As the official coverage provider, the Cornell HR Review covered the keynote and panel discussions at the Human Capital Association’s (HCA) 9th Annual Symposium. The HCA is a student run organization within Cornell’s Johnson School and School of Industrial and Labor Relations, which strives to drive the future of the HR profession through educational and professional development opportunities across the Cornell community. The symposium provides a forum for students, faculty and corporate executives to explore the various dimensions of human capital issues prevalent in global business. This year’s symposium topic focused on driving innovation proactively through human resources and across organizations as we recover from the economic crisis of the past several years

Au-Yeung, Wesley

Komati, Meghana

Kwan, Winnie

English

As the official coverage provider, the Cornell HR Review covered the keynote and panel discussions at the Human Capital Association’s (HCA) 9th Annual Symposium. The HCA is a student run organization within Cornell’s Johnson School and School of Industrial and Labor Relations, which strives to drive the future of the HR profession through educational and professional development opportunities across the Cornell community. The symposium provides a forum for students, faculty and corporate executives to explore the various dimensions of human capital issues prevalent in global business. This year’s symposium topic focused on driving innovation proactively through human resources and across organizations as we recover from the economic crisis of the past several years.10_21_2011_Driving_Innovation_During_Times_of_Growth.pdf: 149 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

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Driving Innovation During Times of Growth

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Cornell HR Review 
10-21-2011 
Driving Innovation During Times of Growth 
Meghana Komati 
Cornell University 
Winnie Kwan 
Cornell University 
Wesley Au-Yeung 
Cornell University 
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Driving Innovation During Times of Growth 
Abstract 
As the official coverage provider, the Cornell HR Review covered the keynote and panel discussions at the 
Human Capital Association’s (HCA) 9th Annual Symposium. The HCA is a student run organization within 
Cornell’s Johnson School and School of Industrial and Labor Relations, which strives to drive the future of 
the HR profession through educational and professional development opportunities across the Cornell 
community. The symposium provides a forum for students, faculty and corporate executives to explore 
the various dimensions of human capital issues prevalent in global business. This year’s symposium 
topic focused on driving innovation proactively through human resources and across organizations as we 
recover from the economic crisis of the past several years. 
Comments 
Suggested Citation 
Komati, M., Kwan, W. & Au-Yeung, W. (2011, October 21). Driving innovation during times of growth. 
Cornell HR Review. Retrieved [insert date] from Cornell University, ILR School site: 
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/chrr/34 
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cornell HR review 
 
 
DRIVING INNOVATION DURING TIMES OF GROWTH 
 
Meghana Komati, Winnie Kwan, & Wesley Au-Yeung 
 
 
As the official coverage provider, the Cornell HR Review covered the keynote and panel 
discussions at the Human Capital Association’s (HCA) 9th Annual Symposium. The HCA 
is a student run organization within Cornell’s Johnson School and School of Industrial 
and Labor Relations, which strives to drive the future of the HR profession through 
educational and professional development opportunities across the Cornell community. 
The symposium provides a forum for students, faculty and corporate executives to 
explore the various dimensions of human capital issues prevalent in global business. This 
year’s symposium topic focused on driving innovation proactively through human 
resources and across organizations as we recover from the economic crisis of the past 
several years. 
 
Keynote: Creating a Climate of Innovation 
 
J. Randall MacDonald, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at IBM, delivered the 
keynote address at the 9th Annual Human Capital Association Symposium. The theme of 
the event this year was “Driving Innovation During Times of Growth”.  
 
MacDonald began by suggesting that innovation is a mindset that emerges out of a 
particular climate. This environment is created by leaders who constantly challenge the 
status quo and welcome new ideas. IBM is a prime example of a company that has been 
innovative since its inception; its first products were cheese slicers and commercial 
scales, but they soon expanded and have since grown into a company with nearly $100 
billion in revenue in 2010. MacDonald likened this culture of change as being hardwired 
into IBM’s DNA.  
 
Innovation is also spurred by crises. Moments of failure require both introspection and 
thinking openly. Inquiry, regardless of its perceived absurdity, is also necessary to 
generate thinking in others. According to MacDonald, no question is out of the question 
because often times it makes one think from a new perspective. Bluntly put, if you want 
to make something of yourself, you have to be comfortable with rejection and be used to 
looking ridiculous. 
 
The conversation then narrowed in on the evolution of HR at IBM. When MacDonald 
first came to IBM, HR was mostly administrative and transactional. He noticed 
administrative redundancies that no one questioned because that was the way it had 
always been done. Specifically, IBM had 37 payrolls systems across the world. 
MacDonald looked for the simplest and most efficient system, found that the Belgian 
© 2011 Cornell HR Review  
 
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system was a good prototype, and integrated all payrolls into one system modeled after 
the one in Belgium. This example highlighted his point that “bigger is not always better, 
bigger is just big”. MacDonald then reemphasized the importance of not being 
complacent. Red flags should be raised when processes are not being reevaluated because 
it is easy to fall into the trap of maintaining the status quo. A company should always be 
looking to increase its efficiency and performance through constant changes.  
 
While it is continuously stressed that HR needs to add value by going beyond a service 
function and into a more strategic role, MacDonald warns that HR should not always be 
focused on creating new strategies. Instead HR needs to focus on supporting and 
executing current business strategies effectively. Also, the temptation often exists to 
implement current fads within one’s own company, but it is important to first evaluate the 
trending practice to see if it fits with the business. Beyond innovating the overall 
enterprise, it is important for HR to be self-innovative and drive changes and progress 
within its own function. MacDonald summarized the important characteristics of an 
innovative HR function through the acronym FAACT: Functional, Aggressive, 
Accountability, Continuous learning, and Team. 
 
MacDonald then introduced the framework of IBM “HR ThinkFuture”. It includes 
several specific ideas that move beyond the conventional ways of practicing and thinking 
about HR. The first idea is that of thinking of talent as a cloud. MacDonald suggests that 
we should think of talent as mobile, rather than static or proprietary, because it has the 
potential to be widely accessible through technology. For example, MacDonald proposed 
that it may not be unreasonable in the future for high quality individuals to contribute to 
IBM’s talent pool in the morning hours via virtual tools and work for another company in 
the afternoon. Second, multicultural leaders are seen as increasingly vital in the more 
global world. We cannot continue with the notion of superior performance being 
achievable through utilization of Western leaders in foreign contexts. MacDonald sees 
the need to innovate through increased sensitivity and through the hiring and 
development of multicultural leaders. Third, social media can be a tool for HR; it can 
replace periodic performance reviews and enable daily, continuous feedback, thereby 
creating a new level of accountability. Finally, HR can implement predictive analytics 
tools to drive further transformation.  
 
MacDonald concluded by returning to his initial proposition that leadership is the key 
driver of all transformation. He made several suggestions for what leaders should keep in 
mind as they push for change within their organizations. 
 
1. Groups think big, but must convey ideas into actions 
2. How leadership evolves 
a. Lead through influence, not through bullying or power 
b. Learn from leaders 
3. Characteristics of the best senior leaders 
a. Mental and physical stamina 
b. Courage to go against the norm 
c. Persistence 
© 2011 Cornell HR Review  
 
 3 
4. The most important lesson to consider 
a. “How do I add value?” 
b. “Have I made a difference today?” 
 
The address ended with the suggestion that each individual ask themselves how to further 
add value to their current environment and evaluate whether they have had an impact. 
MacDonald believes that if the answer to either of those questions is “no” then “it is time 
for you to hang up your shoes”. The necessity for innovation is constant and requires that 
everyone involved be dedicated to that venture. 
 
 
Panel One: Leading a Culture of Innovation 
  
How can human resources enable, construct, and support a culture of innovation? This 
challenge served as the focal point for Cornell University’s 9th Annual Human Capital 
Association Symposium: Driving Innovation During Times of Growth. After a keynote 
address by J. Randall McDonald, SVP of Human Resources at IBM, the event launched 
its first discussion on the role of human resources in fostering an innovative culture 
within organizations. Professor Risa Mish of the Johnson School moderated the panel 
featuring participants Marc Chini (VP of Human Resources, Corporate at General 
Electric), David Clark (VP of Human Resources & Sr. Relationship Leader, Enterprise 
Growth at American Express), and Craig Hurty (Head of HR Shared Services at Aetna). 
These three leaders established the following framework within which HR can build 
talent, processes, and culture that would enhance an organization’s capacity to innovate. 
 
• Innovation manifests itself in various forms. Organizations should constantly strive 
towards securing additional revenue streams through investing in new ideas. 
However, organizational innovation can span beyond breakthrough products and 
brand recognition. Other methods by which companies can drive innovation include 
producing continuous improvement in areas such as customer service, or adopting a 
fast follower role of integrating best practices into internal processes. Innovation can 
be simple, easy to implement, and user-friendly, while still contributing to heightened 
productivity and profitability. 
 
• HR should serve as the guardian of an innovation culture that promotes a sense 
of urgency, appropriate risk-taking, and a comfort with ambiguity. Finding talent 
who are comfortable in an innovative culture, and with piloting and modeling 
initiatives on a small scale, will allow HR to facilitate idea generation within the 
organization. HR should assume a proactive role in eliminating structural or policy 
impediments to innovation. Furthermore, HR initiatives should be created for, or in 
collaboration with, business leaders, not served to them. 
 
• Employee champions of innovation and diversity of thought need to be 
protected. Organizations tend to rely on a key group of risk-takers who help drive 
innovation through their company-orientation and advocacy for cognitive diversity. In 
addition to setting accountability frameworks, HR needs to actively empower and 
© 2011 Cornell HR Review  
 
 4 
safeguard these employees within change-resistant cultures to prevent backlash and 
discouragement. 
 
• Failure and smart risks are fine but be iterative. HR leaders cannot exempt 
employees from repercussions of risk-taking, but they should encourage intelligent 
risk-taking in spite of the potential consequences. Taking chances does not preclude 
rational thinking because employees should always be able to soundly justify their 
choices. Within a longer-term perspective, mistakes can also facilitate eventual 
success as long as the organization consistently improves on its failures. 
 
• Change agents should focus on relationship building. To assist change agents 
within the organization, HR should emphasize the importance of stakeholder 
priorities. Instead of focusing on their own agendas, these innovation champions need 
to realize the imperatives of building alliances, generating early wins to establish 
credibility, and being strategically pragmatic in goal-setting. Incremental 
modifications may be more suitable than drastic overhauls. 
 
• Strike a balance between an innovative culture that is neither too exploratory 
nor overly restrictive. Though funding and budgetary guidelines dependent on 
progress and baselines are necessary, organizations should also reward innovation 
champions with greater trust and oversight. HR should consider generational 
differences in compensating and motivating these employees as well. 
 
• Benchmarking can be strategic, but only in moderation. A strong focus is 
necessary when examining best practices for driving innovation. The overwhelming 
spectrum of options from other companies can lead to HR strategies with a scattered 
mission and lack of risk control. HR should tailor best practices to organizational 
needs or use benchmarking to simply facilitate idea generation and rely on analytics 
to derive customized solutions instead. 
 
The insights from this panel discussion reinforce the key role of HR professionals in 
setting the foundation for innovation within organizations. In addition to securing talent 
who thrive in environments of risk and uncertainty, HR holds the challenging 
responsibility of encouraging and rewarding these individuals through building 
supportive cultures and leadership. HR needs to serve as a proactive ally to the business 
through reconfiguring old processes and ideas. Only by modeling innovation and 
adapting to new contexts as a function itself, can HR truly promote innovation throughout 
all levels of an organization. 
 
 
Panel Two: Building a Talent Pipeline 
 
Creating a culture of innovation is met with the challenge of finding the right talent that 
can contribute fresh ideas to the organization. Attendees gained insight on ways HR 
leaders are building their talent pipeline to allow for sustainable innovation during the 
second panel discussion. Moderated by Kathleen O’Connor (Associate Professor of 
© 2011 Cornell HR Review  
 
 5 
Management and Organizations), the panel included Michelle Boyea (VP of Talent 
Acquisition at McKesson), Alice Davison (VP & Sr. Manager of Talent Management at 
The Capital Group), and Bala Sathyanarayanan (Sr. Director and Head of HR for 
Enterprise Business in America at Hewlett-Packard). The participants shared several 
themes to building an innovative workforce for today’s landscape.  
 
• Firms must create flexible career paths to foster innovation. The notion that 
professional growth is highly based on one’s management skills has evolved. When 
companies offer technical career paths they send the message that employees are 
rewarded for creating ideas regardless of managerial status. Many employees have a 
desire to focus more on their technical expertise and less on becoming a manager. 
These individuals can greatly benefit the company and have a roadmap for successful 
careers. 
 
• The level of desired innovation is based on context. When an organization seeks 
talent it needs to assess how much innovation is needed. HR leaders should always 
ask themselves, “How much innovation does the business aim for, and how will we 
appropriately staff that need?” A technology firm may desire more innovation than an 
investment firm, which must be more prudent in its decision over others’ accounts. 
One should also examine different positions within the firm, as levels of innovation 
may vary. For example, software engineers should be given more latitude for 
creativity than an account manager, as financial responsibility is most important for 
the latter position. The latest context for this is social networks. Facebook and 
LinkedIn are prime examples of social media avenues for connecting with innovative 
talent. Companies may capitalize on this by seeking individuals who demonstrate 
expertise in social media. 
 
• Seek individuals willing to learn over those who fear making mistakes. The aim 
for perfection may lead a company to be risk-averse, thereby hindering innovation. 
Recruiters should turn their attention to talented individuals who are willing to learn 
from failure. Development programs expose individuals to various facets of the 
organization and offer them immediate responsibility. This early development 
stimulates the capacity to think creatively as new recruits get the chance to learn from 
shortcomings and breed new ideas for the organization.  
 
• Innovators must articulate their value to the business. When an employee makes 
innovative contributions he or she must be able to convey this to the company in 
order to be recognized for their efforts. That is, employees must take ownership for 
their stellar performance. By doing so, a dialogue between the company and the 
employee opens. The result is that employees feel engaged and valuable to the 
company while the company benefits from the new ideas. These mutual gains are 
conducive for a culture of innovation. 
 
It will behoove organizations to keep these principles in mind in order to achieve a long-
term talent pipeline that is rich with innovation. This panel reminds us that our people 
© 2011 Cornell HR Review  
 
 6 
drive the business. To create innovative cultures companies must start by seeking the 
right individuals who will fulfill these challenges. ℵ 
Meghana Komati is a student at Cornell University, pursuing an MILR at the School of 
Industrial & Labor Relations. She serves on the editorial board of the Cornell HR 
Review. 
Winnie Kwan is a student at Cornell University, pursuing an MILR at the School of 
Industrial & Labor Relations. She serves on the editorial board of the Cornell HR Review 
and also works as a research assistant for the Center for Advanced HR Studies (CAHRS). 
Wesley Au-Yeung is a student at Cornell University, pursuing an MILR at the School of 
Industrial & Labor Relations. He is a Tillman Military Scholar and currently serves on 
the editorial board of the Cornell HR Review. 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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