How HR Can Better Contribute to the Business

How HR Can Better Contribute to the Business

Forward-thinking leaders recognize that HR’s role extends far beyond administrative tasks. Too often, HR functions operate primarily as service providers — focused on policy implementation, compliance, and employee support — while remaining on the periphery of strategic decision-making. Many HR leaders, content with this traditional role, miss the opportunity to influence critical corporate strategies, investment decisions, and business outcomes. To truly contribute, HR must evolve from a supportive function into a strategic partner — actively shaping organizational culture, designing strategic priorities, driving talent decisions, and delivering measurable impact across the business.

High Performing HR Functions
Today’s HR leaders who are truly organizationally savvy understand not only the value HR brings but also how to earn the attention of executives. Progressive HR professionals are learning to speak the language of the C-suite — framing conversations around strategic priorities, business outcomes, and measurable performance results.

At its core, HR’s influence begins with clearly articulating how effective talent management drives business performance and advances strategic initiatives. Talent management, in this context, is more than filling roles — it is the deliberate building and stewardship of a workforce that creates a distinctive people advantage, one competitors cannot easily replicate. At a minimum, HR must ensure the organization can attract, engage, develop, and retain top talent capable of thriving, performing, and delivering results that move the business forward.

When HR elevates its role to contribute strategically, it transforms from a reactive, transactional function into a true HR business partner.

3 Main Talent Management Buckets to Start Off on the Right Foot
Effective talent management begins with three key areas of insight that HR can analyze to give executives the information they need to make informed, strategic decisions about their workforce. The value of this data depends on its quality — it must be reliable, accurate, and sufficiently detailed. When done well, this approach turns HR from a data custodian into a driver of actionable insights that shape performance, capability, and competitive advantage.

1. How Many?
   HR needs to be sure that they have right folks in the right roles and in the right amounts to execute the current and future business plans.
2. How Much?
   HR needs to understand and report current costs and accurately forecast future workforce and compensation investments that will keep the necessary talent in place to get the job done in a way that makes sense.
3. How Well?
   Here is where HR needs to identify the critical success metrics and competencies needed in each job category and how well employees are performing against performance standards. HR must be able to answer questions like:

• What is needed to improve employee performance, engagement, and retention?
• What kind of employee development would ensure that employees have the right skills at the right time?
• When new employees are needed, where can they be found and how can they be onboarded quickly?

The Bottom Line
To understand how HR can better contribute to the business, it must be both aligned and proactive. This means deeply understanding the company’s overall strategy and translating it into workforce actions that drive results. HR must remain agile, adjusting to evolving business needs, while providing clear, actionable metrics that demonstrate progress and impact on organizational performance.

To learn more about taking your HR function to the next level, download What HR Needs to Do to Earn a Seat at the Executive Table – According to Executives

Tristam Brown

Tristam Brown is a seasoned business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.