I was reading Alicia Clegg’s article “Talent managers who bring new skills” in the Oct. 4th edition of the Financial Times and was reminded once again of the challenges HR departments face when attempting to be relevant and integral to the organization they support. This gap is eliciting a new response: bring in talent from the commercial side to lead HR.
This is ONE viable solution but begs a whole set of questions of which these two are of utmost significance for me:
- Why do HR functions continue to struggle to deliver on performance and expectations?
- What is the magic a new leader from a different discipline brings to HR’s value proposition?
The FT article rightly underscored the importance of having a leader who understands the implication of HR policy, practices and processes on the organization. I cannot argue with the basic premise, however a savvy HR Leader can achieve the same as a commercial leader brought into lead the HR function.
The challenge I set forth is that bringing in commercial talent is one tactical option and by itself - it’s not going to change much. How do I know…? Prior to transitioning to an external role, I had the very same experience while part of the HR function. The company I worked for brought in a “business” leader to lead HR. The magic occurred in her relationships with her peers on the executive committee. This did begin to change the conversations HR was having with the rest of the organization for a while, however, fundamentally, the role of HR in the organization stayed the same. The new leader, while able to bring in a head for business, also was up against a deeply ingrained, legacy belief held by the company itself: that HR owns the people and the business owns all the rest.
This belief is deeply embedded in both the expectations that the business has of HR and the current design, capabilities and behaviors of HR functions -- causing a host of issues and gaps between HR functions and the business. Consider how this belief in action inhibits all involved… The business does not take the responsibility to resolve critical people issues and would rather pass it off to HR; Conversely, HR unknowingly colludes with the business to take on these issues out of genuine concern of being responsive, the desire to be needed and demonstrate a broader value within the business. Unfortunately, the behavior by the business and counter behavior by HR functions only serves to cement this die-hard belief – a far cry from value add.
Unfortunately, the business-side views itself as disconnected from the social systems and the people dynamic in the business. This severely impairs HR’s ability to solve real business transformation problems because HR is seen as distinct and separate.
In the FT article, Michael Feiner of Columbia Business School suggests that the value of HR is to be provocative, to surface issues, and to drive change throughout the organization – outside the walled garden of traditional HR issues. In order to close the gap, several things need to happen BEYOND bringing in a commercially experienced leader to lead the HR function:
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Make explicit this belief and examine its affects on the relationship and effectiveness of the business and HR together. HR and the business need to do this work together.
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Gain sponsorship outside of HR for business transformation [not just HR functional sponsorship!!!] to drive real change based on the requirements for HR and the organization to be effective and value add. Let’s call this the new HR value proposition.
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Robustly prepare, inform and up-skill line leaders, managers and executives so that the everyone is responsible for their part of the new value proposition. This is a common oversight and huge mistake for changing HR functions.
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Complete an organization redesign of the HR function that is fit for its real purpose. The HR design of work needs to support the HR professionals to step out of the transactional, and stop doing the work of the line manager. The entire design of the department needs to be strategically aligned to a new purpose, one that positions the department to lead the governance and strategy of people and gain a seat at the table.
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Identification of new HR capabilities and competencies required to deliver the new value proposition. These skills entail influencing, learning to say “no,” process observation skills, organization design and driving real change to name a few.
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Behaviors of both HR and the business need to change. Remember this OTM wisdom – “Patterns die hard.” Real change does not take effect until behavior patterns and legacy ways of working change. This is most difficult to change.
These sets of changes working together have a positive synergistic effect on the effectiveness and relationship between HR and the business. It creates the right conditions for new ways of working to gain traction while diminishing those old, ineffective behavior patterns. In addition, it creates “pull” for changes from the business rather than the more typical “push” HR changes onto the business regardless of their readiness for the changes. Finally, it aligns business expectations with HR services and products.
These changes take hard work, planning, and careful execution, but over time, the work and conversation between HR and the business is permanently changed – with the HR function being truly relevant, provocative and necessary and just as importantly, perceived as such across the entire business.
Appointing strong leadership from outside HR to lead HR is not the magic pill. It’s not solely about the leader, it goes beyond the leader, and the function, the solution resides with the entire organization. It takes two to tango…changing a perception requires work from all directions.
Adrienne Seal
Senior Consultant, ON THE MARK
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