I recently did a search on the internet, to understand what are the top HR topics that are being researched or looked at by people in the industry. It makes for fascinating reading. Some of the items searched are about building teams through team effectiveness, how to build effective appreciation models for employees, or dealing with bad bosses. Issues such as helping and working with millennials, health care options, and wellness models come up regularly too. A favorite topic, of course, is whether or not performance review processes are good, or bad or should be implemented or removed. The favorite for me was the one that says, "How to get an employer to fall in love with you!" Well, I think as an HR person, that's probably a bit of a stretch! My guess is that for an HR professional, this is not going to happen easily. Perhaps it is more of a question to get an employer to fully respect you, your position and the things that you are required to do. But the one thing that is completely missing for me in all these searches is - how does HR add value to the bottom line? What are the impactful things HR can do to move the business forward and help future proof the organization in times of increasing change and uncertainty. I think, first of all, HR professionals and HR leaders need to take their teams from transactional thinking into strategic thinking. A lot of the times HR people are stuck in transactional work and they rarely have an opportunity to think about strategic HR. Whilst it is undeniable that HR has a seat at the table, the bigger question is – how do you use that seat and innovate HR? Using your seat to add to the bottom line and to add real value to the business. To implement techniques, processes and structure to help the organization think differently, and to come up with innovative and creative ideas and alternatives to move the business forward. It is when HR professionals move outside of their comfort zone, out of transactional work, into strategic and value add work, that they experience a far more fulfilling and aspirational career. It's almost like being a passenger on a plane and moving from the passenger seat, into the pilot seat. To take control of your HR function and move it forward.

1. INNOVATE HR
Transforming your team from
transactional to strategic HR
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

2. AN EXECUTABLE PLAN TO
DEVELOP:
• A sense of common purpose
• Ownership for execution, day to day
operations and business results
• A commitment to move from tactical
execution to strategic leadership
• A culture of accountability and responsibility
• Clarity on key priorities and a robust
governance process
• An effective functioning HR team
© Anton van der Walt
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

3. 3
INITIATING INNOVATION IN HR
Is the overall engagement from the entire team
to develop creative ideas, understand the
environment, set priorities and hold the team
accountable for delivery.
In addition, it gives the leadership the
responsibility to provide tools and processes
required for transformation and execution
3AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

4. THE BURNING PLATFORM
4
HR’s value and efficacy is a favorite topic of debate in
business. Complaints about HR include things from
weak, reactive business partnering to poor talent
recruitment and development, from time-wasting
processes to incomprehensible communications.
Human capital, not financial capital, is today’s scarcest
resource. It can be measured in three ways:
• Time. The hours that employees put into their jobs
• Talent. The skills, capabilities, and ingenuity they bring to
their work
• Energy. The level of engagement, passion, and focus they
apply to their work
Eric Garton – Harvard Business Review. January, 2017
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
“

5. THERE ARE TWO REASONS WHY PEOPLE CHANGE:
THEY EITHER SEE THE LIGHT OR THEY FEEL THE
HEAT
5AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

6. AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
ARE YOU delivering transformation through
culture and accountability?
WHAT STOPS YOU from providing a
competitive advantage?
How DO YOU support your organization with
its change efforts?
DO YOU inspire and engage your customers
and your teams?
The impact of HR at a global
level is valued in the billions
of dollars. Leaders must
inspire their teams to be
future-proof in disruptive
industries, and HR can
serve as just such a catalyst.
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

7. AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
HR IS THE
NEW
FRONTIER -
IT IS FEAR OR
FORTUNE

8. 8
BUSINESS REALITY – HR CAN SERVE AS A
CATALYST FOR CHANGE
• Significant cost and market pressure within the business model
• An urgent requirement to deliver results over the short term, and set the business over the
long term
• Biggest barrier to long-term execution is a lack of employee interaction
• Change management has a poor success rate as it typically resides within a few senior
executives, and not spread within the organization
• Executing change management effectively, remains elusive
• Change management and execution often occurs in “silos” within the organization, and the
overall impact is low
• Business models are disrupted by innovation
• Inability to translate strategy into operational mechanisms
• Requirement to develop a culture in the organization that embraces innovation, risks and
commitment – a cohesive high performance delivery culture
Against a background of significant business change, market headwinds, regional
instability, business model disruption and a push to increase market share, businesses are
confronted with a number of realities:
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

9. EXPECT A SHIFT
© Anton van der Walt
9
A key finding in the 2017 PWC Global CEO survey is that CEO’s
think it is the end of HR as we know it. In fact, seven out of 10
CEO’s in Australia and 60% globally agree that they are re-
thinking the HR function.
CEO’s do realize that both the profession and the function has
changed slowly over the last few decades.
There will be a significant level of workplace upheaval ahead and
according to the CEO’s surveyed they see reshaping the HR
function as a way of providing a competitive advantage
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
“

10. AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
IT IS THE
END OF HR
AS WE
KNOW IT

11. A WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE IS A POWERFUL
PART OF SUCCESSFUL SURVIVAL
© Anton van der Walt
11AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

12. 12AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
• Undervalued in the role they perform
• Caught up in silly jobs
• Creator of bureaucracy
• Due to the reactive nature of issues, it is difficult to
get ahead
• Administrator of processes and policies
• Compliance – holder of the mirror
• Responsible for the talent lifecycle and HR cycle
plan
• Accountable for individual, team and
organizational effectiveness and development
• Required to contribute to the bottom line
HR
BUSINESS
REALITIES

13. 13AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
If the impact of HR is valued in the billions of dollars, how
do you get a seat at the table to become part of business
growth and future proof industries?
We could easily underestimate how isolated CEO’s feel in
the Company, and what responsibility they carry. As HR
leaders, we can fill that void and provide them with
perspective. At times, they are confronted with massive
disruption and big impact decisions, and this is where our
real value comes in. HR has a primary role in cultivating
leadership in an unpredictable environment.
GETTING A SEAT AT THE TABLE

14. 14AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
Today’s HR is about future proofing the business.
Having a seat at the table is about strategic business
partnering. Going beyond this is the ability of HR to
provide a competitive advantage, and an ability to
add to the bottom line.
Moving away from positional power, to an HR leader
of influence.
GOING
BEYOND THE
SEAT AT THE
TABLE

15. GROWTH THROUGH TRANSFORMATION
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

16. PROCESS DESIGN FOCUSED
ON:
• Define and set direction
• Define the strategic intent
• Determine high level priorities
• Cross functional accountability
• Actionable outcomes to develop and implement
governance process to deliver priorities
• Enhance team effectiveness
16AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

17. Innovate
FacilitateCollaborate
Creativity Disrupt
Engagement
Transactional
Transform
Strategic
Tactical
Value
Agility
Innovate HR:
from
transactional
to
strategic
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

18. 5 FATAL HR TRANSFORMATIONAL FLAWS
18
Lacking the urgency in implementing the shift from
transactional to strategic HR
1
2
3
4
5
Underestimating the role of Cognitive technologies and
AI in shaping the future of HR
Lack of robust governance process
Inadequate tools and processes to deliver
transformation
Lack of appreciation as to the effort required to
execute the strategy
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

19. 1919AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
But great executives become organization
architects, taking a systemic look at
capabilities — processes, governance, culture,
competencies, technologies — and build them
into the organizational machine expressly
designed for a particular strategy. Research
confirms the importance of this. In successfully
executing companies, 77% effectively translate
their strategy into operational mechanisms and
monitor day-to-day progress.
Ron Carucci, HBR -Nov, 2017
Executives Fail to Execute Strategy Because They’re Too
Internally Focused
“

20. Identify Own Execute
Facilitate
Collaborate
Innovate
Strategy Direction Vision
Gaps Action Decisions
Opportuniti
es
Metrics Priorities
Intent Direction Vision
Gaps Action Decisions
Opportunities Metrics Priorities
TACTICAL
EXECUTION
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

21. 2121AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

22. INNOVATATING HR PROCESS
IS FOCUSED ON:
• Spending the time and energy to creatively
identify and drive alternatives
• Collaboration which drives accountability and
responsibility
• Common priorities – act on maximum impact
and high pay-back strategic actions
• Identification and implementing tools and
processes required to deliver transformation
2222AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

23. 23AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com
CONTRIBUTE
More influence & creativity
Greater connection to the
industry
Contribute to delivering the
bottom line
Valued as a Professional

24. TRANSACTIONAL
WHAT DOES
HR
TRANSFORMATION
LOOK LIKE?
Passive
Skepticism
Reviews
Me
Detached
Denial
Stagnate
STRATEGIC
Action
Confidence
Results
Us
Accountable
Ownership
Growth
24AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com

25. 252525
ABOUT ANTON VAN DER WALT
I have spent the last 20+ years in HR across the globe in China, Middle East,
South Africa, Europe, Australia, and Thailand. My passion is to help inspire
global leaders. I work with senior executives, managers & aspiring leaders to
understand how to use their impact and influence to grow their business. This is
achieved by creating clarity around innovative engagement that moves
employees from being disengaged, to being committed and excited about
innovation and creativity in the business.
My Services include:
• Keynote speaking at conferences and events.
• Mentoring and executive leadership development for CEOs, C-Suite leaders,
HR directors and executive teams.
• Workshops and Leadership programs for mid to senior leaders globally.
My book, Leadership Through My Lens, combines my two passions: leadership
and photography. Through my images, stories and insights, my book inspires
and encourages professionals on their own journeys through leadership and life.
Are you ready to transform your HR Team? Let’s discuss what I can do for you.
AVANTON VAN DER WALTantonvanderwalt.com