The expanding role of HR
In many organisations today, company Boards and senior managers are expecting more and more from the Human Resources function.
Along with senior company executives themselves, Human Resources practitioners are being called to move away from their traditional administrative functions and to play a more strategic role in strengthening organisational capabilities.
Everyone accepts that people are a critical corporate asset. Now, more people understand that it is the strategic HR function that is the key to leveraging the people factor.
By taking on a strategic role, HR can meet the rising expectations of senior management, and actively drive breakthrough improvements in human performance to help the company compete better in the marketplace.
Some of the pressure on HR stems from the continually increasing competitive situation and in some cases it is the ongoing need to control costs, both within HR and across the workforce.
Generally, there is a growing expectation that HR should be a strategic function, and play a direct role in helping the corporation succeed.
Most HR professionals agree with that expectation. The problem is determining what, precisely, it means. What does a strategic HR function do? And how does an HR organisation make the fundamental shift—the transformation—from traditional HR group, to strategic player in the business?
In the 21st century, more and more of the best companies are asking questions such as:
- Does our HR strategy have a measurable impact on the company’s bottom line?
- Who sets the HR direction?
- Which HR structures, technologies, and outsourcing practices achieve the best results?
- Which Human Resources activities waste time and money – and don’t help achieve company wide performance goals?
From much of the literature about Human Resources over recent years, students could be forgiven for thinking that ‘everything’ has been resolved. But that is far from the truth.
It is a fact that HR has completed the transformation from administrative ‘doer’ to strategic facilitator, but the reality is that many functions are still grappling with the changing role.
There has been constant change in the world of Human Resources in the past few years. The function has been intimately connected with helping organisations achieve cost reductions through downsizing and the consequent changes in the way jobs are structured: delayering, devolution and decentralisation.
The changes have been caused by the need to react quickly to severe pressures for survival which, in many cases, have left organisations in crisis and necessitated radical solutions.
At the full range level, HR activities broaden to include development and implementation of programs to support the overall growth of the organisation, productivity improvement, and employee relations. The HR department proactively initiates activities to minimise risk to the organisation and it drives a range of performance improvement activities.
Full range activities in typical HR departments today include:
- Participating in business planning activities; providing "what-if" assessments on various scenarios, e.g., growth or merger;
- Co-ordinating and/or conducting management and supervisory skills training as well as technical training;
- Designing and implementing employee performance improvement and communications programs;
- Initiating organisational development activities such as career planning and succession charting; and
- Providing in-depth counsel to managers and supervisors regarding subordinate performance problems.
These sorts of activities are a far cry from the traditional Human Resources functions that involved serving as an employee advocate, managing centralised transactions such as payroll and other benefits and generally being reactive to needs.
In the new environment, it is imperative for HR professionals to implement strategies and initiatives that have a high impact on the ROI of the business. Monitoring and measuring the HR function's performance is therefore critical for managing and improving organisational performance and sustainable competitiveness.
