International Human Resources – the new politics of innovation and creativity

At a breakfast symposium hosted at Victoria University in Melbourne on 11 April 2013, a group of HR Professionals discussed the changes across the industry. Sue Ellson shares key findings of the event.

Human Resources (HR) Professionals are usually the people you complain about when something goes wrong with your pay or your employment.

In the last 30 years, there has been a huge shift in the:

·  demographics of the Australian workforce (age, culture, education level)

·  complexity of the industrial relations environment

·  number of compliance requirements

·  shift of power across all levels of an organisation

·  appeal or lack of appeal for certain jobs, industries and employers

·  economic factors affecting business opportunities and trade

·  range of diverse and complex initiatives that have been implemented (anti-discrimination, equal opportunity, best practice, total quality management)

·  education level of employees, consultants and outsourced resources

and through all of this, the HR professional has had to keep going, survive the absence from the boardroom table, justify their existence to the finance department and put up with the egos of the sales department – all represented by individuals who have been able to equate their ‘value’ to the bottom line.

So what went wrong in the HR department?

At the breakfast symposium hosted at Victoria University in Melbourne on 11 April 2013, Professor Pauline Stanton from Victoria University in Melbourne, Dr Anthony McDonnell from the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Professor Paul Gooderham from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Professor Gregor Murray from the University of Montreal in Canada and Katherine Ivosevic, National Human Resources Manager for Barrett Burston in Melbourne provided their insights and suggestions about International Human Resources Management (IHRM) to a mixture of leading academics, PHD students, HR managers and consultants.

In short, IHRM professionals have not played the political power game in business.

They have survived many challenges in business, usually without any formal recognition for their role in the continuation of the business.  I personally sense that many HR professionals have kept their challenges secret for fear of the ramifications they may cause and have at the same time, forgotten to share the details of their successes.

How can anyone justify their existence if they have not:

·  explained the need for international HR not just HR?

·  summarised their role as architects of social capital?

·  prepared a useful narrative that describes the true story of the business that employees, customers, partners, industry members and the public can understand?

·  revealed the true value they generate by attracting the right talent at the right time according to the requirements of the business?

·  shown how their employee relations initiatives have driven sustainable change?

·  demonstrated the innovation and strategic value they bring to the business?

Australia is in an election year, so discussing politics as an analogy is timely. A good politician knows that to win, they must secure sufficient votes.  These votes do not happen overnight.  They require an ongoing, relentless campaign that starts again immediately once an election has been won.  Dirty tricks will be played.  Allegiances will be formed and supporters need to be sourced to advocate on behalf of the candidate or fund the campaign.

Whilst I genuinely recognise that HR professionals have done their best, this informative and practical breakfast event highlighted a range of issues that could be responsible for the current situation in Australia.

I would like to summarise these by asking, when was the last time you saw a HR manager move away from their desk and:

·  spend some time working on the shop floor?

·  review the latest international HR standards?

·  create local networks outside the business?

·  participate in a business strategy meeting?

·  work in collaboration with HR managers from other businesses?

·  develop their own personal brand as a HR professional?

·  learn sales or business skills?

·  source a practical research project in conjunction with a local university?

·  prepare a plan for innovation in the business based on multilevel focus groups?

·  develop short and long term HR goals for the business (rather than react to immediate crises)?

·  demonstrate how they create a genuine return on investment?

·  alerted management about the potential problems related to an ageing workforce, skill shortages, immigration changes and global trends?

·  identify real issues and announced them to management rather than cover them up for fear of losing their jobs?

· move past collecting data and providing the same old reports and start to really analyse the business in both a quantitative and qualitative sense?

·  track the changes and improvements of the new policies and procedures they have implemented?

·  share the knowledge they have gained within their department, the entire business, academia and the HR profession?

·  develop true international, national and local networks, communities and relationships

·  compile a genuine business case that is not based on the latest fad provided by an overpaid consultant?

·  encourage autonomy, responsibility and engagement across all levels of the business?

·  change their own role from one of administration and records management to genuine value adding?

·  been well briefed on handling international visitors, employees and clients?

·  change the relationship with unions from adversarial to shared values?

I can hear HR professionals screaming at me right now, how on earth would I have time to do ANY of this when I am bogged down with everything else?  Correct. They can’t.

As more services are outsourced, unfortunately more HR professionals are being let go, again losing any strategic value they could add to the business.

It is time for business in Australia to wake up and acknowledge that international HRM is a CRITICAL component of a successful enterprise and it can only move up to this higher standard if it is valued and the HR manager has the opportunity to move away from their desk and integrate their true expertise within the entire business.

Remember, that the main reason people leave their job is because of their boss.  HR managers can help make bosses better – if they can really do their job based on all of the available resources.

If your business has a HR professional who does not have these skills, please consider it a worthwhile investment to train the HR professional in these areas so that they really can deliver results.  If you are the HR professional – start learning!

The only businesses that can survive in tough times are those that are innovative and creative.  We need to develop reliable metrics for these values.  Academics, here is your next challenge!  HR professionals, tell us what should be measured!
Review the report of interviews with 211 HR representatives from multinational corporations in Australia.

Thanks again to Victoria University for hosting such a fantastic symposium and Dr Anthony McDonnell for instigating this event – it was extremely worthwhile.

Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI is the Founder and Director of Newcomers Network, a socially responsible business providing information, events and advocacy for newcomers and networkers. With representatives in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, Newcomers Network helps people live, work and network in their new location. Sue is also the Founder and Director of the Global Mobility Network, an international portal of information, links and resources for Global Mobility Professionals, the Convenor of the International Human Resources Network Victoria for the Australian Human Resources Institute and a regular feature writer for various publications.