ANALYSIS: A NEW MANDATE FOR HUMAN RESOURCE

In the article the author believes that the current role played by HR is the reason why organizations are
thinking of doing away with the HR. But in current situation when there is intense competition the role
of HR is more than necessary. To have an organization with bright future whose focus in on learning,
quality, teamwork, innovation and reengineering overall organizational excellence is demanded. So a
new question should arise: What should we do with HR? HR can help deliver organizational excellence in
the following four ways:
First, HR should become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution.
Second, it should become an expert in the way work is organized and executed, delivering
administrative efficiency while quality is maintained.
Third, it should become a champion for employees, representing their concerns to senior management
and at the same time working to increase employee contribution.
And finally, HR should become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes and a culture
that together improve an organization's capacity for change.
But the real fact is that HR is the most neglected department when it comes to strategy, HR is seen as
and more often works as policy watchdog. The onus of changing HR role is not on HR alone, it should be
the collective effort of all. The operation managers and the executive managers should take the
collective responsibility along with HR to make such changes happen which in turn will eventually better
serve customers or increase shareholders value.
WHY HR MATTERS NOW MORE THAN EVER
Every company today faces five critical business challenges. Organizational capabilities and in turn
organizational excellence is one way forward and HR should take the responsibility of ensuring it to
happen.
Globalization- Changing environments make the companies fell the real heat. Thinking globally,
learning, collaborating, managing diversity, complexity and ambiguity are the real requirements.
Profitability through Growth- There is huge pressure on revenue growth. For that companies creative
and innovative in its approach and must encourage the free flow of information. They must be equipped
with market knowledge and customer needs. And companies seeking growth through mergers,
acquisitions, or joint ventures should have the ability of integrating organizational capabilities .
Technology- With changing technology which may change faster than ever in future the managers must
have technological knowledge and the ability to differentiate between value adding technology and non
value adding technology.

Intellectual Capital- Knowledge, which is one of the main competitive advantages nowadays, is sourced
by employees. Companies which can attract, develop, and retain individuals will surely have a huge
knowledge base.
Change, Change, and More Change- Perhaps the greatest competitive challenge companies face is
adjusting to - indeed, embracing - nonstop change. Those which can embrace this fact are going to have
a better competitive advantage over others. There will be some discomfort with the status quo and
those who have the ability to detect change earlier than others and change accordingly are going to be
on the positive side.
HRs NEW ROLE
The new role of HR in addition to earlier roles but more important for business excellence are:
Becoming a Partner in Strategy Execution: The HR should become a partner in making strategy, giving
valuable inputs and then ensuring that the proper implementation occurs and the goals are properly
communicated to the employees. The author emphasizes about the roles of HR in Strategy execution.
Firstly HR should be responsible for defining organizational architecture by using various models like
Galbraiths star model, McKinsey and companys 7-S framework. Second, HR must be accountable for
conducting an organizational audit. In this the author creates a framework based on questions on
different criteria like shared mind-set, competence, consequence, governance, capacity for change,
leadership. For each question rating on the scale 1-10, description on best practices and the gap are
provide as answers and then the framework is analyzed to do the audit. Third, HR should propose,
create, and debate best practices in culture change programs. Fourth, HR should take stock of its own
work and set clear priorities. HR should collaborate with operating managers to assess the impact and
importance of each of the initiatives.
Becoming an Administrative Expert- Rather than being only an administrator HR should become experts
in their own domain. They should work on improving their and the whole organizations efficiency. HR
should be innovative in their approach. The reduced cost and improved efficiency should be the main
goals.
Becoming an Employee Champion- Companies cannot thrive unless their employees are engaged fully
and motivated.HR should make sure that employees are fully engaged, HR should train line
management about how to motivate employees so that their morals are always high. HR should become
the voice of employees. HR should listen to their problems and properly communicate the same to the
management.
Becoming a Change Agent- Change is imperative and the bitter truth. Its the responsibility of the HR to
become change agents and to ensure that change happens. The resistance, fear, excitement, planning
with results of the change should be the role of HR. The HR should make or adopt a change model that
represents the multitude of questions the change raises and that helps in identifying the key success
factors, strengths and weaknesses regarding each factor and the same is communicated to the
management. To bring about a new culture HR must follow four step process: First, it must define and

clarify the concept of culture change. Second, it must articulate why culture change is central to
business success. Third, it must define a process for assessing the current culture and the desired new
culture, as well as for measuring the gap between the two. And fourth, it must identify alternative
approaches to creating culture change.
FOUR CHANGES FOR THE LINE
Communicate to the organization that the "soft stuff" matters- CEOs of companies like HP, GE spend
quite a lot of their time on managing employees. Operating managers can signal this belief in several
ways. They can include HR in strategy discussions and can state explicitly about the importance of HR.
Explicitly define the deliverables from HR, and hold HR accountable for results- A company has better
chance of succeeding in its endeavors if HR is included and deliverables are expected from HR and HR
should be held accountable for results.
Invest in innovative HR practices- If HR practices are innovative then investing in HR practices is a good
idea. The results may not be readily out but over a period of time the effects can be felt.
Upgrade HR professionals- Quality of HR staff should be improved. HR should know the business, they
should have some knowledge about business processes, HR practices and should be innovative in
approach.
In the end the author emphasizes about the tough path ahead and the onus is on HR. They must focus
on deliverables, create value and in turn increase shareholders value.