HR as the Influence Engine
Here’s something most people don’t understand about HR. When it’s done right, we’re the influence machine in your business.
Not the policy enforcers. Not the benefits administrators. Not the people who post jobs and run onboarding.
The people who actually move the organization when it needs to move.
Change doesn’t happen because leadership announces it. Change happens because someone helps people understand why it matters, what it means for them, and how to navigate it without losing their minds.
That’s HR. At least, that’s what HR should be.
When you have a major shift coming. A restructure. A new strategy. A cultural transformation that sounds great in the boardroom but will feel chaotic on the ground.
You need someone who can translate that from leadership language into human language. Someone who knows which teams will resist and why. Someone who can identify the informal influencers who actually move opinion in the organization.
You need someone who can sit with a skeptical manager and help them see why this matters. Who can talk to a worried employee and address the real concern under the surface-level question. Who can spot when momentum is stalling and figure out what’s blocking it.
That’s influence work. And if your HR team isn’t doing it, you’re missing the most valuable thing they could be bringing to the table.
From my perspective, the difference between good HR and great HR is whether they’re embedded enough in the business to actually influence how things happen.
Good HR executes what leadership decides. They roll out the change. They communicate the message. They handle the logistics.
Great HR shapes how the change gets received. They’re in the rooms where decisions get made, flagging what’s going to land and what’s going to backfire. They’re working with leaders to adjust the approach before it goes out. They’re building buy-in before the announcement, not scrambling to create it after.
They know the organization well enough to see around corners. To predict where resistance will come from. To identify who needs to be brought along early for this to actually work.
That’s not administrative work. That’s strategic influence. And it only works if HR is actually embedded in the business. Not sitting on the sidelines waiting to be told what to implement.
I’ve seen organizations try to drive change without HR as a real partner. Just leadership making decisions and expecting everyone to fall in line.
It never works the way they think it will.
The message gets misunderstood. The resistance is stronger than expected. The middle managers don’t know how to talk about it with their teams. The informal leaders in the organization aren’t on board, so no one else gets on board either.
And then leadership wonders why the change isn’t sticking. Why people aren’t adopting it. Why it feels like they’re pushing a boulder uphill.
Meanwhile, HR is sitting there knowing exactly why. Because they weren’t involved early enough to help shape it. Because no one asked them who the real influencers are. Because the plan didn’t account for how people actually work in this organization.
You can have the best strategy in the world. If you can’t influence people to actually execute it, it doesn’t matter.
HR should be your influence engine. The people who know how to move the organization when it needs to move. Who understand the informal networks. Who can build coalitions. Who can help leaders bring people along instead of just announcing things and hoping for the best.
But that only works if you’ve built an HR function that’s actually embedded in the business. That has credibility with leadership and employees. That understands the work deeply enough to influence how it gets done.
If your HR team is just processing paperwork and posting jobs, you’re not using them right. And when you need to drive real change, you’re going to feel it.
The best HR partners I’ve worked with weren’t the ones who knew employment law inside and out. They were the ones who could walk into a room, read the dynamics, and figure out how to shift them. Who could have a conversation with a resistant leader and come out with an ally. Who could sense when a message was going to land wrong and help adjust it before it went out.
That’s influence. And it’s what makes organizations actually move when they need to.
If you’re in leadership and you’re not leveraging your HR team this way, you’re missing the point. And if you’re in HR and you’re not operating this way, you’re underutilizing your role.
Change is hard. But it’s a lot easier when you have people who know how to influence it instead of just announce it.
Does your HR team have that kind of influence in your organization? And if not, what would it take to build it?