Which Key Human Resource Function Has The Greatest Influence On Management’s Opinion Of HR?

If one could list the five major functions of a quality HR department, what would those five functions be and which of those have the greatest impact on management’s opinion of HR?


This question was asked in a number of human resource groups on the professional networking site Linked In. There were approximately 41 individuals who responded to the question and provided a broad range of thoughtful, intelligent answers. This article is a summary of the thoughts and comments provided by human resource professionals and consultants. The purpose is to make the information available to all and allow additional comment and debate.

“I don’t think it’s about which HR function has the greatest influence but rather which HR person. That person most assuredly will be the one who builds credibility as being a business person first and an HR professional second.”



In reviewing all of the comments and responses, a few general themes became clear. A major theme that seems to be important is the idea of human resources as a strategic, business-focused function. Many respondents used language that implied a strategic value to the functions and capabilities of HR. Clearly, respondents felt it was very important for HR to demonstrate commercial sense, knowledge of the business, the competitive landscape and a strategic understanding of how the business needs to develop.
“I think these are all great answers. But the one I have found to have the biggest impact of an HR professional on upper management is to have an understanding of the business. By truly understanding what the company does, who they are, what services they provide and where they want to go, uppemanagement will be more likely to see HR as a business partner, and not an administrative function."

Therefore, it is perhaps reasonable to assume that there are HR functions that are clearly focused on the commercial and strategic aspects of the business. Additionally, it might follow that most HR professionals would include those in one of the top five or six functions of a quality human resource department.



As a follow up to this, many people made comments about human resource functions and the importance of those functions connecting together in support of the business.



“We have to connect the delivery of our activities with their business impact. We’re delivering talent so that clients are served by smarter people. We’re delivering motivation so that we generate better solutions for customers. We deliver employee relations so that we retain a stable and knowledgeable workforce our customer’s value. We deliver all these things so that our company’s people create superior value for stockholders.”

These comments imply a relationship between the delivery of talent and the achievement of strategic objectives. This might mean that talent acquisition and recruitment would be very important.

“I would like to say that recruiting the right person for the right place, keeping in mind business requirements and retaining him as per organization requirement is so important that he or she should be kept by any mean, i.e. motivational or tools.”
This would also imply that talent management is very important.

“I really believe talent management will have the biggest impact on the perception of HR.”



Respondents also commented on the importance of being trusted by those managers they support. The issue of trust with respect to HR is one that Quorum has seen come up in a number of ways.



Yet the negative perception of human resources by management continued to surface and some comments seem to express a deeply felt frustration.

“Unfortunately HR is yet widely considered as a support function and not an initiative (innovative) one. And the fact of the matter is that when HR tries to be initiative (innovative), the management would shoo them off by saying, "You don’t understand the market. Please do what you are asked to." Unfortunately, this is the fact! But if we don’t understand the market, then how do we provide them the best of the available human resource to do the business?”


Given the breadth and range of responses, the individual functions that were listed by respondents, were organized in their order of importance. These were then grouped into nine major categories. Only those respondents who gave a list of important functions were included. Some respondents seemed to agree with a particular list, but did not provide their own. In this case, that particular list was not included twice.


As an example of how functions were categorized, functions like change/transformation management, leadership succession, organization design, organization development and succession planning were all grouped in the category organizational development. Functions like delivering HR information, HR metrics, HRIS (human resource information systems) and HR reports for decision making, were all put in the category of analytics.



The top two issues of importance from the survey were: Talent Acquisition 83%, Business Knowledge & Strategy 72% .

For more information please go to the Quorum website at: http://quorumassociates.com/thoughtleadership/five-functions-of-a-quality-human-resource-department

If you are not in the top two categories you are really not a true HR leader.

Are You #2 in Your Company? If Not Ask Yourself Why

I am re-reading "Winning" by Jack Welch and again was reminded of how lucky I have been in my HR career. Since 1978, when I worked for Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, I have had the great opportunity to work for CEO's that saw HR was a key player on their team. I remember my first meeting with Willard Sweetser, my first boss in New Jersey, when he asked my how much I knew about business and not HR. We sat and discussed our views for about 3 hours when he finally said, "you move into my office with me" you are my #2 person on this job.  That has been my joy and luck over the years working for CEOs, them viewing HR as their right hand and left hand along with the CFO from NJ to Oak Ridge, TN, to Boston, to LA, to GA.

Jack Welch was asked at a meeting in Mexico how he viewed HR and his answer was swift and direct, "without a doubt, the head of HR should be the second most important person in any organization". With an audience of 5,000, he asked how many CEO's in their company viewed HR that way. Well, about 50 hands went up and Welch was astounded but not surprised since it has been his experience when he asks that question during his speaking tours.

If you are not the number 2 in your organization you have to ask these three questions as to why:

1. can your CEO/senior management team quantify your impact on the organization?
2. have you gotten relegated to administrivia, a catch all for programs, benefits and the like
3. are you twisted up in palace/organizational intrigue?

If so, you need to re-think how to quantify, delegate, and pass on politics. So where do you stand? Then after you ask yourself that question read Jack Welch's book and you will find out many answers to your question. It is a great read for HR practicioners.

Skipping the Four Key Elements of HR

I had a discussion with a former colleague last week and I must say it was a very interesting and spirited discussion. My former colleague said that she was tired of trying to persuade people to think in HR terms. Yikes I said to myself, thinking in "HR terms". Where was she coming from?
She went on to say that she felt that HR was losing its' edge in the company. Yikes, I said again to myself, what has she been doing from a leadership angle yet alone from a business prospective?

Well, I am sure there are a lot of HR professionals thinking like her given the economy, job losses, pay freezes, and training all but abolished. I look at this as an opportunistic time to really show wheat you as HR professionals are made of: strong business instincts, financial expertise, interpersonal relationships at all levels of the organization, and leadership acumen. If you have forgotten these key elements of HR then you really need to rethink your profession.

In these trying times this is were the true HR professional steps up to the plate and helps the CEO drive the business through the economic storm. Remember these key essentials and build on them each and every day:

• strong business instincts - see and drive innovation and execution
• financial expertise - help the CFO on true business cost relationships and justify your budget that helps build the organization
• interpersonal relationships - without them at every level of the organization you will not understand what is really happening at the grass roots level
• leadership expertise/acumen - drive change and help all employees through the paradigm shifts that will drive business change and revenue growth.

So what are your thoughts on these key elements? Drop me an email at wgstevens2@gmail.com or through my Linkedin address.