Pushing the envelope

When the chairman and chief executive of a $5.6 billion global enterprise asks at a meeting in the US about the profitability of the company’s South African business, it’s perhaps unusual that he turns to an HR person for the answer. But then it’s not that common for HR to have direct profit and loss responsibility for a national operating unit.

Yet at Pitney Bowes (PB), a mailstream solutions business where I’m vice-president, HR, international, that’s exactly the opportunity I was given. As well as being head of HR for the 28 countries in which we operate outside the US, I also have the task of leading PB South Africa.