HR managers still have a bad rap in many companies. They are viewed as overhead, a necessary expense to keep employees informed and give them a contact for personal issues that don’t affect company revenue.
While this may be true at many businesses, top rated companies recognize the strategic importance of HR and rely on the group to help propel the company. Forbes wrote an article on the top 10 Chief HR Officers, recognizing the impact that can and should be made by HR. Here’s a great quote from the article:
So the longer answer to the question of how you judge the success of a CHRO is as follows:
- Examine the talent they’ve helped to attract and retain
- Observe the culture they’ve had a hand in shaping
- Take stock of the progressive development plans and programs they’ve made available to the workforce
- Evaluate the creativity, reasonability and effectiveness of the compensation programs in existence
- Look for (and find) great workforce dynamics, engagement and satisfaction
- Find a strong and well positioned employer brand
- Find HR’s hand (in a good way) in everything as an enabler and contributor to operations flowing all the way through to customer satisfaction.
If your Human Resources function has this effect on the company, you are fortunate and should recognize the leader(s) of the group. If you don’t have this level of performance, what are you waiting for?
There has been a lot written about millennials, and one thing you should know by now is that the workforce is changing and will continue to change. If your company is not embracing millennials, you should sell it now because your future does not look good. If you want to keep the company going, the change needs to start today, and the HR function will lead the way with a seat at the head table. Contact mPower Advisors to start you down the right path.
I have two millennial children and I employ and work with companies who employ millennials. These companies are looking to grow, and I see the disruptive impact that millennials have. Ignore the demographic change at your company’s peril – baby boomers are retiring, and millennials will be ½ of the work force by 2020.
The bullets above will help you understand if you are on track. HR “issues” need to be a significant part of your strategic plan. If the plan only includes operational KPIs, then you are just playing “Whack a Mole” and putting Band-Aids on issues rather than creating a long-term, strategic plan that will survive the next economic downturn.