The evolution of HR for growth, innovation, and agility

The role of the HR professional has evolved, requiring greater initiative and the onus to “grab a seat” at the executive table, one CPO has said.

In a recent HR Leader podcast, Scott Austin (pictured), group chief people officer at Bolttech, told HR Leader his reflections on the headline challenges HR teams are facing amid voluminous market change, setting HR up to leverage its strengths, shifting how HR is perceived, and why HR professionals cannot wait for permission to drive needed business changes.

Do not wait for permission

Austin advised that HR practitioners become involved in the ongoing strategic planning of the business by “adding something to that conversation”.

To take the initiative, Austin said: “It’s down into each of the business units we’re operating in. What’s their plan? How do you actually line that up with their objectives and make sure that overfits in the overall business planning process.”

For HR departments that are reluctant to take the initiative, Austin urged them to talk to an executive about a situation they would like to work with them on, “trying it at a couple of different times, reflecting on what worked and then thinking about how you might modify that understanding what drives that individual and the communication style.”

Greater onus on HR to take the initiative

Austin agreed that in fintech and insurtech, there is a greater onus on HR to take the initiative because they are there to “help challenge our leaders” and “constantly… look at what are the overarching goals of the organisation and then how do we adjust where we are as an organisation to where we need to be.”

He said that the initiative can be taken by “focusing on the right capabilities, working with our leaders on challenges around performance, and driving the best out of our people around performance.”

For organisations where C-suite leaders are reluctant to allow HR to “take a seat at the table,” Austin said: “It’s trying to understand again what is going to be best to help shape that person’s perspective. It may not necessarily just be from the HR team. It might be enlisting the support of others in the business to help create an opportunity for that person to learn and think through the problem.”

He added that HR knows where to network to try to get people to help, and that thus, “making those connections with the business is important”.

“If you don’t have those deep relationships, then the function becomes obsolete… But where we can help is that connection, the trusted relationship, the challenging of ideas and being that true thought partner with someone that transcends industry. So it’s looking to the broader commercial world, understanding what’s going on and adding your own insight to that,” he advised.

Leaning into AI

Austin said that “high costs” may be incurred if companies do not start moving towards leaning into some new ways of working with AI.

“If you aren’t investing in that now and looking at alternative ways of operating, then your cost model for the function is going to be quite high,” he said.

“I think this is only going to become more prevalent as more momentum comes up. You’re seeing a lot of systems turning on AI. You want to be able to use and leverage that in the best possible way.

“One of the things that we’ve got to embrace as a function, not only for us, but how does that impact the rest of the organisation and where we place our workforce?”