Getting Your People Investments Funded Faster
This article is inspired by a conversation I had a while ago with a new grad who was debating their options between joining a startup organization vs. a more traditional corporate job. Paraphrasing the conversation, while they loved the startup culture, drive, and agility, they also appreciated that they could learn a lot more about the frameworks, the ‘how,’ and playbooks from the corporate role. At the end of the conversation, they left me with: I wish Corporate America would move faster, then I’d take that job without a doubt.
Job search results aside, what I want to share with you is the unfortunate truth that large organizations (private and public) will probably not move much faster than they are just by the inherent way they are organized. That said, what most people call “slow pace” in organizations is usually the speed at which decisions are made, feedback is obtained, and rationale is communicated. The good news is that you, as an individual contributor or mid-level manager, can do things to help speed that along instead of staring into the abyss for a day when a decision is handed to you.
Before we get into the how allow me to set some context. At the risk of possibly oversimplifying, I see the world of corporate decision-making as a game of Snake (yes, the game that was created in the 70s and popularized through the Nokia cellphones in the 90s). For those who may not know what I’m talking about, here is a version of this game. Please play a few rounds before reading on; otherwise, the rest of this article will not make sense.
Like the game of Snake where the longer the snake, the harder it becomes to pivot it towards the target, and the easier it is to run the snake into the walls, large organizations experience similar challenges where just by nature of its size, it becomes more challenge to navigate towards a smaller target and more accessible to run into issues (i.e., the walls) in day-to-day operations. By my possibly oversimplified observation, the difficulty to steer and rapidly change directions, along with the fear of running into walls, is precisely why it could feel like all decisions—or requests—take forever to circle through the approval channels before they are communicated to the individual contributors and mid-level managers.
So, now that you have the context let’s talk about what you can do to help speed things along if you think decisions are taking forever (because not everyone has the luxury of choosing equally between a startup environment and a corporate role). Quick disclaimer: because I have been buying tech solutions and associated services for almost a decade, examples used in this article will lean towards that experience.
Don’t Run the Snake into the Walls / Minimize the Risks
This sounds intuitive but might need some examples in connecting theory to practice. Here’s the understanding you should have: the larger the organization, the more likely it is to get tangled in legal matters. I once had a seasoned HR professional say to me: if you work in HR in the US for a large company, it’s not a matter of if you’ll get sued as an employer; it’s a matter of when. While I wouldn’t say my experience has been that dramatic, I think we all understand the person's point.
In this environment, the anticipation of risks and risk mitigation tactics can be critical in expediting the decision-making process. For example:
Before you make the ask, figure out the minimum exposure necessary and go in with that angle. In the world of HR tech, this means figuring out what is the least amount of data or the most generic information that you need to move outside of the company info system walls to get your solution implemented with the promised ROI
Figure out the common risk pitfalls your organization looks for when reviewing a request and mitigate them ahead of time. For example, I will always ask 3rd party vendors for their data hosting location, their 3rd party/sub-contracted processor location, notification periods in the case of a data seizure, and data storage/purge rules at the end of the contract or project term
Spend some time with your Procurement Legal team or your Risk team. I have had people look at me sideways for the level of detail I would go into with legal teams, infosec teams, etc. All I will say here is that while some still may think this is “not HR’s job,” the conversations I’ve had with legal and IT teams have been the most enlightening conversations in helping me understand what organizations perceive to be risks and how to mitigate them
Once you can anticipate the risks, you can preempt the risk and mitigation requirements in your initial request to help reduce additional cycle times in the future for clarification questions. This is also a great way to prevent decision-makers from making assumptions based on past experiences that may not reflect your current situation.
Zoom-in on the Target / Manage Your Stakeholders
One thing in the corporation decision-making process that the Snake game doesn’t portray is your stakeholders' multitude of goals/motivations. In the game, you must navigate the snake to get to one target on the screen. In reality, you need to account for at least five stakeholders in the process, their motivations/concerns, etc. So, before you even formally put in your request, I would highly encourage you to draw a stakeholder map and ask the following questions:
Who do you think will support this? Why?
Who may not support this? Why?
Between those who will and will not support, who has a louder voice in the room?
Can you socialize this beforehand with those who may not support it? If you can’t, can one of the supporting stakeholders socialize on your behalf?
What does everyone individually perceive they have to lose if this doesn’t go according to plan?
You’ll probably have to make the best guess on some of these answers (because let’s be honest, it’s rare for transparent conversations like this to happen in actual meetings), but this will give you a plan for how to start best managing your stakeholders. Also, it will give you a chance to think about if the request you are about to make is something you want to put the effort towards.
Pivot Quickly / Anticipate the Questions
After you’ve put in your request, you should know that those in the room representing your request when decisions are being made will not always be the most informed about the background of your request, the operational nuances, the history behind your ask, etc. And it is likely impossible for you to be invited to every conversation about your request because, on top of everything else, sometimes these conversations happen spontaneously or when additional time is available during another meeting.
So, the best way to get around this is to write up an FAQ of ~10 questions you anticipate the decision-makers will ask. I suggest this for three reasons: 1) it helps you prep the person who will represent your request; 2) it shows that you are prepared; and 3) it hones your skills at anticipating questions for future requests.
2024 is shaping up to be a tough budget year for HR. I hope these tips will help you get the funding and tech you need.