The story of a CEO and his soup I once worked with a CEO who liked soup. Each lunchtime he flipped his tie over his shoulder to avoid the predictable tie/soup disaster. An unremarkable story. Unremarkable, that is, until I accompanied him to the canteen one day and there they were - row upon row of sandwich-eating men with their ties flipped over their shoulders. People and places are constantly affecting what we do. We speak differently depending on who we're talking to, we behave differently depending on what we're trying to achieve. Changing how we speak and what we say is a classic example - we do it so frequently it's often subconscious. Clients adopt this 'status' behaviour, too. It can be used to great effect, as illustrated by an HRBP client of mine who, while working with HM Prison Service, noticed that the governor walked the prison floor regularly. By copying the governor's approach and asking similar questions he established credibility among the prison staff. They became more willing to help him, he learned a lot more about their jobs, and the outcome was better all round. Although the importance of adapting behaviour is well-known, it's not necessarily well-documented. So I've been particularly interested in some work recently done in the acting world.* It's a fascinating look at 'low status' behaviour versus 'high status' behaviour. Having adapted this research for a business context, I have used it to coach clients, with positive results. What the research found (And how it can be used in business)
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Play your part in shaping the business HR is becoming less transactional and more strategic. But are HR Business Partners contributing enough in this new strategic role? Too often the answer seems to be no. Recent research found fewer than one in five CEOs rate HR as strategically important, and only slightly more rate HR's performance as satisfactory.* It seems that HR functions are still better at supporting business strategy than creating it - better at managing personnel costs than creating human capital strategy. So what's the problem? In my view - a lack of the right training. Training and development of HR personnel, including Business Partners, has been neglected. Recent statistics show that only 14% of businesses train their HR staff in key skills. And it's a vicious circle: the smaller the training investment, the less effective Business Partners will be, the less they'll be valued, and so the less money will be allocated to training. So HRBPs need to make a bigger strategic impact. But with limited training investment? We think one answer is to ditch the generic training that HRBPs usually get. Our development package takes a holistic approach to development. We focus on integrating the skills HRBP's need to make a bigger contribution to their company and its strategy. We do this not only by teaching skills, but also by encouraging HRBPs to believe in the benefits that HR can bring to business strategy. In the past, Business Partners have undervalued their role and their own potential. But with the right development, they can make as important a contribution as any other member of the senior management team. back |
Outsourced but not forgotten Outsourcing is now commonplace in HR: centres of excellence (CoEs) provide expertise in every aspect of HR, from compensation to recruitment, while shared service centres (SSCs) provide a cost-efficient way of dealing with transactional HR. And that leaves HR Business Partners to focus exclusively on strategy and planning. Right? wrong. Our recent research* highlights the danger of HR Business Partners concentrating solely on strategy. The service provided by some SSCs and CoEs has been criticised as being generic and slow. Often a reason for this service is the lack of information about the business available to the SSC and CoE staff. HR Business Partners, with their unique understanding of both sides of this problem, are perfectly placed to help fill the knowledge gap. But they can't if they just concentrate on strategy. The most successful HR Business Partners acknowledge the two-way nature of their role, and their responsibility to educate HR staff in the culture and style of the rest of the business. They know that they are responsible for the service that the business receives from the other HR functions. They make it part of their job, even though it's rarely actually part of their job spec. And rather than approach it as simply a task to get done, they use their client management and relationship skills to build trusting relationships with their counterparts in SSCs and CoEs - much like they would with a business client. How do you go about it? It could be as simple as sharing the HR strategy with all your staff (including those in SSCs and CoEs abroad), or perhaps arranging a regular catch-up meeting, conference call, the odd 'learning lunch', or a shared problem-solving session. The results can be immediate - more responsive HR staff, an appreciation of the various cultures in different departments, the ability to respond effectively to these different cultures, and an understanding of the strains that others can be under when dealing with issues. *Interested in seeing our research results? Look out for our next newsletter, or give us a call on 07766805552. back |
Keep changing your plan? Then plan for change Autumn's here, which means it's planning time again. Time for the same old problems to rear their ugly heads: HR having to react to business changes, rather than helping to plan the changes in the first place; being forced to drop last year's plan because it's now out of date; building a new training programme from scratch before the last one's had time to be assessed. Sound familiar? Businesses need to move quicker than ever before. In this environment, recruitment plans and assessment processes that take time to set up, and are designed to be followed one step after the other, soon become defunct. Prevention is better than cure - the closer HR is to the development of the overall business plan, the less reactive HR plans will be. But it's the approach to process planning that's also part of the problem. Making HR processes relevant to a business at a single moment in time, without thinking ahead, will never work. If such a process takes four months to plan, it's already four months out of date before it's even applied. The answer lies with planning more flexible processes. One option is to use what's known as a 'Silicone Valley' approach, where a new process is planned and built quickly, piloted in one part of the business, then refined as a result of 'in-course correction' before being spread across the business. You'll need a good relationship with your business clients for this. They'll have to be prepared to play the guinea pig from time to time, for the sake of better HR. We've developed a new HR planning workshop about this approach and we're keen to pilot it. If you are interested in helping us, and learning all about this new approach to planning at the same time, please give us a call on 07766805552. back |
HR With Guts Cards- building brilliant relationships If you're new to HR with Guts, you won't have heard of our cards. They're designed to help you develop HR skills. In this issue we feature a set that looks at client skills and how to build productive client relationships. The cards cover four areas There are plenty of ways to use these cards. Pick a card each day, coach your team, or just use them to play patience. What's on the cards? - An example Understand your role in difficult relationships It takes two to tango. In every difficult relationship you play a role in maintaining the relationship the way it is. Think of a relationship you would definitely like to improve and investigate how your beliefs and behaviour may be contributing to the difficulty. Changing anything will change the dynamic between you. Just notice what changes it for the better. 'How well do you know your business?' also available - the set of cards to help you know your business, test what you know and develop your team. back
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