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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Esaura Rolle, BHRDA VP of Public Relations (left) and Richenda King, BHRDA President (right) present BTC CEO Leon Williams with a gift of thanks for his remarks on “What a CEO Expects from HR” at the Bahamas Human Resources Development Association Annual Conference & Exposition 2014.
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BTC Chief says CEOs want leaders who push the envelope HR
NASSAU, Bahamas - BTC’s CEO Leon Williams knows what he wants from his HR team and he was happy to give his view on the matter to HR professionals and other attendees at the recent Bahamas Human Resources Development Association 25th Anniversary Forum in Nassau. The top CEO had no trouble addressing his given topic: “What every CEO Expects from HR.”
“As leaders it is our job to stretch people. They are not working until they are stretched. If you don’t manage their potential, if you do not see their strengths and what they can do, you are failing them and failing yourself,” the BTC chief advised.
“You need to dare to dream and realise that leadership 101 is to break the rules and test the waters. You know what the rules are - HR professionals talk about the policies and procedures all day as a matter of course. Whereas a leader always thinks outside of the box, managers always want a roadmap. You will not survive in an organisation in the 21st century staying inside the box.
“You’ll often hear, people say: ‘Our human capital is our greatest asset.’ We don’t believe it, and our staff knows we don’t believe it. Human capital costs money, what is invested into each employee, is now a line on my balance sheet that I must manage. That’s why we need HR to help manage this and reduce that cost. Unhappy employees mean unhappy customers which means no return on investment. Profit is the applause, it’s the customer saying well done.”
BHRDA President Richenda King receives a brand new smartphone from BTC, presented by Ivy Walkes, Executive Assistant to the CEO.
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On the matter of leadership the BTC CEO spoke to the difference between and manager and a leader.
“Leadership is pushing the envelope of your formal authority. If you aren’t pushing the envelope, you are nothing more than a manager.”
He listed rules of leadership: Think outside the box; execute at the speed of thought; ask forgiveness, not permission.
“If you work for me you have two choices – walk the broad path or walk on the edge. If you aren’t walking on the edge, taking risks, you are taking too much space. Leadership is about taking risks.” For instance he said.
“I am piloting a plane – Air BTC flight 242. The plane is dysfunctional, the engines aren’t working, and competition is coming. I need people who can get out on the wing and fix this plane at 33,000 because there are no airports in sight.
“Study after study states that there is a gap between what a CEO needs and what the HR delivers. What CEOs want from HR is a strategic business partner. But according to Human Resources Executive magazine there is, ‘sufficient questions out there as to whether HR understands enough about the business to be effective.’ Why is it that finance professionals find themselves in more decision making positions than HR? Most CEOs are former financer persons, former engineers; there are very few HR professionals who make it to become CEOs. HR professionals spend too much time talking about policies and procedures and have no idea what a balance sheet looks like, what the P&L looks like, and have no idea what it costs to run a company and so they miss the boat.”
BTC CEO Leon Williams speaks to a room of HR professionals on “What a CEO Expects from HR” at the Bahamas Human Resources Development Association (BHRDA) Annual Conference & Exposition.
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Returning to his specific topic for the HR Forum, the top CEO spoke on CEO’s expectations of a HR leader. He listed: ensure organisational preparedness; recruit and retain quality workforce; align human capital with business goals; manage performance systematically; assure business assets effectively including human capital productivity; establish corporate culture; develop leaders within the business.
He addressed the thorny problem of change and what employees and employers need to understand and manage it effectively.
“A HR executive must transform the HR department, changing the focus of the HR staff time and use of its limited resources. The executive must create an HR function that spends most of its time being a change agent for the company and advisor to the executive team. To do this, the HR team must understand key business trends in the industry. They must spend more time getting connected with the company’s line managers and the details of the core business. They must align HR strategies and practices to the core business goals and create real business values.”
As Mr. Williams brought his address to a close he added additional components of HR management in a time of change.
“Serve as a thought leader, be a barometer for the human capital to the executive team, attract talent and take time to understand morale and all it can do, facilitate the talent review process and have a nose for weak spots, whether in people, structures or systems. You should strive to be proactive and push leadership to do the same.”
The Bahamas Human Resources Development Association was founded to increase societal awareness of the role of Human Resource professionals in organisations.
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
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