At the recently concluded CIPM UK Conference in Bradford, Mr. Tominiyi Oni, Former Group HR Director of TGI, sat down with Dr. Alim Abubakre, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and Founder of TEXEM UK, to discuss why HR must move from policy to strategy in a world of climate shocks, geopolitical risk, and Trump 2.0 uncertainty.
Mr Tominiyi Oni: What drew you to repositioning HR as strategic?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Corporate strategy is about resource allocation—and people are the only resource that compounds. Yet boards still treat HR as peripheral. That’s why nearly a third of FTSE-100 CEOs come from finance, while HR rarely makes the CEO pipeline. In Nigeria, you learn speed under uncertainty; in the UK, you learn discipline under scrutiny. The opportunity is clear: HR must become the architect of capability allocation, directing talent into the arenas where firms can compete and win.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: If you could leave us with one powerful mindset shift, what would it be?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Stop asking for a seat at the table. Bring the map that shows where capabilities must go for strategy to live. Strategy is choice and trade-off. HR is the force that makes choices executable—whether that’s staffing risk and compliance ahead of market entry, or wiring culture to sustain M&A. Optionality is the real currency of corporate survival.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: How do you define a strategic HR leader?
Dr. Abubakre:
“A strategic HR leader is a portfolio manager of capabilities. They know which 20 roles drive 70% of the plan’s value and move leadership, learning, and capital there. In Nigeria, that means bold redeployments. In the UK, it means governance that sustains scale. When a UK firm bets on net zero, HR must reallocate managers and incentives into low-carbon units before the revenue shows up. That is strategy-grade HR.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: Share a moment where HR drove business impact.
Dr. Abubakre:
“Look at Microsoft’s pivot to cloud and AI. Satya Nadella’s big idea would have died in PowerPoint if Kathleen Hogan, the CHRO, hadn’t operationalised culture as capital. She rewired systems, leadership standards, and incentives around the cloud bet. That wasn’t HR policy—it was corporate strategy in action.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: Where are the biggest blockers for HR?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Perception. Boards default to finance because CFOs bring costed, staged plans. HR is pigeonholed as policy. In Nigeria, informality hoards talent. In the UK, over-proceduralisation cages it. Both kill reallocation. The fix? Quarterly talent-to-value reviews with SLAs for redeployment. Managers should be bonused for enabling moves, not guarding fiefdoms.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: What would you coach a rising HR leader to develop?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Three muscles: fluency in corporate finance, literacy in geopolitics, and mastery of decision rights. Read a P&L like a novel. Map scenarios for FX shocks, sanctions, and supply-chain risks. And design decision rights so strategy doesn’t die in committees. Nigeria sharpens courage; the UK sharpens evidence. Blend both, and you have a strategist.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: What’s your advice to CEOs on HR?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Make HR a co-owner of capital allocation. Tie funding for every strategic bet to a named capability plan—critical roles, leadership slates, cultural shifts. Boards trust CFOs because their plans are costed. Demand the same from HR. No people plan, no capital.”
Mr Tominiyi Oni: Any unpopular opinion about HR?
Dr. Abubakre:
“Yes. HR must sometimes slow strategy down. Uber’s 2017 culture scandal—mishandled harassment complaints—cost them their CEO, delayed IPO credibility, and burned billions in valuation. Speed without capability is expensive theatre. Sometimes the bravest thing HR can say is: ‘We cannot win there—yet.’”
Closing Advisory
•“Capital follows conviction, but advantage follows capability. Strategy without HR is just a budget; strategy with HR is a bet you can actually place.”
•“Nigeria teaches courage; the UK teaches cadence. Marry both, and HR stops being a function—it becomes the firm’s allocator of options.”
