Mark C. Maletz is a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, a former partner at McKinsey & Company, and an internationally recognized thought leader in strategy, leadership development, and organizational transformation. He is also faculty chair of the HBS Executive Education program, The HR-Executive Suite Connection. Here, he shares thoughts about how HR leaders can play a more strategic role on executive teams.
Why did you decide to develop The HR-Executive Suite Connection?
Human resources executives have the potential to bring substantial value to their organization's leadership team—potential that is often not fully realized. That's a shame, because companies are facing greater people challenges today than ever before. They need carefully designed people strategies that support their ability to design and execute business strategy, provide great service, drive change, and create sustainable, high-performance organizations.
As we talk with HR executives, we hear frustration. They keep reading that they should become better partners with the CEO in running the business—that they should be more strategic in order to earn and fully occupy a seat on the executive team as a business leader as well as an HR leader. They very much want to do that, but aren't always sure what it means in practice. We also talk with CEOs who want more strategic contributions from their HR executives. Our program is designed specifically to address this gap. We've designed a curriculum specifically for HR executives—but one that focuses on business leadership, not traditional HR topics.
Why is it important for HR executives to contribute to running the business?
People have always been key to the success of a company. But today, the talent, attitude, and actions of people are crucial ingredients that can mean the difference between a company's impressive success and dismal failure. In today's service-focused economy especially, success depends on the leadership team's ability to put the right people in place, empower front-line employees, and foster effective teamwork.
Markets and industries change rapidly. To be nimble and innovative, companies need to help their people navigate rapid change and align their actions with business strategy. CEOs want their HR leaders to help address these challenges. As a result, some are bringing in Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) who don't have traditional HR backgrounds.
What obstacles must HR executives overcome in order to broaden their contributions?
Many HR executives have spent most of their careers implementing best practices in HR-specific tasks and challenges—hiring, performance management, compensation plans, training and development, and so on. In their organizations, they're the go-to experts for these issues, but not necessarily for strategic problem-solving. One reason is that HR executives don't routinely think about and discuss business opportunities and challenges the way their colleagues do.
To become better strategic partners, HR executives must be able to see business issues from the perspective of their CEOs and peers, come up with thoughtful, creative solutions, and then communicate them in terms their colleagues understand. They also need to delegate more traditional HR tasks so they can spend time helping to solve the critical business problems that keep their CEO and executive team awake at night.
How will your program help HR executives have better conversations with their CEOs?
One very innovative aspect of the program is that we are bringing in a group of current and retired CEOs and senior business leaders to work with participants in small groups. Some have experienced wonderfully productive relationships with their HR leader, while others knew what they wanted from HR but weren't able to obtain it. Participants will spend time each day talking with these CEOs, hearing their perspectives, and gaining practice discussing business issues with them in a safe environment where they can receive helpful feedback. Through this process, HR executives will gain new ability to hear and address the CEO’s concerns.
How will the program help HR executives better solve business problems?
Our curriculum focuses on topics that regularly come up in executive committee discussions and decisions. By expanding their knowledge in these areas, participants will be able to engage more fully in discussions and contribute to solutions. We emphasize four main areas: growth strategy, operational excellence, service excellence, and people leadership and teamwork. These are key concerns for CEOs and domains in which HR executives can make important contributions.
Executives will gain a better understanding of how business leaders think about strategy formulation and execution. In addition, they will understand more about managing organizational systems such as service delivery systems or operational systems. We'll explore how business leaders shape these systems to support a strategic agenda, support organizational growth, and improve effectiveness.
Why is teamwork an important part of the curriculum?
HR executives have traditionally used their tools and skills to build better working relationships throughout the organization. But in addition to that, the HR executive can play a valuable role in diagnosing challenges and improving teamwork within the leadership team itself. This can have a huge impact on business success. In this program, we equip participants to take the tools and skills they might have used elsewhere in the organization and apply them to the executive team.
Who will benefit most from attending this program?
Because the program emphasizes working with a CEO and an executive team, it is ideal for senior HR executives in larger, more complex organizations who already have—or will soon have—a seat on the leadership team. They might be CHROs reporting to a CEO, or perhaps VPs of HR reporting to a general manager of a region, division, or strategic business unit. Perhaps they are on a path toward stepping into one of those roles down the road. Whether these individuals have come up through the HR ranks or moved into HR from another part of the business, the program will help them contribute more effectively to the organization's success.
How can participants maximize their learning?
Completing the pre-program assignments will enable participants to hit the ground running when they arrive on campus. During this intensive, three-day program, participants will be working alongside a very experienced group of CHROs and HR executives from different companies, industries, and regions. They should take advantage of the opportunity to learn from their peers and CEO mentors both inside and outside the classroom. Finally, everyone should be thinking about how they will apply their learning when they go back to work.
What will HR executives be able to do after attending this program?
The program gives HR executives practical strategies they can use to achieve their potential on a business leadership team. They will be able to engage in more strategic conversations, ask better questions, understand the nature of the organization's business opportunities and challenges, and help drive creative solutions.
As a first step, they will come out of the program with a well-developed presentation for their organization's executive team. They can go back to work and say, "I picked up some interesting insights that I think are relevant to our company." This gives them a very practical entrée to begin a different type of conversation so they can start contributing at a more strategic level.