HOW HR GOT A PROMOTION

It used to be seen as the part of a corporation that pushed paper and managed payroll issues. But in 2022, human resources is the key to culture, transformation and even a company’s vision.

In early 2020, Joanne Fox was just seven months into her role as executive general manager of People & Culture at AGL Energy when she stepped up to chair the company-wide pandemic working group. Shifting 75 per cent of the workforce – some 3000 employees – to working from home happened in a week, while the responsibility for managing the crisis on top of her day-to-day job continues. That the organisation has relied on the expertise of its people chief to navigate the unknowns of the past two years is indicative of a much wider change in the business environment.

Once a back-office administrative function, the old Personnel Department – responsible for what many organisations now call “hygiene” issues, such as pay and tallying up leave – has undergone a strategic revolution. Off the back of dire talent and skills shortages, rampant digital transformation and a global pandemic, human resources (now commonly “people and culture”) holds a pervasive and increasingly influential role in corporate success.

In fact, HR professionals have never been busier, says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI). The institute’s research showed that HR’s influence within business in the early days of the pandemic rose by about 15 per cent – a figure that’s believed to be much higher today. “Over the past two years, HR professionals have really proven their value.”

This includes “stepping up to support employees’ increasing mental health and wellbeing needs”, says McCann-Bartlett. “They’re navigating skills shortages and keeping leaders on course, ensuring all organisational decisions are made through a people-first lens.”

In the wake of the pandemic, debates about the future of work, hybrid or even “radically remote” workforces are raging globally amid controversy over vaccination mandates (or not) and the “Great Resignation”, as people rethink their careers and life goals.

But even before this health emergency, the size of HR teams, their responsibilities and clout were on the rise with a sharpening focus on the employee experience and employee value propositions (aka EVPs), driven by the highly competitive job market and the fostering of cultures that motivate people to stay.

Technology and automation have long been taking on peoplecentric processes, from recruiting to onboarding of employees, freeing up HR professionals for higher order tasks such as workforce planning, leadership coaching and people management. The HR of today is data-based, analysing the information it collects and often applying AI to identify workplace and workforce trends and support strategic decisions and outcomes.

“All change involves people and therefore it should always involve HR,” insists McCann-Bartlett. While HR is now often on executive teams across corporate Australia, where chief HR officers (CHROs) are on the rise, their influence often stops at the boardroom. It’s an area where the institute says there’s room for improvement – not least because there’s evidence that CEOs wear rose-coloured glasses. AHRI research in 2019 revealed a gap in cultural perceptions and that the percentage of CEOs who believed their organisations would cut corners to improve financial outcomes was significantly lower than managers and employees closer to the corporate grassroots.

Of course, the HR team’s role is to influence executive decisions and deliver optimal people outcomes. But the curly question is whether HR represents employers’ or employees’ interests. Ultimately, it works for the good of the company, contends McCann-Bartlett. “Like finance or marketing, they’re adding value to the organisation as a whole. Yes, they sometimes have to answer to executive teams or the CEO but they have to make sure employees are treated fairly and with respect and evaluated through an ethical lens.”

Here are three organisations leading the way.