Girmay Abrha, head of HR and organisational development at The Ultimate Insurance Broker in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, highlights how leadership behaviour shapes organisational culture and why HR must demonstrate its contribution to business performance through meaningful results.
Shared expectations and meaningful measures of impact are important in ensuring that HR contributes to an organisation’s long-term success. A major challenge is the gap between what an organisation says it values and what its leaders actually do. A company may promote accountability while allowing managers to ignore commitments. Similarly, an emphasis on employee development is undermined when managers lack sufficient time to coach their teams. It may encourage collaboration while rewarding departments for achieving their own targets at the expense of wider organisational objectives.
Employees notice these contradictions immediately. Organisational culture is reinforced by everyday decisions, management behaviour, recognition, resource allocation and the standards leaders are prepared to uphold.
This is why organisational transformation cannot be delegated entirely to HR.
HR can help define expectations, develop systems, identify barriers, support managers and challenge practices that undermine performance. However, it cannot independently build a culture of accountability if senior leaders do not demonstrate accountability themselves. Executive leaders must ensure that organisational values are reflected in how decisions are made, while line managers must take responsibility for developing their teams and translating business priorities into daily work.
Measuring business Impact
The discussion about strategic human resources raises a practical question regarding how contribution should be measured. Many organisations track recruitment numbers, training hours, employee turnover and appraisal completion rates. While these indicators are useful, they do not show whether the organisation is becoming more capable or performing better.
Completing performance appraisals does not automatically improve employee performance, conducting training does not necessarily close a skills gap and filling a vacancy does not guarantee that the organisation has acquired the capability it needs. The key consideration is the extent to which these initiatives deliver measurable improvements in organisational effectiveness. This includes addressing critical skills gaps, strengthening managerial capability, clarifying employee roles and responsibilities, and proactively identifying and mitigating people-related risks that could affect business operations. The key consideration is the extent to which these initiatives deliver measurable improvements in organisational effectiveness. This includes addressing critical skills gaps, strengthening managerial capability, clarifying employee roles and responsibilities, and proactively identifying and mitigating people-related risks that could affect business operations.
Answering these questions requires HR to connect its plans and activities directly to organisational priorities. This does not mean attributing every improvement in business results to HR. Business performance depends on many factors including market conditions, operational decisions, technology and financial resources. Nevertheless, HR should be able to explain what its interventions are intended to achieve, how progress will be assessed and what the organisation is learning from the results.
Many organisations cannot implement every desirable initiative at once. Budgets may be limited, systems may be underdeveloped and managers may already carry significant operational responsibilities. These constraints make prioritisation even more important.
If a shortage of critical skills threatens business objectives, targeted recruitment and development deserve immediate attention. If poor supervision affects employee performance, strengthening managerial capability may be more valuable than launching a broad culture initiative. HR needs to understand the business well enough to identify the problems that matter most and recommend interventions that are realistic, affordable and relevant to the organisation’s goals.
Business leaders must make informed decisions about resource allocation and accept responsibility for those choices. A phased approach is far more effective than launching several initiatives simultaneously without the capacity to implement them properly. Organisations can address the most urgent gaps, assess what works and build the capabilities needed for further improvement.
Aligning expectations
For HR to become a genuine strategic partner, the relationship with executive leadership must be based on shared responsibility. CEOs should expect HR leaders to understand the business model, operational priorities, financial pressures and required capabilities. HR must also move beyond functional terminology and discuss business problems in terms that decision-makers understand.
At the same time, HR should expect business leaders to provide clear priorities, timely decisions, appropriate resources, access to relevant information and visible support for agreed initiatives. It is difficult to build accountability when senior leaders apply standards inconsistently or when learning and development are continually postponed.
Strategic partnership does not mean human resources taking ownership of every issue involving people. It means human resources and business leaders working together while respecting their different responsibilities. Human resources provides sound professional advice and effective systems, line managers lead their teams and manage performance and executive leaders set direction and reinforce standards.
The transition from an HR function to strategic business leadership happens when people, leadership, organisational systems and culture become integral to how the business makes decisions and delivers its strategy.
For organisations across East Africa, this means learning from global practice while remaining realistic about local operating conditions, organisational readiness and available resources. It requires human resources professionals who understand the business and can translate people-related challenges into practical solutions. It also requires CEOs and executive teams who recognise that organisational capability is not a secondary concern.
The real value of an initiative lies not simply in whether it has been designed or formally introduced, but in whether the organisation has the commitment and capacity to make it work in practice. Strategic HR is demonstrated through the difference it makes to how an organisation operates, how its people are supported, how effectively its leaders lead and how well the business delivers its objectives.
