#25 JooBee's newsletter

TL;DR

🥇 Want to convince your founder? Start with this crucial first step

👀 When the "obvious" solution to HR isn't solving the actual problem

❓ Your views on influence

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Want to convince your founder? Start with this crucial first step

While conducting user research for my Strategic HR Leadership bootcamp, one of the most common challenges for HR leaders I hear about is gaining buy-in to implement certain HR initiatives. Here are some common themes:

• How can I convince my founder to implement A?

• How can I persuade my founder to allocate a budget for B?

• How can I demonstrate to my founder the need to prioritise C?

When I asked HR leaders how they try to influence their founders, here’s what most of them shared:

• Showcase research: “Here’s how other companies are doing it.”

• Present data: “Implementing X will boost productivity by Y%.”

• Share feedback: “Our employees are asking for Z.”

And yet, founders may still disagree. Even with logical arguments and clear benefits, they still resist 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. Why?

What we are trying to do is – ‘teach’ others our solution is right

If we are honest with ourselves, the information we present is to support our case—i.e., our “solution.” Essentially, when we’re trying to influence others, we are “teaching” them that our solution is the right one. And what usually follows? More resistance.

We often present our ideas as specific solutions—such as implementing regular feedback, introducing a career framework, or adding new processes. When founders (or stakeholders) push back, it’s usually because they disagree with the proposed solution itself. This can trap us in a cycle of either debating the solution or trying to ‘fix’ the solution to gain acceptance.

Shift the level of conversation: From solution disagreement to problem alignment

If I tell you I will never hire a DEI specialist role in my team, some of your eyes might be popping out like cartoon characters right now reading this statement 👀. However, if I tell you the problem I want to solve is (1) I want everyone in the business (including everyone in the HR team) to be accountable for DEI, and (2) I want to make systematic changes to everything we do to be more inclusive.

Would you disagree with that? Most likely not. So, when you encounter disagreement or pushback, the first step is to check alignment on the problem we want to solve – and dig deep into it, beyond just surface-level issues.

Solve problems, don’t solve solutions

When we disagree at the solution level, we often try to “fix” the solution itself. For example, suppose your founder says leadership training is taking too many hours away from managers’ daily responsibilities. You might address this by shortening the training—that’s just “fixing the solution.” 

But, if you dig deeper, you might discover that the real issue is that your founder doesn’t fundamentally believe that training will make a difference despite agreeing that upskilling leaders is necessary. Now you’ve identified the true problem! There’s no point in merely adjusting the training; instead, you can now move on from training as a solution and explore alternative options.

Collaborate, don’t compromise!

I’ll leave you with a framework to keep in mind when approaching disagreements:

If you align on the problem, you won’t have to compromise on the solution. You’ll collaborate to find—nay, innovate—alternative solutions you might never have considered before. This is a true win-win situation!

When the "obvious" solution to HR isn't solving the actual problem

How difficult is it to create a salary increase letter template? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Typically, it’s a quick job - just a few minutes, or at most an hour. You'd need to cover; employee name, company details, date, introduction and purpose of the letter, achievements, salary increase and effective date, contractual implications and a thank you note at the end. 

Simple right? At one start-up I worked for, the process was anything but simple. My founder was adamant about cutting out the ‘contractual implications’ section in our salary letters. I was like, “Wait, what? That’s pretty much standard!” After consulting with our legal team, they confirmed it three times—it was non-negotiable!🙅🏻‍♀️

My founder and I went back and forth for a week. It seemed like an obvious necessity to me, but we were stuck in a loop of disagreement. With the clock ticking, we had to get these letters out pronto!

I forgot: solve problems, don’t solve solutions 🤦🏻‍♀️

So, I decided to sit down with my founder and really listen. I asked him why it was crucial to exclude the contractual details. I discovered he wanted each employee to feel like a ‘hero of their journey’ when they received the letter, not just another piece of corporate paperwork.

We do make our salary letters highly personalised— every manager takes the time to write a custom note to be included in the salary letters. They will highlight both company and individual achievements with a celebratory tone. The founder was concerned that any “legalese” might kill the positive vibe. He understood the importance of including contractual implications but wanted to ensure they didn’t detract from the positive energy of the letter.

It was a win-win! We did not compromise, we collaborated

By aligning on the true problem—ensuring the letter’s tone remained celebratory while still including the necessary contractual details—my team crafted a solution that was far from a wet blanket (check it out below!). 

Small Print: How we made ‘legalese’ upbeat (shoutout to Sami Maiden!)

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