5 Secrets From the Top 5% of Strategic HR Leaders

BY Mary Pieper | December 20, 2023

In the recent past, HR was all about compliance, payroll, and benefits, but its fundamental nature now includes capacity planning, employee experience, manager effectiveness, engagement, and much more.

However, “Budgets didn’t change, so somehow we’re supposed to do more with less,” said Adam Weber, chief evangelist at 15Five. Weber spoke in a thought leadership spotlight titled “5 Secrets From the Top 5% of Strategic HR Leaders,” during From Day One’s December virtual conference.

Although more than 50% of HR teams are now viewed as strategic, only 35% saw increased resources this year, says Weber. “It’s no wonder that you’re dealing with burnout,” he said. “The work that you hope to do is different from the work that you’re actually doing. But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

5% of HR leaders have a far more positive experience than everyone else. He shared their five secrets to doing the work of their dreams.

Speak the Language of the Business

Too often, HR “gets stuck in their own silo apart from the rest of the company,” said Weber. That’s why the most effective strategic leaders come from other departments, such as customer success, operations, sales, and even finance.

“What’s interesting about these transfers is that from the start, they’re used to understanding a company strategy and then translating their strategy as it relates,” Weber said. “And so, one of the most important things that you can do is mimic the language of the executive team, know every single acronym, and know how the business makes money.”

Leaders who want the opportunity to do innovative work also should be able to “rattle off the top three company priorities at any moment,” he added.

Use Metrics and Data

“One of the things I admire about HR leaders is they often know the issue and understand it intuitively,” he said. “But they can’t seem to get internal buy-in around what that issue is. And when you don’t have data as well, you can end up in this reactive posture, going from fire to fire.”

On the other hand, proactive HR leaders build strategies by using data to prioritize their most important work, according to Weber. He said the three things that are central to making this happen are figuring out the data that matters, increasing engagement through motivation, and decreasing avoidable turnover.

Have Courage and Conviction

Weber emphasized the importance of showing courage when pitching ideas to senior management.

Adam Weber of 15Five led the thought leadership spotlight (company photo)

“Fight for a yes, and debate until you understand the no,” he said. Although this idea seems simple, it takes some work.

“How often have I seen an HR leader get super excited about something that was a squishy idea?” he said. “They believed in it, but they went to the leadership team with an apathetic pitch. And you know what happens in this scenario? You get rejected.”

Instead, effective leaders “speak with confidence and conviction,” Weber said. “Executive teams, in general, are constantly scanning for risk; that’s their job. And if they sense risk, they’re going to avoid the bold initiative at all costs.”

Activate Your Managers

People in HR tend to “have this superhero tendency,” Weber said. “They try to take on an incredible amount of work on their own shoulders. And this is a large reason that 98% of HR people are burned out.”

This is why the best HR managers align the whole organization with them, including the executive team. Some of the best ways for HR leaders to support managers, says Weber, include creating consistent management expectations, providing skill-development resources, and assessing management effectiveness.

Share Your Impact

The final secret to strategic HR success is instilling belief in HR across the company, says Weber.

“There are so many good-hearted HR people that don’t sell their work,” he said. “They’re doing amazing things, they take the first four steps. But they fall short on telling others how awesome what they’re doing is.” Weber recommends promoting success stories because “people gravitate to stories.”

Finally, HR needs to share its impact through every possible medium, including team meetings and Slack. “This is not just a one-time thing,” he said. “You need to integrate selling your work into every single element of what you do.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who supported this thought leadership spotlight, 15Five.

Mary Pieper is a freelance reporter based in Mason City, Iowa.

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