Understanding Strategic Leadership in HR: A Model and Some Evidence from the UK Health Sector

1. Understanding Strategic Leadership in HR: A Model and Some Evidence from the UK Health Sector UFHRD Conference, Lille, May, 2008.

2. Two points of departure The value of leadership as applied to HR – a new role? The applied problem of HR leadership in the NHS in Scotland – ‘too operational and not strategic enough’ An example of ‘engaged research’ (Van de Ven, 2007 An action research project – research and change Introduction

3. Key Questions • What do we mean by strategic leadership in HR? • How does it differ in a public services/health services context? • What are the demands, constraints and choices that might explain effective HR leadership in a health services context? • How did these HR Directors interpret/make sense of their jobs and how did their bosses make sense of them? • How do we help the HR Directors/ System develop?

4. What have we learned from new research in the leadership field? • Innovation and how to get it • High energy organizations and new models of management • The enterprising public service and public value • Mark Moore, the Scottish Government and Clare Chapman • Dynamic organizations as a model for enterprising public services in times of rapid change and the type of HR/leadership needed in such organizations • The need for ‘serial incompetence’ (breadth as well as depth) in ‘dynamic organizations’ • Dynamic capabilities (local organizations and patients creating demands for continuous improvement), sustainability and less reliance on powerful and knowledgeable individuals • A collaborative mindset

5. HR Leadership and Innovation: Two Connected but Separate Approaches(see AIM, 2005) • Increasing (mis)use of the ‘leader-centric’ view of HRM(Caldwell & Storey, 2007) • Leadership competences/traits/brands (Ulrich & Smallwood, 2007) • Leading distinct from managing (Zaleznick, 1977; Kotter, 1992) • Cult of charismatic CEO/leader (Mintzberg, 2004; Khurana, 2002,2007) • What is involved in leadership – leaders and followers • Leaders motivate employees • Transactional and transformational leadership, • Leaders design effective leadership processes, organizational architectures, and intra-and-inter-organizational networks (e.g. Roberts, 2004) • Some ideas of my own, developed from the work of others.

6. Research Methods • Unhindered access • First meeting June 2007 • Interviews with 17 HRDs • Survey of HRDs and Associates, based on emerging framework • Feedback/development event Sept 2007 • Further interviews with Chief Executives, Board Chairs and Medical Directors • Further feedback event, December 2007 • Establishment of knowledge exchange networks • Group action research/learning projects

7. Effective Strategic HR Leadership? The far context The style the favour The social capital they invest in and draw on The near context • Effective • Performance as • an HR Leader • Dynamic capabilities • Efficiency • Client outcomes • Public Value The Competences they Demonstrate The Roles they Perform The Person in the job The frame of the job Levels at which they choose to operate The HR architecture

8. Interview Findings: Demands and Constraints and Choices for HR leadership • Competition rather than collaboration • Different missions, sizes, etc leading to different agendas – CEO influence important • Different sensing-making of environment • HR innovation constrained by Government agendas – targets on absence, agenda for change, etc • Complicated dual reporting relationships to NHS (Scotland) and the NHS Boards • Succession seen as a key issue – lack of dynamic capabilities • Choices exercised in how they interpreted their roles and what aspects of the national agenda to focus on • Differences in how they chose to ‘architect’ the HR function • Differences in their use and creation of bonding and bridging social capital

9. Some Key Questions for HR Leaders: The Survey • How do we interpret the environment: what are the big agenda items for us and are they the right ones? • What forms of HR architecture should we use to deliver effective performance? • What are the qualities of effective strategic HR leaders: what styles should we adopt, what roles should we perform and what competences should we demonstrate? • How should we evaluate HR: what does/should effective performance look like?

10. Interviews with Chief Executives/ Chairs • Natural competition and collaboration over strategy, reputations and labour markets • Dependent on type of Board • No set definitions of strategic objectives for HRDs, nor definitions of strategy • Some embrace broader conceptions of public value/ reputation management/contribution to community, others less so • Some have an understanding of what strategic HR can contribute; others have less knowledge/interest • Tensions among simultaneous demands for strategic thinking, operational delivery and personal assistance in solving senior management/board problems simultaneously • Wide recognition of the talent pool problem for HRDs and the need to do something about it – the sustainable leadership problem • Widespread belief that NHS (Scotland) isn’t providing enough support and tensions between employers and Boards

11. Survey Results (1): Environmental sensing • Top 4 HR Drivers • Balancing change while maintaining morale and commitment • The need to re-align culture and values to meet service user satisfaction • Talent management • Reputation of the organization • Outsourcing, media accountability and demographics seen as relatively unimportant

12. Survey Results 2: Architecture, background and sources of knowledge • Delivering HR • Creating a more specialised HR structure, OD/HR consultants and delegation to line, business partnering are top three • Using e-HR on the hit list, with interest in more delegation and strategic HR leadership teams • Departments in relatively good shape, with reasonable support from senior management but morale among staff not helpful • Little use of competence frameworks, strangely? • Marginal preference for experience outside of HR in top team • Legal sources, CIPD websites and academic articles used to shape policy • Select group who read books and articles, but don’t rate consultants’ outputs

13. Survey Results (3): Self-rating of competences • Of personal competences, self-management a key issue for some • Of strategic competences, political astuteness and networking seen as relatively weak along with setting and achieving ambitious targets. Respondents saw themselves as highly receptive to new ideas • Of leadership competences, least well rated was leading change through people and aligning them behind an HR vision

14. ART (Vision) HR Leadership Narcissistic style Visionary style This is you Disorganized management Disconnected management Too Balanced? Heroic style Engaging style Problem-solving style SCIENCE (analysis) Calculating style CRAFT (experience) Tedious style Dispirited management

15. New Competencies for HR(Ulrich & Brockbank, 2007) • Deliver results with integrity • Share information • Building relationships • Doing HR with an attitude (risk-taking, providing candid observations, influencing others) • Board OD facilitator • Personal fixer The Competent HR Leader The Credible Activist The Strategic Architect The Cultural Steward The Talent Manager/Organizational Designer The Business Ally The Operational Executor

16. Survey Results (4): Use of new ideas • Almost no formal approach to talent management or focus on this language/practice • Employer branding and employer of choices schemes high on agenda for for some, but not segmentation

17. Survey Results (5): Evaluation and human capital measures • Make use of on-going reports on attitudes, absence, turnover and performance • Benchmarking also used • Little use made of correlation and predictive studies • Absence, recruitment, diversity and training costs measured regularly • ROI and reputation on hit list, along with recruitment and diversity

18. Conclusions and Next Steps • Complex interaction between demands, constraints and choices as these HRDs struggle to balance operational and strategic demands for satisfying internal and external clients • Developing Knowledge Networks and Bridging Capital • Evaluating HR architectures • Evaluating external and internal reputations