Market View
Adaptive HR in a Dynamic World: Navigating Diversity, Jurisdiction, and the Modern Workforce
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Interview with
Claire Hales
Head of HR, Roland Berger UK
About Claire Hales
Claire Hales is the Head of HR for Roland Berger UK, a management consulting firm. Claire's responsibilities span all HR functions in the UK while maintaining connections with the global network for leveraging broader business strategies. Managing a small team with a high volume workload and competing demands, automation and slick process are imperative to ensure an effective work life balance.
Claire, as the Head of HR for Roland Berger UK, how has the evolving nature of work impacted your HR strategies and processes?
The main shift we've seen post-Covid is the prevalence of hybrid working environments. This has definitely changed our approach to flexibility. Our biggest challenge has been creating an environment that allows for hybrid work while maintaining service levels. In the consulting world, junior staff learn significantly from being around more senior people. As people become more senior, they tend to leverage flexible working more. So our strategies have focused on encouraging in-person interaction, especially for those fresh out of university.
We've had to adapt to make this work across all generations in the business. For example, when we recently had interns, we encouraged people to be in the office to provide learning opportunities. In terms of technology, we're fortunate that in consulting, people are often at different client sites anyway. So we've been able to effectively leverage connectivity tools like Teams and Zoom.
Importantly, from a processing perspective, we've had to ensure that people can do what they need to do whenever they choose. This means having self-service elements in our systems, allowing staff to process and get responses at times that suit them, rather than being confined to a 9-to-5 structure.
Can you share a recent challenge where having an adaptive HR approach was crucial for a successful outcome?
A good example was when we were looking at acquiring a team from another firm through a subsidiary of ours. The subsidiary offers different pay scales and benefits compared to Roland Berger UK. This presented a significant challenge when I was entering negotiations with the management team in terms of consistency and transparency for both teams.
Our offerings weren't necessarily on par, which could have been problematic from a cost and engagement perspective. I realised it was important for us to be able to separate or segregate different entities of the business in terms of entitlements. This would have been crucial - and still could be, as the conversations are ongoing.
Having the ability to be more adaptive in our processes and systems, to allow us to identify people in different areas, is potentially critical as we move forward. Without this capability, I would need to do a lot of manual interventions, which requires significant administrative work behind the scenes. This experience really highlighted the importance of having flexible, adaptive HR systems to handle complex organisational structures and acquisitions.
What are your top priorities when considering an HR solution or platform?
Scalability is absolutely critical. It's crucial that HR technology can adapt to varying business needs, especially during acquisitions or mergers. We need solutions that are future-looking in terms of technology, particularly those that can leverage AI. For instance, having chatbot elements where employees can ask questions about policies and get instant answers based on the data in our system would be incredibly valuable.
Finally, it's increasingly important that HR solutions focus on the employee experience. These systems should be intuitive and easy to use, with a well-designed interface that gives employees a consumer-grade experience. A great employee experience will result in higher engagement with the solution.
In the consulting world, our operating models don't mirror the wider corporate world in terms of hierarchy. Many systems' models, particularly their security models, are intrinsically linked to a certain infrastructure and hierarchy. This doesn't necessarily work well for consulting, where traditional manager roles are often replaced by coaches or mentors, and project managers change depending on specific projects.
That's a fascinating point about the changing expectations of the workforce. How do you see this impacting HR technology adoption?
It's not just about keeping up with technology; it's about anticipating the needs and expectations of future employees. Digital natives entering the workforce will expect seamless, intuitive interactions with all their tools, including HR systems. This shift isn't just a matter of convenience - it's about efficiency and engagement.
If we continue to use systems that feel outdated or cumbersome to new employees, we risk frustrating them and potentially impacting their productivity and job satisfaction. As HR professionals, we need to be at the forefront of this change. Our systems should reflect the innovative, forward-thinking approach we want our organisations to embody.
That's why I'm passionate about solutions that are not only scalable and efficient but also adaptive and future-proof. We need systems that can grow and change with our organisations and our workforce, anticipating needs before they become pain points.
You've emphasised the importance of employee experience. Could you elaborate on why this is so crucial?
Employee experience is absolutely critical and becoming increasingly important. In today's world, people expect the same level of service as an employee that they receive as a customer - everything available at the touch of a button. Moreover, many businesses focus on customer experience, trying to create a certain culture and ethos. Well, you have to have that focus internally as well in order to build that culture. You can't have a fantastic client experience and then, behind the scenes, have people struggling with clunky, outdated systems.
From an HR perspective, I always say that my clients are the employees - that's who I look after. I need them to have the right experience and the right service. It's about creating consistency between your external brand and your internal operations. This focus on employee experience isn't just about making work more pleasant - it's a strategic necessity. In today's competitive talent market, the employee experience can be a key differentiator in attracting and retaining top talent.
Ultimately, investing in the employee experience is investing in the overall success of the business. It's a holistic approach that recognises that happy, well-supported employees are more likely to deliver exceptional service to clients, driving better business outcomes across the board.
About Roland Berger UK
Roland Berger UK is the British arm of the global strategy consulting firm Roland Berger. Based in London, it provides strategic advisory services to various industries. The UK office is part of the firm's international network, offering expertise in strategy development, performance improvement, and digital transformation to both British and international clients operating in the UK market. As a key player in the UK consulting landscape, it competes with other major strategy firms while contributing to Roland Berger's global thought leadership.
