Business doctor

Dr Tommy Weir is the founder of US-based Tommy Weir Consulting and is now head of learning and development at UAE property developer, Nakheel. Dr Weir specialises in Middle Eastern leadership development.

Is your HR a partner or a player?

Let me explain what I mean by that question... Many times, we hear HR saying that they are (or want to be) a business partner. In essence, in a role of support to the business.

A partner is a person who is associated with someone else in some type of endeavour or action. In this association there could be a solid contribution or real impact. The idea of a partner is commonly used in dancing.

Each partner has a tremendous impact on how well the dance is performed. In a partner relationship there is usually a "me" and a "you". Partners come together for the interaction/exchange and then separate again.

The other option is for HR to become a player. In this case, HR would truly be on the team. They would serve not as a support function but as a contributor to the value and fiscal growth of the company.

A player is an active participant. Players come together and work toward a goal. Just like in sports all of the players are working together to achieve one common outcome - winning the game.

So how can you distinguish if your HR is a partner or a player? The answer comes down to understanding who the "customer" of HR is. Does your HR say their customer is the employee, line management, or the "actual" customer of your organization?

Historically in many companies the Human Resource department focused on the employee as the customer. Common activities would have been employee rights, administrative responsibilities, processes and procedures.

They wanted to make sure that all employees were treated fairly and that everyone was working according to the policy.

For the past several years, there has been a popular move for HR to become a partner with the business. To achieve this, many HR departments are shifting from having the employee as the customer to line management being their customer.

Having come to understand that focusing on the employee as the principal customer is not strategic; HR teams are attempting to focus on the needs of line management.

Their hope is that this shift will give them a "seat" at the table. But the very term partner still communicates an "outsider".

The other option is for HR to have the paying customer as their focus. This is a fundamental and strategic shift for HR. The few HR teams who are doing this are declaring that there is only one customer for their company and they must be focused on that customer.

So which one is a player? When HR is focused on the employee, line management, or the "actual" customer"? I know that this question invokes a debate as many HR people argue that line management is their customer.

But to be strategic it is imperative that the "real" customer of your organization be the customer of your HR as well.

Some people would argue that there are many different customers in an organization. For example HR may have line management as their customer and the line's customer may be sales who have the end user as their customer.

This simply can not be the case, as each person might be tempted to make decisions in favour of their customer relationship (for HR the employee or line management).

And this decision could actually jeopardize the business' interaction with the paying customer.

Let's use another sporting example to illustrate this... all players (even the coaches and water boys) are working together as a team with one focus - giving value to the paying customer.

Suppose the water boy perceived the players on the field were their customer and they wanted to give them maximum satisfaction. So instead of the standard water or Gatorade, the water boy decided to give the players their favourite smoothies.

What would happen? This would affect the athletes' performance and in turn create a disappointing experience for the paying customer.

Shifting the focus of who the customer is will shift the focus of the work interactions. For HR to be a player, they must have the paying customer as their one and only customer.

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