I remember my reaction at the age of 35 when I got promoted to the position of HR Director. I did not jump out of joy. I still remember feeling that it was such a huge responsibility.
I am quite an introvert. Many would not guess that because I like being with people around. I just don’t like it all the time. I was purposeful and bold but also shy and quiet at the same time and negotiations was not my favorite thing.
The first day of my promotion, we had a business review. I was not yet requested to present anything but I had to be ready for the coming ones. I watched how things happened and saw how vehemently figures and numbers mattered. And so, I realized that to make my presentations strong and convincing, I cannot just go on with those bullet point slides about HR activities, narrating stories of how good we were performing. That was not good enough anymore.
The first thing I did on that road was to work hard, with the help of my manger, to turn everything into figures. Every activity of HR should be in the end contributing to the bottom line and should be translated into key performance indicators. Figures, if correct, do not lie. So, we, the HR team, started developing those KPIs. The one measuring recruitment would be vacancy rate. You calculate that by dividing the actual headcount budget of a month by the number of actual vacancies. Another KPI related to recruitment was the duration it takes. And here, you need to be accurate as to which duration; from which point to which point of time.
Other HR initiatives should reflect positively on employee turnover, so turnover was a big thing for us. We started analyzing every single detail related to turnover; analysis by gender, age, seniority, function and of course reason; both primary and secondary. For talent management, the KPIs was how many successors we have, the percentage of achieved development plans versus last year and the vacancies filled internally rather than externally. Training was translated into hours, functions, programs, and all compared to the previous status. Even for extremely qualitative projects, feedback before and after was used to monitor whether the project has actually yielded its fruits or not. In such case your objectives should be very well identified early on.
That was quite a breakthrough at the time. And, it was very much appreciated by all management in Egypt and the Headquarter.
In addition to figures, the second thing I always did was to use very clear and detailed analysis for every proposal. The proposal should always be very transparent indicating pros and cons and cost. It needs to include benchmark data and facts. When we compare to the market we provide the management with a view of how things are moving around us and who can head hunt our people through better HR practices. That propels the management to move and to change. After such a clear proposal, the management then would of course have their say and in such a way their buy-in is increased.
The third factor in the negotiation process is one of the most important: trust. It is an essential component at work and it makes life much easier. That is why you should never hide the fine print. Even the little doubtful, silly things need to be uncovered right from the start.
A fourth element that helped me pull many projects is making the reason behind the project glaringly clear. There must be a valid reason. I mean you do not do this for the glory of HR, do you? Let the main reason which is always related to the employees talk. For example, I once used the results in the employee engagement survey to stimulate action and launch projects. I used the feedback of people always to show why as HR we think this is important. Always try to relate this to the bottom line.
And finally, a fifth element that also works is using your sponsors. Re-enforcing your position by being backed up by a sponsor is crucial. If the project is important for the sales, then they can be your sponsor. If you work in a multinational, there are ideas and projects that come from the Headquarter. In such a case, they are your sponsor. Use this sponsor to negotiate with your CEO and to show how important it is. In a way, always show him or her what’s in it for him or her (The WIFM). The better you perform, the better the organization does, which is all what HR is really about; working towards having engaged employees who are performing well.
By: Amina EL Karamany
HR Consultant, Trainer & Coach
This article is a product of a writing competition organized by Global HR Forum & HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine. Ms. Amina EL Karamany won the second place in the HR Writer Competition. Judging Panel: Mahmoud Mansi, Dina Marei, Alia Faramawi, Ahmed Saadalla, Nada Adel Sobhi. General Coordinator: Ms. Nour Elzeny.
Photography: Ahmed Samir