Module 1 – Strategic HR Management and Ethics

Assignment 2: Strategic Evaluation of the HR Governance Framework

Conduct a strategic evaluation of the HR Governance Framework of your

organisation (or any organisation you are familiar with). Conclude this process by
constructing a customised HR Governance Framework for the organisation.

Name & Surname Kilian PATRELLE

Student Number 25783394
 Step 1 – Provide a clear background on the HR Governance context of your organisation.

ManpowerGroup (MPR) places Human capital management as the core of its

business. Thus, HR Governance actions need to fit with three main plans: Getting
ready for work, Skilling up, Integrating and including. Talent Management and
Human Resources Risks are the MPR HR Governance’s priorities.

MPR, as a multinational firm, focuses on an ethical and effective HR leadership

through different achievements and approvements:

- Investing in talented HR leadership to unleash talents of HR teams and get

ready for any necessary HR transformation in the future. MPR tends to
recruit leaders with skills for prioritizing diversity and inspiring integrity for
the company HR performance and create value.
- Developing HR leader experience by preparing the next global HR
leadership. Each HR leaders are now prepared with a rigorous two-year
program aiming to ensure that HR adds value and to provide assurance of
the HR work with a Harvard Business School coaching. Measurement has
been settled to follow the effectiveness of the program. This leadership
coaching program is ethically composed of 50% male and 50% female.
- Accelerating the path of gender equity in the leadership. As mentioned
above, MPR launched summits to achieve the 50/50 parity ethical objective
that may impacts every part of the company such as the HR governance.
- Listening to employees’ opinions for the HR governance management. The
ManpowerGroup Annual People Survey aims to get feedbacks on every
subject in the company including the HR Governance. Following this,
executives and board members can identify HR actions and organisational
issues that would lead to less HR effectiveness.
- Progressing in nowadays ethics expectations. Through different actions
such as relevant training programs or regular culture audit, MPR
differentiates for his clients. Trust, integrity, diversity, or transparency are all
criteria that HR governance must deal with. That is why, MPR requested to
its stakeholders the comprehension and acceptance of its Code of
Business Conduct and Ethics. Finally, MPR’s HR governance is asked to
manage the reinforcement of behaviour and work environment along ethical
regulations and needs.

Step 2 – Critically evaluate the strengths and gaps in HR Governance at your organisation
against King IV requirements.

As seen above, ManpowerGroup (MPR) has an efficient and ethical HR

governance towards talent management and acquisition, ethics, and HR risk
management. It almost respects parts of the King IV structure to obtain
governance outcomes expected. By going deeper, MPR’s strengths on a King IV
basis are:

- Regarding the Leadership, the directors and managers always act in the
interests and the company. Conflicts between managers are treated by The
Board committee although it is not supposed to happen due to the rigorous
induction program imposed to all new directors. Also, directors’ skills are
reviewed each year by a committee. Finally, while reports about
declarations of interests are requested quarterly, sustainability reports are
published annually for transparency.
- Regarding the organisational ethics, the annual people survey for ethical
health check permits communication between employees and the HR
governance such as Board members or executives. Ensuring results to
each employees’ concerns, MPR’s HR governance tends to be fairness.
- About responsible corporate citizenship, MPR contributes to social
development around gender empowerment.
- Transparent reporting and an aligned HR strategy to the expectations of
stakeholders show a willing to gather performance, sustainable
development, and strategy as one int the creation of value at short-term and
long-term.
- Regarding risk HR governance, MPR annually reviews the governance of
risks through audits, Chief Risk Officer designating or risk management
committees.
- For stakeholders, efforts are constantly made about good relations with
clients, employees, temporary workers. Protection and prevention about
environment pollution, bribery or corruption are settled.

However, still on a King IV basis, it is possible to put also in evidence the gaps
following:

- Leadership responsibility could lead to a constant approvement, by the

Board, of financial commitments above a specific amount to give flexibility
to HR governance.
- While risk and culture audits are made, organisational ethics might be
audited too for ensuring the respect and the efficiency of the code of
conduct and ethics.
- For responsible corporate citizenship, in addition to the sustainability report,
a social and ethics-oriented report must be written by the ethics committee
to achieve full transparency.
- Remuneration report concerning the governance should be disclosed to
every direct stakeholder. Responsibility, transparency and fairly would be
the benefits and would directly impact HR governance.
 Step 3 – Critically evaluate the strengths and gaps in HR Governance at your organisation
against the National HR Governance Framework.

According to the South African HR Governance Framework, ManpowerGroup

(MPR)’s HR Governance is well-aligned. Responsibility of Boards is almost
outlined, and effective and ethical utilisation of human capital is facilitated.
Followings are some examples of this alignment:

- HR business alignment is taking as essential in the Board human capital

strategy. For instance, conflicts and interest between directors is treated by
board members while several board meetings are organized for discussing
about roles and responsibilities of the HR governing body.
- HR leadership is directly impacting the value chain delivery since MPR’s HR
governance ensures a sustainable strategy and an alignment with value
drivers and stakeholders demands as far as human capital is the key
success factor for Human capital/Workforce sector’s company.
- Other HR governance structures exists in MPR’s HR governance structure
such as HR risk management committee or talent management committee.
- Plenty of HR risks are identified and mitigated such as verifications of
qualifications with the regular training programs or nepotism with quarter
HR reports.
- Same case with HR compliance that has been taken in account with codes
of conduct and policy and regulation trainings.

However, gaps can be found in the alignment of MPR with this HR governance
framework:

- External stakeholder engagement is linked to the HR governance and

the HR risk management because of the necessity of working with
business partners following with the same ethical standards.
- MPR’s HR risk management is linked with its HR operating roles
operations because of the importance of having a HR risk office team.

Step 4 – Articulate and argue the role for the HR head as a champion of ethics. Be sure to
identify ethical risks and practicable steps to mitigate them.

ManpowerGroup (MPR) can be regarded as a champion of ethics owing to those

following actions and statements:

- A code of business conducts and ethics have been launched to introduce to

every stakeholder the global footprint about ethics in the company.
 - Trainings aiming to improve the ethical commitment of MPR are regularly
demanded to employees and directors about policies, corruptions, or data
privacy. MPR desires are to stay relevant and realistic towards the modern
ethics stakes the company and its employees can face. Moreover, those
trainings are regularly refreshed to gain reactivity to new policies,
regulations or issues regarding MPR.
- MPR’s culture provides a company culture and a work environment
favourable to liberty of sharing ethical concerns or propositions without
fearing judgements.
- As explained above, the annual people survey on ethical health-check
permits to understand employees’ ethical problematics and to be able to
respond to those in a fast and personalized way, depending on the
organisational branch and the problem
- Last, MPR participates in plenty of ethics forums to evaluate its HR
governance towards ethics, get new ideas from what it is done in other
worldwide companies, and affirm its position of champion in this stake.

Contrary to the last part of the answer, here is the potential risks and ways of
mitigating risks:

- Remuneration’s transparency is an ethical HR risk that it has been already

mentioned. Indeed, the risk may lead to conflicts within the employees and
between them and the company. Salary’s differences may be suggested by
the employees, and thus, may trigger degradation of the work environment
and the performances. The remuneration report already mentioned is the
solution against this potential phenomenon. Total transparency in
remunerations is a HR decision that delete the ethical risks linked but which
involves a perfect equality in the remuneration’s division.
- As a temporary work’s company, MPR has millions of temporary workers in
industrial and production sector as employees. Those sectors are subjects
of plenty of work incidents due to mechanisms or heavy carrying jobs. In
consequence, MPR needs to prevent from those incidents and train
employees to decrease the amount and provide a more ethical and safer
environment.
- Last but not least, it is important that MPR works with company clients that
fit with Manpower ethical standards as far as his main business plan is
based on Business to Business. With the risks of employee’s
disengagement, stress, or staff turnover, MPR must ensure that business
partners it works with, fit with MPR’s standards for ethics and responsibility.
Those standards must be mentioned at the beginning of each business
partnerships and then, a partnership code of conducts must be submitted
as framework for ethics.
- The annual people survey on ethical health-check is problematic if concerns
are urgent. A Chatbot or a hotline might be better way to manage ethical
urgent issue.
 Step 5 – Develop a customised and organisation-specific HR Governance Framework for your
organisation.

Following my analysis, here is the explanations of the customised

ManpowerGroup (MPR)-oriented HR governance framework taking into
consideration points where I think the company can improve. Those points are:

- HR risks management is directly linked to the external stakeholder

engagement since it is mandatory, for MPR’s human capital strategy, to
take in consideration external stakeholders such as business partners and
clients. In fact, to ensure the alignment of his partners along ethics and HR
MPR’s standards, external stakeholders must be part of the HR risk
management block’s actions. As a temporary work company, MPR must
focus on working with same HR-standardized partners to avoid incidents. It
is thus based on HR risks management.
- Following the last recommendation, the customized framework would link
operating HR roles with the HR management risk. Indeed, HR operating
roles need to be also focused on HR risks. As a champion of ethics, it is
necessary to manage risks at a priority level to stay at the top of the
attractiveness and the ethical image. Operating team towards risk
management must be created to gain in better management and reactivity.
- Finally, Reporting must be placed under-linked from HR policies to HR
operating roles. This structure will permit better transparency and
comprehensions of the HR governance actions and strategy. Furthermore,
associated audit will provides materials to evaluate each upper-building
blocks.

Step 6 – Reflect on your learning experience on the SUNLearn reflection journal. How can you
practically implement what you’ve learned here in your organisation?

Control-Click HERE for the reflection journal

Step 7 – Engage qualitatively as well as quantitatively on the SUNLearn group discussion forum.

Control-Click HERE for the SUNLearn group discussion forum

 Step 8 – Submit your initial draft timeously to check Turnitin similarity report and, when satisfied,
submit the final version for review.

Control-Click HERE to submit your assignment

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

The importance of staff risk management, People G2, 2013.

https://www.peopleg2.com/blog/the-importance-of-staff-retention-risk-
management/

ESG report, Manpower Group, 2020.

https://www.manpowergroup.com/wcm/connect/d03b1d9f-86d4-438f-9274-
f2cb540e05ca/MPG_2020+ESG+Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=niXHGB5

Corporate Governance Guidelines, ManpowerGroup, 2020.

https://investor.manpowergroup.com/static-files/e0e70124-b2ad-4ca5-ab6e-
be4f093ca025
Assessment Criteria