Most HR professionals would likely agree that Human Resources deserves a seat at an organization’s strategic table.  But you can’t just ask for that seat, you must earn it.

It’s not enough to say that HR contributes to the company’s bottom line.  Executives want numbers.  Often times HR is seen as an administrative function: administering benefits, talent acquisition, staff “police.”  In order to be at the table it needs to be much more than that.  HR leaders tend to speak in soft terms such as business partner, organizational alignment, engagement, scorecard, emotional intelligence, work/life balance.  But business executives use a much simpler and quantifiable vocabulary such as profit, ROI, market share, or bottom line. To be at the table, HR must speak in this same voice.

So how do HR leaders begin to speak in business terms and show quantifiable stats that prove their strategic worth?

1 – Understand the organization’s strategic goals.    Consult with fellow leaders in the company.  Start a dialogue with top management to truly understand the overall strategy and begin to view how HR can contribute to that strategy.

2 – Calculate your worth.  Use quantifiable metrics.  This will improve the credibility of your department by providing measurable data.  For example, instead of just saying a new training program increased productivity, give statistics on exactly how much productivity improved and relate that to how it effects the bottom line.  Or if you’ve reduced the time to fill open positions, calculate the additional revenue generated for positions that are revenue producing.

3 – Make great hires.  Always aim to improve the workforce, not just maintain it.  HR should do more than just provide a hiring manager with three candidates to interview and choose from.  Be actively involved in the process.  Too many times the blame game is played and if a bad hire is made HR can say, “well, the hiring manager made the final decision.”  Seek out the best talent, vet that talent, show how that talent could bring worth to the company, and consult with the hiring manager until the very end.  As the quality of hires increases, hiring managers will be more willing to work with you and keep you involved throughout the hiring process.

As I recently read in a Harvard Business Review article, HR should always be able to answer this question, “How are our people performing, and what impact does that have on the bottom line?”  This is what CEOs and CFOs want to know.  Employee engagement is great.  Improved employee relations is great.  But how does this affect the bottom line? Show that, and you’ll earn yourself a seat at the table.

Have you earned yourself a seat at the table?  Let me know how you achieved it.  Email me at [email protected].