Once again Rudiger is sitting at his desk in his seventh-floor office in central London reflecting on life. The move from Barcelona to England went smoothly, with the last crate arriving only two months later than the rest. He is still working hard, but the hours are slightly better since the introduction of the work-life balance policy last year, and his family has settled well into the idyllic English countryside.
As the global head of People and Talent, he still has problems, though—just different ones. The talent strategy “Our People–Our Talent–Our Future,” which he presented to the board in his third month, identified the need for robust HRP information and analyses that required a new version of HRP software. It is in its early stages, but the intensive data-cleansing and updating activity has been straightforward so far. More concerning are the metrics responsible for producing the information needed to develop farreaching HRP policies and practices for the future. The metrics are relatively easy to construct, but it is proving tricky to find the right “bundles” of predictive metrics—this is holding up progress with the analysis application package. In addition, there have been cost overruns in the implementation of the HRP software, and some senior managers are wondering if the new software should be abandoned.
At least three of the 12 board members will retire in the next two years, and they are looking to groom their successors. At least one will have to be hired from outside the organization, and the HR department is not sure what the CEO wants for this position. In addition, employee turnover and an aggressive growth strategy mean hiring new employees as well as training transferring current employees. The work that is involved in defining competences (KSA sets) at skill levels within jobs is progressing well, with hard-won support from the unions. However, job descriptions that can be found are at least three to five years old, and some jobs have no descriptions.
The new apprenticeship scheme is about to be launched, and the international graduate student package and development program has been completely revised. Overall things are progressing OK, but there is much to be done.
Case Study Questions
1. How would you recommend that Rudiger begin to develop an HRP program? What are the steps that he needs to take?
2. How should the problem with the job descriptions be handled? Should the unions be involved?
3. What are some of the problems in the past that have led this current situation to occur?
4. Why do you think there are cost overruns? How could this have been avoided?
5. Why are there problems with implementation of the new software?
6. How will job descriptions be developed for the positions of board member and international student intern?