There’s been
a really big
issue for HR
on deciding
when to
go with
ambiguity
and when to
bed into
planning
and prep
HRMI thinkers:
HR Most Influential Strategic HR
The process and criteria
HR magazine invited a panel of top HR directors and former HR directors to
debate a longlist of names in relation to our criteria of thinker influence. Just as
for our practitioners lists, we also asked thinkers for evidence of their influence
over the past year. Our six criteria of influence are:
u Practical relevance
u Commercial/service impact
u Visibility and sharing information
u Works published/influential in the
past year
u Originality/challenge
u Personal influence
For more detail on these criteria please
visit www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hr-mostinfluential/
about
He adds that McNeil is a great
example of an HR director
exerting soft influence: “HR’s
achieving so much there without
direct line management over
much of it. There will be
permanent secretaries of each
department with their own HR
structure, each of whom will
have a dotted line to Rupert. So
he’s got to work with them
through influence and respect.”
Yet for all the sense of stability
McNeil has brought he’s by no
means “a boring safe pair of
hands”, says O’Connor. “He’s still
being really innovative.”
A large part of this is down to
McNeil’s multi-sector experience;
he came to government from
Lloyds Banking Group in 2016.
Mark Turner, fellow HRMI
judging panellist and managing
partner at GatenbySanderson,
points out that Whitehall tried a
similar push to appoint private
sector professionals 10 years ago
“but within 18 months they’d all
gone”. “This time around with
Rupert’s influence those people
have bedded in much better,”
he reports.
Notable successes over
McNeil’s tenure include a new
leadership academy, a leadership
and learning board with
permanent secretaries and
director generals, a new systemsthinking
approach, and good
progress against a target to be the
most inclusive organisation in
the UK by 2020.
Share and share alike
So McNeil epitomises the HRMI
factors of influence (see box-out
on p17) orientated around
significant outcomes, a proven
track record and influencing
his internal leadership regime.
But he also (perhaps
miraculously) still finds time to
share with the wider profession
by regularly speaking at events.
Our number two most
influential practitioner this year
is similarly strong on this crucial
factor. She is someone who’s
experienced a meteoric rise up
our list over recent years, ranking
12th last year and 39th in 2017.
Former group HR director at
engineering firm Costain and
now group HRD at Wincanton
Sally Austin is one of the best role
models out there for aspiring and
even current HRDs when it comes
to getting stuck in and saying ‘yes’,
says O’Connor.
“She’s really generous with
the profession,” she says. “The
past couple of years she’s been
working hard on her own
personal development and
being confident on that… She’s
brilliant at speaking and has
sought out opportunities.”
Austin is also a great example
of the ever-increasing importance
to an HRD’s influence of their
approach to D&I. “The D&I
agenda has expanded into a basic
business-critical need now,”
comments Scott.
“I think what Sally’s done on
diversity is brilliant,” says
O’Connor, referring to a strategy
that encompassed unconscious
bias training, a new applicant
tracking system, reward decision
monitoring, and a big push on
flexible working: “It’s not hand
wringing; it’s real stuff that makes
a difference.”
She is a particularly brilliant
role model to other young
women in the profession
operating in traditionally maledominated
sectors, she adds:
“She has two young kids, a dog,
a husband; they were living in a
caravan at the end of the garden
while they were doing up
their house…
“Yet she’s had a huge impact
on the board. She’s taken HR
absolutely into that boardroom
and HR is now seen as a strategic
part of the business.”
Commercial acumen
So commerciality and business
savvy continue to be key defining
features of HR influence.
“I think a lot of change and
transformation has meant
functions, including HR
functions, getting leaner,” says
fellow judging panellist and
managing director at Strategic
Dimensions Dan Caro. “So
focusing on the real value-adding
roles and activities.”
He adds the growing
importance in light of this of
HRDs thinking in an open agile
way about business models.
“Generally the operating models
of old aren’t the ones that will see
businesses through even the next
two to three years,” he says. “I
think that’s really making the
HRDs who have a grounding in
organisational design stand out.”
hrmagazine.co.uk October 2019 HR 19
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