Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies

“Any human resource leader in a Fortune 500 company will tell you that we are operating in unprecedented times, that we don’t have a playbook for what we’re doing now,” says Mike Davis, senior vice president of global HR for General Mills, whose HR background has given him playbooks of experience already.

So many, in fact, that he is a sought-after speaker at HR, legal, financial and corporate governance conferences, a frequent lecturer at universities such as Cornell, and an adjunct professor of management at the University of Minnesota.

Building on Past HR Experiences

Davis has spent nearly 30 years in human resources. With two BS degrees from Purdue University in Industrial Management and Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Davis worked for 15 years as a compensation consultant with Towers Perrin. When he left Towers Perrin in 1996, he was the firm’s worldwide practice leader for executive compensation.

Davis then moved to General Mills to serve first as vice president for compensation and benefits, then as vice president for human resources in the U.S. Retail and Corporate division, before being asked to lead global HR in 2008.

“My early positions gave me experience in compensation and benefits from organizational and consultative perspectives, as well as the leadership and managerial experience in running big business that serve me well in my current global capacity,” he says.

Davis has served on numerous boards, currently as vice chairman of the Employee Benefits Research Institute and previously as board chair for WorldatWork. In the course of his career he has also been interviewed or quoted in Fortune, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Davis was also mentored by one of the legends of compensation systems, George Milkovich, the M.P. Catherwood Professor Emeritus for the Cornell ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations). Milkovich and Davis have known each other for many years, and when Milkovich was teaching, he invited Davis back to Cornell as a guest lecturer in his class.

New Perspectives, New Challenges

“We are seeing entirely new patterns in hiring, structuring work, and compensation,” Davis says. “A year and a half ago, HR leaders were all looking at the aging baby boomers, wondering how we would replace them. Then the economy plunged, and HR executives at companies of all sizes needed to figure out how to cut back their workforce—many of whom inevitably were baby-boomers—with dignity. Some companies tried furloughs and other reductions in hours—things that haven’t been done in years.” He says that his teaching at the university level helps him see things from new perspectives, rather than relying solely on his past experiences.

“When I’ve lectured at Cornell or taught at the University of Minnesota,” Davis says, “I’ve appreciated the unexpected reactions of students to concepts I had pretty much taken for granted. They are not afraid to challenge the conventional. All you need is one good idea from students or participants in a lecture to give you a new perspective that will help shed light on the challenges and new ways of doing HR.”

Going Global Raises Communication, Teamwork Hurdles

The newest challenge for General Mills is its growing presence in the global marketplace. The sixth largest food company in the world, General Mills has 30,000 employees, nearly half of whom work outside the United States. In fiscal 2009, its net sales totaled $14.7 billion: $10.1 billion in U.S. retail and the remainder in international sales and sales in its Bakeries and Food Service division. It is home to such popular brands such as Gold Medal, Pillsbury, Cheerios, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, and Small Planet Foods.

“Globalization has meant returning to the basics, but in new contexts,” Davis says, noting that communication is key. “When you work across borders, you can’t take shortcuts in communicating. We have 30-some global virtual teams and we’ve had to teach them to communicate cross-borders and cross-time zones.” Davis adds that the challenge of digital communication tools—Internet social networking, instant messaging (IM), live meetings—has also required learning new communication skills.

His travels to other General Mills locations lead him to believe the company is well-suited to a globalized environment. “This year alone, I have been to India, China, and Europe. I have found that in spite of all the cross-cultural differences, all human beings like to be valued, be listened to, be developed, and feel like they make a difference. All of these commonalities are part of the cultural core of General Mills. Even our long-term view of career development works well cross-culturally, as employees everywhere appreciate an organization that values them.”

A Strong Organizational Culture Becomes the One Constant

The culture of General Mills is summed up in its mission, “Nourishing Lives: making lives healthier, easier and richer,” which applies not only to the company’s customers, but to the lives of General Mills’ employees and the communities in which its businesses are located. General Mills has a strong sense of social and environmental responsibility. About 82 percent of its U.S. employees volunteer, and the corporation has a strong record of giving through the General Mills Foundation, especially in times of need or emergency.

Its values are reflected in the results of a recent climate survey that General Mills conducted, where 98 percent of General Mills employees indicated that they are proud to work for the company.

General Mills has also received numerous workplace awards for its organizational culture. These include honors from several recognized magazines and associations: Fortune (100 Best Companies to Work For), Working Mother (Best Companies for Women of Color, 100 Best Companies for Working Women), BusinessWeek (America’s Top Givers, Best Places to Launch a Career), Corporate Responsibility Officer magazine (100 Best Corporate Citizens), Latina Style (50 Top Companies for Latinas), and the National Association for Female Executives (Top 30 Companies for Executive Women).

“We are fulfilling our mission of ‘nourishing lives’ with our products, with our treatment of employees, and as a good corporate citizen,” says Davis.

That mission will be the touchstone as General Mills moves forward. Globalization may be the immediate challenge, but more important is learning how to thrive in the midst of unceasing, unprecedented change, Davis says.

“No two companies will globalize in the same way. Each will need to decide what to keep local, what to keep regional, what to take to the international level. So, even though we as human resource leaders will learn from each other by networking in organizations such as CAHRS, we will each have to write our own playbook for our own company, keeping the best of our past and bringing in the new—grounded in the values that our organizations hold firm.”