it's extremely difficult to localise these things. Aside from GE, he says American companies in particular need to improve on this front. He cites the example of one famous US multinational, whose US corporate culture is all about the manager leading from the front. “It's about the manager taking the group where it's never been before at (a fast pace) and setting high performance expectations. With many individuals in many regions this may not be the best way to win hearts and minds.” He says this might not work in Asia where there are issues of hierarchy and respect that are more critical than setting the pace and creating expectations. He has compliments for Japanese companies, however. “They are extremely good at leveraging knowledge and people for business benefit. They’re quite effective at doing this in other cultures beyond Japan.” He cites the case of Yokogawa, an electronics firm with operations in Singapore. “They’ve done a great job of maintaining and crystallising their workforce around Japanese management practices and context…they also reward their people above market, create a strong family culture. They leverage local culture as well as their corporate culture.” “If you ignore issues like diversity and the needs of particular cultures, and you’re also unable to flexibly operate your people strategy in tune with local conditions, then you’re suggesting you can impose corporate strategy over local culture and be successful – and this may not work.” Nithyananandan also warns of the perils inherent in ignoring the local situation. She tells the story of one international company, which decided that anyone, anywhere who was going to do any work for the company – even a temp for just one hour – needed to be interviewed. “It was such a waste of time,” she says. “Sometimes it gets very silly. You have to offer flexibility so that it doesn’t stand in the way of day-to-day business and supports the company’s objectives.” Communication is key, and before policies are set, the impact on operations must be assessed. “You need to find out people’s opinions before implementing systems.” “(To implement a global HR strategy), you have to understand the business,” says Read. This means understanding the product or service being delivered, the customers, markets, and how the organisation touches and reaches the market. It’s also key (HR practitioners) understand where the business is going, “so they can understand the demands on people strategy. People strategy, of course, includes talent acquisition as well as talent development.” While the process of globalisation is by no means inevitable – trade barriers and political uncertainty could well set things back – profit-driven organisations clearly need to be prepared to operate seamlessly at all levels of operations – sales, marketing, finance, and certainly not least, human resources.
Alison SibreeVice President, Human ResourcesOracle Asia Pacific Oracle is one of the world’s leading software companies. What is the benefit of having a global HR strategy?
The single biggest benefit of a global HR strategy is that it aligns every interaction employees have with the company to a long term growth strategy. It allows for global consistency so that employees in, say, France and Singapore, have a common understanding about the HR strategy and what it means for them in terms of managing their career. It is a framework for an organisation's HR professionals, managers and executives to use to partner with each other for all people-related activities whether it be recruiting, compensation philosophy, HR processes or talent management. What are key ingredients to make it successful?
Buy-in at the executive level, as is always the case with strategic projects, specifically with the executives who manage large employee populations. The CIO is particularly important because he will need to manage the implementation of any HR systems to support the strategy. The second most important ingredient is a clear and simple change management/communication plan for the HR team, managers and employees. To me, a critical ingredient is an effective HR system to manage our employee data, compensation management, competency alignment, recruitment and talent management (training, development) and manage major retention initiatives such as salary review, bonus allocation and stock option allocations – all of which would be key components of any HR strategy. What is the best way to implement a global HR strategy?
Communication is the most critical component. Work with your internal communications team and devise a structured, internal communications plan which covers what it means to have a global strategy, how it will affect people in their everyday work lives and, most importantly, why it will make the company stronger and more successful in the long term – this communication must start from the top of the organisation to secure buy-in for the strategy and cascade down through the organisation. For larger organisations, you could also use a combination of a human capital management consultant and a systems integrator with previous implementation experience in your industry – the latter being for those companies who do not already have a top quality HR system implemented in their organisation. What challenges have you faced?
Probably the biggest challenge is keeping to a strict project timeline for a global rollout onto the HR IT System, which would need to be in place first. It is very demanding on the organisation, particularly the HR and IT teams, to support both the previous processes and systems to keep the day-to-day business running as well as getting the HR team up to speed with the new system and new strategy – the proverbial “changing the tyres while the car is moving” challenge. Any key advice you would give an organisation about to embark upon this project?
I would form a global HR task force to recommend to executive management what our global strategy should contain. This would probably go through various iterations, including timelines, prior to being approved by the executive management of the company. I would simultaneously be reviewing the HR management applications available on the market with a view to selecting one which will be capable of accommodating all your HR requirements based around your strategy as well as the day-to-day requirements for effective HR data and employee management. Aileen TanVice President, Human Resources
Abacus International Singapore-based Abacus International is a leading travel facilitator with more than 10,000 agency locations in 22 markets. What is the benefit of having a global HR strategy? The world is changing very quickly. A global HR strategy and a global HR philosophy helps you speak a language whereby people understand how you operate as an organisation. Somebody could be working in Singapore one moment, but that doesn’t mean he won’t move elsewhere. At the end of the day, it’s all about globalising the organisation. What are the key ingredients to make it successful? People need to be clear about the business and the competitive environment in which it operates. People also need to be clear about how the demographics are changing in the workplace. Essentially, it’s about looking at the business we’re trying to build as well as the people that we have. What is the best way to implement it? Very high-level guidelines and a high-level philosophy are key, so that you can empower the people. Senior management needs to drive it, particularly the strategic part of it. The tactical part really needs to empower the people because they’ll be the ones to make it happen. What challenges you faced implementing it? It was the readiness of the people. When you talk about global HR, it has to take into account the state of the business in various locations. Is it a growing business? Is it a stable business? Or is it a business with very little market share that faces tough competition? The state of the business is very important. The other element involves the cultural dimension in each location. How they work and so forth. A key challenge is finding the balance between these two factors. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? I’m not a person who would regret anything. We make the best decision at a given time, and if things turn out in ways we didn’t expect that’s all right, and we’ll do better the next time around. Agnes GiocondaChief Talent OfficerFleishman-Hillard Fleishman-Hillard is a public relations consultancy with 83 offices worldwide. What is the benefit of having a global human resources strategy? The first benefit is that we’re able to support the business. The strategy is driven by a centralised approach, but we’re not building a big bureaucracy around the world. We have HR people throughout the world, but most of it is covered from St. Louis, Missouri, which allows to keep our overheads low, but be very involved with the firm’s business and that’s a real benefit. Our firm is driven by each office’s general manager, so we’ve got to have a strong local presence with a talent pool built locally, but support them with the infrastructure they need. What are the key ingredients to making it successful? You really have to have people who respect each other. We talk about respect for the individual as the first tenet of our corporate philosophy. For example, I respect what our account staff need to do on a day-to-day basis and my staff and I work to figure out what we can do to help them as managers and client service people. In return, we gain their respect. Respect for each other is absolutely critical. We’re always looking for ways to help managers accomplish what they’re trying to accomplish in the best possible way. We’re not a bureaucratic HR department that puts up obstacles. What is the best way to implement it? The best thing is to make sure you hire people in talent development who are similar to the people we hire as account staff. Even though we have a different professional skill base, we’ll still have the same basic qualities. I look for people who are flexible, versatile, and good communicators – real doers. The people in our group actually use headsets when we’re on the phone. That’s how much we’re connected with the company. What challenges have you faced implementing it? It’s always a challenge finding talent. We have the advantage of being a very strong brand with good name recognition, so we’re able to attract talent. Unfortunately people also look to us as a talent pool, whether it’s clients or the competition, people tend to come after our folks because they know they’re high quality with good training and experience. The economic downturn was also a challenge, both for the company and HR, because it took us from a hiring mode to more of a retrenchment mode. But we’ve come out of the downturn in a very strong position. We’re growing again and our managers learned a lot. So, while that was a challenge, it will support the HR strategy because the managers, even more than before, understand the importance of hiring the right people and making the right decisions. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? I’ve been with the company 10 years, and we really did not have much of an HR function before I arrived so I’ve had the tremendous opportunity to build HR to support the growing organisation. First, I’d like to say what I’d do the same. I’d keep the centralised approach and high level of service. The only thing I might have done differently would have been to put HR people into the regions more quickly. You really need to have someone locally to keep a handle on things and to keep in tune what the employees need – being in the region facilitates this.
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