Will HR Become More Effective?

HR has the unfortunate tendency to be inward focused; rather than collaboratively engaging cross functional colleagues in HR project design and implementation, they garner sources of information from other HR practitioners to inform their project process. Successful HR projects that drive business goals require the expertise, input and engagement of the rest of the organization. Therefore the CHRP should include a significant requirement to develop a high level of competency in cross functional collaboration, project management and systems thinking. Business acumen is all well and good but of little value if you are unable to discern the need to engage others appropriately.

Of all members of an organization, the HR practitioner should be the role model of collaborative effort and show leadership in the practice of engaging others in business oriented projects. Yet too often, HR is seen as a department that is somewhat isolated and out of touch from the rest of the organization.

If HR associations took a different approach to the surveys they send out regarding the value of services offered by association to practitioners, they would gather radically different input. Send out a survey regarding the effectiveness of HR in their organization, to the non-HR employees and you will gather a very different perception of what needs to be done if HR is ever to begin to garner the respect they claim to want. To get the ‘seat at the table’, a stated desire that gets tossed out there so often will be attained by radical change. Is HR up to that challenge?