The GAN’s Annual Board Meeting was hosted this year at Nestlé HQ bringing together its member CEOs, and heads of international and business and employer organisations. On the same day, HR professionals from GAN Global member companies and partner organization worked together to map their journeys on how to become responsive, future-oriented learning organizations. The event entitled “Redesigning hiring and training to attract talent, grow business and build an equitable future of work” attracted over 60 representatives from various sectors across the country and abroad, who are committed to getting their industries the skills they need.
Topics discussed included a review of company approaches on redesigning HR for future value.
According to Laurent Freixe, GAN Global Chair and CEO Zone Americas, Nestlé “we see HR as a critical partner in taking forward the operational design and planning necessary to articulate the Future of Work (FoW). Managing an organization with over 100,000 employees, I see that new skills are required and our organisations need to consider critical thinking and good practices to be more fluid. Through the GAN, we invite you join us to lead, shape and drive action aimed at fusing education and employment through work-based learning.” Mr Freixe reminded those taking part that a key outcome of this event will be to create a more inclusive and equitable future for the workforce by enabling business to thrive in an era of transformational change.
GAN Global Executive Director, Nazrene Mannie added that “the GAN’s mission is not only to reshape organisations so that work-based learning is at the core of what they do, it’s also very much about the people that are impacted” and noted the complementary work GAN Global is doing with partners, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Business at OECD (BIAC). HR and skilling executives from Accenture Switzerland, Microsoft, Mercer and Zurich Insurance shared company examples from their countries in Switzerland, the UK and the US.
Avantika Tomar, Mercer, Global Solution Lead – Workforce for the Future
“In a climate where employees feel governments and education systems are not providing sufficient safety nets/preparation, they are now looking to their company to future-proof their careers (and in turn their health and wealth prospects). As employers, we need to be responsible, we need to rise to this challenge. The median investment in reskilling by employers in China is US $2K pp, in the US $1K pp and many European countries hover at a quarter of this investment per person, per year. What will be the impact of this differential investment strategy on the growth of market economies?”
Kristin Holter, Zurich Insurance, Head of Future of Work
“Zurich Insurance is a data driven organization. You can prioritize by creating reskilling opportunities internally, then there is a domino effect.”
Naria Santa Lucia, Microsoft, Sr. Director Employability & Skills
“We need to skill 10 million people by 2025 for AI. We want to do this the right way, not by an algorithm made by the privileged elite. Only 16% of algorithms are made by women, and we don’t want to widen the gap.”
Kathryn Rowan, Nestlé, VP Human Resources Zone Americas
“HR needs to be at the design table, and not an afterthought. It’s only that way, where we can take a holistic approach on skilling. This can pave the way for a more open transparent process with employees, which builds trust.”
Manon Bosma, Managing Director Talent & Organization, Accenture Strategy – focused on Communications, Media and Technology
“Our Talent Ambition 2020 aim is to be the best place for the most highly specialized talent on the planet. This means we have had to transform talent from the inside out. . . We started with a Return on Talent exercise to free up significant investment for Talent & HR Programs including a massive reskilling and work-based learning initiative. This included investment in apprenticeship and outreach programs to under-served groups. Putting people at the center of HR strategies is key to successful change and business results.”