Transform HR into a strategic business function

In our discovery sessions with company executives, we blueprint their enterprise value chain across all business functions: Sales, Marketing, Operations, HR, Finance, and so on.  We’ve noticed in many cases that the head of Human Resources tends to be very tactical and administrative (benefits administration, EEO and other regulatory compliance, policy, etc.) and not very strategic and transformative (change champion, learning & knowledge advocate, performance accountability, productivity czar).

There is an enormous opportunity for the HR function to make a significant difference in the business.

I happened to read several articles over the last few days that call for HR to take a more strategic role in the business:

From the Economist.com: Human resources transformation

From the WSJ: How HR works with R&D to build on an innovation strategy

From Harvard Business School: HR’s new Mandate: be a strategic player

Tom Davenport on the Rise of the Chief Performance Officer

And I’d like to point out that our top most-visited blog articles are HR related!  They are:

Measuring the right things

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Human Resources

So what’s the call to action?  Help your organization see the entire value chain across all business functions, through all layers of the business.  You’ll find most roads lead back to people-related value drivers and you’ll quickly show just how strategic HR can be.  From there you can see how better visibility, alignment, and focus on performance and value creation will impact both the top and bottom lines.

Comments

[Victoria Osborne]

Any company, large or small, wants not only to attract but keep those employees who’s qualifications and work ethics are value-drivers. To do so they must realize and implement a change in employee relations. Today’s companies can no longer rely on corporate standing, nor will their name alone instill loyalty among their employees. Today’s companies will have to earn that loyalty on an individual basis.

The “company man” no longer exists, they have been replaced by career oriented individuals who look for companies that will offer what they need to take them further in their personal career goals. For them, many jobs are no more than a vehicle to further them toward those future goals.

The employed value-drivers are just named. First and foremost do not think for a moment that most do not know their value, and already have their own goals and agendas. If they see no future within the company they are with, they will move on. Using their employment like a New York commute, transferring from one train to another to get them to their destination.

To break apart the old HR system and construct a new system of empowerment within HR departments. Is a giant step toward meeting the needs of the future employee. The HR department, who in most cases will have the first company/employee relationship with these newly employed value-drivers, will then have the power to do what it takes to earn their loyalty. In that way the company that first nurtured the seed will, in the future, benefit from having it mature within their own garden.

[Andy Spence]

I completely agree with your point that many issues in organisations are 'people-orientated', however HR tends to get bogged down in operational issues. To become more strategic, HR needs a structured programme to transform.
The 'HR Transformer Blog' has some articles that you mind find of interest :-

http://www.glassbeadconsulting.com/hr-transformer-blog/

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In our discovery sessions with company executives, we blueprint their enterprise value chain across all business functions: Sales, Marketing, Operations, HR, Finance, and so on. We’ve noticed in many cases that the head of Human Resources tends to be very tactical and administrative (benefits administration, EEO and other regulatory comasdfpliance, policy, etc.) and not very strategic and transformative (change champion, learning & knowledge advocate, performance accountability, productivity czar).