How to create the collaboration networks your leaders are crying out for

It’s no surprise that business leaders struggle with collaboration.

Regardless of department, seniority, or span of control, they must deal with everything from managing team dynamics and juggling restricted budgets to overseeing software delivery and reporting to their superiors on critical KPIs. In fact, according to an Oracle study, the majority of leaders would even prefer for a robot to make their decisions for them. And with the advent of AI, who knows, they may get their wish sooner than later.

But until that point, leaders must escape the curse of business to find opportunities for collaboration that can create unity between departments and drive problem-solving, innovation, and agility. HR can help them do this by creating leadership networks.

For leaders to collaborate, HR must facilitate

No business wants its people to work in isolation. But structural and cultural barriers create silos that keep all employees, leaders included, from understanding each other and working together. A 2023 Raconteur survey, for example, finds that 83% of senior business leaders say they would benefit from a better understanding of different functions when making big strategic calls.

Silos at the leadership level can be particularly costly. When there is a lack of consensus and mutual understanding, priorities become confused, KPIs become tangled, and employees pay the price amid confusion and misalignment.

All leaders lack knowledge of departments and roles separate from their own. Jane Datta, former CHRO at NASA, argues leaders need access to the "bigger picture" of an enterprise, especially if the enterprise is moving in a strategic direction that differs significantly from the status quo. She offers the example of HR. “Few strategic changes that involve workforce are possible to achieve by wielding influence in HR alone,” Datta says. “Leaders who reach across the enterprise to build relationships with their colleagues and counterparts build a foundation for strategic change.”

As a result, business leaders across all departments must be given structured opportunities to develop understanding, empathy, and relationships between leaders. Mutual understanding, says Lucy Kuri, VP of People and Organisation for Global Emerging Markets, Mars Wrigley, then gives way to agility and innovation.