When The CHRO Asks, “So, What Do You Know?”

A framework to help you stay better prepared

As innocuous as some statements or questions may seem, they take on a deeper significance in certain situations. In a professional setting, they particularly warrant attention when remarked by a senior leader and very well might be critical to your work and career. In the following write up I cite two such interactions from personal experience and introduce a framework to help you stay better prepared.

“What’s Happening?!?”

Early in my career, I recall the Senior Vice President of Operations would stop by my desk unannounced and ask, “What’s happening?!?” This typically was in passing because I would instinctively respond by saying “Nothing!” and he would simply move on.
 

Over the years I’ve thought about those brief interactions and found it seriously lacking. Those were opportunities I missed to build a relationship with an executive, showcase on-going work, obtain feedback, and stimulate conversation about future work.

“So, What Do You Know?”

Cut to the present. There is another question that has intrigued me. For the last three years, I have attended monthly standing meetings with the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) regarding workforce strategy and analytics. Practically all those meetings began with the CHRO asking, “So, what do you know?”

People are often questioned regarding their knowledge on different topics of interest. The questions might take the form of eliciting advice, evoking debates, or sourcing specific information. However, rarely is the question phrased so directly and yet the subject of conversation is left to the respondent’s discretion.

I have come to interpret this question as a challenge to discuss topics characterized by the one or more of the following four elements – the deliverables need to be relevant, insightful, innovative, and/or of priority.

As an analytics professional throughout my career, I now tend to look for and appreciate the nuance in even seemingly simple questions. The guidelines I offer here have an analytical orientation, however could be applied to professions across a range of functions. Follow this and you’ll be in a better position to operate successfully even if the agenda switches on you. 

 
                                              
 

1. Relevant: Several initiatives/programs are carried out annually and are scheduled across the calendar. Staying in tune with ongoing events will keep your focus on what is most relevant. Make a habit of routinely connecting with other areas and make sure you are sufficiently aware of what is current. For example, when responsible for analytics within Human Resources it is important to stay abreast with hot topics in Talent Acquisition, Diversity & Inclusion, Workforce Relations, Learning & Organizational Development, Compensation, Communication and even the community in general.

2. Insightful: It is important to know your organization’s objectives and understand the business and industry. In accordance to your role, it is your responsibility to devise solutions for the challenges faced by the organization. For analytics professionals, it is important to realize that merely reporting data helps only with spreading awareness and tracking changes. However, the insight leaders need is regarding ‘why’ something is or is not occurring, or at least information on ‘how’ to change it and ‘where’ to focus efforts.

3. Innovative: Analytics professionals need to be intimate with their recent deliverables and familiar with their full body of work. Sometimes, it is appropriate to dust off previous work (updated of course) and reintroduced when the Relevance & Priority criteria are met. On other occasions, it might call for applying analytics in a new way, i.e. creating new metrics, building new models, incorporating and testing new theories, etc. This calls for creative and cognitive talents as well as a behavioral understanding to solve problems.

4. Priority: Operating with strategic priorities in mind is one thing, however staying ahead of changing priorities is a whole other challenge and an unenviable task. Analytics professional must work actively to stay aware of such shifts in priorities or rise of new priorities. I would suggest speaking with those who have met with the leader in question recently. This will help loop yourself into matters of immediate concern. Accordingly, you’ll be in a better position to supplement or substitute your deliverables.
 

These four elements can be sequenced interchangeably and multiple combinations can be adopted. Each individual element has its own value and can stand alone. However, when combined, every additional element enhances the deliverable and most importantly allows for a meaningful conversation.

This article originally appeared here

Vivan J. Thomas is Workforce Strategy & Analytics leader focused on demystifying human capital complexities and addressing related challenges faced by organizations and communities. Follow @vivanjthomas Connect Vivan J. Thomas