For HR leaders, the ability to introduce and drive meaningful, sustainable change is invaluable – particularly in an increasingly complex environment.

However, challenges can often arise in being able to convey this need to other business leaders, particularly if there is disconnect between HR goals and strategic objectives.

Jason Desentz, CHRO at Toshiba, is well-versed on this issue and believes that HR leaders need to be able to develop and use their influence to ensure HR priorities are recognized and valued at all levels.

Ahead of his session at UNLEASH America 2025, Desentz explains to UNLEASH that HR leaders are often engaged in trying to influence other leaders, convince people to perform HR tasks, or add new policies, and can feel stuck during the process.

“Often we feel stuck because we’re trying to drive change and really don’t know how to start. We’ve tried what we think is every angle and nothing seems to move the needle,” he explains.

“It can be incredibly frustrating when we’re facing resistance. No matter what it just seems that people can’t break through the logjam to create that urgent need for change with somebody. It’s like hitting a wall and you’re unable to make progress.”

How to create your own zone of influence

Jason Desentz, CHRO, Toshiba

In order to overcome some of these barriers and spark real change, HR leaders need to be able to try new techniques and exert influence at every level of leadership.

A significant part of doing so lies with the ‘Leadership Influence Zone’, an influencing model that takes a different approach to the oftentimes rigid corporate approach, Desentz details.

“Typically in the business world we take a very strict logical approach, and it’s really not understanding the actual personal or creative approach to us as well. We always take more of a logical approach,” he explains.

“The Leadership Influence Zone will help people understand ways to take in information and what to do with that a little differently, how to use that information especially using data and HR analytics.”

A significant driver of the need for HR leaders to be able to exert influence is that they have  “gotten out of the mindset of business” and “wrapping our people strategies around that”, Desentz adds.

In order to drive meaningful change, HR policies and strategies need to be aligned with the broader business objectives – something many currently struggle with.

Doing so means the HR function can ensure its key areas of focus are not viewed as isolated projects but as an integral part of the overall health and success of the business, as well as evidencing the need for resource allocation.

Desentz tells UNLEASH about a recent panel discussion he took part in, where a speaker asserted that organizations need to “wrap their objectives around the people strategy.”

“I think as HR people, we need to take a second look at ourselves – it’s the other way around,” Desentz states.

Our people strategy needs to complement the business strategy, because the business is growing or shrinking, it’s doing whatever it needs to do to survive, and we have to follow up with a people strategy to support those business objectives. Too often, I find that HR leaders have gone the other way and it’s really caused friction.”

Reaching for the stars with feet firmly on the ground

A fundamental element of being able to exert influence to clear out the ‘logjams’ and drive meaningful change within organizations is data. 

HR leaders are equipped with “more data than any other department”, Desentz says, but also highlights that no matter how much data HR can access or the sophistication of the analytics tools, it is worth little without accompanying business acumen.

Desentz says it’s a case of ‘show, don’t tell’ when it comes to data and HR, especially when it comes to influencing other business leaders, regardless of the topic at hand. 

In this situation, it’s about being able to understand what story you can tell with the data, because the data cannot tell the story on its own.

“That’s why it’s important as HR we learn how to use data, to interpret and use it in such a way – not just collect data, because we could collect thousands of pieces of data. It’s what we do with it and how we present it that matters,” he says.

In HR, we’re reaching for the stars, which is great and we need to do that, but we forget that we still need a strong foundation for anything new that we add on. Just like building a house, you must have a strong foundation if you want to add on more.”

AI will no doubt be a game-changer when it comes to being able to demonstrate the need for change to other leaders. Desentz highlights the foundations of this process – pulling data and creating insights that inform decision-making – as one such example.

“There are lots of things that AI can streamline, and HR can truly become a business partner, because we’re really, in most cases, not order takers,” he details.

“Back in the day, I used to say you can either be an HR organization that says: ‘Do you want fries with that order?’, or you could be an HR organization that is curious and asks questions.”

The Leadership Influence Zone at UNLEASH America

Want the full lowdown on the Leadership Influence Zone? Jason Desentz will be sharing further details of the model and its application at Toshiba and beyond during UNLEASH America 2025.

Desentz tells UNLEASH that as a first-time speaker at the International Festival of HR he’s looking forward to the opportunity to learn and share with HR leaders and peers firsthand.

“Just talking to someone around a table, whether it’s at breakfast, during the day or grabbing a cocktail after, that is so invaluable. We can drive more changes as HR professionals if we only connect more often,” he says.

“As a CHRO, my schedule is horrific, so being able to carve out time for these events is really important for our personal development and, quite frankly, we need to remain relevant.

“In order for me to remain relevant, this is an opportunity for me to speak to others trying new things and learn from them as much as I’m teaching them along the way/.”

Make sure you’re part of the discussion, book your ticket for UNLEASH America.