A Conversation with a Strategy Guru

By Saleh Abdullah Alkhamyasi

Although it was his first visit to Muscat, David Reay was familiar to Oman. When he lived in Dubai he regularly rode his motorcycle into Oman to visit the mountains in the Hatta and Al Sumayni areas. He said that his first impression about Muscat was the large number of low buildings which gives the city an open and airy feeling. The warm welcome at the hotel also created a good impression.

As a consultant he is passionate about enabling HR to become value adding business leadership operation. David has worked in business strategy and training and development for over 25 years. He has moved from teaching to running his own business and working with multi-national clients and government departments worldwide.

In response to a question on HR strategy David revealed that an HR strategy is a map which clearly shows HRs direction, priorities, the focus of all activities and when a goal has been achieved. He pause a little as if he was recollecting his thoughts and said all aspects of an HR Strategy should be directly linked to the overall business strategy and be designed to help the business maximise its success, as well as clearly describing the achievements HR will deliver at every level of business operation  to ensure success. He stressed that without a clear and detailed strategic map it becomes too easy  to misinterpret, drift, and waste effort. With a clear strategy map it is possible to keep a constant check that everyone is going in the same direction and that all activities add value to the business.

Our conversation leads him to reveal that aligning HR and the Business strategies is a perennial problem.  He said in an ideal world the HR strategy will be embedded in the business strategy. This is only possible however if both parts share the same methods and techniques for developing their strategic plan or strategic map. A common approach and common language for strategic plans across sectors of a business is a rarity but when it is used the benefits are huge. Where the two strategies are not aligned the chances are at best, that neither the Business or HR will ever reach their full potential and at worst they work against each other and create business failure. A simple but profound way to get it right is to use the OSCA Output approach.

highlighting  the required competencies to be able to strategize your HR activities and functions  he did not hesitate to say that competencies should be identified from the achievements required to deliver each part of the strategy. Competencies are the combination of skills, attitudes and knowledge which make it possible for people strategic outputs to be achieved.

In order to enhance ones knowledge about strategy he recommends two books by Jim Collins – Built to Last as well as From Good to Great. He is of an opinion that they are worth reading for both books were the outcomes of practical experience of certain organizations.

David G. Reay who was on a visit to conduct two training courses in line with the collaboration between Omantel and the Charter Institute of Personnel Development  added that when you are thinking about strategy the first stage is to ignore what you should do and focus only on what you should achieve or as Sun Tzu said Tactics before Strategy is the Noise before Defeat. It is worth mentioning that the courses which he delivered included:

·        An introduction of HR Strategy

·        Recruitment and on Boarding

Both training courses were conducted at Park Inn, Alkhawair from 31at of March until 3rd of April.

With broad Smile David bid me goodbye and said I am sure I have a lot to narrate to my family and friends about this beautiful Capital and its hospitable people.