Are HR truly regarded as a key source of competitive advantage?

Kearns HR Maturity Scale

In your organisation, are HR ‘truly regarded by the board as a key source of competitive advantage?’.

This graphic from Paul Kearns at The Maturity Institute is a practical and down-to-earth way to evaluate where your HR function is on this journey.

And it really is a journey. You don’t get there overnight.

One very real and crucial factor is that your stakeholders are on this journey too, and part of HR’s challenge is to build their understanding of just how HR can create value.

In every organisation, there are some business leaders who ‘get’ HR, and some who don’t. They’re not all in the same place. It might be a numbers game – working up to the point where the majority on the board are with you, and carry the big decisions through.

But as we know in HR, we achieve results through others, and so building strong and productive relationships with leaders across the organisation is critical.

You want them to support the people agenda when you are in the room, and when you’re not.

If you’ve got some tough nuts to crack, who still don’t regard HR as ‘a key source of competitive advantage’, give me a call and we can talk through how to convert them.

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Workshops & webinars

AI in HR – CPO roundtable discussion

Date: Thursday 15th January 2026

Influencing through relationships: Bringing HR’s value to the table

Next Generation HR – a turning point

Date: Recording from 18th September 2025
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