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HR AS A BUSINESS PARTNER
“If they’re not already, HR should be playing a pivotal role in organization
strategy execution,” said Khan.
“HR as a business partner becomes invaluable at this point,” said
Girimonte, who points out that business leaders make decisions
based on information and insight, and that finance, marketing and
other departments come to a strategy table with quantified data.
“HR has always been challenged in that regard because their information
capabilities around analytics have been very limited.”
Now, though, that’s beginning to change as HR makes increasing
use of analytics and can answer questions about what’s being
spent on employees, what the critical roles are, what potential impacts
of cutbacks might be and more.
THE VALUE OF TRAINING PROGRAMS
Data can help HR quantify the value of many things, including training
and development programs. That’s important in belt-tightening
times, since they might be seen as an “extra” in need of trimming.
“HR’S ROLE IN THESE
TIMES IS ABOUT HELPING
COMPANIES ACHIEVE
PROFITABLE GROWTH
DURING UNCERTAINTY.”
– MADELINE AVEDON
“There’s an opportunity to measure and assess whether what
you’re dong will reap the results you’re looking for,” said Avedon.
“You might be developing a business case for change or you might
find the best course is to continue with the same programs HR
currently provides.”
Either way, investing strategically can pay dividends.
“We recently released a study that found investment in talent
management and leadership capability can give you three times
the payoff in terms of performance,” said Girimonte. “An HR leader
needs to have that kind of information and insight so they can
show executives that certain cuts can mean potentially losing out
on financial benefits.”
Numbers should be crunched and reviewed with vigilance.
“HR needs to have comprehensive workforce analytics to justify
their programs,” said Khan. “The bottom line is that everything
HR does will be scrutinized during uncertain times, and HR
needs to be vigilant in every hemisphere of their business and ensure
all initiatives are supported by a cost-benefit analysis.”
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24 ❚ JULY 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL