Dear Human Resources

Our regular columnist, Aidan Stoate, CEO New Zealand at Inspire Group, shares his heartfelt insights into leading people.

My biggest personal project of 2025 so far has been to learn to play bass guitar.

As a learning professional, one of the first steps I knew I needed to take was to find a good tutor, and I was convinced I’d succeeded in this quest approximately five minutes into my first lesson.

As Mark (his actual name, and he’s a very cool guy, so won’t mind it being used) was discussing the role of the humble bass in the broader context of music, he shared with me some thoughts that really stuck.

“Rarely is the bass seen (or heard) as the hero in a song. It’s normally the instrument that allows the other elements to shine. It provides the foundation, the structure and the rhythm on which other more obvious components can flourish. You typically know the bass is doing its job well when you hardly notice it at all.”

You could be forgiven for interpreting these views as Mark’s gentle way of discouraging me from pursuing this learning project any further. And, if you ever have the misfortune of listening to me butchering my scales each evening, you wouldn’t blame him either.

But this was not that. This was Mark’s profound musical philosophy that resonated with me on several different levels. As I was driving home from the lesson, I couldn’t help but think about the parallels between Mark’s eloquent insights and the role of HR within the broader system in which it functions.

“If strategy is a song, then is HR the bass guitar?”

My partner frowned at me when I shared this at home on arrival.

“Don’t worry – I also know how to play ‘High & Dry’ by Radiohead now!”

We’ve fortunately moved well beyond the idea that HR deserves its seat at the leadership table. But the real question is: does HR recognise its own importance in setting the rhythm of an organisation?

Like a great bassline, HR is often working in the background: establishing structure, ensuring seamless transitions and creating a foundation on which others can shine.

Without a strong HR function, the organisational melody can feel disjointed, with teams playing out of sync, leadership struggling to keep tempo and culture lacking cohesion. A company may have talented individuals, but without HR’s steadying influence, the song they create together might lack depth and harmony.

And, like a bassist, HR professionals don’t always need to take centre stage to make an impact. Their influence is felt in the spaces between the notes: through talent development, culture shaping and enabling leadership to perform at its best. When done well, HR’s impact is almost invisible yet unmistakable in its importance.

So perhaps it’s time for all organisations to truly embrace the bass. HR might not always be the loudest instrument in the room, but it is the one ensuring that everything else stays in tune!

Aidan Stoate is the New Zealand CEO of Inspire Group, an award-winning learning design consultancy that delivers worldclass solutions to organisations globally. Aidan has a passion for helping organisations improve their culture and performance through innovative learning and development interventions. As an ICF-accredited organisational coach, Aidan provides subject-matter expertise for the design and delivery of leadership programmes, while leading the Inspire Group New Zealand business across all projects and disciplines. Having led organisations and teams in the United Kingdom, South-East Asia, North America and Australasia, Aidan brings a nuanced perspective while promoting inclusive, engaging and contextualised solutions that drive genuine behaviour change and strategic benefits.