The Business-HR
Alignment Action Plan©
If it’s not about the business,
it’s not about the business

Do we really need
this kind of
PUBLICITY?

Our Bad Grades*
• 61% of HR leaders and 72% of business leaders rate HR
performance as adequate, getting by or underperforming
• Only 25% of business leaders think that HR plays an
important role in strategy formulation and operational
success
• Only 16% of HR leaders think that their senior managers
highly value HR
*Bersin/Deloitte, “Global Human Capital Trends” 2014 and 2015

What We’ve Done to Earn The Bad Grades:
“Can you do a three-hour training module on leadership?”
“We couldn’t let the first line managers communicate with staff about compensation.
They’d make a mess of it.”
“We hired an agency to source candidates so our managers don’t know how to interview
anymore.”
“Our managers aren’t discussing performance and career development with employees so
we created a form for them to document the conversations four times a year.”
“Yes, we do onboarding. It’s a two-hour class about company policies and to fill out forms.”

What We Let Organizations Do That
Confounds HR’s Effectiveness
• Bury HR in Finance, Legal or Administration
• Put a salary price tag on an HR role before assessing the requirements
from the role
• Fold Facilities Management in the HR job
• Assume that anything related to people can be handled effectively by
any HR skill set
• Hire ‘nice’
• Use HR as the Policy Police

Who ever said it’s a ‘Best Practice’?
• Ranking employees on 1-5 performance scale and a bell curve and
doing all company performance appraisals at the same time each
year
• Requiring a set number of training hours each year
• Work from home implemented by putting a schedule on your office
door
• Employee surveys
• 360’s
• Town Halls

The Reality of HR Transformation Results
• Calling HR staff by a new name (HRBP) without changing the role
expectations nor skills required
• Outsourcing HR administrative functions
• Creating centers of expertise/excellence inside or outsourced
• Having a cost-cutting/FTE orientation rather than a results and
impact for the business orientation

Talent Issues that Negatively Impacted
Business Performance*
• Inability to innovate
• Inability to pursue market opportunities
• Canceling or delaying business initiatives
• Falling production or service quality
* 2012, HFS Research, PwC, “Human Resources Transformation: Is It Driving Business Performance?”

Top 2 Business Objectives Behind
Company’s Strategy*
95% of CEO’s stated:
• Gaining access to talent and capabilities
• Driving cultural change
*2012, HFS Research, PwC, “Human Resources Transformation: Is It Driving Business Performance?”

Key Human Capital Issues
Reported by Senior Leaders*
1. Culture and Engagement
2. Leadership (30% gap between need and readiness)
3. Learning and Development
4. Reinventing HR
5. Workforce Capability
6. Performance Management
7. HR and Human-Capital Analytics
8. Work Simplification (The Overwhelmed Employee)
* Global Human Capital Trends, 2015, Deloitte University Press
It’s
About
PEOPLE’s
Ability to
Connect
and Deliver

Are YOU
ready and
able
to tackle these
issues?

“While blocking and tackling
remains important, engaging
strategically requires advanced
analytical skills, a solid
understanding of the business, and
superior organizational development
capabilities.”
2012, HFS Research, PwC, “Human Resources Transformation: Is It Driving Business Performance?”

Open Position for HR Manager at Unisys
Advertised on LinkedIn 8/27/15*
“…lead a variety of HR programs and initiatives that support business objectives
and employee engagement across various corporate staff organizations.
The ideal candidate will be able to lead multi-functional change efforts, build
partnerships, and offer creative solutions to human capital and business
issues.
They will have a solid aptitude for people and business analytics
with experience and knowledge in multiple discipline areas (i.e.
Organization Development, Employee Relations, Compensation, Staffing,
and Learning & Development).
Candidate must have a strong ability to challenge and influence”
*https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/60266289?trk=jobs_home_click_jymbii&refId=a6419ddf-ca4a-453a-8909-fffa74511e91

Be a Knowledgeable and
Effective Business Person
• Know the company’s business strategy,
financials, competition, and marketing strategy
• Have financial literacy and use meaningful
human capital analytics
• Build cogent and effective business cases for
HR initiatives
• Work on strategic business initiatives, not just
administrative or reactive

• Know and understand the implications of Financial
Reports
• Read the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily,
Barron’s, Forbes, the Economist. Read the McKinsey
Quarterly on a diverse range of topics, not just HR. Listen
to business-oriented TED talks. Watch Shark Tank.
• Learn all you can about the nascent field of Human Capital
Analytics. Start using analytics immediately so you can
learn
• Study and understand the Stock Market; watch CNBC,
Bloomberg
• Network outside HR. Join professional organizations in
your company’s field and general business organizations.

Improve Workforce Capability
and Capacity
• Build capacity, productivity and
effectiveness, especially where it most
matters
• Build leadership skills and develop strong
talent pipelines
• Create exceptional front-line managers
• Engage employees meaningfully

• If you do not have extensive expertise in talent and
organizational development, GO GET IT, or, if that skill
set does not interest you, do not take a Generalist or
HRBP role. If you are flaky, stop.
• Ask, “What will ____________ do to enable the
business?” – ask this first, last and always
• Develop EVERYTHING with your line managers and
employees
• Focus most of your efforts on the effectiveness of front-
line managers

Acquire and Use Outstanding
Consulting Skills
• Engage leaders in dialogue regularly
• Diagnose accurately what’s really going on in the
organization (causes, not symptoms) and create valuable
insights for your leaders
• Be a Change Leader and Enabler
• Implement the HRBP role effectively or don’t bother
• Don’t do surveys, EVER, unless you know what you’re
doing, and that the leaders will respond effectively to the
input

• Work with a Mentor with highly developed skills in
talent and organization development
• Inhale and implement ideas from, “The Trusted
Advisor,” “Flawless Consulting,” “Human Resource
Champions,” “Process Consultation,” “Managing at
the Speed of Change,” “ The Skilled Facilitator,”
“What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”
• Implement an internal HR change strategy and skill
enhancement program with a skilled facilitator who
will tell it like it is
• Attend HCI’s “The Strategic HR Business Partners
Certification”

Professionally Administer
Human Resources
• Differentiate strategic from ‘back-office’ HR
functions. Manage and staff them differently
• Keep it Simple – don’t overburden your
organization with process, content, forms and
activities
• Create transparency of HR processes throughout the
organization
• Outsource to manage/reduce costs, optimize
services and leverage external expertise. Make
better buying decisions

• Meet with business leaders and ask them to tear apart
what you are doing in terms of impact, relevance and
cost. JUST LISTEN!
• Differentiate strategic impact, compliance and tactical
activities
• Develop a set of critical questions to evaluate
everything you do
• Read all of the Bersin/Deloitte publications about the
state of HR and what to do about it.
• Blow it up and start over if you have to; or
incrementally change

“HR functions that develop the
ability to provide their leaders
with data driven insights on
the people component of
business decisions are
invaluable.”*
*Bersin, “High Impact HR”, 2011

Stories from those who
successfully lead HR every day
Jeff Dobbs, Vice President of HR, Terumo Medical
Nancy Lauby, Global HR Business Partner, Teva
Pharmaceuticals
Amanda Richards, HR Consultant, Converge, Inc.

Small – Midsize Companies, including
Privately Held with small HR Department
To the CEO and peers, it’s primarily about the money. So,
• Understand the CEO’s vision, the organization’s big picture and position in the
marketplace. Help the CEO operationalize the business strategy internally through
effective HR.
• Use language about the bottom line. Talk about how what you propose is good
for the business.
• Learn how to communicate a strong business case and assess the cost vs. the impact
of everything you propose and do. Use numbers and analytics effectively.
• Advise and influence effectively. Being right is irrelevant.

Mid-Size Multinational,
Small HR Staff
• Create strong, authentic relationships and curiosity about the business
to create credibility
• Translate that into how HR positions itself, i.e., HR doesn’t do anything
that isn’t linked to the business and focused on the business
• Formalize a planning process including linking HR to improving the
productivity of the business
• Model an ‘enterprise contributor’ mentality

Mid-Size Multinational,
Small HR Staff
• Model one’s conversance about the P&L within HR
• Be a role model for connecting with the business
• There are NO HR initiatives, only business initiatives
• Focus on the business first and the Administrivia won’t take over your role
• Always talk IMPACT and RESULTS, not activity

Large, Multi-National Company,
Large HR Department
Create TRUE HR Transformation:
• Analyze what you are currently doing in a time study. Measure and quantify
everything
• Align with leaders to understand and articulate the results they need from HR
and the results HR is capable of creating in the organization
• Use the results of the analysis to dialogue with line leaders and HR staff about
what HR should be doing vs. what it is doing
• Use a model of HR effectiveness to communicate to HR and the line about new
roles and delivery methods

Business Driven (increasing the
value of the business)
• Strategic Workforce Planning
• Leadership Effectiveness and
Development
• Organization structure and
redesign
Employee Driven (employee
satisfaction, needs and issues)
• Pay and Benefits
• Leaves of absence
• Performance
• Supervisor and employee
relationships
• Wellness
Compliance Driven (reducing risk
and adhering to external
requirements)
• Affirmative Action
• Benefits reporting
• Safety training
Department/Company Driven
• Budgeting
• Writing and communicating
policies
HRBP

With Deepest Gratitude to:
The HR/M&OD team at SMS where we created it all back in the day:
Miller Detrick
Carl Zegalia
Harry Griendling
Sue Bernheim
Nancy Lauby
Chris Giangrasso
John Hendrickson
Grant Beauchamp
To the Inspiration for and Contributors to this Presentation:
Jeff Dobbs, Vice President of HR, Terumo Medical
Harry Griendling, CEO, DoubleStar, Inc.
Nancy Lauby, Global HR Business Partner, Teva Pharmaceuticals
Amanda Richards, HR Consultant, Converge, Inc.

©Valerie Smith Pease