welcome to the irish universities hr seminar series 2012

Welcome to the Irish Universities HR Seminar Series 2012

Challenging times for HE-HR’s strategic contribution

Linda Holbeche PhD

• Ireland – the Croke Park Agreement:• “...both its cost and the number of people working in the

Public Service can fall significantly, while continuing to meet the need for services and improve the experience of service users”

• UK- HE White Paper – ‘radical reform’ to put higher education on a ‘sustainable footing’• Tuition fees – institutions must deliver a ‘better student

experience’ – measurable outcomes e.g. employability• Institutions must increase social mobility• Increased competition

• Efficiency and value for money• Leadership, management and governance ©Linda Holbeche

The Higher Education reforms

• Distinctive missions, new markets• Internationalisation• Driving through efficiency savings – new structures, ways of

working• Managing culture change: aiming for agility• Embracing the ‘student experience’ agenda• Looking to make the most of knowledge and innovation• Managing risk/reputation• Sourcing key talent• Amalgamating services• Traded services• Working in partnership

©Linda Holbeche

Institutional responses

© Linda Holbeche 2012

Shifting the performance curve to maximise human valueNumber of employees

Performance and individual

value

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Unacceptable Acceptable Superior

HR?

‘People’ and ‘organisational’ issues• The student experience agenda

• Student expectations – from selectors to recruiters• How widely is need for change recognised?• Balancing priorities – research and teaching• How to raise standards?• How to attract and retain the ‘right’ workforce?

• Challenges in attracting, retaining and engaging the ‘right’ workforce• The ageing workforce• How to respond to younger staff’s expectations of rapid career growth?• Sourcing new talent• The changing academic career and psychological contract• How to enable academics to maintain a research-intensive career in the

current context?• How to ‘re-engage’ employees?

• Developing institutional agility• How well equipped are leaders and managers to manage change?• How to mobilise people for change?

©Linda Holbeche


A distinctive contribution from HR?

“For HR people in HE, this is a challenging and exciting time. HR issues have institutional visibility. HR practitioners have to be Jacks-of-All-Trades, able to go from strategic to operational issues in the same breath.”

(Mike Moore, HR Director, University of East London).


The Value Triangle

Value for Money

Added Value

CreatedValue

What is the best human system to deliver what is required now and in the future?

What are the improvement points that will drive value?

Synthesis of roles for HRHuman Capital

Developer

StrategicPartner

FunctionalExpert

Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005

Employee

Advocate HR Leader

HR leadership

More than ever organisations need HR leaders with the vision and the deep capability to build organisational cultures and business leadership which are fit for both the present and future.

HR leadership is about proactively identifying and building the people and organisational capabilities required for sustainable success.

(Holbeche, 2009)


By:

• Moving from reacting to proacting• Creating a people and organisational

mission for the business, not an HR agenda

• Ensuring the organisation has the right talent in the right place at the right time

• Transforming the institution to ensure it meets its full potential

A fresh mindset – challenging orthodoxy

Paradox and Ambiguity

Authenticity and mutuality

Leadership and management

Language and Action

New OE Mindset

More dynamic and ‘real’

Words do things‘human capital’

‘human stock’

Tensions individual/collegiate/

corporate motives?More dispersed, valuing different

sources of evidence

©Francis, Holbeche and Reddington, 2012


The HR leadership agenda• Aligning HR efforts with institutional vision and mission

– Leading the strategic and operational agenda– Leading the talent agenda– Enhancing the student experience– Supporting the academic agenda– Building relevant future capabilities

• Helping institutions become more agile– Building leadership capability– Leading change and culture change

• Building resilient employee relations– (Re-)engaging employees– Developing a new employment relationship

• Building healthy, effective and ethical organisations


1. Aligning HR efforts with vision• Align with vision - devising the People Strategy collaboratively

with key stakeholders as part of the business strategy e.g. • Supporting the student experience agenda• Supporting the internationalisation agenda• Supporting the academic agenda etc.

• Work out the implications for structures, roles, managerial capacity, leadership behaviour, resourcing, information needs, systems etc

• Restructure for strategic impact– Get the basics right– Continually improve– Make the big moves

• Key metrics


2. Helping institutions become more agile by:

• Acting as change agent, working closely with change leaders, looking back and ahead, identifying learning, risks and potential opportunities

• Acting as trusted friend to be relied upon, helping managers handle the behavioural elements of change

• Understanding ‘levers’ for change – which to pull, where, when and how

• Partnering on organisation redesign - shaping thinking about realigning organisations to become more agile, customer-intensive, engaging etc.

• Cutting out layers and managing integrations (mergers and acquisitions)

• Improving staff communications• Developing constructive employee relations


Critical people risk factors of change

• What are you asking people to do differently?• Who will be most affected and how?• How will their part of the organisation change?• What reactions can you expect?• Who is most at risk?• What can you learn from past experiences?• Do staff have the right skills for the change? If not, do

they have access to learning to develop those skills?• What practical and other support will they need to

make the changes required of them?


Stimulating culture change

• Requires top level commitment and visibility• Shared values as the basis of change• Sense of coherence – clarity about goals and roles• Widen the circle of involvement:

– Connect people to each other– Create communities for action– Promote fairness

• Bring consistency and strengthen what works – while everything around that can change

• Act as role model of the organisational values and new practices


3. Enhancing the student experience by:

• Supporting student employability• Designing the people strategy and HR activity around

what impacts on the quality of student experience at the front-line

• Helping raise performance standards• Attracting and retaining the ‘right’ staff

• Developing and delivering employer brand and equitable ‘employee value propositions’

• Making it easier for people to do difficult jobs• Advancing the equality and diversity agenda• Supporting staff at ‘the front line’• Re-engaging employees

Elements of engagement


Social Intellectual Emotional

VOICE EQUITY

CONNECTION

VOIC

E

SUPPORT

SCOPE

Autonomy &

mutual trust

Grow

th & accom

plishment

Meaning &

purpose

Treated as an individual

Feeling valued

Fair deal

Enabled to do the job

Well-being

Bein

g in

form

ed

Bein

g he

ard

Bein

g In

volv

ed

Sense of identification

Pride in the organization

Common purpose

Shared values

Employee Engagement Model

SocialEmotional

Intellectual

Engagement

Trust

Fairness

©Holbeche and Matthews, 2012


Re-engaging employees

• Enhancing staff well-being• Ensuring that ‘front-line’ (academic and services)

staff have the relevant professional and skills development

• Providing career opportunities • Advancing the equality and diversity agenda• Developing high engagement cultures• Developing engaging leaders and managers


Balance people and costs

• Keep focus on talent management• Improve skills and competencies people really

need; especially for people in new roles• Maintain support for high performers• Use non-financial benefits – recognition etc –

that matter most to people• Innovative approaches to learning

A different deal at work

Old New


4. Supporting the academic agenda

• Helping academic, research and professional staff develop their core professional skills

• Supporting the innovation agenda• Enabling cross-institutional learning• Researcher careers


5. Building relevant future capabilities

• Strategic workforce planning• Succession planning and talent management• Developing coherent career progression• Developing ‘change-able’ leadership and

management • Developing ‘change-able’, innovative cultures

HR continuum: strategic influenceLow High

Irrelevant

Work -Undermined

• Admin centred• Seen as lacking

expertise• Lacks credibility• No involvement with

the business• Clerical function

HR works hard

but not smart

Short-term intervention but lacks long-term impact

High impact

Long-term influence

• Technically competent• At beck and call of clients• Fire-fighting• Blockages in work flow

occur• Hard workers: lacks

influence

• Pass-through contribution

• Fails to change the internal workings of the organisation

• “Politician” role: says the right things

• Avoids details and keeps things at a broad level

• Tool-kit approach• Lacking in expertise

• Strategic/diagnostic role• Enabling role• Acts as coach to the rest of

the organisation• Devises processes to meet

business needs• Problem solver• Perceived as experts• Negotiates with the

business• Board HR Director• Evaluates own performance• Leadership qualities/role

modelsLaurence Handy / Ashridge

Role model good practice

• Credibility• Cohesive team• Prepare for change• Focused delivery• Actively share and develop learning• Identify own values and ways of working• Look and work beyond current boundaries


The HE HR Value Triangle

Core people processes fit for purpose, compliance, risk management

Aligning with institutional vision

Building strategic capability

A value-creating proposition !

www.uhr.ac.uk/Publications.aspx

Building healthy, agile cultures


http://www.uhr.ac.uk/Publications.aspx

29

Linda [email protected] 1543235

mailto:[email protected]


• What are the biggest challenges /risk issues to delivering excellence you’re aware of?

• What are the implications for leadership (organisational, functional, team – at all levels)?

• (Re-)engaging employees – the key issues and groups at risk.• And what do you think are possible solutions to any of the

above?• What is HR’s part in delivering these solutions?


• What challenges does this create for you personally?

• How do you feel about this?• What are the barriers to you doing this work?• What can help you to do this work?


On reflection• 1 point to take away (that you found particularly interesting

or thought-provoking)• Points you would like to consider applying in your

organisation or role• 1 point you bring – e.g. good practice - learning point or

hint/tip to contribute from your organisation that others can follow up with you on.

Thank you to our sponsors

welcome to the irish universities hr seminar series 2012

Documents

linda holbeche slide

hr people

hr leadership

hr issues

hr director

hr practitioners

value triangle value

governance linda holbeche