As the lifeblood of many organisations, the HR department has a pivotal role to play in steering your business’s direction, developing its culture, improving infrastructure and operations, and determining how you can better invest in people and technology that are right for your business.
And when you step into your new HR leader role – whether you have been at the company for days or decades – you are in a powerful position to ensure your employee relations (ER) strategy helps to champion performance, morale, and retention.
Modern-day HR professionals like yourself no longer want to be turning the same operational handle that little bit faster, nor see ER as a tactical, fire-fighting unit. You want to drive meaningful change and ensure that all corners of your organisation can work smarter, not harder.
When it comes to your first 90 days in your new position, you will likely already have an idea of the goals you want to set both yourself and your HR team. Individual KPIs for your colleagues offer clear direction and ongoing reviews create an open-door policy for honest conversation and the opportunity to check-in regularly so employees feel listened to and can stay on-track with their personal development.
Hybrid, flexible and remote working models alone have been something of a hurdle that many HR leaders have had to address in recent times, often raising the question of, ‘how can I ensure that every single employee is treated evenly and fairly, regardless of where they are based?’ The Mind the Gap report from our sister Group company, WorkNest, provides some interesting research into the challenges organisations have faced when navigating the ‘new normal’.
Here are six steps to help you effectively underline what you want to achieve in your HR leader position, and how your employees can support your organisational goals…
- Describe your vision for the HR/ER department
- Articulate your vision in terms of behaviours and outcomes
- Explain any changes you wish to make, and why
- Discuss where your colleagues can help you to shape those changes
- Speak about the benefits of working collaboratively to inspire positive ER transformation
- Explain the impact that each of the above points will make to the business
Speaking about the value of developing a collaborative culture, Meriel de Lacey, head of UK HR operations at Dentsu International Ltd, says: “An important part of an HR leader’s role has always been to role model people leadership excellence. This means building a culture where colleagues are learning from one another and innovating.
“People will get there in different ways and you need to create the circumstances to support all styles, visuals, and words together in a room and through virtual collaboration tools – sparking and developing ideas on the fly as well as allowing reflection.
“Taking time at the start to understand your team and create the right forums, can help you harness your team’s values and strengths.”
We have more tips, advice and contributions from industry leaders covering the areas you need to focus on when you embark on your HR leader role. To discover this insight, download our free guide: 7 employee relations (ER) priorities an HR leader must focus on in their first 90 days.
