Modern HR executives and managers are no longer only concerned with the Human capital of their companies. Over the years, they have undergone functionally transformative changes, turning them into key enablers for business decision making.
In the closing quarter of 2013, we discussed the six qualities or traits of modern HR, which we think would become essential to have in the testing times to follow.
Result-oriented Go-getter: The global talent shortage and turnover trends have toughened the modern HR professional to be more goal or result-oriented. They have to deliver upon what they are assigned to do. Be it Talent acquisition or retention, they earn professional credibility by solely meeting tight deadlines and reducing the cost & time to fill a position. All their decisions are based on sound insights and backed up by data. They have effective interpersonal skills to develop a positive chemistry with key stakeholders to influence business results.
Strategic thinker cum enabler: Competitive business environments have compelled the modern HR executive to understand the global business context and analyze the business implications from social, political, economic, environmental, technological, and demographic trends. By understanding the structure and competitive dynamics of their employer’s line of business, they strategize human resource management to accomplish its annual business goal.
Competency creator: The modern HR professional creates, audits, and orchestrates an effective and strong organization by helping define and build its organizational capabilities which outlast the behavior or performance of any individual manager or system. Such capabilities might include innovation, speed, customer focus, efficiency, and the creation of meaning and purpose at work. HR professionals can help line managers create meaning so that the capability of the organization reflects the deeper values of the employees.
Catalyst of Change: Modern HR professionals develop their organization’s capacity for change and then translate that capacity into a seamless and effective integration of change processes that builds sustainable competitive advantage. They overcome resistance to change by engaging key stakeholders in key decisions and sustain change by ensuring the availability of necessary resources including time, people, capital, and information.
Innovator and integrator: In order to impact on business bottom lines at an organizational level, the modern HR ensures that desired business results are clearly and precisely prioritized, that the necessary organizational capabilities are powerfully conceptualized and operationalized, and that the appropriate HR practices, processes, structures, and procedures are aligned to create and sustain the identified organizational capabilities. The challenge is to make the HR whole more effective than the sum of its parts.
Technical Adviser: To enhance efficiency of HR processes including health care & benefits enrollment, payroll processing, record keeping and other administrative services, modern HR professionals have to be tech-savvy. With the globally trending results of HR Management Systems (HRMS) and the emergence of Social networking, technical awareness and acceptance is one key trait of modern HR. They are essentially involved in identifying relevant HR metrics, translating those data into actionable insights, leveraging that knowledge into key decisions, and then ensuring that such decisions are clearly communicated and implemented.
PeopleWorks is a cloud-based employee lifecycle management solution with interlinked modules to manage all aspects of an employee’s life from hire to retirement. All of the above mentioned characteristics of modern HR have been taken into consideration by the developers of the solution in order to meet the specific business needs of SMEs as well as big firms. To know more about PeopleWorks or to request a demo, drop us a mail at peopleworks@localhost or visit www.peopleworks.in or connect through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
