{"id":178,"date":"2012-11-15T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T06:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/the-future-of-hr-with-carol-morrison-of-i4cp\/"},"modified":"2012-11-15T06:45:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T06:45:00","slug":"the-future-of-hr-with-carol-morrison-of-i4cp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/the-future-of-hr-with-carol-morrison-of-i4cp\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of HR with Carol Morrison of i4cp"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is an interview I conducted with Carol Morrison of i4cp<\/a> on the future of HR. A very compelling conversation we had.<\/p>\n

Carol
\nMorrison is a Senior Research Analyst. She has been with i4cp for eight years,
\nresearching and writing about the talent, strategy, and leadership issues that
\ndirectly affect organizational performance. In addition, Carol has authored
\narticles for Talent Management<\/a> Magazine,
\nChief Learning Officer<\/a>, HRPS Journal, Human Resource Executive,<\/em> and other
\npublications. <\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard for some years that HR
\nprofessionals desire a role that makes them more of a partner in the business
\nenterprise. Is this desire becoming a reality? Are they moving the needle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n

    You\u2019re absolutely right. This has been \u2013 and continues to
    \nbe \u2013 an evolution for HR and the     business partner<\/a> role. i4cp\u2019s interviews with
    \nCHROs and other top HR and business leaders confirm that many are shifting
    \ntheir HR functions toward greater efficiency in handling the transactional and
    \nadministrative duties typically associated with HR. Technology is helping to
    \nenable that transition.<\/p>\n

    In turn, greater efficiency affords HR professionals more
    \ntime to focus on the value they can provide to the business by helping to
    \nidentify issues that impede productivity, by uncovering potential opportunities,
    \nand in working with business leaders to better leverage the contributions of
    \nthe workforce. As i4cp\u2019s recent study, The
    \nFuture of HR: The Transition to Performance Advisor, <\/em>underscores, the HR
    \nprofessional\u2019s role is all about driving organizational performance and that\u2019s
    \nunfolding in more companies today.<\/p>\n

    What traits\/strengths should the HR
    \nprofessional of tomorrow possess?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Exploring competencies that the future
    \nHR professional will need is one of the core aspects of the i4cp study.
    \nCertainly, keen business savvy is the starting point for a business partner who
    \ncan be a trusted and     credible advisor<\/a> to business leaders. It\u2019s more than an
    \nunderstanding of basic financial statements and business models. It\u2019s in-depth
    \nbusiness acumen, along with such competencies as strategic thinking, the
    \nability to develop and execute strategy, a strong sense of ethics,
    \norganizational design skills, comprehension of metrics and analytics, decision-making
    \ncapabilities, and an understanding of technologies and information systems. <\/p>\n

    CHROs with whom we spoke told i4cp
    \nthat HR performance advisors need to know how to ask the right questions to get
    \nat the issues important to the business. They need courage to speak up when
    \nit\u2019s important to question the status quo, and the emotional intelligence that
    \nenables them to effectively function in volatile situations and to serve as
    \nconfidantes when business leaders need reliable counsel.<\/p>\n

    How will the HR function stay relevant
    \nin the next 10 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    By contributing those competencies
    \njust described. As long as organizations employ workforces, HR will be not only
    \nrelevant, but crucial. Human capital generally represents an organization\u2019s
    \ngreatest investment and its greatest asset. If you are a leader who believes
    \nthat employees and their contributions are key elements that drive innovation,
    \ndifferentiation, and competitive advantage, then there\u2019s an important place in
    \nyour organization for     HR professionals<\/a> who can help you optimize performance by
    \nensuring that your workforce is appropriately trained, motivated, and deployed
    \nto execute your business strategies.<\/p>\n

    In some ways, HR is exploring the last
    \nfrontier that holds promise for truly affecting business performance. The
    \neconomic challenges of recent years have sharpened leaders\u2019 abilities to cut
    \ncosts, streamline processes, and wring all they can from tangible
    \norganizational assets. There is tremendous power in the intangibles that
    \nemployees bring: discretionary effort, creativity, tenacity, wide-ranging talents,
    \nand the desire to excel \u2013 to name just a few. HR is the integral link in the
    \nperformance chain \u2013 the force for uncovering and developing that     human capital<\/a>
    \npotential.<\/p>\n

    On the whole, do most HR professionals
    \nunderstand the challenges ahead within the world of work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Yes \u2013 certainly as well as any of us
    \ncan understand the challenges within our volatile business environment. HR
    \nprofessionals see the work world\u2019s issues reflected in the faces of the
    \nemployees and managers they serve every day. So long as HR professionals \u2013 and
    \nthose involved in every other business discipline \u2013 remain curious, eager to
    \nlearn, and engaged in moving their organizations ahead, they\u2019ll rise to the
    \nchallenges that come their way.<\/p>\n

    In fact, HR already may be ahead of
    \nthe curve. HR professionals often are intimately involved in organizational
    \nchange initiatives. Leading the way for change and helping employees and
    \nleaders, alike, adjust to it has afforded HR professionals years of
    \nopportunities to develop the agility and resilience to meet even unanticipated
    \ncircumstances with solid skills and resolve. <\/p>\n

    In addition, the HR leaders who shared
    \ntheir views with i4cp made clear their investment in providing their promising
    \ntalent with unprecedented development options. Often, these involve stretch
    \nassignments, job rotations, and specialized training that extends far beyond
    \nthe boundaries of HR. That means HR professionals are learning about
    \noperations, finance, marketing, and other business functions, along with the
    \nchallenges they face. They return to HR with expanded networks that cross
    \nfunctional lines and with a deeper understanding of the issues challenging employees
    \nand managers organization-wide.<\/p>\n

    How can entrepreneurs, who are
    \nbuilding organizations, include HR in the vision and execution of business
    \nstrategy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n<\/ol>\n

      By doing just that \u2013 including<\/em> them at the top level from the
      \noutset. Savvy executives know that HR leaders are valuable members of teams
      \ncharged with developing business strategy. Leaving human capital considerations
      \nout of strategy formulation is an ill-informed approach that seriously
      \njeopardizes execution. You wouldn\u2019t leave out budget considerations when
      \nplanning new business objectives. Nor would you ignore the technologies or
      \nequipment you\u2019d need to accomplish your desired ends. Employees and their
      \nskills are an equally vital element. Strategies require execution, and that
      \nfalls to managers and employees. In many companies, carefully crafted plans
      \nfail because leaders leave human capital considerations out of the strategy
      \nmix.<\/p>\n

      When i4cp researchers interviewed
      \nLarry Myers, SVP of HR at T-Mobile, he observed that \u201ccompanies that understand
      \nthe impact that sophisticated, top-quality HR organizations and professionals
      \ncan have, automatically gain strategic and business advantage. Their executive
      \nteams would not think of making a step strategically without involving HR.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Successful entrepreneurs understand
      \nthat ideas, resources, technologies, processes and people<\/em> must be deftly melded in order to bring business goals to
      \nfruition. They include HR leaders in developing<\/em>
      \nstrategies to ensure that they\u2019ve addressed all the elements necessary to
      \ncapably executing<\/em> those strategies.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The following is an interview I conducted with Carol Morrison of i4cp on the future of HR. A very compelling conversation we had.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,5,123,170],"tags":[22,637,636,19,148,638,171,635,639,634],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-commentary","category-entrepreneur-advice","category-leadership-development","category-management","tag-business","tag-business-partner","tag-carol-morrison","tag-entrepreneurs","tag-future","tag-human-capital","tag-human-resources","tag-i4cp","tag-organizational-perfrormance","tag-the-future-of-hr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}