HR Dilemmas

A high performance culture is sought after but promotions for key positions regularly arise because of politics instead of contributions.

Teamwork is encouraged and expected but the company operates in an individual-centric manner.

The company prioritizes promoting from within but there has been no succession planning with corresponding leadership and develop programs.

The company strives to minimize recruitment fees to search firms but does not develop adequate in-house recruitment capabilities.

The CEO pledges to provide 30-40 training hours annually per employee but the CFO institutes stringent guidelines to greatly minimize training expenditures.

HR staff is expected to shift from an operational expert to human capital partner but has not received additional training to learn new skills necessary to succeed in these new roles, i.e. translating customer expectations into employees’ behavior, executive coaching, data analysis, etc.

The company states "who we are" in all marketing collaterals but is unable to cascade this knowledge to all management levels; hence employees provide a lot of different answers as to what the corporate culture is.

The organization encourages staff to provide constant feedback but does not support application of tools (e.g. organizational climate surveys) to capture feedback systematically.

People are expected to think and act on-the-spot but there is a strong autocratic decision making process that does not empower people to take charge.

The company complains about the lack of talent but perceives any initiatives to enlarge the talent pool as too costly.

The organization recognizes Human Capital Management as highly essential and at the center of it all but places the HR team in some odd corner of the office with minimal visibility.

The HR Director is under every increasing pressure to demonstrate quick manpower results but does not have the authority to reward/penalize managers who exhibit exceptional/pathetic people management skills.

The HR Director must champion change and push forward the "people's" agenda but is too often one of the last to know about major changes and problems and is not kept "in the loop" until when all hell breaks loose.

How do you know that your HR Head knows your business?

During one of the recent HR forums, it became apparent that “knowing the business” has become a chief mantra of HR Heads in China. It is one of the prerequisites for getting a "seat on the board" and being recognized as a Business Partner by business managers.

So, what does it mean for the HR Head to “know the business”? Well, it means that he/she can answer the following questions:
• Who are three of our competitors and what are their competitive advantages?
• Who are the five major buyers in the markets that we serve?
• Which customers represent 80 percent of our revenues and profits?
• Whom do the customers perceive as "best" in our industry?
• Why do our target customers buy from us? What are their buying criteria?
• What are our future customers' needs and expectations?
• How do we ensure that our target customers have a positive customer experience?
• What do we do to build connectivity or intimacy with our target customers?
• Can you describe the culture of our organization?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of our organization?
• What are the economic, social, political, and technological influences that affect our industry?
• What future risks is our organization facing?
• What are the opportunities for the organization?
• What is the financial performance of our company and how has this changed over the past three years?
• Can you read a profit and loss statement?

Even if the HR Head can answer all of these key questions, it is still very important for them to apply this knowledge to their HR strategy and programs and to ensure proper execution with their HR team.