The Strategic Business Partner

The Strategic Business Partner Dr. Elijah EzenduFIMC, FCCM, FIIAN, FBDI, FAAFM, FSSM, MIMIS, MIAP, MITD, ACIArb, ACIPM, PhD, DocM, MBA, CWM, CBDA, CMA, MPM, PME, CSOL, CCIP, CMC, CMgr

“Successful HR professionals must chart roles thatinclude early and active involvement in key strategicbusiness choices. They must become the partners ofdecision makers, sharing accountability for organizingwork -- including where it is performed. Everyone, atevery level, must stay focused on shared strategicpriorities, challenge old ways and actively promoteinnovation. The HR professional needs to be a modeland take on the specific role of integrating peoplestrategies with business strategies in a way thatadvances the bottom line.” - Cynthia A. Metzler

“HR appear chameleon-like, constantly aware ofand adapting to their changing environment andkeen to lead organisational change, yet theirultimate goal to be considered fully strategic is abranch too far” - Astik Ranade

A survey of 500 HR directors across Europe, theMiddle East and Asia, found out that only 15% ofthe activities carried out by HR departments arerelated to "pure strategic interventions". Source: Mercer

“The most successful firms are notable in employing imagination to define a new position, or find new value in whatever starting position they have.” - Michael Porter, The State of Strategic Thinking

Strategic Thinking is the way in which people think about, assess, view and define the future for themselves and their tasks, processes, associates, alliances, clients and systems.It stretches beyond responding to day-to-day problems and long term problems, opportunities and new realities. It actually involves proactive effort towards developing blueprint of the future.

“Strategic Thinking is a synthesizing process utilizing intuition and creativity whose outcome is an integrated perspective of the enterprise.” - Henry Mintzberg, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning

Strategic Thinking in HRHR must log into strategic horizon while siftingvalue-contemplation for the purpose ofensuring decision alignments focus onquickening of corporate and business objectives.If HR fails to achieve the above-stated aim, itsdeliverables will continue to be considered asnon-value adding deeds, that are equivalent toproducts of unprofitable cost centers. Source: Elijah Ezendu, Strategic Thinking in HR

Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning Strategic Thinking The purpose of strategic thinking is to discover novel imaginative strategies which can Thought Process re-write the rules of the • Synthetic competitive game; and to • Divergent envision potential futures, • Creative significantly different from the present. Strategic Management The purpose of strategic planning is to operationalize Thought Process the strategies developed through strategic thinking, • Analytical and to support the strategic •Convergent thinking process. •Conventional Strategic Planning Source: Loizos Heracleos, Strategic Thinking or Strategic Planning

Five Criteria for Strategic Thinking Process Organization Observation Views Driving Forces Ideal Position Source: US Small Business Administration

Strategic Thinking is a mindset and array of thinking skills that facilitate the following:Envisioning the future.Development of alternative scenarios.Understanding the options.Appropriate decision making patterning to specific objectives.Determination of the right direction for getting there on a winning basis.

• Strategic Thinking involves change and culminates to constructive imagination of an ideal future.• It’s practical dreaming of appropriate future results that would add value.

Strategic Thinking as a ResourceStrategic thinking uncovers potential opportunities for creating value and challenges assumptions about existing value propositions, so that new plan shall effectively target those opportunities.

Tim O’Shannassy Model of Strategic Thinking Elements FLEXIBLE INPUTS • Flexible technology •Flexible people •Flexible structure •Flexible systems •Flexible Processes Helicopter View Strategic Intent Strategic Thinking Participation of Internal and THINKING IN TIME External Stakeholders OUTPUT • Solving strategic problems • A conceptualization of the firms future • Disruption of alignment of McKinsey “7S Model” • Commitment of internal and external stakeholders to the strategy • Formulation and implementation of strategy concurrently or sequentially Source: Tim O’Shannassy, Strategic Thinking, A Continuum of Views and Conceptualization

Steps of Strategic Thinking• Defining where you are today.• Going beyond conventional thinking.• Discovering the scope of opportunities by broadening current view of services/products.• Anticipating the future.• Developing scenarios and a vision of the future.• Verification, Feasibility and Building the Strategic Output which would become the basis for Strategic Plan.

Strategic Thinking Tools Visualization: Developing mental picture of an ideal process, system, relationships and service. Mind-Mapping: Use of words, simple logic, lines, colours, images and links to depict connectivity and stimulate thinking in order to create an outline form on a paper or page for exploration. Scenario Building: Painting different scenarios about the future and developing appropriate strategies for them. Basic Creative Thinking: This involves generating many possible alternatives, on the path of innovation, as a method of problem solving.

Scenario Building overshoots forecasting, and takes advantage of foresight.Forecasting involves getting advance information about the future by analyzing existing trends and conditions.Foresight is the ability to see what is emerging.Scenario Building is not about predicting the future, but perceiving futures in the present.

Process Considerations for Strategic Thinking • Aligned • Goal Oriented • Fact-Based • Based on Broad Thinking • Focused • Agreed Upon • Engaging • Adaptable Source: CFAR

Critical Success Factors for Strategic Thinking• Paradigm shift.• Results versus methods and means.• Link Mega, Macro and Micro levels.• Develop Measurable Objectives.• Use an Ideal Vision.• Define needs as gaps in results. Source: Kaufman, Strategic Thinking

The Imperative of Integrating L & D Policy and Practices with Business PracticesIntegrating learning and development policiesand practices with other business practicesyields a well-rounded value-chain piecingtogether which facilitates uniform coordinationtowards organisational business objectives.

Integration of Learning and Development withBusiness Practices can be achieved by applyingCompetency Framework for mapping CorporateGoals to Performance Standards as well asLearning and Development Interventions.

What is Competency?“Observable performance dimensions, includingindividual knowledge, skills, attitudes, andbehaviours, as well as collective team, process,and organizational capabilities, that are linkedto high performance, and provide theorganization with sustainable competitiveadvantage”(Arvy & Orth).

Competence vs. CompetencyIn the past, HR professionals have tended to draw a cleardistinction between competences and competencies. Theterm ‘competence’ (competences) was used to describe whatpeople need to do to perform a job and was concerned witheffect and output rather than effort and input. ‘Competency’(competencies) described the behaviour that lies behindcompetent performance, such as critical thinking or analyticalskills, and described what people bring to the job. However, inrecent years, there has been growing awareness that jobperformance requires a mix of behaviour, attitude and actionand hence the two terms are now more often usedinterchangeably. Source: CIPD

Competency FrameworkA ‘competency framework’ is a structure thatsets out and defines each individual competency(such as problem-solving or peoplemanagement) required by individuals working inan organisation or part of an organisation. Source: CIPD

Components of a Competency FrameworkA competency framework consists of Behavioural indicators, Competencies and Competency clusters.Behavioural Indicators:These are examples of behaviours that would be observed when someone demonstrates competence. Theyare the building blocks of the competency framework. For example behavioural indicators for the competency“Teamwork Work and Collaboration” are:Identifies when team members need support and provide it.Shares knowledge and information willingly with others.Collaborates effectively in meetings and informal interactions.A Competency:This is a set of behaviours, which demonstrates that a person has the abilities, knowledge, skills and personalattributes to do the job competently.The best way to describe competencies is to use behavioural language that describes the actions needed toachieve the organisation’s goals. For example the competency “Teamwork” is described as “Works with othersto cooperatively accomplish objectives”.Competency Clusters:These are individual competencies that are grouped into competency clusters. For example the competency“Teamwork” forms part of the competency cluster “Working With Others”. Other competencies that wouldform part of this cluster are, “Influencing and Persuading”, “Building Relationships”, “Managing Others”, etc. Source: AssessSystems

Progression in CompetencyProgression in competency depends on thefollowing:•Scope•Context•Autonomy

Competency Mastery Levels

Configuration of Mastery LevelsSize of Mastery Levels depends on the following:•Organisational Structure•Hierarchical Layer Variance•Organisational Dynamics PhilosophyProgress from one Mastery Level to another ischaracterised by calibrated increase inproficiency which synchronises withperformance requirement at that level foreffective contribution to business goals.

Using Competency FrameworkLearning and Development Programmes can bedeveloped as targeted intervention models foreach competency mastery level. This enablesappropriate effectuation of Learning andDevelopment Programmes by linking its outputto the required results that are akin to businessgoals.

Strategic Alignment: The ResultStrategic Alignment of Learning andDevelopment Programmes to Corporate Goalsby means of Competency Mastery Levelsymbolises the activity stream of StrategicBusiness Partnership in that section of HRFunction.

What does integration of training allow? It provides employees with the tools they need to succeed as employees It provides managers with the tools they need to succeed as mangers: train employees so they are at the level they need to be Taking this another step further: the training enables managers and employees to take ownership of this process Adding value: Setting the organization up for success by creating an environment where competency expectations are visible to all organizational members and organizational structures are in place to achieve desired performance levels Source: Olson, Mihalevsky & Letourneau, Becoming a Strategic Business Partner

Provision of ValueThis is the essence of presence in the valuechain of an organisation. Inability to provideminimal value is tantamount to muda andunjustified existence.

HR Value vs. Business GoalContemporary HR Value had been self-centredand somewhat disconnected from business goalorientated perspective. That’s why such outputis not identified as ‘value adding result’ incorporate strategic outlay.

What is Value?It’s an ascribed attribute which is based onperceived benefits, cost, price and comparativeimportance.

“Nothing is more useful than water; but it willpurchase scarce anything; scarce anything canbe had in exchange for it. A diamond, on thecontrary, has scarce any value in use; but a verygreat quantity of other goods may frequently behad in exchange for it.” - Adam Smith

According to James and Mona Fitzsimmons, thevalue equation should be as stated below.Value = (Results Produced) + (Process Quality) (Price) + (Cost of Acquiring the Service)

Identity of Results ProducedResults Produced should be within the contextof the receiver’s stance and not the perceptionof producer. HR must identify its service value interms of relative worth to the receiver.The right sets of results that are unique,influential and conspicuous constitutecompetitive advantage.

ExerciseWhich of these characterise the best available valueproposition?A.Out of 100 features only 70 are useful to businessgoals.B.Out of 50 features only 40 are useful to businessgoalsC.Out of 25 features only 10 are useful to businessgoalsD.Out of 20 features only 13 are useful to businessgoals

HR Value Proposition

Structuring HR Value PropositionThe structure of HR Value Proposition should berobust enough to symbolise real provisioning foreach of its stakeholders.It can be commonsensical confining HR exertionto Shareholders, Customers and Employees dueto the ease of identifying economic connotationtherefrom. HR needs to realise the full impact ofincluding External Community and Governmentin its Value Proposition Target.

ExerciseHow does Learning and Development Valuegenerated by HR influence each of the followingstakeholders?•Shareholders•Employees•Customers•Government•External Community

Dr Elijah Ezendu is award-winning business expert and certified management consultantwith expertise in HR, OD, Competitive Intelligence, Strategy, Restructuring, BusinessDevelopment, Sales & Marketing, Business Turnaround & Interim Management, Leadership,ADR, Project & Programmes Management, Cost Management, Outsourcing, Franchising,Internal Control, Intellectual Capital, Online Business, Social Media, Software Architecture,Cloud Computing, eLearning, Business & Tech Integration, Social Impact Analysis, andInternational Business. He holds proprietary rights of schematic methods in HR, Strategy,Competitive Intelligence, Business Model, Business Development, Negotiation, CSR, SocialHR, and Social Media. He is currently Chief Executive Officer, Rubiini, UAE. He functioned asSenior Partner, Shevach Consulting, Nigeria; Lead Assessor and Member of GoverningCouncil, Institute of Management Consultants, Nigeria; Lead Resource, Center forCompetitive Intelligence Development; Lead Consultant, JK Michaels; Technical Director,Gestalt; Chief Operating Officer, Rohan Group; Director, Fortuna, Gambia; Director ofProgrammes, Institute of Business Development, Nigeria; Member of TDD Committee,International Association of Software Architects, USA; Member of Strategic Planning andImplementation Committee, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria;Adjunct Faculty, Regent Business School, South Africa; Adjunct Faculty, Ladoke AkintolaUniversity of Technology, Nigeria. He holds Doctoral Degree in Management, Master ofBusiness Administration and stands as Fellow of several professional institutes in NorthAmerica, UK & Nigeria. He is an author and world-class speaker who has featured in manyworkshops & conferences. His ancillary services included council member of professionalinstitutes, editor-in-chief of journals, and Board Member of some Foundations. He serves asAdjunct Faculty of Business Schools in addition to Director of Firms.

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The Strategic Business Partner

by Elijah Ezendu

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