Have you ever encountered the following?

• Your CEO doesn’t champion your work
•  Your CFO doesn’t take you seriously
•   Your operating executives don’t listen to you 
•   You are convinced it’s not your fault.

Ultimately, all HR professionals work in organizations that deliver profit to stakeholders or services to the public. While there are no shortages of conversations and techniques for practicing strategic HR, as HR professionals we can still find ourselves on the outside within our own organizations, frustrated and deflated and unable to gain traction on our initiatives. Overcoming this requires an understanding of what your organization values. Only when this is understood, can you align your decision making and energy to the values of the organization. Most of us have a sense for what our organization values, but the model below attempts to put a framework on this thinking, placing organizations into four categories. The purpose of this article is to describe the four different “types” of organizations, and discuss the implications of each for the HR Professional.

The entrepreneurial organization is oriented towards making money. Activities within the organization are driven by the pursuit of cash. Entrepreneurial organizations demand flexibility, as strategies will constantly shift and change as the organization pursues the almighty dollar. Individuals who succeed in entrepreneurial organizations are often driven by the pursuit of wealth, and are comfortable with less stability. 

The regulatory organization is oriented towards managing risk and activities within the organization are driven by reducing risk. There are an abundance of rules, policies, procedures, manuals and documentation. There is also typically a significant hierarchy. Individuals who thrive in regulatory organizations do so by following the rules.

The communitarian organization is typically a not for profit or cooperative organization oriented towards taking care of and expanding its membership through the communication of its message and/or services. In communitarian organizations the boundaries between paid and unpaid staff are reduced, as many rely on unpaid staff to perform a significant portion of work. Alignment to the message or cause of the organization is crucial in a communitarian organization, as this is often the primary decision maker.

The innovator organization is oriented towards discovery and innovation. Within an innovator organization what matters most is being the first to discover something, as opposed to making the most money. Often technology or research and development firms that rely heavily on project teams, innovator organizations tend to have relatively flat organizational structures.  

Now, consider your organization. What type of organization do you think it is?  

Now, what are the implications for HR within these different types of organizations?

HR in an entrepreneurial organization:

–    In an entrepreneurial organization, HR is perceived as an overhead expense to be minimized as much as possible. As such, HR may not exist, or if it does, it is lean and possibly outsourced.

What you can do as an HR professional in an entrepreneurial organization:

–    Be flexible. Orient your initiatives and activities towards making money for the organization. Focus on shortening recruitment cycle times for key sales and operational positions. Get creative with compensation structures to motivate sales, and avoid HR programs that do not tie directly into revenue generation (i.e. if pitching a leadership development program it must be oriented towards achieving sales or cost savings).

HR in a regulatory organization:

–    In a regulatory organization the HR team is often substantial, and perceived as crucial and necessary for managing people risks. HR is highly policy oriented and “by the book”.

What you can do as an HR professional in a regulatory organization:

–    Appreciate the rigour of the department. Orient your initiatives towards managing people risks for the organization, whether demographic, reputational, skills etc… Documentation is highly valued in regulatory organizations, so get used to the power of the written word. Enable faster executive decision making by providing a clear line of sight (often in writing) between your initiative and how it manages risk.   

HR in a communitarian organization:

–    In a communitarian organization there may not be a large HR team, but there are requests for “more HR”.  HR is perceived as taking “care” of the organization. HR professionals may be expected to manage HR for both paid and unpaid staff.  

What you can do as an HR professional in a communitarian organization:

–    Avoid large policy manuals. Adopt a high touch approach with staff and managers. Develop HR programs that expand the organization’s community by including paid and unpaid staff (volunteers) in your scope. Facilitate community engagement with the organization.

HR in an innovator organization:

–    In an innovator organization HR is perceived as crucial for finding and retaining uniquely skilled staff. The team is often oriented heavily towards recruitment and talent management.

What you can do as an HR professional in an innovator organization:

–    Build strong talent management strategies that identify top performers both within and outside of the organization easily and readily. Deliver team building sessions to get new project teams up to speed quickly. Honour the drive to innovate and how that translates into the workplace. If employees want to work all night, let them work all night. Avoid creating rigid policies.

As illustrated above, a “one HR fits all” approach can result in frustration. By gaining an understanding of the type of organization that you work in, and orienting your activities and initiatives to what is valued by the organization you may discover more success.

About the Author:
Suzanne Boyd, CHRP, Partner of Noverra Consulting and Capital Partners and co-leads the Consulting Services group with specific focus on Human Resources and Management Placement services. In addition, she leads business development for the firm.