What Do Experts Say About Human Resources Changing Role?

The experts have looked at HR over the past 10 years or so very critically. They have criticized HR for not focusing on the reason they all really have jobs, PEOPLE. They have also looked at HR to be a leader in moving the mundane issues they deal with to outsourced providers such as benefits administration, HRIS, hiring, service awards, and programs like that. They have also viewed HR as a slow moving profession in the area of strategic human capital investment, business acumen and strategic planning. 


I agree with them in all these areas as well as defining the following areas:

• Outsourcing of human resources, as a profession, will go into the billion dollars range to service providers like BeneFlex and IBM
• HR people will need to collaborate with line managers in identifying potential leaders as they focus on the human capital aspect for which they have been criticized. Emotional intelligence and diversity management will continue to gain importance especially in the C-Suite area.
• Hr will have to find the right HR response to rapidly developing/changing industries as globalization continues to drive business direction.
• Hr will need to be faster, smarter, and more efficient in internal consulting services holds the key to success in many industries
• Human resource competencies play crucial role in organizational success and the hiring CEO needs to look beyond his/her current thinking on the value and contribution HR will make to the organization.
• HR cannot rest on its laurels, they have to continue to build win after win to show their real ROI to the organization, and 
• HR needs to know the business inside and out to add that value. 

So if HR does not move fast to change in our ever changing business environment, there will be no HR in the future. You can take that to the bank for an old HR pro. 

Susan Spencer on Essentials for Women in Business

A Wharton interview with Susan Spencer on women and essentials in business. This is a must see.  

Is HR About People Anymore?

Our profession continues to have more in-depth business responsibilies associated with the board room that detract us from our core area of responsibility, people. Our human capital sometimes gets lost in that matrix because we have a harder time balancing the board room and the work areas. What we all have to remember is "people are our business". The true HR professional has to strike that delicate balance between business and people all the while remembering who our customers are, "the people". Our board room is where the people are too.

Turning a Wide Eye

So you’ve monitored your brand for a while, you understand how to draw and apply conclusions you’ve drawn from the data you’ve gathered but you sense that there’s something missing. One thought crosses your mind – what are others doing in this space, or lets take it one step further – what exactly are your competitors doing in this space? You might be driven by curiosity or you might be driven by the annual benchmarking report, whichever it might be you’ll quickly find a lot of value in monitoring the wider industry conversations including your competition.

Making use of social data to understand your competition is important for several reasons and may at the most basic level help you benchmark a brand’s marketing, communications and general perception against that of others in a similar space. In addition to this, the data can provide insight into competitor activity online, the way in which other products are marketed in social media, online service innovations and how they speak to or with their own customers within social networks. All of this is invaluable information that you can slice and dice and think of incorporating or avoiding in your own business.

Before diving into a competitor analysis you will need to consider the right competitors to measure. You may intuitively think of your closest competitors which is a useful start, however, you should also look into third party data sources to gain a complete view on what companies, products and services compete in your market, at similar price points, or perhaps have just launched. You should also consider non-branded competitors: in banking, for example, brands compete against other uses of money – investments, pension products and so on. Remember that extra data points really add value to any and all of this analysis, though: revenue figures, advertising spend, awareness of discrete marketing campaigns, etcetera, complete the picture – correlations and causations should underlie the data returned from social systems.

Doing an industry wide assessment of the space you operate in can also help uncover up and coming competitors, ones that you may not have identified in a traditional competitor analysis. Based on this you can make predictions about what is likely to develop in the market place. Be sure to take a step back however and consider where your client is in a wider context; why does brand X have a particularly strong presence in your market? Is it due to obvious factors like a high traditional marketing spend or a strong set of social presences? Can you replicate their success? Perhaps no one in your market is particularly successful in social channels; in this case there’s a first mover advantage waiting there for you to take! You’ll be surprised at the opportunities you might uncover when you move beyond monitoring just your brand. Chances are you’ll uncover information that you didn’t actually know you were looking for but will go a long way towards giving you a competitive edge.

By Olivia Landolt Marketing and Community Manager

Writing With Skill

I Tweeted "If you can't articulate the business case, don't expect the funding" on Twitter today as a reminder to all HR executives. Truer words have never been said, especially by Jason Averbook who initially Tweeted this. HR executives and middle HR managers focus so much on effective verbal communication that they easily forget the real fundamentals of effective written communication. Today's way of communicating through VM, social media outlets and text messaging have hindered our overall communication skills. And the bets are on that as the next generation to sit in your seats will be less skilled than you. Think about that!!!  


There was an article in the Business section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution this past Sunday, June 5th, talking about the failure of individuals today to really be effective writers. And if you cannot write effectively with significant skill then you will not make it to the top levels of the HR pyramid. The article sites the following things to consider when you sit down to write a memo, policy statement, presentation to the board, letter, email, etc: 

• think about your audience and the appropriate format (email, letter, handbook revision).
• Proofread your work carefully - which I do not because I rely on Spell Check - not a good thing.
• Be clear -don't rely on technical jargon or acronyms.
• Be concise - it is important that you write a 1 page executive report as well as other short reports.
• Stay professional - no need to expound on this bullet point.
• Be comfortable with revisions - as someone to review your work before you publish it.
• Cite references where appropriate.

Remember, it is not the readers job to determine what you are trying to say, it's your job to make it clear.  

partially paraphrased from the AJC by Joyce E.A. Russell

The HR Turnaround Specialist or Maintenance Specialist?

Many HR professionals look at themselves as maintenance people but there are a choice few that see themselves as turnaround specialists. Keeping everything status quo is what most HR professionals would do when going into a new company. Those choice few see this as a great opportunity to really excel when they are faced with broken down systems, dysfunctional teams, poor management, benefits that have not been looked at for years, unfunded pensions, decreasing revenues, and poor to market products. Think of yourself as a turnaround artist when you go into a new company. Look at this new job as an opportunity to start with a clean slate and begin making your mark.  Here is what you should do think about, do, change, or move when you get settled into your new role:

• review the benefit contracts and dissect the costs against claims and historical experience. Call in a trusted actuary to review the details of the contract, funding, and measure against local or regional increases;
• assess the talent flow-in and recruiting process and streamline as needed or replace particular broken areas and make sure you have a solid applicant tracking system. Also make sure social media recruiting is in the mix;
• assess the talent within the organization with particular emphasis on senior and middle management groups. Make sure the right people are in the right spots. Don't be afraid to bring in new people and in some cases people you know and trust;
• make sure that the senior team are all on the same page with the CEO;
• Make a quick determination on the HR staff's talent and what value they bring to the business;
• Streamline with the VP of Product Management the go to market process and the internal development process of new products both hardware and software. You ask why should you do this, well because you are a business partner and should be involved in as aspects of the business;
• determine if IT is a help to the organization or hindrance, and if the latter, make the appropriate changes;
• meet with the CFO and get a handle on the budgets and talk through the issues you need to address from a financial prospective;
• Make sure you have all the appropriate systems in place to add value to the organization; and
• finally but not last of course, survey the organization to see where HR has missed opportunity and what their prospective is and adjust as necessary;
• conduct brainsteering sessions with senior management. 

I hope this helps those who move into new company roles. Send me an email to expand on these issues at wgstevens2@gmail.com.

Organizing Innovation — Making the Invisible Visible

Some of you may remember the connect the dot painting color books kids used to have; there was no color on the page, just a series of dots that when connected by a wet paint brush revealed a picture defined by different colors. When I was five I thought it was magical, yet someone had thought through the underlying design that allowed a new picture to emerge.

How do leaders and managers organize innovation? While some might say innovation is not to be over-engineered (or it could stifle creativity), there is clear need for a process that connects the elements that contribute to innovative breakthroughs and their implementation. Elements desirable in company cultures today include collaboration, recognition, diversity, and empowerment (google searches on these terms bring up 33 million to 184 million results) — but how are all those incorporated into a process that develops innovation by design?

Price Waterhouse Coopers' report "Demystifying Innovation" connects the dots on business strategy and implementing innovation. To grow markets more than 2% a year radical innovation is required; PWC found that 43% of CEOs in pharmaceuticals, entertainment and media industries feel their greatest growth will come from new products and services. Nearly 40% of CEOs in PWC's study said they expect innovation to be co-developed, through collaboration with outside partners, customers and talent.

The intensive focus on new products and services requiresworkforce planners to identify strategic roles around those new products and services and critical competencies from talent who contribute to innovation. A process to develop innovation and critical thinking to drive a business strategy forward are organizational competencies every company needs. 

Creating conditions where talent can be close to the customer identifies pain points and changing demands. When innovation is a cultural value, it is driven by leadership ethics and recognition of talent who contribute to new thinking. 

Tapping people's creative process engages talent; a can-do culture of open-mindedness and questioning creates a reputation for being innovative and an employer of choice. Philosophers Socrates, Euripides and Descartes said, "question everything" and even comedian George Carlin reminded us we have forgotten to question. Asking "why?" and "why not?" can be the genesis for innovation. As leaders we can ensure those questions get answered.

Author: Joy Kosta

Human Capital Institute Blog, Friday 6/3/11