Human Resources as a Strategic Partner in Transformation

Andreia Vitoriano, CHRO/People & Culture Director at Aché Laboratórios

We know that Human Resources is a vital part of an organization to attract, retain, engage and develop talent. The role goes beyond recruiting the right people at the right time for the right position. Human Resources can be an enabler of transformation, supporting business areas to deliver their maximum potential performance.

We also know that people are an organization's most important asset, and I believe we all agree on that. On the other hand, human resources plays a fundamental role in building a high-performance organization and supporting the direction set by the CEO so that everyone can meet the goals and achieve the same objective. The phrase sounds like music to everyone’s ears, but what does it mean in practice?

A great human resources area can operate effectively and efficiently with good people management, contributing to the organization's high-performance growth and evolution over time with people development, continuous improvement of processes, tools, and constant updates. In this article, I would like to get more deeper into the importance of Human Resources management in times of transformation, where specific skills and cultural changes are required to achieve objectives.

"A great human resources area can operate effectively and efficiently with good people management, contributing to the organization's high-performance growth and evolution over time with people development, continuous improvement of processes, tools, and constant updates"

Over the years, Human Resources management has progressed from a transactional role where it was primarily focused on hiring and managing benefits and payroll to a more strategic role focused on the employee journey and how to improve everyone’s experience during a lifetime organization.

There are several surveys mentioning that people typically leave their jobs because of a poor work-life balance, challenges with the current leadership, concerns about pay, lack of career growth or job instability. These scenarios make human resources a necessary part of contributing to better management of these factors, including leader preparation, which is a catalyst for culture and transformation.

The challenge of Human Resources is to promote work environments that provide the desired culture for an organization; this means positioning the area at the center of the organization's performance management, assuming the role of business strategy enabler. The responsibility is to form an adequate workforce that is aligned with desired results, focused on the customer, and with skills and capabilities to meet business challenges, and which also learns much faster than the competition. Being at the center means having a broad area of influence, which operates at all levels of the organization and articulates critical programs, such as performance management, culture, and recognition, to achieve organizational growth. Furthermore, develop skills that are relevant to dealing with the transformation process, such as conducting change management through leadership.

In this process, human resources needs a strong ally with leadership to build the transformation journey. It is essential to have leadership as a sponsor promoting the movement of change, commitment to strategic actions, and dedication to people. Actively involving everyone is essential to evolve everyone in the changes we want to promote. People need to see the reasons for change so they can commit to being part of this movement. People management tools and programs must be aligned with the change strategy to facilitate transformation, which means articulating people management processes through integrated actions to meet business challenges. A factor in failure in transformation is the inconsistency between talking and practice. It is essential to guide leadership through training and effective communications for strong organizational alignment and demonstrate the walk the talk, ensuring people are treated and cared for by leaders.

For an organization to be transformed, people need to think, feel, and act differently so they can understand the reasons for the change and how they can benefit themselves from this process. Leadership and team engagement can be very powerful for mobilization and desired results.

Being part of building a new future in the organization can be challenging, but it is certainly a journey of personal and professional growth, which brings a life experience and might become special, stimulating and very meaningful.

Author Bio:

Human Resources Executive, Mentor, certified in Executive Coaching, with an International MBA in Business from the United States, China, India, Mexico, the Netherlands and Brazil, and MBA in People Management from FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas). Graduated in Business Administration, Andreia has worked in Human Resources for nearly 30 years in large multinationals such as Volkswagen, Cargill, PepsiCo Brazil and United States, Tupperware Brands and Laboratórios Aché. She is passioned for business transformation projects, in which she can act in driving organizational changes, developing people, and effectively contributing to the results. Andreia believes that people are at the center of these transformations. She loves wine experiences, traveling and seeing places around the world. In her free time, dedicates time to physical activities and mentoring.