In the first part of the article about Dave Ulrich's perspective on effective leadership, we summarized ten initial recommendations for leaders in organizations. We finished with how Ulrich explains building leadership in an organization by answering three fundamental questions: why, what and how. Let's answer these questions now. Next, we will focus on corporate culture and the role of HR.
11. Why leadership?
Leaders bring benefits to companies in the form of higher employee productivity, the ability to fulfill their strategy, connect with customers, gain the confidence of investors, have a good reputation in their communities, etc. The better the leaders, the better the results.
12. What makes a good leader?
An effective leader excels in five areas: 1) determining strategy, 2) implementation of specific actions in relation to the strategy, 3) talent management, 4) development of human capital, 5) self-efficacy (ability to gain others' trust).
13t. How to develop leadership?
Focus on the development of leadership skills through these seven successive steps: 1) Start with simple changes, 2) specify a time frame, 3) take personal responsibility, 4) secure necessary resources to implement the changes, 5) monitor the progress of the changes, 6) persist in learning and development, 7) link the changes to your personal identity.
14. Culture from the outside in
A corporate culture pattern should arise from a company's external (not internal) identity - by focusing on what the company wants to be known for among its customers.
15. Culture is determined by the intellectual, behavioral and procedural agenda
After defining the culture (identity) the company wants to establish, you should continue with communicating the culture in the company from top to bottom. You should also ensure employees' daily work on shaping the culture and reflect the culture in individual corporate processes from recruitment, through finance to IT.
16. HR people are architects of talents, leaders and culture
Line managers are owners and executors. They have the primary responsibility for the development of the corporate culture.
17. HR must be linked to the structure of business
A company's HR structure should match its business structure (centralized business - centralized HR etc).
18. HR practices must be integrated and innovated
According to Ulrich, effective HR practices are: 1) connected with the company's strategy, external customers, and investors so as to bring value to all stakeholders, 2) integrated to shift from best practices to the best possible system, 3) constantly upgraded to find new solutions to old problems.
19. HR competence is important
The competence of HR influences a company's effectiveness and business results. You can read more on this subject in Ulrich's book Global HR Competencies: Mastering Competitive Value from the Outside-In.
20. Shift from collecting data to finding the essence of things
General calls for better analytical outputs from HR focus on data networks, warehouses, etc. Dave Ulrich thinks this is wrong. Analytical information in HR should be based on the nature of problems and their possible solutions. Decisions should be based on the knowledge of business functioning and the possibilities of its success.
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