I know, amazing.  Guilty as charged, right here too.

Let me back up…If your organization is tactical in nature and responsive to every fire the C-level throws at the HR department to fix, then that is precisely what you will get – every fire and nothing more.  If you are responsive, but also focused on autonomous mastery of the HR discipline, consistency of purpose, and include everyone in your organization in this transformation –  the C-level will come to you for that seat. 

According to the Institute of Corporate Productivity, high performance companies that excel in these five areas are more likely to out preform competitors

1. Strategy
2. Leadership (not management)
3. Talent
4. Market
5. Culture

In order to succeed today, organizations must develop a consistent purpose and a long-term strategy to support it without being overwhelmed with a short-term profit focus.  Leaders facilitate employees to reach full potential, not manage day-to-day activities.  The talent of human capital is used to its fullest capacity to support the purpose.  They act responsibly in the market with supplies, customers and sustainability of resources.  And finally, there is a strong employee-centric culture.

So start slow – look at those HR performance metrics and KPI’s and start mapping them to the strategy of the company.  Start filling in the blanks – what metrics are missing?  Check with employees to see what metrics they are tracking on their own and why, (you’d be surprised, but many HR employees take it upon themselves to track their own progress).  It doesn’t have to be a formal “initiative”, just check them out and see what they tell you.

Hmmmmm?  What are they telling you?  What has HR accomplished in the last year that the metrics support?  And vice versa?  What about the organization as a whole?  Accounting, Sales, etc?

Now you have the tools so use them.  Only 30% of human capital decisions are made with the use of statistical analysis – basically on opinion, not facts.  The key here is to coordinate HR, organizational development and selection initiatives from an evidenced-based perspective. It has been recognized that 70% of statistical analysis is persuasion and 30 % is reporting the facts – so diplomacy is key.

If you build this into your organization, they will come to you.  It might not get you a seat at the table immediately – but you’ll be in the board room.  It’s up to you from there.