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Try to conjure up images of companies with highly evolved HR
organizations. What comes to mind? Fast-paced, hard-driving new-economy
companies? Entrepreneurial start-ups? It's a pretty good bet your
first thoughts did not include a 100-year-old manufacturing company
whose core business has remained the same for a century.
The company is lighting manufacturer OSRAM SYLVANIA. In business
since 1901, OSRAM has worked hard over the years to develop innovative
HR processes that closely tie human capital strategies to the company's
business objectives.
"Human resources at OSRAM is more than merely accounting
for personnel," explains Geoff Hunt, OSRAM SYLVANIA's vice
president of HR. "It's about the organization's formation,
its reinvention and renewal and preparing our people to meet and
engage with the outside world, including customers, suppliers and
competitors."
An evolution over time
It wasn't always this way. Julie Thibodeau, co-manager of OSRAM
SYLVANIA's corporate HR Service Center, says that when she started
working for the company 17 years ago, "HR meant handholding—'let
me write your name on the form for you, come into my office and
sit down, we'll fill out the forms' and so on." But that's
not the case anymore.
Instead, she notes, "The company has changed into a technology-based,
fast-paced, everybody-does-everything environment. We're very self-service-oriented,
encouraging employees to do for themselves and make the choices
that are right for them."
Beth Spieler, who also has the title of manager for the HR Service
Center through a job share, says Hunt's vision of HR as a fundamental
contributor to the business, rather than just a transaction center,
has driven many of the changes. "Geoff started out in finance
and moved into manufacturing management and division general management.
He was made VP of HR because he rattled the cages and complained
about HR."
She adds, "Hunt was told that if he thought
HR was broken, then he should go fix it. And fix it he has. From
the day he showed
up at the door, he's been improving the way the company manages
human resources. The mission
Part of Hunt's approach has been to clearly articulate the mission
of HR. He compares the roles of top HR executives to those of
CFOs: "The role of the CFO is to make sure the company has
enough cash. The role of the top HR executive is to make sure
the company has enough good people."
He believes that if the organization doesn't have the right people
in place at the right time, HR is failing to carry out its mission. "The
measure of the degree of success of HR is found in the caliber
of people in the organization," Hunt says. He recommends asking, "Have
you been able to recruit the best people for the job—highly
energized and strong performers?" If the answer is no, you
have more work to do.
OSRAM SYLVANIA's HR success also stems from its focus on aligning
employee values with its customers' values. In the lighting business,
customers are looking for a combination of performance, innovation
and predictability. "Take the example of an upscale retailer," Hunt
says. "They want a lighting system that reduces costs but
radically changes the way their inventory is displayed to maximize
customer interest and traffic flow. As a result, we're looking
for innovative ways to apply light sources."
But retailers are also risk-averse, so the company can't be too
innovative for fear it will be viewed as experimental and speculative.
OSRAM SYLVANIA's customers want fresh ideas with a proven track
record, or as Hunt puts it, "substance with pizzazz."
For HR, this means seeking employees who mirror the retailers'
values. "The same way that customers look for just the right
amount of innovation, coupled with reliability and predictability,
we look for employees with similar capabilities," Hunt explains. "We
can't thrive on a group of people who are caught up on the cutting
edge all of the time, because our customers demand that there be
something proven behind it."
Know thyself
To attract and retain employees with the right values, OSRAM SYLVANIA
understands that it must offer a clear picture of its culture
and expectations so that employees can decide how—or if—they
will fit in.
During a meeting several years ago with a VP at
construction manufacturer Caterpillar, Hunt discussed some recruiting
challenges for old-economy
companies. According to the Caterpillar VP, his company was flourishing
in this area because "we can articulate our culture. We know
what's important. We know who we are."
Hunt took his words to heart. In hindsight, he says: "Caterpillar
has withstood a great deal of pressure from Japanese competitors,
and they are thriving. They're obviously doing something right.
That conversation taught me the wisdom of knowing who we are as
an organization. From there, we can appeal to employees by being
honest about our culture and what our business is all about. We
don't try to sell an image or a brand that's not an accurate reflection
of our business."
Watson Wyatt consultant Pamela Hughes agrees. "OSRAM SYLVANIA
knows it's not a new-economy company, and it hasn't tried to be
one," she says. "It is a 100-year-old manufacturing company
that has transformed itself into a very technical company-but culturally,
it's never going to be a dot.com."
In contrast to new-economy
organizations with an emphasis on short-term contracts and looser
bonds between employees and the company, OSRAM
SYLVANIA is characterized by longevity and its ability to establish
employment relationships that transcend generations. Thibodeau's
father.
Expect the best
Still, don't lump OSRAM SYLVANIA in with other traditional companies
that still may have an outdated, paternalistic, static approach
to HR. The company expects stellar performances and requires employees
to initiate and adapt to change.
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