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If you work in HR, you know the frustration. You work hard to take care of crucial functions at the business – and yet you’re excluded from the executive board.
We can all agree that HR performs a critical role. But unfortunately, many executives don’t see HR as a true strategic partner.
It’s not the fault of HR professionals – it’s the way we’ve viewed and treated the role for years and years.
Going Beyond Compliance, Regulation and Filling Seats
No one in the right mind would argue that these responsibilities are unimportant. You can’t run a business if you can’t efficiently pay your teams or recruit new people.
But these functions are rarely viewed as a core part of our business strategy or tied to our overarching goals – even within a lot of HR departments.
They’re viewed as a necessary evil. The old-school mindset is that HR makes sure everyone is following the rules and making hires, but they’re not the ones driving revenue, delivering exceptional service to our customers, or designing new products…and as a result are less of a strategic partner.
We can’t let the traditional HR roles fall by the wayside. But the most effective HR departments are taking on a greater, more strategic role.
They’re designing comprehensive people strategies that directly support our overarching business goals. They’re thinking outside the box to ensure that the people we hire and the people our teams are contributing to our goals in the most effective manner.
Using a Data-Driven Strategy to Make the Most of Our People
In Jim Collins’ classic business book Good to Great, he notes that people are NOT our most important asset. Instead, he writes that the RIGHT people are our most important asset, and this is something we strongly agree with!
If we have the right people in the right roles and we are inspiring them to perform, then the sky is the limit for what we can achieve. HR can (and NEEDS to) play a crucial role in making that happen.
We can’t afford disengagement, turnover, or poor performance – and that rests on our ability to hire the right people for our open positions and lead teams effectively. We believe HR can play an invaluable role in making sure we’re making all the right hires and giving leaders the tools they need to lead teams to success.
Unfortunately, the way businesses recruit people is all screwed up. They pick candidates based on credentials that are mostly irrelevant, like years of experience or degrees. They use unstructured interviews that offer flimsy predictors of success at best.
They hire people who turn out to be afraid of any risk when our primary goal is innovating…the list goes on.
As we turn toward data to guide business decisions in other functions, why aren’t we using data or hiring or leading teams? It’s time we moved past guesswork in hiring and used validated tools to inform our decisions.
Here at Qualigence, we use validated people analytics from the Predictive Index to better understand our candidates and employees. This allows us to effectively predict how someone will perform in a given role – and build teams that will excel for the long haul.
Moving Past the Hire
Recruiting should never stop with a hire!
It’s not enough to simply bring on the right people. We must make sure we are effectively engaging and retaining them, and most importantly driving true performance.
Much like with hiring, there’s no reason for us to rely on guesswork to figure out how to best lead an individual or inspire them to perform.
The analytics platform from the Predictive Index provides us with customized reports on how to resolve team disputes and create environments for teams to thrive. It breaks down situations where someone will struggle, and what we can do to foster better performance.
Driving engagement and boosting turnover will always be a challenge. But it’s almost IMPOSSIBLE if we don’t understand our teams.
People analytics give us a scientifically validated shortcut to understanding our people – and it’s a tool that HR can’t ignore any longer.
Designing People Strategies That Support Our Business Goals
One of the most common complaints business leaders have with HR is that they don’t see the vision for the business strategy, or don’t work to directly support it. The most forward-thinking HR departments have stepped up to the plate to do just that.
C-suite executives will spend enormous amounts of time deliberating and crafting the best possible business strategy. But they rarely (if ever) translate that strategy into a cohesive people strategy.
If a business is looking to bolster innovation, how often do we rigorously examine our teams and potential candidates to make sure we have risk-takers in key positions?
On the other hand, if we are looking to boost operational efficiency and streamline processes, we need to make sure we have people who can see the big picture but don’t lose sight of the details.
To add the greatest value, HR teams need to use data analytics to first understand our people and then design a people strategy for success.
A comprehensive people strategy will use data to inform who we need to hire, who may need extra help to meet new business goals, and how we can best use our talent to drive business results.
“The Fastest Way to Success is Helping Others Succeed”
There’s a saying that the fastest way to success is helping others succeed. Nowhere is this truer than HR.
If HR teams seek greater recognition, compensation, and a seat at the table, it all comes down to designing people-focused solutions for helping the organization thrive.
If you’re consistently building effective teams and giving leaders data-driven guidance for unlocking the best from their people, then success will undoubtedly come in time.
If you work in HR and are wondering how YOU can make a greater impact and earn greater success, schedule a no-obligation call with us today.
