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There are two types of HR professionals in the world:
- Those who keep costs down.
- Those who add value.
Unfortunately, far too many human resource pros fall into the former category and not the latter.
If you work in human resources, there are two main things you should be focused on: Recruiting great people, and inspiring them to do amazing work. That’s where you add value. The other stuff - benefits administration, policy writing, dealing with employees who act like children - is necessary, but it doesn’t add value. It keeps risk and costs down.
Whenever possible, you should outsource the stuff that simply manages costs and focus as much of your time as possible on things that add-value. What are the value adding things human resource pros should be doing? Here’s my list:
- Innovative, evidence-based sourcing and selection methods
- Employer branding, using social media technologies whenever possible (see below for more info)
- Onboarding
- Training that engages the audience and influences people’s behavior.
- Performance management, including the use of strategic compensation to motivate people.
- Cultural leadership to create an environment that maximizes employee potential.
So, what kind of HR professional are you?
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Comments
01.08.09
Chris, I agree with you in part. As the head of a global HR team I have 3 charges for 2009:
Support revenue growth
Support Talent mgmt and development
Achieve Operational Excellence
If you are mid sized or small, outsourcing may cost more then your business model can handle...is the operational part as important as the other 2? Not sure...you can add value thru executing well too...
My time and emphasis is on adding value thru alignment of our programs and services to the organizations overall strategic strategy...If your off doing cool stuff that isn't relevant then your not adding value (and yes we do very cool stuff,we are just pragmatic about it)...
GREAT POST...
M
01.08.09
@Mark, thanks for the comment. You were spot on when you wrote, "My time and emphasis is on adding value thru alignment of our programs and services to the organizations overall strategic strategy...If your off doing cool stuff that isn't relevant then your not adding value."
Over at the Sandbox (my blog), I talk almost obsessively about how critical it is for HR pros to align what we do with the business strategies of the organization. Thanks for bringing it up again here!
To your point, it's also not always financially feasible to outsource every administrative aspect (even large companies often don't do this). I read a really interesting blog post once on how HR could really be divided into two sections: a team (like a shared service center) that handles all the administrative stuff, giving the strategic folks more time to focus on the things that add-value rather than just save money.
Thanks again for commenting!
01.08.09
Nice work Chris! I agree with everything you've said. Almost everything valuable can come under those two main points. Making sure your strategies are aligned with those of the company is a great way to NOT be your typical HR Pro.
01.08.09
Nice work Chris! I agree with everything you've said. Almost everything valuable can come under those two main points. Making sure your strategies are aligned with those of the company is a great way to NOT be your typical HR Pro.
01.08.09
@Maren - Thanks!
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