It’s so common for me to meet founders and leaders with no HR experience who consider themselves the HR / people / culture experts at their company that I’ve just come to expect it. And, listen, I appreciate that perspective! It signals to me that they feel trusted by their team and that they feel connected to their team. What they don’t realize, though, is that without experience building strategies for that domain of work and without their ability to focus on it 100% of the time, it’s not enough. 

First, I have a lot of respect for leaders who value being trusted by their team. But just as they wouldn’t put someone in charge of finance merely on the basis of not having personal debt (I hope!), they shouldn’t think that good relational capacity alone makes them or anyone else an expert in HR, people, organizational development, etc. Why? Because they experience building strategies that attract and retain the best talent in their market and they don’t have the time to make sure that this domain of work is always functioning optimally. 

Why is that important? Why does team and culture building require a strategy? Why can’t we rely on people-driven leaders to do this in their spare time?  

Just like a car requires specially trained professionals to engineer, build, and maintain it, a company requires an experienced professional to lead it’s people function because without the right people, a company doesn’t stand a chance.

The success and sustainability of any domain of work requires it to be a strategic priority and, just as much as revenue and product, HR and people is a strategic business function; it ensures -- at the very least -- that you always have the best people to carry out your business strategy and that their incentivized to stay and give you the best of their work while they’re there. 

The components of the strategy that require specialized attention are: a talent strategy that is relevant to your business strategy, understanding your talent market, talent acquisition strategy and execution, onboarding / training, employee experience, HR policies and employee relations, maintaining compliance standards, internal communication, data collection, and more. 

So, if you’re a leader who is asking themselves if they need to hire an HR / people professional, the answer is always going to be YES. The question I encourage you to embrace instead is: who should I hire and am I ready to let them make a meaningful impact on my company’s growth? 

BuildRise can help you put this concept to work at your company. Set up a time to meet with us HERE.