How Should I Address the Board on Key HR Issues and Future Outlook?

I have been invited to meet with the board of directors in my company. They want me to address them on critical HR issues and the future outlook for HR in the organization. What should be included in my address?

When addressing the board of directors on critical HR issues and the future outlook for HR in the organization, it is essential to cover key topics that are pertinent to the company's strategic goals and overall success. Some important points to include in your address may involve talent acquisition and retention strategies, employee engagement initiatives, diversity and inclusion programs, training and development opportunities, HR technology advancements, compliance and regulatory updates, and the impact of external factors on HR practices.

Additionally, highlighting the alignment of HR objectives with the company's mission, vision, and values can demonstrate the significance of HR in driving organizational growth and sustainability. Providing insights into industry trends, best practices, and potential challenges can also help the board gain a comprehensive understanding of the HR landscape and make informed decisions to support the company's objectives.

Overall, your address should be informative, strategic, and forward-thinking, showcasing your expertise in HR management and your ability to contribute to the company's overall success.

Addressing the Board of Directors: Key Considerations

If you are going to address the Board of Directors (BoD), your designation should ideally be General Manager (GM) or above. However, your brief post suggests a tendency to skim the surface rather than delve deep. The SMS-like or 41-word post gives the impression of a novice. A person of your stature should provide comprehensive information, such as whether your company is public or private, the nature of your industry, total employee count, and whether employees are spread across multiple locations.

If your company is public, you will have easy access to the company's balance sheet. You need to inform the board how HR's value addition is reflected in the balance sheet. While this is easier said than done, it is necessary.

Key HR Issues and Strategies

What are the HR issues specific to your industry? Do you face challenges in attracting talent? What are your plans to overcome them? What is the attrition rate, and what efforts have you made to reduce it? What is the average performance on a scale of 100, and what steps have you taken to improve employee performance? What were the results? What training and development initiatives have you implemented, and what was the ROI on training? What is the total employee cost against sales revenue?

Operational and Industrial Relations Considerations

What HR initiatives have you undertaken to reduce operational costs? Do you have a labor union in your company? If so, how do you rate the industrial relations environment? Is there a threat of a strike?

Final Thoughts

Caveat: HR often has a penchant for jargon, but top management is interested only in results. Therefore, include as many numbers as possible and focus less on means like psychometric tests or employee engagement initiatives. A meeting with the BoD is a double-edged sword; it might enhance your image or undercut it. Therefore, put your best foot forward.

All the best!

Regards, Dinesh Divekar

HR's Role in Board Meetings

When boards seek more input or information from HR, it raises HR's profile but also creates political and other risks. As the learned member above said, your interaction can either raise your profile or diminish it.

What needs to be spoken or presented is a basic overview of HR activities, any challenges HR faces, and your suggestions to address them. Key strategic HR issues include succession planning, talent management, and competitive executive compensation. Probably, when the Board of Directors moves into executive time, you will have to move out. It is always important to remember that increased interaction with board members can put HR in a politically sensitive position with regard to the CEO. One must remember the Board of Directors is your boss's boss.

Speak wisely about critical issues and discuss them fully with your CEO. Do not speak out of turn.

Regards

We can only suggest a format and not the content. To begin with, look for the Minutes of the Meeting from the last meeting. It will give you an idea of what was discussed and how the discussions are structured. Look for the old presentation decks in your archives to understand the format for the presentation.

If you have been invited to speak, you must be an expert in your role and department. Use that operational knowledge to frame your speech.

Avoid making broad and open statements and keep data close to you. For example, don't say "we hired a lot of people last month," but mention the hiring numbers and distribution of the talent.

Take the top 3 challenges and prepare a 20,000 feet view of them. For instance, if attrition is your problem, prepare a MECE (Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive) report and present it. Suggest solutions and seek validation before presenting them.

If your team needs funds for activities, prepare a detailed report on how those funds will add to the firm's revenue.

If your board has not been happy with any area, prepare in detail. Start from ground zero up to the 20,000 feet view. For example, if the board is not happy with the salary increments, and they feel they were already above the market pay and the talent doesn't deserve the hike, prepare in detail about the market correction and the challenges, such as a new employer in the market ready to pay more to resource the teams. Collect more data on the threats that you may face.

Before talking about the future, make sure the board is aligned with you in the current times. You may want to set up an internal university, but the board finds it ahead of time. Hence, avoid making claims about the future but speak strictly based on the forecast that your reports will make.

At most, you may share a few relevant market trends, but that's entirely for educational purposes and setting the reference for the next meeting.

Above all, work very closely on your presentation with the head of your firm. Look for a mentor or a coach within the firm who presents to the board regularly. Try to listen very deeply. Often, even through criticism, the board members can offer insights that are extremely helpful for development.

Hope this helps. Please consider sharing the feedback that you may receive from the board and the experience. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Regards, HRProf2016