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Winning the respect, trust and confidence of line managers and making a differenceAsk many line managers what they think of HR managers and you will get a variety of views from the positive to the most damning.Examples are:- “Excellent. Very professional.”- “Very responsive, supportive and helpful”- “Great if I can ever get hold of them”- “Talk their own language. Not really in touch with the needs of the business. A bit flakey”- “You mean the dead hand of HR!”As the issue of effective HR management has grown in importance over the years so has the need for HR managers to be both responsive and proactive in meeting the needs of their developing organisations.Clearly it’s important that an organisation’s employees are paid on time, they are able to access the benefits they are entitled to and can receive straightforward help and advice from HR when needed.This operational piece of the HR management responsibility needs to be reliable and responsive in every respect. Getting the basics right is all important.So is partnering with line managers in recruitment activities, performance management processes, training and personal development provision. These are all very necessary, core elements of the HR function’s role. Organisation’s have every right to expect that HR managers will be proficient in these areas.But what about gaining the respect, trust and confidence of line managers, over and above these basics? How can HR managers really add value? Here are eight tips.- VisionHR managers need to clearly understand the organisation’s vision and challenge the CEO if it is not clear. They need to create an aligned vision for HR to support the corporate vision.They need to draft a vision, share it with selected line managers, check it, refine it and communicate it both to the HR team and line managers. They need to be clear on HR’s vision for future success, and clear on how it is aligned to the organisation’s overall vision.- ObjectivesHR managers must be clear on their organisation’s objectives. They need to put clear, measurable objectives and milestones to the HR vision. They need to make their objectives concrete, tangible and deliverable with time frames attached.They need to announce them and ‘stick’ to them. They need to communicate their success in achieving them. They need to be seen as “business like”.- StrategyHR managers need to understand their organisation’s strategy. They need to be clear on their HR strategy to deliver their objectives. How will HR be positioned within the organisation as a whole? How will it work alongside the business to deliver the strategy of the business? How will it marry the day to day needs of the business with the longer term development needs?How will it operate with closer external specialists and suppliers? What short, medium and long term plans does it have to really add value to the business?What changes will need to be made to deliver the strategy?HR managers need to answer these questions, share their strategy and plans with the business and their standing will automatically be enhanced!- ResourcesHR is in the business of attracting, acquiring and developing the RIGHT people. HR managers will need to assess the quality of the organisation’s existing people and compare their current capabilities to the capabilities required by the organisation in the future. That’s why they need to understand the organisation’s vision, objectives and strategy so well.They need to compare the current competency framework to a desired competency framework, say three years from now. What will be different in the requirement of the organisation’s people? How will this impact the type of people the organisation will need, where in the business, and when?HR managers need to create a strategic HR development plan to deliver the right people resources to the organisation to meet both its current and future needs. The use of performance management, personal development and capability management systems will help them to do this accurately. They must get transparency of the organisation’s human resources to plan effectively.- StructureHR managers need to structure the HR function in the most appropriate way.They should centralise those activities which are core to the whole business. This will include policy development, recruitment, compensation and benefits, performance management, personal development and disciplinary processes. Many of these are governed by legislation and need to be corporate wide, although there may have to be regional or county variations.HR business managers should be allocated to lines of business to work closely alongside line managers to create and deliver specific interventions to meet their ongoing needs. These people need to be seen as true business partners adding specialist knowledge and skills to line managers. In a sense they are internal consultants clearly understanding the business as well as best practice in HR management and development in the market place.- SystemsHR managers should employ “fit for purpose” systems for both HR management and HR development. This does not mean the most sophisticated, costly and “heavy weight” systems. They should choose systems that can be easily integrated with one another, are customisable and require little management time.Systems need to be user friendly as the trend is for managers to use them to ‘self-serve’ more and more these days.Systems should work together holistically enabling the organisation to obtain transparency of its entire human resource, to enable it to adopt the best people acquisition, retention and development process.- Knowledge and SkillsHR managers need to ensure that they and their team members really understand the business they work for, including its:- Market-place- Customers- Products/ services- Routes to market- Competition- Major commercial challenges- Threats, e.g. legal constraints- Vision, strategy and objectives- Plans for the future – short, medium and long term- Culture and values- Leadership and management style beliefsMany HR managers fall down because they lack essential knowledge of the business and fail to use the language and terminologies which clearly show that they understand the core business and how it works.They should avoid “HR speak” which really turns off line managers. This may be helpful shorthand to HR professionals but it is an anathema for line managers and their staff. HR managers should focus on the objective, tangible, concrete, business related issues not just the softer, behavioural and more subjective issues.They should gain respect for their knowledge of HR issues as well as the tangible issues faced by the business. After all, human resources are just one element of tackling these issues. When handling people related problems HR managers should go back to the vision, objectives and strategy of the business before embarking on solutions.HR managers should expand their knowledge to include strategic thinking, change management, business planning and organisation development. Oh and finally HR managers and their teams need to become very IT savvy! They are usually not!- Leadership and ManagementThe HR manager’s role is to challenge where necessary the behaviours exhibited by managers, who clearly do not ‘walk the talk’. They are to a large extent guardians of the culture and values and need to be seen to be adopting this role.HR managers should ‘educate’ senior line managers on modern management thinking, helping them to move away from a command and control approach to a more collaborative, consensual working style which truly engages and motivates employees at all levels to give of their best.The job of today’s managers is to recognise and release talent at all levels not to overlook it or squash it. Performance management systems, personal development programs and reward systems all need to focus on the behaviors and competence required of managers to imbed the corporate values and culture into the organisation. It is the job of the HR manager to ensure that this happens.So how well have you developed your skills in these eight areas of expertise as an HR manager? Check out how well you are currently doing by using the list below. Tick the box on the left of the statements only if it is TRUE of you.Start each statement with the words “I..Top of FormHave a vision, clearly communicated and accepted, for the role of the HR which is aligned to the corporate vision.Have short term (up to one year), medium term (two to three years) and longer term (over three years) objectives for the HR function.Have a thought through written strategy and plan to deliver my objectives.Am able to assess accurately the organisation’s current HR needs and its future needs, aligning its corporate development plan to strategic HR reviews.Have a structure for my HR team which enables it to play a centralised and decentralised role in the business, catering for its daily operational needs, and its future development needs.Have in place HR management and development systems that are fit for purpose, reliable and user friendly.Am investing in my own and my team’s knowledge and skills in specific areas of HR and wider business related areas.Challenge the behaviours of managers at all levels of the organisation to live out the corporate values, and my performance management and reward systems reinforce the need to walk the talk.Am seen as a respected, knowledgeable professional in whom people can put their trust because they have confidence in me.Continually invest in my own and my team’s personal growth and development.Total Score:
Bottom of FormHow did you score?8-10 – Excellent to very good. You have a few gaps to fill.5 to 8 – Very good to fair. You have quite a few gaps to fill.0 to 5 – Not so good. If you believe in the points made in this article you have some way to go!You could say that these are the basics. Getting them right will in itself enhance the HR manager’s standing and reputation. However there are also issues to consider.These include:- Being emotionally intelligent- Being ‘politically’ savvy- Exercising critical judgement- Influencing without authority- Being a catalyst for change- Having personal credibility- Being culturally aware- Conflict resolution skills- Team building skills- Managing upwards and managing peersPlus a host of other soft skills!

When Dave Brubeck wrote Take Five, Columbia Records were not impressed and initially blocked its release. The song went on to become the first million-selling ‘jazz’ record and stayed in the charts for 15 weeks, possibly the only hit in a 5/4 time signature. The prime number 5 has a long history of significance; described by Pythagoras as “the number of man” due to the human being having five main senses, five main organs and five digits on each arm and limb.But the significance of five doesn’t stop there. There are the Five Classical Elements, the Five Basic Directions of Orientation, the Five Life Stages, the Five Oceans, the Five Virtues, the Five Stages of Spiritual Growth, the Five Buddhist Precepts and Stages of Meditation and the Five vows of Jainism – even The Ten Commandments were said to be presented to Moses in two stones of five. The Bahai scriptures talk of the Five Prophets, there are the Five Books of the Old Testament and there are of five lines in the musical stave.So in keeping with tradition the number 5 can be used to cover the following aspects of a business:The 5 components (of a business management system)
The 5 conversations (of a business manager)
The 5 characteristics (of a business)Let’s look at these groups in turn.The 5 key components of an integrated business management system:
QMS quality management system
FMS financial management system
CSR corporate social responsibility (profile)
ISMS information security management system
PMS performance management systemBuilding a QMS using the traditional principles of quality management ensures that the system is centred round the market it operates in and facilitates a culture of continual improvement. Once this is embedded, an organisation can apply for an ISO 9001 quality certificate should they want to.Building an ISMS using the key principles of information security ensures that the system is designed to protect the organisation’s “CIA” – the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information – and doing that engenders ‘a culture of privacy’. Once this is embedded, an organisation can apply for an ISO 27001 certificate to add further steel to its tender process.A robust FMS is imperative of course, but one that not only covers the fundamentals such as payroll and invoicing but that also facilitates accurate reporting, analysis and forecasting. Finance managers with a broader business understanding – i.e. quality and operations management – tend to have more of an impact in the organisation.A PMS underpins the other components by incorporating a competency framework, productive appraisals, 360 degree feedback and ‘a coaching style of leadership’ amongst department heads. Social Responsibility doesn’t need to be created or established for it already exists in the hearts of every member of staff looking for meaning in their jobs and for a way to make a positive contribution. This just needs to be realised and encouraged.CSR (ISO 26000) covers ethical business practices, contributions to community projects, the reduction of environmental impacts (ISO 14001), the management of health and safety (BS OHSAS 18001), and other causes that organisation wants to sponsor or get involved in. The aim is to get each component to harmonise and become fully integrated for maximum efficiency and so that there can be mutual learning from each component.The 5 characteristics of a business:
If you go to a football match there is always a supporter who, in spite of watching the game for 60 minutes will lose track and ask “what’s the score?”. Similarly, you can run a company for a few years and easily lose track of where you are and where it is you are trying to go. Many companies conduct a self-assessment or audit to ‘put a stake in the ground’ and gauge where they are in terms of both business and quality management. The SCORE self-assessment tool is divided into the following categories:Service – this category looks at the overall level of service perceived by the customer through the various access channels – i.e. the business website, the company switchboard, the complaints department and the various social media platforms. These interfaces can often provide the customer with an instant perception of how an organisation conducts its business, even if it does not represent the full picture.Communication – this is specifically about the quality of conversations across the organisation – i.e. the way internal meetings are conducted, the way messages are communicated to staff, building relationships with suppliers, understanding the customer to effectively determine their needs and keeping in touch with all relevant parties during the relevant life stages of a project or sale.Output – this is the end product (or ‘specific service’) provided to the client this is what ultimately determines whether the customer’s needs have been met – it could be a car, a bottle of wine, a book, a data report, property, technical repairs, a maintenance contract etc. Two critical procedures must be in place: verification (checking that the output meets the input – i.e. the initial request or specifications) and validation (checking that the output is fit for purpose – i.e. does what the customers wants it to do.Recruitment & Retention – this is about accurately identifying the type of staff required and the competencies they should have; an effective screening process that gets the right people in the right positions is essential and then following up with an on-going learning and development programme that keeps motivation levels up can be a deal-breaker in terms of sustained performance. As inappropriate leadership can chip away at the loyalty of talented people, department heads need the right kind of training before their direct reports become examples of bad management stories they tell later in their career.Environment – this is about the infrastructure of the organisation – i.e. the performance of tools & equipment, IT systems, software etc.; it is also about the daily working environment – i.e. safe and tidy work areas, appropriate temperature levels and orderly filing systems. Humans not happy in their environment rarely work to their potential.The 5 conversations of a business manager:
Customer (determining their needs and making sure their needs are met)
Learning (coaching, training and mentoring staff)
Auditing (‘improvement conversations’ that check on quality levels)
Strategic (short and long term planning)
Supplier (evaluating, selecting and monitoring)When we talk about ISO and ‘systems’ we run the risk of alienating people and turning business and quality management into a world full of rules and documentation. But ISO has changed a lot since the last quarter of the twentieth century, is now lighter in documentation and has a new focus on effective communication. Management for me is a series of effective conversations and the more productive that each conversation is the more productive the organisation will be. These conversations form into the above groups.Conversations with customers begin with an accurate determination of their needs and their expectations and then to ensure that they are kept informed throughout the process so that their initial needs and expectations are ultimately met and hopefully exceeded.Conversations with suppliers should start with the intention of generating something that is ‘mutually beneficial’ (one of the core quality management principles). From the customer’s point of view this should incorporate evaluation, selection and monitoring to ensure that the supplier delivers something that supports the requirements of the end client.For the business to become ‘a learning organisation’ it needs to hold meaningful and Learning conversations with staff by choosing the appropriate intervention; training (the passing of specific skills), mentoring (guidance from an experienced colleague) or coaching (facilitation with a view to greater levels of empowerment and accountability).The organisation can also learn through its internal (and external) auditing programmes and should view these audits as Improvement conversations. Auditors can become the organisation’s best friends by not only uncovering serious issues but by helping to determine the root causes of problems so that their recurrence can be prevented.Strategic conversations are the conversations that define an organisation. If meetings amongst top management are allowed to become perfunctory and superficial reviews of meaningless data, opportunities to have creative and enterprising discussions can be lost. Sometimes quality needs to be ‘sold’ again to employees.In order to fully understand customer satisfaction, management can hold meaningful conversations about quality and ask employees what quality means to them; what brands they admire and how they want to feel as customers so that they can be inspired to deliver that same service back to the customers they serve.This is how organisations can enhance quality through the energy of conversation and through fostering a culture of social responsibility can bring quality to life in more ways than one.