CEOs Leading HR
In turbulent times such as these, it's wise to focus on that which you can control - your organization's capabilities. If you work in one of the increasing number of organizations for which people are your only real asset (as well as your biggest cost), that means focusing on your "human capabilities."
But who exactly is responsible for the most important asset and largest cost of your organization? The HR director? That can't be right.
We believe it's the CEO who must lead (but not manage) HR, and that doing so is especially critical in turbulent times.
However, few CEOs have a background in HR, so taking responsibility for leading HR may not come naturally. Our experience has taught us that a good way to get started is to ask the right questions, as described in the next section. |
Asking the Right Questions
The questions that follow are designed to help CEOs keep their organization (and HR function) squarely focused on driving performance:
1. Are we able to articulate what our people strategy is? If so, how is it aligned to the business strategy?
2. How confident are we that our HR processes insure we have the right people, at the right time, doing the right work? In other words, assuming we have recruited and developed the talent we need, are there good processes for deploying our talent?
3. Within our reward system, do the programs reward exceptional performance and differentiate opportunities for improvement?
4. How do we track whether our process improvement programs are having their intended impact on customer and employee satisfaction?
5. On the people side of the business, are we measuring the right stuff - and is it evident in business results?
6. How do we know that our HR strategies and practices are producing their intended benefit?
7. How do we make our decisions on where to invest on the people side of the business? Is it a rigorous process?
8. How do we decide what is the appropriate investment in people management to meet our strategic objectives?
9. To what extent does our leadership own responsibility for the management and development of their people?
10. How can I help? |
| Getting the Questions Answered
What do CEOs need before they can get good answers to these questions?
1. A well-thought-out framework for managing and developing people
2. "Surround sound" measurement that links people to performance
3. A systemic approach for embedding a link between people and results in key aspects of your business' operations
We'll be taking up each of these topics in future newsletters.
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