Hao « Howard » He
Head of Human Resources for Saint-Gobain in Shanghai - China
Initially planning to go into biology, Hao "Howard” He switched to human resource management in his first job. He then gathered his experience in the field, since HR was something completely new in China at the time. Although he only joined Saint-Gobain in 2006, his 12 years of previous experience certainly proved useful in handling the challenges raised by the company's phenomenal workforce expansion.
Initiating a new company culture
"I work for the Saint-Gobain Pipe Systems division in China, in the human resources department. We are a team of 43 people for around 5,000 workers and office staff. But in fact, up until 2005, more than half of these belonged to State-run companies acquired by Saint-Gobain. The challenge was therefore to integrate these additional staff members, and initiate them into a corporate culture that was completely new to them. My work is particularly focused on the many middle managers with the aim of training them in more modern managerial techniques. This involves a large-scale training programme to bring them up to speed, but it isn't always easy to get our message across those who insist on living in the past. It can even be frustrating, but I have the advantage of being totally familiar with both systems, the old one and the more modern, which is gradually becoming more generally accepted.
My door is always open
"I share my time between my office in Shanghai, where I usually spend only one day a week, and the factories in Xuzhou and Maanshan, located one hour's flight away. I start my day looking through my e-mail, and then have a series of meetings covering budgets, especially salary adjustments, as well as the development of human resource policy. I also have to answer frequent urgent or unexpected questions raised by managers or colleagues who will always come and knock on my door when they need help. I also spend an enormous amount of time on the actual production sites.
Interpersonal skills
"It is essential to have good interpersonal skills in a job like mine. I not only have to be a good listener, but I also have to find the right words to answer them. With a workforce of this size, I have to be in contact with a great many people, and I must try to adapt myself to each one of them. Although, unfortunately, I can't personally meet each one of the 5,000 staff, it is particularly satisfying to feel that you are needed and that you play a key role in helping the company run smoothly."
