adminHaving actively participated in the HR area for more than 17 years as HR Strategy Executive for a leading university in Johannesburg it is very curious to see how the HR world is changing moreso in an intellectual repository like a higher education institution.
My recent experiences show also an interesting change in this area. Strange, in a way!
The HR manager has to have very technical skills in HR areas: legislation, industrial relations, recruitment and benefits. They should have skills, like motivation, teamwork, relationships builder.
I think that the role of HR has to change, and the people occupying these roles need to realise it.
HR people need to become business savvy, so as to operate at a strategic level, rather than HR delegating policies, etc.
The new breed of HR manager needs to understand and know how to measure the monetary impact of their actions, to demonstrate the value added contributions of their functions.
HR professionals become strategic partners when they participate in the process of defining business strategy, when they ask questions that move strategy to action and when they design HR initiatives that align with the business strategy.
By fulfilling this role, HR professionals increase the capacity of a business to execute its strategies.
The primary actions of the strategic human resource manager translate business strategies into HR priorities.
In order to accomplish this, as HR practitioners we need to develop our business acumen, specifically the financial understanding of the bottom line.
As strategic partners, HR professionals should be to identify the HR practices that make the strategy come to fruition.
The New Economy
The business environment has been changing dramatically over the past two decades.
The definition of the “new economy” looks at issues such as “rapid change is constant”, “work is to be independent from location”, “communication technology creates and sustains global competition” and “innovation becomes more important than mass production”.
This requires organisations to “learn fast and think smart”, “adapt continuously”, show “speed, flexibility and knowledge productivity” as well as to “implement strategies that develop the skills, knowledge and competencies needed to drive the organisation to success”.
In the new economy knowledge workers become a key source of competitive advantage for many organisations and this has important implications on their management.
Competitive Advantage
Competitive advantage is often referred to as the ability to do something unique that competitors cannot easily copy.
Within the discipline of HR the terms “human assets” or “human resources” are often proposed as being the vital influence in achieving competitive advantage.
This can be achieved through the organisation’s internal human capital resources as they fit the criteria of being able to add value, uniqueness, rarity, are difficult to imitate and are non-substitutable, which are all qualities that offer on-going sustainable advantage.
Yet the relationship between the individual and the organisation must be strong so that the individual may be considered a valuable resource offering the organisation a means to gain competitive advantage
Change Management
Organisations that effectively manage change by continuously adapting their bureaucracies, strategies, systems, products and cultures in response to the impact of the complex, dynamic, uncertain and turbulent environment of the 21st century, are identified as masters of renewal.
Zimbabwean businesses are not exempt from this trend and for the past decade organisations have been facing the need to change in order to remain competitive in the global market.
Consequently, the HR function has become more multi-faceted over the years as the pace of change quickens, requiring a transition towards more value-added roles, such as the role of a change agent.
Unquestionably, HR practitioners have a critical role to play to ensure that the change process runs smoothly, as change in itself causes a high level of turmoil in organisations.
In the new economy HR practitioners, as organisational facilitators to change, have to have the capacity and discipline to make change happen and need to be skilled in the management of employee resistance to change.
The focus on the behaviour of employees is important as change has a way of scaring individuals into “inaction”, hence change facilitators need to possess the skills and tactics to modify employees’ perceptions and replace any resistance with motivation and excitement to make change more appealing and seemingly more likely.
Managed change is proactive, intentional and goal-oriented behaviour and in order to reduce the likelihood of failure, HR practitioners, in change agent roles, need to develop competencies that enable them to identify and anticipate possible problems that may arise.
HR practitioners face a tough challenge in anticipating the effect of internal and external changes because, as mentioned above, the change process occurs in business environments that are themselves changing, resulting in unpredictable outcomes
As companies develop integrated systems that address both operational and organisational changes, the HR function has to be more proactive and HR practitioners must avoid impassiveness and create new initiatives to assist organisations and their employees to cope with change.
The focus on the “partnering” role, rather than on the “administrating” role of HR, includes the role of acting as a change agent, which also requires broader, more business focused skills.
A lack of understanding of how the business operates, leaving HR within a functional vacuum, is seen as an “Achilles heel” for some. Fundamentally, if HR practitioners want to act as change agents and be successful in implementing organisational changes, they will need to get committed support from top management .
To gain this commitment HR practitioners must demonstrate that they can operate outside the realm of the HR function and that they are comfortable with change and the uncertainty that comes with it.
Overall, there is clear indication that change happens and the need to “change” is inevitable.
Research indicates that the majority of organisations are good at initiating change, but bad at consolidating change, maintaining momentum and reviewing and learning from the change programme, the primary difference between winning and losing in business will be the organisation’s ability to respond to the pace of change.
Winning organisations will be those that are able to create conditions for seamless change.
Therefore, HR practitioners need to facilitate organisational change and implement the necessary HR practices to ensure success. This requires them to develop change management skills, which include the capability to think strategically, engage employees, facilitate change and exceed expectations.
Strategic role of HR practitioners
The current normative view of a strategic HR practitioner is depicted as a professional who is able to develop, plan and implement a wide range of organisational activities which are directly linked to organisational performance.
HR practices and policies have strategic implications on organisational performance and in making decisions about any employment related structures HR practitioners must be able to make strategic choices.
To be seen as truly strategic, important decisions have to be made with a long-term perspective (in contrast to day-today operational decisions) as changing business conditions, and the organisation’s response to those conditions, influence organisational success
There is a clear shift in human resource management from a “service provider” to a “business partner”.
Companies have even retitled their HR generalist as “Business Partner” in an attempt to connote a closer and more strategic working relationship between the HR department and other operating units.
The capability of providing direct support to the organisation through the knowledge of the business will allow the HR professional to join the management team. This brings an increase of new responsibilities, possibilities and opportunities for the HR function. Consequently, if HR practitioners want to become key players in the management team they need to have the relevant capabilities to do so.
The debate about the changing roles and responsibilities of the HR function and its associated terrain, including a greater emphasis on the transformation of the function into strategic decision-making, is not just a product of the 21st century traditional operational role of personnel specialists, to the strategic role of the HR practitioner.
There is a shift away from a preoccupation with industrial relations to a broader concern with the strategic impact of the HR role.
HR practices, which develop the strategic value of the organisation’s human capital, is termed “strategic human resource management”.
Changing the focus of HR also requires a conscious effort to expand the HR role in order to design policies and practices that maximise the alignment of current HR practices with the business objectives.
In this role HR practitioners must be able to provide the expertise on how to leverage human resources to create true marketplace differentiation and able to determine how the company’s current culture, competencies, and structure must change in order to support the organisation’s strategy.
A company’s workforce represents one of its most potent and valuable resources.
Consequently, the extent to which a workforce is managed is a critical element in enhancing internal effectiveness and improving the organisation’s competitiveness.
HR practitioners play an increasingly vital role in maximising the efficiency of the organisation’s human resources since HR practices support employee behaviour that is critical for accomplishing key organisational processes, thus advancing organisational success.
The outlook of HR should change. Gone are the days where HR was considered the lifeline of the organisation.
Today everything is measured on the business profits that the company generates. Focus is entirely on the customers because he is the king.
Outward for customers to buy the company’s product and services and provide you with profits to run the organisation and internal customers to enhance and add value added services to the king. Therefore HR’s role becomes strategic and customer oriented.
- Milton Nyamadzawo is a Human Resources Strategy Executive for a leading higher education institution in South Africa and former Mwana Africa team manager.
[email protected]; telephone: +27115594069.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter