Canadian HR Reporter

Stephanie Fennell global HR director, Taxi Based in Toronto, the 220-employee ad agency also has of ces in Montreal, Vancouver and New York Hr should be split into two. that's according to Dallas-based business adviser Ram Charan, who suggested two strands for HR: one handling administration, reporting to the CFo, the other handling people capabilities and strategy, reporting to the CEo. this is because too many Hr leaders are process-oriented generalists who are weak when it comes to relating Hr to real-world business needs, he said in his July 2014 Harvard Business Review article. We talked to fi ve Hr leaders to fi nd out if they agreed. SPLITTING SPLITTING SPLITTING T here's an administrative process orientation to HR but there's also a stra- tegic side, and it's the role of HR to deliver both, according to stephanie fennell, global HR director at ad agency Taxi in Toronto. So it doesn't make sense to divide the department along those lines. "Any role in HR off ers the opportunity to be strategic — even if it's an administra- tive HR role, it off ers that opportunity," she said. "We have opportunity, HR people at all levels, to help improve things, so I don't think it's something that should be split." Dividing HR would not necessarily give HR's strategic side greater recognition, she said. "It's our responsibility as HR professionals to approach our roles with that mind- set. We have to approach it as being strategic and not just processing paperwork and not just being administrative. It's how are you adding better value and what are the business problems and if you don't know about them, it's going out and speaking to people to fi gure out what it is and how we can help." To be a part of the C-suite, it's about actions, it's about asking the right questions and coming up with solutions, said Fennell. "By that — contributing, solving things — you do get a seat at the table," she said. "If you're just going to approach it as coming in everyday and getting 10 perfor- mance reviews done, check that off the list, get health and safety sorted and go home at the end of the day, without thinking about what are the true business challenges then, no, you're not going to have a seat at the table." As for the suggestion CHROs are too process-oriented, Fennell said she has met many heads of HR who are quite impressive. " ere (are) some in various levels of HR who can get weighed down in process and start losing sight of the bigger business needs but when that happens, we need to stop and refocus our attention so we're not losing sight of that. ere's always going to be that process, reaction- ary aspect to HR —just given we're dealing with people and everyday something else comes up — but I think it's always important to keep the bigger picture in focus." ere are pros and cons to becoming the head of HR by rising through the ranks or coming in from the outside, said Fennell, who has been at the 220-employee company for two-and-a-half years. "But if you're not coming up through HR, you need to have a background understanding of HR, so training or education… so you're just not walking into it cold because then you're going to miss some of the aspects of it which could be more administrative but are important in getting things done, being compliant and all that good stuff ." And if a CFO needs HR administrative information, he can still ask it of those functions, she said. " e CHRO would be lacking in key HR admin info if they didn't have that group reporting up to them in some format." As HR professionals, it's important to have knowledge on the fi nance side of things and to be a part of those discussions — in- stead of just leaving it to fi nance, said Fennell. "In all my roles, I've always had a very close relationship with fi nance and really think of them as partners — we work together and come up with things. And there are times when, yes, you will butt heads, so to speak, as to which approach to take, but it's working together to balance the two, the people and the fi nancial side of things." F E at U r E S F E at U r E S

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