How HR can get a seat on the Board

How HR Can Get A Seat On The BoardSunday 3 May 2015, 16:30 – 17:30 (UAE Time)

WEBINAR WILL START SHORTLY

Presenter – Tom Raftery

About the HR Observer

• The HR Observer is an initiative by IIR Middle East aimed at becoming a platform for HR professionals in the Middle East to exchange insights and expertise, both online and offline, in an effort to take the industry forward.

• The initiative features a blog, LinkedIn group, Twitterfeed, online webinars and a series of offline informal networking functions.

Housekeeping

• You can type your questions throughout the session

• Time will be allocated in the end for the speaker to address your questions

• Unanswered questions will be posted with answers to our blog

• Slides will be available on our Slide Share page, link will be emailed to you

• Recording of the webinar will be available to download, link will be emailed

• Take the time to complete post-webinar survey that will pop up at the end

Today’s PresenterTom is the founder and director of – it’s all about people – a Human Capital Consultancy based in Dubai. Tom has over 30 years’ international HR experience in senior line roles, mostly recently on the divisional board of Arc International, and with such companies as British Aerospace, Sedgwick Forbes, British Gas and the Nazer Group, based in Jeddah. In addition, he has extensive consulting experience working for Towers Watson, Arthur Andersen and MEIRC. He has lived and worked in the Middle East for over 18 years and has also worked across Europe, Africa and Asia.

He has extensive experience in HR strategy, processes and systems, organisational redesign, performance, compensation and benefits, change management and leadership development.

HRDs on The Board: The Reality

• Generally HR is not on the main board

• FTSE100 do not have a HRD on the main board

• Overall the number of executives on the main board is limited due to regulations: non executive directors

BUT

• HRDs are being taken more seriously at board level:

• Leadership succession\war for talent

• Creating the right organisation structure

• Building the right culture

• Recruiting HRDs from outside HR

• More high flyers are being placed in HRD roles

Influence of HR on Board Directors*

• 43% significantly increased

• 29% slightly increased

• 16% not changed

• 8% slightly decreased

• 5% significantly decreased

*Korn Ferry study of UK executives in 2011

How CHROs Compare with Other Directors

Study by Ellie Filler: Senior Client Partner for Korn Ferry specialising in

recruiting CHROs globally and Dave Ulrich University of Michigan

• Looked at pay levels of high performing C suite executives in the top decile of earners:

• CEOs & COOs the highest paid

• CHROs were the next highest paid

• Studied 360 degree assessments of executives against 14 aspects of leadership carried out by Korn Ferry:

• Except for COO the executive whose traits were most similar to those of the CEO was the CHRO

• Conclusion: more companies to consider CHROs to fill the CEO position

HR at the Table Improves Profitability

• Companies that identify HR risks in their annual reports outperform their industry peers

• Companies that review employee performance throughout the year consistently meet financial targets and have a better annual growth rate

• Companies with higher percentage goals aligned and completed do better on financial metrics

• Having a CHRO correlated with a company’s bottom line

Fortune 500 research by Success Factors

HR not Strategic Enough

• HR has evolved but it has room to grow in most companies

• HR is still not viewed as a serious contributor to strategy

• Seen as being too involved in the day to day issues

• Seen as advisors rather than decision makers

• They are not in a position to bang the table and say “back me or sack me”

• Need to proactively generate more conversations with the main board directors

• HRD positions are now being filled by directors from other operational departments

HRDs on Boards in the Middle East

• HRDs are on the divisional boards of multinationals

• Only a handful on the main boards of companies

• Still seen as administrative or at best tactical & not strategically important, but its changing

• Growing number of high performers moving into HRD roles, particularly nationals

• War for talent and nationalisation are key challenges at the board level

Business Savvy: Giving HR the Edge*

• Understand the business model

• Generating insight and impact through data

• Connecting and collaborating with curiosity

• Leading with integrity

*CIPD Research report: March 2012

So what do you need to do to get a seat at the board?

Excellent Delivery of HR Services

Understand the Business Drivers

You have to ‘Get’ the Numbers

Seek Experience Outside

Operational Departments Non Exec Director

Measure Outcome & Achievement Not Work Processes

Master HR Analytics

Talk the Language of the CEO

Build Confidence Through Knowledge

Concluding Remarks

• All the previous points apply to everyone in HR

• You need to apply this in your work regardless of your level

• You need drive and hunger to succeed

• You need to take yourself out of your comfort zone

• Influence the right people

• As far as possible put HR solutions in financial terms

• Have courage and challenge