How do I find HR practitioners, not HR pretenders?
| Pages | 7-7 |
| Published date | 01 November 2006 |
| Date | 01 November 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390680000931 |
| Author | Luisa Delgado |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
7
Volume 6 Issue 1 November/December 2006
Q&A
,
Leading industry experts answer your strategic HR queries
DEPARTMENTS AT A GLANCE
STRATEGIC COMMENTARY
,
e-HR
,
HOW TO…
,
PRACTITIONER PROFILE
Q&A
HR AT WORK
REWARDS
,
RESEARCH AND RESULTS
,
,
,
,
T
rue HR professionals are indeed
difficult to find, and define.
Companies that manage to source
and develop HR professionals
systematically and consistently will create
a competitive advantage that others will
not be able to re-produce easily.
Identifying HR’s value-adding role
The root cause of the HR-talent
challenge is that the HR function – unlike
many others – is still not completely clear
on what HR is all about. And more
importantly, on how HR adds measurable
value to the business. Consequently,
great HR professionals will need the
following factors in place before they are
able to reach their maximum potential:
• A clear understanding of the business
strategy.
• A clearly defined people and
organization strategy that supports
the business strategy.
• An HR action plan with clear
deliverables identified in order to
operationalize that strategy.
• Finally and importantly, clarity on
what HR capabilities are required of
the HR team in order to deliver.
The links between the points above are
key to creating meaning for HR and its
talent requirements and competencies.
At beauty and household products
manufacturer, Procter & Gamble (P&G),
for example, we develop HR
professionals through systematically
planning their desired experiences in
three areas:
1. HR business partnering: an HR
employee should gain experience
and understanding of our diverse
operations, from commercial issues
through to business innovation.
2. HR employees are required to lead
HR in practice work around the
business, to gain in-depth knowledge
of how our key HR responsibilities,
such as recruitment, training,
organization effectiveness/design,
labor/employee relations and
compensation, affect the business.
3. HR staff should carry out line
assignments within one of our main
functions, such as sales, marketing or
product supply.
Through these experiences and
international assignments (to develop a
multicutural experience), we expect HR
talent to grow and develop a clear
understanding of the needs and wants
of different functions at P&G.
HR: faking it?
HR practitioners need to be people who
naturally enjoy communicating and who
obviously like people. True HR
professionals also need to understand
what motivates, inspires and makes each
person “tick,” in a business context.
Professionals who approach their job as
business people and who see company
equity as their brand, employees as their
consumers and management as their
customers.
HR practitioners should bring a
unique mix of strategic and operational
thinking and acting; and intellectual,
emotional and social intelligence. HR
also benefits from people who are
courageous, articulate and passionate
about making its people the most
sustainable competitive advantage of
any business.
Influencing your future talents
What ultimately separates pretenders
from practitioners is the ability to
influence and readiness to assume
accountability. Are you able to influence
the business leadership through your
thinking – leading their minds through
your unique people and organization
perspectives and insights? Are you ready
to take accountability for making things
happen through others – envisioning,
energizing and enabling the greatest
and sustained performance?
POSE YOUR QUESTIONS:
Please send your HR queries to:
HRquestions@melcrum.com. (100 words
max.) If you’d like to suggest an expert to
answer your query, please include relevant
contact details where possible.
Q: How do I find HR
practitioners, not HR
pretenders?
Luisa Delgado
is vice president of HR,
Western Europe, at Procter
& Gamble. She started at
P&G in 1991, as Portuguese HR and Public Affairs
Manager,then as UK Divison HR manager, before
moving into different EMEA leadership roles.
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