The People Bulletin

Back in 2006, it was management guru Dave Ulrich who declared that HR must be more of a ‘business partner’ to an organisation. Instead of prioritising back office and process driven functions, he maintained it should assume more strategic roles and implement programmes that directly support the organisation’s objectives. 

A useful summary of the four-part model outlining these roles can be found on hrmadvice.com[1]

Recent research findings

Nearly a quarter of business leaders (22%) have stated that HR departments across the UK are failing to communicate, according to research carried out by jobsite CareerBuilder.co.uk. The survey, carried out amongst 194 business leaders, also found that 25% reported that their HR department can, at times, over-communicate.

The survey was conducted online among 757 business leaders in the UK (194 in the UK), France, Germany, Italy and Sweden across in a range of organisations between 17 November and 17 December 2010. Business leaders included C-level executives, directors and senior managers with recruitment responsibilities.

“Human Resources is an important contributor to an organisation’s overall success,” said Tony Roy, president of CareerBuilder EMEA.  “While business acumen has long been part of the HR job description, the financial hit companies took in the latest downturn has amplified the emphasis CEOs are placing in this area.  They’re paying closer attention to the return on investment for HR initiatives and how that return ultimately impacts the bottom line.”

The findings also revealed that business leaders consider it important for their head of HR to have an MBA to better correlate HR functions and programmes with overall business performance.  One-third (33%) want HR to present programmes or initiatives as a business plan and 16% expect to see the projected return on investment for each HR initiative.

‘Touchy feely’ is not enough

Other key findings include:

• Focus on solutions. Business leaders said they want to hear ideas whether it’s to establish a new strategy or resolve a dilemma. When asked about the type of information they absolutely don’t want to see, 61% pointed to communications that present problems without solutions. The same amount reported they don’t want to see ‘touchy feely information’ while 17% said they don’t want to see anything that isn’t related to cost, revenue or the bottom line.
• Know the customer. Business leaders said they expect their HR department to be in tune with who their customers are and what they want. Thirty per cent of business leaders reported that their HR department is not knowledgeable enough about their client base.
• Get the inside perspective.  One of the most important things HR provides to senior executives is insights into what employees are thinking and their performance level. Thirty-nine per cent of business leaders would like to see more feedback about employee satisfaction and 37% want to know which employees specifically are exceeding their goals.
• Be flexible.  Agility is key for business leaders. Nearly half (49%) of business leaders reported their HR department can get too caught up in policy and process and pointed to the need for more flexibility.   

[1] http://hrmadvice.com/hrmadvice/hr-role/ulrichs-hr-roles-model.html