Diagnostic findings of the measurement of the strategic impact, value and maturity of the current HRM and L&D practices in 10 focal areas in 7 African countries by means of mini surveys and change messages to actualize to strategic performance advisor and strategic learning partner roles - Extended scope

1. REALITY CHECK FOR CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICERS IN AFRICA:
HRM PRACTICES STILL LANGUISHING AT A TRANSACTIONAL LEVEL OF
STRATEGIC MATURITY – EXTENDED SCOPE
CHARLES COTTER PhD, MBA, B.A (Hons), B.A
SINGAPORE
26 JULY 2018
www.slideshare.net/CharlesCotter

2. MEASURING THE STRATEGIC IMPACT AND VALUE OF
HRM/L&D
• Over the past 12 months, I’ve developed Survey Monkey quizzes, based on compliance of current
HRM/L&D practices, measured against 10 best practice criteria, that I’ve used on various training
and conference speaking assignments in South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda.
• The responses (N = 560) from these seven (7) countries were HR/L&D managers and -
professionals, representative of both public and private sector institutions.
• The ten (10) focal points of these mini surveys include the following HRM/L&D value chain
processes:
❑#1: Strategic Performance Advisor (SPA)
❑#2: Strategic HR Planning
❑#3: HRM Metrics and Analytics
❑#4: Strategic Total Rewards Management (STORM)
❑#5: Skills Auditing

3. MEASURING THE STRATEGIC IMPACT AND VALUE OF
HRM/L&D
• The ten (10) focal points of these mini surveys include the following HRM/L&D value chain
processes:
❑#6: Strategic Learning Partner (SLP)
❑#7: Ethics of S.A trainers
❑#8: Succession Planning
❑#9: HRM Auditing
❑#10: Future fitness of HR Professionals
• Refer to the following links:
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reality-check-chief-human-resources-officers-africa-hrm-cotter-
phd/
• https://www.slideshare.net/CharlesCotter/measurement-of-the-strategic-maturity-of-hrm-and-ld-
practices-africa

4. HRM STRATEGIC MATURITY MODEL (Cotter, 2017)
Level 4: Strategic
HRM
(80%+)
Level 3: Transformational
HRM
(65-79%)
Level 2: Transactional
HRM
(41-64%)
Level 1: Traditional
HRM
(0-40%)

5. OVERALL FINDINGS – VALUE CHAIN FUNCTIONS 1-5
HRM/L&D Value chain process Number of responses (N) Mean Score Relative Difficulty
ranking
Standard deviation Level of Strategic Maturity
#1: Strategic Performance
Advisor (SPA)
86 61% 6 15% Level 2 (Transactional)
#2: Strategic HR Planning 67 64% 8 14% Level 2 (Transactional)
#3: HRM Metrics and Analytics 103 53% 2 11% Level 2 (Transactional)
#4: Strategic Total Rewards
Management (STORM) – Principles
and Best Practices
36 50% 1 11% Level 2 (Transactional)
#5: Skills Auditing 47 57% 3 14% Level 2 (Transactional)

6. OVERALL FINDINGS - VALUE CHAIN FUNCTIONS
6-10
HRM/L&D Value chain process Number of responses (N) Mean Score Relative Difficulty
ranking
Standard deviation Level of Strategic Maturity
#6: Strategic Learning Partner
(SLP)
27 62% 7 13% Level 2 (Transactional)
#7: Ethics of Southern African
trainers
58 59% 5 12% Level 2 (Transactional)
#8: Succession Planning 43 76% 10 18% Level 3 (Transformational)
#9: HRM Auditing 37 57% 3 16% Level 2 (Transactional)
#10: Future fitness of HR
professionals
56 68% 9 13% Level 3 (Transformational)
OVERALL 560 61% Level 2 (Transactional)

8. OVERALL FINDINGS
• Only x2 of the total scope of the study of x10 HRM value chain
functions exceed the mean score threshold of 65% (level 3 of strategic
maturity - transformational HRM), namely: Succession Planning (76%
- N = 43) and Future Fitness of HRM Pro's (68% - N = 56).
• The average of these x10 HRM value chain functions is 61% (level 2 of
strategic maturity - transactional).

9. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE ADVISOR - FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100

10. STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE ADVISOR (SPA) – WIDEST
COMPLIANCE GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
21-100% 57% 61% 15%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q3: Your organization's HRM function generates business intelligence e.g.
predictive and strategic analytics (that shapes, informs, guides and ultimately,
influences strategic business decisions)
1 49%
Q2: Your organization's HRM function has well-defined, implemented and
reported HRM performance scorecards and ROI metrics (creating credibility
and accountability)
2 53%
Q8: Your organization's HRM processes, systems and practices are horizontally
integrated (bundled), agile, responsive and stream-lined (that enhance
productivity and efficiency)
3 57%

11. STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE ADVISOR (SPA) – MOST
COMPLIANT CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q4: Your organization's HRM function offers a
professional, value-adding business proposition
sensitive to and supportive of business needs,
interests and strategic priorities
10 70%

12. 0
5
10
15
20
25
STRATEGIC HR/WORKFORCE PLANNING
31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100

13. STRATEGIC HR PLANNING – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q8: Your organization's HR plan integrates both scientific (HRM metrics,
predictive analytics and strategy maps) with artistic (planning) principles.
1 58%
Q10: Your organization's HR plan yields a positive ROI, with
tangible/demonstrable outcomes and impact i.e. creates sustainable HCM
competitive advantages
2 60%
Q4: Your organization's HR Plan provides accurate and reliable (clear view) talent
planning/management information e.g. available core competencies; scarce
skills; critical jobs and employee segments and talent gaps.
3 61%

14. STRATEGIC HR PLANNING – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
11-93% 64% 64% 14%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q5: Your organization's HR plan is collaborative, well-coordinated
and a partnering effort (HRM has co-opted business partners e.g.
line managers to the process).
10 67%

15. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
HRM METRICS AND ANALYTICS - FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

16. HR METRICS AND ANALYTICS – WIDEST COMPLIANCE
GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
22-83% 53% 53% 11%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q6: Your organization has re-injected scientific principles, processes and
tools and credibility into HRM Metrics e.g. 3 E’s - evidentiary, empirical
and ethical.
1 47%
Q10: Your organization harnesses automation, utilizing a 4-G digital data
analysis solution.
2 50%
Q3: Your organization has streamlined and systematic HRM metrics
processes
3 51%

17. HR METRICS AND ANALYTICS – MOST COMPLIANT
CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q9: Your organization starts small, thinks big and
systemically scales up over time, as opposed to
adopting a large-scale “Big Bang” HRM Metrics
approach.
10 59%

18. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
STORM - Principles
11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

19. STRATEGIC TOTAL REWARDS MANAGEMENT
(STORM PRINCIPLES) – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
19-67% 44% 45% 11%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q4: Your organization's reward management practices are
future-focused (ensuring that the organization is future-proof).
1 36%
Q3:Your organization's rewards management practices conduct
environmental scanning and are highly attuned, sensitive to and
proactively responsive to change.
2 40%
Q7: Your organization's reward management practices enable
the organization to gain a sustainable, strategic competitive
3 41%

20. STORM PRINCIPLES – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Your organization's reward management
practices adopt a measurement culture
e.g. scorecards, dashboards, metrics, risk
analysis and audits etc.
8 62%

21. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
STORM - Practices
31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

22. STORM PRACTICES – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
38-74% 57% 55% 10%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA DIFFICULTY RANKING MEAN SCORE
Q9: The value of remuneration and rewards offered by your
organization is affordable (feasible) promoting business
sustainability and continuity.
10 67%

23. STORM PRACTICES – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q5: Your organization promotes transparency through sharing information
about their compensation practices, pay rates criteria and how they are
determined – especially at the managerial and executive levels.
1 49%
Q8: Your organization has an efficient, user-friendly and stream-lined job
evaluation and job grading process.
2 49%
Q2: Your organization adequately and accurately recognizes the knowledge,
skills, competencies and experience of employees and rewards are
sufficiently flexible and variable.
3 50%

24. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
SKILLS AUDITING
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

25. SKILLS AUDITING - WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
30-90% 57% 57% 14%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q4: Formal appeal mechanisms are in place in your organization
and skills assessment results are regularly moderated and
reviewed.
1 51%
Q3: Your organization trains skills auditors and -raters to use the
skills rating instrument properly.
2 52%
Q10: Your organization's skills auditing is a holistic, systematic, 3 53%

26. SKILLS AUDITING - MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q6: Employees are given a chance to
improve their skills through targeted
development opportunities.
10 71%

27. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
STRATEGIC LEARNING PARTNER
41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

28. SLP – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
41-89% 58% 62% 13%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q5: L&D have established a high impact learning organizational
(HILO) culture and developed a Knowledge Management System
1 53%
Q4: L&D Managers and -professionals adopt and apply a strategic
mind-set (conceptual thinking)
2 58%
Q3: There is direct and active engagement, consultation and
participation of line management in all learning processes
3 59%

29. SLP – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
When utilizing outsourced training
providers, L&D ensures performance-
directed, Service Level Agreements
are in place
10 70%

30. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
ETHICS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA TRAINERS
31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 90-100

31. ETHICS OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN TRAINERS – MOST
COMPLIANT CRITERIA
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
39-100% 59% 59% 12%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q12: South African trainers' conduct is morally corrupt. 20 66%
Q7: South African trainers are trustworthy. 19 64%
Q18: South African trainers demonstrate a sense of duty and
commitment to faithfully serve the training profession.
18 64%

32. ETHICS OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN TRAINERS –
WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q20: South African trainers sometimes violate copyright and intellectual
property rules and are guilty of plagiarism.
1 49%
Q4: South African trainers sometimes discredit the training profession by
associating with unscrupulous business owners.
2 49%
Q2: South African trainers are sometimes guilty of misconduct. 3 53%
Q6:South African trainers sometimes violate the organizational code of conduct. 4 53%
Q13: South African trainers' actions comply with regulatory standards and
training legislation.
5 54%

33. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
SUCCESSION PLANNING
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 90-100

34. SUCCESSION PLANNING – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q6: The talent pipeline is vibrant in creating an adequate succession
planning rate/ratio e.g. 1:3 and talent bench strength of high
potentials/performance.
1 70%
Q8: The succession planning process is proactive, adopts a medium to
long-term view e.g. 3-5 years and uses scenario planning/"what if"
analyses.
1 70%
Q9: Succession planning frequently scans the micro, market and macro
business environments, is consistently reviewed and is agile in it’s
response.
1 70%

35. SUCCESSION PLANNING – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
22-100% 79% 76% 18%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Succession planning builds organizational capacity,
promotes institutional memory and stimulates
knowledge and skills transfer.
10 86%

36. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
HRM AUDITING - FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100

37. HRM AUDITING – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q3: The scope of and the HRM Audit measures are adequate and
comprehensive i.e. the 70-20-10 principle is consistently applied.
1 48%
Q6: All HRM Auditors are properly trained and competent in performing their
auditing role and the appropriate and relevant use of HRM Auditing tools.
2 53%
Q10: All HRM Audit stakeholders have agreed beforehand on the
communication strategy and the HRM Audit findings are efficiently distributed.
3 53%

38. HRM AUDITING – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
22-97% 58% 57% 16%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q1: The HRM Audit is objective and independent from
other HRM governance processes.
10 67%

39. FUTURE FITNESS LEVELS – WIDEST COMPLIANCE GAPS
Range Median Mean Standard Deviation
44-100% 68% 68% 13%
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q2: My professional status and -brand equity is typified by a high degree of
differentiation, therefore I'm compensated at a premium rate (top dollar).
1 57%
Q9: I'm a responsible and responsive digital citizen, who has mastered the ability
to navigate, curate, analyze and communicate messages via digital media sources
across an array of sophisticated technological platforms.
2 61%
Q8: I'm a next dimension, "outside-of-the-box" systems thinker, who innovatively
redesigns my thinking (and HRM operating model) to take calculated risks, by
exploring uncharted frontiers and generating breakthrough ideas.
3 65%

40. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
FUTURE FITNESS OF HRM PRO's - FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100

41. FUTURE FITNESS LEVELS – MOST COMPLIANT CRITERIA
BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA RELATIVE
DIFFICULTY
RANKING
MEAN SCORE
Q6: Given the dynamically changing work
environment, I'm able to rigorously reinvent and
transform my HRM professional/career status to
sustain upward employment mobility.
10 74%

42. SYNOPSIS OF THE STRATEGIC
IMPACT AND VALUE OF HRM
“Seemingly, current HRM
practices are administrative,
compliance-driven and
transactional and not strategic,
commitment-driven and
transformational.”
(Cotter, 2018)

43. CHANGE MESSAGE TO HR MANAGERS
(Cotter, 2018)
“One of the mission-critical strategic HRM objectives is
to mainstream HRM into the core business processes.
HRM should be embedded in the business strategy and
their value proposition should be ingrained in the
organizational culture fabric. Key business decisions
should not be taken in the absence of consulting with
HRM.”

44. CHANGE MESSAGE TO HR MANAGERS
(Cotter, 2018)
"HRM must be instrumental in and at the forefront of
the I-Q-C-A-P drivers of business performance, namely:
Innovation; Quality; Compliance; Agility and Processes
(to optimize productivity), in their quest to transform
and actualize to become strategic performance
advisors."

45. CHANGE MESSAGE TO HR
MANAGERS
(Cotter, 2018)
• “Stop fixating on best practice
and rather concentrate on
conceptualizing next practice.
This is the fundamental
differentiation between industry
followership and leadership.”

46. CHANGE MESSAGES TO HR MANAGERS
(Cotter, 2018)
“Stop trying to re-invent the wheel. The
wheel is not the future of mobility.
Rather take a quantum leap to attempt
to re-engineer and harness drone-like
technology.”
“Stop thinking HR for HR and start
practising HR for business.”

47. CHANGE
MESSAGE TO
HR
MANAGERS
(Cotter,
2018)
• "HR Managers & -Professionals will have to transform to
Behavioural Economists who trade in competitive
predictive analytics and business intelligence and who
have an in-depth and rich understanding of the
mechanics (structures, processes, systems & operations)
and dynamics (culture, values, emotions & attitudes) and
how these influence key business decision-making"

48. CHANGE MESSAGE TO HR MANAGERS
(Cotter, 2018)
• "HRM must be instrumental in and at the forefront of the I-Q-C-A-P drivers of
business performance, namely: Innovation; Quality; Compliance; Agility and
Processes (to optimize productivity), in their quest to transform and actualize to
become strategic performance advisors."

49. CONCLUSION
•As a matter of urgency, CHRO’s and CLO’s and -professionals
need to seriously address some of the strategic deficiencies
(identified by means of the mini surveys) throughout the
respective value chain functions and implement the
recommended improvement strategies to graduate from a
transactional (level 2 of maturity) to strategic performance
advisors and strategic learning partners (level 4), respectively.

50. CONTACT DETAILS
• Dr. Charles Cotter
• (+27) 84 562 9446
• charlescot@polka.co.za
• LinkedIn
• Twitter: @Charles_Cotter
• https://www.facebook.com/CharlesACotter/
• http://www.slideshare.net/CharlesCotter