HR in action

Northrop Grumman’s Ian V Ziskin shares his philosophy on leadership.

HR people have been talking about becoming strategic partners and earning a seat at the table for my entire 24-year career. I think this is the wrong discussion. To me, it makes more sense to discuss how to make the biggest difference to the business. If we do that well, we are invited to more tables than we can handle.

We all have our own particular formula for what works for us. Here’s what works for me.

1. Articulate a personal leadership philosophy. Tell people who you are and what you stand for. Authenticity and transparency help bring credibility and trust.

I call my philosophy ‘The Four Cs’:

•Credibility
Focus on business priorities first
Do what you say you will do
Be a role model
Keep confidences

•Collaboration
Work across boundaries
Define success from the customer’s perspective
Identify solutions, not just problems
Know when to stop debating and start implementing

•Courage
Push back on things that don’t make sense
Push forward on things that require active leadership
Give credit to others, but take personal responsibility
Confront with class and respect

•Competence
Invest in your own development
Bring out the best in other people
Say what you mean and mean what you say
Have high tolerance for ambiguity and low tolerance for mediocrity

2. Ask the right questions. Spend time with people at every level, get input and advice, listen and listen some more, and play back what you think you are hearing to ensure understanding. Several core questions that have worked well for me in any business include:

How do we ensure the highest quality of leadership at all levels necessary to run the business?
How do we build the organization’s capacity for change to create an integrated organization that is agile and responsive to market conditions?
How do we ensure operational excellence such that the organization has a continuous process-improvement mindset, coupled with a competitive cost structure?
How do we invest appropriately in the development of human resources professionals whose commitment and competencies are required to help the organization execute?

Spend time as if it were money. People pay attention to the things leaders pay attention to.
Allocate time to the constituents and issues that matter most to the organization’s success. In my experience, this mixture includes the CEO, board, senior leadership team, peers, HR community, best and brightest high-potential talent, and peers outside the organization.
Be flexible and fast enough to realign priorities based on changing short-term needs. That said, do not compromise on the value of balancing attention to long-term priorities.

3. Seek, speak, serve. Sometimes, our job includes teaching HR customers what they should expect from us. Often, their expectations are frighteningly low. Therefore, meeting customer expectations often may not yield excellent results, but, rather, mediocrity. The best HR organizations and professionals:
Seek the truth – they create an environment of authenticity, transparency, inclusion and trust.
Speak up – they talk the language of business, say what needs to be said, and listen so others may speak up, too.
Serve others first – they enable their organizations and people to achieve spectacular success.

Achieving a ‘seat at the table’ is a matter of acting as if you belong there. As HR professionals, our role is to maximize business results with effective people and organizations.

But, we must do more than talk about it. We must make it happen.

PERHAPS TAKING ONE VERTICAL COLUMN AT EITHER SIDE OF DPS

On 1 January, Ian Ziskin was elected Corporate Vice President and Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer for Northrop Grumman Corporation, the nation’s third-largest defense contractor and a leader in the application of high technology to military transformation. This is a position that impacts the work lives of more than 125,000 employees of every skill level and in numerous work environments, from labs to shipyards and from corporate offices to airstrips. He is responsible for human resources (HR) strategy, compensation, benefits, HR information systems, ethics, diversity and equal employment opportunity, employee and labor relations, learning and development, talent management/succession planning, talent acquisition, organization effectiveness and change management, process excellence, acquisition integration, security, environmental, health and safety, real estate and facilities, travel services, command media, flight operations, community relations and the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Ziskin is a member of the corporate policy council, the senior leadership team responsible for company governance.

Ziskin has 24 years of human resources and leadership experience, including more than 18 years with TRW, one of Northrop Grumman’s heritage companies. Most recently, he has served as corporate vice president, human resources and leadership strategy for the company, executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Qwest Communications and president and founder of Executive Excellence Group, a firm that builds executive and organizational credibility.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides a broad array of technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding, and space technology. The company has more than 125,000 employees and operates in all 50 states and 25 countries and serves US and international military, government and commercial customers.