Good HR is the best weapon a business can have


Why smart companies should take advantage of HR’s breadth of knowledge in business decision-making.

On the totem pole, HR isn’t usually first when it comes to decision-making in the C-suite. Despite the fact that culture and people are becoming increasingly important factors when it comes to sustainability, businesses often still treat HR as a go-to only when the going gets tough.

Staying abreast of social issues such as diversity, gender, race, and ableness falls within the realm of HR. Culture is often instilled by how these values are fostered and treated, and how they are intertwined with the mission and values of an organisation. In the eyes of leadership however, these functions often don’t relate directly to driving the growth or profit of a business so down the pole (along with the budget) HR goes.

Less learned and visionary leaders don’t seem aware that these very social lenses HR has developed can keep them buoyant today and well into the future. Let me explain.

Disruption, innovation, agility; whatever trendy jargon you want to use. We’re all looking to find clever, low-cost ways to edge us above the competition. Yes, technology often supplies this. Yet in our hunt for the next big thing to out-think our rivals, we continue to overlook HR’s rich understanding of modern humans, and how this relates externally to a business’ consumers.

It’s now widely agreed upon by the likes of McKinsey, Catalyst and EY that diverse teams, and especially boards, produce better financial profits and ROIs. Yet meeting a quota alone doesn’t bring about more profit just as having a flashy automation process doesn’t necessarily mean greater efficiency. It’s dependent upon two additional things: education and implementation.

The rise of social issues within the zeitgeist (race, socio-economics, gender) is creating movement.  Thanks to the democratisation of the internet, the current is carrying us towards trust, transparency and the making of ethical businesses with higher purposes. Let’s take gender for example. A new $28T global female consumer economy is well on its way full of clever female graduates, disruptive female business owners, and glass-breaking female CEOs – both at home and in the workplace.

In a traditional-lensed world where business was built by men, women are becoming enormous contributing participants both economically and socially and HR understands this implicitly. It’s essential for successful HR heads to lead C-suiters towards the water in understanding why this will impact business strategy in the years ahead. More importantly, they can remind us how valuable the considerations of a gender lens could be for innovating your product and service for this powerful, overlooked “blue ocean” market.

Consider how educating staff from R&D, marketing, sales, and front-facing operations with the literacy of gendered perspectives could reveal blind spots and uncover opportunity. For over a decade now, beauty care company Dove has been praised for its disruptive marketing, revealing authentic insights into the modern woman. BP recently unveiled a new app for on-the-go petrol payment so you never have to leave your car – perfect for mums with kids. Shebah is Australia’s Uber improvement catering specifically to women and mums that are worried by Uber’s lax concern for their safety. Giant bikes have created a new line for women called Liv that don’t just “pink and shrink” but are geometrically constructed to the measurements of women’s bodies.

HR is a game-changer for business in ways that C-suiters and leaders don’t yet comprehend. It’s up to you to build the business case and rewire your leaders’ understanding of HR’s scope as both an internal function and growth driver. It’s time for HR to raze the walls of their business silo and lead the charge towards the bigger opportunity outside its walls.

Bec Brideson is a gender-intelligence entrepreneur and author of “Blind spots: How to uncover and attract the fastest emerging economy”.

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Felicity Donert
Felicity Donert
6 years ago

Terrific article which considers the importance of education and implementation. So applicable to areas such as Bio engineering. Having witnessed so many researchers who have studied and provided quantitative results only to become unstuck with the implementation phase of their findings. This really requires organisations to step up and actively promote changes. I can think of no better place than Org Capability with direct reporting lines through to the senior leadership team.

Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall
6 years ago

Good article but the headline needs a rethink. Portraying HR as a “weapon” insinuates that it must have an adversarial nature.

Dee Copeland
Dee Copeland
6 years ago

There must be something that HR isn’t doing to solidify its true capability in the eyes of the Board/Executive Management team for it to be bypassed, as Bec Brideson states above…. We were talking about this same topic when I was on the AHRI NSW State Council a decade ago…’what can HR bring to the table?’, ‘is HR valued by Senior Management?’ ‘HR and the glass ceiling…’ etc. I would like to think that HR has come a long way since then, if only to contribute to the bottom line and organisational sustainability? It has been my experience that dedicated… Read more »

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Venus Comms | HRM Online: The Surprising Way HR is Business’ Best Weapon
5 years ago

[…] To read the whole article, please click here. […]

More on HRM

Good HR is the best weapon a business can have


Why smart companies should take advantage of HR’s breadth of knowledge in business decision-making.

On the totem pole, HR isn’t usually first when it comes to decision-making in the C-suite. Despite the fact that culture and people are becoming increasingly important factors when it comes to sustainability, businesses often still treat HR as a go-to only when the going gets tough.

Staying abreast of social issues such as diversity, gender, race, and ableness falls within the realm of HR. Culture is often instilled by how these values are fostered and treated, and how they are intertwined with the mission and values of an organisation. In the eyes of leadership however, these functions often don’t relate directly to driving the growth or profit of a business so down the pole (along with the budget) HR goes.

Less learned and visionary leaders don’t seem aware that these very social lenses HR has developed can keep them buoyant today and well into the future. Let me explain.

Disruption, innovation, agility; whatever trendy jargon you want to use. We’re all looking to find clever, low-cost ways to edge us above the competition. Yes, technology often supplies this. Yet in our hunt for the next big thing to out-think our rivals, we continue to overlook HR’s rich understanding of modern humans, and how this relates externally to a business’ consumers.

It’s now widely agreed upon by the likes of McKinsey, Catalyst and EY that diverse teams, and especially boards, produce better financial profits and ROIs. Yet meeting a quota alone doesn’t bring about more profit just as having a flashy automation process doesn’t necessarily mean greater efficiency. It’s dependent upon two additional things: education and implementation.

The rise of social issues within the zeitgeist (race, socio-economics, gender) is creating movement.  Thanks to the democratisation of the internet, the current is carrying us towards trust, transparency and the making of ethical businesses with higher purposes. Let’s take gender for example. A new $28T global female consumer economy is well on its way full of clever female graduates, disruptive female business owners, and glass-breaking female CEOs – both at home and in the workplace.

In a traditional-lensed world where business was built by men, women are becoming enormous contributing participants both economically and socially and HR understands this implicitly. It’s essential for successful HR heads to lead C-suiters towards the water in understanding why this will impact business strategy in the years ahead. More importantly, they can remind us how valuable the considerations of a gender lens could be for innovating your product and service for this powerful, overlooked “blue ocean” market.

Consider how educating staff from R&D, marketing, sales, and front-facing operations with the literacy of gendered perspectives could reveal blind spots and uncover opportunity. For over a decade now, beauty care company Dove has been praised for its disruptive marketing, revealing authentic insights into the modern woman. BP recently unveiled a new app for on-the-go petrol payment so you never have to leave your car – perfect for mums with kids. Shebah is Australia’s Uber improvement catering specifically to women and mums that are worried by Uber’s lax concern for their safety. Giant bikes have created a new line for women called Liv that don’t just “pink and shrink” but are geometrically constructed to the measurements of women’s bodies.

HR is a game-changer for business in ways that C-suiters and leaders don’t yet comprehend. It’s up to you to build the business case and rewire your leaders’ understanding of HR’s scope as both an internal function and growth driver. It’s time for HR to raze the walls of their business silo and lead the charge towards the bigger opportunity outside its walls.

Bec Brideson is a gender-intelligence entrepreneur and author of “Blind spots: How to uncover and attract the fastest emerging economy”.

Subscribe to receive comments
Notify me of
guest

4 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Felicity Donert
Felicity Donert
6 years ago

Terrific article which considers the importance of education and implementation. So applicable to areas such as Bio engineering. Having witnessed so many researchers who have studied and provided quantitative results only to become unstuck with the implementation phase of their findings. This really requires organisations to step up and actively promote changes. I can think of no better place than Org Capability with direct reporting lines through to the senior leadership team.

Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall
6 years ago

Good article but the headline needs a rethink. Portraying HR as a “weapon” insinuates that it must have an adversarial nature.

Dee Copeland
Dee Copeland
6 years ago

There must be something that HR isn’t doing to solidify its true capability in the eyes of the Board/Executive Management team for it to be bypassed, as Bec Brideson states above…. We were talking about this same topic when I was on the AHRI NSW State Council a decade ago…’what can HR bring to the table?’, ‘is HR valued by Senior Management?’ ‘HR and the glass ceiling…’ etc. I would like to think that HR has come a long way since then, if only to contribute to the bottom line and organisational sustainability? It has been my experience that dedicated… Read more »

trackback
Venus Comms | HRM Online: The Surprising Way HR is Business’ Best Weapon
5 years ago

[…] To read the whole article, please click here. […]

More on HRM