Joseph Poon, MD & Deputy CE, Hang Seng Bank shares advice on recruitment best practices.
At one of HR Magazine's recent HR conferences, Joseph Poon, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Executive, Hang Seng Bank, introduced the importance of HR as a strategy. Starting with the problem of having business plans that do not include people, he emphasised that CEOs should focus on talent retention as a key issue and that, “HR is not just primarily responsible for HR, but rather the business strategies that the CEO leads.” Poon spoke of an exercise begun in 2006 by Hang Seng Bank to rejuvenate their brand but found it difficult to try and articulate its culture. They decided that middle managers would form a core group on deciding the service excellence framework, which became seven beliefs, all with one aim, to deliver service excellence.
Poon stated that engaged and inspired employees ‘form the bedrock of an organisation’ and this needed to be integrated into the brand, which would be rolled out and led by the CEO with the theme, “Live the brand, start with me.” He highlighted that this concept needs constant reinforcement.
Poon went on to discuss the bank’s Talent Management System. He said when he first questioned its existence he received the reply, “Yes… but we haven’t launched it.” They then worked to deliver the model, along the way making reward and leadership plans for mid-level and the young as well as provisions for succession planning and the development of a career website.
He revealed, “Young recruits could disappear within 21 days...”, and so required constant follow up. He added that it was inviting trouble to have talent remain in the same job for more than three years, stressing the importance of having the talent pool being proactive in managing their own career development.
He listed the important factors for success, such as having the system as simple as possible and noted, “It was great to have strategic plans but that 80% of the success came from the leadership in implementation.”
Poon discussed the importance of being passionate about what you do as well as understanding how to balance learning with development in business. “In Hong Kong, especially, we lack exposure to strategic thinking… and project management.”
He stressed that, “The talents involved in career and succession planning grow, develop and are inspired with the strategic planning.” He added that the broader the exposure that talent can get, the better it is for both the person and the business. After working on this for four to five years, and being only halfway through, Poon reflected: Is it worth it? His response was that, “Within the talent pool the turnover rate is zero”, even with staff disengagement due to the recent financial crisis. He closed by stating that senior staff cannot delegate their responsibility to talent management, as it is just too important.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
