Planet Organic's HR Director: 3 tips to get Board buy-in

1. The CEO

For Gieske the most important thing is to have “a CEO who understands and rates HR, and understands the importance of it.”

She explains that this should be at the forefront of an HR Director’s mind when thinking about joining a new organisation. Gieske reflects on her interview with Planet Organic’s CEO, Peter Marsh; “I was going through some of my achievements in the past and he was asking lots of questions and relating his experiences to them. And then he said to me ‘I take HR really seriously, I know how much it can influence an organisation’ - he was very open about that and to me that was really refreshing because I hadn’t come across anybody else quite like that.”

2. Low-hanging fruit

Having a CEO that understands the importance of HR is only half the battle, they then have to believe in the individual.

Gieske says that the best way to achieve this is to “produce results pretty quickly so that you gain credibility.” She continues: “What I did was choose some low-hanging fruit that I could influence quickly.”

When Gieske joined Planet Organic employees were often absent, late, unknowledgeable and generally had a disconnect with the brand – affecting the service provided. One of her quick fixes was to put staff in uniforms; “that was very quick and easy to do, and the transformation you could see immediately. Suddenly people were turning up for work on time, and not calling in sick, and knowing what they were talking about.”

She continues: “I think people do quite like rules, procedures and knowing where they stand and what to do. Because in an environment where there are no rules and procedures it’s just kind of chaos really.”

3. Communication

In order to maintain buy-in with the Board once it has been earned, constant communication is vital – especially with the CEO.

“Speak to him all the time. Mine sits three metres away from me so I talk to him about ten times a day. And as a team of Directors there are only four of us and we are a very tight team. We meet and speak all the time and we work very closely together,” says Gieske.

But this communication is important company-wide, not just at the top level. Gieske says: “It is really important for us to be in the stores all the time so that you’re not some Director sitting in an Ivory Tower. And everybody is very accessible, there’s not any kind of ‘you can’t talk to me’ perception, everybody talks to each other all the time - that’s kind of the culture we have.”