Organisations that aren’t working have common characteristics , a dysfunctional leadership, poor cohesion at the top, cultures that avoid challenge and leadership teams misaligned on purpose or performance. Often it is not until financial failure that action is taken. By then decline is advanced. The early warning signs (staff turnover, disengagement, poor decision-making, cultural drift) are visible but have been ignored for too long. The fix requires high level expertise in HR and Organisational Development (OD).
People professionals know how to build effective teams and create the conditions for high performance, but too often they’re brought in afterwards to fix issues they weren’t asked to help design. The answer is to elevate the role of HR and OD to creat a more balanced model of corporate leadership better equipped to meet the increasingly difficult challenges organisations are encountering.
This is what Pam Parks President of the Public Services People Managers Association said recently in her address to conference. She compared elevating the role of HR/OD to moving from a three-legged stool to a four-legged chair. Alongside the 3 legs of finance, law, and operations should be added the fourth leg HR/OD .
Those in HR have argued for a long time that HR should be at the top table, this was a case of having an influence, giving advice on how the people issues involved in changes to working practices and major reorganisations could be achieved avoiding any industrial relations problems. The world has since moved on OD is an extension of HR which is more than helping organisations make a smooth transition as part of a change agenda. An elevated HR/OD is actively involved in designing an agile organisation and creating the right conditions for high performance.
The importance of a well functioning leadership team can not be overstated. Traditionally leaderships teams have drawn heavily on the expertise of those from finance, law and operations but an agile organisation requires the sturdier balance that the addition of HR/OD expertise would provide. Which is why 4 legs are better than 3.
