Selker Leadership

Steve Hardardt is Senior Vice President- Human Resources and Business Administration and joined tw telecom in 2007. Prior to joining tw telecom, Steve was employed by Johns Manville Corporation as Vice President- Human Resources & Communications for their Building Products Division. Previously, Steve held HR leadership roles with several industry leading companies including Honeywell, Monsanto, Hasbro, Frito-Lay and Dow Jones & Company. Steve earned his BS degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

In the complete Leadership Interview, Steve shares his thoughts on developing a values-based culture, what it takes to be a strategic-minded HR business partner, and principles of executive compensation. For the complete Leadership Interview click here: steve-hardardt-leadership-interview

On strategic HR leadership…

Greg Selker: As you look at the different qualities that a HR officer really needs to have in order to be viewed and perceived as a good, tactical practitioner who has sound command of programs and processes, what do you see are some of the differences that can elevate that same HR officer to someone who is perceived by the business as a strategic value added business partner?

Steve Hardardt: You know for me it starts with being business minded. You just have to invest the time to understand what makes the business profitable. You know, how does the business work – what are those key levers that will improve the company’s ability to win in the marketplace? Tied closely to that is the importance of making time to think strategically – and at the risk of sounding cliché – there really are two components to that. One is to be a full partner and participant in the strategic business planning process. The second is to engage that same leadership team in the process to develop a people strategy that will enable achievement of the business strategy.

Greg Selker: So help business leaders see that focusing on people enables the delivery of their strategic business plan?

Steve Hardardt: Precisely. Beyond that, there are some common traits that I think a great or effective HR leader, as well as an effective leader of most other functions, needs to have. One is you have to get results. Once you build a plan that’s agreed upon, it’s essential that you have the ability to achieve your desired results through others. Next you have to understand what capabilities you need to have on your HR team. You have to actively develop your organization keeping these capabilities in mind.

You’ve got to work with each team member to enhance their capabilities to match these needs. And while this may seem obvious, you have to assume the role of a trusted advisor to many people in the organization – whether it’s the CEO or the executive team or first line managers or individual contributors. If you take the time to learn the organization and get to know the people, you’ll develop the trust and the confidence of others that allows you to offer some hopefully sage advice and to bear influence. This is essential for somebody to become a true business partner as an HR leader in any organization.

Greg Selker: For HR executives coming up through the ranks – perhaps more junior HR leaders at this point, what advice would you give to have them think more strategically along the lines that you have lain out? For its one thing to say it – but it’s a significant jump to move from tactical practitioner to strategic thoughtful, value added partner

Steve Hardardt: So there are a number of things that I would offer to folks as advice that helped me during my career and the first one is – whenever you have the opportunity to partner with or support an effective business leader, jump at the chance. Play whatever role you can to support them. If they have good business acumen and they understand and value people, you will learn a tremendous amount. By providing great service to that business leader you can create a mutually beneficial relationship. So get as close to your business partners as you can. It will broaden your perspective. The second thing is to experience as many roles or opportunities as you can.

It doesn’t matter if it’s on a project basis or through a variety of organizational roles. You have to put yourself in a position where you can really understand the breadth of all of the people related processes that are under the HR umbrella, talent management, total rewards, and organizational effectiveness. I have found that the broader your set of experiences, the better strategic business partner you are to your organization.

Steve’s 3 Principles of Executive Compensation…

Greg Selker: Well I think the last area to talk about is looking at executive compensation – and particularly with the passage in Congress of the stimulus plan and the restrictions placed on executive compensation for firms who have taken TARP funds. What are your thoughts on those proposed changes to curb executive compensation on Wall Street, and assuming those changes are implemented – how do you think they might impact executive compensation more broadly across the marketplace and specifically within your sector?

Steve Hardardt: Companies who have received TARP funds in the Congressional stimulus packages should be held accountable to Congress who gave them those funds. For publicly traded companies, like tw telecom, there is accountability to a board of directors. Regarding executive compensation, I think you need to implement a strategy that’s based on at least three philosophical pillars.

The first pillar is that you have to have a competitive compensation plan in order for a company to be able to attract and retain the executive talent needed to run their business, both today and in the future. The second pillar is that compensation, in whatever form it comes, really needs to be performance based. This has the dual components of rewarding individuals based on their contributions to an organization, and for compensating people based on the organization’s performance in absolute terms as well as relative to its peers.

The third pillar is that executive comp clearly needs to be aligned with shareholder interest, provided that you have a plan designed so that executives have the opportunity to share in the success of the business as do shareholders. I think these three philosophical pillars help construct fair compensation plans that help everybody achieve their needs.

Greg Selker: When we look at the performance based element of compensation in the changes mandated in the stimulus plan, it would push all bonus compensation into restricted stock and limit an executive’s ability to partake in the gains of that stock until 100% of the borrowed funds are paid back.

Steve Hardardt: It’s difficult to forecast what effect this provision would have on company performance as well as individual retention. But the point I would make, that we embrace, is the importance of having an independent board and an independent comp committee as part of that board who have the ability to establish and design the compensation plan. This has to happen with a competent compensation consulting partner. And that same comp committee and board need to be able to act independently in making decisions that are in the best interest of the shareholders and the company.

Greg Selker: Very true. I would only add an adjective there that it needs to be a strong, independent board and compensation committee.

Steve Hardardt: Agreed – absolutely agreed.

For the complete Leadership Interview with Steve Hardardt, click here: steve-hardardt-leadership-interview