How to Understand the Big Picture

This quick post is really for those HR professionals who are not at the VP, EVP, or CHRO level. 


Make sure you see the big picture in your organization and not be fixated on the lower level HR issues you deal with on a daily basis. To do this you need to understand the "Big Picture" and understand the cornerstones of the strategy, technology corridors your company plays in and the frontiers your organization will play in and blaze new trails. 


So how do you do this when you are confronted with the day-to-day issues and projects you have to deal with to meet your VPHR's or CHRO's objectives. I found that the best way is to make sure you and your fellow HR staffers understand the strategy from a grass roots basis. What do I mean from that, here is what and how to do it:

• make sure you staff meetings have on the agenda the overall strategy of the business,
• ensure that your head of HR also provides a detailed map of how the company intends to address each strategy component, and how that effects your direct HR responsibility,
• understand completely what the competitive issues are and how the organization will address them,
• make sure that the cornerstones of the organizational strategy is linked to your division or line of sight responsibility, and 
• make sure that the managers and superiors you manage have the same understanding.

I have found though my many years of HR experience that the "Big Picture" is only understood by a choice few and the information does not always flow down stream the way it should. I have also found that if you are not excited about what you do and the company you work for your interest is not where it should be and for that reason, you should move on or get lost in the maze. 


A quick word to the wise - be aggressive, assertive, and intelligent on how you get the information without making waves along the way.  

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.

Is Your HR Productivity App Saving You Time?

The smart phone market is really hot with the Blackberry (who really started the ball rolling),  IPhone (pure leader in mobile technology, and  Android (quickly catching up to IPhone), and other phones on the market today. And let me not forget the IPad for analytic use not games and pictures. There a over 1M applications for the phones today and HR applications are no exception. Mobile apps are really helping HR professionals today in our continuous loop connectivity.

Since time is a precious commodity today it makes real sense for HR to be in the forefront of productivity applications as they manage large and decentralized workforces. Companies that use mobile apps have seen a strong return on their investment and helps keep the HR executive and his/her staff connected 24/7. There are some companies that have developed their own apps which makes good business sense and there are those off the shelf (so to speak) as downloads.

So what applications make sense today, here are a few that you should look into or better yet use to keep on top of your game:

• Payroll apps - to monitor pay cycle issues and fixed cost concerns
• Talent acquisition - to keep up with the active and passive job seekers 
• Workforce management -  managing an existing diverse human capital group
• Learning and development - managing training budgets and activity
• Peer and management reviews - performance management & process approvals
• Marketing and product cycle reviews, and 
• Internet/intranet site management

These apps have migrated from the desktop/laptop to the smart phone at lightning speed. My advise is get on the band wagon and start utilizing these productivity tools so you can stay in front of your business and employee base. If you are worried about security work with your IT group; if your company is  slow to adopt - push them and lead the way because a recent poll says that there is a 13% increase in productivity utilizing mobile apps. Steve Bogner of Insight Consulting Partners in Cincinnati as that "putting mobile into action is always going to lag the hype". If you are an innovative and strategic HR executive then you need to lead the charge within your company.

The Challenges of Human Resource Management

The role of the Human Resource Manager is evolving with the change in competitive market environment and the realization that Human Resource Management must play a more strategic role in the success of an organization. Organizations that do not put their emphasis on attracting and retaining talents may find themselves in dire consequences, as their competitors may be outplaying them in the strategic employment of their human resources. 

With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-focused to succeed. And within this change in environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the organization’s big picture and be able to influence key decisions and policies. In general, the focus of today’s HR Manager is on strategic personnel retention and talents development. HR professionals will be coaches, counselors, mentors, and succession planners to help motivate organization’s members and their loyalty. The HR manager will also promote and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their organizations, especially in the management of workplace diversity.

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of the changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional must learn how to manage effectively through planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends in training and employee development.