Unprecedented Organizational Leadership Opportunities Exist for HR Professionals, but…
By Mwangi Wanjumbi – Newtimes B.S. CEO & Chief Consultant/Trainer
A casual glance at organizational leadership trends yields some interesting observations. During the industrial revolution of the 20th century, this leadership was entrusted to engineers. This may have been supported by increased need for maximizing production, which was then attributed to scientific processes. Around the mid 20th century, the business leadership orientation seemingly changed, giving preference to accountants and financial experts. This situation persisted for a long while.
But, the end of the cold war precipitated the continued influence of capitalism and therefore increased global competition. This gave rise to recognition of yet another set of professionals. Marketers, who are largely credited with creative thinking, became the favorite corporate leaders, especially for the Fortune 500 companies.
Interestingly, new developments have come up once more, particularly in the new millennium. No matter who takes charge of organizational leadership, proven practical competencies on people skills have become a mandatory requirement. Mostly, these skills take precedence over all others, something that works better for those who are multi-skilled.
Essentially, leaders are expected to have helicopter views of their organizations. Conversely, people skills are assumed to be natural traits for Human Resource Management Professionals. Does this emphasis on these skills not give them unique head-starts? And, are they taking advantage of the ensuing opportunities?
If recent experiences are anything to go by, then, there maybe cause for concern. Sometime last year, I found myself amidst a group of about 50 human resource practitioners. The meeting involved discussions on aligning talent, aiming to unleash organizational potential, as I had been made to understand, right at the invitation stage.
In the session however, I realized that the same was more ideal for HR practitioners. So, I just chose to basically listen enthusiastically. In the process, I learnt a few tips regarding the thinking process of these key organizational players, particularly when they are together.
Apparently, one key lesson is how the human resource practitioners have seemingly allowed themselves to be treated as by-standers, in the organizational pecking order. Indeed, this was an attribute that came out glaringly, in not only group discussions, but also plenary presentations.
These professionals, majority of who comprised women, had other challenges. Such included lack of authority and inadequate budget allocations. The latter were said to be never enough for smooth achievement of desired staff development interventions. In relation to authority, it turned out that they have been relegated to advisory roles for more “senior” organizational teams or the Chief Executive. Worse still, some of the practitioners report to other departmental heads such as finance, therefore not directly to the organizational chief executives, therefore leaving the scene to wenyewe (assumed owners).
On the same budgets, it was noted that the activities set by the HR practitioners, can at short notice be withdrawn and requisite funds directed elsewhere. Actually, safe for monthly emoluments and statutory remittances, the human resource department becomes the most under funded, especially during economic downturns. Why all these experiences?
After careful consideration, one would be forgiven for concluding that majority of the HR practitioners in such organizations, fashion their own experiences. Why? Management of the human capital and more appropriately leading people is and should be underscored as a core function in any organization. The same is fundamental because it is about coordination of the activities of the human element.
Notably, it is the human capital that manipulates the rest of the organizational resources, for successful achievement of the desired organization-wide results. It does not matter the magnitude of other resources such as technology and product brands amongst others. All of them will eventually need the thought demanding input of the human element. How then can the co-ordination role be treated so casually in future oriented organizations?
Ostensibly, the misgivings of HR practitioners could in my view largely emanate from challenged leadership skills. Could some of the practitioners be treating the job just like any another that aims at putting put food on the table? Naturally, your guess is as good as mine.
Ideally, as organizations continue grappling with change factors of technology and competition amongst others, the role of the HR practitioner continues becoming more and more significant. This is so because creativity and innovation, which can only be driven by the human capital keeps becoming critically important. In fact, the same gains high status in the order of considerations that drive organizational competitiveness and therefore distinctiveness. It is no wonder then that top organizational brands in any corner of the globe have limitless budgets on human capital focus.
For these brands, it is mandatory to hire the best and inevitably maintain, as well as retain the most ideal human capital. That calls for high kevel of leadership skills that should easily integrate with other management processes. But, do all the HR practitioners possess and profess those leadership skills?
Our experience with numerous organizations spread across varying industries has actually been very interesting. Leadership practice is largely misunderstood and therefore treated as an abstract process if not ironically confused with politics. In fact, it is mostly isolated from other management processes. As this situation persists, organizations continue losing out on opportunities to unleash their existing performance potential. This is a dangerous phenomenon for organizations expecting to reap the best in the fast paced knowledge era of the 21st century.
Incidentally, our organizational culture change/employee re-branding and business leadership training solutions, easily fast-track organization-wide alignment to today’s global realities as past and ongoing beneficiaries can attest. Meanwhile, it could be a pleasant experience witnessing more and more HR practitioners acquiring abilities of solidly marking their territory. It is only then that they will be on the path towards being entrusted with modeling organizational greatness backed by the requisite leadership competencies. For now, do enjoy a week of great leadership exploits.