Contrarian Thinking

Lets approach the age old issue from a different angle, says Uzair Hassan, 3H Solutions, Dubai.

OPINION PIECE

Uzair Hassan, 3H Solutions, Dubai.

6/6/20262 min read

Over the years we have all heard about HR wanting a seat at the table. Trying to be part of the solution. Part of the strategic team. Isn’t it time that the C Suite started looking at why?

HR is heavily involved with virtually the entire employee life cycle. From the initial hiring to salaries & perks, bonuses and promotions and the career ladder so to speak. Apart from that the management of career development, employee relations, employee experience, retention, recognition & rewards, stay & exit interviews, culture building, performance management, leadership development, legal and compliance etc. etc. all fall under their purview.

If the C suite actually believes that their people are their biggest assets, and HR is governing, regulating and managing this coveted asset, then it is safe to say that HR does not need to prove anything. They should automatically be on the table.

So the ask is not a stretch. It is abundantly clear that HR needs to be at the table to ensure their biggest asset is taken care of. Apart from the strategic direction the organization may be taking that would again be supported by taking on the right people to ensure strategies are successfully managed.

Contrarian narratives are not far and few in between. They are just hard to find given that they are not easily accepted, shot down or pushed aside as chronicles of machinations to achieve a goal.

For far too long HR has pushed this idea that they need to be at the table to ensure the right amount of support at the right time is available for corporate strategies to succeed. The pushback, the stonewalling and bureaucratic drag has been unprecedented. Organizational inertia followed and nothing ever happened.

Maybe its time the C Suite flips the switch. They start to question why this blockade began, and why it still exists. Do they not believe that their greatest resource is their people? Do they feel HR does not add value as HR purportedly suggests? Do they think bringing HR in at a later stage is sufficient? Do they believe HR lacks commercial thinking and brings in far too much of processes? Do they feel HR does not have measurable influence on execution, growth, performance?

Whatever their reasons, a clear-headed strategy is the need of the day. Not from HR, but from the C Suite. The reversal has to take place. The switch, the pivot, the shift, needs to happen, but, this time, from the C Suite side. They need to ask themselves if this unwarranted stonewalling is hurting the organization or adding value? Clearly, HR at the table is not hurting anyone. At the very least, it surely adds value in terms of clarity on corporate strategy, being there at the inception of plans. Providing support on people challenges etc.

For many executives, HR remains an administrative support function. A cost centre.

HR does shirk hard commercial conversations, hiding behind policies, empathy, soft power. What would work in their favor would be to become commercially fluent, solve business challenges, tie people strategy directly to business performance.

C suite needs to revisit their posture on HR being allowed a seat at the table. They need to ask themselves if they can scale their business, retain employees, create robust cultures and ensure business performance is supported by their people, without HR?

The answer should provide them a clear roadmap for possible next steps. Whatever direction that may be in.

Uzair Hassan, CEO, Three H Solutions

Uzair.hassan@3hsolutions.biz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/uzair-hassan-6451024/