HR's Impact on Business

HR: Employees are leaving jobs. CFO: Do we have data on why they’re leaving? HR: Yes. 70% of our turnover is tied to unmet needs like growth, recognition, and flexibility. CEO: But how much does it actually cost us when they leave? HR: Each lost employee costs 1.5x their salary to replace, not to mention the productivity gap. CEO: We need to reduce spending. We can't spend on engagement programs. CFO: What’s the impact of these engagement programs on retention? HR: Programs focused on growth and recognition have reduced turnover by 25%, saving us $3M annually. CEO: Are there other benefits to meeting employee needs? HR: Absolutely. Employees who feel valued are 30% more productive and report higher satisfaction. CFO: What about profitability? CHRO: Engaged teams generate 21% higher profitability. It’s not just about keeping them. It’s about keeping them productive and motivated. CEO: So cutting back on programs that meet employee needs could cost us more? CFO: The data shows there’s a significant financial impact. HR: Meeting employee needs isn’t just an expense. It’s an investment in retention, productivity, and profit. The lesson? Employees quit when their needs go unmet, whether it’s for growth, recognition, or flexibility. Invest in your employees.

Want to be perceived as a more strategic HR partner? Here’s some things that have (and haven’t!) worked for me: 1- Schedule regular 1:1s with department heads to understand their pain points and their goals Framing these 1:1s as listening tours made leaders more open to them as opposed to framing them as HR check-ins. And when it came time to roll out programs or policies, I could go back to leaders and describe how they addressed their pain points/goals. (Then the real pro tip is getting them to then champion the programs!) 2- Gather data from across the org that will help you tell the full story  Leaders might perceive an issue one way, while employee feedback or exit interviews tell a different story. You become a strategic partner by connecting these dots to identify the problems that actually need solving and proposing a solution (or better yet, tying it to initiatives you have on your roadmap!). 3. Pick 3-5 metrics to track and make sure they roll up into the company’s goals This can be a challenge if your data set is small, you don’t have access to many tools, or you're just building your people analytics capability. But it’s important to keep these metrics in the conversation so that they stay top of mind for other leaders and to grow your own analytics experience and storytelling. 4- Don't get ahead of the organization (a lesson I learned the hard way) I once built out a comprehensive, equitable recruiting process at an early-stage startup - complete with structured interview guides, scorecards, etc. While the intention was good and the process was solid, I misjudged where the company was in its journey. Leaders were still figuring out what roles they needed and the interview load was unsustainable for the small team. It was a good lesson that you have to be aware of not building beyond what’s needed for the stage the organization is at. I think that often when folks talk about how to become a strategic business partner, they say it’s all about understanding the business. Which is definitely important and true. But you can do that in so many ways - like building relationships across the business and acting as an observer, data gatherer, and storyteller! What has/hasn’t worked for you as you work to establish yourself as a strategic HR leader within an org?

On 25 July 2024, the European Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (Directive 2024/1760) entered into force. What is the goal of the CSDD? The aim of this Directive is to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour in companies' operations and across their global value chains. It requires companies to evaluate their global value chains for potential environmental and human rights risks that could arise from their operations. Who is this relevant for? The directive applies to both EU and non-EU companies that operate in the EU, including subsidiaries and business partners. What areas does it cover? Risk-based systems Companies must establish systems to assess and address potential and actual adverse human rights and environmental impacts. Climate transition plans Companies must create plans that align with the Paris Agreement and set targets for reducing emissions and addressing climate change. Stakeholder engagement Companies must consult with affected parties, such as employees, communities, and civil society organizations, to ensure their voices are considered in the due diligence process. Remediation mechanisms Companies must establish or participate in effective processes to address any adverse impacts that occur, including setting up grievance mechanisms to provide access to remedies for affected individuals and communities. Wait, how does it relate to the CSDR? The CSDDD focuses on how companies manage sustainability risks in their operations and supply chains, while the CSRD focuses on how companies report and disclose that information to the public. Together, the directives are intended to create a sustainable and responsible business environment that promotes transparency and holds companies accountable for their impact on society and the environment. #esg #sustainability #climate #humanrights #reporting

Most People leaders don’t do a rigorous enough job of vetting out the Headcount Planning process. And you know what? I don’t blame them. More often than not, #HR leaders aren’t brought in until the eleventh hour — once all the decisions have been made and the only step left is to execute on the recruitment process. But here’s the thing: If you want to be an effective People leader, it’s your job to get in front of this and ensure your team is implementing a robust Headcount Planning process beyond just recruitment and post-hire enablement. Things like: - Ensuring you’re not over hiring to compensate for ineffective performance and workplace inefficiencies - Verifying that each hire is a long term need, not a short-term need that will lead to layoffs - Pressure testing that every dollar spent on your greatest company expense — employees — is optimally spent - Exploring the long term potential of each hire and whether or not it makes more sense to go more junior or promote from within We recently rolled out a new headcount approval process at Ethena and — among other things — it requires all department heads to answer the following 3 questions for any role they’d like us to open: 1. How will this hire help us hit our 2025 revenue goals? 2. What breaks if we don’t hire this role? 3. What alternative solutions have you explored, and why is a full time, in-house hire the only remaining option? Oh, and also: It’s a public document that all department heads have access to. Including everyone’s responses. Here’s what I love about this process: 🥇Questions like, “How will this help us hit our revenue goals” keep everyone focused on the big picture business goal while questions like “What breaks if we don’t hire this role?” help surface underlying inefficiencies. Maybe the person responds with a series of things that the business is in fact okay with breaking and should never have been prioritized in the first place. 🕵️ Getting everyone’s answers all in one place helps identify overlapping scopes of responsibilities. 2 teams are struggling with data analytics? Could we combine these roles into 1? 🧠 Giving all leaders visibility into everyone’s responses helps everyone level up their game. Perhaps someone on G&A is struggling to tie their needs back to the business, but a quick peek at the RevOps leader’s responses offers clear insights for how to apply a more business-forward mindset. 💡 The responses are a veritable treasure trove of insights into other areas of the busines. How do marketing leaders think about pipeline generation per BDR? How do Product leaders determine how many engineers it takes to roll out new Product updates? Want access to our full Headcount Request Template + tips for getting more involved in your company’s Headcount Planning process? 👉 Download my free template here: https://lnkd.in/exhmNaqY What are your top tips for ensuring a robust headcount planning process?

HR is your strategic partner, not your scapegoat. - No matter what some people say about this! Let’s clear up a common misconception: ❌ HR isn’t here to fix poor leadership decisions. ⚠️ HR isn’t here to mediate every workplace conflict. 🚫 HR isn’t a catch-all for avoidable problems. What HR is here to do is far more impactful: 💼 Align people strategies with business goals. → HR ensures that the workforce and organizational objectives work together to drive success. 🤝 Foster trust and collaboration. → HR builds cultures where people feel valued, empowered, and connected. 🌟 Empower leaders to lead. → HR provides leaders with the tools, guidance, and confidence they need to build effective teams. 📈 Drive meaningful transformation. → HR plays a critical role in shaping innovation, culture, and long-term business success. But here’s the challenge: Too often, HR becomes the scapegoat when things go wrong. 👩💼 Leaders deflect responsibility. 🧑🤝🧑 Employees expect HR to fix every issue. This mindset undermines HR’s potential and limits its impact on your organization. Here’s how to shift the narrative: 1️⃣ Involve HR early. → Don’t wait for a crisis—engage HR in strategic planning and decision-making from the start. 2️⃣ Hold everyone accountable. → Leadership must take responsibility for culture and communication, with HR as a partner, not a fixer. 3️⃣ Recognize HR’s value. → Celebrate the critical role HR plays in developing talent, shaping culture, and driving results. When HR is treated as a true strategic partner, everyone wins: 💪 Employees feel supported. 📊 Leaders achieve better results. 🏆 Organizations grow and thrive. 💬 Here’s the big question: Is your organization empowering HR as a strategic partner—or relying on them as a safety net? Let’s discuss below 👇 ♻️ Share this to spark a new conversation about HR’s role. And follow Enrique Rubio (he/him) for more insights on elevating HR’s impact. Join my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gkxnjZqp 📌 P.S. HR isn’t just a function—it’s the key to unlocking people potential. Let’s treat it that way.

Want a higher salary? Two fascinating insights... 1. Brilliant Insight: Unionized workers typically made 10 percent to 20 percent more than similar non-unionized workers. The extra pay generally does not harm economic growth, the economists found. **It instead often comes out of executive salaries and business profits, reducing inequality.** Unions alter the division of the economic pie more than the pie’s size. 2. Advanced Insight: Wages are not a reflection simply of market forces, like a worker’s productivity or a company’s profits. In the real world, similar workers often earn different wages. Their wages fall somewhere in the "range of indeterminacy" - coined by Prof Richard Lester. Workers don't know exactly how valuable their contributions are, hence true market wage. Company executives don't either, but they do have more information (how much each worker makes, their productivity). Companies also have more leverage. Hence... **We, workers, tend to be, typically, at the lower end of the "range of indeterminacy."** Credit for Insights: NYT: https://t.ly/7mQpf Note: Unions, like life, are not all B/W. They can be a force for good (this week, Auto companies). They can cause problems (Detroit, 80s.).

After having spoken to 200+ HR leaders across startups, unicorns, and enterprises, here are the 5 things that I see the best HR professionals and leaders doing to get a seat at the proverbial CXO table. These are also the 5 things that hold back most HR professionals (or if you are just starting out) from creating high-impact people strategies and getting that buy-in without feeling like you are practically begging every single time. 1. Understand your business Sounds easy, but very difficult to do, especially if you are a part of a complex and slightly larger company. But, there is no going around this - you need to understand how the business makes money. Period. You need to understand how different functions work with each other, what are the roles they play, and so on. You need to understand the business better than your business leaders. 2. Understand the goals for the company If you are a part of a 0-1 company, the goals of that organization would look very different compared to a company on their 1-100 journey. It's essential to understand the goals of every department and key roles (sometimes you will have to help define them via point 1) because your people strategies will play a huge role in helping the company achieve its goals while keeping people at the centre. 3. Understand your CXOs/ stakeholders This is probably the trickiest one that I have seen most intelligent HR professionals do very quickly (and others completely ignoring it). HR, at its core, is an influencing function. And you influence via CXOs and other internal influencers. What motivates them, what influences them, what drives them, you need to learn and use it to your advantage (note: this is NOT manipulation). 4. Understand your people Incredibly easy to miss even though almost all HR professionals say that they want to create a people-centric company. If your workforce is frontline heavy v/s a tech-heavy workforce, the way you run and communicate your people strategies and interventions would look very very different. Ultimately, your people have to adopt the strategies you initiate. 5. Understand your HR Tech tools It's 2025. If you are still doing HR interventions offline (it's absolutely okay to start off offline), you are leaving a huge opportunity on the table. Tools like Klaar can make everybody's life simpler while driving your intended outcome. However, you need to evaluate carefully if you have the right tech stack in place. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that a lot of HR teams miss the woods for the trees - you should get and utilize tools that drive outcomes. In summary, to create maximum impact and to get a seat at the proverbial CXO table, do these 5 things: 1. Understand your business 2. Understand the goals for the company 3. Understand your CXOs/ stakeholders 4. Understand your people 5. Understand your HR Tech tools #startup #hr

They don’t teach you how to be a valuable HR team member in school. You figure it out by doing the work. And by making yourself indispensable. Want to stand out? Here are 10 ways to become a go-to HR professional: ✅ 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 → Pick an area that’s always in demand, like payroll taxes, benefits compliance, or HR analytics. Being a person with deep expertise makes you an asset. ✅ 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗥 → Knowing HR is table stakes. Understanding how HR decisions impact revenue, costs, and operations? That’s next level. ✅ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗥 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 → HRIS, ATS, and AI tools are everywhere. Learn them now, so you’re not playing catch-up later. ✅ 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 → See an issue brewing? Address it early. Leaders appreciate HR pros who think ahead instead of just reacting. ✅ 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 → HR is a legal landmine. If you can confidently navigate compliance, you’ll always be in demand. ✅ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 → You're not just HR—you support the whole business. The stronger your internal network, the more effective you’ll be. ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 → Terms, pay disputes, and tough talks are part of HR. Get good at them, and you’ll stand out from the crowd. ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 → Gut feelings don’t cut it in HR anymore. Backing decisions with numbers makes you more credible. ✅ 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 → HR handles everything from layoffs to empl conflicts. The ability to stay composed and think strategically? Invaluable. ✅ 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 → HR is changing fast. Stay ahead by reading, networking, and investing in your development. The best HR pros don’t just follow the job description. They bring value in ways their teams didn’t even know they needed. What’s one way you’ve made yourself indispensable in HR? Drop it below! 👇 If this was helpful, share it with another HR pro in your network. 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲? I want my next post to help YOU. Click the link in my profile, subscribe to my newsletter and share any HR challenges you’re facing—I’ll cover them in an upcoming post! Stephanie Adams, SPHR #Adamshr #Hrprofessionals #theinsider Adams HR Consulting

“HR shouldn’t just have a seat at the table. HR is the table.” When HR leaders speak the language of finance, they empower themselves to prove the financial impact of people on business performance. In an in-depth discussion with Blue Ocean Global Technology, I talk about helping organizations quantify the ROI of human capital, and most importantly, why that matters. For example, one client turned a $250K investment in an engagement initiative into $65M in profit, and we know this because we used advanced data analytics techniques to measure key metrics like productivity and attrition. Another client, a Chief People Officer, secured a $250 million budget increase by showing the business case supported by their human capital strategy. Not only that, they reframed the way they thought about HR - from an expense that needed to be managed, to an opportunity to drive revenue and profit through investing effectively in people. WIN! Human capital is still the largest expense in most organizations. But, with just a 5% improvement in HCROI, organizations can drive anywhere between 15–40% profit growth. Need more proof that HR is the #FutureOfWork? 😀 I’ll link the interview below!  #HumanizingHumanCapital #DataAnalytics