WHERE GOOD FAILS AND GREAT PREVAILS

The Capabilities of the Great Human Resources Leaders

Dedicated to all my hardworking peers: if you recognize yourself in some of the below skills, then...this is for you my dear.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This article focuses on the capabilities that make the difference between a GOOD and a GREAT Human Resources Leader. Points to those abilities that make the Great HRL navigate effectively thru a multitude of grays, insert himself deep into the DNA of the organization and generate from within, extraordinary contribution to organization and business success.

These capabilities are:

1.     Achieving Slam-dunk Integration in the HR leader role

2.     Effective positioning in top management team

3.     Building Rock-solid relations with key stakeholders in organization

4.     Contributing proactively to business strategic success

5.     Designing and implementing tools, programs, projects to tackle cross functional problems or grasp the opportunity to evolve

6.     Balancing employees protection and new managerial initiatives

7.     Managing and predicting individual/group/organizational behavior

8.     Rising at the level of the business game

9.     Influencing and Inspiring others

10. Bringing HR team to a superior level of awareness and operating level

Introduction

Besides the coordination of the main Human Resources operational activities like: Recruitment, Integration, Transition, Learning & Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Compensation and Benefits, Legal duties, Payroll, etc, which requires a relevant set of soft and hard skills, there are other capabilities that make the difference and setup the stage for greatness in the HRL role. By Greatness I mean the ability to change the entire organization to a superior level of work standards, work ethics and business excellence, the ability to drive the organizational culture to better collective attitudes, improve perception towards the future and elevate internal confidence.

This requires the great HRL to operate simultaneously at different levels of the organization from an appropriate positioning, building favorable context for positive change, charge for momentum and take or influence long term strategic business decision. The achievements above cannot be obtained just as the Great HRL steps into the organization in the new role, but they are progressively build in full awareness of the domino effect that his/her moves will create in the organization.

Besides the primary operational activities, here are several critical milestones and specific situations where just good HRL loses value and the great HRL seems to deliver and capture value.

This article is based on talks and debates with my peers, synthesized secondary type research made along my career as HRL.

1.    Slam-dunk Integration in the HR leader role

The start of every relationship is usually important. An effective integration in the HR leadership role is PARAMOUNT for the entire professional experience.

A bad integration can get quickly to the HRL demise.

A just good integration can leave unaddressed issues that the HRL will be forced to carry along his experience in the new company with tremendous cost of opportunity and energy and can shut the door to greatness.

An effective integration allows the Great HRL to position, re-position correctly if necessary the role, in the dynamic of power and perception, in the organizational structure and culture. Moreover, will allow new opportunities for the Great HRL to develop HR function and achieve the necessary modifications with less resistance. An effective integration also creates the opportunity to reset and refresh the view of the HR team about who they are and what they will do in the future in the company.

There are also critical situations when, compared with the ambitions of the company, the performance of the HR department is low. Consequently, in this kind of situations an effective integration is extremely important in order to make radical changes as smooth as possible, with the endorsement and trust of every key stakeholder involved in the process. In many instances the CEO and the top managerial group already have a set of expectations about what they want as deliverables from HR team, but many times they don’t know, or they underestimate - The HOW. An effective integration will establish a correct balance of respect, empowerment and appreciation, necessary for the HR Leader to get full credit and endorsement in establishing the HOW. 

The great HRL goes thru a methodical process of integration in 4 well-defined stages: research & analysis, define internal status of the company & success in the HRL role, establish optimum method of integration and roll-out integration process.

The agreement, input and the involvement of the company leader in all the stages of the integration are essential for success.

The roll-out of the integration process requires: attention to details, planning and preparation, right attitude and behavior, communication and flexibility. Some of the key actions in the roll-out stage are: official introductions, internal communication to mass employees, expectation meetings, and presentations about future actions, changes, negotiations and if necessary tackling operational emergencies. 

The Great HRL operates all the above under a healthy philosophy:

• Does not rush through the learning curve but tackles the priorities and takes his/her time to understand the mechanics and operating level of the organization.
• Does not rush to claim the role, knows that the role already belongs to him/her, instead he/ she focuses to set the right perception.
• Finally, the Great HRL knows that in the beginning is more important to avoid great mistakes rather than proving fast achievements.

2.    Effective positioning in top management team

There is no decision in any company that will not have some kind of effect, or at least minor impact towards employees. Leaders of core departments like: Sales, Operations, Marketing, Technical, etc. in their quest for effectiveness and bringing up the numbers, will often have the natural tendency to disconnect from the organizational view in their actions and decisions. The impact of those actions and decisions, as well as the manner of implementation, must be assessed and validated from organizational culture and structural view.

This is one of the important reasons HR should always occupy an equally strong position at the top management table. The HRL validation of the business decision from the organizational perspective and impact on people, is similar to the CFO validation from financial perspective and their impact on the bottom line.

The second reason for good positioning in the management team, is the value of the strategic input of the HR leader on the business development plan of the company. Gaining optimum positioning within the management team requires a plethora of abilities not easy to list or explain and a realistic sense of speed, because the door of perception and positioning is not open forever. In reality this seems to be available somewhere between first 2 - 4 months of your take over. Depending of the business status and dynamic, this period available for your positioning, when the perception of the other top management members is still forming, can be as short AS 1 MONTH. CONSEQUENTLY, the moment you set foot on the company floor the clock will start ticking.

3.    Rock-solid relations with key stakeholders in organization

Today’s business world is characterized by a more complex distribution of power in the organization between formal and informal leaders and by the use of new types of organizational design (matrix or hybrid) which require double and even triple line of reporting. This new reality makes the HRL’s task of identifying and building relationship with key stakeholders in the company especially difficult. Reality forces an effective HRL to spend adequate time to read the dynamic nature of relationships within the company, map circles of influence, identify and profile key stakeholders. With this map completed, the great HRL can customize approach for effective communication and can establish strong results and value based relationships with each and every one.

 Building rock solid relationships with key stakeholders inside the organization is critical for a smooth evolution of HRL towards the level of effectiveness necessary to reach the benefits the organization requires. Needless to say that a special sense of orientation, the ability to make connections and a talent in diplomacy brings the HRL to a whole new level of respect and power.  

4.    Proactive contribution to the business strategic success

Due to past experiences or simply a poor perception of own role, many HR leaders view their function as a service towards an internal client.

The problem with this view, is the inability to proactively support business success. The service view, frames the mind of the HR leaders and Modus Operandi of the HR Department as working in consequence of the business needs, operating by requests rather than actively shaping the future of the company, aligned with the forward medium and long term strategy. This is why many HR leaders do not show strong enough interest in how the business produces value for its customers. The business model, core value chain, the key success factors, market trends, the generic strategy, the development strategy and long term business plan etc. are not known well enough, when in fact should be considered critical by all HR leaders for their own work.

The HR leader who is proficient on HR areas and tools, poses strategic thinking & commercial sense, has capabilities of a business analyst, is talented in communication and human behavior assessment, will be the one bringing the added value that an ambitious company needs.   

The great HRL leader never forgets that in the business arena, in the end, numbers tell the story.

Moreover the Great HRL brings unique assets and skills to the strategic table of the company as they are the only ones proficient in labor markets, labor law, organizational culture, performance management and organizational readiness. The Great HRL is as capable to deliver an outstanding business review presentation, knows KPI values by heart and can engage in any business performance discussion at any time at any level.

5.    Designing and implementing tools, programs, projects to tackle cross functional problems or grasp the opportunity to evolve

The great HRL has a unique view of the company and can see opportunities and challenges that other members of the management team cannot. The unique XRAY vision of the great HRL is at the intersection of organizational culture and behavior with business interests and market reality. The 3 layers should constantly be the source of the proactive design of programs, projects, task forces etc.

There is extraordinary power in the ability to tackle problems and capture opportunities using short term constructions. This is where the power of adaptation of the great HRL comes to meet the ever changing external business reality. The Great HRL keeps constant attention for capturing the opportunity for the next new short-term construction, based on the belief that although they bring additional work, they can also bring extraordinary benefits.

These constructions have the extraordinary ability to float above the organizational rigidity and can generate systematic and perpetuum performance improvements creating best practices which can be replicated in whole organization.  

Ability to design and implement short term construction requires strategic thinking and knowledge that is difficult to acquire in the classical career path of an HRL .This capabilities seem to develop in HR Consultancy Companies, Assessment and Selection Agencies, HR Tools Diagnostics Companies and Training Companies.

6.    Balancing employees protection and stability with conflicting new managerial initiatives

As HR leader, you are the officially appointed and sometime the last defender of the organizational culture and integrity and from this perspective, all major decisions coming out from the top management team, should also carry the validation stamp of the HRL. Employee’s feedback, delivered in a direct or more passive or aggressive manner, will not delay.

Without exception the HRL will often be put to the test of trade-off between protecting organizational culture and integrity or going for a fast business win. The pressure will come from the other business leaders in their quest for results and in some cases will come down to one discussion between HRL and the CEO of the company. This is the moment when your core business skills and other elements of the above depicted profile, will play their best part. Success in this type of meeting is protecting the organization, employees and the business interests.

Failure in this type of situation means:

• negative impact in the organizational culture & integrity as well as changing the perception of employees about management moral compass
• failure to capitalize on a business opportunity or to effectively eliminate a business challenge with direct impact on business results
• negative impact on the relationships with others in the management team

As the organization is the only silent partner in this game-play, more often HRL will be tempted to stick with the majority of the management team, thus putting up a weak fight to remain in comfort. This can lead to major disruptions in the company with long term implications.

HRL should sharpen up their trade-off skills. Should be able to evaluate from all perspectives the decision (business interest view, organizational integrity view) , should be able to argument accordingly its own position in an effective blend of empathy and assertiveness.

HRL should be able to propose If the case requires, alternative strategies and optimum methods of implementation to minimize impact in the organization or ideally eliminated potential of negative impact altogether.

Probably the greatest quality in this situation of the great HRL is a large emotional bandwidth, necessary to resist group pressure and keep the managerial team in constructive debate.

7.    Managing and predicting individual/group/organizational behavior

Organizational Behavior topic is probably the most complex part of HUMAN RESOURCES Management field. This topic seems to require above average cognitive skills and a good compass to navigate thru psychological ambiguity. It is also an area that reveals even more than others the difference between a Good and a Great HRL. The ability to have a refined view of people’s behavior, to synthesize key collective attitudes and to forecast change will offer the great HRL the power to make intervention with impressive results. This is an extraordinary talent to have in large organizations, especially in critical situation.

8.    Ability to influence and inspire others

Every company formal leader has the extraordinary opportunity to influence and inspire others. It is even truer, in the case of the Human Resources leader, which also carries an inherited expectation of wisdom and humanity. The great HRL is in full awareness of this reality, leads by examples and uses every contact opportunity to portray a constant set of values, professional behavior and moral standards.

Beyond the day to day encounters at the office, there are outstanding opportunities of contact, events and meetings where large portion or all employees are present. The great HRL without exception will prepare and deliver at the highest standard. Is not just showing or telling everyone that your office door is open, but actually making people feel comfortable and that is relevant for them to walk in.

The Great HRL will show emotional availability, psychological flexibility and a good blend on the ability to correct and encourage others. The great HRL will not miss his duty in any crises situation to actively participate and direct or mediate all parties involved towards operational, emotional and legal safety.

Fundamentally, the Great HRL is sustained in this tremendous task by a powerful motivational engine established long before any professional career…that he or she truly likes and cares about PEOPLE.

9.    Rising at the level of the business game

A just Good HRL in Top Management team is like backing vocal in a band. It is definitely useful because rounds up the final sound for the audience but you can rarely hear his/her voice and be able to distinguish it. This might be a harsh parallel but it’s more than often a reality.

There are periods when, various changes in external reality or major internal structural changes/decisions generate extraordinary pressure on the top management team to perform. These are periods of tension and rushed reactions, where some people keep their cool and abilities in main speed and others do not. This is where the tough gets going and where the group dynamic changes completely in the managerial team. This is where people break the natural flow of communication and start redefining roles.

Fortunately, this also the period where the Great HRL will show its best and most important side in preserving in the same time the business interest and maintain organizational culture and integrity . This mainly requires from the Great HRL an ability to stay active in dialog, assuming risk and bringing valuable input in the critical decision that will soon follow and will change most probably the organization forever. This is about great sense of adaptability of HRL to become whatever situation will require; a mediator, an advisor, a coach, an endorser in relationship with the other members of the management team and support CEO strategy and sometimes even to correct the CEO without unbalancing power.

Meanwhile, the Great HRL will be responsible to manage with minimum or no loses the perception of employees who are waiting impatiently the decisions and consequences coming from above.

10. Bringing the HR team to a superior level of awareness and operating level

It takes a certain type of long term stamina to create a great working experience for HR Team. Most of the times will also mean putting your own position at risk to boost the performance level of the HR team. How much is an HRL willing to consume in order to offer to every individual in his/her team the chance to get out of the comfort zone and outdo themselves?

It’s about creating constantly opportunities for each and every one of HR members to better know themselves, you, each other and the opportunity to learn and develop professionally within the tight frame of time and core activities that HR function is rolling in the company.

It means generating an attitude of power and responsibility towards their relevant role and mission to contribute to the destiny of the organization.

The Great HRL will sell the picture of the future. Will set bar of performance high but will match it with improved operational methods and powerful system of support, will offer know-how, support information and one to one assistance every step of the way. The great HRL will persist until the HR function becomes autonomous, performant, synergistic, machine made of individual performant parts, capable to contract, expand and focus according to goals and context. The rising level of confidence based on successful precedents will be matched only by their extraordinary ability to achieve. As recognition will come, the HR team will understand they are living something special and they learned about one the most valuable lessons of all...about excellence.

Conclusion:

The above mentioned capabilities are exceptionally hard to acquire due to specific combination of hard and soft skills they entail. To perform accordingly, seem to require going the extra mile more often than we would like to admit, a strong motivational engine, high level of awareness regarding business strategy, employee and organizational behavior and last but not the least, a strong belief that people at their core are good in nature and that a great leader, especially the HR one, will always find a way to bring the best out of people.

The Great HRL will never abandon the moral imperative that drives HR profession: getting the best out of people, protecting the organizational culture and ensuring fair treatment, morally and by law, to every employee from the reception clerk to the CEO.

Special Thanks to Adrian Alexandrescu Nica for his valuable input and insight in the process of writing this article.