In recent months, I’ve spoken to many HR professionals about all things employee relations or “ER.”
What stood out was the challenging nature of the role of those in ER.
The role of ER has never been more valuable to Australian employers, whose workplaces have never been more regulated.
Yes, compliance is a must, but meeting business objectives is also a must.
ER is at the pointy end of keeping a business out of trouble and getting things done.
The passion with which some very experienced HR leaders spoke inspired our paper Navigating Employee Relations: The Advisor’s Role (available upon request here). This is based on that feedback.
It’s built on four themes: mastery, judgement, strategy, and influence.
Off the back of our paper, Navigating Employee Relations: The Advisor’s Role, I’m writing a series of five blogs in five weeks.
So here’s blog four in our ‘5 of 5’.
One of those themes is “strategy”. Strategic thinking is essential for ER Professionals because it involves looking beyond the immediate, to develop optimal, long-term solutions. Observations on “strategy” and “strategic thinking” are ubiquitous. Formulas abound, very much context driven. Fundamentally, the many takes on “strategy” reveal some core elements: where are we, where do we want to be, and how will we get there?
Being “strategic” is often synonymous with “big picture’’ thinking. It’s the ability to see patterns, themes or connections. It’s the ability to ask: is this a trend, or what can we be doing to guard against this in the future? It’s factoring in company-wide implications for the issue at hand. It’s balancing the long term with the short term. It’s also ensuring that a problem is examined from various perspectives. It’s about looking ahead.”
– Navigating Employee Relations: The Advisor’s Role
But how do you develop strategic thinking? Strategic thinking requires understanding the broader context, including organisational goals, stakeholder interests, and the interplay of various factors. It’s a skill that can be developed.
It involves asking insightful questions, balancing short-term and long-term implications, and considering different perspectives to make informed decisions. Judgement is key here (see our previous blog – Part 3 – about judgement here).
To enhance strategy, models like SWOT and GROW can be leveraged to guide decision-making and ensure that advice aligns with organisational objectives and values. They are the very type of models that build skill as a strategic thinker. They can provide a lens through which to think about a problem.
Great advisors excel in the skill of “inquiry” by asking insightful questions at the right time to uncover deeper meaning and needs. Advisors are called upon to provide advice. So, it’s natural to want to ‘tell’. But great advisors excel at asking questions first. They are not afraid to ask “why”, “what else”, “how do you see…”, or “what matters most here?”. This is where the advisor turns coach.
Asking questions leads to a better understanding of reality (the current situation) which can provide reason for reconsidering a goal (desired outcome), as can consideration of alternatives (options). It’s about getting clarity. From our paper, comes this basic example to illustrate the point:
Manager: I really want to sack my head of sales (Goal)
You: Okay, why is that?
Manager: Just not performing. Sales are down. Direct reports are complaining about his attitude. I don’t think his head is in the right place. I’m having to pick up the slack. (Reality)
You: Why do you think that is?
Manager: I don’t know. He’s been grumpy, and I don’t think he’s happy with anything.
You: Why is that?
Manager: Don’t know – he’s hard to talk to.
You: What’s the impact of losing him now?
Manager: Terrible. He’s been good in the past. He’ll be tough to replace.
You: So, ideally, he stays, but improves? (Options)
Manager: Yes (New Goal)
I look forward to sharing the last part of this five-part series with you next week.
