Lloyd's Human Resources Strategy

New HR Strategy Makes Lloyd a “Best Company”

Q1. Skills for HR

Before Black became the HR director of Lloyd’s of London, the long-lived company’s HR was essentially a personnel department. Black believed that HR should serve the functions of the company and maximize employee talent and satisfaction. She also believed that succeeding in HR required a comprehensive knowledge of the functioning of the company as a whole, which was one reason the company rotated new employees through a variety of different departments, to better understand the company’s strategy, culture, and inner workings. Skills in HR require interpersonal knowledge, flexibility, and the ability to see the forest as well as the trees.

Q2. Outcomes of new strategy

The strategy fostered a better work-life balance, enhancing employee retention and loyalty. There was a structured incentive to encourage excellence, but not at the expense of employee mental health, and employees had more positive feelings about the company. The company has been named one of the best companies to work for in the United Kingdom.

Q3. Challenges of HR policy for global company

All global companies face challenges because of the need to adopt uniform policies which may or may not be compatible with the different cultures of their particular nations. But strategies which emphasize individualistic incentives may not be embraced by employees from more collectivist cultures (Cherry, 2019). There is a tension between creating a policy which is in keeping with the vision and values of the company versus what may be the approach the company needs to take to be accepted within a national context.

Q4. When might a manager need to say “no?”

HR managers may need to provide oversight when there is a cultural conflict between the ways an individual department is being managed versus the values of a company. For example, in some industrialized countries, gendered stereotypes may impact hiring in the workplace, or behavior that might be regarded as harassment elsewhere might be accepted (Shirakawa, 2019). But such policies, which would be illegal in the home nation and conflicts with the values embraced by the company, must still be stringently opposed by HR.