GAINING SUPPORT AND COMMITMENT

HR practitioners mainly get results by persuasion based on credibility and expertise. As Guest and Hoque (1994) note: ‘By exerting influence, HR managers help to shape the framework of HR policy and practice.’ Although line managers may make the day-to-day decisions, influencing skills are necessary for HR specialists. But there is a constant danger of HR professionals being so overcome by the beauty and truth of their bright idea that they expect everyone else – management and employees alike – to fall for it immediately. This is not how it is. Management and employees can create blockages and barriers and their support and commitment needs to be gained, which is not always easy.

Blockages and barriers within management

Managers will block or erect barriers to what the HR function believes to be progress if they are not persuaded that it will benefit both the organization and themselves at an acceptable cost (money and their time and trouble).

Blockages and barriers from employees

Employees will block or set up barriers to ‘progress’ or innovations if they feel they conflict with their own interests. They are likely, with reason, to be cynical about protestations that what is good for the organization will always be good for them.

Gaining support from top management 

The support of top management is achievable by processes of marketing the HR function and persuasion. Boards and senior managers, like anyone else, are more likely to be persuaded to take a course of action if:

● it can be demonstrated that it will meet both the needs of the organization and their own personal needs;

● the proposal is based on a persuasive and realistic business case that spells out the benefits and the costs and, as far as possible, is justified either in added value terms (ie the income generated by the proposal will significantly exceed the cost of implementing it), and/or on the basis of a return on investment (ie the cost of the investment, say in training, is justified by the financial returns in such terms as increased productivity); 

● there is proof that the innovation has already worked well within the organization (perhaps as a pilot scheme) or represents ‘good practice’, which is likely to be transferable to the organization; 

● it can be shown that the proposal will increase the business’s competitive edge, for example enlarging the skill base or multi-skilling to ensure that it can achieve competitive advantage through innovation and/or reducing time-tomarket; 

● it can be implemented without too much trouble, for example not taking up a lot of managers’ time, or not meeting with strong opposition from line managers, employees or trade unions (it is as well to check the likely reaction before launching a proposal); 

● it will add to the reputation of the company by showing that it is a ‘world class’ organization, ie what it does is as good as, if not better than, the world leaders in the sector in which the business operates (a promise that publicity will be achieved through articles in professional journals, press releases and conference presentations, will help); 

● it will enhance the ‘employer brand’ of the company by making it a ‘best place to work’; 

● the proposal is brief, to the point and well argued – it should take no more than five minutes to present orally and should be summarized in writing on the proverbial one side of one sheet of paper (supplementary details can be included in appendices).