retraining the workforce: equipping employees with new skills to … · 2019. 8. 7. · peer nst...
TRANSCRIPT
PEERINSIGHT
Retraining the Workforce: Equipping Employees with New Skills to Thrive in Today’s Competitive Landscape
PEER INSIGHT BY BG Group, Given Imaging, HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd., and Heineken Americas
In today’s rapidly evolving business climate, the value of ongoing employee development efforts may seem like a no-brainer, but success is not always guaranteed. For one thing, learning needs to be part of the company culture — in other words, its vital link to company success needs to be reinforced by leadership in word and deed. Second, the goal of training programs should be to help drive the company’s competitive advantage — and not just improve individual skill sets. Finally, when possible, employees should drive their own learning process. This ExecBlueprint discusses how HR can support leaders, managers, and employees in getting the most out of their training programs by using the performance appraisal process to identify gaps, focusing on the areas that will deliver the most return, and providing employees with enough context that they will want to learn for the company. Finally, the authors stress that training opportunities send a clear message to employees about the extent to which their manager will invest in their growth. In other words, employees who receive these opportunities tend to stay — and perform.
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The HR leaders from Heineken Americas, BG Group, Given Imaging, and HDFC Asset Management Company on:
Retraining the Workforce: Equipping Employees with
New Skills to Thrive in Today’s Competitive Landscape
Sean Kane Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas
Barbara Heim General Manager, HR Business Delivery, BG Group
Keith A. Chrzanowski Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Given Imaging
Alok Sheopurkar Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources
HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
In today’s rapidly evolving business climate, the value of ongoing employee development efforts may seem like a no-brainer, but success is not always guaranteed. For one thing, learning needs to be part of
the company culture — in other words, its vital link to company success needs to be reinforced by leadership in word and deed. Second, the goal of training programs should be to help drive the company’s competitive advantage — and not just improve individual skill sets. Finally, when pos-sible, employees should drive their own learning process. This ExecBlueprint discusses how HR can support leaders, managers, and employees in getting the most out of their training programs by using the performance appraisal process to identify gaps, focusing on the areas that will deliver the most return, and providing employees with enough context that they will want to learn for the company. Finally, the authors stress that training opportu-nities send a clear message to employees about the extent to which their manager will invest in their growth. In other words, employees who receive these opportunities tend to stay — and perform. n
Action Points
I. What Critical Skill and Knowledge Areas Do Companies Need to Address?Almost daily, technical and other fields are evolving to address unrelenting market and regulatory pressures. That’s why it’s essential to keep developing your talent pool so that your organization will retain its edge. Skills that are essential across industries include inspirational leadership, independent thinking, and knowledge of other cultures.
II. The Bottom LineWhile most companies benefit far more from developing their own people than always hunting for fresh talent, many have wasted training dollars on building individual skills that were not aligned with company goals. So, you must assess your programs carefully: What business needs are they meeting? How will employees apply their new knowledge?
III. Must-Have Goals for Training and Development ProgramsTo be truly effective, these programs need to enrich your employees and your company. General education goals that apply to nearly every industry include: building organizational capability in key areas that differentiate the company’s processes or offerings, retaining employees through advancement opportunities, and reinforcing the desired culture.
IV. The Golden Rules for Communicating with Employees About DevelopmentIf you want your employees to be excited about training and education opportunities, you need to give them a foundation of knowledge about the company as well as honest feedback about their own potential for growth. In addition to one-on-ones with managers, suggested channels include CEO letters, town hall meetings, and employee newsletters.
V. Essential Take-AwaysBefore HR can get serious about training and development, you need to help your leaders create an overall company culture that values — and rewards — learning. Once supporting policies and procedures are in place, you can then identify institution-level gaps, create individual development plans, and offer training to any employee who wants it.
Contents
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2
Sean Kane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3
Barbara Heim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.7
Keith A. Chrzanowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.10
Alok Sheopurkar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.13
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points . . . p.15
© Books24x7, 2012 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2
About the AuthorsSean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas
Barbara HeimGeneral Manager, HR Business Delivery, BG Group
Keith A. ChrzanowskiSenior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Given Imaging
Alok SheopurkarSenior Vice President and Head of Human Resources, HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Sean Kane is senior vice president, human resources, for Heineken Americas. Mr. Kane joined
Heineken in 2003 as a member of the Heineken USA human resources team and held several roles in the USA
business before moving to his current role in 2006.
Prior to joining Heineken, he held various human resources positions in bank-ing, professional services, and an Internet start-up.
Mr. Kane holds a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Scranton and a master of education from Rutgers University.
As BG Group’s general manager for HR Business Delivery, Barbara Heim is responsible for the human
resources strategy in the various areas within BG Group. One of her key priorities is to develop BG’s talent around the world and create opportunities for individuals to grow. As a business, BG Group has been growing rapidly, establishing a large presence in Brazil and Australia along with recent key discoveries in Tanzania. As the HR leader for global operations, she is responsible for ensuring HR partners with
the business to obtain the most efficient, effective organization.
Prior to joining BG Group, Ms. Heim spent five years as the VP of human resources for Burger King in both North America and most recently, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. She was based in Zug, Switzerland. Ms. Heim has also held HR leadership positions in Pennzoil Quaker State, EmCare Holdings Inc., Ryder System, and Colgate Palmolive.
She began her adventurous career right out of college with Frito Lay Inc., spending
time both in production management posi-tions as well as human resources. An expert in relocation (she has moved 14 times in the course of her career), she has enjoyed the diversity of the industries she has worked in.
Ms. Heim also serves on the advisory board for the Be An Angel Fund Inc., a non-profit that benefits children with mul-tiple disabilities and profound deafness.
Keith A. Chrzanowski has served as Given Imaging’s senior vice presi-dent of human resources since
January 1, 2008. Prior to that, from January 2005, until December 2007, he was the director of human resources of the Americas region.
Prior to joining Given Imaging, Mr. Chrzanowski served as senior director/vice president of human resources for McKesson Provider Technologies, a division of McKesson, from July 2002 until January 2005. The company specializes in delivering
software for automation and robotics, business process re-engineering, analytics, and other services that connect health care providers, physicians, payors, and patients across all care settings. From July 2000 until July 2002, Mr. Chrzanowski was vice president of human resources for Spherion’s Outsourcing Group, which provided ser-vices to Fortune 500 customers.
From 1991 to 2000, Mr. Chrzanowski worked as a human resource manager and director of human resources for diagnostic and medical supply divisions, which were
a part of Baxter Healthcare before being acquired by Cardinal Health in 1999. Prior to joining Baxter, Mr. Chrzanowski worked for Schlumberger Industries in the U.S. and Canada as a human resources manager from 1987 until 1991. From 1983 until 1987 Mr. Chrzanowski held a variety of human resources positions in support of Beecham’s Consumer Products businesses.
Alok Sheopurkar is senior vice pres-ident and head of HR at HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd.
Prior to joining HDFC he worked and trained with several companies including Tata Iron and Steel Company, Grasim, Crompton Greaves, Cadbury Schweppes, and AIG.
In a career spanning 22 years Mr. Sheopurkar has contributed in the field of HR, training, quality management, organi-zation development and capability build-ing, communication, employee relations, and areas like small-group involvement
activities, TQM, TPM, ISO, self-empow-ered, and self-managed teams institution-alization, sales channel developments, projects, and start ups. He has a keen inter-est in storytelling, communication, nego-tiations, corporate social responsibility, and women’s empowerment.
Memberships include Board of Governance, Symbiosis (Pune); Advisory Board, Vishwakarma Institute of Management (Pune); Chairperson, Apex Advisory Committee of SNDT University (Mumbai); and Marketing and HR com-mittees of the Financial Planning Standards
Board India (FPSB). He is a founding mem-ber of Thane HR Group, which is a voluntary body of HR professionals having 1500 members.
He is also associated with a number of professional bodies, prestigious institutes and visiting faculty groups at top business schools across the country, and has been a speaker at various seminars, symposiums and conferences. Finally, he has served as an advisor to senior management profes-sionals, entrepreneurs, and businesses.
☛ Read Sean’s insights on Page 3
☛ Read Barbara’s insights on Page 7
☛ Read Keith’s insights on Page 10
☛ Read Alok’s insights on Page 13
© Books24x7, 2012 Sean Kane ExecBlueprints 3
Sean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas
IntroductionThis article discusses the skills com-panies should be developing and measuring in their employees and leaders in order to drive growth in today’s economy. It also outlines three critical goals you should be achieving with your learning and development programs.
Essential Skill Sets and Knowledge Areas for the Changing WorldThe following section outlines the capabilities I feel are most suited for success at Heineken in the future, though I find them to be highly transferable to other compa-nies and industries.
Leadership. While the develop-ment of leadership skills is not a new need for companies or indus-tries, the increasingly competitive landscape and the customer demands of our industry are requir-ing a new type of leader to emerge who can demonstrate these core skills:• Engages and inspires others. It
is important to have someone who can motivate others to drive change and build commitment to a common agenda. Organizations, across borders and across functions,
are becoming more integrated and linked. A leader that can drive a common agenda in a complex organization and an ever-changing market will be successful.
• Develops people and teams. Internal promotions have always had a higher probability of success than external hires, and the more senior the position, the more this is true. As the marketplace, individual company strategies, and organizations that we work with continue to grow more complex, this practice will only become more important. To build the capability your organization will need to support your business in the future, you must grow talent internally. Company needs will only continue to become more specialized, and if you are not growing the talent pool to be competitive in the future marketplace, your leaders are failing the organization — regardless of the returns they provide in a given year — because those returns are not sustainable.
• Thinks globally. The days of thinking about just your marketplace or industry are
over. We need leaders who understand all of the factors that impact a business. How does work being done in Chicago impact the annual result of the broader organization? How do oil prices impact our customers and consumers? How will a shortage of raw materials at a supplier impact a go-to-market strategy? In the past it was acceptable for employees to come to work, do their job as instructed, and go home. Today, we need employees to
Sean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources
Heineken Americas
“The marketplace is moving too fast for a highly hierarchical decision model. Your effectiveness in preparing your population will be indicative of your overall success.”
• With company since 2003
• Previously held HR roles in banking, professional services, and Internet start-up
• B.S., Accounting, University of Scranton
• M.Ed., Rutgers University
Mr. Kane can be e-mailed at [email protected]
Company needs will only continue to become more specialized, and if you are not growing the talent pool to be competitive in the future marketplace, your leaders are failing the organization — regardless of the returns they provide in a given year — because those returns are not sustainable.
Sean Kane
Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas
© Books24x7, 2012 Sean Kane ExecBlueprints 4
Sean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas (continued)
think outside their role. Employees should not only understand the core marketplace conditions and sensitivities that are impacting the overall business, but they should also understand how their contribution can impact those results positively or negatively. If that connection cannot be drawn you must question the individual’s ability or the overall necessity of the role.
• Exhibits cultural awareness. Closely linked to “thinking globally” is cultural awareness. The world is getting smaller, and even if an employee never leaves the city of their birth during the course of their employment, a certain level of cultural awareness is needed to be successful because employee population bases, customers, suppliers, and competition are getting more and more diverse and global. A manager who cannot navigate in an international world will cost their company money. Most
firms spend a fair amount of money preparing individuals for international assignments, and cultural immersion programs are also common as an employee gets expatriated. However, the world has evolved and this is no longer enough to be successful. Companies must find ways to improve leaders’ cultural awareness even as they work in their home market.
External Focus. Competitive intelligence and customer insight are imperative for success in any industry, yet too many companies focus and orient themselves inter-nally. If you have an internal orientation, you cannot understand what you are doing well (and poorly) in relation to your competition or in service of your customer. An external focus helps you understand how the mar-ket is changing and provides the opportunity to learn and adapt in real time as you prepare for the future. David Ulrich, author of HR Transformation: Building Human Resources from the Outside In,
suggests that HR professionals must understand the needs of their companies from the “outside in.” What are the true needs of custom-ers and consumers? When that is answered, build the organization and supporting HR strategy that will optimize a company’s success.
Innovation. Companies must take on a more innovative mindset in both product and process mat-ters. While the importance of providing more choice for custom-ers based upon robust insight is obvious, most companies do not do it well. The extent of a company’s ability to create new products and services for their customers and consumers will dictate the sustain-ability of the business. While most talk of innovation in terms of prod-ucts, companies and employees that adopt an innovative process mindset (in addition to product) will be most successful because gains in efficiency and effectiveness can serve as a competitive advan-tage in the rapidly evolving marketplace.
Change Management. Innova-tion is impossible without change
© Books24x7, 2012 Sean Kane ExecBlueprints 5
Sean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas (continued)
management. If innovation is key to defining success in your future, it is imperative for all employees in an organization to become stronger at managing change, and even more important for managers to become world-class change leaders. The best ideas will not get to mar-ket and process improvements will not be fully implemented without formidable change management abilities. If you want a culture of innovation, you must improve this skill.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As the beer industry consolidates, so does our customer base — both retail and distributors. As a result of this consolidation and competition, the customer base is becoming more sophisticated and complex. Consequently, employees at all levels of the organization are being asked to solve more complex problems faster than ever before. Critical thinking and problem- solving skills are therefore of the utmost importance.
Managers and HR: Partnering to Drive CultureManagers must become much bet-ter change leaders and managers of culture. Currently, too many com-panies “allow” culture to happen and are not effectively managing it. Ned Morse, one of the authors of
Switch Point: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success and partner at the Continuous Learning Group, defines culture as “a pattern of behaviors that is rein-forced or punished by people and systems over time.” Too often there is a lack of awareness of how lead-ership behavior, standard operating procedures, and historical context impact culture.
It is of monumental importance that your organization understand the levers that impact and drive culture, and how to influence those levers positively. Once leaders understand those levers and the actions required to impact them, their ability to execute is the true test of how well they navigate a complex and difficult change man-agement process. Truly building and instilling change leadership capabilities into management’s skill set will allow leaders to under-stand, measure, manage, and drive the culture that the organization ultimately needs to be successful.
HR must help leaders to mea-sure and define not only the current culture, but the desired culture. Once that is done, actions must be taken to move toward and rein-force the desired culture. Developing this ability in HR, and also in line leaders, is extremely important to overall organization success.
Top 3 Goals for Education and Training ProgramsAs you think about the skills your organization needs for the future and your plan to drive the develop-ment of those skills, you will undoubtedly focus a portion of the resources in your plan to formal education and training programs. All formal education and training programs should achieve three goals: reinforce the desired culture, build individual skill and organiza-tion capability, and close a gap or drive a competitive advantage with the competition.
Reinforce the desired culture. If a company is properly managing and driving its desired culture, that culture must be reinforced in every-thing it does, i.e., in every employee interaction and touch point. Train-ing programs are no exception. As you instruct your population regarding the skills and behaviors you expect in the organization, you must ensure the information fully reinforces the culture you desire. Any variation from your desired state will only erode the work you have already done and destroy your credibility. This can be a chal-lenge when utilizing external vendors, many of whom prefer their established methodology. However, you must remain vigilant and disciplined about finding part-ners that will customize their
Consolidation is happening in all aspects of our business — brewers as well as retail and distributor customers. Because every layer of the industry is getting more sophisticated and playing at a larger scale, stakes are higher than ever before. Clearly defining and developing the core capabilities that will make an organization successful now and in the future is critical to success and a key responsibility of any HR leader.
Sean Kane
Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas
© Books24x7, 2012 Sean Kane ExecBlueprints 6
Sean KaneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Heineken Americas (continued)
learning to support your overall company mission.
Build individual skills and orga-nizational capability. Developing individual skills of employees allows them to be more effective in their current roles, builds their abilities for future roles, and is an important part of the employee/employer compact as it makes an individual more marketable both internally and externally for future opportunities. Companies have done a good job of building indi-vidual skills for decades and this should continue; however, the dis-cipline must be focused around organization capability. Far too many training dollars are spent every year developing individual skills and abilities that do not build overall organization capability. With budgets squeezed and costs under pressure, HR must filter out these wasted expenditures for the sake of efficiency.
In terms of effectiveness, build-ing the organization’s capability is imperative to the overall develop-ment of the company. This process must focus on the capabilities needed to achieve the overall busi-ness mission and insure success with customers in the competitive landscape of the future. While these capabilities may vary by function or level in the organization, HR must provide the necessary insight and discipline to insure focus is in the proper areas.
Focus on a competitive advan-tage. As part of building organization capability, you must understand your customer and competition. What is the ideal organization to serve our customer? What gaps separate us from that desired organization? And what are our competition’s gaps in providing customers their desired product? What current organizational
capabilities provide us with a competitive advantage?
As an HR professional, your role is to help the business define answers to those questions and then build training programs to offer solutions. If your training programs are not addressing the gaps between your current and optimal organization, or your com-petitor’s shortcomings, why are you conducting the training? If your training programs are not helping you to drive a competitive advan-tage, why are you spending the money? This level of discipline will keep the function grounded in the business and focused on the external world and customer.
You must equip your population to respond and move through change more effectively while pre-paring leaders and frontline employees to think and act with more independence in increasingly complicated situations. n
© Books24x7, 2012 Barbara Heim ExecBlueprints 7
Barbara HeimGeneral Manager, HR Business Delivery, BG Group
Addressing Upcoming Talent NeedsFor our industry, technology is changing continuously. Discoveries are happening farther offshore than ever before because we now have the technology to do it safely — both in terms of personal safety and environmental safety. Technology has enabled those things. It’s the same with fracking. Now that we’ve figured out how to extract gas from shale rock, we can drill enough gas to sustain the U.S. for years and years without having to rely on foreign imports.
Almost daily, the technical field is evolving with new tools and tech-niques to operate safely and in an environmentally responsible man-ner. Moreover, we are continuously challenged from an environmental and regulatory standpoint. We need to ensure that people do not get hurt while addressing challenges from environmental organizations and governments.
Going forward, we will need to address even bigger environmental concerns with drilling offshore. These will continuously become more challenging and will require that we work with our employees, governments, and vendors to develop safer and more cost-efficient solutions. Addressing these areas will also require both training our current workforce and hiring new people. This will involve network-ing with others, supporting our people, and working in groups. It
used to be each man for himself, but now I think we are much more willing as an industry to partner up to try to get the best for everyone.
Consequently, we are continu-ously trying to figure out better ways to accomplish all of this. So, in the next two years, our company will need both leadership and tech-nical knowledge, which, from the oil and gas perspective, means posi-tions such as engineers, petroleum engineers, project managers, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, etc.
Assessing Employees for Development, Including for New RolesOn an ongoing basis, it is impor-tant to stay current and competitive within the industry and learn what we could be doing differently. Otherwise, every year gaps will probably widen. Based on current staffing and skill sets, we need to have a way to collect the informa-tion and determine what is missing.
We develop our people to take on new roles through development plans that feature regular progress checks and target dates. Every year, we do a development review that involves an assessment of where people’s skills need to be today ver-sus where they are. We examine the nature of the gaps well as what their future is. If, for example, the company and employee agree that they should move into a new role,
we will start planning to determine their gaps. We might, for example, devise a development plan that focuses on technical job experience or encourages the individual to take a leadership course. To increase their skills, we try to match them with current men-tors within the company or others who have those skills.
These efforts are supported by an internal coaching program. Some attend a training class and others receive much more intensive training and development. In the coming year we may endeavor to prepare as many as 40 percent of
Barbara HeimGeneral Manager, HR Business Delivery
BG Group
“We need to give our current people access to the newest, most advanced practices in the industry.”
• Responsible for developing company’s talent across the world
• Previously VP, human resources, Burger King (North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
• Held HR leadership positions in Pennzoil Quaker State, EmCare Holdings Inc., Ryder System, and Colgate Palmolive
Ms. Heim can be e-mailed at [email protected]
Every year, we do a development review that involves an assessment of where people’s skills need to be today versus where they are.
Barbara Heim
General Manager, HR Business Delivery BG Group
© Books24x7, 2012 Barbara Heim ExecBlueprints 8
Barbara HeimGeneral Manager, HR Business Delivery, BG Group (continued)
our employees for new roles or responsibilities.
When considering which people to train into new roles, we look at two factors: 1) our need for the skill/job and the person’s desire to do that job, and 2) potential. If we think that the individual has the potential to go further in the orga-nization, then it is a lot easier to give them more skills. However, I will also say that so much of our decision-making process has to do with the employee’s ambition. Because we do not like to force people, the process is much easier when it is driven by the employee. We want them to feel that the new role is something that they really want to do instead of pushing it down on them. We are pretty will-ing to offer training to just about everyone.
We communicate training opportunities through the individ-ual annual review. Each year, all employees have formal one-on-one meetings with their managers to identify gaps and potential devel-opment opportunities. They take place over a two-month period. These reviews are then filed elec-tronically for future reference. If, for example, we find that 600 people need presentation skills training, we will run a course. If we find that nobody in the whole com-pany speaks Chinese (and we are going to do business in China), we will find some people who want to learn Chinese and teach it to them.
Programs for Developing LeadersWe are also developing future lead-ers through an industry-leading new program called the Emerging Leaders Program. It is an 18-month
program that will be run by an external provider with which we have contracted. We identify people for this offering through a series of development centers, which are basically assessment centers where people are evaluated for future potential. Out of a pool of 200 employees, we selected 17 mid-level, high-potential employees (not first-year people) from across the globe to enter this program.
Participants receive an emer-gence experience in leadership. The whole group meets every six months (i.e., three times) for formal classroom training and in between they work on projects in small groups. For example, team mem-bers are likely located all over the world and have regular catch-ups over the phone. One of our class-
room training periods took place in the U.K., one in Australia, and the last will be held in Brazil. The intent of this program is to provide opportunities to learn about the business from each other, while gaining valuable leadership skills.
The Challenges and Opportunities of a Global EnvironmentFrom a globalization standpoint language is a problem: when oper-ating in different countries it is more effective to have people with local knowledge of not just the language but also the culture. The chances that everyone working speaks English in every place we operate is small, especially in remote rural locations. One of our
1. Develop internal talent and promote those who possess the requisite skills.
2. Cultivate the right skills and knowledge to retain competitive edge.
3. Retain employees by providing them more opportunities.
Top 3 Goals for Education and Training Programs
© Books24x7, 2012 Barbara Heim ExecBlueprints 9
Barbara HeimGeneral Manager, HR Business Delivery, BG Group (continued)
safety initiatives was to use pictures instead of words on our signage because it is almost impossible to translate everything into every dif-ferent language; pictures are much more universal.
I do think that people are chang-ing; they no longer get quite as frustrated when they are dealing in other cultures and languages but, still, some of that remains. We require certain positions to speak and write English, and we also give people opportunities to study other languages.
Because BG is a global company, we need employees to want to be mobile and work internationally, which is not a skill, but a lifestyle choice. It is difficult to run an inter-national company if people do not want to move. However, a related skill would be to have both cultural awareness and business acumen; people need to know the business issues, including the prevailing challenges and opportunities, but they also need to know how to navigate different cultures. For example, when I go to Brazil I have to tone down my assertiveness; I cannot go in like “a bull in a china
shop.” I have to spend a lot more time building a relationship first instead of jumping right into the issue at hand. We want our expatri-ates to be spokespeople, if you will, for the company because we are proud of the way that we operate and of what we do. On the other hand, we need to make sure that we are maintaining consistent tech-nical standards. If we are going to drill a well in Tunisia, we should do it the same way that we drill in Bolivia. From a technical perspec-tive these operations need to be very similar. n
We recently purchased a cultural information tool. The product provides cultural information on over 60 countries. The tool informs you how to greet people, what things you should avoid, and about some of the important differences between nationalities so people will understand where they need to be careful. While this is really a fascinating tool, it doesn’t include all of the countries where we do business yet, though we are working on that. When people do their homework, things go a whole lot easier.
Barbara Heim
General Manager, HR Business Delivery BG Group
© Books24x7, 2012 Keith A. Chrzanowski ExecBlueprints 10
Keith A. ChrzanowskiSenior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Given Imaging
Managing Growth and Employee Skill Sets on a Global ScaleWith double-digit revenue growth year over year, we continue to see the organization evolving globally. Each region (Americas, EMEA, Asia) maintains sales and market-ing, clinical support and education, finance/accounting, and service functions to meet customer needs. The needs of our global customers vary depending on the country’s health care system, i.e., whether they are serviced directly by Given Imaging or by a distributor of medical products. In addition, health care economics for diagnos-tic services differ in each country.
To meet the changing needs of our emerging global organization and the health care system, we assess the potential gaps each year in our employees’ skill portfolio. To accomplish this assessment, we uti-lize common HR touch points (performance appraisal, talent review, succession planning). The process of identification begins late in the calendar/fiscal year for the following year. During the third
and fourth quarters of our fiscal year we complete our talent review process, which is a competency-driven evaluation of our functional teams down to the individual contributor level.
The process assesses current per-formance and potential, develops succession plans, and captures devel-opmental training needs. As this HR process nears completion, the orga-nization begins to develop the coming year’s budget and update our three-year strategic plan. Both the coming fiscal year budget (which reflects expected perfor-mance) and the updated three-year strategic plan serve as a “check and balance” to our training and devel-opment plans.
Just-In-Time Alignment of Needs, Training, and Execution OpportunitiesAn organization must balance the desire to invest and grow their employees with the needs of the business. To invest without project-ing an expected return to the busi-ness is a waste of company resources that could be put to other good use. Furthermore, the developed employees will not have received the opportunity to utilize new skills and talents to reap a return to the business, and will retain less of their expertise over time.
Most managers today are famil-iar with “just in time” production practices, which, in essence, strive to improve business return on investment (ROI) by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. The same idea applies to the investment in train-ing, the belief being that you can improve the return on an orga-nization’s training/development
investment through a close align-ment of needs and delivery of the required training/development. Once training and development needs are known, a preliminary plan can be constructed. The plan is then reviewed with regional man-agement and serves as a basis for the budgeting process.
Keith A. ChrzanowskiSenior Vice President,
Global Human Resources Given Imaging
“It is incumbent on each manager to have the right type of discussions with open and honest feedback, to listen actively to the employee, and to reach agreement on expectations and future opportunities.”
• With company since 2005; in current role since 2008
• 25 years of experience in HR management and leadership roles
• Previously senior director/vice president of human resources, McKesson Provider Technologies
• B.A., Communications, Western Illinois University
• M.A., Organizational Theory, Norwich University
Mr. Chrzanowski can be e-mailed at [email protected]
Training/development is a key indicator to employees of how they are viewed in the organization and to what extent their manager desires to continue their growth and success.
Keith A. Chrzanowski
Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources
Given Imaging
© Books24x7, 2012 Keith A. Chrzanowski ExecBlueprints 11
Keith A. ChrzanowskiSenior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Given Imaging (continued)
Using Employee Feedback for Accurate AppraisalsAnother HR touch point occurs early in the year with the common performance appraisal process. Again, we use a competency-based appraisal process across the globe that both manufacturing and employees complete. A key section in the appraisal document is the question(s) section where we ask the employee to answer:• What are the tools and skills
that need to be developed in order to further utilize your capabilities?
• What aspects and processes of the organization are most important to:
– Preserve?
– Improve?
• In achieving your goals, what are the main ways in which your manager:
– Helped you?
– Could do more?
• Can you provide a summary of performance that includes future aspirations?
After being completed by both the manager and employee, the appraisal document is thoroughly reviewed to capture development plans and educational needs. This summary often provides an oppor-tunity to look for synergistic needs that can be addressed by function, by region, or on a global scale.
Communicating Training Needs and OpportunitiesThe communication of training opportunities to employees is an important and often neglected
process. Our approach at Given Imaging is aligned with how we decide to invest in training and development.
To begin with, employees need a frame of reference for decisions in an organization. Foundationally this is accomplished by regular communication and discussion of past business results and future business initiatives (e.g., appropri-ate components of the strategic plan and performance to budget). We accomplish parts of this ongo-ing communication in several ways.
First, following the close of each quarter and disclosure of the finan-cial results, a “Letter from the
CEO” is e-mailed to all employees. This communication from the top gives a brief summation of our financial results, key accomplish-ment/challenges by region, and future directions. Next, our senior management travel to employee locations to provide an overview of the business and an update on their functional area. A key component of these meetings is the Q&A por-tion. There are no limits to what can and is asked and, of course, if follow-up is required, this is done immediately. Finally, twice each year we publish an employee news-letter that covers our strategic initiatives in-depth, provides recog-nition, and features an in-depth
Keeping the Critical Communications Going: Effective Practices for Providing Employees
with Context for Development Initiatives
1. A “Letter from the CEO” is e-mailed to all employee that provides: • A brief summation of our financial results • Key accomplishment/challenges by region • Future directions
2. Senior management travels to employee locations to provide: • An overview of the business • An update on their functional area • Q&A and follow-up
3. An employee newsletter is published that covers: • Strategic initiatives in-depth • Recognition of employees • In-depth look at a region or function of key importance
© Books24x7, 2012 Keith A. Chrzanowski ExecBlueprints 12
Keith A. ChrzanowskiSenior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Given Imaging (continued)
look at a region or function of key importance.
We have found that these three fundamental approaches ensure our employees are well informed. When communicating on training and development opportunities, this foundation of information is important and enables “critical” communications between managers and employees to take place. This communication occurs in conjunc-tion with the talent review process, the performance appraisal process, and the mid-year informal performance review. It is incum-bent on each manager to have the right type of discussions with open and honest feedback, to listen
actively to the employee, and to reach agreement on expectations and future opportunities. Training/development is a key indicator to
employees of how they are viewed in the organization and to what extent their manager desires to con-tinue their growth and success. n
About Given Imaging
Since pioneering the field of capsule endoscopy in 2001, Given Imaging has become a world leader in GI medical devices, offering health care providers a range of innovative options for visualizing, diagnosing, and monitoring the digestive system. The company offers a broad product portfolio including PillCam® video capsules for the small bowel, esophagus, and colon, industry-leading ManoScan™ high-resolution manometry, and Bravo® pH and Digitrapper® pH and impedance monitoring.
Given Imaging’s headquarters are located in Yoqneam, Israel, with operating subsidiaries in the U.S., Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. As of 2012, we have over 780 employees worldwide with an approximate breakdown of revenue as follows: Americas 60 percent, EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) 30 percent, and Asia 10 percent.
© Books24x7, 2012 Alok Sheopurkar ExecBlueprints 13
Alok SheopurkarSenior Vice President and Head of Human Resources, HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Necessary Skill SetsLeadership, people management, risk management, regulatory knowledge, and market and busi-ness understanding are key devel-opmental areas. There are also three significant knowledge areas the organization needs to operate effectively. They are customer ser-vice, technology, and compliance and risk management. No longer does someone in HR just need to understand economics. Now the ability to deal with change is the most important skill for anyone in any position.
While management and supervi-sory skills have always been considered essential, in the past five years we have a seen a decline in this emphasis. The recession that followed the crash of 2008 has led to restructuring in almost every aspect of the industry, and roles that had previously consisted of a high percentage of supervision are now being restructured. Increas-ingly, as technology proficiency increases, technology is taking over some aspects of supervision.
Cultural MigrationIn general, the financial services industry has been very geocentric in its hiring approach given the reality that a certain familiarity with culture and language has always been essen-
tial when forming relationships with clients. However, it is undergoing change. Migration between different cities has increased and, increasingly, cities big and small now contain a broader mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds. This changing mix of clients means that companies are now looking to hire people who are from different ethnic backgrounds, can work in more than one geographical market, and are multilingual.
We have always been an equal opportunity employer and invested a significantly higher amount of time and money (compared to our peers) in screening and hiring for organizational fit and culture. While our hiring approach has tra-ditionally been geocentric, as we prefer employing people to work in the geographic areas to which they are local, we have been hiring fresh MBA students from different back-grounds who are essentially multilingual and have lived in cul-tures or environments other than their own. A back-of-the-envelope estimation is that more than 90 percent of the new skills and requirements are already present in the workforce of this organization. The remaining 10 percent relate to broad technology skills that can be trained or to extremely niche and hard-to-find skills in the area of compliance and risk management.
The Knowledge GapOur industry space is defined by regulation and customers. The scrutiny, demands, and due dili-gence requirements of both have substantially increased to the point that knowledge gaps in the areas of risk, compliance, and customer service have appeared. These can only be bridged by creating a learn-ing organization and encouraging every employee to renew their knowledge base. However, renewal processes require the right attitude
Alok SheopurkarSenior Vice President
and Head of Human Resources HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
“We believe training is not the whole solution but part of solution.”
• 22 years in HR, training, organization development and capability building, and employee relations
• Previous experience includes positions at Tata Iron and Steel Company and Cadbury Schweppes
• Certified Behavioral Analyst, OD Practitioner, and Qualified MBTI practitioner
• Executive coach trained with Neuro Leadership Group (accredited by International Coaching Federation)
Mr. Sheopurkar can be e-mailed at [email protected]
While organizations need to make substantial investments in knowledge, technology, new talent hires, institutional memory, and infrastructure, they often do not drive learning efforts until the culture is built around them.
Alok Sheopurkar
Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Alok SheopurkarSenior Vice President and Head of Human Resources, HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. (continued)
© Books24x7, 2012 Alok Sheopurkar ExecBlueprints 14
and hunger to occur. While organi-zations need to make substantial investments in knowledge, technol-ogy, new talent hires, institutional memory, and infrastructure, they often do not drive learning efforts until the culture is built around them.
On the one hand, increased scru-tiny and regulation have ensured that products are simplified, that no increase in the universe of prod-ucts is possible, and that no financial innovation will take place in the near future. On the other hand, customers have become very demanding and spend a significant amount of time doing due dili-gence. Customers today are no
longer happy with a return, they want to know how it was obtained and how likely it is to be sustained. There has also been a significant increase in customer and regulatory expectations as neither want to wait.
Past performance may not be a perfect indicator of future perfor-mance, but it is the only visible indicator. Past performance plays the most important role in assess-ing which employees require training for new roles. In addition to past performance, supervisory and customer feedback is also con-sidered. Talent also has shelf life. These standards do not usually vary much as the key requisite
abilities have not varied, i.e., the ability to accomplish objectives and create and maintain constructive and productive relationships.
Training EmployeesWhile our focus is on learning and development, training is a part of it. Training opportunities are commu-nicated on a one-on-one basis. We believe it is the individual and not the organization that should drive learning; in other words, we believe in the pull factor rather than the push factor. We consider training and education more as a process that complements each individual’s effectiveness at work. n
Because we believe that offering training is fundamental to a strong employer–employee association, we don’t just do conventional training but also conduct some breakout sessions at a team level, even though our focus is more on individuals than groups. We encourage employees to be part of various networks and forums that can contribute to their overall development and help them continue improving knowledge by acquiring various certifications and qualifications. We also offer training to build perspective and elicit feedback from various sources to calibrate our training needs.
Alok Sheopurkar
Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
© Books24x7, 2012 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 15
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points I. What Critical Skill and Knowledge Areas Do Companies Need to Address?In this era of globalization, consolidation, and rapid technological growth, company talent needs are necessarily changing, and if you are not growing your workforce to be competitive in the future marketplace, your organization will fail to keep abreast of these rapid developments. That’s why it’s essential to clearly define and develop the core capabilities that will spell success for both the current quarter and years to come. In addition to industry-specific technical, customer-service, regulatory/compliance, and other content knowledge, areas that most organizations will need to develop include:
• Leadership that engages and inspires others to work toward common goals
• Critical, independent thinking and problem-solving skills
• The capacity for employees to look beyond their given role to comprehend market and other external factors impacting their organizations
• An innovative mindset in both product and process matters, and a willingness to manage the requisite change that accompanies the application of new ideas
• Knowledge of other languages and cultures, and competence in working with diverse colleagues and customers
II. The Bottom LineInternal promotions have always had a higher probability of success than external hires, particularly in the case of senior positions. As the marketplace and individual company strategies become more complex, you will find it’s more important than ever to grow talent internally to build the capability your organization will need to support its business in the future. However, to avoid breaking the bank on development costs, these efforts must be focused on organization-level needs rather than individual nice-to-haves. Before deploying any training or development program, key areas to consider are:
• What specific, urgent business need is the training addressing?
• How will it improve your company’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations?
• How will it enhance your customer service?
• Specifically, how will it serve to bolster your company’s competitive advantage?
• How will it contribute to your company’s capabilities to achieve its overall business mission?
• What opportunities will employees have to quickly apply their new skills and knowledge in service of the business?
• What does the company risk (e.g., in inefficiency or lost opportunities) by not giving the training?
III. Must-Have Goals for Training and Development ProgramsIn this era of squeezed budgets, you already know that your education programs must be more about addressing skill and knowledge gaps that could impede company progress than providing personal enrichment opportunities for employees. While the chief objectives of your program may be tailored to your company’s specific needs, the authors recommend you incorporate the following goals that are key to the success of nearly every organization into your program planning:
• Build skills that will enable employees to be more effective in their current roles and to be promoted into positions of greater responsibility.
• Focus on organizational capabilities that can give your company a competitive advantage in either product or process areas.
• Provide education on external environmental factors (including the competition) that impact company results both positively and negatively.
• Reinforce the desired culture at your company by instructing people on expected skills and behaviors.
• Retain employees by providing them opportunities for meaningful growth.
IV. The Golden Rules for Communicating With Employees About DevelopmentOne effective way to excite your employees about growing with the company is to provide them with a foundation of knowledge that includes not only feedback on their individual performance but also facts about the company’s past results and future initiatives. Organization leadership, HR, and managers have many channels they can use to share this information with employees on both an individual and companywide basis, including:
• Periodic letters from the CEO that give a summation of financial results, key accomplishments/challenges, and future directions
• Town hall meetings with senior managers that include Q&A sessions with employees
• Employee newsletters that provide in-depth articles on key functions
• One-on-one meetings with managers to exchange honest feedback, identify gaps, and discuss potential development opportunities
• Performance appraisal processes that allow employees to share their impressions of the company and their thoughts on how management can help them succeed
V. Essential Take-AwaysTo ensure that your company will stay abreast of rapid market and technological developments, you need an agile workforce that is engaged in the process of continuous improvement through training and growth opportunities. Such a climate is developed not only by offering the requisite programs but also by building a learning culture that permeates the environment. This process starts at the top with messages from leadership that growth is important — and that every employee can participate in it — and then is supported with processes and procedures that welcome and enable that participation. In concert with such a culture, you can drive learning throughout your organization by:
• Encouraging networking with others (including outside the company) and working in groups
• Conducting workforce development reviews that identify individual — and institutional — gaps that will inform future program initiatives
• Providing individualized plans to improve skills and knowledge that feature regular progress checks and target dates
• Matching employees with mentors/coaches who possess the skill sets that they are learning
• Establishing a policy that, when possible, training should be driven by the employee, and that it is available to anyone who wants it
• Instituting a process for identifying and placing high-potential employees into leadership development programs n
© Books24x7, 2012 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 16
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)
ExecBlueprints is a subscription-based offering from Books24x7, a SkillSoft Company. For more information on subscribing, please visit www.books24x7.com.
10 Key Questions and discussion Points
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What knowledge gaps currently exist, or do you expect will exist, in the next two years? What factors have led or will lead to these gaps?
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What training opportunities will you implement to help address these knowledge gaps? How do these methods compare to those used in previous years?
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When assessing which employees require training for new roles and responsibilities, what standards do you use? Have these standards changed over time?
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In the next 12 months, do you plan to make any changes in your training programs and educational opportunities? If so, what type of changes (e.g., related to content offerings, technology, etc.) are you planning?
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In the next 12 months, how many employees do you expect to train for new skill sets, roles, or responsibilities? Is this number the same or different from previous years?
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In what ways is your company currently developing future leaders? What new skill sets do you anticipate will be needed at management level?
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What are your company’s best practices for choosing and developing training programs and educational opportunities? What incentives do you offer employees to undergo additional training/education?
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How do you measure the ROI for the education and training of your existing workforce? Has this method changed in the past three years?
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What skills will you seek for your international sites? How are these similar or different to those needed in domestic locations?
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