HP Invent...: An Open Letter to the Director of HP Corporate Human Resources

December 21, 2007

An Open Letter to the Director of HP Corporate Human Resources

An Open Letter to the Director of Corporate Human Resources, Marcela Perez de Alonso, by the Five French Unions :

Marcela,

Our approach may appear unusual, however if the five Unions present within HP France have agreed to address you directly, it is to invoke a disturbing situation which has generated a lot of emotion amongst HP’s French employees, and which unfortunately has not proved to be solvable through usual consultation and negotiation processes.

The radical changes to the Range Setting which sets employee’s paygrade according to Job Function have lead to the following situation in France:

· Mainstream Population: 73.2% of employees suffer a decrease of 1 to 2 paygrades, whilst only 2.7% increase by one paygrade

· Sales Population: 40.7% of employees suffer a decrease of 1 to 2 paygrades whilst only 3.8% increase by one paygrade

This announcement was received as a shock by French employees, and has been difficult to accept for three reasons:

1 - Loss of confidence in the rating mechanism :

Most people accord importance to the Job and Wage architecture as a way to position their value to HP and career progression. Proceeding with such massive paygrade degradations have provoked feelings of personal devaluation, and has directly lead to the mistrust of the job and rating mechanism. It has disappointed HP employees who saw their efforts rewarded in the wage and earnings system. Consequently these massive degradations are undermining employees’ motivation and morale.

2 - France unfairly affected :

Whilst EMEA as a whole is impacted by a drop in paygrades for an average 20% of the workforce, France is affected to the tune of about 60%. What might appear elsewhere as an adjustment to the system, because of the massive scale of degradations in France it is seen by many as a sanction of French employees.

3 - Lack of transparency :

Prior to this new range setting, French HR had always justified the positioning of pay grades in France as being market-compliant. The explanations for the new mechanism of range setting are presented as: "Market research, revision of the “competitive index”, new policies "on the pay grade ranges”. But neither Union Representatives nor their appointed Experts have received communication of the new market research or how they apply to jobs within HP France. This makes the exercise completely opaque, and it is impossible for us to understand or verify. The underlying logic of a very important change to pay market analysis from one fiscal year to another remains totally incomprehensible, and through lack of justification it cannot be serenely embraced by employees.

Faced with this situation, and on several occasions, the French Unions have invoked the frustration and incomprehension expressed by employees, both to HR France (Pierre-Yves Tilly) and to the France Country Manager (Yves de Talhouët). Pressed by employee meetings at all French sites and petitioned by over 1800 signatures, the unions have asked for:

· A moratorium on the application of the new range settings
· The provision of information needed to gain a detailed understanding of the motivations behind the changes in order to be able to discuss in a concerted manner their adaptation to the HP France population.

HR France appears to have understood our arguments and our discontent, and apparently requested to HR Corporate a moratorium on the implementation. However their response is that this has been refused. However, HP France employees have difficulty assimilating these changes, and do not wish to internalise their loss of confidence and hopes, and their frustration. Since no further progress on this issue seems possible in France, we hereby are informing you of the situation in France and ask you formally for a response to our requests:

· A moratorium on the implementation of the measure
· Access to the detailed information which underlay the changes to the range setting system so that we can openly negotiate their application in France.

Finally, we would also ask you to respond to this open letter by explaining directly to french employees the foundation and the benefits of these changes as well as any clarifications that you consider appropriate to address the unhappiness that the measures have provoked.

Best regards,

The Five French Unions.

3 comments:

hpwf said...: The answer :

" I am writing in response to your e-mail of December 21st in which you raise the issue of Range Setting in France on behalf of the Unions within HP France.

As I am sure you are aware, I would normally expect that these types of issues which are very country specific, be managed by the Country Management team. I understand that during the last few months there has been full engagement with you by French management on this matter.

However, in my response I welcome the opportunity to offer further clarification on the range -setting process within the context of HP's overall Total Rewards strategy.

As you know the range setting process is a common HP global process that is carried out on a yearly basis across the 90+ countries where HP has a presence. The intent of the range setting exercise is to ensure that we are, and continue to remain, competitive in our salary ranges versus competitive companies in the market place. Depending on the outcome of the process, upward or downward adjustments to employee’s pay grades (but not to base pay) may occur after the observation of a few years trend which confirms the need to change the pay grade. The same range setting methodology has been followed year over year and we have not instituted any new methodology the fiscal year 07. Data gleaned from surveys completed by similar companies is utilized to ensure we maintain a correct competitive position. However, due to confidentiality requirements, the specific raw data can not be shared outside the group of participating companies.

Specifically pertaining to France, I would like to emphasize that the range-setting exercise in your country was based on local market salary surveys and completed in an entirely objective manner as for other countries. It concerns me that you would suggest that the results infer that a specific sanction was taken against France: this inference is totally incorrect.

Finally, I would like to make sure that this latest range-setting exercise is considered within the context of our compensation strategy and HP’s Total Rewards strategy overall. Firstly, we need to remember that, although the range-setting exercise may have resulted in a decrease of pay grades for some employees, the opportunity for all employees to receive a pay increase as part of the annual Focal Point Review process has not changed at all. .The Focal Point Review budget available to reward employees has not in any way been impacted by the range-setting exercise in France or elsewhere. As part of the annual FPR exercise, the salary increase decisions that managers will make for individuals reflect individual performance, position in the salary range, skills and responsibility progression as well as affordability. Data indicates that 98% of employees in France are eligible for a salary increase this year.

With regards to your request for a moratorium on the implementation and access to data information I regret to advise that it is not possible to agree to your request. However should employees require further information or clarification then they should engage directly with their manager.

I have referred the content of your letter to French management and they will continue to be available for any further discussion or clarification you may require on this matter.

Regards

Marcela; 1:49 PM, January 17, 2008
Anonymous said...: HP LOST ITS CHARM IT HAS BECOME MORE ORIENTATION OF SLIDES WHICH DOESNT TAKE EMPLOYEES PROGRESSING IN THIER CAREER PATH. HR PEOPLE ARE CONSULTANTS AND THEY WOULD NOT WORK AND DO NOT ANALYSE AND HELP EMPLOYEES. GLOBAL POLICIES ARE REDUNDANT, ALL WILL BE DECIDED IN DIRECTOR LEVEL. WE SYMPHATISE MARCELLA WHO DOES NOT ACT ON HER OWN OR RECOMMEND. THE SITUATION HAS BECOME WORSE IN INDIA,THE COUNTRY WHERE GANDHI WAS BORN. HP TAKES ITS LEAD IN DEVELOPING THE POLITICS INTERNALLY, HR HEADS ARE PUPPETS IN THE HANDS OF DELIVERY DIRECTORS. VERY UNFORTUNATE WHEN DOES THE SITUATION CHANGE.. .....VERY UNFORTUNATE.. LONG LIVE BILL AND DAVE..; 9:45 AM, December 16, 2008
Anonymous said...: HI MARCELLA, HAVE YOUR EVER STUDIES BENCH MARKING PACKAGES OF INDUSTRY COMPARABLE TO YOUR COMPANY. PLEASE SHOW THE ANALYSIS YOU HAVE MADE IN MAKING COMPENSATION STRUCTURE. YOUR RECRUITMENT TEAM DOESNT KNOW WHAT IS COMPENSATION. THEY WOULD GO BY THE CHART WHICH HAS NO LOGIC. PLEASE CHECK THE COMPENSATION WHICH IS HIGH AND LOW FOR MANY AND YOUR TOTAL REWARDS SYSTEM IS FALSE. IT IS HIGH TIME TO USE THE HEAD OF COUNTRY HEAD WHO SITS IDLE WITHOUT KNOWING THE HR PRIORITIES BUT SHOWS THEM TO THE PEOPLE. PLEASE USE BRAINS IN REALISTIC TERMS. COMPARE YOURSELF WITH COMPANIES LIKE INFOSYS,WIPRO,HAVE BENCH MARK. COUNTRY HEAD DOESNT DRIVE VISIT OR SPEAK TO HR FOLKS BUT EXPECTS RESULTS WITH ASSUMPTIONS. HE IS CARRIED WITH THE THOUGHTS OF DELIVERY HEADS AND DOESNT USE HIS BRAIN. PLEASE RETIRE THESE WEIGHTS FAST,AND RECRUIT FRESH BLOOD WHO WOULD PROVIDE YOU THOUGHTS,WORK FOR YOU. SYMPATHISE WITH VALUE SYSTEM WHICH IS A MOKERY ON PEOPLE,WHO SUFFER WHICH IS MISUSED BY BIGWIGS. PLEASE LOOK AT THESE MANY MOCKERIES IN THE SYSTEM BY OLD AND STALE BREAD IN YOUR COMPANY, LOOK AT REVAMPING THE SYSTEM. PLEASE SIT COOLY AND THINK HOW TO DO > TAKE HELP OF CONSULTANTS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. DONT LEAVE THIS EXERCISE TO 3RD RATED HP EMPLOYEES IN HR WHO COULD NOT WORK OR TAKE DATA FROM THE MARKET. LOOK AT THE OTHER COMPANIES, THEY DRIVE AND DIFFERENTIATE IN TRUE SINCE NOT IN SLIDES. PLEASE STOP MAKING SLIDES AND THINK. CUT SHORT THE COSTS, CUT SHORTS THE SALARIES, BEFORE HP SINKS. SURPRISINGLY, HR PRESENTATIONS HAS NO MEANING EXCEPT TALK ABOUT TOTAL REWARDS. NO COMPARISIONS,NO ANALYSIS... PLEASE HAVE IT DONE, ASSIGN DELEGATE AND DISTRIBUTE THE JOBS RECOGNISE THE TALENT REWARD THEM DONT HARASS PEOPLE. DONT ALLOW THEM TO BE INSULTED BY USELESS,NOTORIOUS,INHUMAN,UNCULTURED BRUTES IN THE SYSTEM.; 9:58 AM, December 16, 2008

I leave you now HP

They say the "lights will still go on at HP" without me here. I wonder who will miss the love I have given this company, I wonder who will miss how much I cared about The HP Way. I often chose to come in early, work through lunch and stay late. I thought what I was doing was so important. Especially when it was for customers or when it was something so new, What we were doing would change the world. But the times I was the most selfless, was for my co-workers who needed me. Maybe it was to review a document, give feedback, change the code, whatever... This is what I will miss most, knowing that I was important to my co-workers. I will miss the lifelong friends I have made We had so many days of meaningful work together. We made a difference and we knew it. We understood the power of a team. I will miss that where ever I went in the world, I always found great HP people. People who cared as much as I did. People who loved our HP culture enough to keep it precious. These are the great HP people who shared in success And when times were tough were the first to say, "We'll get through it together". I will miss the picnics and the beer busts. But mostly I will miss the managers who believed in me, who challenged me, who told me that I was a leader and important to the business. I will miss the profit sharing checks. Not for the money but because I knew I was a part of something so much greater than myself. I will always remember the handshake and the "Thank you" of the general manager. Those were some of my favorite times. I will miss the laughter and excitement of creating new businesses and improving processes. I will miss the serious times when customers' needs were on the line. We were all engaged for one purpose. It was our finest hour. I will miss saying I helped create a great HP product. And now will relish in how it changed the world. I wouldn't have missed that for anything. How proud I am to have been an HP employee. I would have worked for free for you HP. I loved you that much. You should know that I cried when Bill and Dave died. I had finally figured out what values really mean to a company's culture. My only regret is I didn't have a chance to say thank you. I'll take that learning with me as a final gift of all the years, of the great company Bill & Dave built. I leave you now HP.