HR Corner Making workers feel at home by Charles Mak Create an environment where staff feel valued and want to work and your retention problems will start to disappear In the hectic world of sourcing and merchandising, long working hours are the norm and, as a result, managers often find themselves caught in a never-ending cycle of resignations and staff recruitment. However, after more than 20 years in the field of HR, this is something Victor Cheung believes he can overcome. And as human resources director for Asia with VF Asia Ltd, he is determined to use his wealth of experience to good effect by implementing practices which can improve staff retention and create greater stability. "I only joined VF Asia seven months ago and soon realised that there is not a strong culture, other than the people are nice, open and casual," says Mr Cheung. "However, we do need to do more to care for staff in order to attract and retain people." Therefore, an HR programme called "People Care, People Development" has recently been proposed and will include a full review of the company's benefit scheme. It will also benchmark salaries, improve internal communication and give more attention to opportunities for career advancement. "As the HR function moves closer to becoming a strategic partner for the management team, we must plan ahead and, for this reason, have made the proposed programme all about developing our own talent," Mr Cheung adds. Through a series of acquisitions, the company has increased the scope of its brand name apparel business and seen the workforce grow from 150 to 350 in the last two years. This has made necessary both in-house and external training programmes to equip staff with the technical knowledge, IT expertise and language skills to meet future challenges. "We now concentrate on the training needs of individual departments and intend to plan for the full year ahead," says Mr Cheung. "The nature of the business means that not many competitors can offer the kind of tailor-made training we can, so we hope to give our staff extra competencies and open the way for promotions." Corporate culture The majority of VF Asia's recruits are from within the apparel industry and, when hiring, an applicant's accumulated work experience is usually ranked ahead of their academic qualifications. Nevertheless, with the rapid recent expansion, there has been limited time to familiarise all new recruits with the company's culture, and this will now be a priority. "We have to make sure everyone knows the key points of our corporate values and strengthen our own culture," says Mr Cheung. "What we emphasise is an open-door policy which allows staff to discuss any problem or opinion with colleagues or with senior management. Our new office has been designed as a barrier-free zone so there are no walls between people, and managers are always accessible." Another thing receiving extra attention is how to achieve the correct work-life balance. More activities are being arranged to help staff unwind and, as Mr Cheung explains, "The annual dinner is a big event, but our staff club is also organising many smaller scale activities for those who are interested in taking part." Since rewards and retention are always closely linked, VF Asia is maintaining 13-month payments and also offering performance-related bonuses. However, the mechanism for paying these will be changed. "With the old system, a bonus was paid once a predetermined corporate target was reached," explains Mr Cheung. "This year, though, we will establish a system which sets specific goals and better aligns bonuses with individual or team performance." Tea for eight Also included in the HR plan is a scheme for better communication. "We now have regular 'teatime' meetings, in which around eight randomly chosen employees are invited to have a cup of tea with the management and exchange views," Mr Cheung says. Informative company newsletters are also being circulated to staff and suppliers to keep them up-to-date with new developments and aware of everything that's happening. Each measure has been conceived with the intention of making staff feel that working with VF Asia is not just a job like any other. Perhaps the boldest part of the HR plan is to cut back on the habitual overtime. "Sometimes we literally have to force staff to leave the office before 9pm," notes Mr Cheung. "We will lock the gate and anyone working late will have to explain the reason beforehand. We want to monitor and control overtime and know why it is frequently necessary. It will then be up to management to deal with the problem either by taking on extra staff or arranging for skills to be upgraded. All of us will then need to readjust because we want people to have a better work-life balance." Mr Cheung emphasises that, in the long run, the company's business benefits if staff have a full life outside work. "We encourage everyone to take a close look at the way they work and the way they live because that will make them better individuals and better employees," he says. Salient points People Care, People Development programme emphasises the value of staff Tailor-made training courses for the needs of individual departments Open-door policy enhances communication and transparency Emphasis on creating a proper work-life balance Teatime with the management encourages exchange of views Overtime log is used to keep track of long working hours Taken from Career Times 21 January 2005, p. 32 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]