Simon Sinek's popular TED Talk and book 'Start With Why' is all about how the most successful organisations in the world start with their purpose at the centre of their strategy. Purpose is a powerful driver and compass that can keep people aligned and connected.
But if you start with why, you have to end with the question of 'who' - because no matter how great your why is, it is the 'who' that will make it happen.
If you had to break down the function of strategic HR into a single phrase, it would be to provide fast, accurate answers to the 'who' questions that business leaders ask.
Why 'who' is the most important question
Business leaders ask 'who' questions constantly. Who should we hire? Who has these skills? Who are our high potentials? Who should we promote? Who is at risk of leaving? Who is ready for the next level?
HR is expected to deliver these answers as the custodians of people data. But in most mid-sized companies, the systems, processes, and data quality required to answer these questions quickly and accurately simply do not exist.
The two core challenges: accuracy and speed
HR faces two main challenges when answering critical 'who' questions.
Accuracy: HR handles people-related queries, and everyone tends to have an opinion about people. Other departments like sales, operations, and finance rely on data-backed decisions because they have systems that allow them to measure their work. HR often lacks these tools, which means a culture of evidence-based decision-making is frequently missing.
Speed: A lack of evidence leads to delays in answering 'who' questions, because decisions default to opinions. Unlike other departments that can answer questions relatively accurately and quickly because they have good data, efficient systems, and technology, mid-sized companies face resource limitations that make it challenging to address complex people-related issues at pace.
The opinion problem
When HR answers 'who' questions with opinions rather than data, it undermines credibility and slows decisions. The goal is to become the function that provides fast, evidence-based answers - not the function that needs to 'check and come back'.
The mid-sized company problem
Small companies can mostly get by with Excel and PowerPoint-based data collation and analysis. Large companies have enterprise HR information systems with teams of people supporting them.
But the real struggle is mid-sized companies - those with between 50 and 500 leaders - who are under-resourced and over-stressed. They are big enough to have complex people challenges, but too small in that the majority of resources are dedicated to sales and delivery. Their people processes usually have to make the best with what they have.
This is the gap where talent management most often fails. The complexity is enterprise-level, but the resources are startup-level.
The four enablers: data, process, culture, technology
To provide fast, accurate answers to the critical 'who' questions, HR needs to build capability across four enablers.
- 1
Data quality: Start with knowing what data is relevant. If you have 100 people and 100 data inputs, that is 10,000 data points to manage. Cutting the list to 15-20 makes it manageable and sustainable.
- 2
Efficient processes: Design processes so the benefit clearly outweighs the cost of participation. The eye-roll is the most common reaction HR gets when asking employees to complete 'people stuff'. Make it easy to do the right thing.
- 3
Cultural adoption: Build a culture where evidence-based decisions are the norm. Train line managers to ask the right questions and respect data-backed answers. Make it harder to go with opinion over evidence.
- 4
Scaleable technology: Use technology to scale the right processes, collect the right data, and facilitate the right conversations. Technology that increases burden and under-delivers on results is worse than no technology at all.
Building a healthy People Ecosystem
The concept of a People Ecosystem is a useful reference for how businesses should operate. In an ecosystem, each living and non-living thing contributes to the overall health of the ecosystem. Ecosystems are naturally more resilient, productive, adaptable, and valuable because of the contribution to a shared purpose.
When you get the answers to your 'who' questions right, the result is a healthy, thriving People Ecosystem - one where the right people are in the right roles, development is targeted and effective, and business leaders trust HR to provide the answers they need.