Don’t waste HR’s precious resources: Align with the business

McKinsey & Company’s ‘HR Monitor’ report is tough reading. They recommend an integrated approach. There’s only one way to achieve this. And I think their statement is putting the cart before the horse:

‘Only by addressing these five areas in an integrated way can HR teams evolve into strategic partners for their organizations – proactively shaping workforce strategy, employee engagement, and, ultimately, long-term organizational performance.’

Before I get to the list of 5 areas, let me explain what I mean with my horse and cart analogy:

• The horse is ahead, leading and providing direction and energy. That’s strategic partnering; the CHRO leading alongside the CEO and leadership team.
• The cart is the vehicle for carrying the items that are required. That’s the list of HR’s deliverables that you identify together.

You don’t know what to put in the cart until you’re clear where you’re taking your horse.

Let’s look at the 5 areas, and you’ll see what I mean. I don’t disagree with them, and I agree that they should be integrated. There are so many overlaps, as HR people know:

1. Workforce planning is not approached strategically enough.
2. Talent acquisition is becoming more complex.
3. Employee development continues to be highly fragmented.
4. Employee experience is essential—and underdeveloped.
5. Gen AI and shared-services centres could boost efficiency and effectiveness.

The way to ensure they’re integrated is to start from the business need rather than from HR’s structure (which this list does). This is the core of what we do at Enable-HR International – help HR leaders (and other central functions) to get fully aligned and partnering strategically. It can mean turning your thinking upside down in order to deliver what the business actually needs, rather than what HR thinks it needs.

As I said in my recent webinar, ‘business challenges don’t fall neatly into HR specialisms’. We waste HR’s precious resources by not being aligned with the business and collaborative across the function.

Catch up with this webinar ‘How to build a united, business-led HR team’ here.

Get in touch if you’d like to explore what you’d like to achieve with your own HR team.