A New Mandate For Human Resource

The competitive Iorces that managers Iace today and will continue to conIront in
the Iuture demand organizational excellence. The eIIorts to achieve such
excellence through a Iocus on learning, quality, teamwork, and reengineering.
Those are Iundamental HR issues. To state it plainly: achieving organizational
excellence must be the work oI HR. HR can help deliver organizational excellence
in the Iollowing Iour ways:

irst, HR should become a partner with senior and line managers in
strategy execution, helping to move planning Irom the conIerence room
to the market place.
$econd, it should become an expert in the way work is organized and
executed, delivering administrative eIIiciency to ensure that costs are
reduced while quality is maintained.
Third, it should become a champion Ior employees, vigorously
representing their concerns to senior management and at the same time
working to increase employee contribution,- that is, employees'
commitment to the organization and their ability to deliver results.
nd Iinally, HR should become an agent oI continuous transIormation,
shaping processes and a culture that together improve an organization's
capacity Ior change.

Make no mistake
In most companies today, HR is sanctioned mainly to play policy police and
regulatory watchdog. It handles the paperwork involved in hiring and Iiring,
manages the bureaucratic aspects oI beneIits, and administers compensation
decisions made by others. HR can`t transIorm itselI alone. In Iact, the primary
responsibility Ior transIorming the role oI HR belongs to the CEO and to every line
manager who must achieve business goals.
CriticaI Business chaIIenges for HR Managers:
Organization requires to build new capabilities to Iight against Iollowing
challenges -
obaization:
ith the rapid expansion oI global market managers are struggling to-
balance paradoxical demand to think globally and act locally
move people ,products, and inIormation on a global scale
creating proIitability through growth
developing market Iocus and customer awareness using
employee creativity.
collaborate and manage diversity, complexity and ambiguity
%echnoIogy:
Technology has made our world smaller and faster. The challenges for
managers because of technological changes are-

to use technology to make sense and add value.
to figure out how to make technology viable.
to leverage information for business result
nteIIectuaI capitaI
Knowledge is a direct competitive advantage for selling ideas and
relationships.
People are the keepers so attraction, assimilation, development, motivation
and retention are critical

Change:

The greatest competitive challenge, companies face is
Embracing non-stop change
Rapid and continuous learning
Ceaseless innovation
Detect and respond to trends
IdentiIy new ways to do business



HR's New RoIe
The Iive challenges described above have one overarching implication Ior
business: the only competitive weapon leIt is organization. $ooner or later,
traditional Iorms oI competitiveness-cost, technology, distribution,
manuIacturing , and product Ieatures can be copied In the new economy, winning
will spring Irom organizational capabilities such as speed, responsiveness, agility,
learning capacity, and employee competence.
ecoming a Partner in Strategy Execution:
$trategy is the responsibility oI a company's executive team-oI which HR is a
member. To be Iull-Iledged strategic partners with senior management, Creating
the conditions Ior this discussion involves
Iour steps:
irst, HR should be held responsible Ior deIining an organizational architecture.

$econd, HR must be accountable Ior conducting an organizational audit.

The third, role Ior HR as a strategic partner is to identiIy methods Ior renovating
the parts oI the organizational architecture that need it.
ourth and Iinally, HR must take stock oI its own work and set clear priorities.
ecoming an Administrative Expert:
or decades, HR proIessionals have been tagged as administrators. One company
has created a Iully automated and Ilexible beneIits program that employees can
manage without paperwork; another has used technology to screen resumes and
reduce the cycle time Ior hiring new candidates; and a third has created an
electronic bulletin board that allows employees to communicate with senior
executives. In all three cases, the quality oI HR work improved and costs were
lowered, generally by removing steps or leveraging technology.
HR executives can also prove their value as administrative experts by rethinking
how work is done throughout the organization.

8ecom|ng an change Champ|on 1oday workforce ls more demandlng Lmployee
has Lo do many Lasks wlLh less Llme and Lhey musL be more dedlcaLlve Lo Lhelr
Work 1o do Lhls employee need more devoLed Lo Lhe organlzaLlon also more
commlLLed ln Lhls regard manager has Lo ensure employees moral lf
organlzaLlon goals are unclear faulLy moLlvaLlon sysLem are Lhe causes of Lhe
employees lmmoral 1o ellmlnaLe Lhls barrlers employee musL be Lralned up
properly 1he new role for P8 mlghL also lnvolved suggesLlng LhaL more Leams be
used on some pro[ecLs or employees be glven more conLrol over Lhelr work
8ecom|ng a change agent 1oday's P8M ls more dynamlc because of
globallzaLlon Lechnologlcal lnnovaLlon lnformaLlon sysLem lL wlll make sure
LhaL change lnlLlaLlve are focused on creaLlng hlgh performance Leam reduclng
cycle Llme wlLh new Lechnology musL be developed ln a Llmely way 1he P8M
managers can lmplemenL new vlslon of Lhe organlzaLlon and Lo lmplemenL lL ln
real whaL should employee do and whaL should noL be flgured ouL Lmployees
are always geL scared by change of Lhe organlzaLlonal acLlvlLles So Lo make any
change ln organlzaLlon managers should clarlfy lL and should make employees
Lralned up so LhaL Lhey can ad[usL wlLh Lhe change erhaps Lhe hardesL and mosL
lmporLanL challenge faclng mosL of Lhe companles ls Lhelr culLural change
, must fo||ow a four step process to make cu|tura| change
SLep1 deflne and clarlfy Lhe concepL of culLural change
SLep2 arLlculaLe why lL ls cenLre of Lhe buslness
SLep3 deflne Lhe process Lhe assesslng currenL and new culLure
SLep4 ldenLlfy of Lhe alLernaLlve approaches Lo creaLlng culLural change
our Changes for the Line
The new mandate Ior HR requires dramatic changes in how
HR proIessionals think and behave. The changes are -
O ommunicate to the organization:"soft stuff" matters anaging people
was one oI the major objectives oI the CEO. $enior managers are working to
create an empowered organization to ensure Iaster and better decision
making. They can talk seriously about how organizational capabilities create
value Ior investors, customers, and employees. HR proIessionals state that
without the collaboration oI HR, strategies are more hopes than realities,
promises than acts, and concepts than results.
2 Expicity: define the deiverabes from HR & hod HR accountabe for
resuts Once speciIic goals are set, consequences must Iollow iI they are missed.
The new mandate Ior HR is like any other business initiative in this way.
company has a much better chance oI achieving its goals iI senior managers state
speciIically what they expect Irom HR and then track, measure, and reward
perIormance.
3 Invest in innovative HR practices
$enior line executives should be always on the lookout Ior new technologies and
practices. $enior managers should also be aware oI innovative HR practices going
on at other companies and oI new practices that are being advocated by respected
consultants. Investment in new HR practices should Iocus on learning not only
what works elsewhere hut also how a new practice should work in the company's
unique competitive situation.
&pgrade HR professionas The hardest but perhaps most important thing senior
managers can do to drive Iorward the new mandate Ior HR is to improve the
quality oI the HR staII. Companies need people who know the business,
understand the theory and practice oI HR, can manage culture and make change
happen, and have personal credibility. $ometimes, such individuals already exist
within the HR hut need additional training, Other times, they have to be brought in
Irom other parts oI the company. In still other cases, they must he hired Irom
outside. HR is to eIIect real change, it must be made up oI people who have the
skills they need to work Irom a base oI conIidence and earn what too oIten it lacks-
respect.
eet the Future Challenge
To meet the increased expectations oI their organizations, HR proIessionals must
begin to act proIessionally. They must-

ocus on the deliverables oI their work than getting their work done.
rticulate their role in terms oI the value they create.
Create mechanisms to Iollow quick business result.
easure their eIIectiveness in terms oI business competitiveness rather than
employee comIort.
ead cultural transIormation rather than consolidate reengineer, or downsize
in order to turn a company around.
Create an era in which HR is Iocused on outcomes instead oI activities.