HR as a Strategic Business Partner (GROUP 3)

7/27/2019 HR as a Strategic Business Partner (GROUP 3)

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HR as a Strategic Business Partner

HR and the Strategic Process

Critical to HRs function as a strategic partner is their role in the strategic process. Not only is it important for HR to participate in the corporate strategic planning process to further its understanding of business needs for the upcomingyear, it is also important to align its own calendar and focus with the corporateagenda to support HRs position as a strategic partner. Key questions to ask HR to ensure they are a key player i n the organizationsstrategic process:

1. What organizational capabilities must our organization have to gain and/or

maintain a competitive advantage?2. What knowledge, skills and abilities do our people need to successfullyexecute our business strategy?

3. How do we create an HR strategy that sets an agenda for how HR will helpour company succeed?

Developing Leaders

Reviewing performance and recognizing the potential of leaders are strategic keysto a companys future. In best -practice organizations, the ability to deliver theresults outlined in the strategic plan is balanced with an appreciation of a persons

potential for further growth and development. A review of both these variables is aserious and regular part of the strategy process.Values and competencies are the foundation of leadership development. Best

practice organizations begin the process of developing leaders with a foundation of key corporate values and then focus on key competencies that grow out of thevalue base and the strategic mission.

Recruiting and Retaining Talent

Instilling values and developing employees abilities is only one part of HRs jobof assisting capable individuals to grow and develop their talents. Recruiting andretaining talent is an important priority for best-practice companies. Best practicecompanies understand the importance of attracting and retaining top talent becauseof the belief that getting the right people on the bus is likely to lead to better employee performance and long-term business success.


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Recruiting does not start or end with hiring. The process begins with a carefullythought through identification of what kinds of skills will be needed to execute thefirms emerging strategic goals. The process continues with a crafted on

boarding process that then links to assessment and developmental activities. Some firms do a risk assessment to determine which critical people are mostlikely to leave the firm either because of limited internal opportunities or externaloffers that provide greater opportunities for advancement. Best practice firmsidentify from 5 to 20 percent (10 percent seems most common) of their managersas high potentials and provide them with extra opportunities for development.

Assessing Success

Recognizing the importance of the HR-business strategic partnership, leadership

development, and recruitment and retention of talent can lead to companyimprovements. But how can firms measure changes in individual performance?

Nothing reinforces strategic objectives more than measurement and ties toincentive compensation. While some common measures are used by best practicesfirms, the key assessment items vary significantly according to the strategicemphasis of a given firm. Measurements are compared historically, internally, andexternally. High performing firms want to show progress from year to year in their key performance measures. Comparing current and past scores on concepts such asreduction in turnover rates, recruiting costs per hire or employee engagementsurvey scores are common ways of determining if progress is being made. Whilethese are the foundation of a companys internal HR performance measures, manyfirms also want to see how they are doing on these measures relative to comparisonfirms. Typically, objective measures, such as costs of turnover, are balanced withinput from employee opinion surveys to assess the success of HR initiatives.

Why make HR as Strategic Business Partner

1. To increase productivity of the labor force and thus, profitability of theorganization

2. Competency and talent management3. Onset of information technology and the vast amount of knowledge used in

the course of the activities of organizations4. The changing business environment5. Effect of globalization on the business landscape
http://www.totalhrmanagement.com/services/recruitment-selectionhttp://www.totalhrmanagement.com/services/recruitment-selection


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Balance

Human resources management enables executive leadership to strike a balance

within the organization. Developing strategy based solely on the organizationscapabilities related to production and revenue fails to take into consideration thecompanys resources that make it possible to succeed. Human resourcesmanagement, therefore, brings a broader perspective to the boardroom table.Including human resources management as a strategic business partner enables

better decision making because it takes into account the actual workforce thatsupports organizational success.

Value

The value HR management brings to strategic planning is paramount in attainingorganization-wide goals. Implementing strategic plans is nearly impossible withoutthe input of human resources and employee involvement. Recognizing the value of HR management is a critical step in developing business strategy, and it takeshuman resources managements forward -thinking principles and business acumento put those plans into action.

Transforming HR: Becoming a Strategic Partner

It is widely agreed that people are a company's most important asset and a sourceof competitive advantage--everything else can be replicated. This is by no means aradically new concept. If that's the case, however, why isn't the human resourcesdepartment--the traditional keeper of the people function--considered a company'smost valuable strategic function?

In this article, we explore how HR can transform itself into a more effectiveresource for the organization, enhance its credibility, evolve into a strategic

partner, and potentially earn a place at the table.


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Creating Excellence in Service Delivery

Hewitt partners with companies to develop ways to take advantage of theopportunities HR service delivery offers. Here are some success strategies thathave emerged from these partnerships:

Design for the 80% solution

Hewitt describes the term "80% solution" to mean that a delivery process should bedesigned to meet the needs of the majority of customers, and that outlyingsituations should be handled separately.

Get out of the middle

Sometimes HR's role in an organization lacks clearly defined accountability, whichmay hinder efforts to provide superior service delivery. Hewitt suggestsestablishing expectations for HR's involvement up front. Four options that candefine HR's involvement in the organization are as follows:

1. HR maintains total control of the work, from "concept to customer.

2. HR develops the strategy and implementation plans and manages theservice delivery process.

3. HR designs and provides the tools that enable other professionals to do thework.

4. HR ensures that service-level agreements are maintained.

Organize for effective service delivery

Many HR organizations have moved to shared services models in which there arecenters of expertise to do program design and an administrative service center tohandle service delivery across all areas of HR. Consolidating all the components of service delivery allows the organization to make better design and technologydecisions.


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Take the cost out of service delivery

Research shows that delivery of HR services is the largest cost incurred by the HR

function and typically includes the use of vendors, technology expenses, andinternal people costs. Hewitt recommends that companies use HR activity-basedcosting tools to assist HR in understanding service delivery costs. To further ensurecost efficiencies, companies should also make sure the right people are focused onthe right activities and processes.

Peering Into the HR Crystal Ball How will HR delivery look decades into the 21st century? Experts predict that theopportunities technology will provide HR professionals will dramatically improveand automate processes, while at the same time, streamline delivery services. Hereare other predictions:

1. As the workplace embraces more aspects of technology, employees'experiences will become more enhanced as well.

2. It's believed that an increasing number of routine HR tasks will beoutsourced.

3. The concept of "total HR outsourcing" will continue to gain traction and become a more common approach to improving efficiency and accuracy toreduce costs.

Understand your direction.

Formulate a clearly defined HR strategy and tactical plan showing how HR willadd value to the business and how it will begin the transition to exceptional servicedelivery. This strategy should be shared with business leaders and key HR leadersto gain their support, to illustrate what various stakeholders and process ownerscan expect, and to clarify their role in implementing the strategy.


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Understand your customers.

Strive to fully understand clients' business issues and how HR service delivery -directly or indirectly - can help managers and employees better contribute to

business success .

Provide HR leadership.

Urge internal HR leaders to provide direction, improve operational efficiency and

effectiveness, and empower HR staff to collectively make decisions for the overallgood of the enterprise.

Get the processes right.

Evaluate current administrative processes against this context: Do they add valueto the business? Can they be reduced or combined? Can technology help save timeand money? Can they be done better and more efficiently outside of theorganization? If outsourcing is appropriate, what role does HR want to play in that

process?

Recognize it's a mind-set.

HR professionals may need some time to embrace this revolutionary way of thinking about HR service delivery. Once these new strategies are in place,however, HR will be better equipped to cut costs and elevate the level of service toits internal customers.


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HR expertise highly valued as strategic business partner

1. The role of the Human Resources Department is no longer limited torecruitment, incentives and people management.

2. 97.5 percent of companies in the country still dont have an HR department.Most of these companies are small and medium scale enterprises whereowners assume the role of recruiting people. They will remain small if theydont leverage on their people through HR.

3. The new role of HR is that of strategic adviser, the talent architect of anorganization, counselor, confidant and coach of all employees including toplevel managers, a lea der of a companys HR functions and the liaison to the

board.4. HR having a seat in the boardroom is a must. It is the HR wing who takes

care of recruitment and head hunting as well as reinforcing and cultivatingthe culture in a company.

5. Restriction of growth is not because of lack of capital but because of lack of the right people. HR is very important to grow in business.

6. HR is the heart and hand of the organization. To succeed in business, it isalso wise to put a little more of the heart (HR) in the head (board of directors).

7. For HR to be a more respected and credible unit in the company, and earna board seat, the HR practitioners should also think more about the business,how the company is earning and how his department can help achieve thesegoals.

8. HR should have broad experience, understand multiracial issues, speak likea CEO, demonstrate analytical and numerical skills and live the values of theorganization.

9. organization should engage HR in all their operations because people are thereal asset especially for those companies that are in the customer service

business


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Translating Business Strategy Into Action

You make HR as strategic partner when and if HR spend more time in theorganization's planning, design and development. Your organization does this inorder to achieve its mission and objectives.

HR must become part of the business team, involved in planning at the highestlevel.

Changes in HR management are inevitable. HR Managers and HR professionalsare in the strategic position in providing the leadership in change management.

However, HR Managers are not without challenges. Enhance the position of HR asstrategic partner by ensuring that teamwork exists in your organization.

The Human Resource Manager is the key person in ensuring that people play astrategic role in the organization.

In activities carried out by the HR department, working in cooperation with eachother and every member of the workforce is essential. This can help your organization to succeed in achieving its plans.

WHAT IS THE HR BUSINESS PARTNER MODEL

Benefits

The business partner model relieves pressure from management to hone employee job skills for efficiency and productivity, as well as identifying, developing andgrooming key employees for advancement. Human resource personnel are alsoresponsible for analyzing employee review data. This allows HR personnel torecognize strengths, which they may then further develop to place employees moreeffectively, and weaknesses, which they may correct with further job skill trainingor disciplinary action.


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Challenges

If the HR department is already overworked with everyday employee relation

issues, there may not be adequate time and personnel to devote to partnering withthe business for additional functions. The business partner model requires HR to beinvolved in almost every aspect of the business, including production statistics,financial status and sales projections. Management buy-in may also be a challenge,as the traditional role of human resources is extended to that of an overseer of theentire business in the business-partner model.

Features

In theory, the HR business partner model is designed to positively impact the business on all levels over time. By being involved in the recruiting process, HR isable to more carefully screen and choose individuals best suited for the jobs. In thetraining and development process, HR is able to pinpoint which employees need

particular training and ensure that it is carried out. In knowing the inner workingsof the business, the strategic nature of the HR partnership model is tasked with acorporate chess game of employee and manager placement to achieve the most

productive outcome.

Change

The primary reason that companies consider and implement the HR businessmodel is change. Whether to grow the business or to make it more competitive,

productive, and efficient or to solve problems, change in the business paradigm isoften necessary. The HR business model handles the changes and improvementsnecessary by investing in what is known as "human capital." Proponents of themodel recognize that the personal success and job satisfaction of the individual isone of the keys to business success, and a well-run HR partner model is ideallysuited to focus on both the needs of the individual and the company.

Considerations

Businesses considering the HR business partner model need to consider thespecialized nature of different model aspects, and hire, train or outsource HR specialists. Expecting a one-person HR office to handle generalist duties on top of recruiting, interviewing, training, reviews and strategic planning will result in


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frustration and possible program failure for all involved. The HR business partner model requires a conscious decision to change and the hiring of a sufficient forceof specialized HR talent to see it through.

STUDY OF SUCCESSFUL HR INTEGRATION ASBUSINESS PARTNER - B y Jeannette Lemmergaard

Introduction

Using Conners and Ulrichs theoretical framework, in combination with a casestudy in her home country of Denmark, Lemmergaard first outlines how the HR function can begin to contribute value by redefining its position and taking morestrategic roles in the development of the business. She then applies these theoriesto evaluate the HR role in an unnamed Danish bank.

HR going forward

Lemmergaards article is part of the ongoing examination of the need for HR toredefine, and justify, its role within a business structure. HR roles and expectationshave become more varied and complex, and HR professionals are findingthemselves being faced with a much wider array of work assignments andresponsibilities. The thrust of the new HR philosophy is that it has much to offer anorganization on a strategic and operational level, when allowed to work withcounterparts in other departments.

Conner and Ulrich proposed a framework in which HR could become a partner inan organization, rather than an adjunct. The engagement of HR experts in specificroles adds value to an organization by increasing its competitiveness. The authorsidentify four key roles for HR professionals that will not only facilitate HRssurvival as a viable discipline in business, but will add value to an organization.

These roles include the following:

1. Partner in str ategy execution. This role involves cooperating with bothsenior and line managers in focusing on how to ensure the overall needs of the organization. This role emphasizes the position of an HR director as abusiness partner.


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2. Administrative expert. This is more aligned with traditional HR functions,such as management of staff, training, and hiring.

3.

Employee champion. This is an important role in emphasizing the needs of employees with the purpose of increasing commitment and capabilities. It s purpose is to increase and encourage loyalty to an organization byconcentrating on employee well-being.

Change agent. This role is to help employees encounter, embrace, and institutechange within an organization in the appropriate spirit, thereby facilitating anorganizations ability to adapt to changes in its market. Ideally, the change -agentrole should look to actually initiate change in a more proactive manner, rather thanmerely facilitate it.

Here, the sum of the four roles would equal to leadership and collaboration withother functions will result into corporate governance. In the future, there will mostlikely be a shift in the HR function towards the roles of strategic partner and agentof change.

Complications arise when we consider the changing role of the HR manager, and potential conflicts with the responsibilities of line managers: how will the two positions work together if their responsibilities appear to overlap each other?Potential conflicts might arise over competing interests between roles within a

business. Additionally, the employee-champion role might conflict with thestrategic-partner role, as strategy might dictate that employee needs suffer at theexpense of business development. Therefore, the article points out that only HR

professional who demonstrate proficiency in all the roles defined above will addvalue to an organization.

Lemmergaards case study was undertaken at a regional Danish full -service bank,which has a good reputation for customer care. The bank, based in the Funendistrict of Denmark, has a number of strategic partnerships, over 26,000shareholders (most of whom are also customers), and roughly 600 employees. Theemployees are seen as valuable assets to the bank. The study was done through theuse of several questionnaires sent to line managers within the Funen district, aswell as in-depth interviews with the HR executive.

The results of the study underlined the success of Conners and Ulrichs model.HR is a highly valued function in this particular bank, with strategic


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responsibilities and tasks, administrative functions, an established role as employeechampion and a change-agent.This particular HRs strongest role, according to the feedback from the study, is asemployee-champion, while its weakest is as strategic partner. However, there is notmuch of a discrepancy between their scoring for the two roles, and therefore thiscase study seems to offer strong support to the model outlined by Conner andUlrich.

Conclusions

It was observes that Danish business seems to be unusual in highly valuing the potential of HR to add value to an organization. Beyond Denmark, HR professionals are less likely to be included in the strategic process, reducing the

role of HR to administration and implementation. In addition, it is true that HR functions do not always interact productively with line management, a problemthat the discipline will have to address with clearly defined organizational rolesand responsibilities. If these problems are not addressed, then HR faces the

possibility of being marginalized and ultimately outsourced.

A study of strategic HR issues in an Asian context- By Naresh Khatri

Introduction

This topic is a part of the ongoing examinati on of the need of HR to redene and justifies its role within a business structure. It outlines how the HR functions can begin to contribute value by redening its position and taking more strategic rolesin the development of the business. The thrust of the new HR philosophy is that ithas much to offer an organization on a strategic and operational level, whenallowed to work with counterparts in other departments. The Four key roles for HR

professionals that will not only facilitate HRs survival as a viable discipline in business, but will add value to an organization are as follows:

1. Partner in strategy execution. This role involves cooperating with bothsenior and line managers in focusing on how to ensure the overall needs of


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the organization. This role emphasizes the position of an HR director as abusiness partner.

2. Administrative expert. This is more aligned with traditional HR functions,such as management of staff, training, and hiring.

3. Employee champion. This is an important role in emphasizing the needs of employees with the purpose of increasing commitment and capabilities. Its

purpose is to increase and encourage loyalty to an organization byconcentrating on employee well-being.

4. Change agent. This role is to help employees encounter, embrace, andinstitute change within an organization in the appropriate spirit, therebyfacilitating an organizations ability to adapt to changes in its market.Ideally, the change-agent role should look to actually initiate change in amore proactive manner, rather than merely facilitate it.

Here, the sum of the four roles would equal to leadership and collaboration withother functions will result into corporate governance. In the future, there will most likely be a shift in the HR function towards the roles of strategic partner and agent of change.

HR wins a strategic role at QBE insurance(Transformation takes place in partnership with business leaders)

Human- resource management at one of the worlds top insurance companies has been transformed from an administrative, back-office function delivering value-for-money services, to one strategically aligned to business needs.

The group HR team at 13,000 employee QBE has engaged business and divisionalHR teams across the firms international operation to bring about thistransformation.

QBE operates in 45 countries, organized into four largely autonomous divisions,each with their own divisional HR teams. A small group-HR team, led by thegroup general manager, HR, Jenni Smith, works with the group executive at headoffice.


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Jenni Smith joined the company in 2003 to develop a clear vision for HR acrossthe whole organization. She identified four core processes performancemanagement, personal-development planning, succession planning and talentmanagement that shewished her team to lead and control, working in partnership with the divisional HR teams.

She explained to the divisional HR heads that a One HR approach would notonly help HR to become more strategic, but also help the divisional HR directors to

be more successful in their own divisions since they would no longer have to fighttheir own local battles with their own chief executives.

Jenni Smith also explained to members of the group executive team who includethe divisional chief executives how they could help to implement the One HR

approach successfully, to benefit their own businesses as well as the company as awhole.

Performance management

QBE used to operate a number of performance-management processes, which wereneither consistent with each other nor integrated with other HR processes.

In 2005, group HR introduced a single performance-management process that uses

a single form with a common rating scale and descriptors to provide a consistentlanguage for measuring and maximizing performance against business objectives.The process alsoincorporates essential behaviors as part of determining how objectives should

be achieved, and a personal-development plan to document personal and professional development to support the achievement of business objectives.

The new performance-management process was designed to be simple, timeefficient and aligned with divisional planning schedules. Its introduction wassupported with training in how to give and receive feedback, manage poor

performance and raise the standards of achievement. New guidelines and referencematerials were also produced.

The performance-management process continues to be refined and improved.


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Personal-development planning

Group HR recognized that the organization had no clear overall view of the talentit had, and that there was duplication of names for a number of key roles. It

therefore needed to find a way of gathering information on potential successors inconjunction with asuccession-planning process that would also position the group HR team as afacilitator to support better decision making at the group executive level. Anobvious vehicle was the series of personal -development planning days that thegroup chief executive held with his direct reports. This process resulted in a

personal-development plan with key objectives for each of these executives, butgroup HR felt they were fairly informal, with progress against plans not alwaysmonitored.

In 2005, group HR introduced a more detailed, facilitated program to addresssuccession planning, which incorporated performance management for QBEsmost senior managers. Group HR presented this new approach to the groupexecutive as a more structured version of the same process, building on its success

but helping to involve more people. The team felt that, given the companysgrowth, the group chief executive would not be able to spend time one-to-one withall of the key people in the business or those who might be identified as successorsfor group-executive positions. This process therefore offered him, the groupexecutive and group HR an opportunity to gain more information on people and

provide the business with options for succession decisions in the future.

Succession planning

Alongside personal-development planning, work continued on developing a robustsuccession-planning process across the group, which now allows regular reportingto both the group board and external regulators on succession plans for all group-executive roles.

This succession-planning process is slowly being cascaded down the organizationto incorporate the top 100 roles, using personal-development planning as thecommunication tool. Personal-development planning enables QBE to consider therisks associated with each key position and current incumbent, along withdevelopment planning for identified successors.

Further improvements have been made to the succession-planning process, particularly to ensure regular monitoring of progress against agreed development


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plans. The goal is not simply to develop replacements for key roles, but peoplewith the potential to develop the roles in future.

Talent managementGroup HR has been working to introduce a single talent-management approachthat can be implemented consistently. The team has engaged the divisions indeveloping a new framework and has also begun piloting its approach throughseveral group-led talent initiatives. The success of these pilots is starting to bringthe business and divisional HR teams together around group HRs approach. However, QBE still has a long way to go to develop an effective approach to talentmanagement.

HR established as a business partner

HR has been able to support major restructuring at QBE that it would not have been in a position to help with previously. Divisional HR directors, in consultationwith Jenni Smith, now work well together to achieve common objectives.Employee turnover in the group has fallen significantly. Group HRs focus has

become more strategic, while divisional HR teams deliver most of the day-to-day,operational services.

The group HR team spends considerable time with business leaders individually;talking about what it is advocating and explaining the benefits for the business. Itconsiders this lobbying vital to team sponsorship at the group executive level.

The most critical factors underpinning this success include:

1. Having a group chief executive who fully supports the HR vision;

2. Developing a clear One HR approach, aligned to the needs of the business;

3. Building on existing developments, attempting to deliver only what the business is ready

a. for and prioritizing the group HR teams time to ensure that it is ableto do a relatively small

4. Number of things really well;


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administrative guru to a strategically focused ally to the business is welldocumented. Ulrich (1997) proposed a conceptual model about HR roles that addvalue in an increasingly complex environment. The focus is on how the humanresources role should move from operational to strategic, and on how HR

professionals need to perform increasingly complex and at times paradoxical roles(Conner & Ulrich, 1996). Conner and Ulrich (1996) made one of the first major attempts to test the extent to which HR roles could be defined and measured thatout lined by Ulrich (1993) (in Conner and Ulrich, 1996) that is strategic partner,change agent, employee champion, and administrative expert. In their study of 256mid-to-upper level executives from mid- to large-size companies, they factor analysed the 40 items that reflect the four roles hypothesized by Ulrich (1993) (inConner and Ulrich, 1996). They confirmed the existence of three of the four rolesoutlined by Ulrich in his HR role framework. The data did not discriminate

between the strategic partner and change agent role, and they renamed it asstrategic partner/change agent role.

Ulrichs HR Role

The most widely accepted framework of HR roles (Raub et al., 2006) and perhapsthe best known has been proposed by Ulrich (1997). In addition, since this UlrichsHR roles is so far the most comprehensive within the literature, this study chose toadapt it in the future theoretical framework to assess the role of HR in the study to

be conducted in Malaysia.

Ulrich (1997) developed four main roles of HR professionals: employeechampion, administrative expert, change agent, and strategic partner. The roles are

based on the dimensions strategic versus operational focus, and processes versus people. The roles of change agent and strategic partner are more strategicallyorientated while administrative expert and employee champion are moreoperationally focused. These roles include the following:

1. Administrative expert concerns more with process efficiency that involve people and most of the HR functions time is spent on this role. This rolerequires that HR professionals design and deliver efficient HR processesfor staffing, training, appraising, rewarding, promoting, and otherwisemanaging the flow of employees through the organization. HR

professionals ensure that these processes are both efficient and optimized aswell as continuously track, monitor and improve on these basic processes togive credibility to its own existence.


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2. As employee champion, requires the HR function to know the concerns of employees and spend time talking to them and listening to their concernsrather than processes. The HR function should promote all possible methodsof communication, including employee surveys, suggestion programmes,

team meetings and any other means of sharing information and views. A keyelement of this role is to ensure that employees receive a fair hearing. Ulrichalso noted that, The [employee champion] role for HR professionalsencompasses their involvement in the day-to-day problems, concerns, andneeds of employees.

3. The HR role as change agent is that of a facilitator, involving modellingchange to other departments, being a positive advocate of change across theentire organization, resolving employee issues arising from change, andembedding change by implementing efficient and flexible processes. HR

staff can act as change agent when they help make change happen: theyunderstand critical processes for change build commitment to those

processes and ensure that change occurs as intended 4. The final role, strategic partner, HR must make sure that its practices,

processes, and policies complement the overall organizational strategy. Itmust also develop the capacity to execute that strategy in the minimumamount of time. In playing this role, the HR professional works to be astrategic partner, helping to ensure the success of business strategies. Byfulfilling this role, HR professionals increase the capacity of a business toexecute its strategies.

Problems with the model

1. They argue that only the HR players who master these roles simultaneouslytruly add value and contribute to an organizations ability to compete in asignificantly expanded playing field. It is unclear from the article by Ulrich

and Beatty (2001) how this framework is different from Ulrichs first model. 2. The premise of the HR role framework is that the HR function must perform

all four (or six) roles in order to create an HR function that is a value -adding business partner for the organization (Ulrich, 1997). While the rhetoric behind the framework emphasizes the interplay between the roles, the tasksassigned to the different roles result in a ranking of influence.


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3. Ulrich and Brockbank (2005b) do not explicitly place the role as strategic partner at the strategic level in the organizational hierarchy, but only mentionthe operative strategic level. Ulrich and Brockbank (2005b) take a toosimplistic view upon determining what defines HR strategy.

Implications for practice

The HR function must be both strategic and operational, and it must also be both process- and people-oriented. Hereby, the function must be able simultaneously to plan ahead and to implement. Being both a strategic partner and an employeechampion is a fine balance. The role as strategic partner involves being part of thetop management team, whereas the fundamental basis of the role as employeechampion is confidentiality with line managers and employees. Having to fulfillmultiple roles, as suggested by Ulrich and Brokeback (2005a, b), means thatchanges in HR careers are likely to happen (Tamkinet al., 2006). The requirementfor HR generalists is most likely to decrease, whereas HR professionals specializedin business strategy who can demonstrate their ability to add value willincrease.HR professionals are struggling to make top executives and colleaguesrecognize the value of their operations and initiatives, although HR functions are

gaining increasingly more influence in the business operations.

Implications for research

The findings of this exploratory study are revealing, though simply indicative asthey arise from a small convenience sample of one HR executive and 26 linemanagers employed in a Danish bank. As such, they reflect their own observationsrather than empirically established facts. Further exploration is certainly needed todetermine the extent to which these outcomes might reflect the respective job rolesof HR managers indifferent countries and differ ent segments of the industry.

A second step would be to investigate the percentage of work time spent in thevarious HR roles as defined in the Ulrich model. Comparisons between time spentin the various roles by the HR executive and the line managers respectively wouldgive a much clearer picture of the effectiveness of the roles performed. Other


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studies show that particularly line managers are adamant about the need to reducethe administrative workload (Raub et al., 2006). By combining Ulrichsmeasurement with time spent on the various HR roles, a more nuanced picture willappear.

Conclusion

Replicating Ulrichs model, Lemmergaards (2009) study aims to investigateempirically the HR role performance of a case organization. Lemmergaardinvestigated HR pr ofessionals and line managers perceptions of HR roles in aregional full-service bank based on a combination of interviews and aquestionnaire survey distributed to the HR executive and line managers. The casestudy evidence reported suggests that not only are all four roles stronglyrepresented, they are also equally shared between the HR executive and line

managers. The study showed that the HR executive can operate as administrativeexpert and change agent simultaneously. In addition, in the sampled organization,the study discovered that the HR executives perceived he to be acting as anemployee champion. In such a situation, the HR executive may well find himself atodds with the line manager in a kind of "loyal opposition role between being astrategic partner and an employee champion. In the same way, where the HR function acts mainly as a strategic partner it may well be that the line managerstake on an employee champion role.

Organisational learning: developing leaders to deal withcontinuous change a strategic human resource perspective

-By Pam Swain

Paradox, Chaos, Complexity , are descriptors of the 1990s business environmentfound in current literature. The market-driven strategies of the 1980s focused onexternal environment analysis and encouraged measures such as cost-cutting,downsizing and short-term budgetary frameworks. These strategies have recently

been subjected to severe and critical scrutiny. New strategic approaches arefavored which focus on the internal environment of organizations; for example anemphasis on growth rather than costs, intellectual capital rather than market

position, and a long term perspective with analogies to bio-systems rather thanattempts to copy the perceived Best practice of competitors. Intellectual capital


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theories discussing intangibles such as knowledge and creativity in terms of competitive advantage have provided an important strategic and philosophicalsupport for learning organization theories such as those of Senge (1990). In the late1990s, business strategy theorists and management consultants are describing anorganizations human resources as critical to the success of strategies aimed atsustained competitive advantage. This finding has implications for the requiredcompetencies of executives, and therefore management development andeducation, and for human resource practices within organizations.

Theoretical frameworks

Sources of competitive advantage are a major area of research in the field of strategic management. The SWOT type of analysis has been an overwhelming

favorite in business schools for case study analysis and research studies. Thisapproach postulates that the firm has an internal environment characterized bystrengths and weaknesses and an external environment presenting opportunitiesand threats. In the research on competitive advantage it has been the opportunitiesand threats which attracted the major attention until the mid-1990s. MichaelPorters (1980) Five forces model has been, for example, very persuasive infocusing managers on their external competitive environment. In so doing,attention has been diverted from the impact of factors within the internalenvironment of the organization as a source of competitive advantage.

Implications for managers

Managers operating in an environment dominated by uncertainty can find nocomfort in strategic approaches based on historical data. The past cannot beregarded as a guide to the future. Indeed as Whittington (1993) has pointed out, the

problem for top managers becomes one of unlearning . It is also apparent thatrelying upon the traditional financial tools to give a comprehensive picture of the

state of the organization, which can be used as the information base for corporatestrategy, is no longer adequate. The enthusiasm which has greeted neworganization measurement approaches such as the Balanced Scorecard of Kaplanand Norton (1996), is evidence of a widespread concern among managers that theyneed new ways of analyzing their internal environments. There is a growinginterest in intellectual capital in international business which is now beingdemonstrated in business behaviors. In the search for strategic alliances, for


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example, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence that a partners decision is swayedmore by knowledge resources than financial resources. It is capabilities, notfinance, which are becoming the scarce resource. The damage caused toorganizations when knowledge/expertise is lost, has been illustrated by dramaticfalls in stock market evaluation of the worth of a company. For example, investor reaction to leading software manufacturers losing key program designers/analystsor advertising agencies losing creative executives.

The role of HR

Personnel/human resources has been widely viewed as a support departmentconcerned with administration and processes, staffed by clerical staff andspecialists in such functions as training, recruitment, remuneration, employee

relations. In a recent international study, Flannery et al. (1996) report that non-HR managers saw HR not only as a not a player in the change process, but frequentlyas an impediment to effective organizational change, as they had no understandingof the strategic management issues. This finding was validated by a separate study

by Hay McBer in which a survey of 1,500 HR professionals found few who took astrategic perspective or even understood basic strategic change strategies such asre-engineering. If an organization was really serious about creating a moredynamic culture and, for example, changes in approaches to compensation weredecided upon, then an initial step was to remove the focus of any changes in peoplemanagement away from the HR department (Flannery et al. , 1996). If HR specialists are to be seen as relevant and useful when the responsibility for manyfunctional tasks such as compensation, training, performance evaluation has beendevolved to line management, then they must either be seen to add value at thestrategic level where employees are now regarded as the key resource, or cease tohave an important role. How can this be achieved? Perhaps the first requirementfor HR specialists in the new organization is the need to understand not only

business strategy and be able to action strategic change programs, but to seethemselves as strategists and be perceived as such by others in the organization.This will require a different mind-set for many. Pfeffer (1997) suggests that HR

departments must change their focus from activities to organizational outcomes.Given the low esteem in which they have been held in many organizations, the prevalent mind-set of HR staff has been a defensive one which has made them peculiarly vulnerable to measurement programs constantly justifying their usefulness. The trend towards benchmarking intensified this in the past decade.Typical measures to reflect the value of HR were taken to be, How manytrained? , How many recruited? In a learning organization, more relevant


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Change Management: The HR Strategic Imperative as aBusiness Partner

Introduction

To maintain a competitive advantage, organizations must be able to quicklychange. Change is driven by economic, social and environmental factors as well as

business trends (see Figure 1). Many organizations strategically use change toimprove organizational effectiveness. In fact, according to the SHRM 2007 Change

Management Survey Report, 82% of HR professionals reported that their companyhad planned or implemented major organization change in the 24 months prior tothe survey.

HR's Role in Change Management

Through change management, HR has an opportunity to make a significant impacton and contribution to the organization. HR is best suited to identify and coachindividuals in the company to lead change efforts. Also, by identifying andrecommending change tools and techniques, as well as addressing barriers, HR'soverall role is that of 'change architect.' As change agent, HR fills four primaryroles:

1. Change champion: HR publicly supports the change defined by theorganization's top executives.

2. Change facilitator: HR enables change, such as providing insights regardingthe company culture, history and political dynamics to external facilitators or developing programs for internal consultants.

3. Change designer: To help managers and employees better understand achange initiative and have a sense of ownership, HR redesigns the

corresponding HR systems (e.g., total rewards, staff development, andcommunication practices).

4. Change demonstrator: Within HR itself, HR manifests change and serves asan example of effective transformation.

Readiness for Change


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1, Shock: People may feel threatened by an upcoming change, unsafe, unable totake risks and/or deny its existence. Generally, workplace production drops,

2, Defensive retreat: People often react to change and/or loss with anger and maytry to hold onto the way life used to be. They may attempt to understand, yet feelconflicted. At this point, people do not feel safe to take risks.

3, Acknowledgement: Eventually, people don't deny the change. Psychologically,this stage includes both grief and a sense of liberation. People begin to consider the

pros and cons of the new situation and are more willing to take risks.

4, Acceptance and adaptation: Most people will eventually internalize the change,do what is necessary to adapt and move on. People will have left: behind the old

situation, including confusion, pain or fear experienced earlier.

Conclusion

In today's fast-paced, hyper-competitive global environment, change is constant.Rooted in culture, communication and leadership, successful change is essential,yet amazingly elusive. HR's role as a strategic business partner-grounded in visionand ongoing communication-is pivotal for organizational change. HR professionalsfor whom change management is relatively nev^ will want to learn change

competencies to expand their leadership skills.

Documents

HR as a Strategic Business Partner (GROUP 3)