Build stakeholder management capabilitiesCreate increased Human Resource value with business-focused stakeholder relationships. HR has low levels of credibility among executives and functional/department heads. Satisfaction levels of HR’s core services vary and, as a result, HR cannot gain traction for projects and initiatives. To gain buy-in to the HR function, HR must first repair its relationship with stakeholders by demonstrating its value in a way that is meaningful for key stakeholders. McLean & Company’s definition of Stakeholder Management:Stakeholder management is the identification and prioritization of individuals interested in or impacted by HR projects, products, and services. It includes building and maintaining relationships to ensure needs are understood, addressed, and supported to arrive at successful outcomes that meet overall organizational objectives. Stakeholder management requires a conscious and evolving strategy. You need to be intentional about what the strategy is and agile in terms of how it changes and adapts as your organization undergoes growth and change.Stakeholder management comes down to foresight and patience. One needs the foresight to anticipate the relationship they will need in the organization and the patience to build those relationships over a period of time.Taking the time to build relationships and develop trust and understanding with key stakeholders first allows you to walk in the door with creditability when you later have a project or initiative that requires the input and support of those individuals.Building relationships requires thinking about who the stakeholder is, what their interests are, and how they want to be communicated to. To have impact and connect with a stakeholder, you must consider first what works for that particular stakeholder.Stakeholder management also involves influence – having the people with the most influence alongside your agenda can help push it through and gain the support you require. It is important to remember that position power does not necessarily dictate a person’s level of influence. HR tends to be the forgotten stakeholder – don’t forget that relationship-building needs to occur within the HR department.By listening to stakeholders, HR will understand what the business is looking for in terms of the HR strategy. According to McLean & Company 2014 Trends data, HR strategy is the second least effective HR function, yet it is seen as the second most important factor in driving HR effectiveness.HR Business Vision data reveals that leaders are more satisfied with HR’s performance of administrative duties than strategic initiativesUse stakeholder management to demonstrate how the HR strategy is tied to organizational strategy.Although the relationship between the CEO and HR is often strong, your CEO may not believe that you have the capability to perform at the strategic level.Every HR department has multiple stakeholders; this blueprint is focused on managing executive-level stakeholders.Stakeholder management begins by understanding your key stakeholders. It is not practical or necessary to engage all stakeholders with the same level of intensity all of the time. Be strategic and clear about whom you are engaging with and why. Consider the level of support you want from your key stakeholders and the role they play in relation to HR’s goals and objectives.Prioritize stakeholders based on:1. Influence: The stakeholder’s ability to affect others’ thinking, decisions, or behavior. Rather than thinking of your stakeholders in terms of their power, shift your mindset to stakeholder influence – as positional power does not determine the person’s level of influence power.2. Interest: The stakeholder’s level of interest in HR is determined by analyzing the impact that HR’s functions have on them and any resulting motivations they may have.3. Current level of support for HR: The stakeholder’s degree of support towards the function of HR and their willingness to advocate. The Stakeholder Prioritization Map provides a visual comparison of the stakeholders to consider as you align your HR strategy to the business and provide specific products and services.Look at these sources of data to better understand your stakeholders:

HR Business Vision survey results.Engagement Survey data.Past interactions with the stakeholder.The stakeholder’s social style.

This additional information will improve your ability to communicate and develop strong relationships with each stakeholder.If you take the time to open the door for stakeholder participation and insight, you must make sure that it counts. Overcome stakeholder skepticism by flexing your communication style in different scenarios:Scenario 1: There is a wide variation in opinions expressed by your stakeholders.Approach:Get to the heart of the matter by pointing out the variation between that individual’s response and the overall responses when having one-on-one conversations with stakeholders.Scenario 2: There are stakeholders that have not participated in the survey and/or tend to be unresponsive to previous HR requests.Approach: When speaking with these stakeholders don’t make assumptions on why they did not participate. Rather go to the one-on-one with an open mind and be prepared to listen.Scenario 3: Stakeholders have a negative opinion of HR and do not see HR’s value in terms of contributing to business outcomes.Approach: Allow yourself time to process the information and prepare for the conversations. Don’t schedule follow-ups too quickly after receiving the results. Having one-on-ones too soon may cause you to be defensive and not fully hear the important message that your stakeholders are trying to convey.Scenario 4: Stakeholders, both in person and on HR surveys, tend to be overly positive and lacking in depth and constructive criticism. Approach:When speaking with your stakeholders communicate the purpose of the survey and how you intend to use it. Restate the importance of gaining honest feedback so that you can use the information to respond to business needs and drive success for the organization.Devise metrics that demonstrate the contribution of HR to the business. These metrics will go a long way when communicating with business executives who are more analytical or numbers-driven, such as your CFO. If such metrics already exist, aggressively market them and draw attention to HR’s successes. Remember that it is okay to not have all the answers when speaking with stakeholders. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” and follow-up with them later, when you have more information and can accurately address their concerns or inquiries. Leverage analytics:Have a clear plan for communicating the HR Business Vision survey results in order to develop strong stakeholder relationships.Providing HR Business Vision feedback to stakeholders helps HR to factually demonstrate value and opportunity areas critical to organizational success. It provides key stakeholders a sense of involvement and informs them that their expertise and opinions are critical for HR success.It allows HR to gain additional valuable information and insights that may not have come to light through the completion of the HR Business Vision survey alone.It gives HR much needed visibility to be embedded and valued by the organization and optimizes HR and business alignment. It begins to educate and inform stakeholders of both the benefits of HR and the constraints that HR is working within. For example, providing them with the rationale on why some initiatives have been followed through on and others have not.Even if you have not completed the HR Business Vision survey, follow this communication process to gain feedback from your stakeholders in a series of group and one-on-one meetingsEstablish a service level agreement (SLA) to clarify the expectations and requirements of both HR and its clients.SLAs can be of great value for HR and managers. They must be mutually agreed upon and signed by stakeholders and HR. An SLA documents the measurable service that HR provides its clients, and also defines the level of effort that the managers or executives must provide to complete their part of the agreement. Metrics are a key component of any SLA, as are qualitative statements defining how the relationship will work.You probably will not be able to turn challenging relationships around immediately. But through small steps you will be able to build credibility with stakeholders. Maintaining this creditability is key and achieved by delivering on your HR commitments and demonstrating in a factual manner. Be transparent as a department and manage stakeholder’s expectations in order to improve HR’s reputation, build trust, and demonstrate value to the business. Inform stakeholders of any anticipated problems or issues that you may encounter. Provide stakeholders with a rationale if you are unable to focus on their priority areas. Focus these discussions on high level business deliverables rather than individual needs or wishes. Help stakeholders to understand HR constraints. All organization leaders have constraints. They will respect your transparency and honesty. Ask stakeholders how you can table their individual priority. They may be able to use their own influence to push for a greater budget on behalf of HR for the completion of their HR priority