Winning the talent war through proper HR architecture

Attracting and retaining scarce human resources is an issue affecting most industries within South Africa, not least of which is the retail sector.

Limited growth in the number of learners entering educational institutions has, in turn, affected the number of skilled graduates entering the labour market.

This translates into a smaller talent pool from which to secure suitable candidates across a variety of disciplines.

The retail industry, specifically, is characterised by high employee turnover with each retailer constantly needing to prove itself. Attracting this talent, however, only solves half the crisis. The task of keeping those employees satisfied so that they opt to remain in company's employ is equally important.

It is imperative that once a suitable candidate has been placed, organisations have the best HR and talent management systems and processes at their disposal to retain their employees. Developing and nurturing staff along a career path and in accordance with its HR strategy is one way a company can win the talent war.

It is well documented that employee satisfaction is one of the core determinants of retention. Employees who have confidence in their HR systems and processes and feel that they are being 'looked after' by their organisations are likely to have higher satisfaction levels and hence, are likely to continue with their tenure. This stems from the belief that their careers are being well managed and that their organisation is striving to develop them by ensuring knowledge, information and access to HR facilities are constantly at their fingertips.

Often, the problem experienced is that components of HR systems operate within silos, leading to functions being practised autonomously by each division. This results in inconsistencies in data and processes.

These inconsistencies subsequently make monitoring and management of HR difficult.

The arrival of shared services has prompted organisations to rethink and improve processes by implementing a consistent and efficient conduit, with centralised components, through which the HR needs of the employee could be serviced.

Based on previous successes, BSG was approached by a leading lifestyle products retailer to help in the designing of a set of world-class HR processes with the intention to centralise shared services.

The retailer is a multinational investment holding company consisting of 13 trading divisions dealing in a wide range of products from fashion to homeware. As one of South Africa's leading retailers, it boasts a large market share in the realm of lifestyle products and services.

This retailer currently employs approximately 13 500 people categorised into different job types. There is therefore a fundamental need for this company to have quality HR processes and systems in place.

The retailer had decided to re-engineer its human resources element and had implemented numerous initiatives to collapse silos and improve management through the centralisation of relevant HR practices.

There was, however, no common strategy to which these initiatives conformed and the risk of these not converging to achieve the overall HR vision soon became apparent to the BSG team.

The retailer was concerned about the quality and manner in which HR transactions, and therefore people, were managed throughout the organisation. The client believed its HR function was prone to errors and potentially dishonest manipulation which hindered effective and efficient management.

The major contributing factors to the business problems were the ineffective and disparate HR systems, inefficient HR processes and the lack of HR skills/knowledge among employees. HR functions were also mostly practised autonomously, creating a silo mentally and exacerbating the problem.

By collaborating with the retailer, the BSG team was able to identify world-class processes, determine the scope, the detail of the process and how it could be serviced through a shared services component.

The result of these sessions was a consolidated and common understanding of the vision which was used to drive the strategic context of the programme and create buy-in among stakeholders.

Additionally, the team investigated and documented the impact of any technology changes to the organisation's environment that would result from the implementation of the intended strategy.

To establish the current state of the retailer's HR function, BSG engaged with operational stakeholders to understand 'on-the-ground' experiences and inefficiencies.

This helped BSG identify areas of innovation, success metrics and steps towards achieving the HR vision in the interim and long term.

As a result of the business architecture, which BSG helped to develop, an implementation roadmap was created to highlight the activities required to fulfil this model.

BSG was able to identify the need to create an overall programme to coordinate the current and intended projects incorporated in the HR strategy using MSP (Managing Successful Programmes).

This programme would enable the transformation of HR through shared services to provide innovative and quality service to the organisation.

This shared services component would act as a central point connecting employees across the company to HR. Shared services would enable employees to interact and access HR skills, knowledge and expertise located at a central point using available channels in an easy, consistent and structured manner.

The business architecture and roadmap have provided a view by which to navigate the shared services implementation and to realise benefits such as consistent HR practices, reduced errors and reduced administrative overheads.

By channelling HR transactions, queries and advice through a central hub, the retailer will be able to provide better HR services to employees, provide correct technological support and facilitate better management of HR data, processes and systems.

Through these, the retailer would attain its vision for HR to be made available in a fair, equal, socially conscience and sustainable manner, promoting a unique approach to commerce and delivering consolidated transactional and information services to the organisation.

In conjunction with the retailer, BSG delivered both tangible and intangible benefits to the organisation by establishing an aligned perspective of the current state of HR, the future of it and how this would be achieved.

The business architecture and roadmap are future reference points for all collated issues, ideas, knowledge and information to act as a guide in the roll-out of the HR shared services strategy aimed at ensuring better, more efficient and effective HR services throughout the organisation.