14 Nov The Messy Middle of Transformation: How HR Leaders Influence In A Noisy World

Over the last several months, we have gathered some of the top HR and culture leaders for monthly dinners Industry Nights to forge meaningful connections, share fresh perspectives, and tackle the toughest challenges shaping the future of work.

During one recent evening, we invited over 20 executives to discuss people-led strategies to improve business outcomes. This post explores some of the key insights around “mastering transformation” that emerged from this dynamic community of leaders. Enjoy!

Mastering Transformation in HR

Transformation within a large organization is a marathon, not a sprint. For HR leaders, the journey involves more than just adapting to change. It’s about navigating the messy middle: meeting the CEO’s demands while caring for the well-being of your people. This balancing act isn’t easy. You’re asked to align with aggressive goals and mandates—that you may or may not have had a voice in—while keeping the humanity of your workforce at the forefront. Although great people leaders are poised for speaking the language of the business while holding empathy for their employees, let’s be honest. This can be a lonely role amidst moments of large change. But, you’re not alone. Here’s what others have learned about navigating transformation.

Say the thing, over and over.

It’s a noisy world out there. The ‘repetition’ approach is common for change communications campaigns, but the same applies for leaders trying to create influence up and down in their org. This can help to make sure leaders understand your point of view, but it also opens doors for naming misalignment. 

Repetition doesn’t ruin the prayer.”

Data can serve as an equalizer.

Data is flooding organizations. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean objective insights are always driving big, organizational culture decisions over personal biases. When HR is empowered to bring evidence-based recommendations to the table, it shifts the responsibility of outcomes from individuals to a shared effort.

Tell the truth when it’s hard, especially when it’s hard.”

Involvement leads to commitment.

Co-creation should be a critical tool in every HR and change leader’s playbook these days. In moments of complexity, the impulse (especially from C-Suite leaders) can be to protect  your people from the change. Instead, find open questions, assumptions, and challenges that you can welcome your employees’ support on.

Sometimes, your CEO just won’t listen.

In these moments, disagree, make your position clear, and then commit to the chosen direction. Leadership means knowing when to advocate and when to let go, recognizing that you can’t shoulder every decision alone. We talked at length about ‘agreeing to disagree’ when topics are out of your control, but also the importance of maintaining your values and ethics and not being shy about when you disagree.

I will not bear the weight of your decision. If you are the champion of this decision, it’s your message to share.”

Rally around what is in your control.

To maintain the sanity and safety of yourself and your team, be intentional about understanding concrete, designable challenges within your control. We heard some novel, low-barrier tools that leaders use to open these conversations with their team. For example, the ‘Top It or Drop It Rule’ dictates that folks can’t negate an idea unless they bring something better to the table. Similarly, the ‘No List’ is a weekly 30-minute meeting where the team realigns on what activities are out of bounds and explicitly deprioritized. Creating fun rituals around these decisions can create a sticking effect and help maintain a sense of control during lots of change.

If you can find the compromise that works, there can be more momentum. [Instead of blank canvas brainstorms, instead] I state this is what I want, how can we make it work?”

It’s your role as an HR leader to recognize these and help your workforce rally around a shared vision. If you’re facing an organizational crossroad, ask yourself, What’s the life we want for our people? Transformation is messy, but when HR leaders can turn insight into action, they pave the way for meaningful, lasting change.

Navigating transformation is hard work, and sometimes teams can use a little outside help. To learn how we might support your team or organization, send us a note to set up a discovery call with one of our team leads.

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This article is part of our series on HR, change and transformation. Check out past issues, and sign up for our newsletter to get future issues sent directly to your inbox.