Strategic HR: How to Help Your HR Team Be More Strategic

Posted on November 14, 2020January 21, 2021 by Karin Hurt | 1 Comment

You want to build a strategic HR team that gets it- compassionate business partners who know their craft AND understand what matters most for the business. Today I offer some thoughts from both sides of the story as both an HR executive and a field leader leading very large teams at Verizon.

A Good Place to Start For More Strategic HR

When I started my first HR job on an HR team at 26, my boss handed me a stack of books and two pieces of advice.

(1) Always read what the client is reading

and (2) learn to “talk trucks” (meaning, “learn the business, kid.”)

Straight out of grad school and fired up about all I thought I knew, the reading part was perfect for me. I think she was worried I’d be telling the guys three levels up what to read (and think), and far better to meet them where they were with a little humility. (p.s. who knew decades later I would be writing such books 😉

And the second piece of advice, “talking trucks,” learning the business so well that I could add real value and perspective to the conversation, was PRICELESS.

Learning to “Talk Trucks”

I spent as much time learning the business as I did doing HR.

Back then I thought when someone said, “You’re the least HR-y HR person I know” that was a compliment.

My approach didn’t always sit well with some of the old-school HR execs, who would remind me to “Remember whose side you are on.”

My team and I stayed the course, and always strove to be business people first, who happen to have expertise in HR.

A decade later when I pivoted from HR exec to a variety of field executive assignments in customer service and sales, I was shocked at how few HR managers supporting my team truly understood the business.

They’d come in talking about constraints and rules and time to hire stats that all sounded like a big “why we can’t” do the things that, with a bit of HR creativity, we surely could.

Four Ways to Help Your HR Team Be More Strategic

Today we work with a wide range of clients from fast-growing start-ups to those with large corporations with employees scattered around the globe.

A clear common denominator of those executing well, growing deliberately in size and margin, and building engaging cultures, is they have a strong, strategic HR team, who get it. And, because they do, they have a seat at the table.

Great HR strategic partners influence from the inside.

If your HR team isn’t there quite yet, here are a few good places to start

1. Align HR process measures to business outcomes

When I took over in my first executive HR role, one of the first things we did was change our scorecard to align with business outcomes. Of course, we kept some vital HR favorites (e.g attrition in the first 90 days; time to fill positions; diversity distribution) but we added in revenue and customer experience targets as well.

My team went nuts at first. “We can’t control NPS, why should our bonus depend on it?” Welcome to every manager you’re supporting’s world. They can’t control it all either. Great teams share common goals, and as HR professionals we need to be part of the team, not outside. How you train new hires impacts the customer experience and sales. The employee engagement support does too. If our programs, policies, and procedures don’t ultimately have a business impact, we’re focused on the wrong things.

2. Share sensitive information

If you can’t trust your HR team with sensitive information, why in the world would you entrust them to manage your companies’ most important asset– your people?

And, if you don’t have an HR team you can trust, fix that. If you do, err on the side of letting them in.

The number one reason people can’t think strategically is that they lack information and context. Share what you can. Have them sign internal NDAs if that helps. But the longer you wait on sharing your (fill in the blank here) merger intentions, location closings, reductions in force, new product launches, etc. the less time they have to be proactive and help you plan a solid execution strategy.

HR practitioners all over the world complain of being brought in too late in the game to make a difference. They’re left punting–doing the best they can with the situation they’ve been handed and frustrated with what they know they could have done if they only had a few more months to plan and execute.

3. Rotate them through a field assignment.

Do you have a high-potential HR manager you’re grooming for a larger role? I know it feels like cutting off your right arm now, but an 18-month assignment in a field role could make all the difference. If they come back to HR, great, they’ll understand the business pressures so much more. If they chose to stay in the field, they’ll be applying all their HR knowledge to building great cultures and leading effective teams. Either way, you win.

A pivotal point in my career was when a senior leader I had been supporting as an HR business partner, looked at me and said, “Karin, you’re young in your career (I was then) and if you don’t go get some field experience soon, the very best you can be here is a VP of HR. I think you can do more.

If you want to go back into HR after the field assignment, cool, you’ll be that much stronger.” Three months later I found myself leading a bunch of B2B call centers for which I had no experience. Now I was not telling people how to lead, I was leading from the deep end and learning the business through a fire hose. Then I rotated back into HR for a turnaround effort of the training organization, and then back to the field to lead a 2200 person retail sales team (a role for which every ounce of HR training came in helpful.) If you want your HR team to truly understand the business, let them lead it.

4. Foster a “how can we” attitude

I still run into companies that view their HR teams as police or a hurdle to get through. Work with your HR team to listen carefully to new ideas and strategies and start with a “How can we?” attitude to identify creative ideas to be part of the solution.

Your turn. How do you help your HR team to be more strategic?

See Also: Karin Hurt on SHRM’s HR Storytellers filmed after keynoting the SHRM National Volunteers Conference of SHRM Chapter Leaders.

How to Hold a Better Mid-Year Performance Review

Posted on May 30, 2019August 19, 2020 by Karin Hurt and David Dye | 8 Comments

Tempted to skip the mid-year review this year, particularly with your high-performers? Read this first.

Imagine you’re coaching your son’s football team. They’re up by 7. What do you say at half-time?

“Well, you guys played a great first half. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Or do you just skip the half-time huddle all together and go check your email. After all, you’re busy.

No decent coach misses the opportunity for a great half-time huddle. Why would you?

Why Now?

Mid-Year Performance Reviews are the Half-Time Huddle of Business.

There are still six months to impact the year.
In most companies, there’s no need to assign a rating or link to compensation. This frees you to be more real and developmentally focused–without the distraction of bell curves and merit payouts.
Since a mid-year performance review is often “optional,” conducting them shows the employees you’re invested in them and their performance.

Making Your Review More Meaningful

When Karin was working in her sales executive role, her HR team did an experiment linking performance feedback to employee satisfaction. As expected, those who had received meaningful performance feedback, were overall much more satisfied with their jobs and supervisors. But there was an interesting wrinkle. Those who received a poorly conducted mid-year review were less satisfied than those who did not receive them at all.

It’s important to not just go through the motions. If you won’t invest the time to offer a meaningful mid-year performance review, you’re better off skipping it.

What Feels Meaningful?

A mid-year review should summarize, celebrate, challenge, and inspire

When we ask employees what makes a mid-year performance review meaningful, here’s what they say.

It’s a conversation. We talk openly about what’s working and where I can improve.
No surprises. We’ve been meeting weekly, so there’s nothing new here. We talk about trends, progress and focus on development.
My manager has specific examples and focuses on behaviors.
We talk about my career and long-term goals.
I feel recognized for the extra effort and challenges I’ve taken on.
It’s an opportunity for me to share my new ideas on how to improve the business.
My manager asks great questions and really listens to what I have to say.
What would you add?

Mid-Year Performance Review Conversation Starters

If you need some help to get started, try a few of these questions to get the conversation rolling.

Questions to Reflect on Performance

How are you feeling about the year so far?
Describe what you see happening with this project.
What are you most of proud of this year?
What lessons have you learned?
What new relationships have you fostered?
How are you different now than you were six months ago?
Where are you stuck?

Questions to Challenge and Turnaround

Have you ever had an experience like this before?
If so, what did you do that helped?
Tell me about the patterns you’re seeing.
What do you think we should do?
Which habits would you like to change?
What’s the most important thing you can do to turn this situation around?
What additional resources do you need?
How can I best support you?

Questions to Encourage

What would happen if?
What’s possible?

Questions to Solicit Feedback

If you were in my shoes, what would you be doing differently?
What can I do to better support you and the team?
What have I done this year that most ticked you off?
How have I been most helpful?

Your Turn

Leave us a comment and share: What are your best practices for highly effective mid-year performance reviews?

Want more tools like this?

Read Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results–Without Losing Your Soul. And Download our FREE Winning Well Book Group Facilitator’s Guide.

5 Vital Behaviors That Will Impress Your HR Team (with Video)

Posted on May 31, 2018June 3, 2018 by Karin Hurt | No Comments

What does your HR team say about you? Does it matter?

As we engage in our long-term leadership development programs, we inevitably spend time talking to the HR team about who’s in the program, why, and how we can best help. For better or worse, we hear what they’re thinking about you. Their hopes and dreams for what you can become, and of course, their concerns.

It’s been fascinating to experience the consistency of HR thinking across industries and geographies. Whether they are in Singapore, San Juan, or Kentucky, it’s the same behaviors that drive the HR VP nuts.

And of course, their impression can influence your career. Most senior leaders have one trusted member of their HR team on speed dial–not because they HAVE to, but because they WANT to. In my time at Verizon, I’ve been on both sides of that call.

There’s no better ditch the Diaper Genie™ conversation than what happens with an exec and their trusted HR strategic partner on a talent issue.

Here are 5 Behaviors That Will Impress Your HR Team

If you’re looking to get to the next level, or even to survive tomorrow, it’s helpful to have your HR team in your corner, cheering you on. In addition to being a rock star in your day job, Here are five behaviors that can help enhance their impression of you as a high-potential employee worth extra investment and support.

Be Coachable (#1 By a landslide)
Be open to feedback, from up down and sideways. Really listen to what you hear. And show how you are integrating the feedback into real behaviors to improve. HR hears “Yup I got it” all the time, and then watch employees slip back into old behaviors. Show them you’re hearing the feedback by acting on it.
Tell the Truth
Nothing frustrates a good HR person more than half-truths. If you want them to be straight with you, be straight with them.
Treat others with Deep Respect (Including Your HR team)
This seems so obvious…and yet, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a “high-potential” manager talk down to their HR team as if their role was somehow less important than a field assignment.
Work Hard
“He’s smart but lazy.” “She’s great at managing up, but doesn’t actually get much done.” “Yeah, you know that Gamer you talk about in Winning Well? That’s John.” Not the recommendation any of us are going for.
Be Open to Try New Things
Your HR team is looking to build a strong bench of talent for the long-term good of the company. They need utility players who they can count on to turn-around just about any sticky situation. HR loves the employees who are willing to take on a new challenge or make an unexpected lateral move.

Your HR team can be an invaluable resource to help you navigate your career and to get the feedback you need to grow and develop. It’s work the effort to invest in these important relationships and to ask for, and act on their feedback.

Managing Up When You're Down: The Power of POISE

Posted on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Karin Hurt | 10 Comments

When the going gets tough, managing up gets tougher. Scared stifles truth. Needs stay unsaid. Unfounded worries mushroom in the dark. Unquestioned assumptions breed false conclusions.

Your boss can’t know what you’re thinking. Don’t assume–anything. Unsaid needs can never be met. “My boss won’t understand,” is likely wrong.

Never Easy

I learned the hard way.

I couldn’t sleep. As an HR Director, I had coached plenty of others on how to “manage up.” Now my turn– I locked my courage in the desk drawer.

Until finally,

I ate my own managing up advice for breakfast. I spoke my truth. Not eloquently. In fact, awkwardly. I was mad. But he understood. I heard his story. Then, I understood. We built an excellent plan around shared values. Now he is my friend (and a career-long sponsor).

I’ve never regretted telling my boss the truth.

Managing Up with P.O.I.S.E.

A few lessons learned from both sides of such conversations

Don’t…

Wait until emotion bottles up
Dump everything at once
Talk in generalities
Bring other people into it
Exaggerate
Contradict yourself

Instead handle the conversation with P.O.I.S.E.

Prepare: Make an appointment. Plan your key points. Write down your intention. Start small to test waters and build trust.

Open Gently: Ask sincere questions. Get in your boss’ head. Listen with an open heart.

Initiate: Ask for what you need. Start small, but don’t water down. Be specific.

Summarize: Share what you’ve heard. Be sure you’ve got it right.

Establish Next steps. Great conversation is iterative. Don’t try to solve everything in one round.

Managing Up When You’re Down: The Power of POISE

Posted on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Karin Hurt | 10 Comments

When the going gets tough, managing up gets tougher. Scared stifles truth. Needs stay unsaid. Unfounded worries mushroom in the dark. Unquestioned assumptions breed false conclusions.

Your boss can’t know what you’re thinking. Don’t assume–anything. Unsaid needs can never be met. “My boss won’t understand,” is likely wrong.

Never Easy

I learned the hard way.

I couldn’t sleep. As an HR Director, I had coached plenty of others on how to “manage up.” Now my turn– I locked my courage in the desk drawer.

Until finally,

I’ve never regretted telling my boss the truth.

Managing Up with P.O.I.S.E.

A few lessons learned from both sides of such conversations

Don’t…

Wait until emotion bottles up
Dump everything at once
Talk in generalities
Bring other people into it
Exaggerate
Contradict yourself

Instead handle the conversation with P.O.I.S.E.

Prepare: Make an appointment. Plan your key points. Write down your intention. Start small to test waters and build trust.

Open Gently: Ask sincere questions. Get in your boss’ head. Listen with an open heart.

Initiate: Ask for what you need. Start small, but don’t water down. Be specific.

Summarize: Share what you’ve heard. Be sure you’ve got it right.

Establish Next steps. Great conversation is iterative. Don’t try to solve everything in one round.

Mentoring in Circles

Posted on June 29, 2012June 29, 2012 by Karin Hurt | 6 Comments

In my earlier post, Don’t Get a Mentor, I talked about my preference for finding a mentor organically rather than waiting for formal programs. On the other hand, throughout the years, my favorite formal programs have always been in the form of circles.

These are groups with a leader as guide and a small group of people learning together. I have experience with this in 2 contexts: (1) as a formal HR program and (2) as skip level development for my own teams. Both informal, with lots of options for customization.

HR Program

In this context we paired execs with cross-functional groups of leaders learning together. This structure helped to create a space for natural relationships to occur and if someone did not necessarily click with their mentor, they might develop a cool relationship with one or more of their peers. We did all this in-house, at very low-cost. We gave the groups tools, but also lots of latitude to do what worked for them. Each group was given an action learning project (a real problem to solve) which worked quite well.

My internet research shows that there are a lot of companies offering support for this online these days. I would love to hear comments from anyone using these programs and the success that they have had.

With My Own Team

Over the years, I have had a lot of fun running mentoring circles in my own teams. I do this as a skip level experience, giving me an opportunity to get to know 8-10 high potential managers by working together. I always start with teaching them about “elevator speeches”, and having them create one. Glass Elevators: Why Elevator Speeches Matter.

We talk about the business and we all share the challenges we are having and share best practices. The fun begins when we take field trips to struggling areas of the business and offer support. We also do a project together to give back to the business. I have found that these circles (called various names, usually “academies” or “leagues”), are a great way for me and my team to share our vision, work on work, and really get to know the managers in a deeper way. An added win is having a direct report involved with this as part of their leadership experience. I have seen a good track record of successful promotions coming out of these scenes.

Of course, some would argue it’s not “mentoring” if it is your own chain of command. Perhaps.

Please share your stories of mentoring circles. I would love to learn more.