s Owens Corning focuses on continuing to expand globally,
acquiring and developing talent at a rapid pace is a mounting challenge.
"We are growing in Asia, Europe and Russia," says Joseph High,
senior vice president of HR. "Recruiting in those places can be a real challenge."
To address the issue, he and his team are making a concerted
effort to find out which employees are interested in working abroad. Also, the company
has changed its policy to allow employees to take short-term as well as long-term
assignments abroad.
"We are putting the word out that employees don’t have to
commit for two years," High says. "In some places, we have specific projects that
might only take a few months."
Offering shorter-term assignments allows employees to get
a feel for what it would be like to live and work abroad, he says. "And then those
employees come back and share their experiences with others."
The company also is stepping up its communications about opportunities
abroad. One approach is its "Lunches With Leaders," at which employees are invited
to hear the company’s country leaders talk about their businesses.
"Many employees are resistant to working abroad due to the
fear factor," High says. The language barrier scares some people, he says. "They
are afraid that if they get to China, they will say something wrong." The lunches
help to address some of those concerns.
High also tries to address global issues in his monthly HR
town hall meetings by inviting HR executives from different countries to speak.
A recent town hall meeting focused on the importance of succession
planning. The company’s goal is to have two solid candidates for every key leader
within the company.
And the challenges facing HR executives in attaining this
goal are similar around the world, High says. To demonstrate that, he invited the
HR leader from India to discuss the business challenges of developing talent within
the country.
"This is a North American, Midwestern kind of company, so
there is a lot of education that needs to take place," he says. "And people are
really interested in hearing about others’ experiences in other countries."
Focusing on specific challenges that HR faces around the world
helps HR managers to get a better sense of the global commonalities throughout the
organization, High says.
"It provided everyone with examples of things that worked
well and things that failed," he says. "Everyone could relate to the issues."
By highlighting their experiences, High hopes to show HR executives
that no matter where in the world they are, the challenges aren’t that different.
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