The Changing Role of Human Resources

Developing Capabilities through Business Partnering

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[Introduction] [Delivering A High Quality Service] [Partnering with Development 1st]

Introduction

This short discussion paper positions the evolving role that the Human Resources function needs to adopt in order to fulfil the requirements of becoming a full business partner in their organisation. It also provides an insight into how Development 1st adds value to existing and planned HR initiatives.

Leading companies have been reviewing the contribution of Human Resources, and are examining the most effective ways to organise their people to improve efficiency and better serve the company's needs. Indeed, there has long been a call for HR to be contributing in a different way, and to define the key role it needs to play in the overall success of the business.

Increasingly, these companies have taken on the challenge, and are setting a “New HR Agenda”, as the imperative to focus on core capabilities, the attraction and retention of talent begins to outweigh any concerns about how changes in the HR function might be destabilising.

In this context, HR must evolve to successfully take on a key role in formulating and implementing their company’s strategy for generating capability.

As a result, capabilities must now become integral to the strategic planning framework. The speed at which a company can grow and adapt, will in large part, now be determined by the pace at which it can generate and reconfigure its capabilities.

Therefore the value that HR adds is now high on the business agenda and critical to that company’s success. However, expectations will not be met unless a new HR strategy and service delivery model can demonstrate a positive impact to the bottom line. A new set of HR guiding principles is needed to begin to maximise its impact and to become a strategic partner proactively creating strategy rather than just implementing it.

Developing a true partnership requires the HR function to place a greater focus on planning, organisation design, and development. It also requires greater use of organisational approaches whereby HR professionals operate in proximity and partnership with the line and develop a broad and deep understanding of HR issues. Nowhere is this dual need for deep HR knowledge and for proximity to the line more important than in the top HR role.

Partnership also requires increasing the trust in line management and transferring HR accountability to them in many areas where HR has previously exercised control and provided service. Therefore, knowledge barriers exist on both sides, where HR must learn more about the business, and line management must become more proficient at managing their human resources. Most importantly, there must be opportunity for teams, to combine knowledge to address complex business and HR issues and to deal with the true interdependence of these issues.

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Delivering A High Quality Service

In addition to focusing on what it takes to implement an HR business partner position, there are components that must operate in harmony to deliver a high-quality service.

1. Leadership: HR must recognise that there is a need for it to get closer to its line management customers and develop a greater commercial capability.

2. Responsibilities: HR must clearly redefine its function and purpose and communicate this within HR as well as to all employees and line management.

3. Purpose: HR must concentrate on developing their capability as a true business partner Instead of reacting to pressure to just improve functional performance. HR should be creating opportunities to drive solutions that are both commercially sound and strategic in nature.

4. Capabilities: Fulfilling the requirements of business partnering needs requires new skill-sets and competencies, particularly in understanding the language of business and thinking strategically. These new capabilities will be developed through focused and blended learning.

5. Relationships: In order for HR to be effective in partnering it needs to examine existing organisational relationships and evolve a way of maximising the benefits of these new roles.

6. Tools: There is a need for HR to focus on standardising around a core set of common tools to be shared with line management in the delivery of talent management.

7. Processes: Direct the energies of business partners toward processes that can make the most effective strategic contribution to the management of talent.

8. Metrics and ROI: If you are not measuring you are only practicing. Measurement needs to be already in place in order to start the early identification of HR transactional activities. Measurement in the business partnering phase requires amongst other things the adoption of a balanced scorecard and the ability to evaluate the added value from intangible as well as tangible assets.


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Partnering with Development 1st

Development 1st supports Strategic HRM. We work exclusively with Leaders of Human Resources as they identify and address their issues and challenges.

Our sole purpose is to provide the inspiration that enables Human Resource Management to generate and exercise appropriate power to underpin business success.

We have examined the accumulated research and best practice in this area and we have now mapped out a strategic development framework leading to HR operating as a full business partner.

© Development 1st 2003

We are able to help clarify your thinking in each of the 3 critical stages in this transition

1. Identification, review and future management of your transactional processes
2. Building Strategic Knowledge and Capability
3. Aligning HR strategy with business strategy and moving from promise to performance.

The detailed practical steps in the transition are as follows:

1. “Breaking the Mould” – Identifying and realising the need for a new HR agenda.

2. “Identifying Strategic HR Opportunities” – Defining the existing processes and services. Identifying the value-added and non value-added processes and services. What can be outsourced; needs to be retained; needs to be created.

3. “Proving the Business Case for HR Change” – Defining, presenting and agreeing the outcomes benefits and payback.

4. “Developing a Strategic Mindset” – The development framework for achieving business partner capabilities. The framework is constructed with blended learning elements around a core curriculum of:

- Business Acumen
- Leadership
- Functional Knowledge
- Personal Impact
- Consulting Skills
- Process Knowledge
- Organisation Design, Development and Change
- Driving Performance
- Measurement and Evaluation

Knowledge, skills and attributes are acquired through a blend of class work provided internally and externally; linked project work; facilitated learning sets, learning resource materials and coaching support.

5. “Strategy to Action” – Leveraging the opportunity and moving from promise to performance. Measuring the impact of business partnership.

As part of this transition Development 1st is establishing a Centre for Strategic HRM™, a Human Resources leadership forum for sharing knowledge, experiences and leading edge practices in an informal learning environment from academics, researchers, colleagues and other leading practitioners.

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