Practical experience best way to improve business know-how
When it comes to business acumen, most HR professionals have room for improvement, according to a survey.
While 39.6 per cent of 1,079 respondents to a Pulse Survey from Canadian HR Reporter and the Human Resources Professionals Association say HR professionals they know have “strong” or “quite strong” business acumen, 39.6 per cent say they have “OK” business acumen and 20.8 per cent say they have “weak” or “quite weak” business acumen.
While courses can help an HR professional develop technical business skills, asking the right people the right questions about business objectives and goals, and finding out how the business is performing, are what will help HR professionals develop their business acumen, said Ingrid Hann, vice-president of HR for DeBeers in Toronto. But that requires support from other people in the business and the initiative of HR professionals themselves, she said.
“Regretfully, the majority don’t take that initiative,” she said. “It’s the exception rather than the norm.”
But if an HR professional wants to climb corporate ranks, she needs to take the initiative, said Hann.
“Our voice will not be heard at the boardroom table unless we have good business acumen,” she said.
Most respondents (68.7 per cent) feel business acumen should be part of the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) certification. Two-thirds also say HR associations should encourage HR professionals to take non-HR assignments, with that experience counted against recertification requirements.
One of the best ways to assess business acumen is through case studies, said Lynn McAuliffe, an HR consultant in Toronto. An integrated business case asks individuals to assess various business components including finance, accounting, marketing and operations.
“The business is an entire entity that has different functional areas. They all interact for the overall enterprise to actually work,” said McAuliffe. “There has to be synergy from functional area to functional area.”
HR professionals need to understand the business strategy and what role HR plays in supporting and enhancing the business goals, said Hann.
“You have to look at every aspect of the business and you have to look into the inner workings and say, ‘What role do I play and what’s the bigger picture?’” she said.
Luckily most respondents (61.5 per cent) think business acumen can be developed, while only 10.7 per cent think it is something a professional has or doesn’t have.
When it comes to developing business acumen, real-world experience trumps courses and seminars, with 43.9 per cent saying assignments in other departments are the best way to increase business acumen of HR, followed by mentoring at 22 per cent, business courses at 19.7 per cent and seminars and workshops at 14.4 per cent.
While many HR professionals know business acumen is important to help them develop their careers and it will contribute to an organization’s profitability, too often they’re not given the opportunity to gain business experience within the organization, said Janet Roy, president of Premium HR Solutions, an HR consulting firm in Guelph, Ont.
“It’s the presidents, CEOs, directors and senior managers who need to include HR in the strategic planning of an organization and they’re not always included,” she said.
