A moment of recognition can go a long way. It is, in the workplace, a powerful tool that drives value, brings people together and fosters respect, and creates the kind of culture that makes people, talent and HR a true strategic advantage. Just ask Beth Hoerle, Chief HR Officer at global financial institution MUFG. It’s exactly this kind of culture and working environment that has kept her with the business for two decades.

“The work environment and the way we treat people are critical to our success,” she says of the deep-rooted culture and values at MUFG. The company is a Tokyo-headquartered banking group with 150,000 employees in 40 countries and more than 360 years of heritage. 

“We’ve always maintained our Japanese roots and, culturally, a lot of that ethos shows up in our work environment,” Beth explains. "Respect, harmony, collaboration, both internally and with our clients are key to the way we do business. From an HR perspective, it makes my job really rewarding and – increasingly – a very strategic asset for the company. 

"Our purpose is focused on being committed to empowering a brighter future, and our vision is to be the world's most trusted financial group,” she says. “It means that trust, community, purpose, authenticity – all of those things are so important to how we do business, and that starts with our people."

Beth has considerable experience in HR and talent management, and remains a passionate advocate for the power people bring to an organisation. She began her career at JPMorgan, before joining MUFG in 2006, spending time in the business partner space before stepping into the CHRO role in 2022.

"Coming from the business partner side, means I really understand that business enablement and supporting strategic ambitions is first and foremost," she says, discussing her route to the C-suite. "While other CHROs may have different backgrounds, for me it's always been business first. That means understanding the organisation and stakeholders you work for, what they do every day, how they generate revenue, why we're all here and what we’re working to achieve – that's the foundation for HR."

The evolving talent function

When Beth began her career, the role of HR in the corporate environment looked very different. The function, she says, was largely transactional and operational, the advice it offered concerned mostly with day-to-day people management rather than genuine strategic partnership. 

"The strategic element has become much greater over time," she reflects. "And honestly, that's the best part – having the oversight and ability to focus on business partnership, knowing where we’re going and how the HR and people strategies we develop sit alongside every step of that. It’s really rewarding to be part of a business's growth and progression."

Over the last decade, MUFG’s operations in the US has expanded from a New York-headquartered branch of MUFG Bank, Ltd. primarily banking Japanese companies into a global corporate and investment banking powerhouse. Today, MUFG is one of the 10 largest banks in the world, with nearly US$3tn in assets. A key turning point came in 2022 when the bank sold its US retail division, Union Bank, shifting focus to its wholesale corporate banking business, providing specialised financing and advisory services to large institutions. 

HR has had to keep pace with that evolution and the Global HR division is currently three years into a five-year journey centred around a move from regional HR strategies operating in relative independence to a genuinely global, interdependent model.

“It takes a long time and considerable work to move towards that global approach, particularly the organisational change management around it,” says Beth, “but for the people in the global HR organisation as well as our clients, it’s really important."