As if we didn’t already know it, recent economic challenges have brought home the point—the business world we live in is demanding, ever-changing, and in some cases very fragile. Global competition, environmental changes, new rules and regulations, and demographic shifts have all had an impact, and to survive, organizations must think and act more forwardly and creatively.
For those of us in human resources, it is past time to get on board!
At FlashPoint, we’ve been speaking about this for years. HR practitioners can’t just see themselves as the proverbial “people persons” whose sole purpose is simply to carry out functional day-to-day duties focused on employee relations. HR has to be more progressive. It has to integrate itself into the business. It has to figure out the organization’s strategy, develop departmental goals around it, and help managers tie individual employees’ goals to the strategy as well.
This shift in thinking and acting presents challenges. Many people in the HR field don’t come from a business background. For a good number of HR professionals, a balance sheet is about as easy to understand as quantum theory. We’ve been telling those in HR that they need to speak like their CEO, but for a lot of people the CEO talks in a foreign tongue.
If the struggles described here sound like ones you face, it’s time for you to invest in solutions. This, of course, means educating yourself—becoming familiar with business concepts, the ins and outs of your particular field or industry, and changing trends. Your investment could be costly and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are a wide range of ideas on how you can go about it:
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Take business courses. Consider enrolling in a business program at a nearby college or university, or take more informal continuing-education courses. If this isn’t an option, perhaps a local economic development organization offers business training opportunities. |
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Join a trade association. As a member, you’ll often receive publications that help you keep up to date with trends in your field. These associations often offer members the opportunity to attend seminars and workshops, which will further enhance your knowledge. |
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Subscribe to periodicals focusing on your particular industry. The more informed you are about the work your organization does, the better you’ll be able to relate to your company’s leaders. |
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Become a member of an HR association and subscribe to HR-related publications. Groups such as the Society for Human Resource Management and local HR associations provide many resources to help HR professionals become more adept in the business world. Publications such as Human Resource Executive and Workforce offer informative articles. |
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Read business-related publications. Scan the lists of best-selling business books and choose titles that sound interesting to you. Or browse the shelves of your local bookstore or library. Better yet, ask your CEO what he or she is reading and get a copy for yourself. It’s also a good idea to figure out what magazines he or she is reading and follow suit. |
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Find a business mentor. Ask someone you respect and trust to serve as a business mentor; meet with him or her on a regular basis to discuss business topics, exchange ideas, and share resources. This could be someone internal (perhaps someone from your finance department) or external (maybe a friend who leads a local company). |
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Stay on top of the news. This means more than reading just your local paper—it means reading national and international publications as well. The internet allows access to so much more information than we had a generation ago, and you should use it to stay on top of important news events, demographic trends, and economic conditions. |
As you learn, share your knowledge with others around you. Introduce your team members to the ideas you’re gathering and encourage them to follow your lead. Implement the knowledge you gain so that your HR programs better support your organization’s business needs. Once your executives become aware of your improvements and know that you’re speaking more on their terms, they’ll likely start listening more—and HR will have a better chance of making a strategic impact, just as it should be.
For further information about how FlashPoint can help you develop your business skills and think more strategically, contact us.
Focus Tactic: Interview Those in the Know
FlashPoint offers renewal sessions for its strategic peer group alumni, and at a recent meeting, participants discussed how they could better understand their organization’s goals, objectives, and strategy and how they could build HR programs to support them. One suggestion we offered was for participants to interview organizational leaders, such as the president/CEO, CFO, COO, and so on. We provided them with some questions to ask:
- What are our organization’s key strategies, goals, and objectives?
- How will you measure whether we meet them? How will you know if we’re successful?
- What role does HR play in helping the organization achieve these strategies, goals, and objectives?
- What knowledge, skills, and abilities do our team members need in order to execute our strategy?
- What are the most critical workforce issues we face today? What will they be five years from now?
If you’re an HR leader, we encourage you also to ask your executives questions such as these. Not only will it help you better understand your business, it will demonstrate to these key players that you’re serious about making HR an important component of the organizational strategy. |
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