Building Credibility - How Small Employer HR Pros Gain Leadership Buy-In

In our last post, I talked about how no one really advocates for small employer HR so those managing HR in these environments will have to do it themselves. I shared a few ways HR can advocate for being a strong business partner rather than just seen as a cost center. It occurs to me however, that even someone doing all of those things, could fail to get the proper recognition and support they deserve. The reason usually boils down to two things: credibility and confidence.

"You can have the best business case to do something, but if you can’t deliver it with confidence, leaders may not believe you can execute on it."

-Sabrina Baker

You can deliver data-based facts to prove a point, but if your or your data’s credibility is lacking, it will likely fall on deaf ears.

I see this within the Business Partners on my own team. The way they show up, how they present themselves and the accuracy of the data they are presenting plays a huge role in how seriously the client is willing to take their suggestions.

Here are a few things I push them to do to build that confidence and credibility.

Public Speaking

This one may sound a little weird, but public speaking skills build confidence in a way that can’t be built otherwise. It can be nerve wracking to speak in front of other people, but the more you do it, the more confident you become.

But it’s more than that. Public speaking forces you to thoroughly research and be an expert on the subject at hand which also helps with credibility. When you do a bit of public speaking, the way you speak in even general meetings changes. There is this ripple effect of confidence that may start with the public speaking but soon permeates other areas of our work.

I tasked my BP’s with conducting 5 minute speeches to each other on something that they think we should think about for the future of our work. I also have assigned training topics that they will each deliver throughout the course of the year to the rest of our team. Anytime I have the chance I put them in front of clients for training or projects that make them research and present to help with both credibility and confidence.

If these opportunities do not come up consistently in your small environment, think about joining a local Toastmasters or other org that will test these skills. Maybe even speak at your local HR chapter event, any opportunity to practice public speaking.

Do the Hard Things

Nothing builds both confidence and credibility more than taking on hard challenges and working through them. I gave a DISRUPTHR Los Angeles talk last year about this very topic. We often shy away from tough challenges due to fear and the possibility of failure. But it is those hard things that build that confidence we are so desperately lacking.

In a small environment, if challenging situations aren’t readily presenting themselves, volunteer to work on a cross functional project that stretches your skills. If that doesn’t exist, then tackle a challenge outside of work. Commit to a volunteer project or take on a home project. Something that is going to force you to use skills that you may not have perfected yet - whatever that is - do that.

Business Acumen

It doesn't really matter if you are using the big business words if you do not understand their meaning. More than words, if you do not understand how a business operates then you will lack the credibility that other leaders have.

As I looked to elevate our HR Business Partners into higher level leaders, I realized that understanding how a business actually works is a huge component to being effective at that level. I don’t just mean understanding how your business makes money. I mean understanding how margins work, how budgeting and forecasting work, market competitiveness, product development and more.

What I find lacking more than anything if someone hasn’t been given the opportunity to develop the skills, is strategic thinking with a business mindset. That is understanding how to develop and implement business strategies to achieve goals.

One way I am increasing this in my HR Business Partner’s is to give them more visibility into the inner workings of the business. I am the sole founder, owner, and CEO so I handle all of our business strategy myself. In the past year and really dedicated the last few months, I have expanded how I talk to them about our work so that they begin to think in terms of business strategy not just client service strategy.

Don’t get me wrong, client service strategy is crucial for the success of our business, but if no one is focused on financial viability or future scalability at the same time, we will ultimately fail.

I find that if your Sr. Leader finds you to be highly credible and you show up as confident and capable every single day then you are halfway to getting the buy-in you need already. Maybe even more than half way.

So while all the things I have talked about before like proving ROI, using data, and facts over feelings are important, delivering those messages with confidence and high levels of credibility almost always ensure a win in the buy-in category.

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