As a HR leader, how much control do you have?

I was struck by a recent post, where an HR leader shared candidly how tough their role is right now – under-resourced and struggling to win strategic influence. Someone added a comment to say that their experience was different – the HR leaders in their own network were positioned strategically – fully influential and involved early in business decisions.

That’s rather smug, I thought. All HR leaders would rather be in that situation. But many HR leaders aren’t, and it most often isn’t about their capabilities.

There are many factors, e.g.

• The legacy of the HR function in that organisation, how it’s perceived and what it’s been able to deliver (or not);
• The sector they’re in and the value that’s placed on talent. When talent is critical, scarce and valued, business leaders totally understand what HR can contribute;
• The maturity of business leaders and their ability to understand how good people outcomes drive good business outcomes.

None of these factors can be transformed overnight, and it can feel like a vicious cycle when the HR leader’s time is sucked into fire fighting. Often, of course, those fires are caused by immature business leaders.

It’s frustrating and demoralising, especially when what you really want is to be able to lead the people agenda in today’s world of radical change.

The crucial factor is how the HR leader is able to manage their time. How is that for you?

Here are the results of a poll I did alongside this post on LinkedIn: