The evolving expectation map between the CEO & CHRO

Since the invention of limited liability companies in the world of modern business in 1811 AD, corporates have contributed to the evolution of societies across the globe disproportionate to their 200 years of existence. Trade and business existed in various forms since the beginning of the organized civilizations. Influence of modern corporates is enormous due to their ability to cause continuous disruption and adaptability to change. These organizations by nature keep re-defining their act to stay ahead in the game. The rate of acceleration keeps increasing with changing stakeholders’ expectations and emerging societal values. It also means continuous internal churn to remain contemporary and relevant. In corporate organizations, (apart from others) key influencing human factors in competitive landscape are workplace culture and the work-methods, which leaders keep sharpening to succeed. 

In competitive environments, CEO's expectation from HR leaders is beyond transactional efficiency and engagement indices

In free markets, open access to finance, technology, and materials has led to resource equalization amongst competing firms and true differentiators are limited to human resources and Innovation. Supremacy of resource-driven business model is being challenged through the application of ingenuity and innovation in every sphere. In competitive environments, CEO’s expectation from HR leaders is beyond the transactional efficiency and engagement indices. Delivery on established matrices is done and dusted every cycle. Application and use of technology are immensely helping HR to progressively improve efficiency parameters which are baseline expectations. While these are almost like hygiene, their absence or shortfall disrupts the flow and hence these parameters remain important in the eyes of employees, managers, leaders. 

Expectation map of leadership team and CEOs in organization’s growth journey has moved to the strategic level in terms of HR’s participation and contribution in solving complex problems and bring creative solutions which help to keep re-inventing the organization. Organizations of the past built on sound business models professed and perpetrated stability, continuity, and reliability as key ingredients of success, which also shaped the evolution of people management practices. Evolution of permanent employment format evolved from this paradigm. Stability, Continuity, and Growth remain important premises of corporate career which infuse permanence and security. In changed VUCA environment, a vital paradox for HR is to design temporariness within permanence. HR Systems like organization structure and design, stable employment terms, benefits structure, succession management, capability building etc. are devised to ensure assurance, security, and reliability into the ecosystem. Individual mind cluttered and occupied with insecurity and uncertainty about career and life can’t make a meaningful contribution. Leaders understand it well and hence promote features of security and permanence as part of organizational culture. However, the evolving business environment through continuous disruptions demands the ability to design, inculcate and manage temporariness. This has become a critical conundrum and its intensity is rising incessantly. Issues related to building focused capabilities of the workforce for today, tomorrow and day after (with change dimensions factored in to navigate the change of course), managing redundancies at lowest human cost, instilling a mindset change in the workforce which anticipates and manages change are key outcomes that CEO expects HR to own, partner and manage. Most of the sound business models of yesteryears are facing challenges due to changing expectations, business environment or disruption. Set of challenges for Incumbents vs. Unicorns are different with common existential intensity. 

By nature, HR leaders take pride in focusing on long-term issues of institution building, shaping desired culture, building great employer brands, the design of systems which fosters learning and institutional knowledge, building capabilities ahead of requirement etc. While these are essential tracks to pursue long-term success and perpetuity, CEO and leadership team is equally responsible to manage current results and stakeholder expectations. The trade-off between current vs. future is often in terms of focus and resource allocation. Even if these are pursued with conviction, the lag between efforts and results is long and patience gets tested. Trade off also comes up in the form of adopting measures to ensure today’s success at the cost of long-term future thereby postponing the problems. HR leaders who take the role of conscience keepers often find it difficult to come to terms with such trade-off due to a lesser appreciation of the pulls and pressures being faced by incumbents in managing expectations of the day.

These are some of the critical paradoxes of modern corporates where the choices are not either-or, but all together at the same time. Era of simple choices in a monopoly or near-monopoly conditions is over long ago. Digital blitz is impacting decision-making and ways of working like never before. HR needs to redefine its core proposition and competencies in managing the new. While delivery orientation needs to be retained and continuously enhanced, contribution to the organization as a business function by influencing the talent agenda needs to be scaled-up. Talent being the only and true differentiator in competitive success presents great opportunities for HR to design solutions and offerings which are beyond transactional delivery. This is equally true for problems related to managing scale, complexities or both. Quite often, process orientation or adhering to known ways of solutions come in the way of application of creativity, and ingenuity in designing solutions. Instead of generalizing talent into broad segments, a granular understanding of capabilities, drivers, and derailers (of individuals at n=1) often helps get right answers to the problems. Inclusion or exclusion of every person makes a difference and team dynamics undergo change with a change in the composition of the members (and the manager/leader). A systemic approach to define, capture, store and use granular talent information helps maximize talent returns. Digital technology and its customized applications have made it possible to pursue such individualized approach to managing talent in large organizations. This will complement HR’s classic ability of having a nose for talent which is partly based on intuition and partly on perception. The progressive digital invasion will put increasing levels of demands for data-driven decisions in people management practices.

Tough competitive business environments need appropriate means and measures to manage organization and people. Competitive individuals and teams are better equipped to manage market dynamics than otherwise. Internal competition is encouraged in competitive firms without competitiveness becoming dysfunctional. The tasks and problems have become so complex that collaboration of individuals and teams is an absolute imperative. No single person has an entire solution and no individual can win alone. Talent is hired in the organization for a specific purpose and the purpose of every role is important in overall schema of the organizations’ purpose. It requires a new structured approach to manage both competition and collaboration at the same time. Managing sub-optimal performance of individuals (and teams) with enablement (as needed) is as important as celebrating great performance by great individuals. Performance and Rewards systems need to be tweaked to differentiate the play of competition and collaboration with clarity so that organization does not get victimized by concoction. Rational and fair systems of efforts-outcomes-impact will help uplift the organization’s internal standards of strive. Building autonomy in work systems which unlocks the creative energy of the workforce is imperative for all organizations for game-changing innovations or for step changes.

Progressive organizations do not wait for any specific individual or function to address the critical business imperatives

CEOs understand these needs – intuitively or through systematic analysis – at different stage of the organization journey and expect HR to proactively own and manage these imperatives. Since every individual is unique (and so are CEOs) and they are wired differently, these expectations are expressed in varying forms – vocally or otherwise. The buck stops at CEO and (s)he does not have any further layer to pass it on. Progressive organizations do not wait too long for any specific individual or function to address the critical business imperatives. When HR understands these strategic needs with clarity — plans and delivers with precision through creative application of science and art of managing people, it takes a strategic position and rises above the transactional role. When the void is created due to inaction (or due to any other reason), it’s filled by others.