Left: Dyanne Ierardo, Director Human Resources, Asia Pacific & Global Services, Verizon Business. Right: Martha Delehanty, Senior Vice President Human Resources, Verizon
Verizon may be a household name in the US as a wireless telecommunications operator, but here in Asia their presence is less obvious. Two of their senior HR managers spoke to HR Magazine enthusiastically from the local Hong Kong Verizon office in Tai Koo. The duo shared on their vision, credo and how IT is playing an ever more important role in HR.
It has been a long journey for Martha Delehanty, Senior Vice President Human Resources, Verizon. She began her journey in HR in 1991 at a company now acquired by Verizon, and has remained there ever since. Previously she studied a degree in Finance and another in Psychology, before becoming an Art Therapist in a mental hospital. This eclectic blend of experiences helped Delehanty realise that she wanted to guide people. Describing her fellow employees within the mental clinic, “I saw the way people were distracted, and just how much it hindered people from being productive and delivering company value.” It was at this point that she wanted to focus on HR.
Meanwhile, Dyanne Ierardo, Director Human Resources, Asia Pacific & Global Services, Verizon Business talked about her background. Once an aspiring hairdresser, Ierardo is now Director of HR in APAC. While working at a previous company, she was developed under strict supervision and strong mentorship. This made her realise that she wanted to be a solutions facilitator.
Developing the company credo
Delehanty begins, “We start with our credo, and then we embed it in all the actions we take.” This ‘embedding’ begins as soon as staff are on-boarded, which is where the very foundations are laid, building from the ground up. This is all in the drive to make the culture authentic. It is there that the fundamentals are made known: customer experience is essential and maintaining a focus on what is happening now, while having the clarity to look past unnecessary trivial issues. They distract from the core focus, which returns to Delehanty’s previous statement of distraction manifesting itself in a way that hinders people from delivering the company values.
Ierardo expands, “The biggest mistake people make is that they make the values merely words, rather than living the culture.” It is all down to behaviours: email greetings, interacting in the office, communicating with clients and so on. Ierardo continues, “When we build our plans for a company culture we create them on a global scale, but execute them locally.” This means taking the company culture global but being respectful of the locality.
Common ground
Verizon employs around 172,000 employees globally. The gap between executives and lower level employees can seem vast. To bridge that gap, Verizon has piloted a programme called ‘Executive Week in Residence’. The executive team travels to an international office once every quarter then takes up residence within the local open space office where they go about their usual day-to-day work. Ierardo explains, “It takes the high level functions that feel very bureaucratic and then breaks them down into a more authentic relationship.” The relationship goes beyond someone being the big boss locked in a private office. Local staff are encouraged to approach the executives and interact to establish common ground, and it lets people know the executives are just people too. It enables a culture of openness, collaboration and opens new avenues for business.
Befriending IT
HR and IT are becoming increasingly entwined. Using data to make forward-thinking decisions is essential, which means staying close to the IT team is critical for success. IT holds all the data, and for an organisation as large as Verizon, there is certainly plenty to utilise. HR is no expert in data—this is where the relationship with IT becomes beneficial. IT posses the data and has a better idea of how to best utilise it. Delehanty poses the dilemma, “I know everything about my employees, what their problems are and what they are going through. But how do I take that data and help them with it?” Ierardo observed, “It’s all about what we know about our people and what we do with that information. This could be employee assistant programmes, benefits or the right support network. Data is not about pulling reports anymore!”
Why do data and analytics matter? The Holy Grail is predicting the future, and with data, HR can accomplish that more effectively. Organisations that build capabilities in people analytics out-perform their peers in quality of hire, retention and leadership capabilities and are generally higher ranked in their employment brand. A recent report by Bersin1 found just 10% of organisations studied had taken the next step toward advanced analytics. Meanwhile, only 4% were using predictive analytics to forecast future talent outcomes.
On the right track
Delehanty asserted, “People are people. They all want different development and not everyone is interested in management or becoming a people leader.” Others are more interested in acquiring a specific skill set. Being able to provide the type of development someone actually wants is a lot more beneficial: there is no point in teaching a fish how to climb a tree.
The pair highlighted the need to offer more than one track for employee progression. If employees have no desire to move towards a leadership orientated role then do not force them. Instead offer an alternative that will align better with their skill set and personality. Ultimately it will be as much to your organisation’s benefit as it will be to theirs. Permit people to become technical experts in their field and they will excel. This person will then become a ‘mission specialist’, who HR will now have at their disposal. The employee will not only become an expert in their field but also be empowered through your investment in them.
Where do you go from there? Ierardo pondered, “Meaningful work is a big key to retention, and employees feel they are valued, that they are progressing and that they are learning.” The office has been implementing ‘hackathons’—typically these events are short but intense computer programming sessions where people with IT background and other auxiliaries rapidly develop an idea. They engage staff in a different way. Ierardo continued, “They certainly help to develop relationships in a less traditional manner. It engages employees in a different way and it changes the conversation. An agile collaboration that is less about the outcome and more about the experience and where a business can really engage in business opportunities.”
A word of advice
Delehanty wrapped up with three guidelines she swears by:
- Know how your company makes money and is building relevance with your customers now an in the future.
- Link the people actions to that revenue and profit stream.
- Simplify your message and say it over and over and over again. Speak human, not human resources.
Her final lively affirmation being, “Get’em, keep’em and build leaders for our future and then the business will be racing to the finish line with you!”
1 Source: High-Impact Talent Analytics: Building a World-Class HR Measurement and Analytics Function, Bersin by Deloitte
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
