What does a shift from “traditional HR” to a new "People & Culture" function actually mean; who's doing it and how can it underpin greater engagement and performance in our organisations?
A fascinating discussion on today’s Business Culture Awards & Business Culture Connected webinar, with David Liddle of The TCM Group | Putting People First™️sharing his latest thinking, based on work with global clients. Practical examples from private and public sector organisations, with Jenny Johnstone from Sage and Ali Mohammed FCIPD from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust joining as panellists. All excellently facilitated by award-winning journalist Katie Jacobs.
So many takeaways but below are some key ones. To find out the rest, register to view the session on demand (link in the comments):
💡 10% of attendees have created the shift to a new “People and Culture” team, with 46% already well on their way and 38% saying they’ll get started in the next 12 months.
💡 It’s much more than rebranding HR but … Language can be very powerful, including what we call our different business functions. Attendees were divided in their views on this though, with some feeling that HR is just a name and one which the organisation understands.
💡 Drop the Policies, Procedures and Processes. HR is about People! With current policies and procedures, issues are all too often not addressed constructively, leading to fear, stress and anxiety. This can, in turn, lead to inertia, as it’s easier to leave issues unaddressed.
💡 HR is ready for a shift in their role and responsibilities but has the rest of the organisation caught up yet? How can we enable people organisation-wide to take co-ownership of the culture? As HR leans away from policy and into values and behaviours, to “guide” rather than “tell” leaders and teams, the rest of the organisation may feel they are suddenly lacking the HR support they previously had.
💡 Becoming more people-centric means defining a clear purpose and deeply embedding values. Where these are lacking, it’s a challenge. But when developing them is simply seen as an exercise, rather than something which unites, inspires and guides everyday actions and decision-making, purpose and values “fatigue” can creep in.
💡 Aligning people around a common purpose isn’t the same as creating harmony. It actually means debate, creativity, innovation, empowerment and engagement.
💡 It’s often clear what behaviours are needed to deliver an organisation’s strategy, including the ones that will need to be dialled up; particularly for certain teams.
💡 The most important skill now needed by the People and Culture team is the ability to coach; to probe leaders and teams on what the issues are and learn to ask the right questions, not to supply all the answers. The function should be less about putting the fires out, as sowing the seeds of getting things right.
#HR #companyculture #employeeexperience #purposeandvalues Jo Basu (née Parker)
