A few years ago, the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at a Global 500 corporation introduced his Executive Leadership Team to their new role as Human Resource Business Partners with a single rhetorical question; “Why does the Human Resource organization exist”? Total silence preempted his answer, “We exist to deliver Human Assets possessing critical skills at the right time, at the right place, and at the right price to create a competitive advantage and secure the growth and sustainability of our company.” And with that said, he launched the total transformation of HR that has become a common practice in human resource organizations. With advanced technology and expanded delivery models enabling the transformation, many HR professionals are retooling themselves with the skills and expertise necessary to assume the strategically focused Human Resource Business Partner role that is quickly becoming the new normal. Eminence, data analytics, and strategy are the new HR tools and competitive advantage is the outcome.
Strategy is the new necessity for HR professionals to attract and retain their fair share of the company’s #1 asset in today’s fluid business environment. And while a broad strategy may keep HR aligned with the overall business plan, a comprehensive approach is necessary to address specific challenges created by the global talent shortage, conflicting generational perspectives, rapidly-shifting training needs, and the new digitally-enabled work environment. Short-term, long-term, internal and external; every aspect of workforce management will require a solid strategy to deliver the best human assets possible.
Information is the HR professional’s new best friend and thanks to advances in technology, critical data elements derived from daily transaction processing can be mined and compiled at the click of a mouse. Real-time dashboards, predictive analytics, and data analyses are relatively new tools for HR professionals who are fast becoming the most informed people in the company. Fact-based, data-driven decisions, grounded in industry expertise and fueled by financial gain are the work product of the new, forward-thinking HR professional.
Eminence, the element that will elevate HR professionals to executive status, is the underpinning that supports the new HR value proposition. Encouraged by automation of complex administrative transactions and enabled by the proven success of multi-channel delivery models, HR professionals are removing past restraints and repositioning themselves as workforce strategists with eminence in human capital management. Forward-thinking HR professionals are retooling and refocusing to acquire an expertise in current and future workforce trends, a working knowledge of the products/services they support, and financial acumen to achieve business goals. These skills and attributes are the new normal for HR professionals to proactively deliver valuable solutions for current and future workforce issues.
Now more than ever before, CEOs are calling for a strategic human resource partner with the expertise to anticipate and resolve current and future workforce challenges. The call is not new and the end goal is unchanged, but this time HR is equipped to respond as Human Resource Business Partners creating competitive advantage as the new normal delivery expectation.
