The October 22 edition of HR Trends with Game-Changers covered an issue impacting 
companies of all sizes and industries around the world: The globalization of HR. Our virtual roundtable featured thought leaders Elmar Kronz, Vice President, Global Business Development for DDI; Beth Thiebault, Global SAP HCM / SuccessFactors Practice Leader at Deloitte; and David Swanson, Executive Vice President of Human Resources for SAP’s products and innovation organization. The panelists shared insights on how HR leaders can best help their organizations strategize for success in the increasingly interconnected global economy. Listen to the on-demand recording at your convenience here.
Elmar Kronz cited the HR trend now focusing on the needs of the individual regions in which a company operates, instead of a single global center dictating HR policy for the entire organization. The rationale for this shift, “A community mindset in organizations does wonders to break down silos.” In Elmar’s opinion, HR should not be thought of as “just a function,” but rather as a department that focuses on how to maximize the assets of the workforce talent. One of the best ways to accomplish this is for HR departments to “think globally in everything they do, especially around the talent they bring in.”
Beth Thiebault has found that organizations, and HR departments in particular, spend a lot of time on “things that don’t work” instead of focusing on “things that work on a global scale.” Specifically, global HR departments must first look at the similarities among the various regions in which they operate, in order to effectively design and implement overarching policies and programs. According to Beth, “Communities of Expertise will replace Centers of Excellence” on a global scale. The former are much less hierarchical and much more cross-functional and inclusive, which encourages information sharing and helps to eliminate silos.
Noting that “today’s reality is that the best talent is coming from every corner of the world,” David Swanson agreed with his co-panelists that HR departments must think about talent on a global scale. “If you’re going to operate globally, you need to think about the end user and must find what’s common to get the buy-in.” He cited the “alarming statistic” that 85 percent of relocated employees leave a company within 12 months after they repatriate to their home nation. In David’s experience, “the smart organizations set up innovation centers in large emerging markets and partner with local universities” to attract, and most importantly retain, the top global talent.
In the Crystal Ball segment of the program, Elmar Kronz predicted global business pressures will create borderless, more evidenced-based HR that will rely heavily on measurements. Beth Thiebault expects future HR decision-making will utilize data instead of a “just a gut feeling,” resulting in more effective talent management and planning. David Swanson sees HR policies moving from action to impact on a global scale. He quoted ChangeLabs CEO and behavioral change consultant Peter Sheehan, “HR has a unique and powerful opportunity to see the organization from every end.”
Join us again on Tuesday, October 29, at 12:00 p.m. EDT / 9:00 a.m. PDT for our next live broadcast on HR Anaytics: Science or Art? Our panelists will be Greta Roberts, CEO of Talent Analytics Corporation; Holger Mueller, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research; and Peter Howes, Vice President of Workforce Analytics and Planning at SuccessFactors, an SAP company.
Hear the new episode live and catch past episodes on-demand at your convenience.