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Way of the future: "HR with attitude"
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Way of the future: "HR with attitude"
Businesses demanding more from their HR function should hire professionals who are "credible activists" and "have attitude", according to an international study.
The human resources competency study, conducted by US-based consultancy The RBL Group over 20 years, involved 10,000 HR practitioners and non-HR associates across four continents, including Australia.
The report points to the need for HR departments to help businesses compete. It says a successful HR professional needs to be:
* a credible activist - one who is both credible (admired and listened to), and active (takes a position and offers a point of view). The report refers to this type of person as "HR with attitude". It says those who are credible but inactive have little impact, while those who are active but aren`t credible will not be listened to;
* a culture and change steward - one who respects past workplace culture but is also proactive in reshaping that culture, particularly by coaching managers and employees in how their actions reflect and drive workplace culture through the implementation of strategies and projects. "They help turn what is known into what is done";
* a talent manager/organisational designer - one who masters theory, research and practice in talent management and organisation design by focussing on competency requirements and "embedding capability" into the processes of the business structure;
* a strategy architect - one who has a vision of how the business can win in the future and plays a part in implementing that vision. He or she recognises business trends, and helps employees realise customer-driven business strategies by linking the internal organisation to external expectations;
* an operational executive - one who ensures the company`s credibility by efficiently dealing with employees` needs (pay, training and relocation, for example) through technology, shared services and outsourcing; and
* a business ally - one who understands the social context in which the business runs, how the business makes money and who the customers are. He or she has a solid understanding of how other sectors within the business, such as marketing and research, operate, and how to work effectively with them.
Shape up, or be outsourced
The researchers say that HR departments that fail to help their organisation realise its overall vision and contribute to "intangible shareholder wealth" risk being downsized or outsourced.
In an age in which many business managers are finding that HR departments are failing to meet these new expectations, HR professionals must "do more than manage employee terms and conditions", the report says.
The "bar has been raised", it says, and an HR professional who would have been successful 10 years ago would be unlikely to succeed today.
"HR departments are operating more like a business within the business, with a clear strategy and channels of distribution," the researchers say. "HR professionals are being asked to help businesses compete."
HR professionals, therefore, should be "attuned to customer and investor expectations" in addition to serving the organisation`s people.
"Following one of these two paths independent of the other leads to failure.
"HR professionals who emphasise the peo¬ple side at the exclusion of the business side may be well liked and popular, but they will not succeed, because their work does not further business goals.
"HR professionals who focus on the business side without sensitivity to the human element will also not succeed because although the business may prosper in the short term, people will not sustain the success in the longer term."
Source:
http://www.hrdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&stream=All&selkey=1032&hl
The human resources competency study, conducted by US-based consultancy The RBL Group over 20 years, involved 10,000 HR practitioners and non-HR associates across four continents, including Australia.
The report points to the need for HR departments to help businesses compete. It says a successful HR professional needs to be:
* a credible activist - one who is both credible (admired and listened to), and active (takes a position and offers a point of view). The report refers to this type of person as "HR with attitude". It says those who are credible but inactive have little impact, while those who are active but aren`t credible will not be listened to;
* a culture and change steward - one who respects past workplace culture but is also proactive in reshaping that culture, particularly by coaching managers and employees in how their actions reflect and drive workplace culture through the implementation of strategies and projects. "They help turn what is known into what is done";
* a talent manager/organisational designer - one who masters theory, research and practice in talent management and organisation design by focussing on competency requirements and "embedding capability" into the processes of the business structure;
* a strategy architect - one who has a vision of how the business can win in the future and plays a part in implementing that vision. He or she recognises business trends, and helps employees realise customer-driven business strategies by linking the internal organisation to external expectations;
* an operational executive - one who ensures the company`s credibility by efficiently dealing with employees` needs (pay, training and relocation, for example) through technology, shared services and outsourcing; and
* a business ally - one who understands the social context in which the business runs, how the business makes money and who the customers are. He or she has a solid understanding of how other sectors within the business, such as marketing and research, operate, and how to work effectively with them.
Shape up, or be outsourced
The researchers say that HR departments that fail to help their organisation realise its overall vision and contribute to "intangible shareholder wealth" risk being downsized or outsourced.
In an age in which many business managers are finding that HR departments are failing to meet these new expectations, HR professionals must "do more than manage employee terms and conditions", the report says.
The "bar has been raised", it says, and an HR professional who would have been successful 10 years ago would be unlikely to succeed today.
"HR departments are operating more like a business within the business, with a clear strategy and channels of distribution," the researchers say. "HR professionals are being asked to help businesses compete."
HR professionals, therefore, should be "attuned to customer and investor expectations" in addition to serving the organisation`s people.
"Following one of these two paths independent of the other leads to failure.
"HR professionals who emphasise the peo¬ple side at the exclusion of the business side may be well liked and popular, but they will not succeed, because their work does not further business goals.
"HR professionals who focus on the business side without sensitivity to the human element will also not succeed because although the business may prosper in the short term, people will not sustain the success in the longer term."
Source:
http://www.hrdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&stream=All&selkey=1032&hl
