The Challenge of Change: Transformational HR leadership

Graham Hart, Director, Leadership by Design

“The single most important strategic pillar of any great enterprise is people,” best-selling author Jim Collins

Why we hate HR gets over 4 million hits in Google

Leadership is a verb not a position

The average organization forfeits more than $1 million per year through less-than-optimal leadership practices.

• Nearly three-quarters of all leadership teams fail to achieve business goals.

• A 2008 survey by Egon Zehnder International found nearly six in 10 global leaders consider a lack of leadership a major cause of their company’s inability to deal with business change.

Leadership Vacuum

• Why does HR Matter so much more today?• Building trust and influence in HR value creation• Leading major change across a larger organisation• Implementing the right HR enablers to deliver change• The qualities of a transformational HR Leader

Overview

It’s a VUCA world

Volatile

Complex

Uncertain

Ambiguous

Near collapse of the global financial system Reassessment of strategy and culture Loss of morale and erosion of loyalty Growing public concern about actions of

global organisations Significant morale and performance issues in

public sector

Why does HR matter?

Research by Gloria Mark (reported in The New York Times Magazine in October 2005:“Meet the Life Hackers” by Clive Thompson),

The Average Worker is interrupted every 11 minutes

It takes thosesame workers about 25 minutes on average to return to the original task

A leadership vacuum Competence to vision Trust and integrity

Managing Complexity and “Busyness” New Social contract The rise of Stewardship Broadening Governance Building Adaptive organisations

Building trust and influence in HR value creation

Does HR deliver competitive advantage through people?

•55%HR Leader

s

•26%Busine

ss Leader

s

Why are annual performance appraisals so time-consuming -- and so routinely useless?

Why is HR so often a henchman for the CFO, finding ever-more ingenious ways to cut benefits and hack at payroll?

Why do its communications -- when we can understand them at all -- so often flout reality?

Why are so many people processes duplicative and wasteful, creating a forest of paperwork for every minor transaction?

And why does HR insist on sameness as a proxy for equity?

Building trust and influence in HR value creation

Grow the talent pipeline Manage age demographics Male workforce more diverse Reduce additional employment costs Upgrade HRIS system Would you be bothered if it fell into

competitors hands Will it make that much difference?

Pull out your HR Strategy

HR and Business are aligned on top 5 priorities today

How involved in strategy are we?

62

29

Setting

51

35

Communicating

60

35

Implementing

• Behaviours 69%

• Issues 41%

HR Leaders

• Behaviours 62%

• Issues 22%

Business

Leaders

How well does HR Challenge?

HR executives top scored Educating and Influencing the line

Which HR leadership capabilities are most critical Towers Perrin/IBM

Asked if they possessed those skills 8% said yes

(1) focus on talent and develop the next generation of leaders,

(2) standardize HR policies, programs and operations so the company can quickly reconfigure itself in response to changing global market conditions; and

(3) focus on workforce management to enable new business models including M&A, divestitures, alliances and joint ventures and new market entry.

Implementing the right HR enablers to deliver change

Every HR leader should have a really solid understanding of the shape, composition, profile and major dynamic elements in their workforce.

Key elements to this are the foundational metrics that are then used to build all other analysis.

These include headcount, hires, terminations, transfers, promotions and the entire core demographics associated with these metrics, e.g. location, job family or role, salary grade, employment status, diversity, gender, tenure, age and so on

The Shape and Dynamics of Your Workforce

It is now somewhat trite to say that people are your greatest asset

Managing this risk has become increasingly important, as a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that human capital risks carry the largest possible weight to business outcomes, greater than any other risk facing a company.

Workforce analytics provides tools to HR Managers to identify and manage these risks

Highest performers Retention Talent bench strength

Human Capital Risk

Employee Advocate

Human Capital Developer

Strategic PartnerFunctional

Expert

Transform

The qualities of a transformational HR Leader

Like to be strategic but don’t know how Too much time discussing HR details that don’t relate to

the business They seek line manager approval and leadership and don’t

provide it themselves enough Lack detailed business knowledge to discuss it in the

business Don’t tie HR initiatives to bottom line enough The use jargon that doesn’t appeal to Management or staff Don't bring enough to the strategic conversation Haven't helped other see why HR is at the top table

Still a Huge gap between theory and practice

Align business strategy and HR strategy.

Develop the capabilities to build new HR services..

Make talent a real priority. Focus on workforce effectiveness.

Four Ways to Get More Value Now

Choose your focus

Optimistic rather than pessimistic

Solutions rather than problem based

Agile rather than fixed Inquisitive rather than

accepting Courageous rather than timid Self aware rather than self-

denial Comfortable with ambiguity

Leadership is driven by your Mind Set

"

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