Q&A on Employee Relations with Cara Pawlisch

1. Cara, can you please explain your role at The Hanover Group Insurance to us? CP: I am currently the AVP, Human Resources with responsibility for shared services in the realms of Employee Relations and HR Generalist support. I was hired by The Hanover in November 2009 to design, build, and implement a "frontline HR generalist" shared services function, and have since integrated training delivery as well. The Hanover is an innovative, high-growth specialty insurer with a good deal of M&A activity and a progressive HR model – so it is an exciting time for myself and for the company! 2. Where do you see opportunities for your role, looking forward? In particular: what ideas do you have for closer alignment between shared services and HR? What impact can Employee Relations have as part of a shared services model? CP: I am a firm believer that the centralization of Employee Relations in organizations is the critical lever in the transformation, not only of the HR function, but of the HR profession as a whole. Moving ER and other "workplace issues" out of the realm of the HR Business Partner and into the hands of high-level specialists in a centralized and optimized function will allow for the movement of Business Partners into high-impact arenas, while mitigating risk for the organization in an increasingly-complex legal and regulatory environment (I prefer the term "high-impact" work over "strategic" work as we seem to be struggling with defining "strategic work" in the HR profession!). The next horizon for HR and ER shared services will be translating the HR shared services model for application in the international arena. I believe there is tremendous opportunity for HR shared services to learn and apply best practices from their colleagues in IT and Finance outsourcing in the areas of BPO, vendor management and innovative/flexible resourcing models. 3. What has been your greatest success over the past year? CP: I am continually amazed by the power of HR shared services to simultaneously upgrade the value proposition of Human Resources by freeing-up Business Partners to focus on high-impact HR activities (those that drive the performance of the organization), upgrade and optimize "specialty" and transaction services, and improve the efficiency of, and customer experience related to, HR service delivery. I am proud to have partnered with Jim Scully of the HR Shared Services Institute over the last few months to launch a national "ER Shared Services Council," which is a group of HR shared services leaders (including Coke, Unisys, ADM, and MetLife, among others) who are working together to optimize ER shared services. 4. What are your predictions on "global sourcing" for 2011? CP: I believe that international companies will continue to explore opportunities and ways to apply the HR shared services model in the international arena, and those that have ER shared services will continue to work to "crack the code" on delivering ER shared services internationally. I believe that HR functions are struggling with the HR outsourcing market and fluctuations in providers, and will continue to be conservative on that front. 5. What is your favorite quote? CP: My favorite quote is particularly appropriate for those of us working in shared services: "Success always looks like failure in the middle." 6. If you could have dinner with anyone, who would that be? CP: Thomas Jefferson – the ultimate Renaissance man and a founding father of our country. 7. Where do you live and what keeps you there? CP: I split my work week between what I like to call my "very hip" apartment in a renovated woolen mill in Millbury, Massachusetts, and my traditional colonial in West Hartford, Connecticut. I have been a bit of a gypsy in my HR career, and have lived everywhere from Princeton, New Jersey to Duluth, Minnesota – so I create a home wherever my career takes me! [eventpdf]

Q&A on Employee Relations with Cara Pawlisch

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