Strategic And Talent Intelligent – This Is Not Your Father’s HR Department

Keeper of corporate talent. Architect of the talent machine. Steward of talent. You can refer to human resources as any of those things, but under any circumstances, never – and I repeat, NEVER – call HR “personnel” or “a provider of employee and managerial services.”

Ten years ago, taking a trip to HR sometimes felt like going to the guidance counselor’s office. Normally, you visited the desk of an HR specialist if you broke corporate policy, interview for an open position, readjust your benefits package, or prepare to go on maternity/paternity leave. At that time, HR was truly services-oriented and not relegated to strategic tasks.

Fast-forward to 2014, and you’ll find that the game for HR has completely changed. Executives now look at HR as highly strategic contributor to business success, and not just a place to reduce costs and improve employee service delivery. To deserve this attention and that coveted spot in the executive boardroom, HR must be able to measure its ability to recruit, engage, and build a talent pool and visually relate is to the overall success of the business.

5 steps for changing HR to service center to strategic partner

However, this is not an easy transition. According to the Bersin study Predictions for 2014: Building a Strong Talent Pipeline for the Global Economic Recovery, there are 5 principles every HR executive manager should follow when redesigning the HR function:

1. Clearly establish a service-delivery framework. Be sure to include service centers, self-service, and automated transactions for most operational and transactional employee needs. After all, you still need to provide services to your employees. To make room for more strategic activities, automate as many service processes as possible.

2. Don’t just become a business partner, position HR as a strategic advisor. Align directly with business leaders and embed HR’s strategic value throughout the business. For example, reduce the number and need for “HR generalists,” and move them into the role of “HR specialists” who are focused on recruiting, organizational development, employee relations, and compensation. Then assign these roles to a specific area in the business, while linking all HR specialists together to form a “network of expertise” to share skills with each other.

3. Train your HR team to prepare for the future of work. Make everyone on the team a “master craftsman” of the trade. They should understand how to use tools and data and feel a kinsmanship with the larger community of leading practices and new ideas. As a result, your HR operations will improve with an intense focus on external intelligence, research, benchmarking, and the continuous scanning of new tools, technologies, marketplace and workforce changes, and demographic shifts.

4. Become an expert on technology’s role in HR. Implement standard frameworks, technology platforms, tools, and standard vendor solutions that prevent can help your business avoid the common mistake of “reinventing the wheel.” By knowing how to best apply talent analytics, your HR team can improve efforts around recruiting, leadership, performance, engagement skills, and all spending levels within HR.

5. Appoint a chief human resources officer (CHRO) to be the guiding force of HR. This executive should be tightly aligned with the business and willing to push for technology and process innovations that are unique and consider the business’s unique culture, vision, workforce demographics, and people strategy.

But it doesn’t end there – HR must become a recruiting powerhouse, too!

What differentiates businesses is the talent they recruit, bring on board, and develop. With spending surpassing $110 billion for talent acquisition in U.S. businesses, recruiting is the most important thing any business can do.

This is where HR has the potential to really shine. But first, HR teams need to rethink their recruiting and onboarding mind-set and processes. The way we source and recruit today is radically different than what we did only a few years ago – all thanks to the recent explosion of social networking, assessment, and Big Data tools.

While this landscape can be scary, it’s an opportunity to show HR’s real value. Here are some no-nonsense steps HR organizations can take to deliver the best possible workforce.

1. Develop the global brand. Partner with the chief marketing officer to build an authentic, localized employment value proposition in each major geography. This is a great opportunity to update the employee value proposition and develop localized programs to recruit key talent in each office location. Evaluate your current brand by interviewing and surveying employees to help ensure that your idea of employment brand rings true in real life.

2. Manage talent networks and candidate relationships. Create the time and roles to manage talent networks, and implement candidate relationship marketing. Develop e-mail and external communications campaigns that target potential candidates at all levels of the career pyramid. If done well, college students, technical specialists, and even employees of competitors will read and watch your videos. These interactions will then become marketing opportunities that later turn into new hires – at a lower cost.

3. Think Moneyball when analyzing potential talent. Mine employee social and public data to obtain new insights into where you can find your next high-potential candidate, who they are, and when they are looking to change positions. Measure quality of hiring efforts by reviewing first-year turnover and other performance metrics to make your work more effective and efficient.
   

4. Give candidates a mobile experience. Don’t miss out on the 40% of candidates who apply to job openings by using their mobile device – your next “perfect candidate” among them. Be sure to include plans for a mobile-enabled job application process, whether you choose an out-of-the-box solution or decide to build a mobile interface in house.

5. Take a second look at your global and local talent acquisition team. Build skills, create new roles, and step up the governance and scale of the recruiting function. If you are a global enterprise, do not underestimate the importance of local expertise and recruiters – with their help you can establish a local employee brand that resonates with the culture and legal requirements of a particular regional office. At the same time, continue to use global platforms, assessments, job models, and manager tools that can level the playing field for all employees – no matter where they work.

To learn more about emerging trends in HR around the world, download a free copy of the Bersin study Predictions for 2014: Building a Strong Talent Pipeline for the Global Economic Recovery (registration required).

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