HRD talks to AIA’s HR director about the importance of negotiating skills in the executive team
This year has taken many executive teams out of their comfort zones, with HR directors often having to play a mediation role in the boardroom.
Jane Hollman, chief people & culture officer at life insurer AIA, told HRD that it’s important to approach difficult subjects by ensuring everybody is focused on the issue itself and not get sidetracked.
“I have been in the room during some lively debates, but we are always trying to keep the bigger picture in mind,” said Hollman.
“We are here to solve the problem. Let’s just work on that problem. Let’s encourage lots of different opinions.”
Hollman said that despite the sudden challenges thrust upon AIA this year, the executive team has been unified in its response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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“From the outset, we made sure we were putting employees first and we were all united on what had to be done,” said Hollman.
“There have certainly been moments during COVID where I had to raise some ideas and say ‘look, we shouldn’t do that’.
“But I have not had to negotiate much during this crisis because we all want to make sure we are putting employees first.”
Pandemic or no pandemic, Hollman said that the extent to which a HR professional succeeds as negotiator plays a crucial role in the extent to which they succeed as a HR professional.
“It’s really important that you have the ability to feel confident about certain issues because you are constantly negotiating,” said Hollman.
“Every member of the executive team is trying to get their agenda forward so it’s important people are clear about what it is they are trying to get changed or get approved.”
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Whether it’s the executive team, a business partner or even a meeting with senior leaders, Hollman’s advice is to ensure you attend the meeting with the critical facts and numbers.
“Where some HR people struggle is they go into the meeting and start with the people or the emotion side of it and I often say you have to find a business angle to it,” said Hollman.
“You have to be able to appeal to whoever it is you‘re talking to. So, it’s going in and saying if we do this, this is how it will impact the business and this is how it will impact the brand of the business. Rather than just saying we couldn’t do that because of how it will upset the staff or it won’t look good.”
“You have got to actually map it out and paint the picture for what it is.”
