HR: Shift Your Focus to Shift Results

As HR professionals, we often get caught up in constantly refining and optimizing our talent management and development processes. We put a lot of effort into developing robust systems for hiring, performance management, succession planning, training, etc. And while having strong well thought through processes is important, it should not overshadow the critical factor in unlocking the full potential of our workforce - empowering managers and employees to own their development through an ownership accountability mindset.

The personal trainer analogy is a helpful way to reframe this. A personal trainer can create the perfect workout program and provide a state-of-the-art gym. But if the client doesn't have the mindset and motivation to push themselves during those workouts, they won't see the results they want. The trainer can be a source of guidance, accountability, and expertise, but ultimately, lasting fitness gains happen when the client takes ownership and accountability.

In the workplace, HR is essentially the personal trainer, while managers and individual employees are the clients. We can build fantastic talent management and development processes - but those are just the equivalent of having access to well-designed fitness routines and great equipment at the gym. If managers don't truly embrace their responsibility for developing their teams, and if employees don't have an ownership mindset towards their own growth, those processes won't be nearly as effective.

In their 2007 Harvard Business Review article "Make Your Company a Talent Factory," by Douglas Ready and Jay Conger (still one of the best articles I’ve come across), the authors reinforce this idea: "Unlike processes, which can be copied by competitors, passion is very difficult to duplicate."

The article highlighted how companies like P&G and HSBC foster an ownership mindset around talent development through executive commitment, engagement, and accountability. Their leaders don't just build processes - they role model prioritizing talent development through their actions every day.

For example, at P&G, the CEO personally sponsors leadership development courses and reviews top talent assignment/succession plans annually. Managers are evaluated and compensated based on their contributions to building organizational capabilities, not just hitting numbers. At HSBC, talent management is a standing agenda item for executive committee meetings all the way up to the board level.

Can you say that about your CEO or talent management at your company?

Going back to the analogy, ultimately, if someone is motivated to improve their fitness, they will find a way to make it happen - with or without a structured fitness routine or gym membership! While having access to good equipment and programs helps yield better results over time, mindset is the crucial factor that determines whether someone actually takes action on their desire for change.

The same applies in the workplace. Robust talent management and development processes are valuable assets, but they can't compensate for a lack of intrinsic motivation among managers and employees. An individual with a strong sense of ownership accountability towards their development will actively seek-out growth opportunities, even in environments with suboptimal processes. Conversely, the most finely tuned HR systems won't catalyze growth for those lacking an internal drive for self-improvement.

This realization - that mindset trumps process - should shape how HR leaders approach their role. Rather than becoming overly focused on pursuing process perfection, the focus needs to shift to instilling an ownership accountability culture.

So how can HR shift more towards promoting ownership accountability among managers and employees? Here a few suggestions:

• Examine your HR philosophy and messaging: Are you inadvertently promoting overreliance on HR processes? Reframe your messaging to position HR as an enabler and support system but make it clear managers and employees need to own their development.
  

• Involve leaders authentically in your talent processes: Don't just have them rubber stamp processes - engage them as real stakeholders in design, execution and accountability. As the adage goes: “Tell me and I will forget. Teach me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn.”
  

• Empower Managers as Development Coaches: Equip managers with the tools, skills, and mindset to take an active role in their team's development. Encourage them to adopt a coaching mentality, where the focus is on guiding, supporting, and challenging their team members to grow and excel.
  

• Facilitate Self-Directed Development: Emphasize individual development planning as much as organizational processes for employees. Give them tools for self-assessment and career mapping.
  

• Promote a Culture of Continuous Learning: Cultivate an environment where learning and development are valued, celebrated, and seen as integral to the organization's success. This includes recognizing and rewarding progress and fostering a safe space for experimentation and learning from failure.
  

• Measure and Celebrate Growth: Establish metrics to track the progress of teams and individuals. Celebrate managers and employees who exemplify an empowered ownership mindset around growth and development.
  

• Lead by Example: HR leaders' role-model the ownership accountability mindset they want to instill in others.

In our quest for HR excellence, we can certainly still maintain robust talent processes. But ultimately, we need to make the mental shift to recognize that those processes are just the equipment in the gym. By promoting ownership through role modeling, empowerment, and holding individuals accountable, we can create a culture where managers and employees are truly dedicated to continually improving their own "fitness" and achieving their full potential.