As businesses become more sharply focused on what value is being delivered to the customer and what value is being

accrued to the stake holders, there is a great challenge a Human Resources Manager faces in the organization. A typical Human Resource Manager has to don multiple caps and essentially has to play the roles of: Strategic Partner: HR manager is the right person in the organization to be keenly aware of what is happening in the external business environment and identify future trends of business. Being the person driving people and their productivity at workplace the HR manager becomes a strategic partner for the business advising the kind of directions that are emerging in the market and also the kind of skills and competencies that need to be brought in to the organization for it to remain effective in the competitive market. In playing the role of a Strategic Partner, the HR manager who has a role in the various operations of the organization, is expected to ensure the financial success of the organization. The business objectives pertaining to the HR of the organization are aimed at supporting the accomplishment of the overall strategic business objectives and they are designed in such a way. The strategic HR representative is intensely knowledgeable about the proposed work systems in which people thrive and put in the best of their efforts. This strategic enterprise has a profound impact on the HR services with respect to the design of job positions, recruitment, fringe benefits, recognition and strategic remuneration, performance improvement and performance appraisal systems, career planning and succession planning; and also HR development. Administrative Expert: A HR manager also needs to be an administrative expert to ensure various statutory needs internal and external are constantly complied with. Each country and state has their own

individual set of laws that need to be complied with. Every employee of the organization has individual and general requirements that the HR function is looked up to be satisfied. This makes the role of an HR manager to that of an administrative expert balancing various needs of all the stake holders. The role of the HR administrative expert does not limit its role to just perfect paper work and other administrative responsibilities but also entails total reengineering of the processes of the HR department and also restructuring the HR of the organization. When playing the role of HR administrative expert in restructuring and outsourcing the various processes of the HR, can easily tackle the revamp of the HR processes and this expertise can be used for the organization as a whole and need not be limited to just one department. The ability and proficiency of the HR Administrative expert is about bringing the suppleness to HR and it also facilitates in building flexible HR Function that meets the standard of the designed business strategy completely. Employee Champion and change agent: The HR department acts like a bridge between the management and the employees. It is the duty of the HR manager and the HR department on a whole to give suitable suggestions to the management, including the executive team on various issues related to the human resources of the organization. It is also the duty of the HR manager to convey the various decisions taken by the management to the employees. In addition, they also need to design and execute a plethora of initiatives for the betterment of the work force. The HR manager and the HR department play a supplementary role of communicating the expectations and the demands of the work force to the executive team of the organization. One of the important things that a HR manager does is employee championing. This could be multifarious it could be raising costs, newer learning methods, and newer processes,

improving work place or anything that could be employee friendly when compared to present practices. At the same time the HR manager also keeps the organizational interests paramount and creates several win-win situations for both employees and the management of the organizations. One important factor that the HR manager who plays the role of a change agent needs to be aware of while executing the process of change is the fact that irrespective of how well the process is designed, there is always a possibility of abrupt and unpredicted events to crop up. It is now up to the individual maturity of the person at the position to take action or react. In all such circumstances it is best not to retort but to efficiently act in response to such situations. In case these are unplanned situations, it is best to make sure that people generate a buffer time state and use that buffer to have a well studied response. The HR manager has to take the inventiveness in preparing the organization and its employees to tackle the various new challenges in a successful manner. In being a change agent, HR manager needs to be extremely proficient. It is necessary that he has sufficient knowledge of a variety of subjects like technology, psychology, management, and organizational behavior. It is also necessary that the HR manager as a change agent possesses a clear understanding of the business and its operations, the market scenario, the existing competition, and also the overall economy. Therefore, it is the duty of the HR department to set off the required organizational development interventions and play the role of an effective change agent in the organization. Constantly innovating work place and creating newer things for the organization that could benefit both the organization and the employee adds yet another crucial role to the HR manager Change Agent ensuring that change is brought in and bought in!