Can HR Really Help Organisations & Businesses To Super Perform?

Can HR Really Help
Organisations & Businesses To
Super Perform?
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PRESENTS
© 2013 The Mudd Partnership | www.themuddpartnership.com | @muddpartnership | www.fb.com/muddpartnership

“Can HR Really Help Organisations & Businesses To Super Perform?” It‟s a simple
question and the context we set it in is as follows.
In the work place there are only two types of role that create any distinct value
and these are ones that are set around continuous improvement and managing
change. Roles on the other hand that are primarily around maintaining,
intervening and enforcing may preserve the status quo and protect the
corporate centre & their intrinsic value in governance, technical, legal and
ethical terms cannot be underestimated, however these roles do not create the
vision, set the agenda, nurture agility, drive the organisation forward and add a
tangible value to the bottom line through increased productivity and
performance.
In recent & lively discussions we have had with groups of HR Practitioners on this
issue there have been two distinct lines of debate emerging.
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There were those who argued that the HR function was only there to do, “Routine
things consistently (&) take the pressures and distractions away from from line
managers”. They saw HR as having a very much more subservient and
predominately administrative role, so strategy and change management were a
distinct second or third for the vast majority of HR practitioners in their experience.
There were others however who strongly valued their strategic role and the
important contribution they had to make in developing policies and modelling
behaviours which would enable individuals, teams, business units, departments
and whole Organisations to, for want of a better term, Super Perform!
Some conceded in more general terms though that the strategic case for HR –
the role it can play beyond process-led transactional activity and the value-
added contributions it can make to supporting and enabling Organisational
Transformation and change – had historically been allowed to be written out of
the Script by many in the HR profession.
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If you look at The Mudd Partnership Website, you will see that we have a
combined experience of over 40 years in People, Teams, Organisation and
Business Development, &, in the areas of Leadership, Coaching, OD & Change
Management. You will also see that Paul Mudd is a Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Personnel Development. We well remember because we played a
key role in introducing Investors In People (IIP) into the public sector in the early
1990s that it was then championed as an initiative which HR could take, make its
own and use to demonstrate its wider value to the delivery of core business aims
& directly influencing the strategic direction of the Organisation.
It was felt by some of us then Champions, that IIP could be used to help make
and galvanise HR‟s case to be ipso facto at the „Top Table‟ & right at the
strategic heart of the business, shaping priorities and driving forward the delivery
of key objectives and targets through a well trained and well informed
workforce.
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In practice however, it become just another opportunity missed and has HR‟s
collective ambition for itself ever been more than just generating paperwork,
sending out seemingly pointless memos about equality & diversity, together with
reminders to complete quarterly appraisals and reviews. Actions which in the
opinion of many of their co-workers serve merely to justify HRs existence.
Provocative stuff perhaps, but these views are very real, extremely current & it
would appear, commonly held. Each has been drawn from recent Guardian on-
line articles which started with questions about working hours and quickly turned
into a free-for-all regarding the standing of the HR profession. This sentiment is
clearly running very close to the surface across the UK workforce!
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The Mudd Partnership genuinely believes however that in spite of these
comments, there is a very real strategic ambition at work across the HR
profession, albeit to some degree being either consciously, or even
unconsciously, thwarted. An increasing number of „Super Performers‟ are taking
up key HR positions and modeling the way. Whether a critical mass has been
reached, &/or, when this will be achieved remains to be seen. Nonetheless we
are pragmatic and believe in pragmatic means to arrive at our goal, which is to
support the HR profession in realising its full potential and value, &, challenging
head-on the perception and assumption that it is a dead cost in a company and
all rather pointless.
So, here are some very practical suggestions of what we think all HR Practitioners
can do to turn the tide
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Stand back, Smell the Coffee, & Reduce Both the Paperwork & the Initiatives
How relevant, How necessary are all the forms and the initiatives you have in
place? We Say, Systematically Review – Adopt the Form follows Function
approach and take every opportunity to de-clutter by asking of every Form,
„What‟s the purpose, How well is it understood by employees and How is it going
to be used afterwards?‟ And for each initiative similarly ask, „What corporate and
strategic value does it add, What are the People & Performance benefits & What
will be the impact on the Bottom Line?‟
Be Visible, Be Active, Be Bold & Be Authentic
Let‟s start with a simple question, why did you first enter the HR profession? To
deal with People, probably? To Solve Problems, perhaps? It very probably though
wasn‟t the paperwork that attracted you, or the chance to create processes
and write policies. You wanted to provide solutions, facilitate and tackle
problems and barriers didn‟t you? So start interacting – getting out and about
and talking to People, &, more importantly start listening. Stop seeing the
workforce as a problem – Flip your mindset, they are in fact part of any solution.
Rediscover your original passion and purpose & reconnect with the Authentic
you;
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Manage Every Opportunity to Manage Influence
Be your own PR machine & own the „Good News‟! In a recent Blog we also
identified the ‟10 Things Which Effective Leaders Do To Influence‟ as part of a
series of Blogs on Leadership Styles; So, become a Leader & use your influence –
Arouse in the organization an „Eager Want‟ for what you do; Dramatise your
ideas and throw down a challenge to others to become involved; Appeal to
nobler motives, try to see things from the point of view of the line manager or
employee, rather than being constrained by policies, processes and
compliance; &
Start Saying Yes, Yes, Yes:
This one is rather important in fact because language is a very powerful tool; Be
positive & Stop focusing on the Cost and start focusing on Value – Times are
undeniably hard, but look for the value you can get from the people and the
budgets you do have Think creatively! Also just Stop saying „No‟; & don‟t forget
the importance of dealing with people face-to-face, rather then by email so you
can ensure you control the message; & finally
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Look for Every Opportunity to Act and Make Your Organisation or Business Better
Look for Every Opportunity to Act and Make Your Organisation or Business Better:
That‟s your core value, so make that your Key Role; This should be your raison
d‟être, so what characteristics and behaviours do you need to model? Become
that 'Super Performer‟, that Agent of Change, that Real Change Leader! And if
you can‟t be, are you really what the HR profession needs for now and the
future?
To find out more about the work of The Mudd Partnership & join in with this
discussion Contact us through the Website, by Email, or LinkedIn & let us also
make a compelling case for working with you!
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Website : www.themuddpartnership.com
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Can HR Really Help Organisations & Businesses To Super Perform?

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Can HR Really Help Organisations & Businesses To Super Perform?