Our events during spring 2024

Times are changing, not the products, not the machines, but our human capital is our unique selling point. So why then is the most important function in a company not occupied by a HR-professional?

In this blog I want to open a new discussion. The highest functions in companies are often occupied with professionals who often have their specialization in a certain occupation, these are often specialities in: sales, productivity, the product itself, and sometimes even finances.

However, it is very rare that we see an HR professional on the highest seat of a company (read: never). Why is that? I would argue that HR has the most important role in a company in the 21st century and therefore it only seems natural that somebody with HR-affinity holds the highest office.  

The highest office – a brief history

Historically the highest functions in previous societies were either ranked by ‘birth right’ or age. A prince was born to be a king and a farmer’s son was born to be a farmer. Additionally, the elder brother (because in those times we are not even talking about equality between genders) often held the highest regard in the family.

When we transformed from a feudal society to a capitalist society our order of who holds the highest function and why also changed. Birth right and age made place for private property and capital. In the beginning of our capitalist society, it was the people who were most skilled in their profession (artisans, craftsmen and guildsmen) who held the highest offices in their organizations.

With the industrial revolution in full force, these professionals had to make place for the people who knew most about machines and production. After the second world war these mass-producing professionals had to make place for productivity professionals. Average output and efficiency became the drive of many companies to outperform the competition.

Shortly thereafter the golden age of capitalism required professionals who knew how to handle flows of money. The highest occupation became related to financial specialization. Fast forwarding to current day, the highest office is often related to specialization in terms of sales, productivity, the product itself or finance. CEO positions are, more often than not, occupied by somebody who has a technical skill.

What is important?

Let’s do a recap, what have we had so far; we picked our leaders based upon: birth right, age, artisanry, skills related to production, productivity, finance, sales and the product itself. Are we missing something? Well, I believe we do.

Now in the 21st century human capital seems to be the most important asset for most companies. The people who walk in our hallways, sell and produce our products, facilitate finance, logistics and purchasing, it’s the people who are the beating heart of an organisation. They are our unique selling points. That has not gone unnoticed. More and more companies are busy trying to retain and develop their talent, and more and more companies are started to provide the means of doing so. Especially in niche industries, any industry remotely dealing with software and industries which require specific skills (I think this captures our entire economy), employers know how important it is to retain and develop their talent.

From this I can only conclude one thing, the most important focus of our companies now should be the people working in them. This means that we need leaders and CEO’s who not only understand HR, but who are also proficient in the HR world.

Shifting focus

Why would you go through the trouble of finding a CEO who has a focus on HR? Why do we require such emphasis? Well, because every time before us also required change and new ideas based upon what was important at that time. Now we entered the era wherein the most important part of our company is based on our people and their, often irreplaceable, talents. Society is focussed on letting each and everybody develop their talent to maximise our output. Schools, universities, training centres, they all know the importance of a development focussed approach. Therefore, it is time that companies adopt the same focus, which requires the same type of leaders.

It is therefore important that our future CEOs not just understand a recruitment process, but that they are able to build up an entire talent acquisition strategy. That they are not only able to see the value of teambuilding exercises, but that they understand how to shape and create cultural change. That they are not only concerned with training their employees to stay up to date with technologies, but that they can shape trajectory and development plans to provide opportunities for growth.

In short, it does not suffice anymore that our leaders know and do the basics. It is time that HR takes its rightful place in the centre of a company whose main unique selling point is its people. It is time that we accept that the centre stage of our time belongs to HR and development, but that also means that it is time for our HR professionals to step up to the plate. It is not enough to stand in line and to ‘offer service when asked’, HR departments need to transform themselves from administrators to proactive managers.

We need to find value which we can contribute to our employers. Find cultural problems and solve them, develop training and development strategies and empower our co-workers to be co-champions. It is only by doing so that HR will be lifted to strategic importance and that we get leaders who understand and are proficient in the realm of HR.

In conclusion

For me it is only clear that the next generation of new leaders has a background in HR. We are broadly agreeing that our human capital is in the widest sense the most important aspect of our company. We are recruiting, coaching, training and developing our employees, but to truly stand out for our employees, HR needs to be lifted to strategic importance. Therefore, I believe that we need leaders who understand this importance and have the capabilities to do so.

‍

Change management is important. We are living in a vibrant ever-changing world where what we call new today will be tomorrow’s yesterday’s news. Change will come more and more often, so it is important to have the leaders who how to deal with change.  

Change has been a part of everyday life for centuries. However, in the 20th and 21st century, with a global 24-hours economy, change seems to be a faster reoccurring process than ever before without any sign of this process reversing. Knowing that, you know that change will come to your organisation as well, sooner or later. You should therefore be prepared to have the right leadership-skills in your company to drive home certain changes. Why leadership? Because the success of change does not depend on which software tool you acquired, which consultants have advised you, or which market research drove you to change. The success of change is dependent on whether or not you can get your employees to accept and work with change.  

The necessity of a good story

The first step of creating leadership that knows how to deal with change, is that the leadership needs to understand the foundation of the change itself. Leaders and managers need to have a crystal-clear idea of why change is necessary and how it can help the company to achieve its vision, mission and goals. There should be no question or doubt in the mind of a leader or manager about upcoming change, or this might affect the effectiveness of the implementation. A newly implemented project or change often fails because a lack of managerial commitment through understanding the change and translating this to employees.  

Once a leader or manager thoroughly understands a change in the company and how it can improve the company, the leader or manager needs to connect this to the goals of the company. Change or improvement itself is not that inspiring. Your vision, mission and goals are tools to create inspiration. So, to convey an inspiring message about change which shows commitment and has the capability to persuade people into adhering to change. The manager or leader needs to show how this change or improvement will lead to the accomplishment of the goals of the company.  

Now that the manager or leader understands why the change is necessary and can formulate the argument for change, connected to the goals of the company, it is time to communicate this to your employees. The communication of change is often not done by a simple power point presentation in a singular meeting. You will need to address the upcoming change on a couple occasions, not only because some changes are quite big and therefore complicated to explain, but also to let change ‘sink in’. Give your employees the opportunity to overthink change, to understand what it will mean for them, and to provide an opportunity for their feedback to perhaps even add value to your idea for change. So, plan in a couple of meetings, coffee breaks, group discussions or presentations to bring across your points, because remember: it does not only take effort to convince people, it also takes time to get them on board.  

Communication in this sense is a two-way street. You should be in close contact with your employees throughout every stage of change. This brings us to our second, and perhaps most important, aspect of change: your people.  

People

Change is not natural for most people. Most people work out of routine and experience. It is not so much that they are stuck in their old ways, but it is more that they know what works for them right now. Therefore, change can be scary and spark certain concerns. It is important to address these concerns because they can be a root cause for unhappiness, demotivation and stress, even if, in hindsight, there was nothing to be concerned about in the first place. Concern itself is, although very important, relatively unharmful for your employees’ wellbeing. A side-effect of concern, however, is stress. Stress is very harmful for the wellbeing of your employees. Not only for their individual mental wellbeing, but also for the atmosphere on the work floor. Stressed employees have a tendency to emphasize the negative and ignore the positive, which deteriorates the work atmosphere in the long run. This should give you more than enough reasons to address concerns fast and continuously.  

So, from the moment you announce change, also simultaneously provide opportunities for your employees to express their concerns. Not only because you want to be a good boss and listen to your employees, but if you can even take away their concerns and show them the advantages, then you can transform those previously concerned employees to be your champions of change. Don’t see concerns as a problem. They are a sign that people care. Concerns are even an opportunity to transform concerned employees into change champions.  

Another component that you might encounter when working with your employees towards change is resistance. Resistance is the natural result of experience. People know how they have to work from the past and are cautious to give up their usual ways with which they have familiarized themselves. This is unavoidable and there is generally not much more to it than to engage with resistance. Debates during meetings are a good way to engage with resistance and just like concern, you need to either take resistance away or you can use it to create something better. Resistance in this sense is a useful tool to optimize change. The people on the work floor have the best idea of what they encounter in their daily work, so if there is something which will not work according to their views, then you need to address that. Use the experience of your employees in such a way to optimize your change. Do not just let them be idle bystanders, but show them that their input is valued and that it can improve the process of change. So instead of seeing resistance as a nuisance, accept and embrace it. It is a sign that people care and an opening to let experience shape and finetune the planned change. After all, your employees are the experts on your daily business, so use their experience to criticize and finetune your ideas for change. Their insights will drive improvements, but most importantly also the acceptance and engagement towards the upcoming change.  

Accountability and adjustments

Do we get everybody on board? Good. Have all the concerns been addressed? Good. Has the resistance been met and has everybody had a chance to ventilate their criticism? Good. So, then we are done here, right? Wrong.  During the process of change there can still be topics where your employees do not agree with the decisions being made. That is a natural part of the process. In this sense it is important to remain critical as a leader, also towards the decisions being made. If something is not working out, then this has to be addressed and the people involved have to be held accountable. This is not only important to ensure that there are no rushed decisions being taken, but also to uphold the legitimacy of your managerial team. Think about it his way, if managers consistently take wrong decisions and are not being hold accountable then this will not only upset your employees, but it will also undermine the general legitimacy and credibility of your entire management staff. Mistakes can be made, decisions can turn out to be wrong, that is a normal part of change. However, in this sense it should also be normal to hold the responsible people accountable. From that point onwards it is important not to let pride and stubbornness take over from reason and responsibility. If a decision for change turns out to be a mistake, it is time for an adjustment of the original change. This in and of itself is a new point of change in the organisation so it is again important to consider all the points made above when it comes to leadership.  

Conclusion

Change is a constant process. New decisions are made daily so it is important to have leaders who know how to deal with change. This starts with understanding change and knowing how to communicate it to your employees. They will subsequently respond with concerns and resistance. These are, however, not a bad thing. They are a sign that people care and they provide opportunities for improving and finetuning change. If it turns out that some decisions in change are not working, then you need to hold the right people accountable and take adjustive action. At this point, you are preparing new change, so it is important to again go over all the important points related to leadership and change management.  

‍

Most people see recruitment as a necessary means to an end and perceive the process with a clear starting point (the internal hiring need) and a clear end (the hired candidate). However, in contrary to popular believe, recruitment is a never-ending process. In previous blog I have already explained why recruitment does not stop after you have found the right candidate. But what if you are already stuck before that stage? What if the perfect candidate never seems to show up? In this blog I will discuss 6 tips which help you to find your future candidate and transform your recruitment operations into a continuously developing process.  

Knowing yourself is important to know what you want

Firstly, we are going to start with the basics. Whenever you are looking out for people, you need to make sure that you know what you as a company stand for. In this sense you need to have a thought-out vision and mission of what you aim to achieve with your company. Furthermore, you need to know what kind of internal culture you have and what values are shared in this culture. This is important because most people nowadays are not convinced by just a pure salary raise anymore. Most people are motivated by companies with whom they can identify with and who share their personal values. Now that you have identified your vision, mission, culture and values, it is time to work with them, which brings us to the second tip.  

Translate and communicate your message

Now that your vision, mission, culture and values are set up, it is important to display them. First and foremost, you should of course display this on your website and LinkedIn, but besides that there are also other target group focussed forums. You can think of websites, conventions or breakfast seminars which your potential candidates often visit. Don’t be afraid to be creative, in this sense it is better to be too active than too passive. Have you ever heard of guerrilla marketing? Well, that just might catch the attention of your future employee, against often budget friendly costs. Besides this, your recruiters also need to be well-trained in understanding, translating and identifying your own vision, mission, culture and values. It is therefore important that they work together with staff from your marketing department to gain those skills and to set up the right messaging towards your potential candidates. Furthermore, they are also the ones that need to identify the candidates whose values align with your own.  

Expand your network and nurture candidates

Another thing that you can start to do tomorrow is to get in touch with different recruiters or HR employees from other companies and start making them part of your network to increase the possibilities of a referral. Go to conventions, breakfast seminars and conferences to get in touch with them. In this sense it is important to know that a strong way to expand your network is to do favours for others before you can reap the rewards. This might sound like you are getting more work on your hands, but who knows; what may seem like an impossible profile for somebody else, might just be floating around in your talent pool. When talking about talent pools it is also important to remember to nurture the candidates who you have not hired. An applicant with the wrong profile for a previous vacancy might be the perfect candidate for a new vacancy. You should therefore regularly nurture their excitement for your company and go through your talent pool to see if you can find that hidden gem that you might forgot about. One way to continuously increase your talent pool is to open up ongoing vacancies where people can list their open application.  

Promotion and internal hiring boards

Did you just lose an incredible manager/team leader/senior team member and are you wondering how you will ever fill his or her position? Perhaps an internal promotion is a possibility. Maybe one of the team members is ready to step up and, if he or she is provided with training, be your new amazing superstar. Internal promotion has three advantages over external hiring: it’s cheaper, it’s faster, and the candidate already knows your company/product. Of course, the fact remains that there will be a gap in the team if you promote one of its members, but this, in most cases, is an easier recruitment than the incredible superstar that you lost. If the team members are not an option or if there is not even a team to speak of in the first place, then internal hiring boards could be an option. Internal hiring boards are basically vacancy boards of internal vacancies that not have been externally published yet and where only internal employees can apply for. A lot of managers are cautious for this, because they fear that their best employees might leave their department and they say that this is just a way of moving the problem. I would argue that this is the wrong way of thinking. Firstly, yes, your employee might move from your department, and yes, that moves the problem to your department. However, you should always realize that people are looking for ways to develop themselves, so letting them develop themselves within the company benefits the company as a whole. Again, it might be easier to find somebody for the new gap in your department as it is to find for the gap your company is experiencing right now (there is most likely a very valid reason that somebody is reading this blog right now). Furthermore, I would argue that this shows your employees that there will always be possibilities to develop themselves, which can motivate them to stay instead of leaving for a possibility to develop themselves at another company.  

Internal training and development

Continuing on the previous note, it is important to plan out what your employees are capable of right now and where they want to be in five to ten years. In this sense development plans should be one of the key priorities for any HR department. Firstly, because it simply keeps your employees happy and loyal if they have a sense of development and, secondly, because you can prepare and train them for the more specific and hard-to-fill vacancies which are upcoming in the future. This again intertwines with the first point, that you should know who you are as a company and strategically plan ahead for the future. So organisational charts need to be drawn up, both from the present and where you expect to be. Then you need to identify who can fill the potential upcoming (senior) positions and what he or she needs, in terms of training, to be able to fulfil that position. Actively be engaged with your employees and take them with you on this journey of development. The backend developer of today can be your architect of tomorrow.  

There is a truth in numbers

As with most things in life, there is a certain truth in numbers. The bigger your pool of candidates, the larger the odds that the right candidate is in there. In this sense it might be a good idea to try quantity over quality and expand the parameters that you’ve got from the hiring manager. When you are searching for people the pool of potential candidates increases if you decrease the hiring manager’s requirements. Maybe the candidate does not require a full five years of experience? Maybe experience in a related industry can be equivalent to experience in your own industry? Maybe managing twenty people requires the same type of management skills as it does when managing ten? Try to send through some candidates and resumes with the expanded parameters and see what works for your individual vacancy. It is in this sense also the recruiter’s job to push back a bit on the requirements of the hiring manager, because too often we see that hiring managers are looking for a unicorn that is fluent in five languages, has four degrees, and more than twenty years of experience in the industry. The reality is that unicorns do not exist, but it is our job to show them that and to come with a viable alternative.  

In conclusion

When looking out for your future candidates you should start with the basics and have a good story on who you are as a company and what you are trying to achieve. Then you need to get your message out there, both through online and conventional ways; be creative! After that you need to work with your network, most predominantly: expand it. Find ways to get in touch with fellow HR colleagues in the field and see if you can use their network. Furthermore, don’t forget about internal hiring and promoting your employees, and last, but not least, try to push back on the requirements for the profile and expand the parameters of your search to get a bigger pool of potential candidates.    

‍