HR Corner HR takes up a far wider role by Anna Tong Global business expansion entails greater responsibilities With increasing numbers of businesses now expanding into global operations, pressure is mounting on human resources professionals because such expansions automatically involve much more than knock-on staff changes. When such far-reaching projects are being undertaken, the planning may be extensive but there are challenges in the execution stages, says Felina Chua, HR director, Asia Pacific, LexisNexis, a provider of business solutions and information services. "What I have observed is that businesses do very well in strategy development, engaging the brightest people in the process, but they face great challenges in the execution stage," she says. "When the rubber meets the road, it entails mobilising the whole organisation and getting staff at all levels, aligned with senior management, fully behind the changes." In such important projects, Ms Chua emphasises, it is necessary to gain the employees' commitment at every stage of the change process. Over the past 10 years, Ms Chua has seen big changes in the human resources arena in response to economic developments in the region. Negative situations such as the Asian financial meltdown, and positive developments like the subsequent recovery that is still gaining momentum in Hong Kong, have had a strong effect on HR, particularly at the management level. "The landscape of HR has become more challenging and complex," she says. Today, LexisNexis' HR department advises the company's management on a wide range of issues related to their businesses such as community affairs, as well as environmental and compliance issues that could affect them. "Effective HRM can help organisations get to the next level" "Managing the strategy implementation is the key," says Ms Chua. "Effective HRM must be able to tailor their approaches to meet changing demands of different organisations, responding to match the particular business activity involved." Each scenario holds different challenges for businesses and she emphasises the importance of understanding and responding to such challenges. Besides addressing such issues as performance management, HR must look into other factors like change management and talent acquisition that will help towards building the right organisation. Customer-centric approach The key to building a customer-centric organisation is to make a shift to products and solutions that are customised to meet customers' needs. "The goal should be to craft a solution tailored to the customers' needs and demands rather than just selling them a product," says Ms Chua. As such, the company's HR helps set the stage in building a communication strategy for staff across the globe. This includes making decisions on setting up a global platform for key issues such as human resources and IT to achieve effective capabilities on a regional basis. She also advises HR professionals to adjust to changes in technology to increase staff efficiency, particularly the use of affordable web-based tools. "For example, this introduces a self-service aspect whereby staff can apply for leave online, update personal data and even upgrade their knowledge," she says. "It is a process that says 'we trust you' rather than 'we police you'. Webcast also allows staff to take part in global conferencing anywhere in the world, which is important today in giving companies their competitive edge." As a strategic partner in a business, HR leads much of the transformation in a company, Ms Chua notes. Therefore, HR should ensure that the organisations are provided with tools and processes, at all staff levels. To ensure that staff are fully engaged, LexisNexis conducts an "employee opinion survey" of 100 questions covering a whole spectrum of issues including the staff's view on management. "One very interesting finding from such surveys is that the management is expected to engage more with employees," says Ms Chua. Another finding was that focus groups should be formed among staff to create a better understanding of various problems and then develop actions for improvement. The development of leaders is key to business success. Collaboration with the top business schools such as Harvard & Babson enables LexisNexis to develop customised programmes relevant to businesses. However, Ms Chua emphasises that since the Asia market is so diverse, one solution cannot individually cater for all. She believes this is an exciting time for HR professionals, offering challenges, opportunities and learning. Effective HRM can help organisations get to the next level," she says. Change process These four stages are a necessary part of any change process in a business, whether it involves a leap into the global field or a regional or local change of lesser importance: 1. Making staff fully understand and be aware of the reasons for the changes 2. Helping staff to accept the changes 3. Gaining staff's support for and commitment to making the changes 4. Developing a process to help staff through the changes and ongoing communication for success. Taken from Career Times 2 March 2007, p. B20 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]