Insight Blog

Gone are the days when companies can be reactive in their talent management. It has become apparent that to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage, firms must be proactive in their human capital programs. As talent management has evolved to become one of the most critical issues that organizations face across all sectors, the role of senior human resources executives has changed significantly.

Within progressive firms, HR executives have assumed key roles in corporate strategy development as it is those individuals who understand how the talent market and human behavior dictate an organization’s capabilities and profitability. As a result, they have seen new demands put upon them by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Simply put, CEOs want their HR leaders to think and act as business executives, integrating HR practices into solutions that address the key business challenges of growing market share and competitive advantage.

Thus, the role of HR leaders has expanded from recruitment, engagement, and compliance to include:

• Change Management

• Employment Branding

• Global Mobility and Security

• Leadership Development

• Strategic Workforce Planning including Multi-Generational Programs

• Succession Planning

HR executives are expected to be strategic thinkers with the abilities to increase HR’s return on investment by:

• Transforming HR from a relatively isolated activity to a sustainable and integrated solution that complements leadership behaviors and objectives.

• Assisting to strategically position a company for growth and profitability by building capabilities and skill sets across the organization.

• Providing useful and valuable management information that aligns HR policies, systems and procedures with an organization’s strategies.

• Facilitating change to ensure that organizational strategies are integrated at the institutional, initiative and individual level.

• Applying technology solutions to enhance the organization’s capabilities; streamline HR administrative functions (payroll, benefits, etc.); and improve recruitment, engagement and retention.

• Being an activist for all customer segments:  leadership, external customers and employees.

These strong demands have prompted the competencies of HR executives to change as well.  Now, HR leaders must have:

• Strong business acumen and connection to an organization and its business (trends, economic conditions and demographics) as well as specific expectations of customers, investors, communities and employees.

• High emotional intelligence with strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships based on trust and credibility.

• Understanding of financial metrics, revenues and profitability.

• Understanding of a company’s objectives and overall mission so that they can develop comprehensive, well-defined plans for human capital management (i.e. staffing, training, culture and compensation).

• Ability to facilitate changes at the individual, initiative and institutional level.

• Comprehensive insight on talent sourcing and development, employee performance and organizational design.

As the talent pool decreases and the skills gap widens, the strategic role of a senior HR leader will not dissipate but, instead, become increasingly vital to a company’s success. Regardless of what challenges the future brings, the one thing that will remain constant is that an organization will always be able to distinguish itself from the competition by the quality and engagement of its people.

Sources: HR Magazine, Human Resources IQ, Presence in IT