One of the biggest barriers I have found HR leaders struggle with is the ability to communicate and get their point across quickly with the C-Suite leaders within the organization. The ultimate goal of any C-Suite leader is to hire an HR leader who will make decisions in the company’s best interest and do so decisively and swiftly. They look at it as if this is one less thing they have to worry about. This is a leader’s ultimate goal across all new hires they make — focus on having to make fewer decisions and the ability to reduce the impact on the day-to-day business.
Executive-level business leaders or those in the C-Suite need the right person to step up and emerge as the HR leader for the organization.
The C-Suite leadership wants to know if its HR leaders have the answers needed or the ability to find the answers when needed to effectively roll out and manage workforce policies, procedures, benefits, and other employment-related information and then effectively communicate these to everyone involved.
The more often you can come through and make quick and informed decisions for the business, providing the C-Suite with a quick list of bullet points on what they need to know, the more trust is built. Remember that trust is not built overnight; it isn’t something that you can walk into a new organization and have immediately but rather earn over time.
Here are a few items to think about as you approach your next conversation with your C-Suite executive:
Keep it short and concise. Prepare a plan of the bullet points you want to cover. Don’t draw it out with a lot of examples and details; get to the point as quickly as possible.
Here are a few more guidelines to keep in mind:
- Provide a quick explanation of what you are trying to solve or what the issue is.
- Share in three bullets what your research shows you and/or what you believe needs to happen (your decision).
- Present any impacts to the business, including pros and cons. (They want to know that you have considered the business implications of the decision.)
- Make it clear about what you need from them to decide and move forward. Be direct; are you looking for a yes or no from them, OR are you looking for them to assist in communicating this change, etc.?
Trust is built in the third step listed above, where you, the HR leader, have thought through the decisions and options based on the implications to the business.
Many C-Suite executives feel like their business leaders are making decisions based on ‘their department’ alone or how it ‘impacts them personally’; they want to hear that you, as a key leader, are considering the full scope of the business—costs, employees, process simplification, or legal aspects that the C-Suite executive needs to know were part of the decision-making process.
Again, no C-Suite executive expects you to know all of this. Still, before you walk into their office with advice, questions, or suggestions, you should have done your due diligence on the topic at hand or at least be able to share what you have found out and what you are waiting on to make final decisions. You can state, “This is my plan as long as the final information I receive is this…, but if it is different, I will let you know at that time and the final decision we make.”
When speaking with a leader, always come in with a list of items/topics to discuss.
I prioritize them based on importance and when decisions need to be made on each issue or topic related to the business needs. Once I have the leader’s undivided attention – we jump into the topics as quickly as possible, so I take the least amount of their time as I can. Based on my HR knowledge and experience, I share the situation with them and what I would recommend if I see any issues that could arise based on the business.
Lastly, ask what they want to do about a specific situation — be very specific about what you need and what result you are looking for from them. For example:
- If I want them to agree with me, I state, “I plan on moving forward with this unless you see any big issues or problems I missed.”
- If I want them to make a decision, I specifically ask them again, “In this situation, what would you like me to do?”
- I may be asking them to make a decision between two options I am providing them, so I would lay out the options again for them to pick between: “Would you rather have us do it this way or this way? Here are the pros and cons of each.”
The fewer the options, the better!
Again, they will ask fewer questions as time goes on. If you don’t have the answer, don’t lie and try to fumble your way through it—don’t freak out. Take their question and share with them that you will find out the details and report back by a certain date and/or time.
Internal HR leaders need to act like their own consulting agency—think like an independent HR leader—when working with your C-Suite executives.
Everyone’s time is money, so how can we get in and out of this conversation as quickly as possible?
If you know the leadership won’t do anything with an Employee Engagement Survey, then encourage them NOT to spend the time and resources of the organization to do one. While you, as an HR leader, can see the value and think great information will come out of it, completing a survey without any intent to take action on the results actually does a great disservice to your organization (really your employees) because they will become less engaged, more disconnected, and less trusting or supportive of the company’s mission.
Lean on external HR Consultants.
Many internal HR leaders want the C-Suite to know they can do everything, but one person can’t do everything. It is okay to admit it, own it, and encourage the use of other resources for certain projects and work.
Elevate Results Consulting has the capacity to help support HR leaders in these situations. We can communicate in ways that you might not be able to internally. We are here to help you fight that battle and make YOU look better as an emerging HR leader.
For more information on talking with a CEO, read this 2020 Forbes publication titled “How to Talk so CEOs Listen.”