Hr Issues

CASE STUDY

WHY DOESN’T THIS HR DEPARTMENT GET ANY RESPECT?

“I am stuck. I don’t know where to start, there are so many problems and issues,” Brian Henderson said, sighing. Jenny Fisher, sitting across the table from him sipping her skinny café latte, gave him a knowing grin. “You’re definitely in strife” she said. He leaned back. “Thanks a heap,” he replied. “Talk about the bleeding obvious! But what is your advice?” Henderson and Fisher had been at the café for almost two hours; the lunch rush had ended long ago, and the waiters were setting up for the mid-afternoon coffee drinkers, some of whom were starting to arrive. Henderson, General Manager of human resources at Polygon Technologies, had called Fisher in part because she was a friend, but also because she was the Director of human resources at a large Chemical Company, and he knew that she was a star performer. Over lunch, he had told his story. Before Henderson joined Polygon just over a year ago, he had been a partner at the Dimensions Group, a mid sized, but successful HR consulting firm. His specialty there had been working with information technology companies, but when Dimensions own head of HR was let go after an embarrassing misdemeanour, the Managing Director asked Henderson to take over HR and help Dimensions reinvigorate its performance management approach. Henderson had worked very effectively as HR director, helping the company’s consultants evaluate performance systems and had put together some highly marketable

CASE STUDY development programs. The Dimensions Group, with Henderson’s help, had

quickly become a strong competitor in this field. Despite this success, and a level of comfort at Dimensions, Henderson accepted the job at Polygon because he thought it would be a challenge, and that he would expand his horizons. For most of its 20-year life, Polygon had an enviable track record in attracting and retaining talent. But in 1998, when its charismatic CEO John Hassell retired,...