What the Board of Directors Wants from HR

In the last post we discussed what the CEO needs from HR as a partner at the executive table. Kris Dunn, author of the HR Capitalist blog and contributor to Workforce Management magazine, recently wrote an article in that magazine on What Your Personal Board of Directors Wants from HR.

Dunn’s personal board of directors consisted of a CEO, a CFO, a VP of marketing, a director of customer service, a general counsel and a VP of sales he had worked with in the past. Dunn asked all of them, “What should an HR manager/director/VP do within the business to gain your trust, be viewed as a valued partner and become a star on your team?”

Dunn’s personal board of directors offered ten tips. I’ll comment on just three of them, but I encourage you to read the entire article at the link above.

“Be a cheerleader, but figure out the ROI of your rewards and recognition efforts. Your directors want you to lead the charge with rewards and recognition because they don’t have the time for it. However, they want more than a cheerleader. They want you to understand the ROI of the programs you have in place, which leads to constant tweaking of the programs based on effectiveness in driving cultural items like engagement.”

Do you know how to calculate the ROI of your reward and recognition efforts? Many companies we work with could only guess at the programs currently in place across the organization prior to Globoforce. We offer an audit of your current state, then help you assess your recognition needs to deploy a truly strategic global recognition program. Our latest white paper, Maximize the Return on Recognition in a Recession also offers additional insight into the ROI of doing recognition right by avoiding the traps of cash-based and merchandise-limited programs.

“Have your own set of metrics, and do more with it than simply read from your slides in a monotone. Monotone was good for Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but it’s bad for an HR pro. Your personal board of directors will think it’s cute if you have your own deck of metrics that you report on. The board members will look at you with respect if you can tie your metrics to their operating results in a way that makes sense. You’ll know you’ve arrived in this area if they talk to you proactively about what their departments can do to improve, based on the metrics you report.”

Do you know what metrics matter to your executives? They want to know how recognition drives performance and productivity, how well different divisions or groups understand the company values and help achieve company objectives. Are you able to report on that? By definition, strategic recognition programs require measurement and management similar to the Six Sigma DMAIC structure. Only by establishing metrics your executives care about can you convince them of the value of strategic recognition.

”Help the organization drive performance. Your personal board of directors values a performance management system that enables the organization to establish customized goals and objectives for each unique role. When your directors’ departments get "stuck," they want you to be the expert in helping managers rate and deliver feedback to employees, which in turn drives the overall performance of the organization.”

Can your current rewards method take your company values off the plaque on the wall and instill them in the minds of every employee so they are recognized for the behaviors, attitudes and actions you need from them to achieve your company’s strategic objectives? Such values-based recognition drives precisely the sustained performance you need by motivating employees in the most positive way – by saying thank you.

What would your personal board of directions want from HR? Share your thoughts in comments.