How HR can help transform an organisation from within
| Pages | 111-112 |
| Published date | 08 June 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-01-2015-0005 |
| Date | 08 June 2015 |
| Author | Mike Straw |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
How HR can help transform an organisation
from within
Mike Straw
Mike Straw is based at Achieve
Breakthrough, Bath, UK. There is no doubt that the
demands and expectations
placed on human resources
(HR) functions have risen
dramatically since the economic
downturn. They are no longer just
administrative units managing the
recruitment and people processes
of an organisation: leadership looks
to HR to drive the whole talent
strategy that will keep them ahead
of the competition.
And as the recruitment landscape
remains as tough and competitive
as ever, I believe that HR needs to
look internally just as much (or even
more) as it looks externally to
achieve the kind of talent
transformation that is needed for an
organisation to get ahead and stay
ahead in the market.
From my experience of working with
organisations from across sectors, I
believe that there are a series of
relatively simple steps that need to
be taken to achieve this (though
they are less straightforward to
actually implement!).
With a real commitment of time and
energy, leadership and HR can
bring about genuine transformations.
This can apply from the top to the
bottom of an organisation – from
senior management right down to
junior and support functions. One of
the most undervalued areas, in my
experience, is middle management.
I often refer to this area as the
“frozen middle”, seeing as many
organisations have a large rump of
talented middle managers who,
though they may be performing well
individually, are usually capable of
much, much more if only their true
collective potential could be
unlocked.
The power of context
First, and perhaps most importantly
of all, leadership and HR need to
truly understand the importance of
what I call an organisation’s context.
Context is decisive. It is the invisible
environment in which we live and
work, shaped by a variety of beliefs
and behaviours. When people talk
about “what it’s like to work here” or
“how difficult it is to get things done
around here”, what they are actually
talking about is the context or
environment in which work takes
place.
Context exists at many different
levels: individual, team,
departmental, divisional, national
and even global (depending on the
size and scope of the organisation).
As leaders and managers, if you
have the ability to shift the context
for yourself and your organisation,
then you will be able to develop the
capability to deliver extraordinary
results. When you alter context, you
automatically alter people’s
subsequent actions.
How to . . .
DOI 10.1108/SHR-01-2015-0005 VOL. 14 NO. 3 2015, pp. 111-112, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 111
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