Talent Management - September 2008 - (Page 14)

[learning connections] by Kevin Wilde T T Do You Get It? he rant began before the second glass of wine was served. I recently was dining with two marketing executives when the pair started venting their frustrations about how HR was missing the point. One person paused midway and said, “Now Kevin, understand that we like you and you ‘get it;’ our issues are with those HR types that don’t.” business plans. Moreover, I try to start every conversation with line leaders by discussing their business: what’s new, how’s the new product working and how do they see the numbers going this quarter? Business ﬁrst, then we move on to the HR agenda. • They work the map. In my early days at General Mills, I did not have a feel for the business or how to navigate the organization. These were “new guy” challenges to overcome if I was going to have an impact in the organization. I read all the business material I could ﬁnd and bought I think that was a compliment, but I didn’t feel great about the tone of the discussion. I’ve observed business executives dividing the HR community into two classiﬁcations: those who “get it” and those who miss the point. Those who get it ﬁnd themselves in the highly sought-after business partnership. Those laBusiness ﬁrst, then move beled otherwise ﬁnd themselves on the outon to the HR agenda. side looking in. Getting it is necessary to be a strong HR contributor. It means a leader has a ﬁrm grasp on the business, appreciates the line leader’s agenda as primary and views HR work as secondary. Three Fundamental Skills of HR Leaders Who Get It • They put business ﬁrst. I try to stay grounded in my role to contribute to the business ﬁrst and serve my HR-learning role second. “Win, have fun and make a buck” was the slogan of one of my GE mentors years ago. His quote still resonates with me as a reminder that my job is to help the team win customers, not produce shiny new HR initiatives for their own sake. I’ve always been curious about business as much as the development profession. I am a constant student of investor reports, internal ﬁnancial reports and • They exercise balcony judgment. The HR role is partly that of a trusted adviser. One of my favorite learning stories is about the new apprentice asking the old mentor how to acquire good judgment. “From experience!” said the mentor. When the apprentice asked how to acquire experience, the mentor wisely said, “From poor judgment!” Using poor judgment to create learning experiences is a recipe for career derailment rather than success, but the scar tissue of hard-fought battles is part of the professional journey. Learn from others’ battle experiences. Seek out top performers and wise counselors to share what they’ve learned over time. Accelerate your judgment capa- About the Author a sea of coffee while learning from every available ﬁnance and marketing manager I could befriend. I also studied those who were successful creating change in the organization. They seemed to possess an unofﬁcial and invisible organization chart to guide their actions. In addition to learning the map, these high inﬂuencers introduced me to the concept of executive presence. When the path to organizational change placed them in front of senior executives, they had a crisp, conﬁdent and relaxed style. As I grew in the job, I found it easier to at least fake being conﬁdent and relaxed. The “crisp” part took some time as I had to temper my enthusiasm to explain everything I knew about a topic when given the chance. Kevin Wilde is the vice president and chief learning ofﬁcer at General Mills. He can be reached at editor@ talentmgt.com. bilities and solidify an impressive support network at the same time. Finally, gain perspective by reﬂecting on what’s going on and what can be learned. A friend of mine calls it “getting to the balcony” to oversee the situation, rising above the noise and distractions of the moment. Like it or not, many leaders will divide their perception of HR into two camps: “gets it” or “doesn’t get it.” The former is a much more rewarding and fun place to be, but it needs to be earned. Make investments in your business acumen, organization inﬂuence and judgment. At the very least, it makes for better dinner conversation. 14 September 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - September 2008

Talent Management - September 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance: Stop Wasting Money on Training Leading Edge: No Whining, No Excuses Learning Connections: Do You Get It? The Untapped Resource Reinventing HR Doing Compensation Right: The Winning Spread Managing Performance in the Knowledge and Innovation Worker Age Stop-The-Clock Time Management Preparing for the Future in the Public Sector SAS: Connecting People, Process and Products Talent Transformation at Textron The Price of Finding the Right Gen Y Candidate Advertiser's Index Editorial Resources Full Potential: Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Talent Management - September 2008

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