How do we get a seat at the big table? That’s the question Steve Crandall posed during the May
Chapter Meeting, following the annual meeting. Crandall is president of Crandall/Partners LLC, a
human resources consulting practice based in Grand Rapids, Michigan that specializes in
organizational development. Our biggest challenge as HR professionals is getting out from under
the “administrivia” and projecting ourselves as viable business partners. Only then, says
Crandall, will we get a seat at the big table. On the HR continuum, we must shift from the narrow
to the broad focus, from concentrating on the details and transactions to focusing on the strategic
and global.
Remember sitting at the kids’ card table at the family Thanksgiving get together while the adults
sat at the big table? Crandall uses that analogy to describe what happens to HR professionals at
work. We get stuck at the kids’ table; in reality, we get locked into any number of stifling roles that
limit our ability to contribute and influence the business.
Typical HR Roles
Crandall described five typical HR roles that impede our ability to get a seat at the big table:
• Technician – Focused on policy development, handbooks and tactical activities.
• Compliance/Police Officer – Focused on the law and rules, the policy enforcer who exerts
power by control, often perceived as an obstructionist.
• Fixer– Cleans up other people’s messes after the fact, especially from unaccountable
managers, Never gets the chance to be proactive; the better they are at cleaning up, the
more people leave it to them.
• Protector/Employee Advocate – Acts as the employee voice; protects employees from
“mean managers”; exerts power by guilt and self-righteousness.
• Informant – Gossips; perpetuates the reputation that HR cannot be trusted.
Crandall contended that none of these roles will ever appear at the big table. To have a greater
impact and get a seat at the big table, Crandall believes that HR professionals must learn to shift
their focus from the narrow to broad in the HR continuum.
New HR Roles
How do we make this shift to broader roles? Crandall described four HR roles that appear at the
big table:
• People Experts – People are the driving force for the company. HR is the representative of
this collective contribution of the workforce, including individuals, teams and employee
systems like compensation, performance management, staffing, benefits, etc.
• Keeper of the Culture – HR needs to walk the talk and speak the truth by leading change
management and linking how the organization behaves and what it wants to be. The
obstacle to change management is getting employees to change how they do things; HR’s
role is to facilitate that change process.
• Change Accomplisher – The pace of change has accelerated; “getting settled” is a myth
in today’s corporate culture. HR needs to build a robust HR function that is constantly
looking at cost savings proactively, not reacting when management says to cut costs.
• HR Manager/Director to the Senior Management Team – The head of HR must develop
a relationship as a CEO confidant. As the CFO acts as the CEO’s financial confidant, the
top HR person should act as the CEO’s people confidant, serving as a coach or sounding
board to the CEO on people issues. To be effective, HR needs to report to the CEO and be
tied at the hip to the financial function.
Change HR Behavior
Once we change our roles, then we have to change our behavior to get a seat at the big table.
Crandall offered five ways HR needs to function differently:
1. Have an Indisputable Knowledge of the Business – Beyond just using buzz words, HR
needs to learn to speak in operations language to become a business partner, understanding
what drives the business and how the company meets it’s objectives. This puts HR on a level
playing field with its peers.
2. Build Relationships – HR must uphold to a higher standard and tell the reality from its
perspective. It must build confidence in its relationships with senior leaders by speaking the truth
tactfully.
3. Save Management from Something – HR needs to save the company money and legal
hassles through its effective HR systems. Report meaningful metrics that translate into money or
efficiencies like other areas of the business.
4. Represent the Most Effective People Systems – HR must be the gatekeeper of quality
people. Consistent with the 80/20 rule, management spends 80 – 90% of its time on 10 – 20% of
the population. HR systems must be firm but fair to address that 10 – 20%, by hiring people who
fit the culture and designing effective performance management systems to assess the
employee’s potential for redeployment elsewhere in the organization or exit the problem
employee as needed.
5. HR Must Report to the CEO – Where HR reports affects its level of authority. To be most
effective HR must report to the CEO.
Personal Change Strategies
How do we make these changes if we’re not the top HR person? Crandall shared several
strategies we can adopt to become more effective, even if we are not in the top role:
• HR is a personal power job based on the relationships we build so we can rely on influence
instead of authority.
• Instead of constantly complaining that we do not have resources, we must step back and
plan a strategy of attack.
• Don’t wait to be invited to the table; just appear and ask, “Is this seat taken?”
• Establish a clear business case to show the tangible impact of changes.
• Change your perspective and become a business partner who provides solutions.
• Build relationships; build teams among warring factions, then people will seek you out as a
peacemaker and facilitator, not as the rescuer.
• Conduct a case study after an implementation (sometimes called an After Action Review);
tell the story of how the process evolved, what was successful, what was not successful,
and recommend changes for the future.
Removing the Administrivia
In spite of these shifting roles and behaviors, how do we get out from under the administrivia?
Crandall recommends an internal HR audit to determine what really needs to be done. Ask, for
example, “Do we really need all those reports we always generate?” In addition, we need to get
the appropriate people doing the appropriate tasks. Finally, according to Crandall, beyond all the
other role changes, this shift has a lot to do with our own perseverance and attitude, shifting from
dependence thinking to pro-action. It is ultimately up to us as individual HR professionals to
change ourselves in order to change our roles and influence our businesses.
Eileen Vernor, SPHR, CCP, is Senior
Compensation Consultant with DTE
Energy. She serves on the Communications
Committee as Webmaster, on the Program
Committee, and as an HRAGD Ambassador.