During one of the recent HR forums, it became apparent that “knowing the business” has become a chief mantra of HR Heads in China. It is one of the prerequisites for getting a "seat on the board" and being recognized as a Business Partner by business managers.
So, what does it mean for the HR Head to “know the business”? Well, it means that he/she can answer the following questions:
• Who are three of our competitors and what are their competitive advantages?
• Who are the five major buyers in the markets that we serve?
• Which customers represent 80 percent of our revenues and profits?
• Whom do the customers perceive as "best" in our industry?
• Why do our target customers buy from us? What are their buying criteria?
• What are our future customers' needs and expectations?
• How do we ensure that our target customers have a positive customer experience?
• What do we do to build connectivity or intimacy with our target customers?
• Can you describe the culture of our organization?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of our organization?
• What are the economic, social, political, and technological influences that affect our industry?
• What future risks is our organization facing?
• What are the opportunities for the organization?
• What is the financial performance of our company and how has this changed over the past three years?
• Can you read a profit and loss statement?
Even if the HR Head can answer all of these key questions, it is still very important for them to apply this knowledge to their HR strategy and programs and to ensure proper execution with their HR team.
Showing posts with label HR transformation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HR transformation. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Five Human Capital/HR Truths to Reinforce in 2009
1. You cannot rely on the HR function to take care of your people. Every Manager in the company must understand the value of people. Executives and managers must do their part to address strategic people challenges. It is not all up to the HR Department; it is a shared responsibility.
2. HR cannot effectively drive change without a non-HR sponsor. Executive buy-in and in particular the CEO's ongoing and firm commitment are essential to change management. There tend to be just a few change agents in the organization as a whole and this is way many programs and changes fail miserably. See point 1 as well.
3. The entire HR function must learn to help leaders improve their talent decisions, not just implement them. HR practitioners must develop analytical insight to support executive “decision making”. HR is sitting on tons of data but few of which is properly monitored and adjusted to be ready and served up as management information.
4. Simply rebranding HR as “strategic” is not enough. Executives must either hire people capable of assessing people challenges and devising executable solutions or help HR staff develop the required skills and capabilities. If you do not know it, then find it elsewhere and bring it on board or invest in acquiring the skills first. HR strategy is much easier said than done.
5. Bonuses are not tokens to buy future performance. Executives must realize that a "bonus" is a sum of money given to an employee in addition to their regular pay because of excellent work, length of service, accumulated favors, etc. It is not a form of bribery to convince an employee to stay and perform well in the coming year. Concentrate on and fix the true reasons as to why an employee is seriously interested in leaving in the first place.
2. HR cannot effectively drive change without a non-HR sponsor. Executive buy-in and in particular the CEO's ongoing and firm commitment are essential to change management. There tend to be just a few change agents in the organization as a whole and this is way many programs and changes fail miserably. See point 1 as well.
3. The entire HR function must learn to help leaders improve their talent decisions, not just implement them. HR practitioners must develop analytical insight to support executive “decision making”. HR is sitting on tons of data but few of which is properly monitored and adjusted to be ready and served up as management information.
4. Simply rebranding HR as “strategic” is not enough. Executives must either hire people capable of assessing people challenges and devising executable solutions or help HR staff develop the required skills and capabilities. If you do not know it, then find it elsewhere and bring it on board or invest in acquiring the skills first. HR strategy is much easier said than done.
5. Bonuses are not tokens to buy future performance. Executives must realize that a "bonus" is a sum of money given to an employee in addition to their regular pay because of excellent work, length of service, accumulated favors, etc. It is not a form of bribery to convince an employee to stay and perform well in the coming year. Concentrate on and fix the true reasons as to why an employee is seriously interested in leaving in the first place.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
New Words to avoid Old Connotations
Semantics and the need for connotation free terms cause us to increasingly relate to workforce as talent. Words direct our actions, help us to persevere, and can even cause a shift in thinking.
In the 90’s, management’s policy-arm “Personnel” evolved into what is now commonly referred to as “HR”. At the same time, the department was expected to go beyond the administrative role and instead provide human resources management with essential functions of recruitment, training, performance appraisal, C&B, etc. However, HR did not deliver what the “new name” pledged while the need to create value through people intensified and skill shortages escalated during the first decade of 21st century.
As a result, to breakaway from the traditional role of support and administration, many organizations crafted novel offices as the one of Chief People Officer, People Performance Process Owner or a Talent Director, etc. Some went even further to separate L&D units from HR altogether while leaving HR responsible for the numerous routine tasks connected with talent management as completing forms, collecting documents from staff on-time, and organizing Christmas parties and staff breakfasts.
If these new functions (regardless of the name they may operate under) do not deliver results, then we will be brainstorming new names once again. Hopefully, next time it won’t just be old wine in a new bottle.
In the 90’s, management’s policy-arm “Personnel” evolved into what is now commonly referred to as “HR”. At the same time, the department was expected to go beyond the administrative role and instead provide human resources management with essential functions of recruitment, training, performance appraisal, C&B, etc. However, HR did not deliver what the “new name” pledged while the need to create value through people intensified and skill shortages escalated during the first decade of 21st century.
As a result, to breakaway from the traditional role of support and administration, many organizations crafted novel offices as the one of Chief People Officer, People Performance Process Owner or a Talent Director, etc. Some went even further to separate L&D units from HR altogether while leaving HR responsible for the numerous routine tasks connected with talent management as completing forms, collecting documents from staff on-time, and organizing Christmas parties and staff breakfasts.
If these new functions (regardless of the name they may operate under) do not deliver results, then we will be brainstorming new names once again. Hopefully, next time it won’t just be old wine in a new bottle.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Magic in Your Workplace
March 8th is International Women’s Day. This day brings about awareness of women’s issues, recognizes achievements, and encourages leadership. Women business owners, leaders, community role models, mothers, and wives are commemorated and celebrated while pinpointing diversity, work-life balance, and glass ceiling concerns; still very dominant in the business world.
In fact, only 16 percent of all senior executives in Fortune 500 companies are held by women. Worst still, research shows that top women leaders feel like outsiders in their organizations.
But, women leaders in general excel at overtaking the responsibility for workforce performance. They strive to establish bonds with their workforce, develop genuine interest and understanding toward their staff, manage by sending signals about what is valued, and what is appropriate, etc.
On a personal note, one word connects two remarkable women I met this year. Both, Ruth Ang, Managing Director of TBWA\ and Alexandra Hynes, Co-Owner and CEO of Salzer Consulting place magic in the centre of their leadership approach. They motivate by creating magic, believe that they can achieve results through magic, and seek out magic as the highest performance level.
So, when was the last time you experienced magic in your workplace?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Talent Pivot Points
In the book, “Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital”*, Boudreau and Ramstad show how HR can evolve to fulfill its potential as a source of strategic advantage.
The authors reviewed what they termed the “Peanut Butter Approach” used by HR in respect to HR strategies; the essence of which is equality and maximizing the company’s investment in its workforce by providing the same incentives, engaging all employees in the same way, and applying HR initiatives equally across the workforce.
Boudreau and Ramstad recommended that HR needs to develop and implement a differentiated and optimized approach to managing human resources. To support their line of thinking, they appraised principles of production and marketing and its relevancy toward HR. For example, the former does not let every machine run at maximum capacity, but optimizes output. The latter on the other hand, focuses on differentiating between customer segments and exposing only certain customer segments to maximum advertising. Just as marketing professionals will ask what customer segments will make the biggest difference to the company’s strategic success, HR professionals should ask where the improvements in talent performance make the biggest difference to the company’s strategic success. Those places are referred to as talent pivot points and are identified using talentship process. The authors then distinguish between vital and pivotal positions using examples of employees at theme parks: “character”, wearing a costume of a cartoon character, and “sweeper”, cleaning; and at the airline: “pilot” and “gate agent”.
The “character” and “pilot” are both vital positions for strategy execution and performance must be maintained at a specific and consistent level.
On the contrary, the “sweeper” and “gate agent” are pivotal since a small difference in performance can make a big difference to customer. Employees in these positions have a lot of opportunities to interact with customers and so may innovate at their own discretion to create great customer experiences.
HR professionals and all employees should think over what specific employee duties can make the biggest difference to the success of their organization. Whatever responsibilities those may be, these talent pivot points must be included in job descriptions and measured in employees’ performance appraisals.
* Boudreau, John W. & Ramstad, Peter (2007). Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
The authors reviewed what they termed the “Peanut Butter Approach” used by HR in respect to HR strategies; the essence of which is equality and maximizing the company’s investment in its workforce by providing the same incentives, engaging all employees in the same way, and applying HR initiatives equally across the workforce.
Boudreau and Ramstad recommended that HR needs to develop and implement a differentiated and optimized approach to managing human resources. To support their line of thinking, they appraised principles of production and marketing and its relevancy toward HR. For example, the former does not let every machine run at maximum capacity, but optimizes output. The latter on the other hand, focuses on differentiating between customer segments and exposing only certain customer segments to maximum advertising. Just as marketing professionals will ask what customer segments will make the biggest difference to the company’s strategic success, HR professionals should ask where the improvements in talent performance make the biggest difference to the company’s strategic success. Those places are referred to as talent pivot points and are identified using talentship process. The authors then distinguish between vital and pivotal positions using examples of employees at theme parks: “character”, wearing a costume of a cartoon character, and “sweeper”, cleaning; and at the airline: “pilot” and “gate agent”.
The “character” and “pilot” are both vital positions for strategy execution and performance must be maintained at a specific and consistent level.
On the contrary, the “sweeper” and “gate agent” are pivotal since a small difference in performance can make a big difference to customer. Employees in these positions have a lot of opportunities to interact with customers and so may innovate at their own discretion to create great customer experiences.
HR professionals and all employees should think over what specific employee duties can make the biggest difference to the success of their organization. Whatever responsibilities those may be, these talent pivot points must be included in job descriptions and measured in employees’ performance appraisals.
* Boudreau, John W. & Ramstad, Peter (2007). Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Friday, January 25, 2008
New Intelligence
Generating intelligence through cross-departmental learning can help your HR department transition from a traditional to strategic approach.
Marketing wisdom and departmental know-how can be applied by HR departments in the following ways:
• It is less expensive to retain high performing employees than to attract new ones just like it is less expensive to keep a customer than to attract a new one
• Employees and managers just like customers do not have needs--they have problems. They do not sit down and think 'I've got a need'. Instead, they experience problems and hence seek solutions to these.
• Every employee is mildly dissatisfied with their employer just like every customer is mildly dissatisfied with a product and/or service.
• Applicants are very smart and will often wait for companies to outbid each other in hopes of receiving a higher salary just like customers are smart and will wait around for a lower price in the market.
• Failure to coordinate HR functional activities results in a lost opportunity and meager business impact just like failure to integrate multiple media in an advertisement campaign will yield poor results.
• Just like marketing, HR creates impact gradually, not immediately. Strategic HR results emerge over time, not overnight.
• Just like marketing efforts must occur continuously, treating employees as valuable assets must occur regularly and often.
Marketing wisdom and departmental know-how can be applied by HR departments in the following ways:
• It is less expensive to retain high performing employees than to attract new ones just like it is less expensive to keep a customer than to attract a new one
• Employees and managers just like customers do not have needs--they have problems. They do not sit down and think 'I've got a need'. Instead, they experience problems and hence seek solutions to these.
• Every employee is mildly dissatisfied with their employer just like every customer is mildly dissatisfied with a product and/or service.
• Applicants are very smart and will often wait for companies to outbid each other in hopes of receiving a higher salary just like customers are smart and will wait around for a lower price in the market.
• Failure to coordinate HR functional activities results in a lost opportunity and meager business impact just like failure to integrate multiple media in an advertisement campaign will yield poor results.
• Just like marketing, HR creates impact gradually, not immediately. Strategic HR results emerge over time, not overnight.
• Just like marketing efforts must occur continuously, treating employees as valuable assets must occur regularly and often.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Adopting Marketing Practices in HR
How would marketing professional address HR challenges and problems?
Using marketing practices and principles, marketing professionals would set the following priorities in the HR department:
• Continually track shifts in the external environment, learn quickly, and then adapt HR strategy to the changing business world.
• Develop an employer brand identity.
• Target the message and develop creative slogans and memorable job advertisements.
• Segment employees based on performance (high versus low performers) and management level.
• Give high priority business units, programs, or high potentials special treatment.
• Differentiate the retention strategy and avoid running with the “herd”.
• Stay in touch with employees and managers without being viewed as a pest.
• Collect employee data (e.g. surveys, polls) and analyze what employees think.
• Build better tools to enable efficient and effective communication between employees and HR.
• Do not focus on the HR program but instead concentrate on its benefits - how the HR program can benefit the business?
• Solicit feedback at the end of each HR program–can you improve anywhere?
• Measure the effectiveness and return on investment of the recruitment campaigns, training interventions, any other HR initiatives.
• Ensure that all managers, management systems, measures and rewards work together "in unison".
• Communicate to others in dollars, the universal business language.
Addressing HR using a marketing/sales perspective can strengthen organizational learning and bring forth synergies.
Using marketing practices and principles, marketing professionals would set the following priorities in the HR department:
• Continually track shifts in the external environment, learn quickly, and then adapt HR strategy to the changing business world.
• Develop an employer brand identity.
• Target the message and develop creative slogans and memorable job advertisements.
• Segment employees based on performance (high versus low performers) and management level.
• Give high priority business units, programs, or high potentials special treatment.
• Differentiate the retention strategy and avoid running with the “herd”.
• Stay in touch with employees and managers without being viewed as a pest.
• Collect employee data (e.g. surveys, polls) and analyze what employees think.
• Build better tools to enable efficient and effective communication between employees and HR.
• Do not focus on the HR program but instead concentrate on its benefits - how the HR program can benefit the business?
• Solicit feedback at the end of each HR program–can you improve anywhere?
• Measure the effectiveness and return on investment of the recruitment campaigns, training interventions, any other HR initiatives.
• Ensure that all managers, management systems, measures and rewards work together "in unison".
• Communicate to others in dollars, the universal business language.
Addressing HR using a marketing/sales perspective can strengthen organizational learning and bring forth synergies.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Employees as Customers
In a service economy, every organization and department now looks after customers. Students are customers of Universities, the general public is the customer of police, job seekers are customers of job centers, etc. This trend and understanding has been incorporated into HR as well since employees are also referred to as customers.
Looking at employees and managers as customers helps HR move from a tactical (administrative) to strategic approach (leadership and consultancy).
For your HR department to be more customer-friendly, HR professionals need to aim at achieving high customer satisfaction levels. A pyramid consisting of 4 levels of customer satisfaction can be used to guide you along.
First, HR must be accurate. At this level, employees expect to receive the benefits they enrolled in, the payroll slip to reflect all information accurately, and for HR staff to answer questions competently. It does not matter how friendly HR employees are, if the HR department consistently fails the accuracy test, then customers defect.
Second, HR must be available. At this level, employees expect an open door to their HR department; this means that the HR staff is available anytime, anywhere, and can notice that important, “I need help now” look.
Third, HR must act as a partner to employees and managers. At this level, employees want their HR staff to listen to them, to be responsive to them, and to make them feel that they are on their side of the fence. Employees and managers who feel understood and enabled to execute the strategy are one step closer to real satisfaction and genuine advocacy.
Finally, HR must provide genuine advice. At this level, employees and managers feel the closest bond to their HR staff because they have helped them learn and achieve goals.
The first two levels, accuracy and availability, barely prevent dissatisfaction. The greatest benefits arise at level 3 and level 4. After all, partnership provides HR the opportunity to create positive feelings of satisfaction and advice constitutes the most advanced level of customer satisfaction.
Looking at employees and managers as customers helps HR move from a tactical (administrative) to strategic approach (leadership and consultancy).
For your HR department to be more customer-friendly, HR professionals need to aim at achieving high customer satisfaction levels. A pyramid consisting of 4 levels of customer satisfaction can be used to guide you along.
First, HR must be accurate. At this level, employees expect to receive the benefits they enrolled in, the payroll slip to reflect all information accurately, and for HR staff to answer questions competently. It does not matter how friendly HR employees are, if the HR department consistently fails the accuracy test, then customers defect.
Second, HR must be available. At this level, employees expect an open door to their HR department; this means that the HR staff is available anytime, anywhere, and can notice that important, “I need help now” look.
Third, HR must act as a partner to employees and managers. At this level, employees want their HR staff to listen to them, to be responsive to them, and to make them feel that they are on their side of the fence. Employees and managers who feel understood and enabled to execute the strategy are one step closer to real satisfaction and genuine advocacy.
Finally, HR must provide genuine advice. At this level, employees and managers feel the closest bond to their HR staff because they have helped them learn and achieve goals.
The first two levels, accuracy and availability, barely prevent dissatisfaction. The greatest benefits arise at level 3 and level 4. After all, partnership provides HR the opportunity to create positive feelings of satisfaction and advice constitutes the most advanced level of customer satisfaction.
Friday, December 21, 2007
HR Business Partner Positions in Asia
Traditionally, most HR positions were filled with industrial-organizational psychologists, industrial labor relations experts, and liberal arts majors; none of which had much exposure to business and management. However, these days, HR professionals are increasingly required to have an advanced commercial understanding, be more numbers keen instead of numbers phobic, deliver results instead of activities, and act proactively instead of reactively.
As a result, ambiguous HR managers are attending MBA courses or pursuing MSc in psychology or organisational change to gain respect from other functional Executives or to get noticed by the CEO. In the meantime, to offset the meager business IQ in HR departments, former finance professionals (example: Janet LeClair, HR XCEL) or OD specialists (example: Ralph Christensen, Hallmark) are leading the HR transformation.
The future of HR is clearly business focused and value-driven. The most established model to drive value-creation in the HR department is Ulrich’s HR Business Partner model composed of four roles; strategic partner, change agent, employee advocate, and administrative expert.
In Asia, more and more HR departments create “a position” of “HR Business Partner”. Below is an average post assembled after reviewing just a few vacant positions advertised in November 2007 on monster.com for analysis. It is worthwhile to review how Ulrich’s model has been adopted and which and how roles defined by this model are addressed with this position.
For every responsibility and requirement of “HR Business Partner”, I ascribed a number or letter which will be referred to in the detailed review below:
Review:
Strategic Partner Role
The responsibility identified as (1) focuses on a candidate’s ability to contribute as a Strategic Partner. The obvious requirements connected to this role are (i) while (a) and (b) are very desirable but not essential. Although this role may benefit from solid generalist HR expertise, a strong understanding of the business unit and credibility with senior business leaders are the prerequisites to success. However, both of them have not been included under requirements. Other key competencies omitted include:
• Ability to design and deliver a culture-based HR strategy that links the internal culture to the requirements of external customers and the business strategy,
• Track record of contributing to business decision making by critiquing the existing strategy through creating a personal vision for the future of the business and by raising the standard of strategic thinking in the management team,
• Capacity to develop knowledge of each component of the business value chain and its integration quickly,
• Ability to develop knowledge of how the company creates value through portfolio management and meeting requirements of the competitive marketplace, and
• Toolkit to measure results of every stage of the HR value proposition.
Also, the key behaviors needed to be successful in this role include for example organizational awareness, problem-solving skills, working effectively in teams, and risk taking. The jobholder needs to focus on added-value and tailored solutions. However, none of these requirements have been listed.
Employee Champion Role
The responsibility identified as (2) focuses on acting as an employee champion which requires deep HR technical expertise within a particular discipline. The important requirements essential for this role include (a), (d), (e), (f), and (g). Mistakenly however, this role places too much emphasis on the employees’ needs and therefore pushes organizational learning and development in the background.
The key behaviors needed are inner drive, influencing skills, analytical thinking, and an ability to build trusting relationships, none of which have been mentioned. The jobholder needs to focus on assessing and balancing competing values (company versus employees) while ensuring compliance; not mentioned either.
Change Agent Role
The responsibility identified as (3) clearly points out the role of a change agent. The corresponding requirements listed include (f), (g), (h), (i) and certainly (c) which would require further details to be of value in the screening process and thereby allow a more precise assessment of the scope of experience.
Important elements of this role excluded from the requirements are:
• Internal consultant’s abilities, analytical skills, influencing/negotiation skills, teamwork capability, and creative thinking,
• Behavioral characteristics like innovativeness/flexibility, proactiveness, and risk taking, and
• Jobholder’s focus on planning and implementing intervention to achieve change quickly.
Administrative Expert Role
The responsibility identified as (4) refers to an administrative expert role which requires manager’s know-how to deliver tangible outputs within budgetary and resource constraints. The critical requirements for this post involve (f), (g), (h), and (i). The key behaviors needed to do so are team leadership, initiative, and holding people accountable. The jobholder’s focus needs to be on delivery and cost control. Both aspects have been left out however.
In conclusion, all four roles are squeezed into one position creating a set of unrealistic responsibilities along with different skills and behaviors. Furthermore, such HR Business Partner positions are simply “old wine in a new bottle” rather than positions designed to deliver value-added HR. As long as business acumen or a track record of impacting an organization’s value creation is not part of the person specification, then there is no need to introduce a new term for HR posts.
As a result, ambiguous HR managers are attending MBA courses or pursuing MSc in psychology or organisational change to gain respect from other functional Executives or to get noticed by the CEO. In the meantime, to offset the meager business IQ in HR departments, former finance professionals (example: Janet LeClair, HR XCEL) or OD specialists (example: Ralph Christensen, Hallmark) are leading the HR transformation.
The future of HR is clearly business focused and value-driven. The most established model to drive value-creation in the HR department is Ulrich’s HR Business Partner model composed of four roles; strategic partner, change agent, employee advocate, and administrative expert.
In Asia, more and more HR departments create “a position” of “HR Business Partner”. Below is an average post assembled after reviewing just a few vacant positions advertised in November 2007 on monster.com for analysis. It is worthwhile to review how Ulrich’s model has been adopted and which and how roles defined by this model are addressed with this position.
For every responsibility and requirement of “HR Business Partner”, I ascribed a number or letter which will be referred to in the detailed review below:
Key Responsibilities:
• Act as a strategic HR business partner/subject matter expert to the business units to achieve organizational strategies and objectives (1)(2),
• Provide value-added services for efficient & smooth management of the business (1),
• Provide front line coverage to a portfolio of internal clients including recruitment, employee relations, C&B, performance management, coaching, and training and development to satisfy their needs (2),
• Champion employee engagement and provide support for employees' growth and development (2),
• Facilitate and coach change management and organizational development initiatives (3), and
• Manage the day-to-day HR operation (4).
Key Requirements:
• Degree in Human Resource Management (a),
• Minimum of 4 years experience as a HR generalist (b),
• Experience in Change Management is preferred (c),
• Solid knowledge of labor law and HR policies, processes, and procedures (d),
• Comprehensive knowledge of progressive compensation practices and strategies (e),
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (f),
• Customer focused and service oriented with a pleasant and assertive personality (g),
• Self-driven individual with creative approach to resolving work issues (h), and
• Hands-on and results-oriented (i).
Review:
Strategic Partner Role
The responsibility identified as (1) focuses on a candidate’s ability to contribute as a Strategic Partner. The obvious requirements connected to this role are (i) while (a) and (b) are very desirable but not essential. Although this role may benefit from solid generalist HR expertise, a strong understanding of the business unit and credibility with senior business leaders are the prerequisites to success. However, both of them have not been included under requirements. Other key competencies omitted include:
• Ability to design and deliver a culture-based HR strategy that links the internal culture to the requirements of external customers and the business strategy,
• Track record of contributing to business decision making by critiquing the existing strategy through creating a personal vision for the future of the business and by raising the standard of strategic thinking in the management team,
• Capacity to develop knowledge of each component of the business value chain and its integration quickly,
• Ability to develop knowledge of how the company creates value through portfolio management and meeting requirements of the competitive marketplace, and
• Toolkit to measure results of every stage of the HR value proposition.
Also, the key behaviors needed to be successful in this role include for example organizational awareness, problem-solving skills, working effectively in teams, and risk taking. The jobholder needs to focus on added-value and tailored solutions. However, none of these requirements have been listed.
Employee Champion Role
The responsibility identified as (2) focuses on acting as an employee champion which requires deep HR technical expertise within a particular discipline. The important requirements essential for this role include (a), (d), (e), (f), and (g). Mistakenly however, this role places too much emphasis on the employees’ needs and therefore pushes organizational learning and development in the background.
The key behaviors needed are inner drive, influencing skills, analytical thinking, and an ability to build trusting relationships, none of which have been mentioned. The jobholder needs to focus on assessing and balancing competing values (company versus employees) while ensuring compliance; not mentioned either.
Change Agent Role
The responsibility identified as (3) clearly points out the role of a change agent. The corresponding requirements listed include (f), (g), (h), (i) and certainly (c) which would require further details to be of value in the screening process and thereby allow a more precise assessment of the scope of experience.
Important elements of this role excluded from the requirements are:
• Internal consultant’s abilities, analytical skills, influencing/negotiation skills, teamwork capability, and creative thinking,
• Behavioral characteristics like innovativeness/flexibility, proactiveness, and risk taking, and
• Jobholder’s focus on planning and implementing intervention to achieve change quickly.
Administrative Expert Role
The responsibility identified as (4) refers to an administrative expert role which requires manager’s know-how to deliver tangible outputs within budgetary and resource constraints. The critical requirements for this post involve (f), (g), (h), and (i). The key behaviors needed to do so are team leadership, initiative, and holding people accountable. The jobholder’s focus needs to be on delivery and cost control. Both aspects have been left out however.
In conclusion, all four roles are squeezed into one position creating a set of unrealistic responsibilities along with different skills and behaviors. Furthermore, such HR Business Partner positions are simply “old wine in a new bottle” rather than positions designed to deliver value-added HR. As long as business acumen or a track record of impacting an organization’s value creation is not part of the person specification, then there is no need to introduce a new term for HR posts.
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