HR Most Influential Strategic HR
“There’s been a really big issue
for HR on deciding when to go
completely with ambiguity and
when to bed into planning and
prep. I think being able to move
between those in a really agile
way shows the top performers
in HR.”
More than ever HR directors
must represent a “steady pair of
hands” and exert a calming
influence, adds O’Connor: “It’s
being able to communicate with
staff, because they’re scared at the
moment; they don’t know what’s
going to happen, they don’t know
how safe their job is.
“The views of the two main
political parties are so far apart
– I don’t think they’ve ever been
this far apart. So HR has to
maintain brilliant comms.”
“People are swimming in data
and messages so it’s really about
cutting through that and
providing simplicity,” agrees
Amanda Scott, head of the
talent and reward business,
UK at Willis Towers Watson
(WTW), parent company of
HR Most Influential 2019
sponsor LifeSight.
“So an HRD has to understand
what the business is trying to
accomplish, who works there and
how they receive communication.
It’s being a change agent,
being really good at change
management, knowing all
stakeholders, then cutting it
down so it’s really simple.”
Brexit also presents some
tough challenges on the talent
front, requiring HRDs and their
teams to be agile and think
laterally about where to source
great people.
“It’s been a year of prepping
for Brexit without actually
knowing what you’re prepping
for,” states Martin Tiplady, CEO
of Chameleon People Solutions.
“Take housing groups,
who have lots of property
maintenance contracts with
traders, many of whom are
HRMI practitioners:
The process and criteria
Our HRMI practitioner rankings are drawn up by applying a
set of criteria, devised in 2016 by HRMI research partner
Hult Ashridge, to a longlist of FTSE 100 and non-FTSE HRDs.
Each name is then discussed in depth with our panel of
experienced headhunters and industry experts.
We also gave all contenders an opportunity to put forward
a few pointers of ‘evidence’ under each criteria. Through this
process the top practitioners in each industry were drawn to
form the HRMI sector lists. From these the overall top 40
practitioners were chosen. Our eight factors of practitioner
infl uence are:
u Signifi cant outcomes in
their own business
u Track record of successful
outcomes
u Internal board involvement
u External board
involvement
u External infl uence
u Infl uencing the
wider profession
u Developing others in
the function
u Depth and breadth
of experience
For more detail on these
criteria please visit www.
hrmagazine.co.uk/
hr-most-infl uential/about
hrmagazine.co.uk October 2019 HR 17
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