HRANB Newsletter

In these times of economic uncertainty, Canada’s businesses need the leadership of their HR professionals more than ever before. There is a huge opportunity for the HR profession to demonstrate how valuable it is to the organization. It’s easy to shine when things are great, when the economy is booming and when businesses are recruiting. It’s relatively easy to be a leader when the challenges are emerging from growth. But leadership gets tested under difficult times and we, HR professionals, will have to step up, take ownership and help our businesses remain successful.

In my opinion, HR is one of the most well rounded business roles. To be a good HR leader and have influence on our business professionals, we need to understand the environment in which we operate. What are our business strengths and weaknesses? Opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis)? What are the strengths and weaknesses of our leaders? What are the keys to financial success in our environment? What are the main costs factors? What is driving our people’s behaviors? What’s the respective leadership/management style of our leaders? How could we be more effective?

People at all levels of the organization come to us for advice and they share invaluable amounts of information about the business that often the leaders don’t even know about. All this information is essential to us, HR leaders, if we are to effectively perform our roles and tasks: workforce planning, training and development, labour relations, health and safety, performance management, compensation and benefits administration, etc. As a result, we become extremely knowledgeable about how the business works and we can develop appropriate strategies. However, the HR function doesn’t always receive the merit it should.

Our main challenge is that although we can demonstrate through numbers and analysis how we help the company financially, we are dealing with a lot of intangibles and invisible issues where value is long term and indirect (or at least not as direct as sales would be on revenues for example). We speak a different language than the business people: the human language… In these difficult times, our business leaders need our help in leading the human side of the business. They understand terminations and layoffs and the direct financial savings that follows. However, do they understand the importance of employment branding? Do they understand that one day the economy will pick up again and they will need to re-hire? Do they understand that the way they are treating their staff today will have a direct effect on their capacity to retain and attract them again when the economy is good and companies are fighting from the same talent pool? What about the impact on morale and overall effectiveness? How are we going to compensate for the loss of job skills when the economy picks up? While we can’t easily quantify it, short term financial measures often translate into huge downfalls for organizations and the community. HR professionals have the expertise and skills to advise and influence business leaders in making the right decisions for their HR. NB is a great place to live and we have an opportunity to make sure that we also remain a great place to work. The economy will always have its ups and downs and the labor market will always have to adjust accordingly, but let’s make sure that we act with utmost professionalism and moral ethics.

If your employer has been claiming for years that their human resources are their most valuable assets, they now have the opportunity to show it. As HR professionals, we have to help our leaders maintain their credibility during these uncertain times and bring solutions that will demonstrate a high level commitment to the well being of the staff and their families.

I am not suggesting in any way that we should stop managing the performance of our employees and stop making the tough decisions. This is a different issue and would require a full article to properly address it…

This all sounds great, but what does it mean really? Below are few suggestions:

Build your credibility. Make sure you understand the business, including the financial side, and how people can impact (positively or negatively) the financial success of the organization.
Be creative in your solutions. Layoffs are often a quick fix and can cause more harm than good in the long run – in many cases, it should be your last option. Would your staff be interested in voluntary leave of absences or reduced work weeks? Can you use that down time to train your staff on new technology? What about the other initiatives we never get to do because we are too busy?
Always make sure you do your homework before you propose a solution and be ready to talk about the positive impacts as well as the possible challenges. Do you have a solution for these challenges?
Always demonstrate a confident and “can do” attitude

Most important of all, take ownership of your role as an HR leader. Don’t wait to be asked to do things. Be proactive in the development of solutions. Don’t become an obstacle. We are too often perceived as getting in the way and this is probably because we can be quick to explain why we can’t do this or that - it is part of our role to manage the risks. Take the time to explain what the downfalls are and propose alternative solutions that will address the needs of the business. Keep it as simple as possible. HR tends to be process focused and we can easily make things very complicated and cumbersome. Stay focused on the outcome and try to find the simplest way to get there.

The HR profession and the CHRP designation will be tested during these uncertain economic times and we will need your help in maintaining and developing a strong reputation of being Solution Focused Business Partners.

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