Dear all,
My colleague had forwarded this article on HR Matrix by L Gratton which perhaps may throw light on this subject.
Regards,
Rajat Joshi
The HR Matrix Reloaded
A multi-dimensional look at the HR function, by Lynda Gratton
I was reminded recently of a true story which goes something like this. A company’s HR team had worked on a new graduate brochure that the team believed captured the very essence of the organisation.
The brochure described the employee proposition with clarity and accuracy, and portrayed the brand in a sensitive and compelling manner. After completing the third draft, they sent the brochure to their external consultants for copy editing and design. Two weeks later the brochure returned and the team were delighted with the results. Only later did they hear that the brochure they believed so accurately portrayed their company was in fact the brochure of their arch enemies, which the design team had inadvertently sent to them!
The story came back to me recently as I looked at the people strategy documents of some of the companies I advise. The bad news is that, like the graduate brochures, they are mostly indistinguishable. The good news is…it does not matter. What distinguishes great companies and great HR teams is not the written people strategy, but rather the capacity to make it happen. Here’s why.
People strategies are essentially three-dimensional.1 The first dimension is “vertical alignment”, which is the capacity of the people strategy to accurately reflect and be aligned with the goals of the business. The second dimension is “horizontal alignment”, which is the internal coherence between the various people policies. What we often ignore is the third dimension: “action”. Our research shows that companies move between these three dimensions.2 Some companies are weak in all dimensions; they have no discernible people strategy or co-ordinated action. Others are strong in vertical alignment, but weak in horizontal and action. We found this in HR teams that were close to the line managers and business goals, but not adept at translating these into actionable policies and practices. The reverse was also true. In one of the organisations we studied we found that horizontal alignment was strong, but vertical alignment was weak. The team had created cohesion between the policies but the lack of an over-arching business goal severely restricted its ability to build vertical alignment.
But perhaps most significantly we found a real disconnection between the first two dimensions and the third. Just because there was an articulated people strategy did not mean that it was actioned. That’s why, in a sense, like the graduate brochures, it does not matter that the people strategies of many companies look similar. What is crucial is not the articulation of people strategy, but the actioning of it. How can HR teams ensure that they fulfil this third dimension? Our research has shown three ways of strengthening the action dimension.
First, action-orientated teams are competent at creating a complete picture of the human resources of the organisation. At Hewlett-Packard (HP), the team triangulates the data between employee surveys, line management comments and focus groups to really understand where traction is being gained and where it is lost. In a similar way, the HR team at the Royal Bank of Scotland is currently building a data warehousing capacity that will supply day-by-day information to chief executive Fred Goodwin and his team.
Next, action-orientated HR teams are adept at “keeping the best”. What bedevils the action dimension is “initiative-itus” – multiple initiatives, often conflicting, rarely completed. In the face of this confusion line managers are bemused and employees cynical. At Kraft Foods the action-orientated HR team
has absolutely stuck with what it knows to be best. For example, the performance management system has remained intact for at least a decade. The measures flex, but the architecture of the process remains stable.
Finally, these action-orientated teams are skilled at translating policies into actionable, measurable plans. At HP, the people strategy priorities are subject to the same project management practices as any other major activity. Project plans are created, outcomes agreed and timescales noted. In one single room the project plans for all the priority areas are shown, with those “off-track” clearly marked in red. In a few seconds anyone entering the project room can see the extent of action in the people strategy.
So even if your people strategy is indistinguishable from your competitors, take heart. It’s all in the third dimension!
Lynda Gratton is Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School and Programme Director of Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Organisations.