By Larry Birckhead

If HR ruled the world, our “truths” would be self-evident. We wouldn’t need to “get buy-in”. We would scoff at protestations of “no budget”. Measuring impact of HR decisions would be moot. Everyone would laugh at our jokes.

Alas, HR does not rule the world; our “truths” are perceived often as anything but. I worked in an organization where the operations managers had one request of HR: keep me out of court. They weren’t exactly waiting for all my hard-earned truths with bated breath.

Even if the relationship between HR, senior management, and operations/service delivery in your organization is more productive than most, it is imperative that HR is perceived as offering “solutions”. Nothing new. But it’s helpful to keep in mind that it is precisely the notion that HR has truths that is the start of the inability to position ideas as solutions.

HR solutions, in order to be called such, need to meet a couple criteria:

1. Structured on a sound basis of compelling outcomes that can compete with other possible solutions for resources (time, people, money, space).
2. The person who has the full authority to dedicate the resources necessary for implementation must agree that it wins the competition.

Meeting these criteria snatches HR goals out of the “cost bucket” and places them along the critical path as a worthy investment. A genuine revenue opportunity.

Even if proposals are accepted as solutions by those who can dedicate the resources, victory is not yet won. White corpuscles, others in the organization with their own “truths”, emerge to engulf and digest what they perceive to be bacteria. You cannot rest; you must continue to nurture the enduring vitality of your sponsors to maintain commitment until completion.

The best chance for creating this outcome will emanate from the case being predicated on the language that the entire enterprise uses: dollars. Either in terms of revenue or cost avoidance. This is the on-going HR struggle, isn’t it? But not always the battleground on which HR can compete equally with, for instance, investments in production or purchasing efficiencies.

What other evidence might be equally as compelling that will produce the same kind of enduring support? This is a question worthy of careful consideration because dollars as the sole determinant of ROI, are often – much more often if my 20+ year career is any indicator – not what ensures durable support.

I have seen higher cost initiatives win implementation. I have seen initiatives that offer virtually no opportunity to be described in dollars endure for years over initiatives that have a clear dollar-based ROI.

Asking a series of other questions of those who own the resources can uncover helpful information. So we ask:

1. If this initiative were to achieve everything we want it to, how might you personally benefit?
2. Is there anything associated with the problem this initiative is intended to resolve that keeps you up at night?
3. What would you hear walking around the organization that you don’t hear now, if this initiative were to succeed?
4. What would you no longer hear that is now a problem?
5. How might this initiative improve things around here that can’t be measured by dollars?
6. If these benefits were to be accrued, would you believe the resources consumed to be worth the investment?

Holding conversations with key stakeholders that establish value on their terms, both dollar and non-dollar, is a key capacity for HR professionals. In fact, with anyone in the organization who does not see our “truths” as self-evident, having a process for gaining concurrence, for influencing, for yes, for selling our ideas, is a fundamental skill for survival.

Larry Birckhead is speaking at the HRMA Conference + Tradeshow 2013 in Vancouver. His session, Converting Ideas Into Business Solutions, is on Wednesday, May 1.

OD has been Larry Birckhead’s focus for the last 20 years. Eight years ago, he began an in-depth study of the structure of successful human change and has synthesized techniques from several areas of practice into what he calls “Habit Shift”. He teaches these principles as they relate to organizational change, professional effectiveness, team development, fitness, wellness, stress management, and mindfulness meditation.