HR's New Year's Resolution: Take a Seat at the Strategic Table

Commentary by Benjamin Ola. Akande and Chuck Feltz

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New Year brings the opportunity to replace rhetoric with action and bygone resolutions with results. As we all know, resolutions that don't create permanent change are really just fads by a different name.

In this past year, several of the HR executives we worked with have done just that, moving beyond the rhetoric to gain their rightful place at the "strategic table," creating HR organizations capable of impacting the development and acceleration of core business strategy and value creation.

In each case, realizing their "resolution" came from a process grounded in these five foundational elements:

1) They defined the end at the beginning.

We are always surprised at the vague answers we get to the question, "When you get your seat at the table, what will it look like?" As in business, non-specific, un-actionable answers never drive meaningful results. The successful execs we worked with developed a clear and compelling outcome from the start that provided an understandable context for their transformation and identified evidence milestones to chart their progress.

2) They adopted a strategic lens.

Altering your perspective requires changing the framework through which you view the world. HR executives often look at business through their technical human resources lens versus a business strategy lens. Each of these successful leaders adopted a strategic framework as their primary lens, increasing their intentional acumen and thereby accelerating their transformation to business executives who specialized in Human Resources.

3) They performed a "relevance" audit of their HR practice. 

They asked and answered two critical "gut check" questions: "As HR executives, do we matter (directly and significantly) on the issues that make our company more valuable to customers and shareholders? And, "How can we refocus our assets to increase our relevance on these issues?" Using their honest assessment and a process to reallocate their assets accordingly, they were able to reposition the HR internal brand as having greater impact on the tactical issues the top executive team and board were dealing with.

4) They began specializing in their own companies. 

It is very difficult to participate in top-level strategy if you do not understand the critical components of core strategy and how these create value in your own company. Too many HR executives cannot answer some of the basic operating elements of their own business, such as revenue, earnings, margins, even how they make money.  The successful HR executives developed a list of core questions that in combination with their adopted strategic framework raised the bar on the "table stakes" expertise required for the "new" HR organization.

5) They institutionalized the change.

Like a personal resolution to get fit, they recognized that great intentions poorly executed would not drive the order of magnitude change they desired. To accomplish this, they embedded their new expectations into the operational systems of their organizations to make the changes sustainable, reflexive and permanent.  They trained, hired and evaluated performance against the new "HR as strategic leader" profiles and incorporated this into performance reviews.

In all cases, these HR leaders overcame years of frustration of being "on the outside" of strategy development.  Rather than continuing the "old way harder," they made certain their aim was true and as such, added a new dimension to their functional area by establishing a more relevant and impactful presence in their companies.  That transformation gave them the "seat" and impact they desired at the strategic table and  secured their presence, power and contributions for years to come.

About the Authors

Benjamin Ola. Akande, Ph.D ([email protected]) Professor of Economics, is Dean, George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, Webster University St. Louis, Mo.

Chuck Feltz ([email protected]) has been the CEO or president of five companies and is a founding partner of Engage Consulting Group. He is the co-author of the new book, Never By Chance: Aligning People and Strategy Through Intentional Leadership (Wiley and Sons, February, 2010).

With its home campus in St. Louis, Webster University (www.webster.edu) is a worldwide institution committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Founded in 1915, Webster offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs through five schools and colleges, and a global network of campuses. Its 20,000-plus student population represents almost 150 nationalities.

Since opening its first campus overseas in Geneva in 1978, Webster has become a recognized leader and innovator in global education, with an international presence that now includes campuses in London; Vienna; Amsterdam and Leiden, the Netherlands; Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, China; and Bangkok and Cha-am, Thailand. Webster also has educational partnerships with universities in Mexico and Japan.

SOURCE Webster University