A
couple of decades ago, it was almost impossible for
anyone to even think that HR would grow more than mere
its basic people function, i.e., pertaining to recruitment,
training and development, compensation and benefits
or probably talent management and organization design.
HR was expected to have an immediate solution for any
problem related to the employees. It was never ever
thought that HR would be involved in making future plans.
Of
late, HR professionals have worked to become business
partners and align their work with the organization's
business strategies in order to contribute to the development
and accomplishment of the organizational goals and objectives.
They have been trained to spend time with their counterparts
in sales, marketing, manufacturing and finance so as
to ensure that HR helps to deliver business objectives.
In order to accomplish this, HR professionals are expected
to grasp and master the concept of value. Value here
means when someone receives something for a particular
transaction. In this case, the emphasis is on the beneficiary
than the giver. HR professionals are expected to add
value by helping the employees, the line managers, customers,
investors and the shareholders.
Thus
the "new strategic role" of HR is to develop
competencies and redefine its new role and align itself
and contribute to the organization's business objectives."HR
is dead. Long live HR," says David Ulrich, a Professor
of business administration at the University of Michigan.
That's his way of saying that "the old HR"
that which emphasizes expertise in transactions and
paperwork "is dying in a sense."
|
