We know life in HR can be extremely challenging at times—we’re not suggesting drugs. Rather we share insights into what Cathay Pacific is doing—with staff from Hong Kong and mainland China—to keep its teams on the same page and highly engaged. To this end HR magazine recently caught up with John Slosar, Chief Executive, Cathay Pacific to get his take on the opportunities and challenges for HR that have resulted from the growing economic integration between Hong Kong and mainland China and how he is leading his team to even greater altitudes.
Slosar has been with the Swire Group for 31 years and this is his third time with Cathay Pacific. Having run Swire’s beverage business for over nine years, he has considerable experience at the helm in times of crisis. Slosar is well versed in taking full advantage of situations that seemingly present organisations with an overwhelming number of difficulties. He views the growing economic integration between Hong Kong and mainland China as a great opportunity, rather than a challenge. This positive mindset is undoubtedly a major factor contributing to his popularity in his current role at Cathay as CE and his no nonsense approach to building solid teams, without letting profit cycles get in the way of HR policy.
Graduate talent mixing bowl
The company has always recruited graduates from both mainland China and Hong Kong and manages them together—nurturing them towards senior management roles within 15 to 20 years. Slosar noted, “The integration of the two markets has meant that talents from mainland China are very interested in working in Hong Kong and at the same time talents from Hong Kong are very interested in working in mainland China. This ‘talent mixing bowl’ has served to significantly bolster Cathay’s team—producing a diverse network of people with different skills sets and experiences. Slosar was quick to stress the importance of giving employees interesting and challenging jobs in order to help them develop themselves and their skill sets. This enhances staff retention, as employees feel more empowered and can see their own personal development in action, which naturally makes them want to stay with the company to make a career for themselves.
Talent hopping
In mainland China staff development and retention are notoriously difficult to sustain. Slosar commented, “If you’re a talented, skillful, experienced and aggressive young manager in China you have a lot of opportunities. People are not shy at looking at those opportunities and moving around to take advantage of the best available opportunities.” He added, “The company has always invested in their employees and it’s in our organisational culture to continue as such. The challenge for us is to figure out how to retain people.”
Ignore margin cycles
Margins are a cyclical issue—in good years they go up and in bad ones they go down, but Slosar advised HR professionals to maintain a long-term HR strategy. He said, “We don’t let the current year change our staff policy. Annually, 15-20 graduates are hired—recruits move horizontally through the organisation as giving people new roles in new geographies is key to successfully training a recruit. Staff are internally developed and so the company doesn’t need to look outside for new recruits to fill positions. Annual margin cycles shouldn’t influence a company’s staffing policy and this has been proven to be true over the long-term.”
On the same wavelength
A fundamental issue for every organisation is that there are managers, shareholders and staff involved in its success. With these three elements in mind Slosar stated, “All three have to be on the same page and everyone has to see some benefit from the success of the company. If certain people involved don’t benefit from the success, the initiative isn’t there to keep them motivated. This will truly pay off when things are tough—people will then pitch in as a team to make things better.” He added, “You have to reach out to your staff—your staff are still your staff. When things become tougher, it’s their motivation and dedication that will help the company to pull through. It’s a big mistake when a company stops treating the workforce like they belong to the company.”
Communication with staff is paramount in any HR policy—which should also include letting staff know how they can contribute to the company’s success. Cathay Pacific have a profit-sharing scheme so that everyone involved can benefit from their hard work—whether it’s a one dollar or five billion dollar profit—staff involved will be apportioned a share of that. “It gives them the confidence to believe: if I work hard and contribute something to the company, I’ll get something back for it,” expressed Slosar. Slosar admits that this is easy to say…much more difficult to do…but that doing so is the ‘right thing to do’ ensuring a healthier long-term HR strategy and a much more engaged team.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
