1. Why is investment in HR not
delivering its potential ROI ?
Chris Roebuck, Visiting Professor of Transformational
Leadership, Cass Business School, London

2. Critical questions
Why has the great strategic and operational work that
HR delivered not delivered the benefit it could have ?
How can we make sure it does ?
And get HR the credibility it deserves ?

3. 2004 – the moment of truth !
4
HR CAN ONLY
ENABLE
SUCCESS
THROUGH
OTHERS

4. HR is at a critical moment
• + CEOs /Boards now accept importance of HCM
• + Capability in HR is growing
• + HR is getting better at strategic interventions
• - Change has been forced on organisations by
market and economics.
• - Internally organisations have not changed enough
• - Finance sees itself as a change driver

5. 55% :
more work
than time
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED

6. 40%
SKILLS

7. CULTURE

8. 60% want to give their best
42% say the organisation
STOPS them.

9. 40% my
boss is
not
good

10. workplace pressure led to bad
behaviour with friends & family
59%

11. LEADERS
MUST
CHANGE
BUT NEED
HR HELP
TO DO IT

12. IMAGINE ...

13. MOTIVATED
INSPIRED
BEST BOSS

14. You having a
BEST BOSS
and being a
BEST BOSS
or INFLUENCER

15. Everyone
is a leader
of others

16. Emotion is key
• Decision to give high performance is 57% rational / 43% emotional
• Line manager accounts for 80% of the emotional !

17. IN ONLY 2 STEPS

18. Inspiring & enabling
best performance :

19. BELIEF
20
FAIRNESS

20. SIGNIFICANT
PROVEN
30% more effort from
60% of people
Asking me for my ideas Was fair Led by example Was honest
Acted with integrity Respected me as a person & professional
Praised and encouraged me Backed me up when required Listened to me
Backed me up when required Empowered me and let me get on with things Inspired me
Made me part of a mutually supportive team Developed my skills and my career
Showed they cared Didn’t blame me for genuine mistakes Set realistic but challenging targets
Kept me informed about what’s going on Explained how we fitted into the bigger picture

21. Then focus that on
what REALLY MATTERSPURPOSE
CONTEXT
COLLABORATION
“ITS ABOUT ‘WE’ NOT ‘ME’ !”

22. ONLY HR
CAN LEAD THIS
TRANSFORMATION
23

23. Key ideas
• No matter how good :
– The strategic and operational HR work
– The Board buy in
– The volume of downward communication
• It’s line manager skills and behaviour that delivers :
– Financial performance
– Customer service
– Risk management
– Brand image
– Cost efficiency
– Innovation
– Constant change and improvement

24. 25
“Why should people care about you or
the organisation or its customers if
YOU and the ORGANISATION don’t
show them you care about them ?”

25. 26