Employee Profile

Henry J.

Name: Henry J.
Title: Business Unit HR Director
Career Area: Human Resources
Location: Schiphol, The Netherlands
Education: Capital University of Economics, Beijing, China. Bachelor Degree

“The people I’m working with have high level ethical standards and professionalism capabilities. I found this a key differentiator compare to some other companies. In such an environment, you can focus on building your strength and improving your weaknesses.”


The people I’m working with have high level ethical standards and professionalism capabilities. I found this a key differentiator compare to some other companies. In such an environment, you can focus on building your strength and improving your weaknesses. Colleagues treat each other with respect and you can learn lots of things from each other.

Describe your work responsibilities and the importance of your role.

As the Business Unit HR Director, I am responsible for the general Human Resources Management within my BU. I am working closely with my Business Unit leadership team in managing the critical people challenges, these cover, but are not limited to: resourcing and recruitment, performance management, employee engagement, organizational design and change management, reward and recognition. All of these items are important for the success of my BU, because people is one of the important assets of our company and keeping them engaged is extremely important.

Describe your day-to-day activities and the skills needed to perform well.

Because of the nature of my job, I need to regularly engage with employees and managers to discuss people issues, either implementing company-wide processes or dealing with individual requests. As the BU HR Director, I also need to get involved in business strategy review and discussions. To perform my job well, I must have very good business understanding first, I need to know our products and services we are offering to customers. On top of that, I need to have high level of personal effectiveness to handle the big amount of tasks I’m facing every day. Certainly having solid HR knowledge and skills are also critical for the success of my role. On top of all these tasks I also have a HR team to manage, help and support them to deliver their tasks and grow are key elements of my daily tasks.

Describe your career path. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are today?

I started as a junior HR officer in 1992 and since then have done HR job in all HR sub-function roles, e.g. Recruitment, Learning and Development, Organizational Change Management, HR shared services management etc. I have also worked in two different continents – Asia and Europe. Before joining Cargill, I worked in Philips and Shell.

Why did you choose to join Cargill and what keeps you here? In other words, how has a career at Cargill helped you to thrive?

There were two particular reasons for me to join Cargill: 1) Cargill’s global presence and diversity of its businesses; 2) the professionalism of the people in Cargill. I am proud of being in Cargill, a global business that delivers best-in-class products and services to our customers. I also enjoyed working with all Cargill people, who are all very professional and operate with highest level of integrity and ethics. In this environment I am confident I can grow together with Cargill.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career at Cargill like yours?

It is important to know your career goals and where do you want to be. Even though you are at the earlier stage of the career it is still worth to spend some time to think about your career aspirations. Once you know your career goals, spend time to get to know yourself better, having a good self awareness can help you leverage your strengths and improve your weakness areas. Once you have a good understanding of the above, focus yourself on learning and improvement and be dedicated, then you can make your dream come true.

Share an interesting tidbit about yourself such as hobbies, volunteerism, favorite foods or activities, accomplishments inside or outside of work.

I like doing sports (running, football etc.). Because I am Chinese I love Chinese foods. My greatest accomplishment is my family – my wife and two sons. They give me lots of energy and support.