Moving Beyond the Paperwork and the Problem-Fixing

Marquis H. Barnett, Ed.D., SHRM-SCP

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the question “What even is HR?” I have had the conversation with high school students who have never been the workplace, and from seasoned professionals who have been working for more than 20 years. The conversation often conjures images of endless paperwork, employee handbooks, and mandatory compliance training. In truth, to many small and mid-sized organizations, Human Resources (HR) is seen as a necessary evil – a reactive function that exists primarily to fix problems after they’ve occurred: mediating disputes, processing termination forms, or scrambling to catch up with a new compliance regulation.

If this is your company’s view, you are missing out on the single most valuable function for strategic business growth.

HR as a Strategic Business Partner

The modern HR function is not “personnel.” It is a vital, non-negotiable component of the C-suite leadership team. The role of HR leaders is to operate as Strategic Business Partners who shift from the back end (fixing established problems) to the front end (designing the systems and culture to prevent problems and drive success).

The High Cost of Reactive HR

When HR is only called in after a situation escalates, the price is exponential – both to employees and to the company. your company pays a significant toll:

• Financial Risk: A lack of proactive HR planning leads to costly lawsuits, non-compliance fines, and high turnover expenses.
• Wasted Time: Managers and leaders spend excessive time on conflict resolution and poorly defined performance issues instead of focusing on core business objectives.
• Cultural Damage: A reactive environment breeds cynicism, mistrust, and burnout, directly hurting productivity and innovation.

The Value of Front-End Engagement

Engaging your HR function before a crisis allows the HR team to be architects, not just firefighters.

1. Talent Architecture: Proactive HR designs compensation structures, growth paths, and retention strategies that ensure you hire the right people and keep them motivated. This is about building a workforce that aligns with the company’s long-term vision.
2. Risk Mitigation: HR keeps a watchful eye on the compliance landscape, anticipates changes in labor law and regulations, designs clear, defensible policies, and ensures fair, equitable treatment of employees. Proactive compliance shields companies from the immense cost of litigation and the immeasurable loss resulting from brand and reputation damage.
3. Performance Systems: Instead of waiting for a bad review to happen, strategic HR designs continuous feedback loops, training programs, and effective performance management systems that enable high performance across the entire organization.

A Guide for Small and Mid-Sized Organizations

For small to mid-sized organizations, the strategic role of HR is even more critical because every hire, every policy, and every dollar matters more. Your HR leader, or the function you delegate, must be given a seat at the table with the executive team.

HR is valuable because it cannot be replaced. No amount of technology, software, or external consulting can replicate the internal knowledge required to design a thriving culture and manage the unique dynamics of your workforce.

To empower your HR function and transition to a proactive model, leaders must:

• Allocate Resources: Invest in skilled HR leadership, whether that’s a full-time professional or a Fractional Chief HR Officer for executive guidance.
• Involve HR Early: Bring your HR leader into strategic planning for new markets, mergers, layoffs, and major technology implementations before decisions are finalized. This is key to supporting your people decisions in the next phase of your company.
• Value the Team: Understand that HR is an engine for value creation, not a cost center. I have heard since the beginning of my career “HR is not a revenue generating department,” and it gets under my skin every time. Not making money and having no value are not the same thing. I challenge leaders often to attempt to assign a dollar value Their work directly improves employee retention, productivity, and your bottom line.

By viewing HR not as an administrative burden but as an essential business partner, leaders ensure that their most important asset—their people—is managed strategically, allowing the organization to grow sustainably and confidently.

Understanding, of course, that companies – especially small to mid-sized, are not in a position, financially, to hire full-time executive HR support, the fractional CHRO model allows companies to access top talent at, literally, a fraction of the price.

Reach out to met today to begin discussing how our fractional CHRO model may work for your organization!