Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/73199
Change Management New and Improved HR More effort might not equal better results. By Guy Ellis One of the most frequent comments about HR you will hear from business leaders is that we work hard—not really glowing praise. This raises another question: Is HR working hard on the right stuff, or is it more concerned with being busy as a way of proving its business value? This implies not only a sense of insecurity but also hints at a failure by HR to truly understand what its business value could be. The golden rule when it comes to effective change is to be clear why you need to change. Would it surprise you to know that more than 90 per cent of HR functions (based on recent global research) are, in fact, doing some type of change? This is a scary statistic not only because it could imply that HR change is more of a fad rather than a real business need, but just as worryingly it appears more than 50 per cent of these change initiatives struggle to meet the key expectations of focussing on HR strategic issues and managing or reducing costs. Another surprising statistic is that HR change tends to take a year or more longer than expected (three-to-four years on average for any significant HR change programme) due to planning failure. This basically means HR tends not to be great at a few tasks: ensuring senior leaders/line managers' buy-in; change management planning; and recognising the complexity of the changes being sought, which tends to result in a lack of resource availability (e.g. time, money, expertise etc.) It is not enough for HR functions to simply restructure and re-title. Research shows that organisations that focus on the "easy" bits of change do so at their peril. Some failures are typical: • How and not the why. So HR transformation is poorly defined but well executed. • What and not the who. Does HR know what it is selling and to whom? • Words not actions. An inability to turn talk into tangible deliverables. • Processes not the people. Failure to appreciate that transformational change takes time. The result is that HR regularly over promises and under delivers. Why is this? Well, the sad truth is that the skills of existing HR staff are lacking. If this is the case, then why is it that much more effort and money is put into structural, process, and outsourcing changes whilst the investment in developing HR professionals is either static or reducing? From our own research and client work we have identified the key factors which will determine how HR can guarantee the success of its change programme: • Clarity on what HR delivers. • Understanding the business needs—strategically, operationally, and tactically. • Working with the business to determine the people priorities (co-creating a people strategy). • Implementing a HR value chain that matches these business needs and people priorities with HR deliverables that are not only future focussed but can be also readily adaptable and customisable. • Commitment to how HR delivers. The business value of HR partnership will be determined mainly by the 'quality' of the HR people—recruit the right people, invest in developing the whole HR team, and dare people to be different. • Creating a HR community that is professionally proud. • Living out a "partnership culture" within HR and across the business. • Adopting a consistent HR partnership way of working with the business and within the HR community. Our starting point when working with clients on transforming their HR function is to be clear what value HR could or should be delivering to the business. This then guides us to identify how effectively all the parts of HR are performing. We have identified five Transformation Zones of Activity: strategy; structural; deliverables; professional; and relationships. How successful HR is able to deliver the value required to an organisation will be determined by how well aligned these zones are with each other: Structural • Focussing on how HR is structured and how it operates. • Exploring how HR aligns itself to the business. HR Deliverables • Identifing what HR delivers to the business. • Highlighting how strategically business aligned the HR deliverables are. Relationships • Exploring the power dynamics between HR and the business and the degree of HR's influence. • Highlighting how the internal HR relationships work. Professional • Emphasising the key HR skill sets required for each phase. • Identifying the core behaviours demonstrated by HR professionals. No short cut to success exists. If HR is to change for the better it needs to be patient, plan better, ensure it has the right skill sets to deliver on its change promises, and then work in partnership with the business leaders to make these changes a workplace reality. Guy Ellis is founder and director of CourageousHR. SPRING 2012 | www.hroglobal.com [43]