Payroll and HR managers can transform their status and role by being prepared to develop presentational skills, Mary Louise Angoujard and Fiona Coleman of the agency Rapporta told the last meeting of the Human Capital Forum in November.
Many of those in administrative roles are not included in project planning – for example when considering a major IT upgrade – even though their end-user experience can be of crucial importance.
And when presenting a report on workforce trends from payroll-HR systems, the manner of presentation can help bolster a credible image and create an impact to finance directors and the board.
Ms Angoujard and Ms Coleman illustrated how influential seemingly tiny matters of personal presentation can be, even at – or perhaps especially at – senior executive levels. Intonation of words; confidence of presentation, even the angle at which we hold our heads as we talk, are hugely influential. This does not make us ‘shallow’, but rather shows how the whole of the message has to line up: content, delivery, belief, conviction, passion and authority.
‘People prepare presentations mostly on content,’ said Ms Angoujard. ‘But it pays to have a pre-meeting; why are we going in to this meeting without knowing what each person will want, and where they are coming from?’