Dr. Gregory Lee lectures Human Resource Management at the School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He also consults widely to industry, especially on HR metrics and analysis, and will be releasing the first practical book on HR Analysis in 2010. His current research interests include human resource metrics and analysis, the interface between HRM and customers and employee turnover. His publications include articles in the International Journal of Human Resource Management, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, South African Journal of Psychology, South African Journal of Business Management and many others. He is on the editorial team of the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, is the author of the Kelly Human Capital Review, which is the only major study of generations in the South African workforce, and belongs to various academic and professional bodies.

Turning the Edcon group around
When CEO Steve Ross turned around the struggling Edcon group in the late nineties, he attributed his most important management decision to his HR choices. After appointing a new HR Director, they started analysing the HR of the chain, looking at multiple metrics from turnover rates to recruitment to HR costs. Their conclusion: major changes were needed with regards to the chain’s way of doing HR. In the process many things changed. Instead of turnover comprising one-third of the chain, this dropped dramatically. Many other changes occurred: the company is now rated as a preferred employer. This was the key in restoring a South African retail empire. It all started with HR analysis.