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1/7/2021 4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/09/06/4-ways-to-become-a-strategic-business-partner-and-why-you-should-want-to/?sh=4739d71a3… 1/4
Careers
4 Ways To Become A Strategic
Business Partner (And Why You
Should Want To)
Sep 6, 2013, 11:56am EDT
Erika Andersen Contributor
I hang out with a lot of HR folks. Given that much of what we do at Proteus
is in support of employees’ professional development – executive coaching,
management skills training, team development – we very often work closely
with the HR teams in our client companies.
Over the past ten years or so, I’ve noticed that ‘being a strategic partner’ has
become a kind of mantra for HR people everywhere. Generally, they seem
to mean, “we’d like to be included the conversations where the future of the
business gets determined, and have a real voice in those conversations.”
Lately, I’ve observed that the IT folks, the finance people, and the
communications groups are saying the same thing. And I suspect that
younger people in any function who want to advance in their careers are
thinking or saying some version of it, too. It’s a very legitimate and human
thing, to want to be taken seriously and valued for one’s contributions at the
highest level. And for folks in the ‘shared services’ realm – all the functions
that support the whole organization – it also makes sense from an
organizational perspective: having HR, finance, legal, IT, etc. weigh in on
big decisions earlier in the process helps to make sure that all critical factors
are taken into account.
1/7/2021 4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/09/06/4-ways-to-become-a-strategic-business-partner-and-why-you-should-want-to/?sh=4739d71a3… 2/4
So, how do you get invited into those organization-critical conversations?
And – perhaps even more important – what does it take to become an actual
participant in them; for the most influential people in your company to see
you as a valuable addition?
Let me start by saying there’s one sure way not to do it: force yourself
in. I’ve seen people try that in all kinds of ways: get the CEO or some other
senior person to mandate their inclusion; wangle it into the company policy;
change reporting structures; use various threats and/or forms of coercion.
This never works long-term. Never. People will simply have meetings and
“forget” to invite you, or pointedly ignore you at the meetings you do attend.
The best way I know of to be treated like a strategic business partner is to
think and act like one. Which means:
Really understand the business. Know what makes your company tick
and what gets in the way of its ticking. Get clear about how all the different
parts operate together, and – again – what gets in the way of their smooth
operation. Become knowledgeable about the competition, and understand
how your company is better and worse than they are. Be able to articulate
your understanding.
Get out of your box. If you look at what the company needs only from the
perspective of your own function (HR, IT, marketing – whatever it is), you
will be seen as tactical at best, and an impediment to the business’ success at
worst. Step back and think about what would best serve the business overall.
Speak from that vantage point. Hold yourself accountable to represent the
company’s interests (especially when they conflict with yours) and you’ll be
seen as a real asset to any organizational-level discussion.
Be useful in a big way. Talk is cheap. If you want to be seen as valuable,
actually help the line business people in your organization meet their goals.
Either do things in your own area that make it easier for them to do their
jobs, or share ideas (based in your real understanding of the business) about
1/7/2021 4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/09/06/4-ways-to-become-a-strategic-business-partner-and-why-you-should-want-to/?sh=4739d71a3… 3/4
how they can achieve goals more easily or quickly. If good things happen for
the business as a result of you being involved in projects, you’ll be invited
back.
Listen. The best way to do all three of the things I’ve noted above is to start
by really, truly listening. Get deeply curious. Summarize to make sure
you’ve understood. When you get new information, listen very carefully to
hear how it relates to what you already know and what it says about the
person who’s speaking. People love to be deeply listened to – they see
excellent listeners as wise, insightful and interesting. (Yes, you read that
right – people see those who listen to them as being more interesting
people. I think it’s because someone who’s interested in us is interesting to
us!)
Finally, remember that reputation and influence are built over time. If you
start behaving in these ways, you’ll begin to be seen as a great person to have
around. The more you fulfill that positive expectation, the more it will be
reinforced. And soon you’ll be someone they check with to make sure you’re
available before they schedule that important meeting…
(An earlier version of this post appeared here on 3/21/2011)
_______________
Check out Erika Andersen’s latest book, Leading So People Will
Follow, and discover how to be a followable leader. Booklist called it “a
book to read more than once and to consult many times.”
Want to know what Erika and her colleagues at Proteus do? Find out here.
Join our conversation about leadership on LinkedIn.
Erika Andersen
1/7/2021 4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/09/06/4-ways-to-become-a-strategic-business-partner-and-why-you-should-want-to/?sh=4739d71a3… 4/4
I'm the founding partner of Proteus, keynote speaker, business thinker and author of
Growing Great Employees, Being Strategic, Leading So People Will Follow and Be Bad…
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Reprints & Permissions
Zulkifli Mohd
19 October 2011
The Changing Role The Changing Role & Functions of & Functions of HRHR
• H R as the e m ploye e ad vocate • H R as the consultative bus ine ss partne r
• H R as the age nt of C hange
HR Republic S ummit 2011: Trends & Challenges UnfoldHR Republic S ummit 2011: Trends & Challenges Unfold
CONTENTSCONTENTS
• The Evolution of HR The Evolution of HR
• The Changing Role of HRThe Changing Role of HR
• HR as S trategic PartnerHR as S trategic Partner
• HR as Change AgentHR as Change Agent
• HR as Employee AdvocateHR as Employee Advocate
The Evolution of The Evolution of HRHR
• Prote ction for fe m ale e m ploye e s & ch ild re n
• C are for injure d & s ick e m ploye e s
• C re ate d in re spond to harshne ss in
ind ustrial cond itions
• Ad m in is tration of abse nce , train ing &
re cru itm e nt
• S tate / Trad e U nion partne rsh ips
• H and le d que rie s on com pe nsation
m atte rs
• E m ploye e d ata
• We lfare & e m ploym e nt m gt
we re inte grate d → Pe rsonne l Mgt
• O utput could be influe nce d by
e m ploym e nt policie s
• S tructure d com pe nsation policy
• C olle ctive bargain ing & IR
• S pe cialize d functions (70’s )
• Ad m in is trator & te chnical e xpe rt
• Focuse d on im proving e fficie ncy
& e ffe ctive ne ss
• C om pe nsation e ngine e ring as ke y to
prod uctivity (ince ntive
plans , d e fe rre d
com p, options )
• S trate gic Bus ine ss Partne r
• C hange Age nt • E m ploye e C ham p ion • C O E • S hare se rvice
End of 18th Century: Welfare Officers
The World Wars:
Labour/ Employment
Manager
2001 till now: Strategic HR
1945 – 1979: Personnel Mgt
1980 – 2000: Human
Resource / Compliance Officer
Origins of HR A Brief His tory of HR
1890 - 1913 1914- 1939 1945 - 1979 1980- 1990 2000 till now
Welfare Officer
Labor Manager
Personnel Management
Human Resource
Management
Strategic HR
2nd Industrial R evolution World Wars G lobalization
• Ad m in is trative focus
• C om pliance • Trad itional m ind
s e t
• Lim ite d scope of activity
• S pe cialize d functions
• Ad m in is trative focus with
e nlarge d scope of
activitie s
• S upport function • Le s s re active &
m ore proactive
• Bus ine ss Partne r • Focus on value -
ad d e d activitie s
• Proactive • Multid is cip linary • Multi-face te d role s
The Evolution of HR The HR J ourney
V al
u e
Im p
ac t/
C o
n tr
ib u
ti o
n t
o t
h e
B u
si n
es s
→
High
V al
u e
Im p
ac t/
C o
n tr
ib u
ti o
n t
o t
h e
B u
si n
es s
→
Compensation Benefits
Safety & Workers’
Compensation Compliance
Labor/Union Relations
Staffing
Training & Development
Employee Relations
Survey Action Planning
continue to evolve
S ource : R ich Vosburgh
Welfare / Employee
Care
Employee Welfare
Labor Relations
Employee Relations
Personnel Admin
Human Resource
Organizational Effectiveness
High
Transactional Work Transformational
Work
The Evolution of HR The HR J ourney: Nature of Work
Strategic HR Planning
Organizational Design
HR as Business Partner
Culture & Image
Performance Management
HRIS
COE
Shared Svc
Centre
The Changing Role of The Changing Role of HRHR
HR is shifting from focus ing on the organization of the bus ines s to focus ing on
the bus ines s of the organization
The Changing Role of HR
HR is more important than ever, people are the only sus tainable source of competitive advantage.
Watson Wyatt S tud y
“ You can take my factories , burn up my buildings , but give me my people, and I’ll bring my bus ines s right back again.”
- H e nry Ford -
The Changing Role of HR
Employers want HR to addres s s trategic is s ues involving the competitiveness and performance of the firm… More than the role of protector and adminis trator.
What CEOs Really Want from HR Reality Check
Requires HR toRequires HR to change:change:
The bus ines sThe bus ines s environment:environment:
Requires companiesRequires companies to focus on:to focus on:
GlobalizationGlobalization Economic Economic uncertaintiesuncertainties Technology Technology innovationsinnovations Profitability thru Cost Profitability thru Cost & Growth& Growth Intensified Intensified CompetitionCompetition
• Increasing value • Organizational
capabilities → fast, responsive, cost effective
• Creating climate for action
• Unique competitive advantage
Business savvy Align with strategy Strong bench strength Change catalyst Help biz leaders to achieve objectives
What CEOs Really Want from HR Reality Check
A s urvey of 500 HR directors acros s Europe, the Middle Eas t and As ia, found out that only 15% of the activities carried out by HR departments are related to " pure s trategic interventions " .
Watson Wyatt S tud y
The Changing Role of HR Reality Check
StrategicStrategic 15%15%
StrategicStrategic 60%60%
Transactional/ Operational
85% Transactional/ Operational
40%
HR needs to realign its service delivery model to add HR needs to realign its service delivery model to add more strategic value to the organizationmore strategic value to the organization
The Changing Role of HR The S hift in the Balance of HR Roles
% of available resources
Need to expand focus beyond its traditional & transactional role.
Four Roles for HR • Adminis trative Expert • Employee Champion • Change Agent • S trategic Partner
The Role of HR Ulrich’s Four-Role Model
Dave Ulrich identifies four distinct roles of HR professional that may add value to a business and create sustainable
competitive advantage.
S trategic Partner
Aligning HR & Bus ines s S trategy Active Role in setting strategic direction
Future /S trate gic FocusFuture /S trate gic Focus
D ay-To-D ay/O pe rational FocusD ay-To-D ay/O pe rational Focus
Change Agent
Managing Trans formation & Change
Effecting Transformation & Change
Adminis trative Expert
Managing The Firm’s HR Infras tructure
Process Optimization & Efficiency
Employee Champion
Managing Employees ’ Contribution
Motivated & Competent Personnel
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S E S
The Roles of HR Ulrich’s Four-Role Model
David Ulrich — HR Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value & Delivering Results, 1996
S trategic Partner • Develops & aligns strategies with biz • Assists line managers in solving organization,
people & change-related issues • Contributes to management team’s strategic
decision-making • Fosters systems thinking, customer focus • Strategically manages workforce development
Change Agent • Understands the organization’s culture & what
is effective and ineffective • Institutionalizes change capability within the
organization • Assists line managers to lead & facilitate change • Acts as a consultant in organizational
effectiveness • Enhances management development
David Ulrich — HR Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value & Delivering Results, 1996
Adminis trative Expert • Creates and delivers effective & efficient HR
processes and services tailored to unique business needs
• Manages people & HR related costs • Ensures internal &external customer focus • Applies information technology to rapidly
deliver quality HR products and services
Employee Champion • Develops strategies and helps implement
actions that enhance human capital contribution
• Helps build workforce commitment • Ensures fair, ethical, and equitable people
processes and practices • VOE
Future /S trate gic FocusFuture /S trate gic Focus
D ay-To-D ay/O pe rational FocusD ay-To-D ay/O pe rational Focus
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S E S
The Roles of HR Ulrich’s Four-Role Model
S trategic Partner • Develops & aligns strategies with biz • Assists line managers in solving organization,
people & change-related issues • Contributes to management team’s strategic
decision-making • Fosters systems thinking, customer focus • Strategically manages workforce development
Change Agent • Understands the organization’s culture & what
is effective and ineffective • Institutionalizes change capability within the
organization • Assists line managers to lead & facilitate change • Acts as a consultant in organizational
effectiveness • Enhances management development
David Ulrich — HR Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value & Delivering Results, 1996
Adminis trative Expert • Creates and delivers effective & efficient HR
processes and services tailored to unique business needs
• Manages people & HR related costs • Ensures internal &external customer focus • Applies information technology to rapidly
deliver quality HR products and services
Employee Champion • Develops strategies and helps implement
actions that enhance human capital contribution
• Helps build workforce commitment • Ensures fair, ethical, and equitable people
processes and practices
Future /S trate gic FocusFuture /S trate gic Focus
D ay-To-D ay/O pe rational FocusD ay-To-D ay/O pe rational Focus
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S E S
The Roles of HR Ulrich’s Four-Role Model
when NOT done well… create a lot of when NOT done well… create a lot of is suesis sues
S trategic Partner • Develops & aligns strategies with biz • Assists line managers in solving organization,
people & change-related issues • Contributes to management team’s strategic
decision-making • Fosters systems thinking, customer focus • Strategically manages workforce development
Change Agent • Understands the organization’s culture & what
is effective and ineffective • Institutionalizes change capability within the
organization • Assists line managers to lead & facilitate change • Acts as a consultant in organizational
effectiveness • Enhances management development
David Ulrich — HR Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value & Delivering Results, 1996
Adminis trative Expert • Creates and delivers effective & efficient HR
processes and services tailored to unique business needs
• Manages people & HR related costs • Ensures internal &external customer focus • Applies information technology to rapidly
deliver quality HR products and services
Employee Champion • Develops strategies and helps implement
actions that enhance human capital contribution
• Helps build workforce commitment • Ensures fair, ethical, and equitable people
processes and practices
Future /S trate gic FocusFuture /S trate gic Focus
D ay-To-D ay/O pe rational FocusD ay-To-D ay/O pe rational Focus
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S E S
The Roles of HR Ulrich’s Four-Role Model
when done well give the organization when done well give the organization a great s trategic advantagea great s trategic advantage
HRHR as S trategic Partneras S trategic Partner
• Participates in designing & defining organization’s strategies • Contributes to management team’s strategic decision-making • Focuses on aligning HR strategies & practices with business
strategy → translate business strategy into HR priorities • Strategically manage people & infrastructure to support the
execution of strategies & the creation of value Strategically manages workforce development
HR as S trategic Partner
Deliverable/outcome: S trategy executionDeliverable/outcome: S trategy execution
S trate gic Partne r
C ore C om pe te ncie s
HR as S trategic Partner Core Competencies
Facilitate strategy development for business teams by using different techniques
Plan and facilitate strategy deployment to the whole organization
Align the organization strategy with the business strategy to ensure it will be delivered
Redesign the organization to support strategy
HR as Strategic Partner should be able to:HR as Strategic Partner should be able to:
Bus ines s Mas tery
Pers onal C redibility
HR Mas tery
Knowledge Requirements
HR as S trategic Partner Becoming A S trategic Bus ines s Partner
Bring strong technical expertise to the table and an understanding of your company and its strategy.
Develop new skills as needed. Understand the data, the financials, the market, etc.
Becoming A S trategic Bus iness Partner
Staying focused on issues that matter to the
business
Delivering capabilities that make a real
difference
What are the issues that matter?
What’s keeping business leaders up at night?
What’s the “elephant on the table” regarding the future?
What drives the bottom line?
Focus on business objectives
Focus on environment
Provide organizational capabilities as required by the strategy
People Goal alignment Culture
Knowledge Requirements
Bring strong technical expertise to the table and an understanding of your company and its strategy.
Develop new skills as needed. Understand the data, the financials, the market, etc.
Staying focused on issues that matter to the
business
What are the issues that matter?
What’s keeping business leaders up at night?
What’s the “elephant on the table” regarding the future?
What drives the bottom line?
Focus on business objectives
Focus on environment
Delivering capabilities that make a real
difference
Staying focused on issues that matter to the
business
What are the issues that matter?
What’s keeping business leaders up at night?
What’s the “elephant on the table” regarding the future?
What drives the bottom line?
Focus on business objectives
Focus on environment
Provide organizational capabilities as required by the business objectives:
People Strategy Culture
Delivering capabilities that make a real
difference
Staying focused on issues that matter to the
business
What are the issues that matter? What’s keeping business leaders up at night? What’s the “elephant on the table” regarding the future? What drives the bottom line? Focus on business objectives Focus on environment
Becoming a bus ines s partner sounds eas y Becoming a bus ines s partner sounds eas y but in practice demands a shift in mindset but in practice demands a shift in mindset
and capabilityand capability
HR as S trategic Partner Becoming A S trategic Bus ines s Partner
• Becoming a true "player" on strategic business issues → able to challenge business leaders on their own ground
• Architect who can synthesize best practices e.g. Total Reward, Talent Management, OD, etc into integrated solutions and implement at speed
• Shifting from advising and consulting to challenging, provoking, confronting business leaders
• Letting go of the past and engaging with the future
HR as S trategic Partner Mindset S hift
You are involved in dis cuss ions (by invitation!) on the " people implications " of a change or a new initiative in the organization before things go wrong
Line Managers in confide in you about their concerns and problems , even when you are not providing a solution then and there
Managers encourage you to tackle is sues in their areas and express confidence in your ability to do things you may never have done before
You engage in genuine dialogue with line managers
The time frame of your work moves from present/pas t to future - especially longer term future
The " why” of what you is doing is very clear - in terms of organizational need (not " because we always do it/ have done it)
HR as S trategic Partner You are moving towards S trategic Partnering When…
HRHR as Change Agent
A s ignificant number of any organization's bus ines s s trategies A s ignificant number of any organization's bus ines s s trategies requires major changes in people-related is s ues ; the HR requires major changes in people-related is s ues ; the HR function and individual HR profes s ionals develop and manage function and individual HR profes s ionals develop and manage the key " people" sys tems needed to s upport organizational the key " people" sys tems needed to s upport organizational change. change.
HR as Change AgentHR as Change Agent
S imple — though not easy
HR as HR as Change Agent Agent A S trategic Role
Provoke the pos itive changes in the organization so it can s tay competitive.
Build the organization’s capacity to embrace and capitalize on change.
HR as Change
Agent
Champion/ Champion/ S ponsor/ S ponsor/ Catalys tCatalys t
FacilitatorFacilitator Des ignerDes igner
Demons trator
Deliverable/outcome: Creating a renewed organizationDeliverable/outcome: Creating a renewed organization
Model the change
Communicate about the change
Engage others to participate
Help others to break from the pas t
Create a supporting environment
HR as Change Agent The Roles
Before ChangeBefore Change Preparing for ChangePreparing for Change
Serves as a catalyst for change Serves as a catalyst for change Helps the organization build a Helps the organization build a capacity for changecapacity for change Plan change process with Plan change process with sponsorssponsors Ensure project team has Ensure project team has necessary skills, trainingnecessary skills, training Coach sponsorCoach sponsor Lead by example by doing it Lead by example by doing it first within the HR function. first within the HR function.
Facilitate the discussions about Facilitate the discussions about the change and its content with the change and its content with all stakeholders all stakeholders Coach leaders through the Coach leaders through the changechange Acts as a coach/mentor to Acts as a coach/mentor to employees to help them employees to help them understand change as it affects understand change as it affects their livestheir lives Emphasize ‘what is in it’ for the Emphasize ‘what is in it’ for the individuals and address individuals and address concernsconcerns Strike a balance between the Strike a balance between the business and employeesbusiness and employees Communicate, communicate, Communicate, communicate, communicatecommunicate
During ChangeDuring Change Managing ChangeManaging Change
Help employees to break from Help employees to break from the past & adapt a new culture.the past & adapt a new culture. Sustain the momentumSustain the momentum Internalisation of new Internalisation of new behaviour / waybehaviour / way Recognize & celebrate successRecognize & celebrate success Build on the changeBuild on the change
Pos t-ChangePos t-Change Reinforcing ChangeReinforcing Change
The Change Agent Role
Inc rea
sin g C
om mit
me nt
Inc rea
sin g C
om mit
me nt
Awareness of desired change
Understanding of change direction
Translation to the work setting
Commitment to personal change
Internalisation of new behaviour
“Yeah, I saw the memo”
“I understand where we need to go”
“I know how we need to do our jobs differently”
“OK, I’m ready to do it the new way”
“This is the way we do things here”
Information with some involvement sufficient here
Significant involvement needed
HR as Change Agent Change Process
Build the organization’s Build the organization’s capacity to embrace capacity to embrace and manage changeand manage change
• Set the direction
•Create the desire & will to change
Phase
Content
Outcomes
UnfreezeUnfreeze MobiliseMobilise RealiseRealise ReinforceReinforce SustainSustain
•Make early changes & build confidence
• Secure widespread shift in behaviour
•Underpin with changes in structure & people processes
• Strive for continuous performance improvement
Break with the past
Build the energy
Performanc e lift-off
Embed new culture
Push the limits
The Change Agent Role The Change Management Tool
The change has to be managed and the HR Professionals have to be skilled The change has to be managed and the HR Professionals have to be skilled in the change management process. in the change management process.
The Change Agent Role The Change Management Tool
A deep knowledge of change management processes Problem solving skills Coaching & conflict management skills Good communication, influencing & facilitation skills Networking, Collaboration & team-building abilities Business mastery Planning & project management skills Ability to tolerate ambiguity A risk taker
The Change Agent Competencies
““ Of course change management isn’t res tricted exclus ively to HR. Line Of course change management isn’t res tricted exclus ively to HR. Line managers are the owners of change while HR can be seen as its managers are the owners of change while HR can be seen as its architect, facilitator and des igner. Nobody ever said that only HR architect, facilitator and des igner. Nobody ever said that only HR manages change.”manages change.”
- Dave Ulrich- Dave Ulrich
The Change Agent
HRHR as Employee Advocate
Partner With
People & Mgnt
Daily Daily Employee Employee
is suesis sues
Employee Employee engagementengagement
Employee Employee developmentdevelopment
Conducive climate & culture
Employee Employee Commitment &Commitment & CompetenceCompetence
HR as Employee Advocate Managing Employee Contribution
Voice of the Employee Develop employee competence Equip managers with skills to respond effectively to employees; equip the employees with skills to overcome challenges Create climate for action
Deliverable/outcome: increasing employee commitment and capability
It is HR’s role to ens ure that line managers unders tand the critical link between employee motivation and organis ational performance and how this link can be s us tained → employees need to be kept engaged and motivated.
HR as Employee Advocate
Four-Role of HR Paradoxes Inherent in Multiple HR Roles
Strategic Partner vs. Employee Advocate Success in multiple-role framework requires that HR professionals balance the tension inherent in being a strategic partner on the one hand and an employee advocate on the other.
HR professionals must demonstrate that they can both represent employee needs and implement management agenda, be the voice of the employee and the voice of management, act as partner to both employees and managers.
HR professionals must strike a balance between the needs of these potentially competing stakeholders.
Being an effective HR professional does not mean simply moving from operational to strategic work. It means learning to master both operational and strategic processes and people. The operational and transactional aspects of HR need to be handled well. No matter what other strategic and transformational work is being done, the trains still need to run on time. A strategic partner has multiple dimensions → HR professionals as business partners operate in each of the 4 roles. HR professionals, in order to meet the demands of these new roles, a shift in mindset and capability is a must.
S ummary
1/7/2021 Yes, HR Professionals, You Are Consultants
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/consultation/pages/yes-hr-professionals-you-are-consultants.aspx 1/3
I
Yes, HR Professionals, You Are Consultants
Put your Business Acumen to work as an advisor to your organization
By Ashley Miller
July 12, 2016
n the business world, we've been conditioned to think that consultants are external professionals who are paid large fees under
contract to come in and identify potential causes for a particular issue, provide support for developing solutions, or facilitate the
implementation of a new initiative. Those responsibilities are what most of us consider consultation.
Now think about those responsibilities on their own, not attached exclusively to the occupation of consultant. How many of these
responsibilities do you have within your organization?
You are consulting.
More speci�cally, you are an internal consultant to the various departments and leadership levels across your organization. Your success
and the success of your organization depend on your knowledge of, skill in and ability to work with stakeholders to:
Evaluate business challenges.
Identify opportunities for designing, implementing and evaluating change initiatives.
Build ongoing support for HR solutions that meet the changing needs of your internal and external customers.
Why is pro�ciency in Consultation (the SHRM Competency de�ned above) so important to HR?
HR must support every department within the organization. At the same time, HR is increasingly being recognized as a strategic partner
within the organization. Business leaders and executives are turning to HR for input on organizational strategy. One reason for this shift is
their realization that the organization's human capital—its people—can quite literally make or break its success, both short- and long-term.
And when leaders in an organization start talking about people, what is the �rst department they should think of? HR, of course!
Now more than ever, HR professionals play the role of internal consultant, which may require some of us to adjust our thinking or strategy.
HR professionals today are responsible for understanding more than just HR. Unlike some occupations in which only occupation-speci�c
technical knowledge is required, HR professionals must have a working knowledge of the areas they consult on, including multiple job
families and business functions.
While the technical competency of HR Expertise is still paramount to being e�ective in your HR role, you must also be pro�cient in the
behavioral competency of Business Acumen—the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to understand the organization's operations,
functions and external environment, and to apply business tools and analyses that inform HR initiatives and operations consistent with the
overall strategic direction of the organization.
The best consultants, internal or external, are able to tailor their Business Acumen to their organization by matching their technical
knowledge to the industry or industries in which the organization operates. Today's most e�ective HR professionals recognize the
importance of Consultation and Business Acumen and, more importantly, the relationship between the two. These are the HR professionals
you'll see quickly advancing in their careers.
1/7/2021 Yes, HR Professionals, You Are Consultants
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/consultation/pages/yes-hr-professionals-you-are-consultants.aspx 2/3
For example, let's say you work as an HR generalist for a national restaurant management group. In addition to your HR technical expertise,
you'll need a strong understanding of the restaurant industry: its operations and di�erent functions as well as the ins and outs of customer
and food service. Further, you'll need to understand labor market trends and the competitive environment within which the restaurant
group exists. Finally, you'll need to apply and integrate your knowledge with your understanding of organizational strategy (Business
Acumen), in order to evaluate business challenges, support change initiatives, and develop HR solutions that meet—and exceed—the
needs of your customers and other stakeholders. If you were designing a successful employee training program for this group, how
important would it be for you to understand the operating structure and employee culture of the restaurant industry or to have had actual
"front of the house" (e.g., server) or "back of the house" (e.g., chef) experience resolving con�icts between such employees?
How do you measure up? What other industry and general business knowledge would you need beyond HR Expertise to inform your
systems thinking and contribute more strategically to the success of your own organization?
Remember, it pays to be honest with yourself when assessing your strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that it's never too late to
start developing your competencies, and there's always room for improvement, regardless of your level of pro�ciency. Create opportunities
in your current role to jointly practice the following behaviors.
Business Acumen—Key Behaviors:
Leverage organizational and external resources to learn about the industry and competitive environment within which your
organization operates.
Apply business metrics, principles, and technologies to inform and address business needs.
Apply principles of �nance, marketing, economics, sales, technology, law, and business systems to internal HR programs, practices,
and policies.
Make a business case, or provide the data to build the case, for HR initiatives and their in�uence on e�cient and e�ective
organizational functioning (e.g., ROI for HR initiatives).
Apply your new knowledge to implement HR solutions and inform business decisions.
Consultation—Key Behaviors:
Work with business partners and leaders to identify existing HR programs, practices, and policies that impede or support business
success and recommend opportunities for improvement.
Apply creative problem-solving to generate speci�c organizational interventions to address business needs and support
organizational objectives.
Provide guidance, follow-up, and ongoing support to non-HR managers and business unit teams on implementation of HR-related
solutions.
Build and promote buy-in among organizational stakeholders and sta� when implementing change initiatives.
Identify, de�ne, and clarify customer needs and requirements and respond promptly, courteously, and openly to customer
requests.
Ashley Miller, M.A., is senior specialist for HR competencies at SHRM.
HR DAILY NEWSLETTER
News, trends and analysis, as well as breaking news alerts, to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day.
1/7/2021 Yes, HR Professionals, You Are Consultants
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particular purpose.
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1/7/2021 Make HR a True Business Partner
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Make HR a True Business Partner By Stephen Miller, CEBS
June 22, 2014
ORLANDO, FLA.--An “HR business partner” is a strategic contributor who understands and plays a role in
achieving the vision, mission, goals and results of the organization, explained Louisville-based consultant
Sandy Allgeier, SPHR, at the start of her seminar, “HR Business Partners: A Consulting Skills Model,” on June
21 at the 2014 Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference & Exposition.
Allgeier, who has more than 25 years of experience as a corporate HR professional at KFC, Providian and
Atria Assisted Living, compared HR business partners to internal consultants who work with line managers
and executives, helping them to better manage their people and teams, thereby improving business
performance.
This requires a shift in HR’s perspective of itself. Often, HR professionals become consumed by day-to-day
tactical business, whereas business partners bring HR input into strategy decisions right from the beginning, Allgeier said.
She outlined an HR model with three separate but overlapping spheres:
An HR service center to handle everyday tactical HR (such as payroll and leave management). This function can be tiered, with an
automated self-service portal and, for employees who need greater assistance, a call center operation.
HR centers of excellence, responsible for areas that require subject matter expertise, such as managing compensation and bene�t
plans.
HR business partners, operating as internal consultants assigned to heads of divisions or otherwise embedded within business
units. While this might be the smallest of the three spheres in terms of personnel, it can have the greatest in�uence on the
organization’s strategic success.
By building relationships throughout the organization, HR can more e�ectively aid managers with talent acquisition and employee relations,
mitigate litigation risks, and improve awareness of business goals among managers and throughout the workforce, Allgeier said.
Connect with Finance
Becoming an HR business partner, however, requires a deep understanding of the business and its core competencies—the building blocks
of how an enterprise succeeds in being pro�table and (especially for nonpro�ts) ful�lling its mission.
This will necessitate becoming connected with �nance—“Make the CFO your new best friend,” as one seminar participant advised. Allgeier
acknowledged what’s often seen as a natural tension between the �nance department, charged with controlling spending, and HR’s role
managing sta�ng and providing a rewards mix and organizational culture that will attract, retain and engage talent. Nevertheless, she
advised building a relationship that recognizes HR and �nance are on the same team.
“You should know what the top three issues are for your company and its business units,” she instructed. Be sure to understand your
organization’s competitors, she said, along with their (and your own company’s) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
This entails being conversant with factors driving costs and revenue, and tracking other metrics that managers value, such as cost per hire,
turnover costs and the return on investment of training. And it requires that HR professionals learn how to produce written business cases.
1/7/2021 Make HR a True Business Partner
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© 2021 SHRM. All Rights Reserved
SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not o�er legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a
particular purpose.
Disclaimer (www.shrm.org/about-shrm/Pages/Terms-of-Use.aspx#Disclaimer)
“A top mistake internal consultants make is waiting to meet with key managers until they have a speci�c need. Or deciding what line
management needs and putting activities in place—and then talking to the line managers,” Allgeier said.
Instead, “Look for indications that something is being considered and bring an HR perspective and information to the right people. Provide
this information upfront so it can be included in the decision-making process. Involve line managers through HR information systems, so
they can access relevant transactional data.”
In short, Allgeier advised, “Think in terms of the enterprise, with solutions that respond to business needs.”
Stephen Miller, CEBS, is online editor/manager for SHRM.
HR DAILY NEWSLETTER
News, trends and analysis, as well as breaking news alerts, to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day.
Email Address
1
Human Resource Transformation: The Internal Consulting Role
Dayle A. Savage
Vanderbilt University
Book Chapter published April 24, 2012
Savage, D.A. (2012). Human Resource Transformation: The Internal Consulting Role. In W. Rothwell,
Editor and G. M. Benscoter, Volume Editor. The encyclopedia of human resource management:
Thematic essays (pp. 287 – 297). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
2
Human Resource Transformation: The Internal Consulting Role
Abstract: By incorporating a consulting methodology to one’s work, the HR professional can
affect change and value for the organization. HR professionals who adopt an internal consulting
organization framework mirror the strategic mindset of the organization’s Board and CEO.
Using the HR competency model (Ulrich et al, 2005) as the means for structuring an internal
consulting organization, consulting roles and models are explored and illustrated.
The transformation of human resources (HR) continues today since the profession recently
acknowledged there was tension between HR administrative/transactional and strategic/change
agent roles (Beer, 1997; Jamrog and Overstreet, 2004; Vosburgh, R., 2007). The HR function has
a long history of offering administrative services (Lawler and Mohrman, 2005, p. 173). In 2008,
Ulrich, Brockbank, Johnson, Sandholtz, and Younger introduced the HR competency model that
highlights the intersection between the people or the transactional side of the organization and
the business or strategic side of the organization. In the HR competency model, six distinct
domains are identified that link to areas of expertise: credible activist (relationships); operational
executor and business ally (systems and processes); talent manager/organizational designer,
culture/change steward, and strategy architect (organizational capabilities). This model provides
the HR professional definitions to develop each competency domain. What is missing is the way
to develop these competencies. Consulting skills that have been used effectively by many
professional service organizations can be adapted to an internal consulting process for HR
professionals to develop the competency domains.
Such a process is important to ensure that the transformation of the human resource
function is realized in a way that illustrates its value and benefit to the organization. HR
3
professionals have the opportunity to produce and realize a strategic function; therefore, it is time
for the HR function to engage in a consultative approach that creates strategic partnerships
throughout the organization for improved organizational performance and effectiveness. Through
the consulting approach, processes are introduced that other operational areas, such as finance
and marketing, can appreciate. The approach most appropriate for the HR transformation is the
practice of consulting, more specifically, internal consulting.
This article introduces three consulting areas that permit an internal consulting approach
for HR professionals to develop: consulting roles, models, and process steps. Human resource
transformation occurs by incorporating internal consulting processes through the HR
competencies (Ulrich et al, 2008). At the same time, the HR competencies are the vehicle by
which HR can launch its transformation to an internal consulting organization that demonstrates
organizational performance and effectiveness. A review of consulting roles provides a place to
begin the development of internal consulting in HR.
The Roles of Consulting
The word “consult”, from the Latin consultare meaning ‘to discuss’, is defined ‘to ask
advice or opinion or to deliberate together’ (Merriam-Webster, 2011 and American Heritage
Dictionary, 2011). A consultant is defined in several ways: a person who is in a position to have
some influence over an individual, group or organization and who, when asked, agrees to use
their expertise to help narrow the gap between what is known and what is needed or desired
(Block, 2000; Bellman, 2002). For a defined period of time, a consultant can lead others through
problem identification allowing for decision making that creates new direction or course
correction (Savage, 2005). Individuals in the HR function employ these role definitions in the
HR competency domains.
4
The word “role” has been defined succinctly as “a set of behavioral expectations
associated with a given status” (Nelson Thomson Learning, 2001, n.p.). Status refers to “a
socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and
duties” (Nelson Thomson Learning, 2001, n.p.). Therefore, the consultant has a set of behavioral
expectations associated with his or her position in an organization that are exemplified by
expectations, rights, and duties. Similarly, Lippett and Lippett (1986) described the consultant’s
role as “spheres of competence rather than as a static continuum of isolated behavior” (p. 58).
Consultants’ roles have been defined on a continuum that ranges from process-oriented to
expert-oriented. Process-oriented roles are those that engage the client in matters of fact-finding,
information exchange or change. Expert-oriented roles are those roles that offer collaboration,
expertise or advice (Lippett and Lippett, 1986). Some of the more notable consulting roles
following the process- to expert-oriented continuum include change agent, coach, facilitator, pair
of hands, educator, information specialist, collaborator, expert and advisor (Block, 2000; Lippett
and Lippett, 1986; LaGrossa and Saxe, 1998; Savage, 2005; Schein, 1987). Using these roles, a
consultant has the ability to influence, inquire, observe, identify, link, solve and/or evaluate
problems and/or decisions. A consultant can utilize one or more of these roles during a
consulting engagement depending on the issue presented.
An HR professional is responsible for the people and practices of the work assigned to
individuals. Pairing a consulting role with a HR competency works well to further clarify
responsibilities and skill sets needed in the organization. For example, when the competency
domain of operational executor (as defined as high performers with proficiency, effectively and
efficiently administer the day-to-day work of managing people inside an organization) is paired
with a consulting role like information specialist (meaning that thorough knowledge, skill and
5
professional experience is engaged) or expert (defined as one who gives information and advice),
the HR professional can use the consulting role and the HR competency to engage organizational
leadership as well as individual contributors in the organization (LaGrossa and Saxe, 1998;
Lippett and Lippett, 1986).
If the function of HR is to attract, develop, and retain the talent that is needed to ensure
the greatest organizational performance; then, a variety of consulting roles can be employed to
hone the HR professional’s competency set while assisting its internal customers or business
partners. Each HR competency domain can be linked to more than one consulting role
possibility (Table 1.1). HR has the opportunity to engage in competency and consulting role
development with an understanding of role and competency definitions.
Table 1.1 HR Competency Definitions Related to Multiple Consulting Roles
HR Competency Definitions (Ulrich et al, 2005) Multiple Consulting Role Possibilities
Credible Activist - High performing HR professionals
are credible (respected, admired, keep commitments)
and proactive (have a point of view, challenge
assumptions, take initiative).
Change agent – Consultant teaches
client how to learn to perceive,
understand and act upon the process
events that occur in the clients’
environments in order to improve the
situation as defined by the client
(Schein, 1987).
Coach – Provides motivation and
feedback and helps develop others
6
(LaGrossa & Saxe, 1998).
Facilitator – Keeps the process moving
and on track (LaGrossa & Saxe, 1998).
Operational Executor - High performers effectively
and efficiently administer the day-to-day work of
managing people inside an organization.
Facilitator (see above)
Information Specialist – thorough
knowledge, skill and professional
experience is engaged (LaGrossa &
Saxe, 1998).
Expert – Decisions based on expert
judgment are made by the consultant.
Data is gathered; Consultant plans and
implements the main events to solve
the immediate problem; Consultant
responsible for results (Block, 2000).
Business Ally – High performers understand both the
business and external and industry factors that
influence success.
Educator – Creator of learning
experiences or a direct teacher, using
the skills of a designer, leader and
evaluator of the learning process
(Lippett and Lippett, 1986).
Collaborator – Consultant and client
share the responsibility for action
planning, implementation and results
jointly (Block, 2000).
7
Pair of hands - Consultant applies
specialized knowledge to implement
action plans toward the achievement of
goals defined by the client who
maintains full control (Block, 2000).
Talent Manager/Organization Designer - High
performers are effective developers of both individual
employees and the teams and organizations they
support.
Expert (see above)
Change agent (see above)
Facilitator (see above)
Culture and Change Steward - High performers
understand, respect and evolve the organization
through improvements in HR systems and practices.
Change agent (see above)
Educator (see above)
Advisor – Gives information and
advice (LaGrossa and Saxe 1998).
Strategy Architect - High performers are effective
business partners in building winning business
strategies, by linking people and organization practices
to competitive requirements.
Advisor (see above)
Collaborator (see above)
Facilitator (see above)
It is not enough to recognize roles and competencies. HR must have a model by which
the internal consulting organization can grow. An introduction of consulting models can begin
the transition from transactional to transformational HR organizations.
Consulting Models
8
In order for an organization’s HR function to behave like an internal consulting
organization, a model that allows for the consultant/client relationship to emerge is necessary.
HR organizations that adopt a model to begin the consulting relationship must be prepared to
manage the relationship with its internal clients and the problems that those client present
(Block, 2000).
Consulting models provide a method for interaction and inquiry with a client when a
technical or business problem is presented. Consulting models include several steps: contracting,
collecting data, diagnosing, intervening, implementing and evaluating (Block, 2000; Bellman,
1990, Cummings and Worley, 1993). These steps follow a logical process to identify and define
a problem, reach agreement with the client in terms of the work to be done, collect and analyze
data, make recommendations, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness or success of the
recommendations. For the HR professional, such a logical model incorporates a process for
conversation and commitment with internal business partners.
Contracting is the first step in the consultant’s relationship with the client. During this
step, the consultant clarifies roles and determines expectations for the consultant and the client
during the consulting engagement. At this entry point, the consultant describes the consulting
model, identifies the scope and breadth of the project and gains agreement for next steps. A
contract or agreement is written and signed that outlines the parties’ responsibilities for the
duration of the project. In addition, a project plan is developed for clarification and clear
expectations of roles, responsibilities, deliverables, and due dates.
During the data collection and diagnosis steps the consultant uses varying techniques of
questioning and/or investigative tools to analyze the problem presented. The client is highly
engaged in this phase of the project. This is a time when meetings, interviews, review and
9
analysis takes place. The client is informed about progress at every step and adjustments are
made accordingly.
It is also a time when role confusion can surface due to the fact that discoveries in this
phase can be startling or gratifying to the client. A consultant can be asked to take on more work
depending on these discoveries; therefore, clear agreements, a contract, and an understanding of
deliverables are most important to insure that the work contracted is completed without
interruption.
Additional work and issues can be addressed if the client and consultant are willing to
amend the existing contract. If the client is unwilling to renegotiate, the possibility that certain
aspects of the initial consulting agreement will not be addressed or additional issues will not be
culled out in the best possible way for the client or consultant. This approach is dissatisfying to
all involved. Consideration for new work that surfaced during the initial engagement must be
discussed with the client when the first contract is negotiated. These clear expectations will
provide a degree of trust and respect that is important to any consulting relationship.
The implementation step occurs when the client is confident that there is a prudent
solution that is satisfactory to the organization. The organization and its employees become
engaged with the implementation through various communication vehicles, learning systems, or
personal interactions. Implementation of consulting recommendations can lead to a change
initiative. The consultant needs knowledge in organizational change from a variety of
perspectives such as strategy shifts, mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs and should have a point of
view well beyond structural change (Vosburgh, 2007). The consultant must be ready to adjust
roles as required during this step of consulting.
10
The organization can be volatile as the change is introduced and implemented.
Consulting roles can again change based on client needs during implementation. The role of
change agent has a blend of political, system, analytic, people and business skills to accompany
the HR competencies of strategy architect, culture and change steward, or talent
manager/organization designer (Vosburgh, 2007; Ulrich et al, 2005).
The evaluation step of any consulting engagement is important for reviewing outcomes,
comparing original data collection to the implementation plan, and attributing a return on
investment or expectation to the intervention. At this stage, a final report is typically written and
distributed with findings and outcomes clearly delineated. It is a time to review the work and the
relationship between the consultant and the client. At this step, work may be extended or the
work may be terminated with this client and recycled for the use of other clients.
The steps of consulting provide a method for inquiry, interaction and implementation of
recommendations that are in the best interest of the client and the organization. There are
differences in the way in which these steps are taken by a consultant who is internal to the
organization. These differences are critical to the HR professional who implements this
methodology.
Internal HR Consulting
In the HR function, the HR professional is typically employed full-time and is an
individual contributor, reporting to another HR professional, or an executive in the organization
(Lacey, 1995). By incorporating a consulting methodology to one’s work, the HR professional
can affect change and value for the organization.
11
The process of internal consulting has distinct differences from the process of external
consulting. In the consulting model discussed previously, discrete steps were defined. For the
internal HR consultant these steps are modified and initiated differently.
The first consulting step of contracting with an internal client is different in the way in
which the agreement regarding responsibilities is clarified. Relationships between the internal
client and internal consultant are often pre-established and the company jargon is known.
Informal agreements are typically the norm; however, a statement of commitment, if only in the
form of an email exchange, can help manage the relationship with the internal client and reduce
future confusion. There may or may not be ease in obtaining certain types of information, but an
internal HR consultant can gain access to information when outsiders cannot even obtain entry
(Lacey, 1995).
The data collection and diagnosis steps are replete with relationships between the
numerous organizational members engaged for questioning, extracting data, or participating in
surveys or meetings. The internal HR consultant’s status resides in the position level and
reporting relationship within the organization. Reputation and visible relationships with key
players, impact status and trust levels. The internal HR consultant must weigh the issues of
status, trust and the likelihood of respondent truthfulness when determining methods of data
collection (Lacey, 79). Data that is shared and reviewed openly may reduce any political
intrigue for certain organizational members who find change to be particularly difficult.
The implementation and evaluation steps must insist on valid information and
commitment from all parties involved. The internal HR consultant is the go-between across
organizational lines to garner support and champions for the implementation initiative. The
internal HR consultant helps the organization align functional areas during any implementation;
12
therefore, the internal HR consultant can see the work become institutionalized and plays a role
in monitoring the activities which sustain and ensure a project’s success (Lacey, 81).
According to Lacey (1995), the internal consultant has several advantages at work that
the external consultant does not. By nature of employment, the internal consultant has ease of
entry into the organization. Fee structure is not an issue since a steady paycheck is already in
place. Typically, there is little conflict of interest in the work to be done. The internal consultant
enjoys freedom to move across organizational lines. Depending on the problem identified,
informal contracts or service level agreements are employed to illustrate the responsibilities of
both consultant and client. Finally, ready relationships and familiarity of the system are
hallmarks of the internal consultant’s advantage over an external consulting professional.
The HR professional has reacted to the needs of management for decades (Jamrog and
Overholt, 2004). To successfully apply an internal consulting process, the HR professional has
several considerations to address. The first consideration is to identify the ultimate client during
a request for help or assistance. Most HR professionals have many requests on a daily basis for
the administrative and task-oriented functions. Vosburgh (2007) notes that there is enormous
variation by industry, global geography, and CEO preferences on what HR is asked to do. Many
times the internal consultant has multiple bosses to consider during the engagement: the person
requesting assistance, that person’s supervisor, that person’s employees, and the internal
consultant’s boss to name a few. The HR professional in an internal consulting role must
navigate and manage these relationships as skillfully as the technical or business problem to be
tackled (Block, 2000).
To illustrate the concern of multiple clients, the HR competency domains of credible
activist and business ally provide a backdrop. By definition, credible activist is credible
13
(respected, admired, keep commitments) and proactive (have a point of view, challenge
assumptions, take initiative). The business ally understands both the business and external and
industry factors that influence success.
A sales manager and sales training illustrates this issue. A sales manager wants to send
the thirty employees in the sales force to a four-day training seminar. The HR professional and
the sales manager have known each other for three years and (as a credible activist) the HR
professional is called to get permission to approve this expense. The HR professional (as
business ally) weighs the pros and cons of this idea, offering multiple suggestions before
proceeding with the necessary approval.
During this initial exchange, the HR professional explains informally how a consulting
relationship will be established and identifies the multiple clients involved with this decision to
act. First, the sales manager has not identified a specific need the proposed sales training will
address. Second, the sales force has not been engaged in the conversation. Finally, the VP of
Sales and Marketing has not been approached about this idea. Agreeing on an informal contract,
the HR professional, as business ally and credible activist, will outline the steps of the internal
consulting process thereby enabling resolution to commence while actively engaging the primary
client or sales manager.
Another important consideration for the HR professional as internal consultant is the
access to management and information. If the internal HR consultant does not have entrée to the
information necessary to assist the client, the engagement can be in jeopardy. The competencies
associated with the domain of operational executor can be put into play to insure that information
and people can be engaged as needed to produce the results desired.
14
In 2006, Lawler and Boudreau attempted to answer a critical question, “what do Boards
and CEOs expect of HR?” The findings showed that the areas of HR involvement that most
strongly correlated to “HR meets our needs” were a.) driving change management, b.)
implementing a human capital strategy that is integrated with the business strategy, c.) partnering
with line managers in developing strategy, and d.) making data-driven decisions about human
capital management. HR professionals who adopt an internal consulting organization framework
within these areas can mirror the strategic mindset of the organization’s Board and CEO. To
have the respect and admiration of colleagues coupled with the ability to understand the external
factors that influence success, plus the ability to challenge assumptions and to take initiative with
constituents, the internal HR consultant can and will make a difference in the organization
(Ulrich et al 2008).
Implications for Practice
Implementing an internal consulting process, the HR professional can overcome the lack
of effective strategy implementation and organization redesign (Beer, 1997; Jamrog and
Overholt, 2004; Kates, 2006). Such a process can address six core barriers identified as
disabling HR strategic implementation and redesign: a.) poor coordination and teamwork
between business partners and HR; b.) unclear strategy and priorities; c.) ineffective top
management; d.) laissez-faire management especially when assembling teams; e.) poor
communication and f.) inadequate management and organizational development (Beer and
Eisenstat, 1996; Katz, 2006). The HR professional who is willing to use an internal consulting
methodology to align HR functions with the multiple divisions in any given organization will be
15
well-equipped to engage others in the work of human resources. Creating an internal consulting
organization offers a way to transform not only human resources but the organization as well.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of human resources, training, and
labor relations is expected to increase 22% by 2018 (p. 5). With such an influx of people in the
profession, it is important to have processes in place that can inform the HR competency model.
Prepared with consulting roles and models, the HR professional can begin to establish an internal
consulting organization that produces language and leverage internal to align and impact
organizational performance and effectiveness.
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organization. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 30 (3).
Biography
Dayle A. Savage, Ed.D. is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Leadership and
Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She has been at the university since
the fall of 2005 and studies organization and leadership development particularly as it relates to
the fields of consultation, talent management and human capital. She serves as the Director of
Graduate Studies for the Leadership and Organizational Performance program and co-directs the
17
Peabody Career Development Office. In July 2008, she left VU for approximately one year to
become VP of HR and Chief Learning Officer of Saint Thomas Health Services (Ascension
Health) where she fostered collaboration between recruitment, clinical education, and talent /
performance management. She returned to her current role at Vanderbilt in August 2009.
As a practitioner, Dayle focuses on organizational effectiveness specifically in the areas
of learning & performance, leadership, human capital and talent management. She has had a
successful consulting practice with various industries including healthcare, education, not-for-
profit, government, and professional service organizations. Dayle is certified as a professional
coaching and works with executives and managers who want success, balance, and fulfillment in
their careers. She is a past president of the Tennessee Coaches Alliance.
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HR professionals are expected to be more skilled and effective partners to line managers in increasing organization performance. There are six competency domains that describe the most important areas of HR professional and leader contribution – as perceived by both HR and line managers.
These are:
Organization capabilities;
Systems & processes;
Relationships;
At the heart of the HR competency research is the concept of credible activist – high- performing HR professionals earn credibility by both consistently delivering on
1. Talent manager/organization designer
2. Culture and change steward 3. Strategy architect
4. Operational executor
5. Business ally
6. Credible activist
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expectations, and demonstrating initiative in identifying and addressing needs for change. The ability to diagnose problems, gain the management buy-in and support needed to make change feasible, design and implement collaborative processes of improvement, and effectively measure results, are crucial skills in converting HR business partnership from intent to practiced reality.
How effective, then, are HR professionals in consulting and change management? A survey was recently conducted with 350 HR professionals and leaders, and 35 line managers, in a range of industries from financial services to consumer products in North America, Latin American, Western and Central Europe, and Asia. The main finding was that the HR community has work to do. Both groups reinforced the need for HR to increase professional skills in consulting and managing change.
Consulting and change management skills are important
Both HR and line managers view consulting and change skills as important, and they see the importance of HR consulting skills to business results as relatively high, although line manager ratings are somewhat lower.
Skills and reputation are lacking
Both HR professionals and line managers do not feel the consulting skill level of HR matches up with importance. HR is not perceived as having an adequate reputation for consulting and change management.
Reputation reflects skill deficiencies
HR consulting skills are perceived by line managers as relatively low – consistent with the weak reputation for HR consulting skills. HR professionals view HR departmental skills in consulting and change management more positively, but not strongly. Both groups seem to agree that stronger consulting and change skills are needed.
Managing external consultants
HR frequently supplements its resources with external consultants, either to extend internal capability or to bring in specialist skills. The management of these resources is obviously a factor in the overall assessment of HR competence, and HR is expected to provide effective project and client management when it utilizes external consultants in a project capacity.
Investing in education to be more effective consultants
Consulting and change skills are more likely in those HR organizations that invest in relevant training and development. There is a clear link between HR consulting and change skills and developmental investment. The line managers and HR professionals and leaders in the sample view HR as insufficiently training HR professionals to be effective internal consultants and change managers.
The fundamentals for improvement
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The general finding is that HR is not seen as delivering significant value as internal consultant and change agent, and this undoubtedly impacts how it is viewed as a business partner. It is also clear that HR is not perceived as providing sufficient training to its professionals. It is one thing to title the function “business partner”, but quite another to be perceived as one. What are specific areas where HR needs to improve in order to be perceived as more effective consultants and change managers?
"When HR organizations invest in improved consulting and change
management competence, is there a tangible and measurable result? "
HR professionals are perceived as bringing two fundamental strengths to the challenge:
But there are also gaps in skill – in defining the right process for diagnosis and action planning, needs assessment (including the urgency of change), contracting, diagnosis, planning change and communicating both the plan and the benefits of change.
Although the case for improved consulting skills makes obvious logical sense, it may be helpful to provide examples of the practical value of these skills. When HR organizations invest in improved consulting and change management competence, is there a tangible and measurable result? The following case provides at least some indication.
Case study – Statoil HR business partner initiative
Statoil is one of the largest integrated oil companies with operations in 40 countries, almost 30,000 employees worldwide, and a market capitalization of over 60 billion dollars (US). Like many organizations in and outside of the energy industry, HR had traditionally been seen as primarily administrative and transactional, responsible for basic services. However, in 2006, and coincident with the merger of the energy assets of Norsk Hydro, HR SVP Jens Jenssen and his boss, CEO Helge Lund, recognized that the future performance of the company depended increasingly on a more strategic approach to managing and developing the company's human resources.
In 2008, Jenssen and Lund, with the help of Statoil HR VP Hilde Sannes, embarked on a programme of HR transformation including structural change, process improvement in critical capability areas such as leadership development and talent management, and significant investment in HR professional and leadership skills. A week-long educational initiative in HR business partnership skills was piloted, working with the RBL Group and combining education in strategic HR management, consulting and change management with action learning projects focused on business improvement. This included focus on identifying and addressing areas of measurable opportunity in talent and organization effectiveness, opportunity identification, profit growth, cost reduction, and performance improvement. In short, Jenssen expected his HR team to not “just” learn and grow as
1. they have an understanding of the business; and
2. they are able to build relationships of trust with line managers.
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professionals, but to practically apply what they were learning for the benefit of the company.
With respect to the specifics of developing skills in consulting and change management, the educational process incorporated a number of specific features. Participants were taught a methodology for systematically aligning strategic business goals with HR investments. The methodology focuses on the importance of the following:
In addition, the programme provided the participating HR professionals with specific tools for evaluating and improving employee engagement, as well as a framework for rigorously managing change. Initially that framework was the pilot's checklist, but, later on, Statoil deployed a change management framework of its own development.
Making an impact
By all accounts the education these professionals have received, and the application of this education, has proved impactful in a wide variety of areas. For example, a sampling of the projects included:
Over 200 HR leaders and professionals have participated in the HR business partner initiative. In some cases, Statoil has been able to identify a specific financial benefit accruing as a result of the action-learning projects begun by workshop participants. In
1. clarifying the key external trends impacting the organization;
2. defining the strategic goals of the organization in dealing with these external trends; 3. identifying the critical organizational capabilities required to achieve this strategy;
4. assessing the current effectiveness of these capabilities; 5. investing time and resources in more effectively aligning HR systems and processes
to deliver the capabilities; and
6. measuring impact and identifying additional or follow up actions.
developing and implementing a more rigorous process for staffing major oil exploration and development projects; increasing employee engagement in the retail business;
implementing a more integrated planning process in a support unit; improving the effectiveness of operations teams and teamwork in Canadian operations;
increasing rigor performance assessment and development rigor in the natural gas business; improving the quality of collaboration and communication between HR generalists and functional specialists;
development and piloting of a first line supervisory training program; and enhancing safety on deepwater platforms.
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other cases it has been difficult to specify the economic benefits but it has identified a measured (qualitative) improvement. The success that Statoil HR has achieved through its HR business partner initiative has the following common characteristics:
The HR business partner initiative is one aspect of a larger and highly successful HR transformation effort that has produced significant value for Statoil. However, the consulting and change management skills taught in the workshops, and subsequently applied through action learning, are credited with providing strategic and operational benefit to the organization.
The combination of building competence, gaining confidence, sharing common tools and methods, and providing support through the community and communication reinforcements offers a demonstration of what increased attention to consulting and change management can provide.
HR business partnership
Over a decade ago, RBL partner and University of Michigan professor Dave Ulrich coined the term “business partner”. Looking up the term in Google, one finds almost four million references. While the title has made its way into popular practice, the performance of true HR business partnership is less ubiquitous. Business partnership depends a good deal on the ability of HR professionals to correctly identify and solve business problems, and the reputation that HR professionals and leaders have earned as informed and knowledgeable participants in business plans, planning, and problem solving.
As a result of the HR business partner educational initiative, Statoil HR professionals have gained the consulting and change management competence needed to effectively identify, plan and execute improvement projects.
The combination of skill development, provided by the workshop, and management support and mentorship provided by HR head Jens Jenssen and his leadership team, Statoil HR professionals have gained the confidence to take greater initiative as internal consultants and change agents.
Over the course of the workshop, the HR leadership and professional community has learned and applied common tools and methods for consulting and change management. This has increased both the ability and willingness of HR colleagues to collaborate, and reinforced the view of effective HR by line management. HR network building, including the HR business partner workshops and other activities, has provided the community support needed to reinforce the importance of application through action learning. While not all participants were successful (this is to be expected), “good tries” were equally complimented and reinforced. This increased commitment to the overall initiative.
Finally, there was effective ongoing communication of the successes and learning achieved by action learning efforts. This, in turn, further reinforced success and commitment.
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HR is too often seen as not sufficiently expert in consulting and change management skills, and for this reason the opportunity for HR professionals to build reputation as business partners is easily thwarted.
The Statoil case, and many other examples, points out that the impact of investment in consulting and change management competence can be considerable. HR leaders would do well to increase their efforts to develop and support these skills within their organizations.
October 2011.
This is a shortened version of “Developing the skills of HR business partnership: consulting and change management”, which originally appeared in Strategic HR Review, Volume 10 Number 1, 2011.
The authors are Jon Younger, Aaron Younger and Nate Thompson.
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Citation Bagga, T. and Srivastava, S. (2014), "SHRM: alignment of HR function with business strategy", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2014-0023 Download as .RIS
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SHRM: alignment of HR function with business strategy Article Type: Strategic commentary From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 4/5
Thought leaders share their views on the HR profession and its direction for the future
Teena Bagga and Sanjay Srivastava
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: 1475-4398 Publication date: 3 June 2014 ISSN (International Standard Serial Number.)
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SHRM Connotation
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is, indeed, one of the most momentous concepts in the �eld of business and management today. The idea of SHRM is to promote high performance workplaces and human capital management. SHRM can be de�ned as the linking of human resources (HR) with organisations’ strategic goals and objectives so as to improve business performance and develop organisational culture that nurture innovation, �exibility and competitive advantage. In an organisation, SHRM means accepting and involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the company’s strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. It basically centers on HR programs with long-term objectives i.e. instead of focusing just on internal HR issues, the major focus is on addressing and solving problems that a�ect people management programs in the long run. Therefore, the primary goal of strategic HR is to increase employee productivity and to identify key HR areas where strategies can be implemented in the long run to improve the overall employee motivation along with productivity. Strategic orientation of human resource management (HRM) is important for all organisations irrespective of its size and domain. It simply requires the alignment of every HR function with business strategy. It establishes relationship between HRM and strategic management of the organization and facilitates the HRM to change its image as a “cost center” to that of a “strategic business partner”. Thus, the SHRM can be de�ned as the organisations action plan to align HRM with strategic business objectives so that the competitive advantage can be achieved through its skilled, committed and well-motivated workforce. This can only be possible if every HR function is strategically aligned.
Strategic human resource planning
Human resource planning (HRP) is a process of analyzing and identifying the need for and availability of HR so that the organisation can meet its objectives. The need for HRP is to reduce the signi�cant lead time between recognition of job requirement and getting a quali�ed person to �ll that need. This means HR is required to have an idea of the job market and how it can match to hiring needs as no organization can meet its goals without recruiting talented workers. Hiring, indeed, is an important aspect of HRP, as it provides the doorway for bringing in new employees and choosing individuals suited to the company’s culture and requirement. During hiring, the HR department looks for an applicant who speci�cally �ts the job criteria or someone who is the most versatile individual. However, today HRP is viewed as a strategic operational process and its focus has shifted from traditional Hiring and Sta�ng to towards forecasting and succession planning that can handle di�erent contingencies which intern impacts the success of business operations. E�ective HRP can reduce turnover by keeping employees apprised of their career opportunities within the company. The success of HRP depends on how meticulously the HR department can integrate e�ective HRP
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with the organization’s business planning process. Strategic human resource planning (SHRP) is based on close working relationships between HR department and line managers. SHRM can be de�ned as a deliberate attempt of HR deployment to empower the organization to meet organizational goals, objectives and consistencies. Succession planning plays an important role in strategic alignment if HRP. Through succession planning organisations recruit skilled employees, develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities further, and prepare them for advancement or promotion into ever more challenging roles. This process ensures that employees are constantly developed �ll each needed role. So, that a talent pipeline is maintained.
Strategic recruitment and selection
The core responsibility of recruitment and selection processes is “identifying the right pool of talent for establishing the right candidates”. Earlier, recruitment and selection was considered as traditional function with standard approach where the focus was on person–job �t. However, now, organisations are aiming at person– organisation �t and, therefore, applicants are selected against organizational characteristics rather than job-speci�c criteria. Today, choosing the correct employee is, indeed, essential to the development an e�ective SHRM system.
Strategic recruitment and selection (SR&S) can be de�ned as strategic integration of recruitment and selection with long-term business objectives so that strategic demands of the organisations can be translated into an appropriate recruitment and selection speci�cation. In this, the alignment of candidate’s objective and business’s objective has become must. However, not all the job positions in the company are strategic and are not critical for the business operation. The strategic recruitment is focused only on the key job positions in the organization. It is focused on the hiring of the job positions needed for the accelerated growth of the business. The strategic recruitment can be a separate process from the usual recruitment process for the mass job positions.
Strategic training and development
Increasingly high performing organizations today are recognising the need to use best training and development practices to enhance their competitive advantage. Training and development is an essential element of every business if the value and potential of its people is to be harnessed and grown. By de�nition, training and development refers to the process to obtaining or transferring knowledge, skills and abilities needed to carry out a speci�c activity or task. Strategic positioning of training and development directly promotes organizational business goals and objectives. Key business challenges require that organisation thoughtfully gauge their market position and determine the talent, skills and knowledge to be successful. By adopting a strategic approach to training and development rather than an unplanned and ad hoc one, training and development initiatives become more targeted, measurable and e�ective. The strategic training and development (ST&D) is all
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about identifying, designing and delivering training programmes to employees to make them capable of delivering in accordance with business strategy. In addition, the evaluation of the outcomes to check the e�ectiveness of the training programme based on planning to determine whether the training was e�ective to its contribution to the business strategy.
Strategic performance management
Traditional performance management systems often fail to deliver desired business objectives because communications from the top are not always clearly understood further down the line, leading to a mismatch between corporate strategy and how it is translated into targets at a team or individual level. Then, if the business goals and strategy and the employee motivation and culture are not in harmony, results certainly su�er. This missing link can be complemented by the strategic performance management (SPM) approach. Top management must address how they actually want to manage performance? What targets must be met and by when? And how do they want managers and employees to work to achieve them? It is important not only to identify HR competencies in accordance with the business needs and develop selection and development practices to secure those competencies but also to evolve and implement a performance evaluation plan that links the performance of the employees to the strategic goals. It is certainly essential to have strategically linked compensation system to improve �rm performance and to retain employees with required competencies. SPM creates this link between the strategy and culture of an organization and its ability to manage employees’ performance to have direct impact on business performance. SPM is actually about strategy implementation to deliver value by delivering the desired outcomes in accordance with business strategy. SPM link the individual’s objectives and performance management, driving the skill and capability requirements and ensure its alignment to the core values of the organisation.
Strategic compensation and reward management
The main objective of compensation policy is to give the right rewards for employee performances, their skills, competencies, their knowledge and experience to attract and retain them. It is again certainly an important motivator to reward the employees for their market worth and also for achievement of the desired organisational results. However, the traditional compensation and reward system alone cannot ensure the ful�lment of the business objectives. Strategic compensation and reward management (SCRM) facilitate the alignment of compensation and reward policy with business, which can be achieved by taking a data-driven approach so that the pay and bene�ts are allocated to only those positions and workers that produce the greatest return. One of the healthier ways to motivate employees and reward the stellar performers is to have variable pay rewards system based upon the individual and team performance to their contribution towards the achievement of organisations business objectives.
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About the authors
Teena Bagga is an Assistant Professor and Sanjay Srivastava are both based at Amity Business School, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Teena Bagga can be contacted at: mailto:[email protected]
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1/7/2021 10 Tips About How HR Can Influence Business Strategy
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10 Ways an HR Manager Can Influence Business Strategy
Position HR to In�uence Business Strategy Not Just Your HR Policies
HUMAN RESOURCES CULTURE
• • •
BY Updated July 28, 2019SUSAN M. HEATHFIELD
Does your HR manager and team in�uence your company's business strategy and
direction? Do they contribute to the key corporate discussions about customers, products,
and strategy? Does your HR manager or director participate in senior-level meetings and
planning? Do managers seek out their opinion about managing, legal issues, and how to
build an employee friendly culture?
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If you can answer yes to these questions, and your HR team also initiates people programs
and processes, welcome to the executive boardroom. Your team has made it.
Congratulations on your career success.
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Still earning that seat at the executive table? These tips will fast forward your career or
keep you sitting at the executive table for your longer term success.
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Understand Your Organization's Business to Influence Strategy Yes, you know, when you're buried in the day-to-day, it's hard to remember, that you're
running a business. Ernie and Harriet aren't getting along. Have to play moderator. Julie
doesn't understand her bene�ts. Have to hold her hand for awhile. Bob wants to know
where to �nd training records. Mary needs to take FMLA time after the birth of her baby.
Ah, yes, you're in the people business, a small business within a company. But, you're also
in the bigger business of your organization. Spend time every day talking with sales,
production, quality, and accounting. Make sure that you know what is going on in that
bigger world.
Share Responsibility for Business Goals and Plans The overall business goals are your goals, too. When you make plans for your department,
they should be directed to achieving overall business objectives as well as Human
i f i i
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Important: Know your customers, the cost of your products and how you're going
to meet your monthly sales goals. You help the people get what they need to run
the business e�ciently, pro�tably, and respectfully in an empowering
environment.
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Resources goals. Developing a performance culture is a goal you'll likely own.
You contribute to the inventory turns goal, too. You supply the best people who are trained
in the business, motivated by their work, rewarded by the company, and led by capable
management. You are knowledgeable about the business and can ask questions that
encourage continuous improvement by all.
Know the Human Resources Business Thoroughly Your customers rely on you for correct and insightful information and advice. What more is
there to say? You are reliable, credible, trustworthy and knowledgeable and you have deep
integrity.
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If you let people down, they'll stop coming to you for information and advice. They'll lose
faith and con�dence in your answers. And then, what good are you? (Remember, it's always
okay to say you'll �nd out.)
Run Your Department Like a Business to Influence Business Strategy Don't get so caught up in the business of your overall business that you forget to run your
department like a business, too. Meet with your reporting sta� members weekly. Meet with
your department members every week to make sure all members are pointed in the same
direction.
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As an example, new employee orientation is regularly scheduled. Does every employee
attend? Are all covered policies, procedures and information detailed on a checklist that
the employee signs? Are these checklists �led in the employee's �le?
How frequently do you audit the records or attend the orientation, thus ensuring that what
you think is happening—is, in fact—happening?
Measure Outcomes and Goal Achievement, not Work Processes to Influence Business Strategy Human Resources handles the organization's achievement of the overall goals. HR is also
responsible for identifying and measuring goals speci�c to HR.
FitSmallBuiness.com and Zene�ts, an HR management platform, compiled a list of 39
possible measures that organizations can use to measure human resources. They then
identi�ed across multiple organizations the seven most common Human Resources
measures in use to determine how the function is performing. The seven are:
Revenue per employee
Cost per hire
Employee turnover
Overtime percentage
Absenteeism
Length of service
Job satisfaction rate
Not surprisingly, the most frequently used measures may re�ect some of the di�culties
that are associated with developing appropriate HR measurement methods. They may also
re�ect the signi�cance given to the human resource function and the idea that its
Important: Your goals must contribute to the accomplishment of the overall
business objectives. Your action plans to achieve the goals need to translate into
daily "to-do" lists for your sta�. Every signi�cant activity requires a feedback loop
or audit, so you know that it is being accomplished.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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activities should be measured in some way.
Most organizations do not, for example, measure training cost, return on investment in
human capital, value added per employee, time to �ll jobs, return on training and seniority.
These require more sophisticated measurement methods that may tax the ability of the HR
team to gather data in addition to everything else they do.
These are the results measurements, not process measures (number of people trained)
crucial to demonstrating HR success—the success that will land you at the executive table.
Remember the People in Human Resources to Influence Business Strategy Is your o�ce a magnet for people who need help, advice, or a sounding board? Are some of
your visitors your senior managers? Even the CEO? If so, you remember that you are there
to serve your organization's people so that they can meet your business goals.
At Southwest Airlines, the Human Resources function is called the O�ce for People, and
the senior HR person has a similar title. (HR titles are becoming more descriptive of the
work.) First and foremost, you are there to serve the people. Judge your success by a day
when the maintenance technician, a production worker, the Engineering Director, and the
CEO all stop by for advice or just general discussion. How do you assess yours now?
Express Thoughtful Opinions Backed By Data and Study You have to understand the numbers. How else can you o�er a substantial, intelligent
opinion about business direction? Learn everything you can so that you have opinions, and
your opinions are backed up with data. You need to understand the e�ect of decisions that
your o�ce makes on the work of the rest of the company. (For example, don't schedule
meetings with plant personnel on the last day of their shipping month.)
Harness the Benefits of Technology to Help You Influence Business Strategy
Warning: It is not enough to say that you think certain actions by hiring managers
would speed up your recruiting and hiring of employees. You must back up your
recruiting methods and decision making with data.
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You'll provide better customer service and free your time for dreaming up new value-added
strategies. You cannot overestimate the impact of an e�ective Human Resources
Information System (HRIS). Need reports about attendance? How about salary reports for
your whole organization? Interested in turnover and retention �gures? (Some of you may
not remember what it was like when you did these calculations by hand.)
Additionally, the use of an intranet frees up sta� time because employees can enter their
information into the forms. The intranet provides communication, training, and convenient
answers and allows you to save your time for more creative, thoughtful, forward-thinking
tasks—such as developing business strategy.
Recommend Programs for People That Continuously Improve the Business When you propose new programs or problem solve people issues, suggest solutions that
support the accomplishment of business goals. You have reasons for suggesting a
new variable pay system such as encouraging managers to accomplish business
objectives.
What's better? The "thank you" card system appears to help employee motivation and
productivity, or the attendance system has reduced absenteeism by 4%.
Learn and Grow Every Day Through Every Possible Method to fl i
Important: Providing management-needed information quickly, conveniently,
correctly and in useful formats makes you look good and feel good, too. People
are your organization's biggest investment. Tracking their cost carefully makes
business sense.
Important: Whenever possible, suggest new programs or changes to programs
based on measurable objectives that support the business. Then, remember to
measure the changes and evaluate whether the new process worked. When you
o�er systems and improvements that measurably improve an aspect of your
business, you cement your seat at the executive table.
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Influence Business Strategy
Use your knowledge of how people develop to do what is necessary to continue your
growth curve.
Seek out a more experienced mentor or sounding board. You need someone you can
con�de in and learn from.
Attend professional HR conferences, meetings, and events.
Attend executive leadership and management meetings in addition to your HR
professional associations. You seek knowledge that goes beyond the bounds of your
discipline and department.
Attend at least forty hours of training and education every year. Make sure your sta�
members attend, too. Cover all aspects of the business and running a business.
Seek out people who will ask you questions and challenge your beliefs so you can
continue to grow. A colleague works with a CEO, who asks her questions. She may
not always like them, but the questions challenge her to think things through and to
follow issues to their logical conclusion. He repeatedly asks, "How will you know if
that is working? Happening? Bringing the results you want?" You need to be able to
respond.
•
•
•
•
•
The Bottom Line There, you have them—the best possible ideas for what works to earn you a seat at the
executive table. Lots of work. Undoubtedly. But, you invest the same number of hours
in your job every week in any case. Why not make the hours you invest as productive,
in�uential and strategic as possible? You'll be happy that you did.
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HUMAN RESOURCES
What Are HR KPIs?
MANAGEMENT CAREERS
Know the 3 New Roles of the HR Professional Function?
MANAGEMENT CAREERS
Human Resource Management 101: Everything You Need to Know
GLOSSARY
Are You Ready for an Agile Future at Work?
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HUMAN RESOURCES
What Is Evidence-Based Decision Making?
JOB SEARCH RESOURCES
Want to Understand the Basic Job Description and Duties of a Manager?
WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
How Do You Stay Up-to-Date on Changing HR Laws and Regulations?
EMPLOYMENT LAW
What Are the Job Responsibilities of an HR Manager?
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JOB LOSS
10 Tips Help You Know When It's Time to Quit Your HR Employment
MANAGEMENT CAREERS
How You Can Create Value With Human Resources Measures
MANAGEMENT CAREERS
Here's Why HR Should Always Report to the CEO
GLOSSARY
360 Degree Feedback: See the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
MANAGEMENT CAREERS
Do You Need a College Degree to Work in HR?
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JOB SEARCH RESOURCES
Use This Easy Job Description Template for Your Company
ORGANIZATION & PLANNING
What Are Business Metrics?
EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT
How to Use the Principles of Adaptive Leadership in the Workplace
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Module 13: Strategic Human Resource Management
The Changing Role of Strategic Human Resource Management in Principles of Management
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Learning Objectives
1. Understand how HR is becoming a strategic partner.
2. Understand the importance of an organization’s human capital.
3. List the key elements of SHRM.
4. Explain the importance of focusing on outcomes.
The role of HR is changing. Previously considered a support function, HR is now becoming a strategic partner in helping a company achieve its goals. A strategic approach to HR means going beyond the administrative tasks like payroll processing. Instead, managers need to think more broadly and deeply about how employees will contribute to the company’s success.
HR as a Strategic Partner
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is not just a function of the HR department—all managers and executives need to be involved because the role of people is so vital to a company’s competitive advantage. In addition, organizations that value their employees are more profitable than those that do not. Research shows that successful organizations have several things in common, such as providing employment security, engaging in selective hiring, using self-managed teams, being decentralized, paying well, training employees, reducing status differences, and sharing information. When organizations enable, develop, and motivate human capital, they improve accounting profits as well as shareholder value in the process. The most successful organizations manage HR as a strategic asset and measure HR performance in terms of its strategic impact.
Here are some questions that HR should be prepared to answer in this new world.
Competence: To what extent does our company have the required knowledge, skills, and
abilities to implement its strategy?
Consequence: To what extent does our company have the right measures, rewards, and
incentives in place to align people’s efforts with the company strategy?
Governance: To what extent does our company have the right structures, communications
systems and policies to create a high-performing organization?
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Learning and Leadership: To what extent can our company respond to uncertainty and
learn and adapt to change quickly?
The Importance of Human Capital
Employees provide an organization’s human capital. Your human capital is the set of skills that you have acquired on the job, through training and experience, and which increase your value in the marketplace. The Society of Human Resource Management’s Research Quarterly defined an organization’s human capital as follows: “A company’s human capital asset is the collective sum of the attributes, life experience, knowledge, inventiveness, energy and enthusiasm that its people choose to invest in their work.”
Focus on Outcomes
Unfortunately, many HR managers are more effective in the technical or operational aspects of HR than they are in the strategic, even though the strategic aspects have a much larger effect on the company’s success. In the past, HR professionals focused on compliance to rules, such as those set by the federal government, and they tracked simple metrics like the number of employees hired or the number of hours of training delivered. The new principles of management, however, require a focus on outcomes and results, not just numbers and compliance. Just as lawyers count how many cases they’ve won—not just how many words they used—so, too must HR professionals track how employees are using the skills they’ve learned to attain goals, not just how many hours they’ve spent in training.
John Murabito, executive vice president and head of HR and Services at Cigna, says that HR executives need to understand the company’s goals and strategy and then provide employees with the skills needed. Too often, HR execs get wrapped up in their own initiatives without understanding how their role contributes to the business. That is dangerous, because when it comes to the HR department, “anything that is administrative or transactional is going to get outsourced,” Murabito says. Indeed, the number of HR outsourcing contracts over $25 million has been increasing, with 2,708 active contracts under way in 2007. For example, the Bank of America outsourced its HR administration to Arinso. Arinso will provide timekeeping, payroll processing, and payroll services for 10,000 Bank of America employees outside the U.S. To avoid outsourcing, HR needs to stay relevant and accept accountability for its business results.
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In short, the people strategy needs to be fully aligned with the company’s business strategy and keep the focus on outcomes.
Key Elements of HR
Beyond the basic need for compliance with HR rules and regulations, the four key elements of HR are summarized in the following figure. In high-performing companies, each element of the HR system is designed to reflect best practice and to maximize employee performance. The different parts of the HR system are strongly aligned with company goals.
Figure 16.5 Key HR Elements
Selection and Placement
When hiring, acquaint prospective new hires with the nature of the jobs they will be expected to fulfill. This includes explaining the technical competencies needed (for example, collecting statistical data) and defining behavioral competencies. Behavioral competencies may have a
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customer focus, such as the ability to show empathy and support of customers’ feelings and points of view, or a work management focus, such as the ability to complete tasks efficiently or to know when to seek guidance.
In addition, make the organization’s culture clear by discussing the values that underpin the organization—describe your organization’s “heroes.” For example, are the heroes of your company the people who go the extra mile to get customers to smile? Are they the people who toil through the night to develop new code? Are they the ones who can network and reach a company president to make the sale? By sharing such stories of company heroes with your potential hires, you’ll help reinforce what makes your company unique. This, in turn, will help the job candidates determine whether they’ll fit into your organization’s culture.
Job Design
Design jobs that involve doing a whole piece of work and are challenging but doable. Job designrefers to the process of putting together various elements to form a job, bearing in mind organizational and individual worker requirements, as well as considerations of health, safety, and ergonomics. Train employees to have the knowledge and skills to perform all parts of their job and give them the authority and accountability to do so. Job enrichment is important for retaining your employees.
One company that does training right is Motorola. As a global company, Motorola operates in many countries, including China. Operating in China presents particular challenges in terms of finding and hiring skilled employees. In a recent survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, 37% of U.S.-owned enterprises operating in China said that recruiting skilled employees was their biggest operational problem. Indeed, more companies cited HR as a problem than cited regulatory concerns, bureaucracy, or infringement on intellectual property rights. The reason is that Chinese universities do not turn out candidates with the skills that multinational companies need. As a result, Motorola has created its own training and development programs to bridge the gap. For example, Motorola’s China Accelerated Management Program is designed for local managers. Another program, Motorola’s Management Foundation program, helps train managers in areas such as communication and problem solving. Finally, Motorola offers a high-tech MBA program in partnership with Arizona State University and Tsinghua University so that top employees can earn an MBA in-house. Such programs are tailor-made to the low-skilled but highly motivated Chinese employees.
Compensation and Rewards
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Evaluate and pay people based on their performance, not simply for showing up on the job. Offer rewards for skill development and organizational performance, emphasizing teamwork, collaboration, and responsibility for performance. Help employees identify new skills to develop so that they can advance and achieve higher pay and rewards. Compensation systems that include incentives, gainsharing, profit-sharing, and skill-based pay reward employees who learn new skills and put those skills to work for the organization. Employees who are trained in a broad range of skills and problem solving are more likely to grow on the job and feel more satisfaction. Their training enables them to make more valuable contributions to the company, which, in turn, gains them higher rewards and greater commitment to the company. The company likewise benefits from employees’ increased flexibility, productivity, and commitment.
When employees have access to information and the authority to act on that information, they’re more involved in their jobs and more likely to make the right decision and take the necessary actions to further the organization’s goals. Similarly, rewards need to be linked to performance, so that employees are naturally inclined to pursue outcomes that will gain them rewards and further the organization’s success at the same time.
Diversity Management
Another key to successful SHRM in today’s business environment is embracing diversity. In past decades, “diversity” meant avoiding discrimination against women and minorities in hiring. Today, diversity goes far beyond this limited definition; diversity management involves actively appreciating and using the differing perspectives and ideas that individuals bring to the workplace. Diversity is an invaluable contributor to innovation and problem-solving success. As James Surowiecki shows in The Wisdom of Crowds, the more diverse the group in terms of expertise, gender, age, and background, the more ability the group has to avoid the problems of groupthink. Diversity helps company teams to come up with more creative and effective solutions. Teams whose members have complementary skills are often more successful because members can see one another’s blind spots. Members will be more inclined to make different kinds of mistakes, which means that they’ll be able to catch and correct those mistakes.
Key Takeaway
Human resources management is becoming increasingly important in organizations because today’s knowledge economy requires employees to contribute ideas and be engaged in executing the company’s strategy. HR is thus becoming a strategic partner by identifying the skills that employees need and then providing employees with the training and structures needed to develop and deploy those competencies. All the elements of HR—selection,
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placement, job design, and compensation—need to be aligned with the company’s strategy so that the right employees are hired for the right jobs and rewarded properly for their contributions to furthering the company’s goals.
Exercises
1. What are the advantages of the new SHRM approach?
2. Name three elements of HR.
3. What must HR do to be a true strategic partner of the company?
4. What benefits does a diverse workforce provide the company?
5. If you were an HR manager, what steps would you take to minimize the outsourcing of jobs
in your department?
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A guide to strategic human resource planning
A guide to strategic human resource planning By Gary Watkins, www.workinfo.com (http://www.workinfo.com/)
1. Introduction
A comprehensive Human Resource Strategy plays a vital role in the achievement of an organisation's overall strategic objectives and visibly illustrates that the human resources function fully understands and supports the direction in which the organisation is moving. A comprehensive HR Strategy will also support other specific strategic objectives undertaken by the marketing, financial, operational and technology departments.
In essence, an HR strategy should aim to capture "the people element" of what an organisation is hoping to achieve in the medium to long term, ensuring that:-
ithas the right people in place ithas the right mix of skills employees display the right attitudes and behaviours, and employees are developed in the right way.
If, as is sometimes the case, organisation strategies and plans have been developed without any human resource input, the justification for the HR strategy may be more about teasing out the implicit people factors which are inherent in the plans, rather than simply summarising their explicit "people" content.
An HR strategy will add value to the organisation if it:
articulates more clearly some of the common themes which lie behind the achievement of other plans and strategies, which have not been fully identified before; and identifies fundamental underlying issues which must be addressed by any organisation or business if its people are to be motivated, committed and operate effectively.
The first of these areas will entail a careful consideration of existing or developing plans and strategies to identify and draw attention to common themes and implications, which have not been made explicit previously.
The second area should be about identifying which of these plans and strategies are so fundamental that there must be clear plans to address them before the organisation can achieve on any of its goals. These are likely to include:
workforce planning issues succession planning workforce skills plans employment equity plans black economic empowerment initiatives motivation and fair treatment issues pay levels designed to recruit, retain and motivate people the co-ordination of approaches to pay and grading across the organisation to create alignment and potential unequal pay claims
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a grading and remuneration system which is seen as fair and giving proper reward for contributions made wider employment issues which impact on staff recruitment, retention, motivation etc. a consistent performance management framework which is designed to meet the needs of all sectors of the organisation including its people career development frameworks which look at development within the organisation at equipping employees with "employability" so that they can cope with increasingly frequent changes in employer and employment patterns policies and frameworks to ensure that people development issues are addressed systematically : competence frameworks, self-managed learning etc.
The HR strategy will need to show that careful planning of the people issues will make it substantially easier for the organisation to achieve its wider strategic and operational goals.
In addition, the HR strategy can add value is by ensuring that, in all its other plans, the organisation takes account of and plans for changes in the wider environment, which are likely to have a major impact on the organisation, such as:
changes in the overall employment market - demographic or remuneration levels cultural changes which will impact on future employment patterns changes in the employee relations climate changes in the legal framework surrounding employment HR and employment practice being developed in other organisations, such as new flexible work practices.
Finding the right opportunity to present a case for developing an HR Strategy is critical to ensuring that there will be support for the initiative, and that its initial value will be recognised by the organisation.
Giving a strong practical slant to the proposed strategy may help gain acceptance for the idea, such as focusing on good management practice. It is also important to build "early or quick wins" into any new strategy.
Other opportunities may present the ideal moment to encourage the development of an HR Strategy:-
a major new internal initiative could present the right opportunity to push for an accompanying HR strategy, such as a restructuring exercise, a corporate acquisition, joint venture or merger exercise. a new externally generated initiative could similarly generate the right climate for a new HR strategy - e.g. Black economic empowerment initiatives. In some instances, even negative news may provide the "right moment", for example, recent industrial action or employee dissatisfaction expressed through a climate survey.
2. Making the HR Strategy integral to the organisation
The human resources practitioner should ensure that the HR Strategy is integrated with broader organisational objectives. Above all, it should ensure that the rest of the organisation accepts the Strategy. To achieve this objective, practitioners should:-
consult all stakeholders on the nature of the strategy; cultivate and develop allies and supporters of the strategy through the consultation process; focus on the benefits which are being derived from the strategy through talking to and persuading others, and by marketing the benefits of the strategy with concrete examples of how it has helped; check that there is real commitment to the strategy at all levels of the organisation; give regular feedback on the implementation of the plan through employee newsletters, exhibitions etc; where possible, build into the strategy quantifiable outcomes which can be easily monitored and evaluated, so that it is possible to show the effect; make the strategy part of the induction process - especially for senior managers.
3. A strategic human resource planning model
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There is no single approach to developing a Human Resources Strategy. The specific approach will vary from one organisation to another. Even so, an excellent approach towards an HR Strategic Management System is evident in the model presented below. This approach identifies six specific steps in developing an HR Strategy:-
1. Setting the strategic direction 2. Designing the Human Resource Management System 3. Planning the total workforce 4. Generating the required human resources 5. Investing in human resource development and performance 6. Assessing and sustaining organisational competence and performance
Source: A Strategic Human Resource Management System for the 21st Century. Naval Personnel Task Force, September 2000
The six broad interconnected components of this system consist of three planning steps and three execution steps.
The top three components represent the need for planning. Organizations must determine their strategic direction and the outcomes they seek. This is usually accomplished with some form of strategic planning. Classic strategic planning is a formal, top-down, staff-driven process. When done well, it is workable at a time when external change occurs at a more measured pace.
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However as the pace and magnitude of change increases, the approach to strategic planning changes substantially:
First, the planning process is more agile; changes in plans are much more frequent and are often driven by events rather than made on a predetermined time schedule. Second, the planning process is more proactive. Successful organizations no longer simply respond to changes in their environment, they proactively shape their environment to maximize their own effectiveness. Third, the planning process is no longer exclusively top-down; input into the process comes from many different organizational levels and segments. This creates more employee ownership of the plan and capitalises on the fact that often the most valuable business intelligence can come from employees who are at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. Lastly, the strategic planning process less reactive and more driven by line leadership.
Once strategic planning is under way, a process must be undertaken by the organization to design and align its HRM policies and practices to provide for organizational success. The remaining step in planning is to determine the quality and quantity of human resources the organization needs for its total force.
The rest of the HR strategic system exists for and is guided by these plans, policies, and practices. These execution components contain mechanisms that generate the correct skill sets, invest in staff development and performance, and productively employ them in the organisation. The last component provides a means to assess and sustain the competence and performance of the organization and the people in it with regard to outcomes that the organization seeks.
4. Analysis
Using the process model discussed earlier, the specific components of the HR Strategic Plan are discussed in greater detail below.
4.1 Setting the strategic direction
This process focuses on aligning human resource policies to support the accomplishment of the Company's mission, vision, goals and strategies. The business' goals sit at the heart of any HR strategy and in order to align business and HR you need to answer one key question, "Can your organisation's internal capability deliver the organisation’s business goals?"
Many organisations cite their people as their primary source of competitive advantage. Successful companies continuously identify and adopt innovative human resource management policies and practices to sustain that advantage. More importantly, they structure work and design training, performance management, pay, and reward policies to help members of the organization succeed in achieving desired organizational outcomes. In other words, they integrate and align HRM policies and practices to reinforce employee behaviors that can best realize the leaders' strategic intent. In the most successful companies, the set of policies and practices that collectively make up a company's HRM system is the critical management tool for communicating and reinforcing the leaders' strategic intent.
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Recommended actions:-
Conduct an external environmental scan and evaluate its impact on the organisation Identify the organisation's vision, mission and guiding principles Identify the mission's outcomes and strategic goals Consult all relevant stakeholders Evaluate the impact of legislation on the organisation
4.2 Designing the Human Resource Management System
This stage focuses on the selection, design and alignment of HRM plans, policies and practices. Various options may be open to the organisation such as drawing on industry best practices.
Emerging HRM policies and practices range from outsourcing certain non-core functions, adopting flexible work practices (telework, work from home) and the increased use of information technology. Not every industry trend may be appropriate for a specific organisation. In addition, it is essential that a cost-benefit analysis of implementing new HRM policies and practices be undertaken. For example, the costs (monetary and in allocation of resources) of implementing a new job grading system may outweigh the benefit of such an undertaking. There may be more cost- effective alternatives available to the organisation at this point in time.
Particular HRM policies and practices may be necessary to support strategic organisational objectives, such as improving the retention of women in the organisation or promoting diversity, especially the representation of designated groups amongst senior management.
A good approach in selecting the appropriate HRM policies, procedures and practices is to identify the appropriate HRM practices which support the organisation's strategic intent as it relates to recruitment, training, career planning and reward management.
Recommended actions:-
Identify appropriate human resource plans, policies and practices needed to support organisational objectives Identify relevant human resource best practices Conduct an employment systems review
4.3 Planning the total workforce
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Determining future business requirements, especially those relating to manpower requirements, represents one of the most challenging tasks facing human resource practitioners.
The development of a workforce plan is a critical component of any human resource strategy and one of the expected outcomes of human resource practitioners activities. Despite this, manpower or workforce planning, as well as succession planning, has only recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. To some extent this has been prompted by the need to develop employment equity and workplace skills plans and set numerical employment equity targets. The failure of many organisations to develop and implement workforce planning is rather indicative of the lack of strategic planning itself.
Workforce planningis a systematic process of identifying the workforce competencies required to meet the company's strategic goals and for developing the strategies to meet these requirements. It is a methodical process that provides managers with a framework for making human resource decisions based on the organization’s mission, strategic plan, budgetary resources, and a set of desired workforce competencies. Workforce planning is a systematic process that is integrated, methodical, and ongoing. It identifies the human capital required to meet organisational goals, which consists of determining the number and skills of the workers required and where and when they will be needed. Finally workforce planning entails developing the strategies to meet these requirements, which involves identifying actions that must be taken to attract (and retain) the number and types of workers the organisation needs.
A workforce plan can be as simple or as complex as the organisational requires. Workforce planning can be conducted for a department, division or for the organisation as a whole. Whatever the level or approach being adopted, it must nevertheless be integrated with broad-based management strategies.
In addition to workforce planning, ensure that organisational structure and jobs ensure the efficient delivery of services and effective management of the organisation as a whole.
Recommended actions:-
Determine the appropriate organisational structure to support the strategic objectives Structure jobs (competencies, tasks and activities) around key activities Develop a workforce plan designed to support the organisations strategic objectives Compile workforce profiles, identifying designated groups, an inventory of current workforce competencies, competencies required in the future and identified gaps in competencies
4.4 Generating the required human resources
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This process focuses on recruiting, hiring, classifying, training and assigning employees based on the strategic imperatives of the organisation's workforce plan.
A comprehensive workplace skills plan will identify appropriate training priorities based on the organisations workforce needs now and in the future. New recruitment practices may need to be adopted to increase the representation of designated groups, or securing essential skills in the organisation. A comprehensive "learnership strategy" may assist in developing future workforce needs, identified either in terms of the organisations workforce plan or required in terms of industry black economic empowerment charters.
Recommended actions:-
Evaluate recruitment and selection practices in light of the organisation’s strategic objectives Develop and implement a comprehensive workplace skills plan (with a thorough training needs analysis) Implement a learnership strategy Adopt or clarify occupational levels and category classifications
4.5 Investing in human resource development and performance
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Traditional approaches to career planning, performance appraisals, reward management and employee development must be re-appraised in light of the vision, characteristics and mission outcomes as reflected in the HRM plans, policies, and practices.
Development responses will aim to increase business skills, the application of business skills (sometimes called competencies) and the behavioural elements - all of which contribute to an organisation's effective performance. In many ways, the Skills Development legislation have required organisations to re-engineer their developmental methods and practices. New concepts such as lifelong learning and recognising prior learning should form an integral component of the process of investing in employees.
Clearly, where a workforce planning exercise reveals that there is little projected growth in the workforce or that promotional or career development opportunities are limited, strategies aimed at employee retention will be very different from organisations which are experiencing considerable growth and expansion.
Investment initiatives for the individual, team and organisation are all geared to achieve high levels of organisational performance. It is important that at an individual level, particularly for senior staff, that they feel their development needs are agreed and that they are provided with the skills to do their jobs. At a team level, it defines the individuals' ability to work flexibly with others and align individual and team skills and activities to business goals - all of which ensures that the organisation is equipped to achieve its goals.
Reward strategies aim to align the performance of the organisation with the way it rewards its people, providing the necessary incentives and motivation to staff. Its components can be a combination of base pay, bonuses, profit sharing, share options, and a range of appropriate benefits, usually based on market or competitor norms and the organisation's ability to pay.
Recommended actions:-
Identify appropriate policies, procedures and practices in respect of
Career pathing Performance appraisals Employee development and learning Reward Management (compensation and benefits) Promotions and job assignments Separation
4.6 Assessing and sustaining organisational competence and performance
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GARY WATKINS (/INDEX.PHP/ARTICLES/ITEMLIST/USER/154-
GARYWATKINS)
Gary Watkins
Managing Director
BA LLB
C: +27 (0)82 416 7712
T: +27 (0)10 035 4185 (Office)
F: +27 (0)86 689 7862
Finally, few organizations effectively measure how well their different inputs affect performance. In particular, no measures may be in place for quantifying the contribution people make to organizational outcomes or, more important, for estimating how changes in policies and practices, systems, or processes will affect that contribution. Implementing clear quantifiable measures, identifying milestones in the achievement of specific organisational goals, and using concepts such as a "balanced scorecard" will articulate the results of the HR Strategic Plan in measurable terms. Regular evaluation of the plan will also assist in fine-tuning the HR strategic plan itself.
Recommended actions:-
Evaluate organisation culture and climate Implement succession planning Evaluate HR strategy using quantifiable measures, e.g. balanced scorecard Revise and adapt HR strategy
5. Conclusion
While HR strategies must be developed to support the achievement of the organisation's objectives, it is a two-way process. HR strategies can themselves be critical inputs in determining the strategic initiatives for the organisation. A fatal error, however, is to develop and implement HR strategies without having regard for the goals and objectives which the organisation has explicitly or implicitly identified. A common mistake is the development of workplace skills plans which are not linked to any strategic goals or objectives or which have no affirmative action components.
Similarly, the isolated identification of affirmative action numerical targets without first conducting a workforce and succession planning exercise is in most instances, simply meaningless.
References:
The approach adopted in this article is substantially based on the SHRM Model developed by the Naval Personnel Task Force, US Department of Navy. The material presented here is in the public domain. A Strategic Human Resource Management System for the 21st Century. Naval Personnel Task Force, US Department of Navy, September 2000 Developing a Human Resources Strategy A good practice guide. South East Employers, June 1999 The Human Resources Standards Generating Body has developed a specific Unit Standard addressing the development of a Strategic Human Resource Plan, entitled "Contribute input into the human resources management strategic plan".
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ARE WE THERE YET? What’s Next for HR Dave Ulrich - Professor, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and Partner, the RBL Group
Copyright 2010 the RBL Group. Reprinted with permission.
Executive Education
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ARE WE THERE YET? What’s Next for HR
Anyone who has been on a trip with a child has heard the endless question “Are we there yet?” At fi rst, the question captures the excitement of the child anticipating a new place. After awhile, the questioning becomes exasperating and only adds to the length of the journey.
Many in HR seem to be asking the same question, “Are we there yet?” Too often, many in HR seek but never seem to arrive at their destination. Professional conferences continue to lament HR more as an administrative service or compliance function than a business partner. Sometimes these lamentations only lengthen the journey to HR credibility. Maybe HR’s aspiration for the future is less a specifi c destination that pinpoints when we have arrived and more a direction for aspiring HR professionals to help their organizations succeed. Most HR professionals have made enormous progress in the last few decades in their professional stature and contribution to business success. But the journey ahead should focus on the intent to deliver ongoing and increas- ing value, rather than striving for an end point when that value will be realized. In the spirit of simplicity, let me suggest steps in the journey ahead and discuss them accordingly:i
1. One mega-message for HR’s direction: The creation of value.
2: Two components of HR’s relationship to the business: • Context: Understanding the changing business setting
which redefi nes work. • Stakeholders: Recognizing and serving both internal and
external stakeholders who are the recipients of HR work. 3: Three targets or outcomes of HR work:
• Individuals as evidenced through a formula for productivity which is competence * commitment * contribution.
• Organizations as defi ned by their capabilities more than their structures.
• Leaders whose thoughts and actions embody the fi rm’s brand.
4: Four domains of HR investments: • HR departments where strategies and structures need
to be designed to deliver value. • HR practices which need to be aligned, integrated,
and innovative. • HR professionals who must have the competencies
to respond to future demands. • HR analytics where HR investments can be tracked
and monitored. The logic for HR’s future is simple. We begin with a direction: HR should add value. This direction needs to be connected to the business, both the business context which shapes decision making and specifi c stakeholders around whom business strategies are created. Out of this context, HR defi nes targets for HR work: individual abilities (talent), organization capabilities (culture), and leadership. Finally, HR budget and people investments redefi ne the HR organization that makes the above happen. But he simple logic requires more detailed assessment to accomplish the jour- ney. In this article, I want to propose “what’s next” in each of these four areas (see summary in Figure 1).
1. One Mega-Message for HR’s Direction: The Creation of Value
In seminars with HR professionals, I often start with a simple question, “What is the greatest challenge you face in your job today?” Inevitably, the answers are around things like building credibility with my line managers, managing the fl ow of talent (bringing in new people, matching people to jobs, or removing people), handling employee grievances, managing HR costs effi ciently, and so forth. My sense is that many of these appropriate responses need to move forward. I suggest that the HR profession has been through three general waves (see Figure 2). Wave 1 was the administrative work of HR, where HR focused on terms and conditions of work, delivering HR services, and working on regulatory compliance.
Dave Ulrich - Professor, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and Partner, the RBL Group
i The frameworks and ideas in this monograph represent my view of the future of HR but are drawn from collaborations and conversations with my partners at the University of Michigan and in the RBL Group (www.rbl.net), Wayne Brockbank, Norm Smallwood, and Jon Younger. In addition, I have drawn extensively on ideas from consulting and academic thought leaders as summarized in the Appendix.
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Wave 2 was the design of innovative HR practices in sourcing, compensation or rewards, learning, communication, and so forth. Wave 3 has been the connection of these practices to business success through strategic HR. Wave 4, which is emerging, is using HR practices to respond to and create value based on external business conditions. Many of the responses I get to my query, “What is your biggest challenge?” target Waves 1 and 2. HR professionals are consumed with the hurdles they immediately face in doing the HR work itself. These are legitimate and relevant concerns. In recent con- versations, a number of senior HR executives have shared with me that HR has forgotten these basics, and without doing the basics well, the aspirations of business contribution remain unrealized dreams. I advocate a simple two-word question that moves HR forward: “so that.” My challenge is to build credibility with my line manag- ers so that we can make better investments that help the business reach its goals. The “so that” question pushes HR professionals to see the outcome of their work, not just the work itself, moving from waves 1 and 2 to 3 and eventually 4.
I also like to pose a second “so that” question that moves us from connecting HR to the business (Wave 3 in Figure 2) to connect- ing HR to the broader business context in which business oper- ates: My challenge is to build credibility with my line managers so that we can make better investments that help the business reach its goals so that we can anticipate and respond to external busi- ness conditions and deliver value to customers and investors. By doing the two “so that” queries, HR professionals shift from an inside/out to an outside/in approach to HR work. In a recent seminar, a participant said the “outside/in” approach is new, but not really a dramatic shift in HR thinking. I believe she missed the point. HR from the outside/in is a seismic shift in how HR thinks and acts. We no longer create value just by serving employees; we must also make sure that services we off er inside the company align to expectations outside the company. For example, we want to be the employer of choice of employees our customers would choose. We want to build on our strengths that will strengthen oth- ers. Every HR practice can be transformed by seeing the value that it creates for those outside the company. This positions HR not just to respond to strategy, but also to help shape and create it.
Issue Where We’ve Been Where We Are Going 1: HR mega
message HR from the inside/out: Administer HR; Redesign HR practices; Link HR to strategy
HR from the outside/in: Use HR to create value inside with employees and organizations and outside with customers, investors, and communities
2: HR’s relation- ship to the business
Use HR to drive internal effi ciency Understand business context; Defi ne HR value outside/in, through eyes of customers and investors
3: HR’s targets or outcomes
HR builds talent and improves employee results
Increase employee productivity (competence * commitment * contribution); Improve organization capabilities (culture or processes); Ensure leadership as a brand throughout the organization
4: Domains for HR invest- ments
Restructure HR departments: Seek the latest HR structural fad
Build HR departments as if they are a professional service organization within their organization
Reengineer HR practices: Seek best practices; Off er piecemeal HR solutions
Off er aligned, integrated, and innovate HR practices around people, perfor- mance, information, and work
Upgrade HR professionals: Ad hoc investment in HR careers
Ensure that HR professionals have the right competencies to deliver value and build HR career
Track or measure HR progress: Measure what is easy and often activity-based
Create HR analytics focused on the right issues
Figure 1: Overview of What’s Next for HR
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Defi ning value with an outside/in approach starts when HR pro- fessionals understand their business context and key stakeholders.
2. Two Components of HR’s Relationship to the Business: Context and Stakeholders A number of entrepreneurs have asked my opinion about their business. Inevitably, they are excited about their new product or service. They often have invested much of their personal wealth and energy to design and deliver their product. I almost always respond with two simple questions: [1] What are the general problems you are trying to solve, and [2] Who are your targeted customers who will buy your products or services? Too often entrepreneurs cannot completely answer these questions because they are so excited by their product that they are blinded to external realities. Likewise, HR professionals need to approach their work from the outside/in and deliver value by understanding the business context for their organization and by identifying and serving specifi c stakeholders.
Business Context A senior business leader with responsibility for over 100 countries asked me in a coaching session how to better understand the context for how his business operated in each of these countries.
He knew that local leaders had both insights and accountability for work in their country, but he felt a responsibility to help them by understanding the context in which they did business. We developed a STEPED framework which captures the business context that he could pay attention to in each country (see Figure 3). It includes: • Social Trends: health care, lifestyle, and family patterns • Technological Trends: access to and use of the intern • Economic Trends: infl ation, recession, and key industries • Political Trends: elections, regulatory requirements,
and political stability • Environmental Trends: issues around sustainability • Demographic Trends: age, education, race,
gender, income issues When leaders have a working knowledge of these STEPED issues, they can oversee and guide decisions that aff ect that market. These STEPED issues redefi ne the nature of what work will be and how work will be done.1 Likewise, HR professionals should be aware of how these external business factors impact their organizations and the work of HR.
Figure 2: HR evolution and mega message
Wave 1 HR Administration
Wave 2 HR Practices
Wave 3 HR Strategy
Wave 4 HR and Context
H R
Ev ol
ut io
n
Time
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Social trends may aff ect what makes an eff ective employee value proposition. Technological trends may aff ect the extent to which work can be done in remote sites. Economic trends may aff ect opportunities for investment and growth of products and talent. Political trends may aff ect the regulatory and compliance obliga- tions for a company. Environmental trends may shape the social responsibility initiatives that help attract talent. Demographic trends may aff ect where to source talent (e.g., if there are limited demographics, it may help to build relationships with immigrant groups). In the future, HR professionals should be conversant with these general business conditions in a global context so that they can anticipate what might happen next to their industry and organization and prepare to respond accordingly.
Stakeholders Within a business context, stakeholders have specifi c relationships with an organization. In Figure 4, I lay out fi ve key stakeholders who receive value from HR work. Traditionally, HR work focuses inside a company with employees who seek to be productive and line managers who work to implement strategies. HR investments should enhance both employee productivity and a line manager’s ability to deliver on strategy. With the outside/in focus, HR can now also be aligned to external stakeholders. Investments in HR should increase customer share. When HR practices are aligned around customer expecta- tions, those practices increase customer connection to the fi rm.
Figure 3: STEPED
Category STEPED Questions to ask
Social • What are health patterns (physical, emotional)? • What are family patterns (married, not married, divorced, # of children)? • What are religious trends (heritage, activity)? • What is urban/rural mix and movement? • What is life style (workday, weekends, dominant hobbies)? • What is home ownership (apartment, home)? • What are the social problems (e.g., drugs, crime)? • Who are the heroes or famous people from this area (past and present)? • What are the diet and eating patterns?
Technical • What are their communication mechanisms (media, television) and how independent are they? • What is level of technological maturity within the geography (internet use, computer access)? • What is their use of social media?
Economic • What is the Gross Domestic Product? Relative to others, how is it doing? • What economic cycle are they in (recession, growth)? • What is unemployment? • What are leading industries? Companies? • What is economic gap of haves vs. have nots (size of middle class)?
Political • What is their political history? • How much political stability is there? • How much regulation vs. private enterprise exists? (what is the role of government in industry?) • How open (vs. repressive) is their government? • What is their political heritage (democracy, socialism, parliament, king or family rule)? • What are the political “hot topics” that exist? • What is the relationship of the military and government? • How much corruption is there in decision making?
Environmental • What are the environmental issues that people are worried about? • How does the geography participate in global conferences and trends?
Demographic • What is the average age? • What is the birthrate? • What is the education level? (public vs. private) • What is the income level? (income disparity)
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Customers can help with sourcing talent by participating in setting criteria for who is hired, by off ering referrals on who might be interviewed, and by participating in some of the interviews. Customers may be involved in determining what training to off er, by attending training courses as participants, or by teaching some of the training sessions. Investments in HR can also increase investor confi dence in the fi rm’s ability to deliver on future promises. With about 50% of a publicly traded fi rm’s market value tied to intangibles, HR work can center on delivering a return on intangibles that comes when promises are kept, strategies are clearly articulated, organizations have core competencies or technical ability to deliver on strate- gies, and organizations have capabilities that ensure long-term success. HR professionals can architect the intangible value that investors receive. Investments in HR also increase a fi rm’s reputation within the community. HR can participate in social responsibility agendas by helping manage the company’s philanthropy and community service activities, by being disciplined about the carbon foot-
print of the company, and by creating positive work/life balance employee policies. HR policies and professionals may shape an organization’s reputation. As HR professionals understand both the business context and relationships with key stakeholders, they change their conversa- tions with business leaders. The conversation does not start with what HR is about; it starts with what the business is trying to accomplish. An HR professional who was clamoring to be invited to the strategic table and conversation fi nally got his wish, and he attended the strategic meetings. In the fi rst meeting, the focus was on doing business in emerging markets, and he was not sure what HR could contribute. In the second meeting, the focus was on the economic condition of the organization and managing costs, and again he was silent waiting for an appropriate HR topic. In the third meeting, the focus was on product innovation for the changing societal conditions, and he still waited to comment. He was not invited to the fourth meeting. Knowing the business con- text and the key stakeholders would have enabled him to engage in strategy conversations without waiting for a more explicit HR topic to come up.
Figure 4: HR and Key Stakeholders
Customer Customer Share
Employee Today/Tomorrow
Productivity: Competence * Commitment * Contribution
Line Manager Strategy Execution
Community Reputation
Investor Intangibles/Confi dence
HR Stakeholders (external view)
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3. Three Targets or Outcomes of HR Work: Individuals, the Organization, and Leadership
When HR professionals participate in strategy or business conver- sations, what are the unique contributions they can make? Imagine the above HR professional who sits in meetings on emerging mar- kets, managing costs, or increasing innovation. HR contributions in these settings are not just about the activities of HR (sourcing, compensation, training); they are also about the outcomes of HR work. I like to think about three targets or outcomes of HR work: Individuals, the organization, and leadership (see Figure 5). To deliver any strategy, individuals need to be more productive, orga- nizations need to have the right capabilities, and leadership needs to be widely shared throughout the organization. With discussing emerging markets, cost, or innovation, HR professionals can ask: • Individuals: What talent do we need to make this strategy
happen? • The Organization: What organization capabilities do we need
to make this strategy happen? • Leadership: What do our leaders need to be good at to make
this strategy happen? Once these targets or outcomes have been defi ned, the HR practices may be designed and delivered to accomplish these outcomes. Below we highlight some of the future thinking for each of the three targets of HR.
Individual Ability (Talent) At the risk of grossly oversimplifying, let me suggest that there is actually a deceptively simple formula for talent assessment that can help HR professionals and their general managers make
talent more productive: Talent = Competence * Commitment * Contribution. Competence means that individuals have the knowledge, skills, and values required for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs. One com- pany clarifi ed competence as right skills, right place, right job, right time. For example, an emerging trend in the workforce planning domain of competence improvement is to identify key positions and match people to positions. Competence clearly matters because incompetence leads to poor decision-making. But without commitment, competence is discounted. Highly compe- tent employees who are not committed are smart but don’t work very hard. Committed or engaged employees work hard, put in their time, and do what they are asked to do. Commitment trends focus on building an employee value proposition to ensure that employees who give value to their organization will in turn receive value back. In the last decade, commitment and competence have been the bailiwicks for talent. We have found, however, that while the next generation of employees may be competent (able to do the work) and committed (willing to do the work), their interest and productivity wanes unless they feel they are making a real contribution (fi nding meaning and purpose in the work). Contribution occurs when employees feel that their personal needs are being met through their participation in their organiza- tion. Leaders who are meaning makers help employees fi nd a sense of contribution through the work that they do. HR profes- sionals who architect abundant organizations embed this meaning throughout the organization. Organizations may be a universal setting where individuals fi nd abundance in their lives through their work, and they want this investment of their time to be meaningful. Simply stated, competence deals with the head (be- ing able), commitment with the hands and feet (being there), and contribution with the heart (simply being).
Leadership Brand
Culture, Workplace, Teamwork
Talent, Workforce, People
Organization Capabilities
In di
vid ua
l A bi
lit ies
Figure 5: Targets or Outcomes of HR work
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In this talent equation, the three terms are multiplicative, not additive. If any one is missing, the other two will not replace it. A low score in competence will not ensure talent even when the employee is engaged and contributing. Talented employees must have skills, wills, and purposes; they must be capable, committed, and contributing. HR leaders can engage their general manag- ers to identify and improve each of these three dimensions to increase individual ability and gain productivity.
Organization Capability (Culture) Talent is not enough. Great individuals who do not work well together as a team, or in their organization, will not be successful. Some simple statistics show the importance of teamwork over talent: • In hockey, the leading scorer is on the team that wins
the Stanley Cup 22 percent of the time. • In soccer, the winner of the Golden Boot (leading scorer)
is on the team that wins the World Cup 20 percent of the time. • In basketball, the player who scores the most points is on
the team that wins the NBA Finals 15 percent of the time. • In movies, the winner of the Oscar® for leading actor or
actress is in the movie that wins the Best Picture of the Year 15 percent of the time.
Great individual talent may succeed 15 to 20 percent of the time, but teamwork matters most. In recent years, people have called for human resources to be relabeled as the talent function, with a focus on workforce, people, and competencies. Without attend- ing to teamwork, workplace, processes, and culture, HR misses opportunities to have sustainable impact. HR professionals sitting in business discussions in the future need to off er insights on organizations as well as individuals. The organization of the future exists today but not in the tra- ditional sense. Generally, when thinking about an organization, we turn to morphology (the study of structure or form), and we defi ne an organization by its roles, rules, and routines: • Roles defi ne the hierarchy of who reports to whom and who has
accountability for work. • Rules represent policies and prescriptions for how work is done. • Routines refl ect processes or cultures within the work place. Combined, these three traditional factors capture an organiza- tion’s structure or shape. In the last decade, however, a lot of restructuring has been done to right-size, reshape, reengineer, redesign, de-layer, and rebuild organizations based on these three factors. Although this restructuring work encapsulates organiza- tion design, it is only a small part of the complete organization of the future.
When we work with executives to defi ne the organization of the future, we ask them a simple question: “Can you name a company you admire?” The list of admired companies varies, but it often includes such well-known fi rms as General Electric, Apple, Disney, Google, Microsoft, and Unilever. We then ask the executives, “How many levels of management are in the admired fi rm?” Almost no one knows. More important, no one really cares — because we do not admire an organization because of its roles, rules, or routines. Instead, we admire General Electric because of its capacity to build leaders in diverse industries; we admire Apple because it seems to continu- ally design easy-to-use products; we admire Disney for the service we experience; and we admire Google and Microsoft for their ability to innovate and shape their industry. In other words, organi- zations are not known for their structure but for their capabilities. Capabilities represent what the organization is known for, what it is good at doing, and how it patterns activities to deliver value. The capabilities defi ne many of the intangibles that investors pay attention to, the fi rm brand to which customers can relate, and the culture that shapes employee behavior. These capabilities also become the identity of the fi rm, the deliverables of HR practices, and the key to implementing business strategy. A Duke Corpo- rate Education client study2 found HR professionals today are “shifting their focus from individual competency to organizational capability.” McKinsey also looked to the future and found that capabilities will become more important than individual compe- tencies: “Nearly 60 percent of respondents to a recent McKinsey survey say that building organizational capabilities such as lean operations or project or talent management is a top-three priority for their companies. Yet only a third of companies actually focus their training programs on building the capability that adds the most value to their companies’ business performance.” 3
Competencies represent the abilities of individuals, and capabilities capture the organization’s identity (see Figure 6). In Figure 6, the individual-technical cell (1) represents a person’s functional competence, such as technical expertise in marketing, fi nance, or manufacturing. The individual-social cell (2) is about a person’s leadership ability — for instance, to set direction, commu- nicate a vision, and motivate people. The organizational-technical cell (3) comprises a company’s core technical competencies. For example, a fi nancial services fi rm must know how to manage risk. The organizational-social cell (4) represents an organization’s underlying DNA, culture, and personality. 4 In the future, HR professionals will work to identify and build capabilities. Some of the traditional and accepted capabilities that have been discussed extensively have included effi ciency (e.g., lean manufacturing), globalization, quality, customer service, and speed of change or agility. I would anticipate that some emerg- ing capabilities for organizations to succeed in the future might include:
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• Risk management. In volatile and changing markets, organiza- tions that can anticipate and manage risk will be more able to create sustainable change.5
• Social responsibility. With an increasing concern on environ- mental issues, organizations that have the ability to be socially responsible will attract employees, customers, and investors.
• Simplicity. As the business world becomes more complex, organizations that can remain simple in product design, cus- tomer interfacing, and administrative systems will be more responsive.6
• Connection. With technology being the workplace of the future, organizations that can form connections among employ- ees, between employees and customers, and with partners will be more likely to have collaborative social networks around the world. 7
• Innovation. While not a new topic, innovation will increasingly be broadened to include not only products but also customer interfaces or channels, administrative processes, and business models.8
When HR professionals see the connection of organization capabilities to individual abilities, they begin to make the whole (organization) more than the sum of the individual parts (indi- vidual talent).
Leadership Brand Ultimately, leaders bring together both individuals and orga- nizations to solve customer problems. But there is a diff erence between leaders and leadership. Leaders refers to individuals who have unique abilities to guide the behavior of others. Leadership refers to an organization’s capacity to build future leaders. An individual leader matters, but an organization’s leadership matters more over time. Looking forward, HR professionals will need not
only to help individual leaders be more eff ective through coach- ing, 360-degree feedback, and individual development plans, but also to build leadership depth by investing in leadership develop- ment. In our studies of leadership, we have identifi ed fi ve things that HR professionals can do going forward to upgrade the quality of leadership: Build the business case for leadership. HR can show that the quality of leadership will drive performance both inside and outside the organization. Organizations with leadership depth will have the capacity to respond to changing business conditions, execute strategy, increase investor confi dence, and anticipate customer requirements. Defi ne leadership eff ectiveness from the outside/in. Consis- tent with the logic of creating value for external stakeholders, HR can help defi ne what makes an eff ective leader from the outside/ in. Often leadership success remains either inside the company (leaders learn from other leaders in the company who have succeeded) or inside the individual. In the future, I think that the criteria of leadership should start with customers. In a number of companies, we start to defi ne eff ective leadership by viewing the company’s commercials or other media presentations. These ex- ternally focused broadcasts defi ne the company’s intended brand. We then identify the leadership behaviors consistent with this external brand. When leaders inside the company behave consis- tently with the expectations of customers and other stakeholders outside the company, the leadership will be more sustainable and eff ective. HR professionals who defi ne internal leadership through external expectations will set more relevant and impactful leader- ship standards. Assess leaders. Once leadership standards are set, leaders need to be assessed on how well they meet those standards. With an external view, leadership 360’s may be expanded to 720’s where
Figure 6: Diff erentiating Competence vs. Capability
1 An individual’s
functional competence
3 An organization’s
core competencies
4 An organization’s
capabilities
2 An individual’s
leadership ability
Individual Te
ch ni
ca l
So cia
l Organizational
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customers, suppliers, communities, regulators, or other external stakeholders may be included in assessing targeted leaders. In one company, the board of directors now regularly assesses the CEO’s performance both inside the company with his team and among his employees, and outside the company with key stakeholders. This type of assessment off ers a more complete view of leaders who have roles with external stakeholders. Assessment also may help determine high-potential and future leaders by looking at the extent to which they have aspirations to lead, ability to meet future standards, and agility to learn and grow. HR professionals charged with leadership assessment may monitor current and aspiring leaders’ ability to serve customers. Invest in leadership. The traditional formula for leadership investment has been 70 – 20 – 10. The logic is that 70 percent of learning and development is on the job, 20 percent from feedback and observation of role models, and only 10 percent from training. We think that this formula should shift to something like: • 50 percent of learning from job experience, including role
models. Most learning still comes from doing and experiencing. • 30 percent of learning from updated training. Traditionally,
training is what we call a “tourist activity,” in which people visit the event, observe it, and may leave with a memento (the train- ing notebook is the equivalent of a tourist’s pictures) but little impact. We suggest guest training, where the participant in training is immersed in the business while in the training session. This means pre-work to know what the partici- pant should leave with, action learning during the training, live and relevant cases and problems to be solved, customers as faculty and participants, and follow-up to ensure that ideas taught had real impact.
• 20 percent of learning from life experience. Many of us learn from experiences outside of work, such as in families, social settings, social networks, volunteer work, reading, and traveling. When companies can encourage and access knowledge from these life experiences, leaders will broaden their repertoire. For example, one company uses their philanthropy eff orts as development opportunities for high-potential leaders.
This mix of leadership investments may be the basis for systematic development of leadership throughout an organization. Measure leadership. Leadership investments have often been measured using Kirkpatrick’s scale: attitude, knowl- edge, behavior, and results. This is an outstanding scale. I envision two changes in the future, both expanding on the results. First, in the case for leadership, HR professionals show how leadership will help an organization deliver value
to its stakeholders. This value should be measured as an indicator of leadership success. Second, we have talked about a new ROI for leadership (and HR), Return on Intangibles. As noted above, intangibles represent about 50 percent of a company’s market value. When we can link HR and leadership to this market value, the issues become even more salient to line managers.
Conclusion: Three Targets or Outcomes The targets or outcomes of HR may include individuals, organi- zations, and leadership. When sitting in business meetings, HR professionals who off er insights on how each of these targets can be aligned to deliver business results deliver value.
4. Four Domains of HR Investments Every few years someone writes an article or column that they “hate HR.” One of my fi rst reactions is, “What do you mean by “HR”? HR may refer to the HR function, HR practices, HR profes- sionals, or HR metrics. Investments in the future of each of these areas may mitigate the enmity that others feel toward HR. Let me off er some thoughts on the future of HR in each of the four areas: HR function, HR practices, HR people, and HR analytics (see Figure 7).
Figure 7: Domains for HR Investments
4 HR Analytics and Measures
3 HR
People
1 HR
Department
2 HR
Practices
HR Investments
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HR Function In the last decade, most HR functions have undergone transfor- mation. This generally implies redefi ning the goals and restructur- ing the function. The goals of an HR function should be drawn from the capabilities that the organization needs to succeed. If an organization requires innovation, speed, or leadership as its capa- bilities, these should be the goals of the HR function (often called HR vision, mission, or purpose statement). When the function’s goals and organization’s capabilities overlap, HR will be more able to contribute to business success. Restructuring HR has occurred with the delineation of the transaction and transformation work of HR. HR transaction work includes the administrative, compliance, and routine processes necessary to support an organization. Many of these processes may be more effi ciently accomplished through technology. By separating the administrative from strategy work, the HR function has mirrored changes in other staff groups (fi nance and account- ing, data centers and strategic formation systems, marketing, and sales). The structure of an HR department varies depending on the structure of the business.9 Companies typically organize along a grid of centralization/decentralization, which leads to three ge- neric ways in which a company operates (see Figure 8): functional organization, holding company, or diversifi ed/allied organization. The HR department should align with the structure of its business operations (Figure 9).
Functional Organization. When the company is comprised of a single business, it competes by gaining leverage and focus. The role of HR in the single business is to support that business focus through its people practices. Generally, startups and small companies have little or no HR staff . Until a company has 50 to 75 employees, it hardly needs a full-time HR professional; a line manager can usually handle required basic HR activities. As companies grow, HR departments and staff s grow as well. But as long as the organization remains primarily a single line of business, HR expertise most logically resides at a central offi ce, establishing company-wide policies. HR generalists are typically in the plants or divisions responsible for the implementation of these poli- cies. They do so because there is no meaningful diff erentiation between the business and the corporation. The HR functional organization suits a single business strategy. It should not be abandoned in favor of the more popular shared ser- vice organization unless the structure and strategy of the business mandate the choice. I see only about 15 to 20 percent of large organizations following this functional organization alignment. Holding Company. When the company is composed of multiple, unrelated businesses that are managed independently, it is best described as a holding company. While pure holding companies are rare (probably fewer than 10 percent of overall businesses), we see some resurgence of holding company structure associ- ated with the rise of large and well-capitalized private equity and investment fi rms such as Carlyle, Berkshire Hathaway, and
Figure 8: Business Structure and HR Structure
One HR Strategy for
Entire Business
HR Strategy for
Each Business HR Strategy for
Each Business and Overall Corporate HR Strategy
Decentralized
Decentralized
Centralized
Centralized
Bu sin
es s S
tru ct
ur e
HR Structure
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Blackstone. For example, Berkshire Hathaway owns or controls Dairy Queen, NetJets, GEICO Insurance, and Fruit of the Loom. Blackstone owns such varied companies as Celanese, Houghton Miffl in, Southern Cross/NHP, SunGard Systems, TRW Automo- tive, and Vanguard Health Systems. In a holding company, there is often little or no HR at a corporate level and little impetus to do so. Each business is expected to cre- ate and manage its own autonomous HR practices based on the specifi c needs of the business. Therefore, HR is embedded within the businesses. GEICO has an HR department, as does Dairy Queen and NetJets, but Berkshire Hathaway has no corporate HR. Realistically, so long as the corporation is managed as a group of independent businesses, tied together only by a common treasury function (how investment funding is raised), and perhaps investor relations (if the company is publicly traded), the require- ments for HR and the benefi ts of interaction among subsidiary HR groups are minimal. Even in those cases where there is a cor- porate HR function, it is likely to be small and focused primarily on executive talent recruiting and managing executive compensa- tion. If organizing HR for a holding company, the requirement is to embed dedicated HR departments within the business units and ensure they are well led. Diversifi ed/Allied Businesses. The vast majority of large companies are neither pure single businesses nor true holding companies. They lie somewhere in between, either in related or unrelated spectra of diversifi cation. They create operating or busi-
ness units to compete in diff erent markets, yet try to fi nd synergy among them. The best of these organizations align their portfolio of businesses around a core set of strategic capabilities that are leveraged across operations. For these business organizations, a relatively new way to organize HR resources has emerged called shared services. Shared services has two parts: [1] Service centers which rely on technology to meet employee administrative needs and [2] Centers of expertise which create specialist knowledge and insight (see below for details). From a distance, shared services looks a lot like centralization, but it is not. Table 1 marks some of the ways functional HR, shared services, and dedicated HR diff er from one another. Shared services became popular among staff groups — not just HR — beginning in the late 1990s as a response to general cost pressures. Staff leaders couldn’t simply choose the cheapest and most effi cient approach — centralize and standardize all pro- cesses — because centralized staff work cannot keep up with the needs of each unit of a diversifi ed/allied business. Shared services became a way to balance the effi ciencies of centralization and the fl exibility required for competing in diff erent markets. From Shared Services to Professional Services. Since shared services organizations have become more popular with large companies in the last decade, I often hear HR professionals say- ing, “What’s next in the HR organization?” Sometimes this is HR’s quest to be on a journey for the future without really accepting the present. Increasingly, I believe the basic tenets of the shared
Figure 9: Alignment of Business Organization and HR Organization
Most Common
Holding Company
Diversifi ed/ Allied
Operations
Dedicated HR
Single Business
Corporate Functional HR
Bu sin
es s O
rg an
iza tio
n
Shared Services
Aligned
Aligned
HR Organization
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services organization have not been fully deployed in many orga- nizations. To understand a shared services organization requires thinking about HR as a professional services fi rm within a fi rm. Any professional services fi rm (e.g., consulting fi rm, advertis- ing agency, fi lm production studio, etc.) has a simple challenge: Turn our knowledge into client productivity. To do so, a profes- sional services fi rm generally is organized with knowledge centers housed with individuals who have deep expertise in a technical area. Professional services fi rms have client relations manag- ers whose job it is to diagnose client wants and needs and then pull knowledge together into client teams to meet those client expectations. The HR organization in Figure 10 captures how HR can turn the logic of a professional services fi rm into an HR organization. Service centers (box 1 in Figure 10) will rely on technology to effi ciently manage the administrative and transaction work of HR. Many fi rms outsourced these transactions to gain effi ciency and may fi nd they can begin to re-insource this transaction work through technology. Corporate HR (box 2 in Figure 10) will con- tinue to focus on HR for top (and visible) leaders to off er
integrated HR solutions to corporate-wide initiatives and to man- age HR careers. Embedded HR (box 3 in Figure 10) will be the generalists who diagnose problems and off er individual, organiza- tion, and leadership solutions to business challenges. Centers of expertise (box 4 in Figure 10) will continue to be HR specialists with deep technical knowledge in the HR core areas of staffi ng, learning, compensation, organization development, and so forth. Operational HR (box 5 in Figure 10) will be those charged with transferring HR knowledge into client productivity. The metaphor of HR as a professional services organization within their organization will lead HR professionals to not invent a new HR structure but to make the shared services organization work well. This will require attention to what one fi rm calls dynamic resource allocation, and HR knowledge needs to be transferred into clients that create individual, organization, and leadership value. This will require ongoing dialogue about what HR initia- tives should be pushed throughout the entire organization versus those that should be pulled into a specifi c organization unit based on its business requirement. This is somewhat like a tax auditing fi rm that has the dual obligation of ensuring that its client live the
Dimension Functional Shared Services Dedicated Business organization Single business Related or unrelated diver-
sifi cation Holding company
Design of HR policies Performed by corporate functional specialists
Alternatives created by spe- cialists in centers of expertise
Designed and delivered by functional specialists within a business
Implementation of HR practices
Governed by corporate specialists
Governed by local HR pro- fessionals who select options from center of expertise menu
Governed by local HR specialists embedded in the business
Accountability Corporate HR Split between operations and HR
Local business leader
Services orientation Standardized services across the corporation
Tailored to business needs with consistency through learning and sharing
Unique services for each business
Flexibility Mandates use of internal resources
Has fl exibility as governed by the centers of expertise
Each business creates what is required
Chargebacks Business units pay an alloca- tion of HR costs
Business units pay for use of service
Business units fund their own HR costs
Location Strong corporate presence with HR generalists on site
Wherever makes sense Small corporate HR offi ce, with HR staff at local level
Skills requirements for HR Technically expert in design and delivery
Design expertise, but also consulting and support
Business expertise and tech- nical specialty in business
Wealth creation criteria Corporate shareholder value HR value creation for line managers, employees, cus- tomers, and investors
Business unit profi tability
Table 1: Functional HR, Shared Services, and Dedicated HR
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current tax code and advising the client on innovative alterna- tives. This also will require careful thought about careers and competencies of those in HR. An individual may choose to spend a career in a specialty area, a particular business, or more across the two. The point is the HR structure of the future may be here today. It is tied to the strategy of the business and some HR structures should operate as functions (in single businesses or holding companies). More common among large fi rms, the HR shared services may be called professional services because it needs to operate like a professional services organization within its fi rm.
HR Practices There are a vast array of HR practices each with nuances that make the list of HR work daunting. To simplify this work, we have summarized HR practices into four areas: • People: HR work shapes the fl ow of people in, through, and
out of an organization. This includes the array of HR practices around staffi ng, training, development, workforce planning, and retention.
• Performance: HR work promotes accountability with a focus on performance appraisal, setting standards, measuring perfor- mance, allocating rewards, and off ering feedback.
Figure 10: Overview of the HR Organization
2 Corporate
(Top Management, Integration, Corporate initiatives, HR careers)
4 Center for Expertise
1 Service Center
e-HR Outsourcing
3 Embedded HR Generalist, Partner,
Relationship, Manager
5 Operational HR
Consulantant, Project Manager, Integrator/Implementor
People
Performance
Information
Work
Project Teams
*
Line Manager
Employee
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• Information: HR work may also include the fl ow of information from top to bottom, inside to outside, and side to side within an organization.
• Work: HR work includes an understanding of how the organiza- tion gets work done (e.g., through teams), workforce policies, and physical settings.
These four categories obviously overlap and aff ect each other, but HR professionals in the future will need to master three actions relative to this HR work: alignment, integration, and in- novation. Alignment. HR practices in each of the four areas can and should align not only with strategy but also with external stake- holders. The outside/in approach that frames HR will encourage HR professionals to be constantly attuning their HR work to customer, investor, and community expectations. Training may include customers in the design of the training, as participants in training programs, and as faculty and facilitators in training. A test of a reward system is to ask customers if the standards in the performance appraisal process match their expectations. Communications outside the organization can and should refl ect communications inside the organization. Customers also may be involved in teams and other organization design choices to make sure the organization matches the customer. For HR professionals to be aligned with strategy and external stakeholders, they need to know the customers. I have been sug- gesting that HR professionals spend about 2 to 5 percent of their time (one half to one day a month) on sales calls with customers. At fi rst salespeople may resent the HR person and customers may wonder why they are there. With time it becomes more clear. The salesperson sells a product or service; HR builds a relationship. When HR looks at a customer and says, “We will work to hire, train, pay, communicate, and organize our people to deliver what we have just promised you,” the customer begins to move beyond buying products to forming relationships. A leading company invited a small focus group of customers into their annual HR planning meeting to ask the customers if the capabilities they identifi ed as their goals for the forthcoming year would cause the customers to buy more products or services. While I have focused on customers, I could also focus on investors, communities, regu- lators, or other external stakeholders. Integration. One fi rm with disconnected HR specialists worked to hire people with skills A,B,C, then trained them to do D,E, F, then communicated the importance of G,H,I, and organized them to deliver J,K,L. This is obviously an extreme example, but until and unless HR practices integrate with each other, HR works at cross purposes. The integration often can be around the organization capabilities. If a company defi nes its desired capabil- ity as innovation, HR can then hire, train, pay, communicate, and organize work to deliver innovation. Research has shown that integrated HR work leads to higher results because diff erent HR practices focus on similar results.10
Innovation. Innovation is not just a product or service but an administrative process as well. There is a great deal of innovation occurring in each of the HR areas which is out of the purview of this monograph. HR professionals should be constantly seeking new ways to manage people, performance, information, and work. Many of these innovations will come from the challenges of doing work in new product or emerging global markets. For example, one company develops local leaders in emerging markets by hav- ing a seasoned leader from a mature market be assigned to work with a local emerging leader. The mature leader is charged over a period of time (e.g., one or two years) of leading and transfer- ring leadership insights to the local leader. Seeking HR innovation requires a spirit of inquisitiveness, a willingness to experiment with new ideas, a capacity to troll for innovative ideas both inside and outside your industry, and a rigorous discipline of assessment of what works and what does not. When HR practices in people, performance, information, and work are aligned, integrated, and innovative, HR is able to deliver individual abilities (talent), organizational capabilities (culture), and leadership to their organization in ways that serve stakehold- ers and respond to external business contexts so that value is created. This HR future requires new skills for HR professionals.
HR Professionals Our fi rm, the RBL Group, in conjunction with the University of Michigan and a variety of HR professional associations from around the world, has studied the competencies and agendas of HR professionals as business partners for over 20 years. During this time we have gathered data from over 45,000 participants. Based on this work and our in-depth experience with hundreds of companies, we are comfortable projecting four trends that will frame the roles and skills of HR professionals going forward. First, 20-60-20. We are not sure that these are the precise percentages, but they imply that about 20 percent of HR profes- sionals are able and willing to contribute to business success as we suggest above. This monograph will be confi rming to them. Another 20 percent are either not able or willing to engage in the work I describe. If one wants to see either good or bad in HR, they can go to those in either extreme to celebrate or lament the progress of HR. The 60 percent majority are the real question: Are they making progress? In general, are HR professionals more able to contribute to business today than yesterday, and more tomorrow than today? My sense is yes, although the progress may not be fast enough. Second, companies will continue to require fewer HR profession- als to do transactional administrative work. As discussed, emerg- ing information and communication technologies will continue to be applied to improve the effi ciency of HR administrative work such as payroll, benefi ts administration, entry level staffi ng, and employee record keeping. As companies continually grapple with the challenges of focusing on the most important wealth-creating
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activities of the fi rm, some nice-to-have but strategically unneces- sary HR activities will be eliminated. Third, as HR professionals become more able to contribute to business success, they will become more balanced in their ap- proaches to their work. In the most recent round of our compe- tency research in 2007, we found that eff ective HR professionals function in six roles. These are as follows:
1. Credible activists earn a reputation for business value through their consistent delivery and proactive stance on business and HR issues.
2. Strategy architects contribute to the development and execution of business strategies and design and delivery of HR practices and structure.
3. Culture and change stewards identify and facilitate important culture and other changes that improve an organization’s ability to compete and grow.
4. Talent managers and organizational designers understand, diagnose, audit, and improve both talent and organization.
5. Operational executors do the operational work of HR both eff ectively and cost-effi ciently through information systems and through standardized HR policies.
6. Business allies demonstrate a fi rm grasp of business knowledge of how the organization functions internally and externally to make money.
Our analyses show that credible activists have primary impact on personal and business results and that the next three above roles have roughly equal impact on business performance. Therefore, HR professionals must ensure that they have a balanced approach to their business contributions. As we look forward, we envision HR professionals continuing to demonstrate competence in these six roles, but some of the issues will be more pressing, including the management of: • Globalization. Globalization has been prevalent for 20 years
and now must become a given in HR work. HR professionals should be active contributors in developing individual, orga- nization, and leadership capabilities for their companies to compete in emerging markets. BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have dominated the global discussions in recent years, to be replaced by the next 11 emerging markets: Turkey, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Iran, Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Egypt.11 For example, how companies build local leaders in these emerging markets will likely be an important topic. To compete in these new markets, the STEPED model (see Figure 3, page 4) and the stakeholder model (see Figure 4, page 5) for a particular nation might guide HR thinking.
• Risk. With the recent recession, executives learned that they had to manage risk. Much of this risk is technological, fi nancial, compliance, and operational.12 But much of the future risk will be about individuals, organizations, and leadership, the three targets of HR. When external boards or regulatory agencies examine risks, HR can and should be part of this conversation.
• Technology. Technology changes how people in an organiza- tion relate to each other. Technology 1.0 was a source of infor- mation as people replaced encyclopedias with Google searches; 2.0 was effi ciency as technology changed time and space for business operations; and now 3.0 focuses on relationships as technology connects people in new ways. Technology relation- ships require careful attention to avoid superfi ciality and ensure substance. Tweeting about what a celebrity eats for lunch on Tuesday to thousands of fans creates a false intimacy. HR can begin to use technology to share information, drive effi ciency, and build relationships.
• Meaning. We have suggested that individuals require compe- tence, commitment, and contribution. HR professionals who help employees fi nd meaning at work through their contribu- tion will ensure increased productivity.
• Sustainability. The social responsibility movement which began with concerns about carbon footprints and environmen- tal renewal has shifted with the next generation of employees to concern for sustainability in all aspects of the organization. Socially responsible organizations, policies that balance work and life, and corporate philanthropy will likely become woven into sustainability eff orts.
• ?? • ?? I leave some of these future HR skills as “??’s” because we don’t know yet what we don’t know. I am often asked if CHRO’s should come from inside or outside HR. This question addresses the careers of successful HR profes- sionals. My sense is that we will see an increased blurring of HR versus line distinctions as senior HR professionals have the ability to engage on both business and HR issues.
HR Analytics As HR has become more aligned with business, evidence-based HR and HR analytics have become increasingly important.13 Without rigorously tracking HR investments and outcomes, HR decisions and priorities remain whims, not science. With HR analytics, line managers and HR professionals can better justify, prioritize, and improve HR investments. While many HR decisions require insight and judgment, improved HR metrics help HR move toward professional respectability and decision-making rigor. Let me suggest a few observations about the next genera- tion of HR metrics.
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First, avoid a means/end inversion. The end of HR is to create value; improved HR analytics are a means to help codify and make value happen. Some companies are so concerned about the HR scorecard or dashboard that they are making metrics the end, not the means. This is like a sports fan being consumed with the detailed statistics of the event and not paying attention to whether the team won or lost. Eff ective HR metrics means doing more predictive than descriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics have scorecards and dashboards that can be used for comparisons across time or with others. Predictive statistics emphasize a path with lead indicators and outcomes of interest. Instead of using mean data that shows how well we do, we likely will see more correlation-based data showing how what we do impacts what we want to have happen. Showing how employee attitudes inside a company aff ect customer attitudes and investor confi dence outside the company are examples of prescriptive HR metrics. Second, avoid measuring what is easy, and focus on measuring what is right. Just because something can be measured does not mean it should be. In the past, HR would measure activities (e.g., how many managers received 40 hours of training or how much people liked attending a training program). Going forward, we need to measure the outcomes of those activities. When focusing on outcomes, it is important to have a clear sense of what the desired outcomes of HR should be. Ultimately, HR investments should aff ect customers, investors, and other stakeholders outside the organization. Sometimes the line of sight between these ultimate outcomes and HR investments are diffi cult to track (see Figure 11), and it is important to measure intermediate impacts of HR work. In this essay, I suggest that the intermediate measures of HR should be around the outcomes or targets of HR work:
• Individual Ability: Measure the talent within the organization. - Competence: ability of people to do their job today and
tomorrow - Commitment: extent to which people are engaged with and
committed to the organization - Contribution: extent to which people fi nd meaning at work
• Organization Capability: Measure the capabilities within the organization as the extent to which the organization has an identity that is shared both inside and outside the company.
• Leadership Depth: Measure the extent to which leadership exists throughout the organization.
I would suggest that it is important to show relationships between HR activities, HR outcomes, and business outcomes. When cor- relations and eventually causations can be determined, HR work will deliver more value. Third, keep measures simple and focused on decisions. Too often, the desire to quantify HR leads to more HR data than insight. Turning valid data into thoughtful decisions should be the focus on HR analytics. Sometimes this starts with data when HR information warehouses about employee attitudes, turnover, compensation, performance, and so forth can be used to improve decision making. In these cases, HR professionals need to learn how to cull from the data key messages and trends. Turning com- plex data into simple messages requires that HR professionals can see themes or stories in the information warehouses they currently access to make more informed decisions. Sometimes using data for decision-making starts with gaining clarity about the decisions that need to be made and then shifts to the data collected.
Measuring HR people, performance, communi- cation, and work: • Activities: What we do • Perception: How
people perceive how well we do what we do
Measuring the outcomes or targets of HR: • Individual abilities (tal-
ent) • Organization capabili-
ties (culture) • Quality of leadership
Measuring ultimate business results • Financial:
- Earnings - Shareholder value
• Customer - Commitment - Share
• Other stakeholders
HR Activities Intermediate Outcomes
Business Outcomes
Figure 11: HR Metrics
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For example, as companies shift to doing business in emerging markets, decisions need to be made about how to staff , train, pay, and organize employees in those markets. Once these specifi c decisions are defi ned, HR can collect data to make better deci- sions. HR should become a decision science, not a data ware- house. Fourth, keep ownership and accountability of HR analytics with line managers. Line managers are the ultimate owners for HR work; they have fi nal accountability for what is done and how well it is done. HR professionals are architects who build blueprints for actions and lay out choices that can be made. To gain line manager buy-in and support for HR analytics, it is important to in- volve line managers in determining the goals of the HR metrics, in defi ning which HR metrics should be used, and in applying those metrics for improved decision-making. Validity and reliability is less about statistics and more about managerial buy-in and use of the data collected.
HR Metrics: Conclusion In our research on HR competencies, we found that HR profes- sionals were consistently lacking in business acumen. Many HR professionals went into HR to avoid the quantitative side of busi- ness. But it is no longer possible to sidestep data, evidence, and analytics that bring rigor and discipline to HR. Statistics should become de rigueur for HR professionals.
Conclusion: I started this monograph with a simple question: “Are we there yet?” To answer this question I suggested a straightforward but evasive defi nition of what “there” means: creating value from the outside/in. Then I laid out a roadmap for the journey which be- gins with business context and stakeholders, moves to individual, organization, and leadership HR outcomes or targets, and then shifts to HR investments in the function, practices, people, and metrics. This is an ambitious agenda. Some in HR (the 20 percent rule) have already arrived. Some in HR (another 20 percent) will never get there. What interests me the most is how to move the 60 percent to become more competent, committed, and able to contribute. I like HR departments because they are the rudder for individual, organization, and leadership success within a company. I like HR practices because they enable sustainable results. I like HR people because, for the most part, they have good intentions and aspirations. I like HR analytics because they document the value that HR creates. The good news is that my passion for HR is shared with many thoughtful colleagues. (See Appendix for a list of recent research reports on HR’s future and for a list of selected authors and their key works on positioning HR.) The journey toward HR contribution is ongoing. In 1942, Winston Churchill expressed a classic statement about a forward-looking journey: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
About the Author Dave Ulrich, PhD, is a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a cofounder of the RBL Group. He has consulted and done research with over half of the Fortune 200 and published more than 200 articles and book chapters as well as 23 books. He served as the editor of the Human Resource Man- agement Journal from 1990 to 1999 and is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. HR Magazine has named him the number one thought leader in HR for the last four years. [email protected]
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Appendix: References on the Future of Human Resources Wayne Brockbank, “If HR Were Really Strategically Proactive: Present and Future Directions in HR Contribution to Competitive Advantage,” Human Resource Management Journal, Volume 38, Issue 4 (1999). Chartered Institute Personnel and Development, “The Changing HR Function,” Survey Report (September 2007). Liza Castro Christiansen and Malcolm Higgs, “Do HR competen- cies enable organisations to perform more eff ectively? An empiri- cal study of HR competencies and organisational performance in Danish companies,” working paper, Henley Business School, presented at The British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, UK (9-11 September 2008). “Confi guring HR for Tomorrow’s Challenges,” Corporate Research Forum (2009). Corporate Leadership Council, “Building Next-Generation HR- Line Partnerships: Optimizing HR Business Partner Role Capabil- ity Investments,” Corporate Executive Board (2007). Alex Edmans, “Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices,” working paper, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2008). Valerie Garrow, ed., “The HR Agenda for 2010: Ten Top Trends as We Come Out of Recession,” Institute for Employment Studies (IES), Report 472 (February 2010). John Gibbons and Christopher Woock, “Evidence-Based Human Resources: A Practitioner’s Guide,” Conference Board, Research Report (R-1427-09-RR, 2009). John Gibbons and Christopher Woock, “Evidence-Based Human Resources: A Primer and Summary of Current Literature,” Confer- ence Board, Research Report (E-0015-07-RR, 2007). Ed Griffi n, Liz Finney, Jo Hennessy, and Dilip Boury, “Maximizing the Value of HR Business Partnering,” Roff ey Park (January 2009). Hewitt Associates, “Managing HR on a Global Scale,” Survey Highlights (PM-1097-001-EN, 2009). Martin Hird, Craig Marsh, and Paul Sparrow, “HR Delivery Sys- tems: Re-Engineered or Over Engineered?,” Center for Perfor- mance Led HR White Paper (August 2009). A. Hirsh, A. Carter, J. Giff ord, M. Strebler, S. Baldwin, “What Customers Want From HR: The Views of Line Managers, Senior Managers and Employees on HR Services and the HR Function,” Institute for Employment Studies, Report 453 (September 2008). IBM Global Business Services, “Unlocking the DNA of the Adaptable Workforce,” The Global Human Capital Study (2008). McKinsey & Company, “Building Organizational Capabilities,” McKinsey Quarterly: Global Results Survey (2010).
Mercer, Rules of Recovery: An Essential Guide to the Economic Recovery (Singapore: Mercer, 2009). Brigitte Morel-Curran, “The War for Talent: Myths and Realities,” Korn/Ferry International (2008). PriceWaterHouseCoopers, “Compete & Collaborate: What is Success in a Connected World for TMT Companies?: 11th Annual Global CEO Survey,” Technology, Communications, Entertainment and Media Summary (2008). PriceWaterHouseCoopers, “Managing Tomorrow’s People: The Future of Work to 2020,” PriceWaterHouseCoopers (2007). Peter Reilly, Penny Tamkin, and Andrea Broughton, “The Chang- ing HR Function: Transforming HR?” Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2007). Darrell Rigby and Marcia Blenko, Winning in Turbulence (Boston: Bain & Company, 2009). Matt Shadrick and Seymour Adler, “Why You Should be a Human Capital Risk Manager,” World at Work (2008). Singapore Ministry of Manpower, “Building National HR Capabil- ity: Current and Upcoming Initiatives for 2009.” Rainer Strack, et al. “Creating People Advantage: How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide through 2015,” The Boston Consulting Group: Creating People Advantage (2008). Rainer Strack, et al. “How to Tackle the Major HR Challenges During the Crisis and Beyond,” The Boston Consulting Group: Creating People Advantage (2009). UBS, “HR Service Delivery and Shared Services,” Intelligence Report (March 2008).
Selected Authors and Books John Boudreau, Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions About Talent (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2010). John Boudreau and Peter Ramstad, Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2007). John Boudreau and Wayne Cascio, Investing in People: Financial Impact of Human Resource Initiatives (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008). Peter Capelli, Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008). Tammy Erickson, What’s Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want (Boston: Harvard Busi- ness Press, 2010). Tammy Erickson, Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008).
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Tammy Erickson, Ken Dychwald, and Robert Morison, Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills And Talent (Bos- ton: Harvard Business Press, 2006). Jac Fitz-enz, The New HR Analytics: Predicting the Economic Value of Your Company’s Human Capital Investments (New York: Amacom, 2010). Jac Fitz-enz, The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance (New York: Amacom, 2009). Jac Fitz-enz, The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies: How Great Organizations Make the Most of Their Human Assets (New York: Amacom, 1997). Lynda Gratton, Glow: How You Can Radiate Energy, Innovation, and Success (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2009). Lynda Gratton, Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Or- ganizations Buzz with Energy - And Others Don’t (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2007). Lynda Gratton, Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2000). Lynda Gratton, Veronica Hope Hailey, Philip Stiles, and Catherine Truss, Strategic Human Resource Management: Corporate Rhetoric and Human Reality (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). Charles Handy, The Age of Paradox (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1994). Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason (London: Arrow Business Books, 1995). Charles Handy, Myself and Other More Important Matters (New York: Amacom, 2008). Charles Handy, The Elephant and the Flea (Boston: Harvard Busi- ness, 2002). Mark Huselid, Brian Becker, Richard Beatty, The Diff erentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2009). Mark Huselid, Brian Becker, and Dave Ulrich, The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance (Boston: Harvard Busi- ness Press, 2001). Mark Huselid, Brian Becker, Richard Beatty, The Workforce Scorecard: Managing Human Capital To Execute Strategy (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2005). Steve Kerr, Reward Systems: Does Yours Measure Up? (Harvard Business Press, 2009). Edward Lawler, Treat People Right!: How Organizations and Employees Can Create a Win/Win Relationship to Achieve High Performance at All Levels (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003).
Edward Lawler and Susan Albers Mohrman, Creating a Strategic Human Resources Organization: An Assessment of Trends and New Directions (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003). Edward Lawler and John Boudreau, Achieving Excellence in Hu- man Resources Management: An Assessment of Human Resource Functions (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009). Edward Lawler, Susan Albers Mohrman, and John Boudreau, Achieving Strategic Excellence: An Assessment of Human Resource Organizations (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006). Edward Lawler, Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advan- tage (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008). Edward Lawler, Chris Worley, and Jerry Porras, Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Eff ectiveness (San Fran- cisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006). Jeff rey Pfeff er, The Human Equation: Building Profi ts by Putting People First (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1998). Jeff rey Pfeff er, Managing with Power: Politics and Infl uence in Organizations (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1992). Jeff rey Pfeff er and Robert Sutton, The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2000). Jeff rey Pfeff er, Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People (Boston: Harvard Busi- ness Press, 2000). Jeff rey Pfeff er and Robert Sutton, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profi ting from Evidence-Based Management (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2006). Jeff rey Pfeff er, What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wis- dom About Management (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2007). Libby Sartain, Brand for Talent: Eight Essentials to Make Your Tal- ent as Famous as Your Brand (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009). Libby Sartain, Brand From the Inside: Eight Essentials to Emotion- ally Connect Your Employees to Your Business (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006). Libby Sartain and Martha I. Finney, HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Busi- ness (New York: Amacom, 2003).
End Notes 1 Lynda Gratton is doing outstanding work on the changing
nature of work. The STEPED ideas are drawn from her insights and work. Her work can be found at http://lyndagrattonfuture- ofwork.typepad.com/.
2 Duke Corporate Education, “Learning and Development in 2011: A Focus on the Future,” Client Study, (2009), available at http://www.dukece.com/papers-reports/documents/FocusFu- ture.pdf, accessed January 2012.
ARE WE THERE YET? What’s next for HR EXECUTIVE WHITE PAPER SERIES
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Executive Education Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan 724 East University Avenue
Wyly Hall, Suite 3700 Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
734-763-1000 [email protected]
www.execed.bus.umich.edu
3521 N. University Ave. Suite 100 Provo, UT 84604 801-373-4238 [email protected]
3 McKinsey & Company, “Building Organizational Capabilities,” McKinsey Quarterly: Global Results Survey (2010), sourced at McKinsey & Company website, http://www.mckinseyquarterly. com/Building_organizational_capabilities_McKinsey_Global_ Survey_results_2540, accessed January 2012.
4 The concept of capability is laid out in: Dave Ulrich and Dale Lake, Organizational Capability: Competing from the Inside/Out (New York: John Wiley, 1990).
It is further defi ned in: Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, Capitalizing on Capabilities (Boston: Harvard Business Review, 2005).
5 Deloitte Touche Tahmatsu, “Designing a Successful ERM Function: A Global Perspective on Risk Management Structure and Governance for the Insurance Industry,” Deloitte (2008), http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Ireland/Local%20As- sets/Documents/ie_ERS_DesigningASuccessfulERMFunc- tion_Nov08.pdf, accessed January 2012.
The work on managing risk is laid out in: Committee of Spon- soring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, “Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework,” COSO (Septem- ber 2004), online at www.coso.org.
6 See: Ron Ashkenas, Simply Eff ective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2009).
7 This logic is laid out in: PriceWaterHouseCoopers, “Managing Tomorrow’s People. The Future of Work to 2020,” PriceWater- HouseCoopers (2007), sourced at http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ managing-tomorrows-people/future-of-work, accessed January 2012.
8 Excellent work on innovation is in Larry Keeley’s work (www. doblin.com).
9 We recognize that there are generally two types of “business strategy”: [1] Corporate strategy focuses more on the portfolio or mix of businesses and [2] Business unit strategy focuses on
how a particular business unit anticipates and services custom- ers to make money. Each view of strategy leads to business organization choices which then lead HR organization choices.
10 Brian Becker, Mark Huselid, and Richard Beatty, The Diff er- entiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2009).
11 These 11 emerging markets have been identifi ed by Goldman Sachs, who identifi ed the BRIC markets. “The N-11: More Than an Acronym,”– Goldman Sachs study of N-11 nations, Global Economics Paper No: 153, March 28, 2007.
12 See the standard for risk management from Committee on Supervising Organizations (commonly known as COSO) of the Treadway Commission.
13 There are great works on HR analytics and evidence-based management:
John Boudreau and Peter Ramstad, Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital (Boston: Harvard Business Press Books, 2007). John Boudreau, Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions About Talent (Boston: Harvard Busi- ness Press, 2010) Jac Fitz-enz, The New HR Analytics: Predicting the Economic Value of Your Company’s Human Capital Investments (New York: Amacom, 2010). Jac Fitz-enz, The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Eco- nomic Value of Employee Performance (New York: Amacom, 2009). John Gibbons and Christopher Woock, “Evidence-Based Human Resources: A Practitioner’s Guide,” Conference Board, Research Report (R-1427-09-RR, 2009). John Gibbons and Christopher Woock, “Evidence-Based Human Resources: A Primer and Summary of Current Literature,” Conference Board, Research Report (E-0015-07- RR, 2007).
Copyright © 2010 the RBL Group - All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or using any information storage or retrieval system, for any purpose without the express written permission of the RBL Group.
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Build a Strategic Framework Through Strategic Planning
Mission, Vision Statements, Values, Goals and Strategies Identified
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAREERS
• • •
BY Updated June 25, 2019SUSAN M. HEATHFIELD
Both people and organizations need to establish a strategic framework for significant success. This framework consists of:
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A vision for your future
A mission that defines what you are doing
Values that shape your actions
Strategies that zero in on your key success approaches
Goals and action plans that guide your daily, weekly and monthly actions
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Your organization's success and your personal success depend on how well you define and live by each of these important concepts. In fact:
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Companies whose employees understand the mission and goals enjoy a 29 percent greater return than other firms (Watson Wyatt Work Study).
U.S. workers want their work to make a difference, but 75 percent do not think their company's mission statement has become the way they do business (Workplace 2000 Employee Insight Survey).
Read more to find out how to develop a successful strategic framework for your organization and yourself.
What Is a Vision and a Vision Statement? A vision is a statement about what your organization wants to become. It should resonate with all members of the organization and help them feel proud, excited, motivated and part of something much bigger than themselves.
A vision is a picture of your organization's desired future expressed in a way that resonates with all members of the organization. The vision is shared with employees, customers, shareholders, vendors, and candidates for employment and creates shared meaning about what your organization wants to become. Determining your vision is an early component in corporate or organizational strategic planning.
The vision of the future that your organization's employees commit to creating should stretch your organization's capabilities and expand its current image of itself. The articulated and shared vision provides a picture of the organization that you are trying to create in the future. The vision becomes the rallying cry for your desired future.
The vision is translated into actions via the development of a vision statement that expresses the overall vision. Create a shorter vision statement because employees will remember it better than a one. When employees internalize the vision statement, they take action to make the vision statement come true.
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Normally, the vision ranges in length from a couple of words to several pages. A shorter vision is more memorable. When a vision stretches on for pages, and even paragraphs, it is usually because the organization is also expressing how it plans to reach or create the vision. This process is better left for later in strategic planning when the organization develops strategies, goals, and action plans.
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Vision Statement Samples "To be recognized and respected as one of the premier associations of HR Professionals." (HR Association of Greater Detroit)
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Personal Vision Statement Your personal vision for your life can be as simple as a couple of words or as lengthy as 200 or more elements you want to attain or accomplish.
Looking for help and samples to assist you to craft a mission statement that resonates and inspires? Both people and organizations need to establish a mission statement within a strategic framework to experience significant success.
Identifying and sharing your mission statement, vision, values, strategies, goals, and plans will engage your employees and fuel your future accomplishments. Here's what a mission statement entails along with sample mission statements to help you develop your own.
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What Is a Mission Statement? Your company or organization mission or purpose is expressed and shared as a mission statement. Mission or purpose is a precise description of what an organization does. The mission should describe the business the organization is in. It's a definition of why the organization currently exists.
If the mission has been assimilated and integrated into your company culture, each member of your organization should be able to verbally express this mission. Every employee's actions should demonstrate the mission statement in action.
Personal Mission Statement Additionally, each person needs a mission for his or her life. The alignment of your life mission with your organization’s mission is one of the key factors determining whether you are happy with your work and workplace.
If your personal and organizational mission statements are congruent, you are most likely happy with your choice of work. Take the time to develop your mission statement for your own life; compare your personal mission statement with the mission statement of your organization. Do the mission statements meld?
Mission Statement Samples These are examples of mission statements that have been developed and shared with the public.
"FedEx Corporation will produce superior financial returns for its shareowners by providing high value-added logistics, transportation, and related business services through focused operating companies. Customer requirements will be met in the highest quality manner appropriate to each market segment served. FedEx will strive to develop mutually rewarding relationships with its employees, partners, and suppliers. Safety will be the first consideration in all operations. Corporate activities will be conducted to the highest ethical and professional standards." (Federal Express Mission and Goals)
"To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people." (Wal-Mart Mission Statement)
"Our vision is to be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
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(Amazon.com Mission Statement)
"In order to realize our Vision, our Mission must be to exceed the expectations of our customers, whom we define as guests, partners, and fellow employees. (mission) We will accomplish this by committing to our shared values and by achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction, with extraordinary emphasis on the creation of value. (strategy) In this way, we will ensure that our profit, quality, and growth goals are met." (Westin Hotels and Resorts Mission Statement)
"To spread the power of optimism." (Life Is Good)
"Each day, American Express makes it easier, safer and more rewarding for consumers and businesses to purchase the things they need and for merchants to sell their goods and services. An engine of commerce, American Express provides innovative payment, travel and expense management solutions for individuals and businesses of all sizes. Most of all, we help our customers realize their dreams and aspirations through industry- leading benefits, access to unique experiences, business-building insights, and global customer care. We enable our customers to do more and achieve more. (American Express)
What Are Values and Value Statements? Values are beliefs that manifest in how an employee interacts in a workplace, and they stand at the core of what your organization is and what your organization cherishes.
Values also known as core values and as governing values, represent an employee's most significant commitments to what he finds most important in life.
Value statements are developed from your values and define how people want to behave with each other in the organization day to day. They provide a measuring device against which you evaluate all of your actions and behaviors.
Value statements are declarations about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community, describing actions that are the living enactment of the fundamental values held by most individuals within the organization.
The values of each of the individuals in your workplace, along with their experiences and upbringing, meld together to form your corporate culture. The values of your senior leaders are especially important in the development of your culture.
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These leaders have a lot of power in your organization to set the course and establish the quality of the environment for people. Your leaders have selected employees who they believe have congruent values and fit your workplace culture.
The Impact of Your Personal Values If you think about your own life, your values form the cornerstones for all that you do, think, believe and accomplish. Your personal values define where you spend your time if you are truly living your values.
Each of you makes choices in life according to your most important four to ten values. Take the time to identify what is most important to you and your organization. Identify and live your values. Manifest your values through value statements.
Why Identify and Establish Values? Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that every employee understands and can contribute. Once defined, values impact every aspect of your organization.
You must support and nurture the impact of these value statements or identifying the values will have been a wasted exercise. Employees will feel fooled and misled unless they see the impact on your organization.
Create Impact Through Values and Value Statements If you want the values you identify and the value statements you craft to have an impact within your organization, follow these guidelines:
Employees must demonstrate and model these values in action in their personal work behaviors, decision making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction.
Organizational values help each person establish priorities in their daily work life. Priorities and actions must be grounded in the organization's values and model the value statements identified for each employee's job.
Allow values to guide every decision that is made once the organization has cooperatively created the values and the value statements.
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Structure rewards and recognition within the organization to recognize those people whose work embodies the values and the value statements that the organization identified and embraced.
Create organizational goals grounded in the identified values. Employees must identify how their goals and actions are congruent with and demonstrate the values daily.
Recognize the adoption of values and behaviors in regular performance feedback.
Hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with the organization's values.
A truly organization-wide, value-based, shared culture will result from the active participation of all members of the organization along with the development of the systems and processes of the organization grounded in the company's values.
Sample Values The following are examples of values: ambition, competency, individuality, equality, integrity, service, responsibility, accuracy, respect, dedication, diversity, improvement, enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty, innovation, teamwork, excellence, accountability, empowerment, quality, efficiency, dignity, collaboration, stewardship, empathy, accomplishment, courage, wisdom, independence, security, challenge, influence, learning, compassion, friendliness, discipline/order, generosity, persistence, optimism, dependability, flexibility.
Family, church, and professionalism are not values, although they're important aspects of your life and deserving of your attention. If you define what you value about each of these, then you are identifying the core value. For example, the core value hidden in the use of the word family might be close relationships; in church, spirituality; and in professionalism, demonstrating integrity in everything you do.
Corporate Examples of Value Statements Companies have many ways of describing their values and value statements including corporate philosophy, words to live by, leadership principles, guiding values or principles and more.
No matter what an organization calls them, the values statements are rooted in the core values of members of the organization. They manifest the core values of their leaders especially. These value statement samples give you an idea of the depth and breadth from which organizations
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write their values. Search online for values and value statements, and you'll find some that stretch to several pages too.
Merck's Values: "To preserve and improve human life." (Merck)
At Merck, "corporate conduct is inseparable from the conduct of individual employees in the performance of their work. Every Merck employee is responsible for adhering to business practices that are in accordance with the letter and spirit of the applicable laws and with ethical principles that reflect the highest standards of corporate and individual behavior...
"At Merck, we are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We are responsible to our customers, to Merck employees and their families, to the environments we inhabit, and to the societies we serve worldwide. In discharging our responsibilities, we do not take professional or ethical shortcuts. Our interactions with all segments of society must reflect the high standards we profess."
Zappos Family Core Values: "As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by":
The Zappos Family Values are clearly described in detail on their website and worth a visit.
Google's Core Philosophy: Google calls its values and value statements its philosophy, and they re-look at the components every few years to make sure that the values are still the same.
"Deliver WOW Through Service"
"Embrace and Drive Change"
"Create Fun and A Little Weirdness"
"Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded"
"Pursue Growth and Learning"
"Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication"
"Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit"
"Do More With Less"
"Be Passionate and Determined"
"Be Humble"
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"Focus on the user, and all else will follow."
"It’s best to do one thing really, really well."
"Fast is better than slow."
"Great just isn’t good enough."
More Samples of Values and Value Statements Additional values and value statements samples are available for your review.
Microsoft's Core Values
Amazon.com's Leadership Principles
Marriott Core Values
In a strategic business framework for organizational planning and success, your strategies, goals, and action plans intertwine and build upon each other to create the appropriate steps to accomplish your mission and vision.
Organizations need strategies, goals, and action plans to cascade the mission through the organization and engage the talents of all employees. Here is how strategies, goals and action plans fit together to accomplish your mission and vision.
What Are Strategies? Strategies are the broadly defined four or five key approaches the organization will use to accomplish its mission and drive toward the vision. Goals and action plans usually flow from each strategy.
One example of a strategy is creating employee empowerment and teamwork. Another is to pursue a new worldwide market in Asia. Or to streamline your current distribution system using lean management principles.
One university Human Resources Development department established several broad strategies for growth. These included becoming the training and education resource of choice for all employees by offering one-stop access to any and all existing education and training resources. Additionally, they determined key strategies for expanding their funding base and moving courses online for customer convenience.
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Another Human Resources department devised strategies to develop a superior workforce. These included eliminating poor performers; hiring from several choices of excellent candidates rather than settling on a candidate; developing succession planning, and increasing training and cross-training opportunities.
Sample Strategies "The Human Resource Association of Greater Detroit's (HRAGD) efforts to advance its mission will include: The promotion of voluntary member interchange, observance of ethical and professional standards, the conduct of meetings and workshops on relevant human resources topics and issues, communication of our purpose and activities to the broader business community, cooperation with the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), as well as, other SHRM professional and student chapters and related Human Resources organizations and the community involvement of our membership.
"The Association regularly publishes newsletters throughout the year which cover items such as monthly meeting highlights, future programs, Executive Board announcements, SHRM, and legislative updates and general human resources news. Also, a Membership Directory and member skills listing are published."
FedEx developed these business strategies.
"The unique FedEx operating strategy works seamlessly - and simultaneously - on three levels.
Compete collectively by standing as one brand worldwide and speaking with one voice.
Operate independently by focusing on our independent networks to meet distinct customer needs.
Manage collaboratively by working together to sustain loyal relationships with our workforce, customers, and investors."
Develop Goals and Action Plans After you have developed the key strategies, turn your attention to developing several goals that will enable you to accomplish each of your strategies.
Goals should reach beyond the terms in the traditional SMART acronym: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.
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As an example, the HRAGD group might consider setting one goal to hold a monthly chapter meeting. Another goal that supports the carrying out of their strategies involves scheduling a relevant seminar quarterly. An additional one might include holding informal dinners and cocktail hours to support voluntary member exchange.
Once you have enabled strategy accomplishment through setting goals, develop action plans to accomplish each goal. For HRAGD to offer a quarterly seminar, here's an action plan to follow:
Establish a cross-section of professionals as a committee and meet to plan the sessions.
Determine budget.
Perform an assessment of HRAGD member needs.
Select topics based on member needs assessment.
Locate exceptional speakers.
Pick speaker and negotiate workshop length, pay, topic and objectives.
Determine location and schedule the seminar.
Plan advertising strategies.
Make action plans as detailed as necessary and integrate the individual steps into your planning system. An effective planning system, whether it uses a software program, an iPad, or paper and pen, will keep your goals and action plans on track and on target.
Want to be one of the organizations whose employees understand the mission and goals and enjoys a 29 percent greater return over other firms? Involve as many people as you can in charting the roadmap we've shared for developing a strategic framework for your business.
Executed effectively, you will enjoy a greater return. With your vision, mission, values, strategies, goals and action plans, you'll win, both personally and professionally.
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Develop a Successful Human Resources Department Business Plan
Plan to Chart Your Business Course for Success and Contribution
• • •
BY Updated February 18, 2019SUSAN M. HEATHFIELD
If you’re a department leader, your boss will likely one day ask this question: “What is your business plan for your department?” As the leader of the Human Resources function, you can use these steps to answer that question.
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A frequently asked question at this website, it’s a difficult question to answer in a generic fashion because the needs of every company for the contribution of the HR department can differ widely. You can, however, use these steps as a guide as you develop your own HR business plan.
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Your Human Resources department business plan depends on your needs analysis of your own workplace. Your Human Resources department business plan also depends on learning about and benchmarking industry standards outside of your organization.
But, the fundamental question you need to answer, to reply to your boss’s question, is, “What does your workplace need from the HR function?” Here’s how you can find the answer.
Steps to Develop a Human Resources Department Business Plan
Start your Human Resources department business plan by clarifying exactly what your boss needs and wants from you and in how much detail. You don’t want to spend hours and hours developing information or a detailed plan that the boss doesn’t need or want.
That said, for your own clear purpose and direction, your own strategic plan for your department, this approach will yield great value.
Read through the detailed job descriptions that have been developed for the HR Director/VP, HR Generalist, and HR Assistant. Are there functions listed in these job descriptions that you are not performing that you could perform that would add value to your organization?
Start a function list. You can also use a commercially developed Human Resources department audit book/program or an occasional free Human Resources department audit plan list.
Take a look at this list, plus add to the list, the functions that your Human Resources department is already performing and functions that you know you want to add—or
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Now, at last, you can answer your boss’s question: What is your business plan for your HR department?
subtract. Minute detail is not required until you are ready to put together your Human Resources department business plan when you complete these steps.
Meet with your fellow executives to obtain an assessment of their current satisfaction with your services, additional services they’d like you to add, and their ideas about how HR can best support your organization’s mission, vision, and goals. Supply the questions to your key colleagues in advance of your meeting. Inform them that you have distributed the questions in advance so that they can solicit feedback from their staff, too. If you have effectively gathered the above internal and external information, you may be able to present the choices in a rating and ranking format. This is the key step within your organization for assessing what the line management and the employees want from the HR function. Of course, there are administrative and counseling functions that they might never consider asking you to provide that you will continue to provide as part of a professional HR function. The purpose of asking is to find the offerings that your customers think they need most.
You are developing a great deal of internal information about your company’s HR needs. You might also look at recent journals from professional associations such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Talk with colleagues in any local associations you attend. Take a look at literature available such as HR Magazine. The articles from this section of TheBalance.com are particularly useful for planning the priorities and scope of the HR department business plan.
Once you have gathered all of this information, or even, just enough—your executives’ priorities may give you extremely clear direction, for example—you can make a plan. You can see what you are missing in your HR department, what you might expand, what you need to focus on strategically to build your department’s contribution, and what you may currently offer that is not needed.
From these identified missions, prioritize and make a plan, based on resources and your preferred method of presentation or accomplishment, of what you can accomplish this year and next. Some solutions may be HRIS-based needs; others may have to do with HR office offerings; others may require a strategic change in direction or the addition of a major function. You won’t know until you study and ask.
Topic 1: Trends in Human Resources Management
and the Strategic Importance of Adapting to Those
Trends
This course is based on your having had an introductory course in human resources
management. In addition to that course, many of you have taken other human resources
management courses and have experience working in human resources. With that knowledge,
you already know some of the tasks performed by human resources managers, as well as some
of the changes and challenges they face. What you should contemplate and become conversant
with in this section is how those activities, changes, and challenges fit into an organization’s
strategic process.
What differentiates managers from line workers is that managers coordinate the people in their
organizations so that those people’s activities contribute to the organization’s strategic goals.
This coordination is strategic human resources management (HRM). Most managers spend
more time on HRM than on any other part of their jobs.
We know how to increase productivity in most organizations, yet many managers persist in using
old methods that do not necessarily increase productivity. One of the best ways to increase
productivity is to use validated methods to select, staff, train, and motivate people, which helps
to create high-performance work systems. Making these validated methods part of an
organization’s culture and contributing to strategic goals are important HRM functions.
Academic preparation is important to being the best human resources manager you can be, but
what we learn academically is not always implemented in the workplace. Although practical
considerations often prevent the implementation of purely academic solutions, knowledgeable
managers nonetheless learn how to increase productivity in an organization.
A human resources manager’s major responsibilities can be categorized as follows:
• organizational design
• staffing
• performance management and appraisal
• employee training and organizational development
• reward systems, benefits, and compliance
Good management of each of these areas is important to an organization’s smooth functioning,
and each contributes to the successful achievement of its strategic goals.
Many changes affect HRM and being aware of and ready to react to these changes is imperative
to the successful management of a workforce for an organization. Trends in HRM include:
• increased globalization
• technological changes
• the need for flexibility
• increasing litigation
• changing character of the workforce
Increased globalization is one of the greatest challenges human resources managers face. A manager must know not only how to manage people who work in other countries but also must
be aware of the laws, regulations, and customs of those countries. Globalization also has major
effects on other functions in the organization that in turn affect HRM. If its product is marketed
in other countries, the organization may need to hire for other skills to help in adapting that
product to the cultures of those countries. Being aware of these other functions helps the
organization achieve strategic goals.
Technological changes in the last few years have affected all human resources managers. It is
a great challenge for human resources managers to keep up with the possibilities that
technology offers. Managers must find people with the latest skills; and if those people are not
available, we must design a training program that will provide our organization with those skills.
Human resources managers also should be aware of technological advances that make HRM
more effective, including the latest databases and software that can make HR functions more
efficient.
Flexibility is more important than ever before. The outsourcing of jobs to other companies and
often to other countries continues to be a practical but political issue in many organizations.
Increased use of outsourcing, part-time employees, temporary employees, and contract
employees has a great effect on what a human resources manager does. While the use of these
staffing techniques makes an organization more flexible, it can also be a real headache for a
human resources manager—flexibility often comes at the price of having a less loyal workforce.
Increasing litigation emphasizes the need for human resources managers to be familiar with
laws and regulations related to HR issues such as equal employment, compensation, and liability.
With ever-increasing frequency, human resources managers are expected to take actions to keep
an organization out of legal trouble. A human resources manager often must educate those
involved in developing strategic plans as to how the legal environment may limit or promote
certain organizational actions.
The changing character of the workforce is one of the most important changes of which
human resources managers must be aware. A generation ago, there were fewer women and
minorities in the workforce. The presence of two-income families affects the efforts of human
resources managers to recruit and promote many individuals—workers are more mobile, but
mobility often must take into account the flexibility of two-income families. A more highly
educated workforce means that managers must manage people differently than they have in the
past. There is less loyalty between workers and organizations than there was in the past, which
means that there will likely be more turnover of employees. Part-time and contract employees
are being used more than ever before.
Each of the issues detailed in this first topic is part of an organization's strategic planning. The
development of high-performance work systems through the use of academic knowledge is
important in developing an effective strategic plan. The basis for successful production of a
strategic plan is an awareness of what human resource managers do. Having a strategic plan
with true long-term effectiveness demands knowledge of the trends in HRM. All of these factors
must come together if the organization is to develop a strategic plan that will give it a
competitive advantage, and it is only through a good strategic plan that an organization can
maintain its uniqueness and keep adding value for its customers. The human resources manager
is a key player in developing the strategic plan.
Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans
The Value of Planning
James stumbled into his position as the human resource manager. He had been working for Techno, Inc.
for three years, and when the company grew, James moved from a management position into a human
resource management position. Techno, Inc. is a technology and software consulting company for the
music industry.
James didn’t have a good handle on how to effectively run a human resources (HR) department, so for
much of the time he tried to figure it out as he went. When Techno started seeing rapid growth, he hired
thirty people within a one-month period to meet the demand. Proud of his ability to accomplish his task of
meeting the business’s current needs, James was rather pleased with himself. He had spent numerous
hours mulling over recruitment strategies, putting together excellent compensation plans, and then
eventually sifting through résumés as a small part of the hiring process. Now the organization had the
right number of people needed to carry out its projects.
Fast forward five months, however, and it turned out the rapid growth was only temporary. James met
with the executives of the business who told him the contracts they had acquired were finished, and there
wasn’t enough new work coming in to make payroll next month if they didn’t let some people go. James
felt frustrated because he had gone through so much effort to hire people, and now they would be laid off.
Never mind the costs of hiring and training his department had taken on to make this happen. As James
sat with the executives to determine who should be laid off, he felt sad for the people who had given up
other jobs just five months before, only to be laid off.
After the meeting, James reflected on this situation and realized that if he had spoken with the executives
of the company sooner, they would have shared information on the duration of the contracts, and he likely
would have hired people differently, perhaps on a contract basis rather than on a full-time basis. He also
considered the fact that the organization could have hired an outsourcing company to recruit workers for
him. As Jason mulled this over, he realized that he needed a strategic plan to make sure his department
was meeting the needs of the organization. He vowed to work with the company executives to find out
more about the company’s strategic plan and then develop a human resource management (HRM)
strategic plan to make sure Techno, Inc. has the right number of workers with the right skills, at the right
time in the future.
2.1 Strategic Planning LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Explain the differences been HRM and personnel management.
2. Be able to define the steps in HRM strategic planning.
In the past, human resource management (HRM) was called the personnel department. In the past, the
personnel department hired people and dealt with the hiring paperwork and processes. It is believed the
first human resource department was created in 1901 by the National Cash Register Company (NCR). The
company faced a major strike but eventually defeated the union after a lockout. (We address unions
in Chapter 11 "Working with Labor Unions".) After this difficult battle, the company president decided to
improve worker relations by organizing a personnel department to handle grievances, discharges, safety
concerns, and other employee issues. The department also kept track of new legislation surrounding laws
impacting the organization. Many other companies were coming to the same realization that a
department was necessary to create employee satisfaction, which resulted in more productivity. In 1913,
Henry Ford saw employee turnover at 380 percent and tried to ease the turnover by increasing wages
from $2.50 to $5.00, even though $2.50 was fair during this time period. [1] Of course, this approach
didn’t work for long, and these large companies began to understand they had to do more than hire and
fire if they were going to meet customer demand.
More recently, however, the personnel department has divided into human resource management and
human resource development, as these functions have evolved over the century. HRM is not only crucial
to an organization’s success, but it should be part of the overall company’s strategic plan, because so many
businesses today depend on people to earn profits. Strategic planning plays an important role in how
productive the organization is.
Table 2.1 Examples of Differences between Personnel Management and HRM
Personnel Management Focus HRM Focus
Administering of policies Helping to achieve strategic goals through people
Personnel Management Focus HRM Focus
Stand-alone programs, such as training
HRM training programs that are integrated with company’s
mission and values
Personnel department responsible for
managing people
Line managers share joint responsibility in all areas of people
hiring and management
Creates a cost within an organization Contributes to the profit objectives of the organization
Most people agree that the following duties normally fall under HRM. Each of these aspects has its own
part within the overall strategic plan of the organization:
1. Staffing. Staffing includes the development of a strategic plan to determine how many people you
might need to hire. Based on the strategic plan, HRM then performs the hiring process to recruit
and select the right people for the right jobs. We discuss staffing in greater detail in Chapter 4
"Recruitment", Chapter 5 "Selection", and Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits".
2. Basic workplace policies. Development of policies to help reach the strategic plan’s goals is the job
of HRM. After the policies have been developed, communication of these policies on safety,
security, scheduling, vacation times, and flextime schedules should be developed by the HR
department. Of course, the HR managers work closely with supervisors in organizations to
develop these policies. Workplace policies will be addressed throughout the book.
3. Compensation and benefits. In addition to paychecks, 401(k) plans, health benefits, and other
perks are usually the responsibility of an HR manager. Compensation and benefits are discussed
in Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits" and Chapter 7 "Retention and Motivation".
4. Retention. Assessment of employees and strategizing on how to retain the best employees is a
task that HR managers oversee, but other managers in the organization will also provide
input. Chapter 9 "Managing Employee Performance" and Chapter 10 "Employee
Assessment" cover different types of retention strategies, from training to assessment.
5. Training and development. Helping new employees develop skills needed for their jobs and
helping current employees grow their skills are also tasks for which the HRM department is
responsible. Determination of training needs and development and implementation of training
programs are important tasks in any organization. Succession planning includes handling the
departure of managers and making current employees ready to take on managerial roles when a
manager does leave.
6. Regulatory issues and worker safety. Keeping up to date on new regulations relating to
employment, health care, and other issues is generally a responsibility that falls on the HRM
department. While various laws are discussed throughout the book, unions and safety and health
laws in the workplace are covered in Chapter 11 "Working with Labor Unions" and Chapter 12
"Safety and Health at Work".
In smaller organizations, the manager or owner is likely performing the HRM functions. [2] They hire
people, train them, and determine how much they should be paid. Larger companies ultimately perform
the same tasks, but because they have more employees, they can afford to employ specialists, or human
resource managers, to handle these areas of the business. As a result, it is highly likely that you, as a
manager or entrepreneur, will be performing HRM tasks, hence the value in understanding the strategic
components of HRM.
HRM vs. Personnel Management
Human resource strategy is an elaborate and systematic plan of action developed by a human resource
department. This definition tells us that an HR strategy includes detailed pathways to implement HRM
strategic plans and HR plans. Think of theHRM strategic plan as the major objectives the organization
wants to achieve, and the HR plan as the specific activities carried out to achieve the strategic plan. In
other words, the strategic plan may include long-term goals, while the HR plan may include short-term
objectives that are tied to the overall strategic plan. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, human
resource departments in the past were called personnel departments. This term implies that the
department provided “support” for the rest of the organization. Companies now understand that the
human side of the business is the most important asset in any business (especially in this global
economy), and therefore HR has much more importance than it did twenty years ago. While personnel
management mostly involved activities surrounding the hiring process and legal compliance, human
resources involves much more, including strategic planning, which is the focus of this chapter. The Ulrich
HR model, a common way to look at HRM strategic planning, provides an overall view of the role of HRM
in the organization. His model is said to have started the movement that changed the view of HR; no
longer merely a functional area, HR became more of a partnership within the organization. While his
model has changed over the years, the current model looks at alignment of HR activities with the overall
global business strategy to form a strategic partnership. [3] His newly revised model looks at five main
areas of HR:
1. Strategic partner. Partnership with the entire organization to ensure alignment of the HR
function with the needs of the organization.
2. Change agent. The skill to anticipate and respond to change within the HR function, but as a
company as a whole.
3. Administrative expert and functional expert. The ability to understand and implement policies,
procedures, and processes that relate to the HR strategic plan.
4. Human capital developer. Means to develop talent that is projected to be needed in the future.
5. Employee advocate. Works for employees currently within the organization.
According to Ulrich, [4] implementation of this model must happen with an understanding of the overall
company objectives, problems, challenges, and opportunities. For example, the HR professional must
understand the dynamic nature of the HRM environment, such as changes in labor markets, company
culture and values, customers, shareholders, and the economy. Once this occurs, HR can determine how
best to meet the needs of the organization within these five main areas.
HRM AS A STRATEGIC COMPONENT OF THE BUSINESS
Keeping the Ulrich model in mind, consider these four aspects when creating a good HRM strategic plan:
1. Make it applicable. Often people spend an inordinate amount of time developing plans, but the
plans sit in a file somewhere and are never actually used. A good strategic plan should be the
guiding principles for the HRM function. It should be reviewed and changed as aspects of the
business change. Involvement of all members in the HR department (if it’s a larger department)
and communication among everyone within the department will make the plan better.
2. Be a strategic partner. Alignment of corporate values in the HRM strategic plan should be a major
objective of the plan. In addition, the HRM strategic plan should be aligned with the mission and
objectives of the organization as a whole. For example, if the mission of the organization is to
Figure 2.1
To be successful in writing an HRM strategic plan, one must understand the dynamic
external environment.
promote social responsibility, then the HRM strategic plan should address this in the hiring
criteria.
3. Involve people. An HRM strategic plan cannot be written alone. The plan should involve everyone
in the organization. For example, as the plan develops, the HR manager should meet with various
people in departments and find out what skills the best employees have. Then the HR manager
can make sure the people recruited and interviewed have similar qualities as the best people
already doing the job. In addition, the HR manager will likely want to meet with the financial
department and executives who do the budgeting, so they can determine human resource needs
and recruit the right number of people at the right times. In addition, once the HR department
determines what is needed, communicating a plan can gain positive feedback that ensures the
plan is aligned with the business objectives.
4. Understand how technology can be used. Organizations oftentimes do not have the money or the
inclination to research software and find budget-friendly options for implementation. People are
sometimes nervous about new technology. However, the best organizations are those that
embrace technology and find the right technology uses for their businesses. There are thousands
of HRM software options that can make the HRM processes faster, easier, and more effective.
Good strategic plans address this aspect.
HR managers know the business and therefore know the needs of the business and can develop a plan to
meet those needs. They also stay on top of current events, so they know what is happening globally that
could affect their strategic plan. If they find out, for example, that an economic downturn is looming, they
will adjust their strategic plan. In other words, the strategic plan needs to be a living document, one that
changes as the business and the world changes.
The Steps to Strategic Plan Creation
As we addressed in Section 2.1.2 "The Steps to Strategic Plan Creation", HRM strategic plans must have
several elements to be successful. There should be a distinction made here: the HRM strategic plan is
different from the HR plan. Think of the HRM strategic plan as the major objectives the organization
wants to achieve, while the HR plan consists of the detailed plans to ensure the strategic plan is achieved.
Oftentimes the strategic plan is viewed as just another report that must be written. Rather than jumping
in and writing it without much thought, it is best to give the plan careful consideration.
The goal of Section 2 "Conduct a Strategic Analysis"is to provide you with some basic elements to consider
and research before writing any HRM plans.
Conduct a Strategic Analysis
A strategic analysis looks at three aspects of the individual HRM department:
1. Understanding of the company mission and values. It is impossible to plan for HRM if one does
not know the values and missions of the organization. As we have already addressed in this
chapter, it is imperative for the HR manager to align department objectives with organizational
objectives. It is worthwhile to sit down with company executives, management, and supervisors to
make sure you have a good understanding of the company mission and values.
Another important aspect is the understanding of the organizational life cycle. You may have learned
about the life cycle in marketing or other business classes, and this applies to HRM, too.
An organizational life cycle refers to the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline of the organization,
which can vary over time. For example, when the organization first begins, it is in the introduction phase,
and a different staffing, compensation, training, and labor/employee relations strategy may be necessary
to align HRM with the organization’s goals. This might be opposed to an organization that is struggling to
stay in business and is in the decline phase. That same organization, however, can create a new product,
for example, which might again put the organization in the growth phase. Table 2.2 "Lifecycle Stages and
HRM Strategy" explains some of the strategies that may be different depending on the organizational life
cycle.
2. Understanding of the HRM department mission and values. HRM departments must develop
their own departmental mission and values. These guiding principles for the department will
change as the company’s overall mission and values change. Often the mission statement is a list
of what the department does, which is less of a strategic approach. Brainstorming about HR goals,
values, and priorities is a good way to start. The mission statement should express how an
organization’s human resources help that organization meet the business goals. A poor mission
statement might read as follows: “The human resource department at Techno, Inc. provides
resources to hiring managers and develops compensation plans and other services to assist the
employees of our company.”
A strategic statement that expresses how human resources help the organization might read as follows:
“HR’s responsibility is to ensure that our human resources are more talented and motivated than our
competitors’, giving us a competitive advantage. This will be achieved by monitoring our turnover rates,
compensation, and company sales data and comparing that data to our competitors.” [5] When the mission
statement is written in this way, it is easier to take a strategic approach with the HR planning process.
3. Understanding of the challenges facing the department. HRM managers cannot deal with change
quickly if they are not able to predict changes. As a result, the HRM manager should know what
upcoming challenges may be faced to make plans to deal with those challenges better when they
come along. This makes the strategic plan and HRM plan much more usable.
Table 2.2 Lifecycle Stages and HRM Strategy
Life Cycle
Stage Staffing Compensation
Training and
Development
Labor / Employee
Relations
Introduction
Attract best technical
and professional talent.
Meet or exceed labor
market rates to attract
needed talent.
Define future skill
requirements and
begin establishing
career ladders.
Set basic employee-
relations philosophy
of organization.
Growth
Recruit adequate
numbers and mix of
qualifying workers. Plan
management succession.
Manage rapid internal
labor market
movements.
Meet external market
but consider internal
equity effects.
Establish formal
compensation
structures.
Mold effective
management team
through
management
development and
organizational
development.
Maintain labor
peace, employee
motivation, and
morale.
Maturity
Encourage sufficient
turnover to minimize
layoffs and provide new
openings. Encourage
mobility as
reorganizations shift
jobs around.
Control
compensation costs.
Maintain flexibility
and skills of an
aging workforce.
Control labor costs
and maintain labor
peace. Improve
productivity.
Life Cycle
Stage Staffing Compensation
Training and
Development
Labor / Employee
Relations
Decline
Plan and implement
workforce reductions
and reallocations;
downsizing and
outplacement may occur
during this stage.
Implement tighter
cost control.
Implement
retraining and career
consulting services.
Improve productivity
and achieve
flexibility in work
rules. Negotiate job
security and
employment-
adjustment policies
Source: Seattle University Presentation, accessed July 11, 2011, http://fac-
staff.seattleu.edu/gprussia/web/mgt383/HR%20Planning1.ppt.
Identify Strategic HR Issues
In this step, the HRM professionals will analyze the challenges addressed in the first step. For example,
the department may see that it is not strategically aligned with the company’s mission and values and opt
to make changes to its departmental mission and values as a result of this information.
Many organizations and departments will use a strategic planning tool that identifies strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) to determine some of the issues they are facing.
Once this analysis is performed for the business, HR can align itself with the needs of the business by
understanding the business strategy. See Table 2.3 "Sample HR Department SWOT Analysis for Techno,
Inc." for an example of how a company’s SWOT analysis can be used to develop a SWOT analysis for the
HR department.
Once the alignment of the company SWOT is completed, HR can develop its own SWOT analysis to
determine the gaps between HR’s strategic plan and the company’s strategic plan. For example, if the HR
manager finds that a department’s strength is its numerous training programs, this is something the
organization should continue doing. If a weakness is the organization’s lack of consistent compensation
throughout all job titles, then the opportunity to review and revise the compensation policies presents
itself. In other words, the company’s SWOT analysis provides a basis to address some of the issues in the
organization, but it can be whittled down to also address issues within the department.
Table 2.3 Sample HR Department SWOT Analysis for Techno, Inc.
Strengths
Hiring talented people
Company growth
Technology implementation for business processes
Excellent relationship between HRM and management/executives
Weaknesses
No strategic plan for HRM
No planning for up/down cycles
No formal training processes
Lacking of software needed to manage business processes, including go-to-market staffing
strategies
Opportunities
Development of HRM staffing plan to meet industry growth
HRM software purchase to manage training, staffing, assessment needs for an unpredictable
business cycle
Continue development of HRM and executive relationship by attendance and participation in
key meetings and decision-making processes
Develop training programs and outside development opportunities to continue development
of in-house marketing expertise
Threats
Economy
Changing technology
Prioritize Issues and Actions
Based on the data gathered in the last step, the HRM manager should prioritize the goals and then put
action plans together to deal with these challenges. For example, if an organization identifies that they
lack a comprehensive training program, plans should be developed that address this need. (Training
needs are discussed in Chapter 8 "Training and Development" .) An important aspect of this step is the
involvement of the management and executives in the organization. Once you have a list of issues you will
address, discuss them with the management and executives, as they may see other issues or other
priorities differently than you. Remember, to be effective, HRM must work with the organization and
assist the organization in meeting goals. This should be considered in every aspect of HRM planning.
Draw Up an HRM Plan
Once the HRM manager has met with executives and management, and priorities have been agreed upon,
the plans are ready to be developed. Detailed development of these plans will be discussed in Section 2.2
"Writing the HRM Plan". Sometimes companies have great strategic plans, but when the development of
the details occurs, it can be difficult to align the strategic plan with the more detailed plans. An HRM
manager should always refer to the overall strategic plan before developing the HRM strategic plan and
HR plans.
Even if a company does not have an HR department, HRM strategic plans and HR plans should still be
developed by management. By developing and monitoring these plans, the organization can ensure the
right processes are implemented to meet the ever-changing needs of the organization. The strategic plan
looks at the organization as a whole, the HRM strategic plan looks at the department as a whole, and the
HR plan addresses specific issues in the human resource department.
[1] Michael Losey, “HR Comes of Age,” HR Magazine, March 15, 1998, accessed July 11,
2011,http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n3_v43/ai_20514399.
[2] Jan de Kok and Lorraine M. Uhlaner, “Organization Context and Human Resource Management in the Small
Firm” (Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 01-038/3, Tinbergen Institute, 2001), accessed August 13,
2011, http://ideas.repec.org/s/dgr/uvatin.html.
[3] David Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank, The HR Value Proposition (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2005), 9–14.
[4] David Ulrich, “Evaluating the Ulrich Model,” Acerta, 2011, accessed July 11,
2011,http://www.goingforhr.be/extras/web-specials/hr-according-to-dave-ulrich#ppt_2135261.
[5] Gary Kaufman, “How to Fix HR,” Harvard Business Review, September 2006, accessed July 11,
2011, http://hbr.org/2006/09/how-to-fix-hr/ar/1.
2.2 Writing the HRM Plan LEARNING OBJECTIVE
1. Describe the steps in the development of an HRM plan.
As addressed in Section 2.1 "Strategic Planning", the writing of an HRM strategic plan should be based on
the strategic plans of the organization and of the department. Once the strategic plan is written, the HR
professional can begin work on the HR plan. This is different from the strategic plan in that it is more
detailed and more focused on the short term. The six parts described here are addressed in more detail
in Chapter 4 "Recruitment", Chapter 5 "Selection", Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits", Chapter 7
"Retention and Motivation", Chapter 8 "Training and Development", Chapter 9 "Managing Employee
Performance", and Chapter 10 "Employee Assessment".
The six parts of the HRM plan include the following:
Figure 2.3
As you can see from this figure, the company strategic plan ties into the HRM strategic plan,
and from the HRM strategic plan, the HR plan can be developed.
1. Determine human resource needs. This part is heavily involved with the strategic plan. What
growth or decline is expected in the organization? How will this impact your workforce? What is
the economic situation? What are your forecasted sales for next year?
2. Determine recruiting strategy. Once you have a plan in place, it’s necessary to write down a
strategy addressing how you will recruit the right people at the right time.
3. Select employees. The selection process consists of the interviewing and hiring process.
4. Develop training. Based on the strategic plan, what training needs are arising? Is there new
software that everyone must learn? Are there problems in handling conflict? Whatever the
training topics are, the HR manager should address plans to offer training in the HRM plan.
5. Determine compensation. In this aspect of the HRM plan, the manager must determine pay scales
and other compensation such as health care, bonuses, and other perks.
6. Appraise performance. Sets of standards need to be developed so you know how to rate the
performance of your employees and continue with their development.
Each chapter of this text addresses one area of the HR plan, but the next sections provide some basic
knowledge of planning for each area.
Determine Human Resource Needs
The first part of an HR plan will consist of determining how many people are needed. This step involves
looking at company operations over the last year and asking a lot of questions:
1. Were enough people hired?
2. Did you have to scramble to hire people at the last minute?
3. What are the skills your current employees possess?
4. What skills do your employees need to gain to keep up with technology?
5. Who is retiring soon? Do you have someone to replace them?
6. What are the sales forecasts? How might this affect your hiring?
These are the questions to answer in this first step of the HR plan process. As you can imagine, this cannot
be done alone. Involvement of other departments, managers, and executives should take place to obtain
an accurate estimate of staffing needs for now and in the future. We discuss staffing in greater detail
in Chapter 4 "Recruitment".
Many HR managers will prepare an inventory of all current employees, which includes their educational
level and abilities. This gives the HR manager the big picture on what current employees can do. It can
serve as a tool to develop employees’ skills and abilities, if you know where they are currently in their
development. For example, by taking an inventory, you may find out that Richard is going to retire next
year, but no one in his department has been identified or trained to take over his role. Keeping the
inventory helps you know where gaps might exist and allows you to plan for these gaps. This topic is
addressed further in Chapter 4 "Recruitment".
HR managers will also look closely at all job components and will analyze each job. By doing this analysis,
they can get a better picture of what kinds of skills are needed to perform a job successfully. Once the HR
manager has performed the needs assessment and knows exactly how many people, and in what positions
and time frame they need to be hired, he or she can get to work on recruiting, which is also called
astaffing plan. This is addressed further in Chapter 4 "Recruitment".
Recruit
Recruitment is an important job of the HR manager. More detail is provided in Chapter 4 "Recruitment".
Knowing how many people to hire, what skills they should possess, and hiring them when the time is right
are major challenges in the area of recruiting. Hiring individuals who have not only the skills to do the job
but also the attitude, personality, and fit can be the biggest challenge in recruiting. Depending on the type
of job you are hiring for, you might place traditional advertisements on the web or use social networking
sites as an avenue. Some companies offer bonuses to employees who refer friends. No matter where you
decide to recruit, it is important to keep in mind that the recruiting process should be fair and equitable
and diversity should be considered. We discuss diversity in greater detail in Chapter 3 "Diversity and
Multiculturalism".
Depending on availability and time, some companies may choose to outsource their recruiting processes.
For some types of high-level positions, a head hunter will be used to recruit people nationally and
internationally. A head hunter is a person who specializes in matching jobs with people, and they usually
work only with high-level positions. Another option is to use an agency that specializes in hiring people
for a variety of positions, including temporary and permanent positions. Some companies decide to hire
temporary employees because they anticipate only a short-term need, and it can be less expensive to hire
someone for only a specified period of time.
No matter how it is done, recruitment is the process of obtaining résumés of people interested in the job.
In our next step, we review those résumés, interview, and select the best person for the job.
Select
After you have reviewed résumés for a position, now is the time to work toward selecting the right person
for the job. Although we discuss selection in great detail in Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits", it is
worth a discussion here as well. Numerous studies have been done, and while they have various results,
the majority of studies say it costs an average of $45,000 to hire a new manager. [1] While this may seem
exaggerated, consider the following items that contribute to the cost:
1. Time to review résumés
2. Time to interview candidates
3. Interview expenses for candidates
4. Possible travel expenses for new hire or recruiter
5. Possible relocation expenses for new hire
6. Additional bookkeeping, payroll, 401(k), and so forth
7. Additional record keeping for government agencies
8. Increased unemployment insurance costs
9. Costs related to lack of productivity while new employee gets up to speed
Because it is so expensive to hire, it is important to do it right. First, résumés are reviewed and people who
closely match the right skills are selected for interviews. Many organizations perform phone interviews
first so they can further narrow the field. The HR manager is generally responsible for setting up the
interviews and determining the interview schedule for a particular candidate. Usually, the more senior the
position is, the longer the interview process takes, even up to eight weeks. [2] After the interviews are
conducted, there may be reference checks, background checks, or testing that will need to be performed
before an offer is made to the new employee. HR managers are generally responsible for this aspect. Once
the applicant has met all criteria, the HR manager will offer the selected person the position. At this point,
salary, benefits, and vacation time may be negotiated. Compensation is the next step in HR management.
Determine Compensation
What you decide to pay people is much more difficult than it seems. This issue is covered in greater detail
in Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits". Pay systems must be developed that motivate employees and
embody fairness to everyone working at the organization. However, organizations cannot offer every
benefit and perk because budgets always have constraints. Even governmental agencies need to be
concerned with compensation as part of their HR plan. For example, in 2011, Illinois State University gave
salary increases of 3 percent to all faculty, despite state budget cuts in other areas. They reasoned that the
pay increase was needed because of the competitive nature of hiring and retaining faculty and staff. The
university president said, “Our employees have had a very good year and hopefully this is a good shot in
the arm that will keep our morale high.” [3]
The process in determining the right pay for the right job can have many variables, in addition to keeping
morale high. First, as we have already discussed, the organization life cycle can determine the pay strategy
for the organization. The supply and demand of those skills in the market, economy, region, or area in
which the business is located is a determining factor in compensation strategy. For example, a company
operating in Seattle may pay higher for the same job than their division in Missoula, Montana, because
the cost of living is higher in Seattle. The HR manager is always researching to ensure the pay is fair and
at market value. In Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits", we get into greater detail about the variety of
pay systems, perks, and bonuses that can be offered. For many organizations, training is a perk.
Employees can develop their skills while getting paid for it. Training is the next step in the HR planning
process.
Develop Training
Once we have planned our staffing, recruited people, selected employees, and then compensated them, we
want to make sure our new employees are successful. Training is covered in more detail in Chapter 8. One
way we can ensure success is by training our employees in three main areas:
1. Company culture. A company culture is the organization’s way of doing things. Every company
does things a bit differently, and by understanding the corporate culture, the employee will be set
up for success. Usually this type of training is performed at an orientation, when an employee is
first hired. Topics might include how to request time off, dress codes, and processes.
2. Skills needed for the job. If you work for a retail store, your employees need to know how to use
the register. If you have sales staff, they need to have product knowledge to do the job. If your
company uses particular software, training is needed in this area.
3. Human relations skills. These are non-job-specific skills your employees need not only to do their
jobs but also to make them all-around successful employees. Skills needed include
communication skills and interviewing potential employees.
Perform a Performance Appraisal
The last thing an HR manager should plan is the performance appraisal. While we discuss performance
appraisals in greater detail in Chapter 10 "Employee Assessment", it is definitely worth a mention here,
since it is part of the strategic plan. Aperformance appraisal is a method by which job performance is
measured. The performance appraisal can be called many different things, such as the following:
1. Employee appraisal
2. Performance review
3. 360 review
4. Career development review
No matter what the name, these appraisals can be very beneficial in motivating and rewarding employees.
The performance evaluation includes metrics on which the employee is measured. These metrics should
be based on the job description, both of which the HR manager develops. Various types of rating systems
can be used, and it’s usually up to the HR manager to develop these as well as employee evaluation forms.
The HR manager also usually ensures that every manager in the organization is trained on how to fill out
the evaluation forms, but more importantly, how to discuss job performance with the employee. Then the
HR manager tracks the due dates of performance appraisals and sends out e-mails to those managers
letting them know it is almost time to write an evaluation.
[1] Susan Herman, Hiring Right: A Practical Guide (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1993), xv.
[2] John Crant, “How Long Does an Interview Process Take?” Jobsinminneapolis.com, December 2, 2009, accessed
October 28, 2010,http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/articles/title/How-Long-Does-an-Interview-Process-
Take/3500/422.
[3] Stephanie Pawlowski, “Illinois State University to Get Salary Bump,” WJBC Radio, July 11, 2011, accessed July
11, 2011, http://wjbc.com/illinois-state-university-faculty-to-get-salary-bump.
2.3 Tips in HRM Planning LEARNING OBJECTIVE
1. Explain the aspects needed to create a usable and successful HRM plan.
As you have learned from this chapter, human resource strategic planning involves understanding your
company’s strategic plan and HR’s role in the organization. The planning aspect meets the needs of the
strategic plan by knowing how many people should be hired, how many people are needed, and what kind
of training they need to meet the goals of the organization. This section gives some tips on successful HR
strategic planning.
FORTUNE 500 FOCUS
Like many Fortune 500 companies throughout the world, IBM in India finds that picking the best
prospects for job postings isn’t always easy. By using advanced analytics, however, it aims to connect the
strategic plan, staffing needs, and the hiring process using a simple tool. The project was originally
developed to assign people to projects internally at IBM, but IBM found this tool able to not only extract
essential details like the number of years of experience but also make qualitative judgments, such as how
good the person actually is for the job. [1] This makes the software unique, as most résumé-scanning
software programs can only search for specific keywords and are not able to assess the job fit or tie the
criteria directly to the overall strategic plan. The project uses IBM India’s spoken web technology, in
which the prospective employee answers a few questions, creating the equivalent of voice résumé. Then
using these voice résumés, the hiring manager can easily search for those prospects who meet the needs of
the organization and the objectives of the strategic plan.
Some of the challenges noted with this software include the recognition of language and dialect issues.
However, the IBM human resources solution is still one of the most sophisticated of such tools to be
developed. “Services is very people-intensive. Today, there is talk of a war for talent, but attracting the
right kind of people is a challenge, yet unemployment is very high. Our solution applies sophisticated
analytics to workforce management,” says Manish Gupta, director at IBM Research-India. [2]
It is likely that this is only the beginning of the types of technology that allow HR professionals to tie their
HR plans directly to a strategic plan with the touch of a few buttons.
Link HRM Strategic Plan to Company Plan
Understanding the nature of the business is key to being successful in creating a strategic plan for HRM.
Because every business is different, the needs of the business may change, depending on the economy, the
season, and societal changes in our country. HR managers need to understand all these aspects of the
business to better predict how many people are needed, what types of training are needed, and how to
compensate people, for example. The strategic plan that the HR manager writes should address these
issues. To address these issues, the HR manager should develop the departmental goals and HR plans
based on the overall goals of the organization. In other words, HR should not operate alone but in tandem
with the other parts of the organization. The HRM plan should reflect this.
Monitor the Plan Constantly
Oftentimes a great strategic plan is written, taking lots of time, but isn’t actually put into practice for a
variety of reasons, such as the following:
1. The plan wasn’t developed so that it could be useful.
2. The plan wasn’t communicated with management and others in the HRM department.
3. The plan did not meet the budget guidelines of the organization.
4. The plan did not match the strategic outcomes of the organization.
5. There was lack of knowledge on how to actually implement it.
There is no point in developing a plan that isn’t going to be used. Developing the plan and then making
changes as necessary are important to making it a valuable asset for the organization. A strategic plan
should be a living document, in that it changes as organizational or external factors change. People can get
too attached to a specific plan or way of doing things and then find it hard to change. The plan needs to
change constantly or it won’t be of value.
Measure It
A good strategic plan and HR plan should discuss the way “success” will be measured. For example, rather
than writing, “Meet the hiring needs of the organization,” be more specific: “Based on sales forecasts from
our sales department, hire ten people this quarter with the skills to meet our ten job openings.” This is a
goal that is specific enough to be measured. These types of quantitative data also make it easier to show
the relationship between HR and the organization, and better yet, to show how HR adds value to the
bottom line. Likewise, if a company has a strategic objective to be a safe workplace, you might include a
goal to “develop training to meet the needs of the organization.” While this is a great goal, how will this be
measured? How will you know if you did what you were supposed to do? It might be difficult to measure
this with such a general statement. On the other hand, a goal to “develop a safety training workshop and
have all employees complete it by the end of the year” is specific and can be measured at the end to
determine success.
Sometimes Change Is Necessary
It can be difficult to base an entire plan on forecasted numbers. As a result, an HRM department that is
willing to change quickly to meet the needs of the organization proves its worthiness. Consider a sales
forecast that called for fifteen new hires, but you find out months later the organization is having a hard
time making payroll. Upon digging deeper, you find the sales forecasts were overexaggerated, and now
you have fifteen people you don’t really need. By monitoring the changes constantly (usually done by
asking lots of questions to other departments), you can be sure you are able to change your strategic plan
as they come.
Be Aware of Legislative Changes
One of the major challenges in HRM, as we discuss in Chapter 1 "The Role of Human Resources", is
having an awareness of what is happening from a legal perspective. Because most budgets are based on
certain current laws, knowing when the law changes and how it will affect department budgets and
planning (such as compensation planning) will create a more solid strategic plan. For example, if the
minimum wage goes up in your state and you have minimum wage workers, reworking the budget and
communicating this change to your accounting team is imperative in providing value to the organization.
We will discuss various legislation throughout this book.
[1] Sridhar Chari, “IBM Automates Parsing of Resumes,” iStock Analyst, July 11, 2011, accessed July 11,
2011, http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5283887/ibm-automates-parsing-of-resumes.
[2] Sridhar Chari, “IBM Automates Parsing of Resumes,” iStock Analyst, July 11, 2011, accessed July 11,
2011, http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5283887/ibm-automates-parsing-of-resumes.
2.4 Case and Summary CHAPTER SUMMARY
• Human resource management was once called the personnel department. In the past, hiring
people and working with hiring paperwork was this department’s job. Today, the HRM
department has a much broader role, and as a result, HR managers must align their strategies
with the company’s strategies.
• Functions that fall under HRM today include staffing, creation of workplace policies,
compensation and benefits, retention, training and development, and working with regulatory
issues and worker protection.
• Human resource strategy is a set of elaborate and systematic plans of action. The company
objectives and goals should be aligned with the objectives and goals of the individual
departments.
• The steps to creating an HRM strategic plan include conducting a strategic analysis. This entails
having an understanding of the values and mission of the organization, so you can align your
departmental strategy in the same way.
• The second step is to identify any HR issues that might impact the business.
• The third step, based on the information from the first and second steps, is to prioritize issues and
take action. Finally, the HRM professional will draw up the HRM plan.
• The HRM plan consists of six steps. The first is to determine the needs of the organization based
on sales forecasts, for example. Then the HR professional will recruit and select the right person
for the job. HRM develops training and development to help better the skills of existing
employees and new employees, too. The HR manager will then determine compensation and
appraise performance of employees. Each of these parts of the HRM plan is discussed in its own
separate chapter in greater detail.
• As things in the organization change, the strategic plan should also change.
• To make the most from a strategic plan, it’s important to write the goals in a way that makes them
measurable.
CHAPTER CASE
We Merged…Now What?
Earlier this month, your company, a running equipment designer and manufacturer called Runners
Paradise, merged with a smaller clothing design company called ActiveLeak. Your company initiated the
buyout because of the excellent design team at ActiveLeak and their brand recognition, specifically for
their MP3-integrated running shorts. Runners Paradise has thirty-five employees and ActiveLeak has ten
employees. At ActiveLeak, the owner, who often was too busy doing other tasks, handled the HRM roles.
As a result, ActiveLeak has no strategic plan, and you are wondering if you should develop a strategic
plan, given this change. Here are the things you have accomplished so far:
• Reviewed compensation and adjusted salaries for the sake of fairness. Communicated this to all
affected employees.
• Developed job requirements for current and new jobs.
• Had each old and new employee fill out a skills inventory Excel document, which has been
merged into a database.
From this point, you are not sure what to do to fully integrate the new organization.
1. Why should you develop an HRM strategic plan?
2. Which components of your HR plan will you have to change?
3. What additional information would you need to create an action plan for these changes?
Human Resources Planning
Human resource needs in an organization must address the internal needs of the organization
and the external influences of society. Human resources planning involves taking a proactive
approach to providing the human resources needs of the organization.
The human resources planning process starts with figuring out how many employees the
organization must hire with particular skills to be successful. The planning process also
determines what skills and attributes those employees should have.
Internal and External Influences on the Human Resources Plan
Society influences an organization externally by:
• limiting the supply of labor and the skills that are available to the organization
• determining the values and ethics that the business is expected to follow
• providing competition for the labor needed
• providing technologies that the business can use
The supply of labor is limited because there are a limited number of people. Further limits come
from geographic location and the skills that the labor force have attained. If there is a gap in the
supply of people who have particular skills or people who are willing to work particular jobs, the
economic system will try to fill that gap. This was evidenced in the late 1990s, when the pay for
high-tech jobs was higher than for other jobs. The demand for high-tech workers was high, but
the supply of people with high-tech skills was low, so wages for those positions increased.
Another example of the supply of labor having a social influence is the demand for field workers
and low-level service workers in the United States. The demand for those workers is higher than
the U.S. labor force can supply, so there is an influx of immigrants (both legal and illegal) to fill
the gap between the demand and supply of low-skill labor.
The supply of labor is one of the greatest social influences in our society. With a global economy,
it is now possible for organizations to hire labor in countries outside the United States to do tasks
that in the past may have been done in the United States.
Laws and regulations define for organizations what is acceptable for them to do. Our
society has determined that it is unacceptable for businesses to work 12-year-old children for 10
hours a day, and as a result the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
were passed. In the last 50 years our society has determined that it is unacceptable for
organizations to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or religion (among other traits), so
EEO laws and regulations have been passed. Businesses are also restrained by the values and
ethics of their own individual organizational culture and by the expectations of society. These
societal expectations may precede or extend the expectations expressed in laws and regulations.
The competition for labor can be intense between organizations. If the competition for
particular skills is intense, it may drive wages up. The supply of specific skills may lead
businesses to compete in different ways. Some businesses may resort to hiring individuals who
do not have the required skills and training those individuals for the skills that the business
needs. Other businesses may move to cities or locales where a skilled labor force already exists.
Society often demands the latest technological advances from businesses. Being
competitive often requires that a business use the latest technological advances and having a
supply of labor that can meet those technological needs can be a challenge. Businesses often
depend on educational institutions to develop training programs that will train people to use the
latest technologies. This symbiotic relationship between business and educational institutions is
an important factor in meeting society's labor needs.
Factors that are internal to the business when dealing with human resources planning are:
• the environment and culture of the organization
• the strengths and weaknesses in the organization
• the presence of an effective strategic plan
• operational (short-range) planning goals
• the needs that are projected by the strategic and operational plans
Internal factors are much more dependent on the particular organization, so they must be
tailored to the needs of each organization. The environment and culture of the organization
depends on its leadership and market position. That leadership and market position leads to
different strengths and weaknesses that each organization must define for itself. Those strengths
and weaknesses will lead to the major aspects of the organization's strategic plan. The strategic
plan will define what operational actions must be taken. The strategic and operational plans will
result in goals that the human resources manager can use to project what the organization's
human resources needs are and will be.
The Human Resources Plan
The human resources plan is strongly tied to the organization's strategic plan and it can be
difficult to separate the two. This is one of the reasons that it is essential that the human
resources manager be involved at the highest levels of strategic planning. For example, an
organization cannot function without people available and willing to work for it. It would be
unwise for an organization to locate a facility in a geographic region that did not have a supply of
labor, at a cost that the organization could afford. The human resources manager must be
involved in such decisions, so the supply of labor can be accurately evaluated. Decisions such as
locating new facilities are important parts of an organization's strategic plan.
With human resources planning being such an important part of the strategic planning process,
the steps in the human resources planning process closely parallel the same steps in the
strategic planning process. These steps are:
HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING STRATEGIC PLANNING 1. Review the organizational vision and mission to make sure the HR philosophy is coordinated with that vision.
1. Develop an organizational vision and a mission statement about that vision.
2. Inventory the internal organization for skills and needs, now and in the future.
2. Analyze the internal environment for strengths and weaknesses.
3. Look at the external labor market to see if it can meet the organization's human resources needs for now and in the future.
3. Analyze the external environment for opportunities and threats.
4. Define objectives for the human resources function in the organization.
4. Set objectives for the organization.
5. Figure out how human resources will make sure the labor needs of the organization will be met to fulfill the objectives of the strategic plan.
5. Develop a strategy to meet the organization's goals.
6. Hire people and/or train people for the skills and attitudes the organization needs; or take steps to make sure people will be available to hire as they are needed in the future.
6. Implement the strategy.
7. Check on the human resources projections and make sure to adjust for any changes that were not anticipated by the human resource plan.
7. Evaluate the strategic plan and modify that plan as needed.
A human resources manager can use a number of tools to help develop and implement a human
resources plan.
1. A labor-demand forecast provides a prediction of the organization's future labor needs.
2. A labor-supply forecast provides a prediction about whether those future labor needs can
be met by the labor available in society.
3. A gap analysis expresses what the difference will be between the demand for and the
supply of labor.
Several things must be considered when analyzing labor needs. Both the global and the diversity
needs of an organization provide opportunities for the organization to grow. Those same
opportunities may give the human resources manager headaches in forecasting and filling labor
needs. Hiring people with backgrounds that have not previously been represented in the
organization can lead to the need for more education and training in human skills for all
employees. Human resources managers in modern organizations are responsible for more than
just filling any labor gaps. Human resources managers are increasingly responsible for keeping
the employees' morale and motivation levels at a productive level.
A good job analysis is essential to the human resources planning effort. If an organization's
needs have been defined through good job analyses, the internal labor demands will be much
easier to determine. Good job analyses are also important to determining if there is an adequate
supply of labor in specific skills needed for the organization.
Gap analysis can be dealing with either a lack of labor supply or a surplus of labor in the
organization. If there is already a surplus of labor in the organization, it can lead to downsizing.
It is more unpleasant for an HR manager to have to plan to downsize than to plan for expansion,
but human resources plans will often lead to the conclusion that parts or all of an organization is
in need of downsizing. Effective human resources management can mitigate the negatives of
downsizing. Some focus must be put on how downsizing affects those who are still in the
organization after the downsizing occurs.
Human resources planning is the basis for everything else the human resources manager does. It
is also the way an organization's human resources function is tied to the rest of the organization.
A good human resources plan will contribute to the success of the individuals in an organization
and to the success of the organization itself.
- 4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)
- The Changing Role and Functions of HR
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- The Evolution of HR
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- Yes, HR Professionals, You Are Consultants
- Make HR a True Business Partner
- Human_Resource_Transformation_The_Intern
- HR_ building a reputation as a business partner _ Emerald Publishing
- SHRM_ alignment of HR function with business strategy _ Emerald Insight
- 10 Tips About How HR Can Influence Business Strategy
- The Changing Role of Strategic Human Resource Management in Principles of Management _ Principles of Management
- A guide to strategic human resource planning
- dulrich_wp_arewethereyet
- Build a Strategic Framework Through Planning
- Develop a Human Resources Department Business Plan
- Trends in Human Resources Management
- Chapter 2
- Human Resources Planning
