Leaders don’t just pop out of thin air, and expecting them to is killing HR. Even when candidates with great qualifications and great skills aren’t leading the charge like businesses are hoping. Are proper leaders just going extinct? Or, do great leaders still need a proper support structure in order to make great change?
At SPARK Talent this year, Director of Performance for Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Ericka Portis, took the stage to guide HR professionals through what she’s been developing over the course of years: a leadership framework that can’t fail. When you want leaders that take charge and make change, you need to ensure they have the resources and scaffolding to work.
Here are our favorite takeaways from Ericka’s presentation, and what you need to know to start supporting your business’s leaders.
Can You Have Too Much Data?
Ericka talked to the audience first about the most important part of building a framework: data. In order to start building something that works, you need accurate numbers, and you need the right numbers.
Ericka explains, “I don’t believe that this is a reporting problem. I do believe that it’s a filtering problem. Too much data, but there’s not enough what we would call decision-relevant signal.” In the age of AI especially, data of all kinds has become readily available and accessible. But even with the capability to organize, HR leaders have to know what they’re looking for in order to make use of any amount of information.
Acting Upon The Information
Data isn’t the end-all-be-all, even when you’ve got it all organized and have vetted it’s utility. The next, and arguably most important step, is acting upon the information you build. Ericka believes, “your job [as HR professionals] is to draw the line from the work that you’re doing to a number that the C-suite or executives already trust.”
When building out your leadership framework, you need to give your leaders accurate, useful numbers, but you also need to be ready to tie it to change that can actually be made.
Align on the Importance
More than anything, for leaders to act, they need to understand the “why” behind it all. What do these numbers mean, how can we act, and what goal are we trying to reach?
True change comes from being able to see what’s in front of a business accurately and make plans accordingly. As HR professionals, we know the dread of leaders stalling out and not knowing which direction to move towards. But as Ericka’s presentation points out, with attention to detail and consistent effort, HR can point leaders in the correct direction, and help them move forward.