HR Strategy Lunch Break – A Full Course Meal!
Earlier today, HR Logistics hosted its first HRL Lunch Break webinar! With the topic of HR strategy, we knew we would catch the ears of HR professionals – and we did.
Kristie Evans, CEO / Thought Leader of HR Logistics, started by encouraging the attendees to think of the business as an organization of parts – just like a machine (or actually a motorcycle-in-pieces that was displayed).
“The carburetor by itself cannot move from one point to another. Take off the handle bars and they have no purpose. Without wheels, all of the other parts are stuck. In fact, consider wheels as the sales of an organization. The wheels actually create the ability of the machine to move forward. HR’s strategic value to the machine is – in my opinion – to make sure the organization is getting the best gas mileage from cash by supporting the greatest efficiency and strength from each of the mechanical components. In HR language, that’s the right skills in the right places at the right times, smooth workflows and operations, and contingency risk management for impacts to operations from the workforce – which is what we call “human risk management.”
HR professionals have the distinct privilege to have the most direct impact on an organizations bottom line – through their workforce. At this year’s SHRM Conference, Kristie attended a presentation by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) from the UK, and their director made the unforgettable remark that, “business is raising the bar for HR and if HR didn’t respond in the next two years, she thought it would impact the status of HR within an organization for the next 20 years!” That’s 2-0 folks. WOW!
And then we get to the main course for the lunch break – how can you become a strategic HR partner for your organization?
- Think like the CEO of your organization – If you were the CEO, what kind of questions would you ask someone else about their project or initiative? How does this project support overall business goals? As HR professionals, we tend to understand the theoretical background of supporting business goals, but sometimes we haven’t had the opportunity to practice the application. Thinking like the CEO is the first step to changing your own habits of strategic thinking.
- Look for the metric – everything can be measured – Use metrics that are relevant, reliable and can be replicated and confirmed by others. Some elements might have a more obvious measurable component than others, but the connection is there and you may have to think outside the box.
- Build strategic partnerships outside your office – Get to know someone outside your office or department who is known for being a strategic thinker and ask them if you can pick their brain about how they think strategically. What do they measure as it relates to organizational goals? This will also increase your own toolset and help you take the step from theoretical to application.
- Encourage others to think strategically – Strength in numbers they say – well – strategy in numbers works too, right? Okay sort of – but the point is for this to work, encouraging others to put on their own CEO shoes will help the team make the transition towards thinking strategically. For example, at the next staff meeting, designate someone to be the “resident CEO” and when discussing a project it is their job to ask questions and make sure the discussion and project ultimately supports the business goals. Rotate the “resident CEO” each meeting to give everyone a chance to flex their CEO-muscle. This might solicit some giggles at first but once you get some solid “ah-hah” moments, the new thought process will stick. (To enforce “resident CEO” you might need to procure a crown, wizard’s hat, or thinking stick to emphasize role – just sayin’).
To support HR professionals in their strategic transition, HR Logistics has launched a Strategic HR Mentoring Program. It’s a 3-month, one-on-one partnership with Kristie to develop strategic HR competencies. You can choose from different areas of focus, or if you have an immediate need, the partnership can be customized for what you having going on at the moment. It starts with a discovery conversation to see what kind of partnership would work best for you – and then you go from there!
Well, hopefully that quenched your appetite for HR strategy!
Our next HRL Lunch Break is Thursday, July 28th – same time – 1:15 – 1:45 and we will be discussing building Credibility in the C-Suite. The 30 minutes was a perfect amount of time to get the message across and answer a question at the end.
To check out and register for upcoming events, check out our Calendar
If you have any questions or would like the PowerPoint file, please send me a message. Thanks for reading!
-Heather
