Years ago, HR was largely seen as an administrative function, handling payroll, recruitment, and disciplinary matters. Today, however, the role of HR executives has evolved into one of strategic influence, where people management is closely aligned with business outcomes.
Population Services International (PSI) Uganda head of HR and administration Charlotte Mirembe, I&M Bank Tanzania head of HR Erica Mboya, Saruni Basecamp CHRO Gerishen Katieno, and Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) head of HR Paul Rumanda share their insights on what it takes to bring HR to the core of organizational strategy.
For Paul, the inaugural head of HR at the Infectious Diseases Institute in Uganda, breaking into the strategic conversation requires understanding that HR cannot operate in isolation.
The business of the business
Having worked across telecommunications, automotive and healthcare sectors, he saw firsthand the pitfalls of executives leaving people management solely to HR.
To bridge the gap, Paul made it his mission to speak the language of each sector he joined.
“One way to overcome that challenge of leaving the HR issues to the HR people was, one, making sure I get involved in understanding the strategy of the organisation and deliberately customising my strategy to speak to that organisation,” Paul explains. “Show the value that HR brings in terms of aligning your people strategy to the organisational strategy, but also in learning the business of the business.”
The key enabler
Erica Mboya, head of HR at I&M Bank Tanzania, sees HR as a structural pillar critical to executing business strategy. Digitalisation, culture and employee engagement are, in her view, not merely HR tasks; they are integral to achieving organisational objectives.
“It’s not only about driving business, but it’s also about the key enablers to delivering. Otherwise, it will crumble and it won't work. If you look at it holistically from that perspective, then there’s no way you’ll miss out HR because you know people will play a critical role towards delivery of the business initiatives,” Erica notes.
Speaking to the mother strategy
Gerishen Katieno, CHRO at Saruni Basecamp, notes that HR’s historic exclusion from strategic decision-making often stemmed from a mismatch between the role’s potential and the practitioner’s focus on administration. For HR to truly add value, its goals must align with the organisation’s overarching vision.
“Ideally the HR strategy must speak to the mother strategy of the business, which is the strategic plan, and then there are a subset of activities that bring this to action,” Gerishen emphasises. “But the most important part of this is the alignment of HR functions with the business strategy because then that's what takes you to the strategic table.”
The data-backed ‘why’
At Population Services International Uganda, Charlotte Mirembe learned that strategic alignment is about winning hearts and minds. Recalling a time she implemented workflow changes in a hospital to reduce maternal deaths, Charlotte stresses the need to explain the strategic rationale to secure buy-in.
“For as long as people don't know, or don't understand the why, there'll always be lots of resistance. You must have data on backing up that decision. What is in it for me as a person and what is it in for that organisation and why must we move this way. So you must sell that,” she points out.
Across these organisations, HR leaders emphasise that strategy is more than a document, it is a framework for action, a bridge between people and performance and a crucial enabler of business success.
They believe that by understanding the business, speaking the language of each sector, and communicating the why behind decisions, HR can claim its place at the executive table.
As Erica puts it: “If you get people right, the business follows. That is the essence of HR in the modern enterprise.”
