Beyond compliance: the role of HR in driving business performance
Guest speaker: Ian Turner, Global Learning & Development Business Partner from Specsavers Optical Group
Ian Turner has over twenty-five years’ experience in retail operations as well as learning and development. Ian has worked across several large national and international blue-chip organisations working as a leader, trainer, facilitator, coach and passionate advocate of the 70-20-10 model, creating innovative blended learning solutions to drive individual or team capability and business performance. Most recently Ian has worked with the Specsavers HR Team to support the development of the HR Business Partner role to deliver key strategic business goals. When not involved with learning and development you will find Ian working on his second passion, that is, restoring classic British and Japanese motorcycles of the 60's and 70's.
6. High Performing Team Culture…
Flexible
Choose when and where
Mobile
Rethink “Presenteeism”
Trusted
Assume productivity
Results
Focused
Aligned
Share process, share
purpose
Transparent
Honesty drives Trust
Realistic
Workloads are Sustainable
Personal
Connection builds Loyalty
Well-Rounded
Time Off is Respected
Risk Takers
Try another way
7.
8. How do we support Culture Change…
• Start the culture conversation at all levels.
• Develop a business case for cultural change.
• Work with the senior leadership team to determine
the desired culture.
• Develop an agenda or action plan for enhancing
the culture or bringing about change.
• Communicate what needs to change and why.
9. How do we support Culture Change…
• Change the organisational structure to enable change.
• Acquire talent based on cultural fit.
• Redesign your on-boarding process.
• Involve everyone.
• Create cultural messages.
• Build an internal brand that supports the external
brand.
10. How do we support Culture Change…
• Recognise and reward results.
• Cultivate leaders who promote your culture.
• Make it interesting and fun.
• Annual Benefits Statement
• Learning & Development
• Performance Reviews
• Talent Management & Planning
• Use HR Tools:
Editor's Notes
So why did I tell you about “who” I worked with? They were the FACE OF THE COMPANY, they created it’s culture, they were leaders who had a direct positive influence on the business, my performance and my commitment to that business. They are people I aspired to be more like, they are the people who entrusted me with more than I thought I could be, they are the people who inspired me, gave me the freedom to make my own choices and mistakes… They believed in me and showed it through their actions, behaviours, support and challenge.
What made the difference in these businesses? The LEADERS – They created the Values and Culture that I wanted to be part of, to be the very best version of myself.
These LEADERS created the Values and the Culture of the business, including:
- Demonstrating Integrity – Openness, honesty and transparency, all demonstrating Trust
- Motivating others to believe in themselves and the purpose of their role within the business
- Rewarded others with praise, promotion or their own advice and experience
- Provided responsibility to others with a strong “safety net” should it be required
- Showed and expected respect to all, no matter where they performed in the business
- Shared knowledge and experience readily to improve others and themselves, they were open to new ideas and ways of working
- The looked for opportunities to collaborate, cooperate, synergise and deliver through their people, not for themselves.
Share of some Facts and Figures around the importance of CULTURE in a business. Where HR need to help businesses build better CULTURES to improve the employee experience.
84% of Employees say that EMGAGEMENT and MOTIVATION are the top factors that contribute to business success – (Highly engaged employees deliver 4X Revenue growth in their businesses)
88% of Employees believe a DISTINCT WORKPLACE CULTURE is important to business success
Happy employees deliver +31% Productivity, +3X Creativity and +37% in Sales
Reference – Visa Business
Over the past few years, the HR profession has been on the receiving end of criticism and outright bashing that caused us to find metrics and measurements to justify our existence, to reposition HR departments as a profit centre, to establish employee self-service centres, use technology and outsourcing to reduce costs, and to re-brand the function as strategic versus tactical. Many CEOs now rank HR as one of the functions that adds the most value to their organisation.
People issues, such as finding and keeping the right talent and building a high-performance culture, are at the top of the corporate strategic agenda as keys to sustainable competitive advantage. When HR can be sure the right talent is available and ready at the right time, and be part of driving a culture that leads to high performance, the consequential relationship with the organisation and senior leaders is one of importance.
A proven method for elevating the HR role is for HR to become the change agent for creating a high-performance culture. Under this scenario, the HR agenda is crafted to build organisational capability and to drive business performance leading to results. The outcome of this approach is a new way of looking at HR programming and people practices. Organisations that have adopted this approach have adopted balanced scorecards or other metrics to assure that managers are more involved in performance management and accountable for productivity.
HR provides the tools that focus on measuring and rewarding the desired outcomes. Performance, execution and delivering results permeate the organisation. There are clear rewards for high levels of performance, and consequences if results are not delivered. HR takes on a high impact role in the organisation, because it is viewed as the driver of the high-performance culture and has a visible impact on overall capability of the people in the organisation. HR’s primary focus in this environment is talent and leadership acquisition and development.
Clear expectations are set for excellence in the leadership team and a consistency in how leaders function and take responsibility for results that transcend all lines of business. HR is part of the leadership team at all levels, focusing on business priorities, rather than just people issues. When this is working, the entire enterprise sees the importance of people and leadership and HR becomes a contributor at a much higher level and with much more influence.
ACTIVITY SESSION:
In small groups select one of the Topic areas listed on the Slide and discuss what it is that a modern HR Function would be doing / is doing to support the creation of a High Performance Culture in the business.
What actions are being taken?
Who is involved?
How is it being measured?
What policies or processes are having to be re-engineered?
How is HR making a difference?
5 – 10 Minutes Group Discussion – 15 Plenary Feedback & Share of Ideas / Best Practice
Start the culture conversation at all levels.
One way to accomplish this is to conduct a cultural assessment or audit of your organisation through employee surveys, focus groups or interviews. Review your organisational history, leadership styles, HR programming and industry practices to determine what currently drives and reinforces the culture. Finally, what is your customer experience? What cultural elements are obvious to customers? Is culture aligned with business strategy? Where are the disconnects? What needs to change? This can be the basis for healthy discussion at team meetings and employee chat sessions.
Develop a business case for cultural change.
Why is the change needed? How will desired changes in culture support the business strategy?
Work with the senior leadership team to determine the desired culture.
Core values, desired behaviours and shared vision are essential for a positive culture change effort to succeed. Every leader must embrace the need to change, or it won’t happen. Senior leaders must make new behaviours their way of life to reinforce desired change.
Develop an agenda or action plan for enhancing the culture or bringing about change.
Start with the highest priorities and work on the toughest issues. For your culture to become self-replicating, the way things are done will have to reinforce the core values and the culture.
Communicate what needs to change and why.
Solicit input from people. Once the needed changes and process for change is defined, tell people what is expected. What are the rewards for changing, and the consequences for more of the same.
Change the organisational structure to enable change.
Find new ways to accomplish work tasks. Use teams for one-time projects. Broaden roles and responsibilities.
Acquire talent based on cultural fit.
Identify the characteristics of people who exhibit those behaviours that you’ve identified as desirable. The people who fit and thrive in your culture will perpetuate that culture in everything they do. If you have to choose between the candidate who has better skills or knowledge but doesn’t fit, and a candidate who is slightly less qualified but fits culturally, choose the slightly less qualified person and provide the necessary training or on-the-job experience. Get rid of those who don’t fit in the culture.
Redesign your on-boarding process.
Make sure that every new hire knows what it will take to fit in, and understands the cultural imperatives. Talk about the ways of working that lead to success and those that will derail careers. Create legendary stories of successes and failures.
Create cultural messages.
Be sure that every meeting, every training program, every communication to people includes cultural messaging and reinforces the values, mission, traditions and practices.
Involve everyone.
Some organisations, such as in my own experience in Specsavers, has a culture committee, but there are many ways to get people involved. Try focus groups around topics. Form cross functional teams. Call random groups of employees together for monthly breakfast or lunch meetings. Engage the help and support of a group of passionate, committed people to identify cultural disconnects and recommend remedies. Ours is called “On The Soap Box”
Build an internal brand that supports the external brand.
Make a promise to deliver a consistent employee experience. Be sure that your employees know the differentiating elements in their experience in the organisation that will enhance their work lives and careers. Begin to create an employer of choice reputation internally and externally.
Recognise and reward results.
Your recognition and rewards should support the culture that you are working to reinforce.
Cultivate leaders who promote your culture.
Develop excellent leaders who will propel the culture down the ranks. Identify high potential leaders and promote them. Invest in leadership development programs. Be sure content reinforces cultural messages. Keep the good ones, and get rid of those who are unable to pass the culture on.
Make it interesting and fun.
Create contests, activities that enhance the culture. Decorate the office in inspiring ways. Celebrations and events can reinforce the message.
Use HR tools.
Something as mundane as the annual benefits enrolment can be a source of key cultural messages. Every training experience should reinforce the basic behaviours and values that reinforce the culture. Performance review forms should measure cultural fit, as well as, job performance.