C-level engagement is not only desirable, but now crucial to HR success. In a world where organisations are constantly looking for ways to become more efficient, more digitalised and more streamlined, effective processes are the foundation of development. No sector has felt these changes more than human resources. This begs the question, with a myriad of new HR practices currently being introduced, how important is the approval and active participation of the C-suite?
Importance of C-suite to HR
One of the most important issues in HR today is the disconnect between staff and employer. An excellent example of how staff view the current ‘top-down’ leadership style was highlighted in a study presented by Technische Universität München (TUM) and ISF München at a recent international conference in Munich, which showed that German employees want more democracy in the workplace.
The study showed that some two-thirds of the respondents agreed with the statement that companies should be managed more democratically. The majority found the idea of choosing their own managers attractive, and the thought of participating in determining corporate strategies even more so. On average, however, they nonetheless viewed the possibility of their wishes coming true as fairly unrealistic. Managers also believe democracy is difficult to achieve in practice, according to the study.
Dr Andreas Boes, Board Member, ISF commented, "We are moving towards a divide regarding democratisation of work. New possibilities for employee participation and empowerment could be instrumental in helping democratic companies toward a breakthrough. A feasible countertrend might, however, emerge in the form of power wielded by those who own the data.”
A little closer to home, staff are experiencing a similar disconnect. Employee engagement and retention levels in Hong Kong continue to be a challenge as companies struggle to understand and effectively address the issues important to their staff. Workers in Hong Kong are less engaged and loyal to their employers than their global counterparts, according to two new major surveys—the 2014 Global Workforce Study and the 2014 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, both recently released by Towers Watson. Employees are also concerned with how their salaries compare with both colleagues and external peers at the same level.
Marieke van Raaij, Practice Leader of Organisational Surveys & Insights, Towers Watson said, “The high percentage of employees responding that they are considering leaving their current employers is certainly a worrying trend for Hong Kong companies. Our research reveals that highly engaged employees are more than three times as likely to stay with their employers, which emphasises the importance that organisations need to place on policies and programmes that truly engage their employees.”
Struggle for staff
Age-old HR practices frequently emphasise the importance of incentives for staff, such as training and development. But the success of T&D programmes is largely determined by how management views the purpose of the programme in question.
Joyce Yap, Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific, Société Générale—serving as a judge on the Awards Organising Committee for the HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development—also warned of potential issues with the top-down approach to T&D. She pointed out, “Sometimes managers comply with training requirements sent down from senior management, but their heart is not really in it, so the staff in their training sense the lack of support from the manager.” She suggested that, to avoid this situation, T&D should be one of the primary objectives of the manager, rather than just paying lip service to company requirements.
Senior executives also need to play their part, Yap added, “They should be seen as champions of T&D as a way of ensuring the sustainability of the business, of retaining the employees and of building employer branding.”
Employer branding may only have been gaining momentum as one of the key foundation pillars of HR development and staff recruitment and retention for a relatively short time, but organisations all over the world are quickly realising its importance. Again, without C-level approval and participation, employer branding can be swiftly doomed to fail.
HR’s shop front
According to Neil Chowings, Managing Director, Work Group in Asia, employer branding is an organisation’s shop front, and it has to be an HR issue for it to work. As long as we realise that
employer branding is far bigger than HR itself, it has to be on the corporate agenda. He commented, “The employer brand needs to live and breathe amongst the behaviour of the C-suite. That’s why HR needs to get them involved in the process early on. If you develop the whole plan, present it to the C-suite, and they look at it and say ‘that’s not the business I work for’, then you have a problem.”
Moreover, in order to drive the employer brand into people’s perspectives, Chowings suggests not only getting senior management involved early on, but ensuring that the CEO is the right person for the brand and vice versa. He said there is no right or wrong in this business, as much as there are the right and wrong kind of people for your company. He explained, “Your employer brand should be the articulation of C-suite behaviours. If your employer brand is all about innovation and inclusiveness, and then you meet the CEO and he or she is very dictatorial and directive, then you’ve got your employer brand wrong.”
Chowings stressed that honest communication is key, commenting, “Your employer brand should attract the right people, and equally importantly, turn off the wrong people.” This goes doubly for the CEO—the keeper and champion of your employer brand, and by extension the company as a whole. They have to walk the walk and talk the talk.
Talent drought
Rapid economic growth, changing business imperatives and demographic realities have resulted in fierce competition for managerial talent across Asia. As a result, talent management is a growing strategic priority for business leaders in Asia, especially considering the growing disconnect between staff and employer, as well as the need for engaged and involved C-suites. CEOs do, however, recognise that they need to do more in this area, according to new research conducted by the Economist Corporate Network: Aligned for Success? Strategy, talent management and the role of the CEO in Asia. The study found that 95% of CEO respondents feel they are actively involved in talent management, however, the nature of their role and the extent of their involvement varies widely.
The research also reveals that the involvement of CEOs in human capital issues centres most heavily on strategic and planning activities, such as assessing the future shape of their workforce needs, and organisational design. Conversely, many CEOs admit to playing a far less prominent role in the developmental aspects of talent management such as nurturing key skills, training programmes and mentoring future leaders. The question remains, how can HR get them involved?
Training the trainer
In an attempt to rethink HR principles, Swiss business school IMD has launched the IMD Global Leader Index, a new online platform that allows users to benchmark their leadership capabilities against other executives and identify areas for future leadership development.
Businesses are currently spending a great deal more money on leadership assessment than on leadership development. By providing executives with a free and credible starting point for thinking about leadership development, this type of development aims to make it easier and more efficient for businesses to invest in their leaders' capabilities.
The IMD Global Leader Index shows users where they stand as global leaders, how they compare with peers, and which leadership capabilities they could improve. It also proposes relevant executive education programmes and free magazines.
In a similar vein, Jim Aggen, Managing Principal and Noah Rabinowitz, Senior Partner and Leadership Development Solution Lead, Korn Ferry have recently published a series of articles on leadership development focusing on training leaders to better connect with staff, within a context that the C-suite is comfortable and familiar with i.e. real, current business problems.
The articles support the notion that leaders learn best when they connect new information and skills to their own experience. Aggen and Rabinowitz contend that despite over thirty years of studies highlighting the effectiveness of real-world learning, it is still far from the norm for leadership development in today’s workplaces. When asked where leadership development happens, the majority of executives still think primarily of the classroom. However, when the same executives are asked what shaped them as leaders, most cite real-world, on-the-job experiences.
Aggen and Rabinowitz point out, “Gathering people to ask for solutions and involvement is relatively simple but can have impressive results. The results are transformative for both individuals and for the organisation.”
Building on these twisted ‘training the trainer’ concepts, HR can open up better dialogue with its business leaders to help bridge the divide between staff and the employer (see this issue’s HR training section on page 40 for more).
Change before you have to
HR needs the C-suite more than ever to deal with the looming challenges of tomorrow, but it also needs active involvement from all parties involved. The world where power flows down seems to be phasing out, and the future of work is changing rapidly. Considering the impact of digitalising workplaces, more streamlined companies, and the ever-growing importance of employer branding, it is high time for HR and C-levels to sit down and have a serious talk about what is looming on the horizon. Let us not forget Jack Welch’s famous advice, “Change before you have to.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
