As more and more organizations expand their footprints to include a multinational presence, the word “glocal” -conducting business according to both local and global considerations – has become commonplace. We go glocal here at HRO Today with our sister publication HRO Today Global, a magazine that covers the same topics but focuses on trends specific to EMEA and APAC.
When working on this month’s cover story, Recognition That’s Contagious (see page 12), it become clear early into my conversation with Dow’s Johanna Soderstrom that a recognition program with a global reach was a top priority. As corporate vice president of human resources and aviation, Soderstrom oversees Dow’s more than 50,000 employees in 180 countries. She knew that the backbone of the recognition program could be the same, but would need to be executed at the discretion of the region.
“An American program doesn’t work in all corners of the world,” she said. “So we had to make sure that the program works in different parts of the world.” By implementing a global platform with the help of O.C. Tanner and allowing regional leaders customize their approach, Dow is experiencing an 11 percent increase in global participation.
Glocalization also was a hot topic at MSI’s Executive Forum in Scottsdale in September. During a session I attended, panelists Stephanie Nowicki of adidas and Ivana Gibson, Kate DeFrancisco, and Kim Raymond of MSI Global Talent Solutions discussed how leveraging assessments can help align global teams.
Nowicki provided an example. When adidas was reviewing their mobility process, the organization noticed that regions (Hong Kong, Germany, the United States) worked well as silos, but on a global level experienced challenges in communication and productivity. To help solve these problems, the teams went through an assessment process to dive deep into global readiness and cultural awareness.
“It helped us work together as a team, learn to listen to each other, and help move this along for our global harmonization,” said Nowicki.
So while glocal obviously sounds cool -it works, too!
Debbie Bolla
Editorial Director