"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is
the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead
Becoming a strategic
partner to a company is an exciting challenge and
opportunity for any human resource executive. The
suggestions set forth below come from CEO’s, employment
law attorneys, consultants, and strategic human resource
professionals. May they prove to be of great value in
setting your career on fire!
Note: All materials
underlined are available to HR That Works users.
Are You Up For The Challenge?
1. Are you crystal clear about what you want
from your career? Do you really
want to become a strategic partner? If so, why? How
good do you want to be? Top 25%, 10%, 1%? How would you
rate your level of commitment? What is the ultimate
benefit you are after? More money? More power? More
responsibility? Career growth? Greater acknowledgement?
It is important to understand the big “Why”, so you can
refer back to it during the inevitable challenging
times.
2. Define what you like most about HR. Will you
be able to do more or less of it in a strategic role?
For example, will you have to abandon any of your
“duties” in the role of “Employee Champion” to become a
strategic partner?
3. Focus on your highest and best use.
What can you do better than anyone else? What are you
gifted at? Eliminate wasteful activities, outsource
administrative ones, and focus like a laser beam on what
you do best. Write down the five things you can
do best and then circle the two things you love
doing best. Chances are this is your highest and
best use!
4. Fast Company magazine claims today's mantra
for success is “change, learning and leadership.”
To what extent are you conversant and able to add value
to your company in these three critical areas?
5. How does your academic and professional
background affect your human resource focus? Do you have
a degree in HR management? Do you have a financial
background, or one in sales? Do you need to broaden your
academic background?
6. It is the expectation in corporate America
that strategic partners have an MBA. Enroll in part time
MBA classes and watch the perception of your value to
the organization grow dramatically.
7. Don’t over commit. It is a trap and a quick
way to lose credibility. Delivery is key to
strategic success. Focus on three
critical deliverables at a time. Do not dwell on
trivial concerns.
8. Maintain your mental and physical balance. If
you are over-worked and lack proper sleep,
exercise or diet, you will make you a poor
candidate for the executive boardroom.
9. Expect to grow. Like crazy. Sometimes in ways
least expected. Your professional growth is limited only
by your imagination. Dialogue with the President
or CEO about your career expectations. Get their support
for your career growth in advance. Use “up front”
contracts. Then get your understandings in writing.
10. Be prepared to address other people’s
judgment about the human resource function. For
example, some people may feel that “human resources is
an administrative function” or “you don’t know about
business.” Know what emotional filters to expect and how
you will respond to them – in advance.
11. Be prepared to accept the pressures,
risks and rewards
that come with being a strategic partner. Becoming a
strategic partner involves many trade offs. With added
responsibility will come added stress, as well as a
bigger paycheck. It may also mean less personal/family
time, recreation time, lunch hours, extended coffee
breaks, etc.
12. The mantra for today’s leader is “the less
you control, the more you can do.” How much $10/hr
and $15/hr work are you doing? If you want to
take on new responsibilities you must learn to delegate.
Make sure you delegate to people with the skills and
character necessary to be trustworthy so you can free up
your time to focus on critical functions.
13. Be prepared to make mistakes…and take
responsibility for them. The more risks you take and the
faster you learn what doesn’t work, the faster you will
advance in your career. You reduce any propensity to
make mistakes through education.
14. Think “out of the box.” The “processional”
or “lateral” effect of events and decision-making must
be explored. In other words, be creative, experiment,
test and find out. Read A Whack on the Side of
the Head
by Roger Von Oech.
15. Develop a strategic plan. Identify
your long-term vision, the mission that will take you
there and the short-term goals that you must meet to
stay on course. Put it in writing and update
it every 90 days.
16.
Read at least one business book every month.
A great short book to read is A New Vision For Human
Resources by Jac Fitz-enz & Jack J. Phillips. Dave
Ullrich’s books, including HR Champions, are also
excellent. Also, listen to books on tape. At
least one per month. Many excellent books and tapes are
available for free at your public library.
Dealing With Other Strategic Executives
17. Get their attention! You have to be
your own best public relations consultant. One way to
get someone to notice you is to send him or her an
article they may find of interest. Send it with a simple
“FYI” and let them be impressed with your business
acumen.
18.
Always be prepared when speaking with
other strategic partners. You only have to be unprepared
once to lose your credibility.
19. Take other executives to lunch at a
restaurant you know they’ll enjoy. Then, when you get to
speak with them, focus on them. Don’t tell them
everything that you can do, dig to find out their
needs and pains.
20. Understand something from the world of sales.
Don’t focus on telling people what you can do. Focus on
getting them to ask, “Can you help with ______?” Better
it is their idea than yours.
21. Once you have their interest,
get to the
point. Executives do not like longwinded explanations –
period. When presenting information, stick to one page “hot
sheets.” Too much information results in overload
and shut-down. Keep it simple and let them know you have
additional information readily available.
22. Do not allow yourself to be bullied,
manipulated or sabotaged
by other executives. Speak in “I” terms and make
sure the other person does too. If they cross over into
your emotional space or take credit for your efforts,
let them know you feel such conduct is unacceptable and
define possible consequences. Read the book Victims,
Villains and Heroes: Managing Emotions in the Workspace
(www.victimsvillainsandheroes.com).
23. Do not fear losing your job. If you find
yourself fighting against a management philosophy that
simply “doesn’t get it” then it is time for you to move
on. Don’t fight it. Take your résumé for a spin. There’s
always another job. You deserve the opportunity
to be a strategic partner.
24. Learn about the business you are in.
Read industry related magazines and journals. Attend
industry conferences. Learn the facts and trends. Speak
the language. Be an expert.
25. Find out the vision of those at the top.
Don’t assume their objectives or values. Ask them! Dig
deeper when the opportunity arises. Then help leadership
communicate it to the rest of the workforce.
26. Get involved in the strategic planning
process. Create a strategic plan for your department.
Don’t wait for someone else to ask you to do it. You
don't need permission. Just do
it.
27. Ask for feedback on your job
performance from other executives, as well as your
subordinates and peers. Be open to their insights and
suggestions. You want to create an environment of
“radical honesty” when it comes to in assessing your
progress. See the HR Department Survey.
28. Be prepared to dress the part of a
successful executive. You lead with all your actions and
can’t afford to look more casual than your peers.
Remember, you are never not communicating.
Money, Money, Money
29. You
must have a complete understanding of finances. If you
are not well versed in accounting, or cannot analyze a
financial statement, consider taking an accounting class
at your local community college. Read The Great Game of
Business by Jack Stack and The Accounting Game
by Darrell Mullis and Judith Orloff.
30. Learn how to measure and benchmark. If you
are not sure how to do this, read Jac Fitz-Enz’s book,
The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value
of Employee Performance. As the author states,
today’s strategic HR executive has to show how he or she
contributes to the organization’s service, quality and
productivity (SQP).
31.
Keep a scorecard to help document your
success. Benchmark the costs of turnover, training,
recruitment, benefits, compensation and other aspects of
the employee relationship. Focus on leading factors more
than past results. Strategic partners know how to speak
in “bottom-line” terms. See the
HR That Works Cost Calculator and
HR Scorecard.
32. Reduce the incidence of unwanted turnover
in your organization. We estimate the cost of turnover
for a $50,000 a year employee to be in excess of
$54,000! How many unnecessary turnovers can you help
prevent? See our
Sample Turnover Cost Calculator.
33. Show how outsourcing administrative
functions will allow you to focus on your highest
and best use while saving the company time and money in
the process. Potential vendors should be more than
pleased to help you with this calculation.
Hire Only The Best
34. Your most important job will always be to
help the company hire great people. This means
pre-hire job needs analysis, meaningful interviews,
extensive background checks, credit, criminal and
driving investigations where appropriate, skills
assessment, character assessment and drug testing.
Develop a sound hiring process and follow it every time.
We recommend
www.brainbench.com and
www.zeroriskhr.com to help judge applicant
skills and character. We recommend
www.infolinkscreening.com to perform your
credit, criminal and other background checks.
35. Take full advantage of online recruiting.
Online recruiting can cut costs and expand your hiring
sources. If you don’t already have an online recruiting
program on your web site, take a look at
www.careerscout.com.
36.
Involve co-employees in the hiring
process. It is the first step in building team
chemistry. Encourage and reward qualified candidate
referrals. Have future co-employees involved in the
interviewing process. We recommend
www.randstad.com.
37. Form a strong relationship with a few
temporary employment firms. Make sure they know your
personnel needs. Make sure you know how they hire,
train, compensate and manage their employees. If you
face a downsizing, they can help by finding work for
displaced employees.
38. Develop a fun and powerful employee
orientation process. Cap it off by having the
employee complete the
60-Day New Employee Survey where they give
insight into the hiring and orientation process, as well
as how they are adjusting to their new role with the
company. Tap into their fresh insights while you can.
See the Orientation Checklist.
Increasing Productivity
39. Learn about how technology can help the human
resource function. Become a master of human resource
information systems (HRIS). Our favorite for small and
mid-sized is of course our program,
www.hrmsthatworks.com.
40. Get to know the management philosophies of
Dr. W. Edwards Deming. He is credited with developing
the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). Read a
Deming book and learn his 14 Principles. Take a
visit to
www.deming.org.
41. Study the competition. What human
resource initiatives are other companies doing that are
producing favorable results? How can you model or
test these initiatives at your company?
Remember, just because they did it first doesn’t mean
you can’t do it too! Don’t get caught with a "not
invented here" mentality.
42. Get familiar with character assessment and
development tools by taking a half dozen or more of
them yourself. Most companies (ZeroRisk HR,
ClearDirection, Predictive Index, Kolbe, McQuaid, DISC,
etc.) will allow you to take at least one free
examination if they view you as a potential client.
You can be in charge of increasing your company’s
collective E.Q. We recommend
www.zeroriskhr.com for the hiring process. Tell them
we sent you and get an assessment for free!
43. Survey the workforce. Constantly. Use
open-ended questions and don’t make responses optional
or anonymous. Post the results. Encourage employees to
speak up without fear. Consider using the HR That Works
Employee Survey. Test its effectiveness on a few of
your employees to assure yourself of its many benefits.
45.
Develop an employee suggestion program that
works. Start with the I-Power program available for only
$99 at www.I-Power.com.
It’s based on a Peter Drucker suggestion. Tell ‘em we
sent you.
46.
Make sure your job descriptions are
up-to-date and accurately reflect the “value added
aspects of the job.” Involve employees in identifying
essential job performance functions. For free assistance
go to http://online.onetcenter.org.
47. Eliminate traditional performance appraisal
thinking. It seldom improves performance. It is your job
to help eliminate “more than/less than” thinking
in the workplace and focus on what is going right and
what can get even better. Save poor performance
discipline for warning notices and counseling. Take a
look at the Performance Improvement Dialogue
Worksheet.
48. Help employees go through the career
mapping process. Help them discover where they want
to go and define the skills and character traits they
will need to get there. If you can’t expand job
opportunities for valuable employees you will lose them.
See the HR That Works Career Ladders.
49. Train the workforce constantly.
Education is the greatest form of leverage. Very simply,
companies that train more earn more. Consider use of the
HR That Works Training Modules. You
can further develop your training abilities by becoming
a member of ASTD (www.astd.org).
Legal Compliance
50. Educate business partners on ever-changing
personnel law obligations. Make sure your handbook and
personnel policies are up to date. Help prevent
claims by training managers and the rank and file.
Either do it yourself, or work with your local
employment law firm.
51.
Audit your Compliance employment law
obligations. See the Compliance and Productivity
Audit. Consider having an attorney help you in
the process.
52.
Audit your managers by quizzing them on their
knowledge of compliance obligations. See the HR That
Works 10 and 50 Question Quizzes.
53. Work with an experienced employment law
attorney to improve your personnel practices. Use
them in advance to help make critical personnel
decisions. What a company should be after is
wise decision making – not cheap decision making. See
our partners
http://www.worklawnetwork.com/.
54. Make sure your company purchases a
comprehensive Employment Practices Liability Insurance
(EPLI) policy. Work with a knowledgeable broker to help
advise them on different coverage options and claims
management history. See the EPLI Coverage Worksheet
and teleclass on EPLI.
55. Distribute the HR That Works Compliance
Survey at least every six months. Make sure
employees know their rights and obligations and that no
violations exist.
56. If you don’t already have access to the
entire HR That Works program (Hrthatworks)
what are you waiting for? These materials were designed
to prevent claims and protect the bottom line –
guaranteed!
Belonging and Mentoring
57. Meet with other human resource executives who
strive to be strategic partners. Join a mastermind
group such as the CRO Forum (www.croforum.com)
or simply take each other to lunch. You will need the
support of professionals outside your company if you are
to become a strategic partner. Support each other’s
challenges and help each other commit to getting things
done.
58. Step up the depth of your relationships with
professionals from the insurance, legal and accounting
professions. Buy ‘em a lunch and ask a whole bunch of
questions. Then immediately do something with
what you have learned.
59. If you haven’t already done so, obtain the
SPHR Certification from the Society for Human Resource
Management (www.shrm.org)
or IPMA Certification from the International Personnel
Management Association (www.ipma.org).
You can also get specialized certification related to
compensation and benefits from the World At Work (www.worldatwork.org
).
60. Be prepared to give back. Be a
mentor. Take an inexperienced HR professional under
your wing. Help them discover their highest and best
use.
61. Volunteer to a non-profit organization that
can use an hour or two of HR advice during the week.
Teach a class at your local community college.
62. Get out and speak to non-HR
executives about the benefits of HR as a strategic
partner. Help them discover the power of building
powerful employment relationships.
Get
Paid What You Are Worth!
63. Truly strategic HR partners are in high
demand. Find out what similarly situated professionals
are getting paid. Go to local salary surveys, check with
your peers, and look at online resources such as
www.salary.com. Check in with HR recruiters such as
http://www.donnadavisassociates.com/.
64.
Negotiate for bonuses based on your ability
to directly impact the bottom line. For example, if you
are able to reduce unwanted turnover by 50%, what bonus
should you be entitled to? How can you tie your
compensation to your success as a strategic partner?
65. Shop around your resume. This does not
mean you are not committed to your Partner. It means you
are investigating your true potential and giving
yourself career options. This will allow you to
negotiate from in a position of strength.
Publicize and Celebrate Your Success
66. Don’t just let your success stories sit there
– publicize them! Use intra-company newsletters.
Send out an intra-company news release. Pin a note on
the bulletin board. Send an article to an industry or HR
publication. Get in the local business journal. Strategic partners know the value of
tooting their own horn. So should you.
And,
as a final bonus strategy...
67.
Celebrate every chance you get. Have
fun! Reward yourself and others when things go well –
and for no reason at all!
Conclusion
Many consider becoming a strategic partner as the
greatest challenge for today’s human resource executive.
It is a challenge that beings within. You will have to
shift your focus from administrative to “value-added.”
You will have to become a master of finances,
benchmarking, planning and empowerment. Once you know
who you are and what you want to do, you have prepared
for success. Becoming a strategic partner will be a rewarding
experience. Go for it!
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