Taking HR from Support to Strategy

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Taking HR from Support to Strategy

• Sarah Kieran, OMT Group
• HR Ireland Seminar November 2008
• www.omt.ie
• 353 61 333 640

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Our Way An insight into OMT Group Why we are one
of Irelands leading Organisational Development
Firms.
Successful Business Performance is all about
working hard to get the most out of things your
Organisation, your People and Yourself.
Knowing
The Cutting Edge
When you are choosing an Organisational
Development Firm, its important that they too
are working hard. At OMT Group we work hard to
hold our position at the cutting-edge of
Organisational Development because we are
passionately committed to the art, science and
magic of People Development.
We believe that most Businesses are quick to
realise what they need to do to change and
develop.
Doing
The Best People
We make sure we have the best People. They join
us following time spent as Senior Managers in
Industry. We nurture their talents and ideas, as
well as helping them develop their skills and
qualifications. Then we direct all of our
creativity, knowledge and energy into meeting our
Clients needs and exceeding their
expectations.
Many also implement some of this knowledge by
doing the right things from time to time.
Living
The Best Fit for the Best Business
Performance
As our Firm has been working hard at
Organisational Development and Management
Training for 20 years now, we are not afraid to
Grasp the Nettle. We are confident in our
abilities and take the time to consider the right
combination of Best Practice and Best Fit for our
Clients always ensuring our efforts are
directly linked to Business Performance .
The step from Knowing to Living is a different
story. OMT Group excel at partnering Businesses
in moving from ad-hoc or one-off efforts (just
Doing) to a new way of Living, a more sustained
and real approach to development.

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Overview
Business Centric HRM
HR Brand
Your HR Team People - Attitude Style
Building a Strategic HR Team
How your Team conducts its Business
Day-to-Day Practices
Delivering Strategy-Based HR Solutions
Your Business Contribution Delivering Results!
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The HRM Evolution
Human Resource Management Working throughout the
Business, with the Business, to achieve Business
Results by helping get the most and best from
its People
2000 .....
Human Resource Development Competency Frameworks,
Learning Development, Performance Management
Systems, Career Planning, Succession Planning,
Talent Pools, The Learning Organisation etc.
1990s.....
Human Resource Operations Recruitment
Selection, Remuneration Benefits, Employee
Relations, Training, Regulation, Partnership
Efforts, HR Systems etc.
Up to 1980s.....
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The HRM Evolution

• Business Centric HRM
• HR must respond to Business
• Strategies
• HR must be aligned with
• Business Strategies
• HR must be involved in the
• process and contribute to the
• development of Business
• Strategies
• HRM can and should shape the
• Business Strategy (3)

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HR Team as Strategists
Moving from All hat and no cattle (4) to
becoming the Tenzing Norgay of todays Businesses
(2)
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Overview
HR Brand
Your HR Team People - Attitude Style
Building a Strategic HR Team
How your Team conducts its Business
Day-to-Day Practices
Delivering Strategy-Based HR Solutions
Your Business Contribution Delivering Results!
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Building your New HR Brand
My Management Team just dont get it well,
make them get it!
Make the decision about what you want your NEW HR
to be, set your Mission and Values and just go
for it!
(Out with the old Service, Support, Enable
etc. in with the new Do)
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Building your New HR Brand
Be Positive, Be Energised..... about the New HR

• People who Impact and Influence are not those
• sitting around complaining about what is wrong
• with the Business.........lead Senior Managers
• towards your New HR Goal

Build a Strong Business Centric Team
Your People must be New HR Role Models within the
Business. They must be responsible, credible and
knowledgeable among their Business Peers. They
need to talk the walk and walk the talk....
Be Active not Passive
Get our there! Talk and Listen. Build
relationships. Understand where real influence
lies. Know what questions to ask. Informal
Strategic Networks across the Business.
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The new HR Specialists (1)

• Help Senior Managers to acquire the leadership,
  conceptual, analytical and interpersonal skills
  they require to do their jobs properly.
• Business Strategy is often informally managed, so
  learn to seek out the Right People, ask the Right
  Questions and recognise the Right Answers.

Let the Senior Management Team lead the way.....
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Positioning the SMT to leadtowards a Business
Centric HRM

• Facilitate Meetings
• Structure exploratory exercises/Design decision
  making aids
• Get clarity from the SMT on developing the
  appropriate behaviours/attitudes...then help
  develop and embed
• Generate Business Strategies through Learning
  Interventions and vice-versa...the continuous
  loop
• Show how Talent Management can drive Business
  Performance through researched statistics and
  examples
• Position yourself to add valuable Business
  Insights

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Positioning Middle Management to leadtowards a
Business Centric HRM

• Help People Managers to acquire the management,
  organisational, coaching and interpersonal skills
  they require to do their jobs properly.

• Ensure People Managers have Senior Management
  Team support for everything you are trying to do
  together
• Be patient........apply ALL your Change
  Management Learning
• Develop a range of effective Management
  Development Programmes/Activities
• Establish an Employee Satisfaction/Engagement
  Measure

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Positioning Employees to leadtowards a Business
Centric HRM

• Ensure Employees know that you are their voice at
  the Management Table. Understand their needs and
  represent them. Back up perceptions with fact!

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Overview
HR Brand
Your HR Team People - Attitude Style
Building a Strategic HR Team
How your Team conducts its Business
Day-to-Day Practices
Delivering Strategy-Based HR Solutions
Your Business Contribution Delivering Results!
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Human Resources Management as a Strategic
Function Now that you have the mindset of HR as
a Strategic Function, what are the actual things
you can do for your Team to make this vision a
reality?
HR Specialists are moving away from the basics
of the HR Function to increasing the asset value
of Human Capital. A new kind of HR Professional
who deeply understands the organisational
strategy and business model is emerging. A person
who is responsible for hiring and training new
Marketing Managers but who also knows how to put
together an effective Marketing Plan. (2)
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Building a Strategic HR Team
Seek opportunities to physically get out Into
the Business

• Are you sitting behind a closed door? Why? Is
• everything really that confidential? Use Open
  Plan
• opportunities, hold meetings around the Business
  
• say your place instead of mine....

Ensure a business-wide focus exists. Dont limit
yourself to HR expertise. Look internally for
People.
Recruit Wisely
Encourage Internal Secondments
Loan your People whenever you can, for
short- Term Projects or simply as additional
support from time to time. They will return with
valuable Business Insights.
Let your People go....

• Encourage your Team to seek opportunities across
  the
• Business, they will be an advocate for you in
  other
• Business Functions.

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Building a Strategic HR Team
Know your Business Dashboard

• Review the Business Dashboard at the top of every
  
• Team Meeting. Check that your Team knows and
• appreciates the Business KPIs! Read Industry
• Journals (as well as the HR ones!), read the
• papers....know your stuff.

Assuming you are at the Management Table,
share key issues with your Team each week. They
need to appreciate what is happening across the
Business. If you are not at the Management
Table, turn up anyway......
Cascade from the Management Team Meetings
Assign HR Business Partners to other Business
Functions
An idea which has become commonplace for the
Finance Function, assign a Business Partner to
attend Functional Management Meetings. This
becomes very effective in time and will become a
vital communications channel with the Business.
Ask your Peers to trial it for 3 months if they
are in doubt....
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Building a Strategic HR Team

• View every Business Challenge as a potential
• opportunity for HR to add value
• Appreciate that other Functions have
  time-critical,
• revenue-critical challenges on a daily basis
• Appreciate that their tactical may simply have to
  
• take precedence over your strategic
• Make sure HRs priorities are 100 synchronised
• with those of the Business at all times

Collaborate with Management
Sales Skills training is pulled in the Call
Centre because Service Levels have dropped to all
time low....
HR suggests 6 Role Models from across the Call
Centre do 2Hrs overtime per day to buddy with
Reps. They coach individuals.
Service Levels Increase Up-selling Increases
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Building a Strategic HR Team

• HR Operations is still the Bread Butter of
  your
• Function
• Very often the sole Touch Point for Employees
  for
• long periods of time
• Must be 100 but dont let them distract you from
  
• your Strategic Function
• Policies/Practices must flow from and support
• your HR Strategies
• Dont be the policeman go undercover......

Ensure your HR Operations flows from your HR
Strategies
Google Organisation thrives on Innovation
Google Job Roles 70 My Job 20 Innovation in my
Job 10 Innovation outside of my Job
Pay Reviews Targets/Bonuses
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Building a Strategic HR Team
Measure your Efforts

• Not just a Cost-Benefit Analysis on a Training
• Programme but link your efforts to real Business
• Results.
• Dont worry that there are 1000 variables which
• also impact those results that applies to all
• Business KPIs
• Dont fudge the failures, there is no accounting
  for
• Human Nature but that is not an excuse for
• learning from HRs mistakes!

Get a good Mission Statement

• Enough of the supporting, servicing, enabling and
  
• guiding the Business......
• Take ownership for ensuring that People in the
• Business are better at delivering Business
  Results
• that your competitors.....

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Overview
HR Brand
Your HR Team People - Attitude Style
Building a Strategic HR Team
How your Team conducts its Business
Day-to-Day Practices
Delivering Strategy-Based HR Solutions
Your Business Contribution Delivering Results!
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How?
Scan the Business Environment

• Constantly scan the Business Environment to
• understand the world in which your Business is
  living

See the Gaps
Recognise the gap between where your Business is
now and where it wants to be
Innovate to Optimise

• Look for new and innovative ways to optimise the
• People within your Business to bridge this gap

Focus on People Development
Make Employee Development your pivotal component,
it is the critical success factor
Policies/Process Follows......

• Continue to deliver your own Operations but
  ensure
• they are fully aligned with and stemming from
  your
• Employee Development Solutions/Strategies

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Strategic HR Initiatives Organisational
Development Tools
In the form of a large group running their own
conference, this is a fresh way to resolve
complex or conflict ridden issues in a short
period of time. People gather knowledge, share
ideas and reach consensus in an Open Space.,
owning the agenda, format and the outcomes.
Innovation, Clarity, Sense of Purpose/Team are
key outcomes.
Open Space Technology
In the form of a group representing a microcosm
of the system, working through this system,
this approach enables People to create their
future faster than they ever believed possible.
Unleashes energy, makes change a core competence,
results in better ways of doing Business, leads
to major improvements in key areas.
Real Time Strategic Change
In the form of a research framework, this bottom
up approach gathers smaller groups to explore a
given subject. Through facilitated Q A
sessions, groups share insights, explore options
and identify their own solutions to barriers,
issues within the Business. Change and consensus
building become a key outcome in addition to the
innovative solutions identified.
4th Generation Evaluation
For more information on any of the above contact
OMT Group on 353 61 333 640
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Strategic HR Initiatives Organisational
Development Tools
Business Simulation has been around for a while
but the concept of designing your own simulation
is new. Based on basic on line/eLearning
technologies and known Business Performance
Indicators, develop a range of scenarios for your
Business and get competing Teams working on the
solutions.
Bespoke Business Simulation
Similar to Bespoke Business Simulation this is
simply a more physical and less technological
version! For example, live your Customer
Experience by re-enacting Customer Scenarios with
various groups across the Business. See how you
would feel if you were on the receiving end of
your own Service.
Business Gaming
In the form of a series of workshops, bring
groups of Peers together for breakfast or lunch
(a Brown Bag Meeting) where they are presented to
by a sub-group of their own Peers on a single
topic e.g. How to manage absenteeism. Knowledge
is shared, the dos and donts reviewed and
additional insights added from the floor. A very
simple but highly effective sharing of management
knowledge.
Peer to Peer Learning
For more information on any of the above contact
OMT Group on 353 61 333 640
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Strategic HR Initiatives Organisational
Development Tools
Bring together a small group, representing all
Business Functions, for an extended period of
time (say meeting once a month for a year). Feed
them various potential competitive scenarios
which might happen in the months/years ahead and
ask them to review and identify potential
responses. Archive ideas for future use.
War Gaming
Also relevant to Business Planning, known
topics/issues are assigned to a cross-functional
group to review, research options and bring
together workable solutions. The key is to
ensure participants represent functions not
specific to the issue e.g. Dont include any
Sales or Marketing People on the project entitled
Create a new, value-add, low-priced,
eco-friendly product for the Business Sector.
Action Learning Projects
Establish a schedule of Internal Secondments for
REAL JOBS or REAL PROJECTS. Establish in such a
way that it is value-add for the Team who are
losing the individual as well as the Team gaining
headcount. Ensure it is viable in the long-term
for the Business. Innovative solution to
Long-Term Illness, Maternity Leave, Parental
Leave, additional short-term Projects etc.
Internal Secondments
For more information on any of the above contact
OMT Group on 353 61 333 640
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Strategic HR Initiatives Organisational
Development Tools
Develop a framework for a formal Mentoring
Programme for your Business. Connect People
across the Business in an innovative way match
different Business Disciplines, nationalities and
age profiles. Ensure Mentors have sound
guidelines, behaviours and skills before actual
Mentoring begins.
Mentoring
Develop your Intranet into a Social Network.
Encourage Chat Rooms, Wikis, Pod/Video Casts,
Blogs, Links etc.
Harness new Media
Recognition and Reward Schemes have been around
for some time and can be very effective in
generating new Business Ideas and establishing
business-wide understanding of Role Models for
the right way of doing things within your
Business. Awards Programmes are most effective
when linked to Employee Surveys.
Awards Programmes
For more information on any of the above contact
OMT Group on 353 61 333 640
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Before you jump in......

• Many of these Organisational Development Tools
  are not for the faint hearted......
• Best Fit Vs Best Practice Vs Your Business
  Values/Mission

(6)
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Companies that have adapted integrated learning
and HR Strategies through talent management
achieve approximately 45 increase in workforce
productivity and almost 40 increase in revenue
generation than their peers. Human Capital
Institute UK survey of 165 Organisations, 2006
Only 12 of companies successfully execute their
strategy. Balanced Scorecard
Collaborative and Cognos Joint Study, 2006
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The New HR (2)
HR looks like a Business School Main focus of
effort is on Employee Development. Across all
parts of the Business, employing innovative and
flexible methods and led by Business Management
HR has a P L HR is no longer just a cost
centre. Employee Development is an investment
not a cost. Deliberately blur the lines between
Business Activity and People Development
HR hatches harvests ideas Constantly promoting
innovation, bringing relevant and fresh ideas to
the table, creating learning initiatives and
opportunities that lead to Business Results
HR makes big places smaller HR is the Facebook
of the Business, connect People, share knowledge,
link experts, develop mentoring relationships
HR focuses on the upside HR doesnt let itself
get trapped in the policing role (mediating
grievances, enforcing codes of conduct etc.),
concentrate on the positive (employee strengths,
engaging employees etc.).
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happen. Contact Us on 353 61 333 640
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References

• The Strategic Roles of HRD. Toracco Swanson.
  Human Resource Planning Vol 18 1995
• Why did we ever go into HR? Breitfelder
  Dowling. HBR August 2008
• Towards a redefinition of strategic HRD.
  McCracken Wallace. Journal of European
  Industrial Training Vol 24 Issue 5 2000
• Big hat no cattle. Skinner Wickham. HBR
  October 1981
• Stepping up to the table The HR Professionals
  role in Corporate Strategy. Bailey. The Bailey
  Group. 2008
• A New Mandate for HR David Ulrich. HBR January
  1998
• Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work. Heskett
  et al. HBR 1994 July 2008