Managing human resources in a high-growth environment, April 2007

The most recent HR Managers phone forum, held in April 2007, centered on managing human resources in a high-growth environment. Human capital is a critical need for organizations especially during high growth periods--making it critical to identify and address challenges in areas such as hiring, developing, and retaining staff, as well as systematic methods to improve processes and procedures that directly affect business expansion.

 

Quick Lesson

• Common challenges that partners faced in growth periods included 1) retention, 2) training and development for staff, 3) technological improvement on delivery systems for HR functions, and 4) transforming culture during high-growth periods. 

 

Creating the HR Plan that supports Business Strategy, August 2006

This phone forum was part of a series on HR establishing itself as a strategic partner within an organization, and the benefit of demonstrating the value of HR through the use of measurable targets. Debate focused on the strategic value of HR, integrating HR into the business, developing an HR business strategy, and documenting well-defined HR goals.

 

Quick Lessons

• It is important for HR to be part of the strategic planning exercise, beginning with senior management attention and an opportunity to provide inputs into the business plan.
• An interesting approach being used by Bank M in S. Asia was to develop partnerships between functional staff and support staff within the company to garner support from business departments, allowing them to contribute to HR decisions through different structural arrangements (regular meetings to invite feedback, joint plans, etc).
• Specific and objective performance measurements and targets need to be part of the HR plan and should be used as benchmarks to measure improvement.

 

Developing Strategic Leadership in Human Resources, May 2006

This call centered around methods of positioning the HR department to become a strategic partner in the organization.

 

Quick Lessons

• Integration between HR and individual business units can take the form of a cooperative alliance. An interesting example of this can be seen in the growth experiences of Bank L in Asia. Until they reached 1,000 employees, Bank L did not have a separate HR department; each line manager was responsible for identifying their needs and developing a plan of attack. Once the bank reached 1,000 employees, they created a corporate HR team that helps teams identify the right program for their HR needs and builds synergies in what different groups practice.
• HR department must initiate the shift to becoming a strategic partner by thinking, acting, and being perceived as a strategic resource. One possible path is to get engaged in the business planning exercise early on and make useful contributions that can be translated into business measures.

 

Leadership Development Strategies: Retaining Leadership, January 2006

This phone forum continued with the theme of leadership strategies started at the May 2005 Forum, addressing the topic of leadership engagement and retention.

 

Quick Lessons

• In general, HR departments of participant banks have often not kept up with the fast pace of growth in their organizations. A standard rule of thumb, for example, is that there should be 1 HR person for every 80 to 100 employees, with possibly more HR staff when the company is going through significant changes. Amongst Forum participants, there were vastly differing ratios - but most were far lower than these international benchmarks.
• Any retention-driven programs need to be part of a larger effort that includes recruitment and employee relations. A holistic approach starts with recruiting those with not only skills and experience, but also a fit with the bank’s vision, mission and culture.
• Organizational culture was cited throughout the call as a critical factor and often is seen in two broad dimensions. The hard dimensions of organizational culture relate to the functional, technical and control aspects, while the soft aspects deal with inspiration, emotion, energy, enthusiasm, collaboration and camaraderie, openness, sense of belonging, etc. Participants reiterated that a culture that is open, trusting, nurturing, and empowering almost always tends to attract and retain the best people.

 

Leadership Development Strategies: Developing Leadership, October 2005

This was the second of a series of discussions on leadership, this one focusing on leadership development.

 

Quick Lessons

• All of the executives agreed that building leaders was a business imperative. Many of the banks in the Forum are going through phases of high growth, which puts additional stress and burdens on the organization. Building a strong second line of managers can help alleviate these pressures through a strong and effective team.
• Mentoring programs have been found to be a low cost way to build leadership. One participating bank, for example, targets emerging leadership through mentorship, which means that talented employees are given the opportunity to shadow experienced managers and learn about integrating the organization’s mission into their everyday roles and responsibilities. Though this is an extended managerial effort, it has a return on investment that makes it worthwhile.
• Many people fill the need for mentoring by building their own peer support group. Frequently called a Peer Advisory Board, such a group is a small, carefully selected set of individuals who come together regularly to help each other.

 

Leadership Development Strategies: Identifying Leadership, July 2005

The purpose of this call was to find out the common and effective ways Exchange’s partner banks identified staff and managers with leadership potential.

 

Quick Lessons

• An HR manager from Bank A spoke of a process that evaluates new employees every 6 months, where information is gathered from the employee, his/her manager and peers. They consider and evaluate track records and feedback in the areas of motivation, self-awareness, self-regulation, capability to improve and commitment to the group.
• Similar processes were discussed to evaluate leadership abilities among junior and senior management. Once an individual has been nominated, a committee evaluates them based on similar areas thus identifying leadership. One bank spoke about using a committee to evaluate leadership abilities amongst identified high-performing staff.
• The formation of a committee or task force to focus on talent search and review was an important theme amongst participants. This committee should be diverse and in a position where they can communicate with various levels of management.