How HR can become a business value driver, by stakeholders

STAKEHOLDERS in the human resource management sector have identified the need for practitioners to leverage technology in driving business value in their organisations.

Speaking at an executive roundtable organised by Serve Consulting for about 30 top executives from leading organisations in Nigeria, the Past President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Abiola Popoola, while speaking on the theme, “HR as business value driver”, said the current trends require HR executives to be first business leaders before being HR leaders.

According to him, HR leaders have to think about how to create the appropriate HR strategy that sets an agenda for how HR will help companies respond to market demands.

He emphasized that more than ever before, business leaders now require HR executives to steer the processes involved in managing personnel with speed and strategic focus while taking advantage of the benefits that modern technology offers.

He stated that the expected result is the effective channelling of talents to improve value to all stakeholders.
He added that to properly motivate staff, HR has to be in direct sync with line managers and team leads as they are the one in direct proximity with their team members.
“The team leads/managers are expected to know their team members better and better advise HR on how best to engage each employee. Therefore, Team Leads and Line Managers are critical to delivering the HR value proposition”, he said.

Aderinola Oloruntoye, while representing the MD of SAP Nigeria highlighted the achievements of Serve Consulting.
According to him, Serve had successfully delivered the biggest and most complex SAP project in the sub—Saharan African region.

Oloruntoye anchored a Design thinking session where participants were taken through series of exercises to help determine the role of HR in today’s Business world.

The stakeholders however agreed that what most companies consider as the future trends and needs are actually current trends in today’s business world, noting that there is a need for Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs to be innovative about current HR practices in order to help businesses respond to the demands and challenges of the new business terrain.

“HR executives need to work smarter and constantly engage their staff. Work sometime needs to be re-arranged and analysed to get the best value out of current hires. Rearranging work allows the organisation to get the best value from their staff without necessarily increasing head count”, the stakeholders added.