HR for HR: How to build strong relationships to deal with the Employment Rights Bill

A vast amount of work is about to land on HR's desk when the Employment Rights Bill is passed later this autumn, and building strong relationships across the organisation is going to be key to implementing the legislation's various strands. Caroline Green asked a group of senior HR professionals for their top tips on creating bonds and influencing key stakeholders.

Working in HR, it can often feel like you're constantly swapping hats and having to navigate an intricate web of relationships and responsibilities. As such it's crucial, particularly if you're in a senior HR position, to get a proper understanding of where you fit within the broader organisation and to identify what your key relationships are. Whether you're supporting colleagues, influencing decision-makers, or engaging with external networks, managing these relationships calls for a thoughtful mix of strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and adaptability. 

With this in mind, I asked a group of senior HR professionals for their top tips on building a community, and negotiating and influencing others. One of the group, Cheryl, an HR professional, felt that the primary challenge is stretching yourself across all parts of the organisation. "Sometimes there can be conflict between what employees, managers and leaders want, and you sit right in between it all!" So where exactly do you fit and how do you manage this? Here's what my contacts advised.

The C-suite

The C-suite executive leaders hold the reins of the company's overall strategy and direction. As a senior HR professional, being able to fit in with and influence them is essential. If you fail to connect with or impress these key decision-makers, it will be nearly impossible for you to shape or input into the company's strategy or ensure that your initiatives are aligned with the company's goals.

Your influence rests on more than simply presenting data or reports. You need to understand your audience's pain points, business challenges and opportunities. How can HR contribute to solving these problems or accelerating business objectives? Whether it's through talent acquisition, leadership development or employee engagement strategies, to fit in here you need to show how these strategies support the C-suite in its broader mission.

However, the group did feel that even at this level, it is not a "one-size-fits-all approach". As Cheryl stated, "understanding and getting to know your stakeholders is key in terms of how you approach". Ask yourself what will "speak" to them: is it evidence-backed theory and data-driven recommendations, or is it a narrative around the human capital at the heart of the story? And then link these back to their pain points. Nicola, an HR director, felt that "storytelling can also be a good way to open doors".

SLT - your peers

While your primary responsibility might lie within HR, if you are in a senior HR role you may also be part of a broader senior leadership team (SLT). These individuals are responsible for the operational delivery of the organisation's strategy within their respective areas, and each has their own set of goals, challenges and pressures.

To be effective in this role, you need to build strong relationships with these colleagues to understand those challenges. By positioning yourself as someone who understands and can support their goals, you'll naturally build trust and credibility within the leadership group. Your credibility, particularly in HR, stems from your ability to translate organisational strategy into actionable, people-centric initiatives. Here your role is as an enabler for others to succeed.

In addition, your knowledge of the workforce's needs and concerns is a critical tool. HR leaders who engage with the workforce directly and provide solutions based on real-time employee feedback gain credibility within the SLT and build a profile as someone who is both strategic and practical. Lisa, a CPO, said that it was particularly important when first moving into a senior HR role to "not rush in - take some time to understand the business, what it needs from its people and what they need from it". Very often you are the bridge between the organisation and its people, and taking time to do a bit of research will allow you to speak with authority and credibility.

Another person I spoke to also felt that her "flexibility in getting involved in wider business problems, helping to solve them", built her own confidence and credibility with other senior stakeholders. It moved them from seeing her as "someone from HR sent to check up on us" to a real asset to the team. Another, meanwhile, talked about "being able to talk the language that will get senior stakeholders' attention".

Supporting and developing your HR workforce

There was also a unanimous feeling among the group I spoke to that while senior stakeholders are key, you must never forget that you are there to serve the whole workforce. One of the group, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that one of the great things about working in a senior HR position was about "helping to establish good relationships between the organisation and employees". Both inputting to strategy, and being able to successfully deliver on it, will only happen when you "demonstrate your credibility by establishing the trust and respect of your employees - and having a clear sense of employee feeling in the business". 

For a senior HR professional, that means looking after the entire workforce, including - crucially - your own HR team. Your fit here is around supporting them to succeed, helping them to develop and grow, and removing any obstacles in their paths. If you can do this successfully, they will become the eyes and ears, and enablers, to support the whole organisation.

Fitting into context

One thing the group also highlighted is that context is key. While most of the group felt there were some key departments such as finance that you would need to influence to see your initiatives come to life, Nicola felt that it "depends on the situation and context as to which type of individuals or group you are trying to influence". Gayle, an HR professional, also felt that it was often "not so much whole departments as specific individuals" you needed to target. These could be individuals holding decision-making positions or simply personalities who seem to have sway and influence. Nicola suggested that it was indeed key to identify these "non-senior influencers and ambassadors in the business and identify early adopters too".

The external fit - networking and development

When you are in a senior HR position it is also important to understand the external environment in which your organisation operates. Whether it's industry trends, best practices or new approaches to talent management, understanding what's happening outside the walls of your company will inform how you lead within it.

Strategic networking, especially with other senior HR professionals, is invaluable. By connecting with others who face similar challenges, you can exchange ideas, share resources and learn from their experiences. This external perspective can be especially useful when you're navigating complex HR issues or driving new initiatives within the organisation. As one of the group reflected, "It can also build your confidence as you discover what you're doing is actually the right thing!"