Bradford: Human Resources must evolve from policy custodian to allocator of options and bastions of positioning if organisations are to withstand climate shocks, geopolitical risk and technology upheaval, Dr Alim Abubakre told delegates at the CIPM UK Confab in Bradford.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, in a statement by Mr Tominiyi Oni, former Group HR Director at TGI, Abubakre, Senior Lecturer in International Business at Sheffield Business School and Founder of TEXEM UK, emphasized that corporate strategy is essentially a "resource-allocation machine" and highlighted the unique role of people as a compounding resource. He observed that boards often treat HR as peripheral, noting that nearly a third of FTSE 100 CEOs come from finance, while HR rarely makes the CEO pipeline.
Abubakre noted that Nigeria instills speed under uncertainty while the UK provides discipline under scrutiny. He suggested that HR should evolve into the architect of capability allocation, directing talent into areas where firms can compete and succeed. He advocated for a significant mindset shift, urging HR professionals to stop requesting a seat at the table and instead provide strategic maps to guide capability allocation.
He described strategy as a matter of choice and trade-offs, with HR being the force that makes those choices executable by managing staffing risk, compliance, and cultural sustainability. Abubakre highlighted the importance of identifying critical roles that drive the majority of a company's strategic plan and reallocating leadership, learning, and incentives accordingly.
Abubakre cited Microsoft's successful pivot to cloud and AI as an example where HR played a crucial role, noting that Satya Nadella's vision came to fruition because CHRO Kathleen Hogan operationalized culture as a form of capital, aligning systems and incentives with the cloud investment.
He identified perception as a major barrier, explaining that boards often defer to finance because CFOs provide costed, staged plans, while HR is often pigeonholed as policy. He suggested regular talent-to-value reviews and incentivizing managers for enabling talent mobility.
Abubakre urged HR leaders to build competencies in corporate finance, business model reshaping, intelligence gathering, geopolitical literacy, and decision-rights design. He also called on CEOs to make HR co-owners of capital allocation, linking funding for strategic initiatives to capability plans.
Finally, Abubakre cautioned against unchecked speed in strategy execution, citing Uber's 2017 culture scandal as an example of the pitfalls of neglecting capability alignment. He concluded by emphasizing the strategic role HR can play in optimizing the prospects of exponential returns on investment, blending courage with cadence.