For years, HR has been trying to figure out how to get the attention of those in the C-Suite. Some have suggested, "a more strategic approach". Others advocate tracking metrics to prove the ROI of HR activities. Still others believe that it´s a lack of business acumen that keeps most HR Vice Presidents out of the CEO´s office.
With all that has been written about what HR executives need to do in order to capture the attention of those at the top, virtually none of it has accomplished the mission. It´s sad to say, but in most corporations today, the only time HR professionals feel as valued as the CFO is when an employee is suing the company and they have the records crucial to the company´s "win".
It´s a strange reality. Human Resource Vice Presidents are responsible for a company´s most important and costly assets... the employees. In our ultra-competitive, knowledge based, global marketplace, a highly committed and well-trained workforce is unquestionably the pivot point between success and failure. And the creation and management of that workforce is precisely what HR is all about.
So, why does the CFO get a corner office, while the VP of HR sits several floors down hoping to get that CFO´s desk chair when he or she is ready for a new one? Why is it that when the CFO needs to spend several million on a systems improvement it´s no problem, but when the head of HR wants to give away tee shirts at the company picnic, it´s an issue?
The Haves and the Have-Nots
The answer, it may not come as a surprise, is found in the numbers: CFOs have them, and HR Vice Presidents don´t. Chief Financial Officers have the power they do because, as they say, the numbers do not lie. (Well, at Enron they did, but better not to mention that to the CFO.)
Human Resource executives, during the last decade have attempted to combat this numbers advantage in numbers of ways. Tracking metrics to establish the ROI of HR activities has been popular for years, and most recently, it´s the concept of "strategic HR" that´s making the headlines.
Strategic human resource management is generally defined as "the linking of human resources with strategic objectives in an effort to improve business performance through the development of an organizational culture that fosters innovation and flexibility". Strategic HR means that the human resource function becomes a strategic partner in the implementation of the company´s strategies through such HR activities as recruiting, selecting, training, and rewarding personnel.
To be entirely candid, how can one quantitatively determine the relative success or failure of such efforts? Especially as compared with the spreadsheets and reams of financial data being carried to meetings in the CFO´s briefcase.
More than a few prominent authors have attempted to put HR executives on the numbers-based path to the C-Suite table. In Dave Ulrich´s landmark book, "Human Resource Champions-The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results," first published in 1996, human resource executives were told in no uncertain terms that they must "define the value you create-for customers, employees, and investors-and institute measures for performance, or face the inevitable outsourcing of your function". And more recently, Hugh Bucknall and Zheng Wei published "Magic Numbers for Human Resource Managers-Basic Measures to Achieve Better Results," which plainly states that HR executives must "measure the main features of HR in order to get their voice heard at the executive table".
There´s no question that, as competition has grown fiercer, companies have demanded more from their workforces, and as a result, there has been a shift from qualitative to quantitative measurements. And these books, among others, have given birth to a new breed of HR executive-one that understands the need to measure the monetary impact of their department´s activities in order to demonstrate the value being contributed to the organization as a result.
But, as this new breed of HR executive has learned, just having spreadsheets of their own to carry around, has not garnered the much sought after seat at the proverbial executive table. True strategic partners must measurably contribute to the bottom line. And the problem has always been that HR initiatives are too intangible, and/or have too long a gestation period for any resulting payoff to be assessed accurately.
Survey Says...
Essentially all large US companies regularly conduct employee surveys, ostensibly for all the right reasons: to discover how employees think and feel about their jobs, co-workers, and the company overall. These surveys are also a way to support HR´s goal of having measurable data upon which organizational changes can be made. The problem is... they don´t actually lead to much actually changing.
On paper at least, employee surveys should provide HR executives with almost as much actionable data as is carried around by the CFO. Hundreds of questions are often asked, response rates are often statistically sufficient, and survey vendors are often quite competent. So, what´s missing? Why haven´t the results of countless employee surveys provided HR with the hard numbers needed to sit at the table they desire and deserve?
The answer is that the existing systems and methodologies for conducting employee surveys have not been designed to deliver maximum value in today´s corporate settings. To begin with, today´s surveys take months upon months to conclude, and in a world where even a few months can mean dramatic change, it´s far from an ideal situation on that basis alone.
The real problem, however, lies in the inability of today´s employee surveys to produce specific and actionable information. Today´s surveys have hit an effectiveness ceiling created by the combined impact of the two most prevalent forces in business: time and money.
In order to be actionable, survey results must be specific and accurate, and this requires the ability to "drill down" into the numbers easily and intuitively. HR Vice Presidents need more than just a survey company; they need a powerful tool in expert hands that can deliver the same kind of incontestable, actionable, and timely data generated by CFOs.
The Missing Link...
So, even though employee research techniques have evolved significantly over the past few years, they are still failing to live up to their potential and intended purpose. Surveys are conducted, results are compiled, slide shows are created, meetings covering all that was "learned" are held, but ultimately, more times than not... binders are shelved and very little is changed. Until now...
Perceptyx gives HR professionals the power they need to sit at anyone´s table. In fact, if CFOs were responsible for selecting an employee survey company, it´s likely that they´d overwhelmingly choose Perceptyx.
Every so often, new technology in expert hands transforms something so completely that it makes things possible that weren´t possible before. In the field of employee surveys, Perceptyx is an example of such an event. Perceptyx employee surveys are not just better-they´re radically better.
Perceptyx vs. Reality
The only way to truly understand the power of Perceptyx employee surveys is to see a demonstration. And you can do it without leaving your desk by contacting:
Greg La Bonte, VP Sales
Jack Morehouse, VP Business Development
jack.morehouse[at]perceptyx.com
Or call Perceptyx at 951-676-4414. And start sitting wherever you darn well please.