Heart of the Matter

HRM. Your main area of expertise is helping organizations that are coping in the midst of change, that is something we are seeing a lot at the moment. How do you think the market has changed and how is it moving forward ?

GL. The real opportunity is to shift more into a strategic role. In the past, HR has been viewed as an administrative kind of arm to an organization, and I think there’s huge potential to shift the role to a more strategic positioning, even at senior executive levels as well. HR really needs to gain a seat at the table to help organizations move forward and to play a much more proactive role. There are opportunities for companies to leverage HR talent and expertise differently. Many HR professionals want to be operating at a strategic level, but they lack the skills or confidence to do so.

While HR is known for being a go-to resource, for responding to a myriad of ‘people problems,’ there is the potential for HR to help organizations prevent problems that affect business results and make a more direct impact on the business. HR needs to offer less programmatic approaches to personalized solutions. Traditional classroom training does not always produce the desired results, and HR professionals are fostering more personalized approaches to help employees succeed.

HRM. With regard to having the ability to make a more direct impact on the business, what sort of things can HR professionals be doing in order to see that through?

GL. In the past, people in HR have been under pressure to solve problems. For example, if you have someone who’s been performing at a poor level the objective in the past was to try to fix that person or work on the skills to make him better; whereas now, HR has tremendous opportunity to say ‘Let’s look at the strengths of this person and create a role for him,’ and that can make a more direct impact on the business by aligning a person’s strengths and capabilities with the needs of the organization, as opposed to trying to ‘fix’ a person. If you make a position to fit the candidate, rather than the other way around, that in it self makes a direct impact on the business. You spend your time more wisely doing those sorts of things, and that in turn provides better long-term results as well.

I think that there are companies that are doing variations of this kind of approach. Some are still trying to figure out how to do it but many are using assessments and other tools to help identify a person’s strengths more easily on the front end, so a trend that we’re seeing more frequently is that organizations are trying to learn more quickly about a person right from the beginning.

HRM. In order to succeed, companies need to be both innovative and practical. How are these factors affected by the ongoing war for talent and retention? What can companies do to leverage innovation in a way that they maintain a competitive advantage?

GL. Companies are certainly feeling more pressure to compete for talent and only those who embrace and foster innovative approaches will truly be successful. First, companies must make a commitment to ongoing innovation. They must constantly look for new and effective ways to reach potential talent. Smart organizations are experimenting with recruitment and selection strategies that are out of the norm, compared to traditional practices.

While some HR professionals aren’t sure what they need to be doing exactly, they do understand that innovation needs to be incorporated as an integral part of their culture. For example, some companies are having discussions around innovation specifically; they don’t want to have an annual event or one time opportunity. Instead they’re saying, ‘How can we make innovation an ongoing part of what we’re doing?’ HR needs to constantly be asking questions and constantly be challenging its people to think more innovatively. It’s really becoming part of the culture, as opposed to a one-time activity where they just sit down and think, ‘Well what can we do better this year?’

While some companies are feeling more pressure than others when it comes to the war for talent, I do think that it’s a reality and companies always want to get the best talent that they can to serve their needs. They’ll continue to have the opportunity to seek out the candidates in a variety of ways to help them achieve their goals but as far as recruiting is concerned, companies are going to continue to go beyond the traditional practices of just placing an ad in a newspaper. Companies are now trying to use some of their own people, their own employees, to become more directly involved in the process and to leverage their networks. Obviously technology plays a huge role in that too with the social networking that is available. I know of one organization that is looking to create an avatar on Second Life to attract other people in that kind of realm, which is pretty cutting edge. Companies simply have to use a broad range of different approaches, not just one silver bullet. The bottom line is, companies that are staying ahead of the curve will have more success reaching their recruitment and retention goals.

In addition, companies need to let go of old practices that are no longer effective. You must be flexible and open to change. Companies must also build relationships with potential talent pools earlier and many are beginning to form stronger relationships with colleges and universities. Further, companies must look to acknowledging and rewarding their people for innovative thinking, as it relates to attracting and keeping talent. Often employees have the best ideas themselves.

HRM. Within the technology side of business, people talk a lot to their CIOs and how in recent years technology is becoming more strategic, having more power on the board, and having a direct impact on how a company is run. Can we expect to see that happening with the HR setup as well?

GL. I think this is likely in some organizations more than others. I think it’s happening but more slowly in some cases than others. A lot depends on the support that HR professionals get from senior leadership and when they don’t feel like they have that support they need to make changes to become more visible or to suggest changes or initiatives that can impact the business as a whole.

HRM. Talking of leadership, how important is leadership development for HR professionals? Do you think it is important for HR departments to play leadership roles and how can they ensure they are doing this?

GL. Leadership development is critically important for HR professionals. Because of the potential for HR to be serving a powerful strategic role, HR professionals need to be prepared to engage with and influence executives at the highest levels within their organizations. Ideally HR wants to be involved in decisions that are made at senior levels. Building business acumen and confidence as a leader is paramount. HR professionals need to look for opportunities such as leading a committee, launching an initiative and speaking in front of groups whenever possible. In addition, HR professionals may want to find a mentor or coach. There are some professionals who may not have the skills, the confidence or the experience, but they need to be constantly finding ways to position themselves in a leadership role. That is absolutely critical.

HRM. Finally, can you tell us a little more about your belief that when individuals are fully engaged in their work, they expand possibilities for themselves and the organization? What can companies do to ensure they fill the right posts with the right candidates and how important is this? 

GL. When people are fully engaged in their work, they typically enjoy what they do and look forward to growing and contributing more. They perform better in their work and their positive energy is contagious. It can help influence their teams or departments, which can produce better business results. In contrast, disengaged employees run the risk of disrupting the business and negatively affecting morale. The problem is even worse if these employees are also disgruntled or performing poorly.

Employers recognize the tremendous cost and loss of productivity that results when a person hired is not the right fit. They realize it’s more important to achieve the best fit for a job on the front end, so they are going to extra lengths to make sure the people being hired are the best for a position and are providing extra support to help the new employees get acclimated in their new roles.

Companies can help assure the right fit by clarifying key accountabilities for the job up front. Managers should always be clear about the outcomes or results the person in the job is expected to achieve. Agreeing on the most important skills necessary ensures this is done effectively, as does conducting more work to be clear about what kinds of specific skills, behaviors and motivational factors are most critical for success in a position. Frequently, hiring managers have differing opinions about what they think is most important; one person may believe it’s most important for a candidate to be highly detail oriented, while another believes it’s more important for the candidate to easily build new relationships. Hiring managers need to ask, ‘What’s really most important to the job?’ and reach agreement before candidates are considered.

There are a variety of assessments designed specifically for selection purposes and companies can create job benchmarks and measure candidate profiles against the benchmark for a given position. Assessments also help take the bias out of the selection process and pinpoint any potential problem areas in advance. Instead of guessing or hoping a person will perform well in the job, the assessment can help predict the kind of performance you’ll see.

Feeling the squeeze?

Gayle Lantz sheds some positive light on how HR can help beat market uncertainty

During these difficult times, where people are generally more focused on short-term gains, there is of course the potential that things like innovation and training in HR may suffer. However, these difficult times actually present the opposite potential for HR professionals. In a situation where there are so many challenges, it’s an opportunity for human resources to shine, to say, ‘Look, we can be more resourceful. We do have talent that’s been untapped. We can apply skills and capabilities in different ways than we’ve considered before. Let’s figure out how to do that.’

In today’s climate there is an opportunity for HR executives, or HR professionals, to really step up to the plate and to volunteer solutions that haven’t been considered in the past and realizing this could prove essential to business success.

Take a look: key points for HR leaders

1. Clarify accountabilities on the front end. It’s amazing when companies try so hard to find the right person yet there’s not agreement within the organization on what they even want. Reaching agreement on the front end is very important to do, and then to agree on the most important skills that are necessary for that person to perform well in the job.
2. Be specific on the kinds of skills that are needed. Consider using some type of assessments so that you can know again at the beginning of the relationship what strengths and capabilities a person has to better align their talents with the needs of the organization.

Gayle Lantz is President of WorkMatters, Inc. (www.workmatters.com) a corporate consulting firm that helps companies improve performance. Through consulting, coaching and speaking services she helps people make the most of their work. Lantz is also the author of Take the Bull by the Horns: The Busy Leader’s Guide to Growing Your Business … and Yourself.