Is HR a Strategic Partner?

During my recent trip to England to lead a strategy program for executives from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, an interesting topic came up. Several of the European business leaders wanted to know what role HR plays in strategy in the United States. 

They were surprised to hear that over the past five years, HR executive’s own assessment that they play a solid role in strategy development dropped from 41% to 32%. Why is that? Is it because their colleagues from marketing, sales, finance, and operations have greater strategic insights than HR managers? No. I believe it’s because HR executives haven’t had the tools and frameworks as readily available as the other disciplines to communicate their strategic insights with the rest of the organization.

If you’re an HR manager, what tools are you using to generate and communicate strategic insights to your colleagues? The answer can determine whether you’re sitting at the big table during the meeting or setting up the big table prior to the meeting.