Shared Services News Edição 13

csc news Realização____ Uma empresa do grupo _______

FRIDAY

August 27th 2010

YEAR 2 | No 13

Growing talent in shared services By: Paul Nicolaisen, Consultant ssonetwork.com

Ross Pilling led the implementation of a Shared Services centre in Malaysia to service BASF companies in Asia Pacific

Implementing Shared Services By: Ross Pilling ceoforum.com.au

Implementing a Shared Services model for back office functions like finance and IT can offer significant benefits to global companies, but the challenges should not be underestimated. A few years ago, BASF’s Ross Pilling led the implementation of a Shared Services centre in Malaysia to service BASF companies in Asia Pacific – in 2003 BASF had 53 companies in the region with about 11,000 employees and sales of € 4.5 billion. He describes why Shared Sevices were implemented, what challenges arose and how he dealt with those in the implementation project. page 1

One often overlooked advantage to developing an SSO is that the program can be used as a vehicle for developing people with the potential to move into other parts of the organization. page 4

Creating a Culture of Innovation

By: Steve Hodlin humanresourcesiq.com

Successful organization innovation is a multistep process that involves development and knowledge sharing, a decision to implement, implementation, evaluation and learning. page 7

Six Talent Management Trends Surfacing in Asia By: Francis Mok ssonetwork.com

Putting in place a talent management strategy is critical in an organization’s structure.

This is common knowledge in the business world. However, how many companies are actually practicing this effectively? page 8

Implementing Shared Services By: Ross Pilling - BASF ceoforum.com.au

Implementing a Shared Services model for back office functions like finance and IT can offer significant benefits to global companies, but the challenges should not be underestimated. A few years ago, BASF’s Ross Pilling led the implementation of a Shared Services centre in Malaysia to service BASF companies in Asia Pacific – in 2003 BASF had 53 companies in the region with about 11,000 employees and sales of € 4.5 billion. He describes why Shared Sevices were implemented, what challenges arose and how he dealt with those in the implementation project. ceoforum.com.au: What were the original strategic objectives of the Shared Services model implementation?

Ross Pilling: The starting point was BASF’s aggressive growth plans for the region. In 2003 the organization had evolved over a number of years, while effective there was too much complexity. We did however, have a single regional SAP system serving 53 companies in 16 countries as the basis for our business processes.

By combining the different teams from across the region into a single entity, we had a much stronger case for capital investment After an extensive review of our back office organization, the Board of Directors approved the implementation of a single, regional Shared Services centre to deliver finance, HR and IT services to BASF companies in the Asia Pacific region.

There were three basic objectives we wanted to achieve through the Shared Services initiative.

First, we wanted to implement a consistent, harmonized set of best practice business processes across the region; this would form the basis for transparency of key business information across the region.

BASF’s next growth phase would involve significant acquisitions; having standard business processes and transparent business information would make it easier and faster to integrate those acquisitions into our company.

The third objective was to improve process efficiency by leveraging economies of scale. By combining the different finance, HR and IT teams from across the region into a single entity, we had a much stronger case for capital investment for

further automation. For example, a typical single company finance team function may have about 10 staff. On this scale investment in process automation is a hard case to make, whereas a shared service centre with say 200 staff in the finance team is far more likely to benefit from capital investments in enhanced software or process automation.

With all this achieved, the Shared Service centre is a great platform for continuous process improvement. We invested in training and implementing quality management systems and Six Sigma initiatives. ceoforum.com.au: How did you go about choosing a location in Asia for the Shared Services centre?

RP: We had a set of very clear criteria for the location of the shared service centre. The most important criteria were the availability of the professional skills and languages required to deliver service across Asia Pacific. In addition we needed a politically stable environment, reliable infrastructure, high levels of security and a competitive cost base. A number of potential locations across Asia were screened against these criteria.

We chose Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia because it offered a good balance between the availability of required skills,

www.institutodegestao.com.br

2

languages and staff. KL provided a stable, safe environment with reliable infrastructure, government support and competitive costs. We ruled out India because we felt the access to North East Asian languages would be a problem and in China we felt that finding the necessary level of English proficiency would be a problem. KL offered the best range of capabilities; this proved to be a very good decision. ceoforum.com.au: Getting different operations to use the same business process is a challenge many companies face when they try to implement Shared Services . How did you deal with this challenge?

RP: Yes, that was a challenge. Each company had developed a series of processes that was effective in its own context.

However, our goal was to harmonize processes across the region as a basis for transparent information and process improvement.

We started by defining a target business process that would be implemented in each country. These processes were implemented together with the Shared Services model in a series of waves, rolling across the region.

If, in the course of those implementation waves, we found an opportunity to improve a target process, then that process was updated with the enhancement and became the new standard for future implementations. It was also rolled backwards to the earlier ones.

Technical issues were the easiest part of the project – the biggest challenges were around change management, communication and strategy.

We understood that the regulatory environment is not standard across Asia and so certain process variations were required to meet specific country requirements. We allowed these as process variations but always looked for ways to minimize the number of exceptions. It took around 18 months to roll out the standard processes and services to 45 companies in the 15 Asia Pacific countries.

The interesting thing was how attitudes changed to the idea of process standardization. Initially, the companies wanted to retain their local process variations, however, as the benefits of process simplicity and standardization became apparent, companies became more comfortable with the elimination of what were previously considered essential process variations.

Everyone likes to think they are different and so need special treatment; it’s easy to underestimate the benefits of process standardization before you actually do it. However, once you see the simplification of the business that results, both up and down the supply chain, it is something almost everyone comes to value highly.

ceoforum.com.au: What were some of the key challenges you faced in implementing the project?

RP: Challenges really fall into two distinct areas; building the shared service centre itself and changing the operating model for our finance, HR and IT functions.

Setting up a shared services centre is really a new business venture. We had to establish the centre from scratch; this was a new concept for BASF so there was no pre-existing model to rely on.

Selecting the project team was critical; a small team of functional experts was drawn from BASF companies across the region. Their personal credibility and networks would be the key to a successful implementation program. Together this team developed our vision for the shared service centre and especially its operating culture.

We had to create the centre, by obtaining internal project finance, establishing a company in Malaysia and finding a building. We also had to recruit and train the staff, develop the processes, systems and a pricing/financing model. We had to recruit about 400 people, none of who had worked for BASF before and help them understand our vision for shared services and the value to BASF. Running a shared services centre presents some challenges that are very different from those normally faced by BASF companies. A good example is staff turnover; this is a critical issue in shared services centres everywhere. Typically a shared services centre operates with relatively high levels of turnover, particularly when compared to BASF’s traditional companies. Consequently, the shared services operating model must be simple and robust to cope with this high turnover: the ability to recruit, train and make people effective very quickly is a core competence for the centre. You need to have a very different approach to many HR-related issues – the managerial mindset is different from normal country operations.

Changing the operating model for finance, HR and IT in 45 companies across 15 countries is a huge challenge. It is easy to think that implementing shared services is largely a technical task e.g. designing and implementing standard business processes and rolling out IT systems to support these processes. In fact, the technical issues were the easiest part of the project – the biggest challenges were around change management, communication and strategy. We put a lot of effort and resources into designing a strategic approach to these factors and supporting the country management through the implementation process. This really was a journey for every one. ceoforum.com.au: What are the 2-3 key things a CEO

www.institutodegestao.com.br

3

needs to be aware of to make a shared services model work?

RP: Well as the CEO of the Shared Services Centre I would break the key priorities into three main areas; not in any priority order.

Firstly I think from the client company’s perspective and design a service delivery model to satisfy the client’s requirements. This has to consider the needs of various levels in the organization from operational staff to Managing Director. The service delivery model includes service levels, reporting mechanisms, escalation protocols, governance models and continuous improvement processes and, of course change management and communication.

Next, consider the shared service centre’s employee’s perspective. Develop a strategy to recruit, train, retain and inspire the staff; give them a vision of their place in company and the value of their contribution to the company. The location and office environment of the shared service centre is critical to the success as it is very much a people business; we are competing in the market for talented and mobile staff.

Finally concentrate on process design and technology.

Really make sure that processes are simple, robust and well documented. Across all of these areas effective budgeting and cost management are really expected entry requirements.

Today I am CEO of a client company. To make the shared services model work I embrace the concept as a client and really work to make it a success for my organization. I encourage my managers to support the program and take ownership of the successes. I regularly ask the finance, HR and IT team where tasks that should be performed by the shared service centre remain in the local company and push them to transition these tasks. I also ask where we are still using non-standard processes and push the organization to adopt the new, standard process.

Today BASF’s shared service centre in Asia Pacific is delivering finance, HR and IT services to 64 companies in 17 countries in the region. Payrolls for 11,000 staff across the region are run from the centre. Services are delivered in seven Asian languages plus English.

Growing talent in shared services By: Paul Nicolaisen, Consultant ssonetwork.com

One often overlooked advantage to developing an SSO is that the program can be used as a vehicle for developing people with the potential to move into other parts of the organization. They foster the growth of people who have valuable, transferable skills and a knowledge of the company; making them instantly productive in line organizations which may not have the time or capabilities to take on the learning curves of new-hires. Given a pro-active approach, a shared services center can become the “farm team” for the rest of the company. Finding prospects with potential; training and developing that talent; infusing them with the organization’s principles and values; and grooming people for promotion to the “big leagues,” (e.g. line organizations or corporate specialist positions) can serve to transform the efficacy of an organization.

Managing the Labor Curve Mature shared services centers have well defined labor profiles and targets. While this varies according to functional and geographic circumstances, a common SSC hiring profile is: 1.Young employee (age 25-27) 2.Has one or two previous job experiences 3.Looking for the elusive three to five years experience to fill out their résumé 4.Seeking the experience of working for a larger corporation 5.Attracted by the challenge of the SSC environment and the potential for enhancing their career prospects SSCs also want to hold down labor costs and need to contain wage inflation, so typically the wage scales in the center will

In conclusion, you can’t underestimate the effort needed for change management – an exercise like this is a major change to the way the business operates and needs to be resourced and planned accordingly. The benefits of process harmonization and standardization (i.e. greater transparency of business information, improved process efficiency and better decision-making as a consequence) are considerable.

In the early stages of the project, the case for change has to be strongly emphasized.

www.institutodegestao.com.br

4

be a mix of fixed and variable compensation that top out after five to seven years seniority. This yields a 12%- 15% annual turnover target of employees who reach their earning and experience ceilings, and who are motivated to move on.

Because the SSC organization structure is very flat, there are limited supervisory or specialist positions that you can justify to retain the best people. This creates a quandary: attracting good people and motivating them to high performance levels, versus the reality that making a long career out of shared services will be tough.

Recognizing and anticipating this pattern takes a more enlightened approach. Rotate the problem. Can we not make this natural turnover work in our favor? Instead of trying to hold on to people for as long as you possibly can, embrace the human resource challenge of developing and releasing people into new positions elsewhere in the company. What do new hires seek in joining our SSC? To gain experience and skills, and make themselves more attractive for higher-level jobs. Ideally, the SSC wants to be seen as an “employer of choice;” with a track record of people being developed and moving on.

One key to this is structuring the training and development of staff to build desirable and marketable skills in areas of projected need. Another key is creating a back-end “demand pipeline” for staff who are topping out after five-to-seven years by making jobs available via three avenues: limited higher positions within the SSC itself; feeder to other jobs within the company; and acting as an outplacement source in the community where experienced people are coveted by other companies. Finally, there is the benefit of constructing the mindset among your managers that their priority is to “develop and release” their employees rather than to “train and hold” them.

Let’s examine each of these three elements with the practicalities that we have to deal with.

Developing marketable people

achieved full competence in A/P or A/R processing might be cross-trained to the in-bound Call Center. This would allow SSC management to shift people quickly to the Call Center in peak periods (e.g. signup periods for benefits or end-ofmonth call peaks from suppliers). The compensation system needs to be tailored so that employees with these “secondary certifications” are rewarded as they become more valuable to the organization. This also serves the larger SSO goal of agility and flexibility.

The third phase of employee development is to identify senior staff capable of both acquiring the skills that a growing company needs and developing training programs to satisfy those needs. A large component of this stage is working with the HR and recruiting functions to identify skill areas of need and specific line organizations with hiring plans for the coming year. Part of the annual HR staffing plan for the organization could be providing the SSC with a target list of likely job openings and profiles. Further down the line, this could be built into SSC training plans and manager measurements (more on that later).

One other key point in the SSC developing marketable staff is that a high performing SSC employee is going to have exhibited and excelled in customer service attributes.

They have already been indoctrinated into alignment with company values and desired behaviors. In this respect, they can be extremely attractive to other company functions and organizations because of their “plug and play” compatibility.

Building the Demand Pipeline Simultaneous with developing people who have value beyond their SSC roles, the center management has to anticipate and create demand for that staff. This requires SSO management to build out a complete staffing plan for each year. The plan will include projections of areas of likely turnover and identify employees who are topping out (i.e. the “leavers list”). That group of likely leaving candidates must then be divided into three groups:

Within the SSC there will be job descriptions for entry level positions and key processing staff. Usually, there is a three to six months learning curve allowance, followed by a period of full productivity, which is enhanced by the variable compensation portion of the pay scale. The most effective variable schemes are quarterly bonuses to staff, so that the reward associated with their efforts is immediate and is aligned with customers’ SLA targets (which are typically quarterly based).

1.High potential candidates who the SSO would like to keep for the limited SSO specialist or supervisory positions 2.Strong performers who can fit other company needs in positions anticipated for the coming year; 3.All other likely leavers, who have good work performance records but for whom promotional opportunities within the company are unlikely. (Note: We assume that poor performers would have been weeded out of the organization through adherence to a strong performance management and employee evaluation program.)

As the employee gains experience and skill in their assigned job, the next step is to promote cross-training into other process areas or job responsibilities. In doing so, the SSO gains flexibility by increasing the pool of staff qualified to perform certain work. For example, a person who has

Internal SSO jobs to be filled are easily identified and should be part of the SSO’s staffing plan adjunct to the annual financial plan. To identify other internal positions projected within the company as a whole requires significant effort by the SSO HR Director. This includes compiling a projected job

www.institutodegestao.com.br

5

opening listing matched to the “leavers list”. That is shared with SSC managers who have employees on the projection, so those managers can actively work with the employees to secure placement. SSC HR support staff must also track projected job openings with line organization recruiters and HR managers, anticipating formal postings. SSC supervisors should actively work with targeted employees to prepare them for interviews and applications as part of their employee counseling responsibilities.

A third component to the pipeline can be somewhat controversial. Recognizing that you are likely to have more exiting employees than jobs in the SSO and the company at large, another demand source is to work with companies and recruiters in the region, consciously placing people outside of your organization. The logic and motivation for this course is tied to a long term view of staffing and management.

If your goal is to attract motivated people looking for that initial experience and to be seen as an “employer of choice,” you want to cultivate a reputation that successful SSO staff will be rewarded for their time in the organization and the chances of getting placed into a follow-on job are good. You also will be seen as a strong corporate citizen. Working with local development and commerce agencies, as well as some companies directly through their HR functions, is a typical strategy. Other ancillary tactics include maintaining “alumni lists” to assist in tracking and placing people.

Not every employee is going to be part of this process. Some will leave of their on volition. Some employees will choose to stay on in their jobs, even though their compensation will be capped, which is also fine if they perform well. What is important, though, is that staff know that if they do a good job, every effort will be made by the SSC to “do the right thing” in finding their next job, if they so desire.

Motivating the Managers SSC managers have a pivotal role. Their ability to identify, develop and release employees to new positions is critical. It places a premium on actively counseling staff, not just going through the motions with the annual manage their area’s turnover. Components of measuring their effectiveness should include: 1.Accuracy in predicting overall turnover, and probable leavers 2.Ability to manage the turnover sequence and stay within a turnover target range 3.Ensure turnover does not adversely impact service performance 4.Score the number of placements. If four people leave, did all four secure new jobs (either inside or outside the organization).

If yes, full marks. If no, a deduction from their bonus target.

The object here is to have managers actively promoting their

employees, working with the employee to acquire necessary skills, getting their résumés in order, preparing for interviews, offering references, etc. Good SSC managers will be working with their stakeholders and customers throughout the company to promote and place their own people.

Note that this is a particularly effective strategy if you have a reduction in force, whereby employees are being let go.(Don’t underestimate the collateral effect on employees who remain, and see that staff moving on are treated with respect and supported.)

One other more sophisticated tactic is to keep track of the employees you place outside of the SSC. Following-up with how they perform downstream (e.g. annual performance rankings, compensation growth, promotions, citations, etc.) will give you a good handle on managers who are good at developing long term performers and who are not passing on “problem” performers. This creates an “Amway” type pyramid, where an SSC manager can be measured on how many of the people they developed have downstream success. The more successful his progeny are, the better that should reflect on the manager’s long-term contribution to the company’s success. These statistics will also convince line organizations of your ability to develop and place qualified candidates, spreading your reputation as a “supplier of choice,” internally.

Managing the Farm Team This approach is not suited for everyone. Some SSOs desire retaining staff for long periods of time rather than force turnover cycles that keep labor costs in check. Clearly, this is introducing a new set of management challenges. Instead of fighting a war of attrition with turnover, embrace the reality and take to the high ground.The benefits can be compelling. The ambitions of the maturing employee are aligned with the manager’s motivation to place employees.

Managers are rewarded for promoting employees and not passing on problems. The organization creates a great deal of “good will” with employees, company management, and customer organizations. Staff see the center management as acting responsibly and with sincerity. Also, by creating an atmosphere of “controlled attrition,”transitions are thought through. Managers and employees are compelled to ensure desk procedures are in order, knowledge management is retained, and successor lists are up-to-date and effective.

Finally, employees and managers alike take pride in the fact that SSO personnel policies and their own actions occupy the high moral ground.

The methods described may or may not work for your company but the principals apply to everyone. As noted by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “If you learn only methods, you’ll be tied to your methods, but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods”.

www.institutodegestao.com.br

6

Creating a Culture of Innovation By: Steve Hodlin humanresourcesiq.com

Successful organization innovation is a multistep process that involves development and knowledge sharing, a decision to implement, implementation, evaluation and learning. Although innovation is often associated with technological innovation, it is applicable to all key organizational processes that would benefit from change, whether through breakthrough improvement or a change in approach or outputs. It could include fundamental changes in organizational structure or the business model to more effectively accomplish the organization’s work.

The question is, how do you create a culture that encourages innovation as the DNA of the organization? How do you create an environment that encourages this risk-taking and experimentation by all employees of the organization?

Cultural Change Cultural change is not something you can just mandate. The culture of an organization is based upon the beliefs of the individuals. These beliefs lead to the actions that create the results. But these beliefs evolve from the experiences that people have with their leadership.

So if the leadership model deployed by the organization is the traditional model of command and control, the belief system tends to not be one of creativity and innovation. This is a model where the leaders just focus on results, and not the means to achieve them, leading to fragmented thinking. It is a model where failure is not allowed.

This experience results in the belief by employees that they need to always justify their actions, and there is a fear of experimenting due to the concern for failure and its repercussions. It is the environment where leaders manage from the safety of their offices, relying on just metrics and reports to guide their decision-making and actions. In this model, the manager is all-knowing and they provide blanket solutions. The belief system that results is that the employees leave their brains at the door. This model actually leads to complexity.

On the other hand, if the leadership model is that of the lean thinking leader, focused on continuous improvement, creativity and constant innovation, the belief system is entirely different. This model looks like this: leaders are process-focused, and are interested in the means to achieve great results. They utilize systems-thinking, and the people

and the organization are aligned to achieve the organizational goals. Leaders are actively engaging with their employees, by going out to the process and teaching people to be problem solvers.

These leaders coach and remove obstacles for their employees. They get to know their employees and develop a strong level of trust with their employees, creating a safe environment for dialogue, debate and the development of new ideas. Experimentation is encouraged because any improvement or solution to a problem is really an experiment with a hypothesis, until proven to be effective as a solution. In this environment, it is OK to fail, because a level of learning results, leading to new innovations and ideas.

So, some long-standing ways may need to be changed. An organization may need to change its current assumptions and mindsets. Crucial conversations need to be the norm, as a means to exchange ideas honestly, thereby removing silos.

New kinds of dialogues and debates need to occur, with an open mind to new ideas. The bar needs to be raised for the level of trust in the organization, the communication, the level of teamwork, experimentation and the willingness to learn from mistakes.

www.institutodegestao.com.br

7

The Challenges He who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who are better off under the new.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

change the beliefs of the employees, which will change their behaviors, actions and ultimately the results. You will get more innovation. When working with consequences, positive reinforcement is more powerful than negative resources in getting people to model a behavior because they want to.

This quote is a reminder that it is important to plan very carefully the change to a culture of innovation. With change, there is resistance, as people who are comfortable with the status quo are reluctant to leave the past behind and take advantage of the future state opportunities. There is a period of transition in between, as people attempt to figure out what the change has in it for them. This results in a period of chaos. Leadership has to be aware of this phenomenon and build in systems to aid in the transition.

Making Innovation Work In the book Making Innovation Work, by Devila, Epstein, Shelton, the rules of innovation rely on management exerting a strong leadership on innovation direction and decisions (A). Innovation is integrated into the business mentality (B and C). It is important to match innovation to the company strategy (Systems Thinking). Relative to the resistance, leaders need to neutralize organizational antibodies to the culture of innovation through supporting the pioneers, aligning the consequences to the desired behaviors, and ensuring a transition process is in place for the culture change.

Also, the population of employees tend to form a normal distribution curve of attitudes towards the change. On the left tail are the resistors, who may or may not ever change.

On the right tail are the pioneers, with all of the energy for the change. In the middle are the vast majority of the people, sitting on the fence and waiting to see which way the wind blows. Most leaders spend their time with the resistors, trying to win them over to the change. They should be spending their time on the pioneers, rewarding and supporting them. As the organization sees the attention these people are getting, the experience will begin to change their belief system and they will take action more in alignment with the changes.

Pay Attention to the ABC’s Dr. Judy Johnson talks about the ABC’s of behavior change.

A stands for antecedents, B represents behavior, and C portrays consequences. Antecedents trigger the behavior. It is the consequences you experience that influences whether you repeat that behavior. Many times, when attempting to create a cultural change, such as a culture of innovation, leadership only practices the antecedents, but fails to re-align the consequences. John Kotter, in his book Leading Change, addresses some antecedents in his eight-stage change process.

These include: • Establishing a sense of urgency • Creating a guiding coalition • Developing a vision and strategy • Communicating the change vision Antecedents would look like a memo coming from the senior leaders, or a speech, or a program.

Initially, behavior will change. However, if the consequences look like negative repercussions due to a failed experiment or idea, the behavior of innovation and creativity will not sustain.

However, if the consequence is to recognize the attempt and learning, praising the individual for trying something to improve the situation, the desired behavior is reinforced for the organization. The experience of the employees is different and aligned with the antecedents expressed. This in turn will

This also helps to manage the natural tension in the organization. The right metrics need to be created to encourage an organization focused on experimentation with new ideas, learning from what doesn’t work, and ensuring the desired behaviors are being practiced and that those behaviors are what gets rewarded in the organization.

Six Talent Management Trends Surfacing in Asia By: Francis Mok ssonetwork.com

Putting in place a talent management strategy is critical in an organization’s structure. This is common knowledge in the business world. However, how many companies are actually practicing this effectively?

With the Asian economy bouncing back, this has never been more important in today’s context, especially with a rising demand for talent in a limited pool of supply.

Francis Mok, Group Human Resource Director of Jebsen & Co. and vice president of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management, speaks to Bryan Camoens on the talent management challenges, trends and the talent management industry in 2020.

Bryan Camoens: What are some of the challenges faced when trying to get the senior management to buy-in to your talent management program?

www.institutodegestao.com.br

8

business, to help build the human capital to fulfil business objectives, the role of HR is very easily explained as HR does not own the process. Business units require the right leaders to achieve business goals. HR helps business units to identify, develop and place the right leaders to meet business objectives.

Bryan Camoens: Where are some of the trends you see in the talent management industry in Asia?

Francis Mok: The major challenge is “how does the talent management program link to the business?” The second challenge is “how do you know the program works?”

The third challenge is justifying the investment in talent management.

Bryan Camoens: More importantly how essential is it to ensuring that the management team walks the talk and how could not having this jeopardize the entire program?

Francis Mok: It is absolutely critical for the management team to walk the talk about talent management. This is the first and foremost critical success factor. By starting the justification with business requirements, the talent management program aligns nicely into the business strategies and business goals. By involving the management team in the nomination, assessment and selection process, the ownership goes to them naturally. By inviting them to be mentors of the high potentials, their involvement is glued to the success of the program.

Bryan Camoens: What are some of the key factors that must be taken into account when linking talent engagement to continued growth?

Francis Mok: It is the other way around. Talent management, including talent engagement, has to start with the business objectives, including continuous growth. The only single major reason for management talents is to ensure sustainable growth of the business. Through building of the leadership pipeline, we ensure supply of talents, future leaders, to take the organization to another horizon.

Bryan Camoens: What are some of the difficulties in clarifying the differences between the roles and responsibilities of management and HR? Francis Mok: Misalignment and wrong positioning. It is very difficult to explain to management the role they should play if HR takes on talent management as an HR initiative.

That puts HR in a very difficult position in the first place.

However, by positioning HR as the business partner of the

Francis Mok: The war for talent, especially in China, is even more severe. The market demand for talent management professionals has never been so high. Some of the observations: •Talent management is rated top priority in many organizations •More organizations are linking talent management to business strategies •Definition of talent is less vague.

•Talent management is gaining momentum at all levels, senior executive’s talent pool, successor pool and fresh graduates. A more holistic view on building the leadership pipeline is taken.

•Competency based assessment and more vigorous assessment is getting more popular.

•More attention is paid to manage Gen Y, the new market force coming into play to replace the retiring baby boomers.

Bryan Camoens: With talent management beginning to evolve, where do you see talent management in the 2020?

Francis Mok: I do not have a crystal ball. However, like many good management practices, talent management will not offer any competitive advantage 10 years from now, as those who pay no attention to talent management will be already extinct from the market. The earlier one takes on proper planning and implements talent management, the earlier the chance of survival increases.

Editores Rodrigo Lang Vanessa Saavedra Conselho Editorial Caio Fiuza Eduardo Saggioro Vitor Marques Contato: pesquisas@visagio.com.br

www.institutodegestao.com.br

9