Article on Role of an Hr Executive
Role of HR Executive is Undergoing Big Changes
By Steve Bates From HR Magazine
Human-resource management is undergoing a massive transformation that will change career paths in as-yet uncertain ways. Employers are placing greater emphasis on business acumen and are automating and outsourcing many administrative functions, which will force many HR professionals to demonstrate new skills and compete for new, sometimes unfamiliar roles.
Job titles and functions will likely remain in flux for some time, say business leaders, academics, HR consultants and HR professionals. But they say that some of the standard niches -- such as HR generalist and benefits specialist -- will become less common and less important, giving way over time to new ones such as HR financial analyst.
Those who aspire to leadership roles within the profession will have to become more strategic, more proactive and more involved in the overall business of their employer, say the experts.
But there is an upside to this upheaval: HR people who develop business competencies and embrace the new roles -- in the process redefining themselves and their profession -- can aspire to greater and much more rewarding careers than were possible for HR people a generation ago.
"HR is dead. Long live HR," says David Ulrich, a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan. That's his way of saying that "the old HR" -- that which emphasizes expertise in transactions and paperwork -- "is dying in a sense."
HR departments will be smaller, says Ulrich. "Some of HR will go away. Some of HR should go away."
In its place will rise a leaner, refocused cadre of professionals who put the business first and foremost. The most successful HR people will be those who "think from the outside in," according to Richard Beatty, an HR management professor at Rutgers University and the University of Michigan. "When we talk about being strategic, we mean thinking from the customer back to the organization."
By Steve Bates From HR Magazine
Human-resource management is undergoing a massive transformation that will change career paths in as-yet uncertain ways. Employers are placing greater emphasis on business acumen and are automating and outsourcing many administrative functions, which will force many HR professionals to demonstrate new skills and compete for new, sometimes unfamiliar roles.
Job titles and functions will likely remain in flux for some time, say business leaders, academics, HR consultants and HR professionals. But they say that some of the standard niches -- such as HR generalist and benefits specialist -- will become less common and less important, giving way over time to new ones such as HR financial analyst.
Those who aspire to leadership roles within the profession will have to become more strategic, more proactive and more involved in the overall business of their employer, say the experts.
But there is an upside to this upheaval: HR people who develop business competencies and embrace the new roles -- in the process redefining themselves and their profession -- can aspire to greater and much more rewarding careers than were possible for HR people a generation ago.
"HR is dead. Long live HR," says David Ulrich, a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan. That's his way of saying that "the old HR" -- that which emphasizes expertise in transactions and paperwork -- "is dying in a sense."
HR departments will be smaller, says Ulrich. "Some of HR will go away. Some of HR should go away."
In its place will rise a leaner, refocused cadre of professionals who put the business first and foremost. The most successful HR people will be those who "think from the outside in," according to Richard Beatty, an HR management professor at Rutgers University and the University of Michigan. "When we talk about being strategic, we mean thinking from the customer back to the organization."