HR Influencer: Neil McCormick

HR is practiced differently in different places. In the United States, differences in industry and region drive different priorities. The government manages HR with an extremely different emphasis; HR leaders are an inherent part of organizational decision making. Government HR is vastly more operational than its industrial counterparts.

Outside of the United States, the discipline is less about legal defensibility and more about operational impact. Each country's unique view of labor relations and workplace requirements shifts the dialog. There's some reason to believe that the real leadership in HR thinking is located beyond American borders.

Neil McCormick, the intellectual force at Asia-Pac's largest HR consultancy, Talent2, works to accelerate innovation in HR and talent management.

Neil has worked in human resources and consulting services for the past 14 years building a repertoire covering human resource management, recruitment consulting, management consulting, talent management, general management and learning and development. For the last four years, Neil has held a General Manager position at Talent2. A recognized presenter and guest lecturer on the subject, Neil has a detailed understanding of, and passion for, the application of talent management principles and processes for the ongoing success of business.

Neil's current project focuses on the development of HR standards. "Current approaches are extremely inefficient because we are solving the wrong problem. We focus on solving HR problems rather than business problems. Our operations can be entirely more effective if we concentrate on generating business results, incorporating feedback loops and work to continuously align HR with strategic objectives. The ultimate HR system is monitored feedback with ever tightening alignment.

"HR is not seen as strategic because it often works at odds with the company's direction. Once HR is completely tied to pure organizational outcomes, real credibility has a chance to develop. It's a virtuous cycle; the more credibility you have, the more credibility you can create," he said. "In essence, put rigor, process and methodology around Human Capital. Constantly tweak its alignment with organizational goals. Communicate in terms the organization understands."

McCormick believes he's witnessing the emergence of an integrated, unified discipline.

"With a single record in a single system and a clear business agenda, HR can set standards that allow the synergy buried in most companies to blossom and grow," he said. "There is a sudden awareness of the need for business intelligence about the business itself. The complexities of multiple contradictory data sources obscures powerful information about capabilities and performance that should emerge seamlessly from recruiting, training, retirement, payroll and benefits data.

"We're starting to exhaust the existing tools because the data is badly organized, badly collected and badly disseminated. We're going to move through a period where the idea of evidence based decision making moves front and center. In order to fully harness the energy on our companies, we'll need to fortify the data and prove that we can use it."

In McCormick's mind, that means that HR is evolving to become a standards and audit-based operation.

"Performance management is a complete failure. The problem stems from our inability to really trace the elements of performance to molecular levels. We measure ourselves rather than the organization. We've got to turn that on its head, stop measuring HR stuff and start really driving organizational results."

McCormick is a persuasive and articulate evangelist. He notes that the domestic American market is moving toward a different kind of standard. "I believe in asking the right questions, not a constant redefinition of terms, the creation of a glossary. When a committee decides the definitions of things, you get doublespeak and mediocrity."

There's a shift coming in the way that HR is conceived and executed. People like Neil McCormick are at the forefront. The powerful examples seem to be coming from offshore.

As part of John Sumser’s ongoing Top 100 Influencers project, in which the key influencers working in recruiting, staffing, HR, HCM and HR technology are identified and profiled, John shares additional perspectives and compelling insights from those who are profiled here in Salary.com HR Voice each Friday.

John Sumser is a member of the Salary.com Board of Directors as well as the founder and president of Two Color Hat, Inc. Contributions to Salary.com HR Voice and this Website reflect the opinions of the authors and are not an official opinion of Salary.com, Inc., or any of its subsidiary or affiliated entities.