Much has been said about the role of HR its effectiveness in today’s business world. Executives know that HR has to become more strategic and business-focused, and an increasing number of HR professionals recognise this
by Craig Donaldson
Much has been said about the role of HR and its effectiveness in today’s business world. Executives know that HR has to become more strategic and business-focused, and an increasing number of HR professionals recognise this.
At the same time, however, HR cannot be all pie in the strategic business sky and not be in touch with the business at a line manager level. I recently attended a meeting of HR directors who were talking about the need for HR professionals to be across all levels of a business. Given the complex and varied workforce challenges that will increasingly confront organisations over the coming years, a number of HR directors emphasised the importance of keeping the HR function relevant at the operational level.
Many line managers often shy away from working with HR for a number of reasons. One of the most common reasons is a failure to understand the line manager’s immediate and very real business concerns. Take this scenario, for example: A HR professional comes up to a line manager and starts advocating the great benefits of a new initiative they’ve come up with. However, that HR professional does not understand that line manager’s immediate priorities, budgets and the like. The line manager responds in a somewhat less enthusiastic manner and either refuses outright to participate or agrees to take part – paying lip service to the initiative in the long run. The HR professional can’t understand why such a great initiative fails to gain traction.
What do you expect? If you can’t keep it relevant at the operational level, then HR will never gain the credibility that the function so desperately seeks –and needs if it is to survive in the future of business. HR is in a great place to read and understand critical workforce planning issues, but the function must be able to translate them in a way that is relevant to the entire business, in the context of its strategic direction.
This requires a much broader view and more hands-on role than most HR professionals are accustomed to. It also requires courage – courage to step out of one’s comfort zone and simply make an effort to understand how a business works on a number of levels. While the task may seem daunting, it’s a decision that HR has to face as a profession if it’s to play a meaningful and necessary role in the future.
