HR Leaders Who Ground Recommendations in Data Earn Stronger Influence with Leadership

HR leaders are paid to hold two competing loyalties at once: the business and its people. When that balance slips, credibility erodes on both sides. Lean too far into compliance, and the function sheds its strategic weight. The organizations that get the most from HR are the ones that give it room to push back.

For Sheila Akpaso, the Human Resources Lead at Liozio Companies, a Nigeria-based conglomerate focused on sustainable development across industries, the job has always been about holding the line on both sides. A specialist in people management and culture-building, Akpaso is clear-eyed about what strategic HR actually requires. “HR sits at a critical balance point. We have to weigh what the business needs against what employees need, and ask whether a decision is sustainable, whether it moves the business forward, and how people will react to it,” she says.

• The gentle pushback: Good intentions can be misread from both directions. “We get to a point where employees feel HR isn’t fighting for them, while management feels HR is doing too much for employees and not enough for the business,” Akpaso says. The way through is to come prepared. “The approach isn’t to just say something won’t work. It’s to explain why, present data, and then offer an alternative. It’s a push and pull relationship where you give and take to maintain the balance.”

• Show me the money: Credibility with leadership is built when every HR initiative is tied to financial and operational outcomes. “If an HR leader suggests an engagement initiative, they should show how it moves the business forward. If we do this, employee engagement increases by 10%. If engagement increases, performance increases, and if performance increases, the organization is better positioned to achieve its goals,” Akpaso says.

Even the most strategic HR leaders face resistance from time to time. When a proposal gets rejected, the path forward is not to push harder but to build a stronger case. That starts with making small, visible improvements that don’t require management approval, demonstrating value in ways that are hard to ignore. Over time, employee surveys, feedback assessments, and performance data accumulate into evidence that is difficult to dismiss when the next conversation comes around.

• Revenge of the spreadsheet: When the opportunity comes to re-engage leadership, the data does the talking. “Send a report detailing the assessments you carried out, the data you collected, and your recommendations. When management tries one of those recommendations, and it works, they will give you a listening ear the next time. They start to see that you know what you are talking about, and that is how credibility is rebuilt,” Akpaso explains. That credibility opens the door to HR’s most strategic function: anticipating the downstream consequences of decisions, including the ones HR advised against.

• The long game: Even the most data-backed recommendations get rejected sometimes, and the strongest HR leaders plan for that. “An HR leader should have risk mitigation plans in place. Even if you advise them to go one way and they decide to go another, think about the possible consequences down the line and have a plan ready to curb that risk.”

• Read the room: Influence is a finite resource, and knowing when not to spend it is its own skill. “HR leaders need to learn that you don’t have to fight every battle at once. If you bring up 10 recommendations and management agrees to seven, don’t keep fighting for the other three. You can get to those next time,” she says.

Modern HR leadership is not a popularity contest. The function only works when it is trusted by both sides, and that trust is built through data, honest conversations, and knowing when to push and when to step back. For Akpaso, the job ultimately comes down to one clear commitment. “It is not about choosing sides. The job is to support leadership and protect employees while maintaining a balance between both.”