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Abstract
This article presents an internal perspective on the Annual HR Strategic Planning Process Corning's HR team uses to prioritize HR investments and deliver services aligned with business requirements. Over three years, this process has integrated inputs from a Human Capital Planning process, the HR function's transformation goals, and other corporate initiatives into a one- page Annual Operating Plan with supporting objectives. The authors share process, meeting design and facilitation lessons learned from their work with their clients.
Corning Corporate History
From a shatter-proof lens for railroad lanterns and a glass envelope for Edison's new light bulb filament, to premium quality LCD glass substrates and highly engineered optical fiber, Corning has established a 150-plus year legacy of technological innovation (Fig. 1).
Through the early 1990s, Coming maintained a diverse portfolio of businesses that typically generated $4 billion to $5 billion in annual revenues; the sale of its well known consumer business (Corelle dishes, Visions cookware, etc.) funded a massive investment in the telecommunications sector and explosive growth, followed by a major retrenchment. All of which, of course, had significant impact on the HR function as well as the company overall.
Corning Human Resources History
The HR function can be described as having a sterling legacy of constructive union labor relations, innovative corporate Centers of Excellence (COEs), and responsive generalists in the business - all three of which were managed separately for a number of years until they were consolidated under a single senior vice president in April 2002. This fragmented approach caused a disconnect between the COEs and the businesses. This created dynamic tension between centralization and decentralization of strategy as the COE specialists and the business unit generalists struggled in regard to their roles relative to strategy development and deployment. When businesses were ascendant, the pendulum swung toward decentralization and the businesses set the agenda for what HR needed to focus on; when the businesses were not performing as well, as during the telecom downturn in 2001, the pendulum swung toward centralization as a way of controlling costs and focusing the HR function on the most important work. Developing a robust Annual Operating Plan (AOP) process and applying the human capital planning process to the HR function has helped Corning HR to step...