Dave Ulrich spoke to 60 CHROs during HRPA’s annual CHRO Conference in Toronto
“What’s the biggest single promoter of a net promoter score? The
product? No. It’s your experience with the employees who work
there – as reflected by the culture.”
Take Airbnb, for example.
“How does Hyatt beat Airbnb? They give their frequent travelers
an incredible experience. They give them unusual experiences.
And that’s what we need to look at.”
CULTURE AS A SOCIAL INTERFACE
In fact, constructing that culture is, at its core, all about creating
connection.
“(And) this is my fear with technology: in research on the digital
age, it isolates people – it doesn’t connect people. I can now get
a college degree sitting in my basement – or better yet, my parents’
basement,” said Ulrich.
“The social experience. The interface. This is where I think technology
is an enabler and a disabler. Because if technology isolates
us, pushes us apart… we fail. The challenge is how do we use technology
to pull us together? How do we use technology to help
people form better relationships?”
That’s one critical piece to consider when constructing a culture
– but another is this: Are we in a place where employees can
gain meaning?
“In engagement literature, there’s been an evolution. It used to
be, ‘Do you like your job?’ Satisfaction. Then it became engagement.
‘Does your boss give you the tools to do your job?’ Now,
engagement literature is about meaning and purpose. ‘Do you
cover feature
find meaning and purpose in your job?’ ‘Is it linked to your identity?’”
said Ulrich. “And the other piece that goes along with that
is to focus the accountability of this on the employee. This is active
engagement.”
It’s not about whether you like your job or you like your pay.
Instead, you can answer any engagement question by asking, “Do
I do my best?”
“So the engagement is not the company’s obligation – it’s the
employee’s obligation. And that kind of active engagement logic
is a very good predictor of future (success). In fact, what we’re
finding is that employee engagement correlates to customer engagement.
So if I’m competing with Airbnb, I want my employees
to be very engaged. If I’m competing in retail with Amazon, I want
my employees to be very engaged. Because when they’re engaged,
customers will be engaged,” he said.
It’s not about timesheets and attendance and processing payroll
anymore. It’s not even just about people and culture-shaping. It’s
about creating the right culture, with the right people, to deliver
strategic business results, says Ulrich. That’s what HR has to aspire
to, and that’s why one small sentence can sum up the singular
goal the profession should strive toward.
“HR is not about HR – it’s about the business.” n
Liz Bernier is a communications specialist at the Human Resources
Professionals Association.
Photos by Ali Aghtar, HRPA
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ JULY 2017 ❚ 21
