During these globally unstable economic times, every department within an organisation is being examined with regards to their level of indispensability. Strategic HR involves the provision of advice to the company’s leadership, as opposed to just reports, according to Ken Pearson, currently Director of Business Execution Architecture, SuccessFactors, and formerly Director of Talent Development at Walmart Stores.
HR Magazine and SuccessFactors hosted an executive breakfast roundtable at the Hong Kong Football Club on 4 June. Delegates included senior-level HR Directors, VPs and C-level executives from a variety of industries.
Pearson spoke in depth about his previous global HR leadership position served at Walmart, and the fundamental challenges that he faced in the global retailer. He reported, “I worked for a company with 2.2 million employees, but every year I heard the same problems recounted from my leadership—the single thing that kept them awake at night was that we didn’t have enough talent to fuel our growth.” In fact the organisation had huge amounts of talent, but HR was just not clear about exactly what key skills each staff member had and where those skills might be transferable into different postings. Pearson recalled a situation where an accountant with specialist knowledge departed from the organisation, and there was a great deal of emphasis placed on the difficulty of finding someone with this technical knowledge, and the need to hire someone from outside of Walmart. In the end this staff member’s replacement was found unloading trucks at one of the Walmart stores, as it turned out he had the required degree and hence the specialist accounting knowledge to be able to perform effectively in this job.
Pearson highlighted the importance of HR searching for talent and niche skillsets within the organisation, as opposed to always looking externally—from new hires—at times when skills shortages were hindering company progress. He emphasised the importance of HR and IT working closely together to identify a select few key metrics—for example percentage of customer complaints for customer service staff, or frequency of on-time delivery for driving and loading staff—for different teams within the organisation, as well as ensuring they were aligned with the company’s vision and strategy, before implementing a metric-tracking system. It is highly beneficial to identify internal talent metrics before spending money on expensive applicant tracking systems and external hires. Commenting on the importance of having representatives from every department assisting with the implementation of such projects, he then highlighted the importance of obtaining buy-in from staff at all levels.
Pearson debunked the myth that ‘HR does not have a proper place at the board table’ by commenting, “HR does have a seat at the table. But just make sure you check what you’re bringing to the table. HR must provide advice to the CEO, not just reports full of metrics”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
