The document discusses strategic initiatives at two large companies, Prudential and Corning, to better align business and HR objectives. It describes how the companies link business imperatives like increasing productivity to talent strategies involving staffing adjustments and skills upgrading. The document also outlines initiatives to establish leadership benches and provide more value from HR through cost management strategies like reducing healthcare costs and outsourcing some HR functions.

1. STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Aligning Business & HR Objectives
With all the talk about aligning business and HR initiatives, it’s
easy to become confused about exactly what this means. This is
why HRfocus found a panel discussion on this topic at the
recent Conference Board Human Resources Conference in New
York City especially valuable. We present much of what we
learned here in the hopes that others’ experience will help you
define and apply the concepts to your own situation.
The conference also featured a keynote address by Prudential
CEO Arthur Ryan, who discussed several initiatives at his orga-
nization in which HR’s contribution has been particularly
impor- tant (see the sidebar, “Strategic Alignment: A CEO’s
View”).
MAKING THE LINK
The panel agreed that it’s crucial to link current business imper-
atives with human resources. And today’s key business impera-
tives are:
Increasing productivity. Operating globally. Maintaining
competitive labor costs. Cutting costs for other
operations. Generating revenue growth through
innovation. Managing effective and rapid
change. Maintaining ethics and a good corporate reputation.
THE TALENT STRATEGY
This includes: Adjusting the staffing level. To respond to
current condi-
tions, you need flexibility and an organized talent plan, said
Sharon Taylor, senior vice president, corporate human
resources, and chair of the Prudential Foundation, Prudential.
“Who you have, what they do, how they do it—you need to
know this to be able to redeploy.”
Adjusting to changing demographics. This is especially
continued on page 13
disconnected from technology and, in some cases, HR was

2. disconnected from the business strategy. Today, the focus is
shifting to more manager- and strategy-oriented applications to
provide the highest ROI and im- pact.
Develop an action plan to ex- pand the deployment of manager
productivity applications. Then look
to performance-measurement tech- nologies as an extension of
HR trans- formation.
Recognize the importance of change management in generating
a successful initiative. Establish and execute a plan at all levels.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The accompanying tables provide
information on software development and delivery vendor
providers from North American respondents (see Table 1),
investment to date world- wide for workforce technologies by
size (see Table 2), investment so far in responding
organizations by size (see Table 3), and budget for the next 21
months for workforce tech- nologies (see Table 4).
TECHNOLOGY (cont’d)
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES (cont’d from page 1)
important with regard to “offshor- ing” jobs. The question is
quite com- plex, including how to explain the need for it to your
stakeholders and customers and dealing with a poten- tial public
relations backlash from those who find offshoring unpatriotic.
Some operations at Corning, Inc., have been sent abroad, said
Kurt Fischer, vice president, human re- sources, and diversity
officer. Send- ing manufacturing operations to the Dominican
Republic saved the com- pany time and money.
Taylor said Prudential is develop- ing a facility in Ireland and is
having some work done in India through its Exult division.
“You need to look at the work that lends itself to offshor- ing,
and grow other skills within the company.”
Upgrading skills and perfor- mance expectations. Both Corning
and Prudential put a good deal of time and effort into reviewing
employees’ capabilities and increasing their skills. Corning
annually reviews 41 key po- sitions and tracks “high-potential”
individuals in those posts.

3. Creating diversity—an “envi- ronment of inclusion.” Taylor de-
scribed three interrelated areas that Prudential considers:
1. A visible representation by level and minority sub groups,
with 10- year goals.
2. The ability of leadership to deal with diverse employee
segments. To address this Prudential implemented
business resource groups for minori- ties, disabled people, and
employees with alternative life styles.
3. Climate—which includes mea- suring the progress of the
diversity effort and providing for it in variable compensation.
Corning is measuring its diversity effort and expanding it into
manage- ment ranks as part of its current goal- setting
initiative. The company will focus on internal development as
well, tracking the progress of five to seven “diverse” employees
who have been identified in the 41 key position re- views.
Most of Corning’s global opera- tions are managed by U.S.
expa- triates, and the company is trying to identify local leaders
for the fu- ture.
ESTABLISHING A LEADERSHIP ‘BENCH’ This involves
working with the tal- ented, high-performance leaders who get
business results. It includes re- viewing current talent, planning
for succession, recruiting top talent, de- veloping on-the-job
and external tal- ent, and managing executive com- pensation.
At Prudential, leadership develop- ment includes focusing on
“non-core competencies” (among which are qualities such as
courage), which are assessed in developmental reviews.
Individual coaching is used to im- prove skill sets, Taylor said.
Corning uses the APEX develop- ment program for individuals,
said Fischer. Global leaders are encour- aged to drive strategies,
get results, communicate/motivate, and manage themselves.
Corning also uses peri- odic 360-degree reviews. Metrics are
important in assessing “ready now” successors—those who
could step into leadership roles soon—and diversity
achievements.
Corning has had several CEO changes in recent years. Its
leader- ship focus today is on accountability. After reviewing

4. key positions, com- petencies, and incumbents, the com- pany is
tailoring a development pro- gram for them and for “ready-now”
candidates. It has already been through two rounds of reviews
and identified 56 “ready-nows.”
The issue of compensating leaders today is, as Fischer noted, a
“hot potato,” with trends moving away from stock options to
offering more restrict- ed stock, based on performance.
Identifying performance measures for leaders is a process that
will continue for most organizations. Fischer expects more peer
group comparisons among top-tier pay levels. He also believes
there will be more government atten- tion focused on the audit
committees of public companies as well as on com- pensation
committees.
Taylor noted that the attention al- ready focused on executive
compen- sation at other organizations has af- fected Prudential:
Since the com-
HRFOCUS / MARCH 2004 13
pany’s IPO two years ago, the senior executive compensation
plan has changed twice. Strategies for talent review and
management have been realigned. And return-on-equity goals—
including developing compe- tencies, broadening managers’ and
leaders’ experience, and managing global talent—are now part
of the compensation formula.
MORE VALUE AND COST MANAGEMENT FROM HR This
area includes strategies for re- ducing HR costs while improving
service to the business. Key areas:
Reducing health-care/HR pro- gram costs.
Improving service delivery and self-service.
Offering high-value HR consult-
ing to the business. Outsourcing some HR functions
vs. other solutions. Prudential is implementing a “re-
fresh” strategy on health issues by focusing on wellness, the
services employees use, employee profiles, consumer issues,
vendors, and more variable cost values, Taylor said. Corning’s
U.S. health-care costs soared 19% last year, Fischer noted,
despite its use of wellness and disease management programs.

5. Prudential and Corning have both explored outsourcing some
HR func- tions. Corning has been more tenta- tive about it,
although it has consid- ered outsourcing HR, procurement, and
IT. The company decided to limit outsourcing to a portion of
benefits administration in the U.S. It is out- sourcing HR in
Asia almost com- pletely, Fischer added.
Prudential has worked for a num- ber of years on having HR
deliver high-impact services and programs at variable costs
through Centers of Excellence, Strategic Partner, and Shared
Services Administration pro- grams. Although much
improvement was achieved, administration reached the point
where it was not scalable.
To help manage costs, the company now outsources a
significant portion of HR administration, including pay- roll,
staffing, forms processing, ven- dor management, benefits and
com- pensation administration, and HR in- formation
technology. This outsourc- ing reduced HR costs by almost
40%, saving $9 million on the run rate, said Taylor.
“It was a hard decision to go this route, but it was best for the
company and for HR. Now HR has refocused its energies on key
deliverables.”
Technology helps with both out- source vendors and in-house
deliv- ery. Other areas for cost savings in- clude self-service
and e-delivery. Taylor explained that the move to outsourcing
has accelerated the move to self-service, since there are fewer
in-house resources.
1
Project - Outline
Project - Outline
1) Problem: High costs of expenditure
a) This is a problem because disproportionate expenditure
possess great danger to an organization ranging from reducing
the income of the organization or even lead to bankruptcy of an

6. organization. High costs of expenditure directly affects the
organization as well as the market it serves.
b) If my solution is not taken into consideration the
organization is likely to have problems of retrenchment, lack of
employee motivation thus impacting negatively on the
competitiveness of the organization in the market.
c. These challenges will directly affect the employees.
In situations where organizations have undergone challenges
that result from financial difficulties, they may resort to
retrenchment. This includes reducing the number of employees
in the organization or even reducing salaries and allowances of
the employees. Reduction of salaries and other incomes to staff
means that they also have to make changes on their budgets.
The problem began about a year ago when the company
employed around 1000 new employees from different races and
culture.
Increased cost has a direct impact on the organization’s income
and profits. The return on investment may decline significantly
and the attention of the organization turned to focus on the
employees rather than the investment. Continuous focus on the
employees can distract the organization from its main purpose.
This as a problem because at the end of the day, the
organization may undergo some loses. They may result to
altering the budget and the target of the organization may not be
achieved.
2).
Solution
: Maintaining a stable number of employees
a. The company will maintain a stable workforce by reducing
employee turnover through coming with better benefits and

7. workplace policies that are flexible and makes good business
sense. A stable workforce will result in significant cost savings
to the company.
b. Having a stable number of workers is the best solution
because it help in minimizing directs that the company is
incurring.
3).Plan: Reducing the cost of employee turnover
a. The plan will be to reduce the cost of employee turnover and
come up with better work policies within three months.
b. The plan will be based on the type of work and the skills of
the employees.
4). Conclusion
Putting in place policies that enhance employee retention can
help the company to minimize its turnover costs. Policies that
may enhance employee relationships especially with their
families or friendly for instance, a paid family leave and
workplace flexibility helps in retaining valuable employees who
need assistance in balancing family and work.
1
Topic Selection and Purpose Statement
4
Topic Selection and Purpose Statement
Description of the organization
The National Banking Service is a financial institution with

8. branches across the country.
The services offered range from loans, mortgages, financial
advice services, investment, and saving schemes. It has over
3000 employees that are from different cultural orientations.
This includes religion, nationality and race. This level of
diversity has made it one of the most competitive monetary
institutions across the country. Diversity in any organization
may benefit the organization by providing solutions to its
challenges or pose even more challenge to the organization.
National Banking Service is an organization that recognizes the
benefits of diversification because it brings in multitalented
individuals within the organization thus increasing the
productivity and competitiveness in the field. Diversity also
improves the exposure of the employees to new activities
brought in by colleagues. With such high numbers of diversity
within an organization, one should always expect internal
challenges but expect even better productivity in the end.
What challenges come from diversity?
There are various challenges that arise from diversity in an
organization. They range from political challenges, cultural or
even social challenges (Filson and Olfati, 2014). This can
further be broken down to language barrier, cultural resistance,
increased costs and discrimination among employees and their
employers. National Banking Services faces most if not all of
these challenges. However, one of the most prominent of them

9. all is the increased cost that comes from cultural diversity. The
organization has continued to incur more cost in trying to
streamline its diversity and to ensure that the employees work
as a team. The cost of training new employees and to get them
absorbed into the system has continued to increase. This
challenge also extends to when there are new employees from
out of town or even out of the country. It is upon the
organization to manage their transport as well as housing which
increases the expenditures.
Why is this problem?
Excessive expenditure possess great danger to an
organization ranging from reducing the income of the
organization (registering low profits) or even lead to bankruptcy
of an organization. It is a problem because it directly affects the
organization as well as the market it serves. This runs down to
affecting the wellbeing of the employees as well as the quality
of production and competitiveness of the organization in the
market. Money and time are therefore the most important assets
of any organization that require wise spending. It is important
to have clear budgeting and goals that the organization should
attain them at the end of a specific period. As long as any
organization spends more of its income in non-profitable
activities, there is always a danger of falling into a crisis.
What challenges does it pose to the employees?
These challenges in some way will end up affecting the

10. employees. In cases where organizations have undergone
challenges that result from financial difficulties, they may
resort to retrenchment. This includes reducing the number of
employees in the organization or even reducing salaries and
allowances of the employees (Al-Khasawneh, 2014). Reduction
of salaries and other incomes to employees means that they also
have to alter their budgets. Spending within their means is
always the option. In some cases this employees can opt to take
loans to sustain their budgets if they cannot adjust their
expenditure, leading to even bigger financial burdens. This may
also force the organization to stop future employments, denying
jobs to other potential employees. In cases where organizations
undergo extreme financial crisis and bankruptcy the usually opt
to the winding up of the organization. This does not only affect
some but all the employees within the organization. This leads
to joblessness even more trouble to them.
What are some of the potential ramifications?
Increased cost has a direct impact on the organization’s
income and profits. The return on investment may decline
significantly and the attention of the organization turned to
focus on the employees rather than the investment. Continuous
focus on the employees can distract the organization from its
main purpose. This as a problem because at the end of the day,
the organization may undergo some loses. They may result to
altering the budget and the target of the organization may not be

11. achieved. Resources diverted to less productive projects rather
than the main obligation of the organization and more time
spent in events such as training new staff from diversified
cultures impact negatively to the productivity of the
organization if not well planned. It is therefore important to
have a god planning system within the organization. This starts
by having well informed and experienced personnel within the
administration.
References
Filson, D., & Olfati, S. (2014). The impacts of Gramm–Leach–
Bliley bank diversification onvalue and risk. Journal of Banking
& Finance, 41, 209-221.
Al-Khasawneh, A. L. (2014). The Role of Knowledge Resource
Diversification StrategyManagement in Improving
Organizational Learning among Employees at theCommercial
Islamic Banks in Jordan. International Business and
Management, 8(2),101-111.

12. Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY1
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY2
Annotated Bibliography Example
Rasmussen College
Author Note
Annotated Bibliography
Brantner, P. (n.d.). Sexual orientation discrimination. Retrieved
August 21, 2016, from
http://www.workplacefairness.org/sexual-orientation-
discrimination#2
This article from the Workplace Fairness Organization discusses
fifteen questions with detailed answers regarding discrimination
against LGBT employees in the workplace. Topics include
defining sexual orientation discrimination, federal laws and

13. what to do if you are the subject of this type of behavior. The
article is a reliable source for those that are unfamiliar with
sexual orientation discrimination as it outlines and covers a
broad range of topics about this particular type of
discrimination. This source is helpful in allowing the reader
insight on particular topics like how to enforce the law or filing
a complaint; the reader can then conduct further research to
expand on these issues.
Gay, V. C. (2015). 50 years later: Still interpreting the meaning
of 'Because of sex' within Title VII and whether it prohibits
sexual orientation discrimination. Air Force Law Review, 73,
61-109. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 is a federal law that
prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on
the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. This
nearly 50 page law review is written by Major Velma Cheri
Gay, United States Air Force. MAJ Gay specializes in military
law and therefore has the credibility to discuss the subject of
civil rights and sexual orientation. This article looks at the last
50 years of Civil Rights laws and how they impact same sex
employees in the workplace. The article further discusses Title
VII, ENDA and the EEOC.
The HRC. (2016). 5 things to know about LGBT issues.
Retrieved August 21, 2016, from http://www.hrc.org/press/best-
and-worst-companies-for-gay-and-transgender-employees-

14. revealed
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest civil rights
organization working to advocate for LGBT equality and
educating the public on LGBT issues. This reliable source
provides statistical data from the US Census Bureau about the
number of LGBT people living in the US, those raising children
and how there are no federal laws protecting their rights in the
workplace.
Joyner, E., & Lyons, A. (2016). Creating an inclusive workplace
for LGBT employees. Corporate Counsel Litigation, 30(3), pp.
13-16. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
This article, written by two attorneys, is a credible and
informative source for various court cases with examples of
scenarios that can be considered gender identity or sexual
orientation discrimination. The topic of discriminating against
the LGBT community is prevalent now more than ever as more
and more cases are making local and national news. This
publication emphasizes how important it is for employers and
attorneys who represent them to understand their
responsibilities towards employee who are members of the
LGBT community.
McKay, T. (2015, June 29). One map shows where you can still
be fired for being gay in 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2016, from
https://mic.com/articles/121496/one-map-shows-where-you-can-
still-be-fired-for-being-gay-in-2015#.Z8MgOt6eK

15. Mic Media is a company that targets millennials with current
news and events. This article shows a detailed map of the
United States, comprised with data from the American Civil
Liberties Union that indicates which states in the US LGBT
employees can still be fired with no legal recourse. The map
shows where nondiscrimination laws stand across all 50 US
states. It is legal for same sex couples to marry in all 50 states
but in 28 of those states they can still be fired for it.
Sangha, K. K. (2015). LGBT Protection in the Workplace-A
Survey of State and Local Laws. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
database. (Accession No. 10.1002/ert.21500)
This publication from Wiley Periodical details state and local
laws regarding LGBT discrimination in the workplace. States
with explicit protections of LGBT workers are detailed and
discussed as are those that protect employees by state or
presidential executive orders. The information contained in this
periodical is informative for those researching state LGBT
protection laws and is helpful to this research project as it
outlines to what extent LGBT workers are protected in most
states.
USA.gov. (2016). How laws are made. Retrieved August 21,
2016, from https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
This article from USA.gov details how laws are made whether
from the federal government or by Executive Order from the
President. Congress, the subject or this research paper, as an

16. organization makes federal laws for the US. The website is a
reliable source because it is the official website of the United
States federal government.
Woosley, R. (2016, September 1). [Instant messenger interview
by the author].
Mr. Rick Woosley is a 40 year old, openly gay man living in a
small town in Tennessee. I have known that, because of his lack
of masculine male qualities that Mr. Woosley had been
discriminated against in the workplace in the past; he owns his
own business now so this topic is a non-issue currently. Mr.
Woosley described working for the largest retailer in the US
where he had a blemish free, impeccable employment record.
Mr. Woosley was told by his manager to change his appearance
because he was "too feminine” to which he refused. Within a
one month time frame Mr. Woosley was written up three times
and then ultimately fired. The department Mr. Woosley worked
in was in constant disarray upon his arrival and he took pictures
to prove his case and submitted them to management. On the
day of his firing, Mr. Woosley was presented with the pictures,
told this was the state he was leaving the department in and let
go of the company. The manager Mr. Woosley reported the
pictures to be unavailable the day he was fired as was another
employee who overheard a conversation stating he would be
fired for being gay a month prior. Mr. Woosley did not pursue
any action against the company as he felt there were no

17. witnesses to back him up and this situation took place in 1998
prior to any laws protecting LGBT workers in Tennessee were
legislated.