Changing HR operating models
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2015-0027 |
| Pages | 105-106 |
| Published date | 08 June 2015 |
| Date | 08 June 2015 |
| Author | Jessica Cooper |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Changing HR operating models
Jessica Cooper
Jessica Cooper is a Researcher
based at CIPD, London, UK.
Many see debates about how
the human resources (HR)
function should be
structured as secondary to the role
HR plays in business. But in reality,
you cannot address one without the
other: the way HR is structured can
have a big impact on the function’s
ability to add value and perform the
role the business needs it to
perform. While it is not helpful to try
and identify a single model for the
HR function of the future, it is
important to understand the various
arguments and theories around HR
structures, so that business leaders
and HR directors can decide which
approach will deliver the most value
for their organisation.
The model synonymous with Ulrich
still dominates much of the
discussion today. What Ulrich was
trying to address when he observed
and wrote about this model was the
need for HR to deliver both
administrative and strategic activity.
Organisations were achieving this
by bringing together administrative
and specialist services into shared
service centres and delivering
value-adding services through a role
closely aligned to the business – the
“HR business partner”. Followers of
his work will know that his thinking
about the competencies the HR
function requires has evolved over
time. His most recent contribution to
the discussion highlights the
importance of HR governance and
relationships[1].
In practice, many people have hung
on to Ulrich’s original thinking and
adapted the model in an attempt to
fit the needs of their business. This
is not a bad thing – after all, Ulrich
wrote all along that the model needs
to fit with the context of the
individual organisation. But what
some forget is that the design of his
original model of shared services
and HR business partners is best
suited to larger, matrix
organisations.
The CIPD’s annual HR Outlook
reports from 2010-2014[2] highlight
some of the holes in the current
rhetoric about the dominance of the
Ulrich model. By surveying HR
practitioners, it becomes clear that
the most widely used model for the
last four years (in the UK at least)
has been a single HR team with
generalists, specialists and
administration working together. The
so-called Ulrich model sits in
second place and is now a
stretched and misshapen version of
the original, which is probably why it
has attracted so much (perhaps
unfair) criticism in recent years.
To better understand the different
operating models and the future of
the HR function, the CIPD has
collected together thought pieces
from a number of leading thinkers
who are all active in the debate.
Strategic commentary
DOI 10.1108/SHR-03-2015-0027 VOL. 14 NO. 3 2015, pp. 105-106, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 105
To continue reading
Request your trial