Human Resource Champions

"Leaders at any level of a company must cherish and commit to winning. But wanting to win is not enough: Leaders must set a path that makes it happen. A firm's path to winning must increasingly go beyond mastering balance sheets, creating new manufacturing processes, and forming customer relationships; it must build that change, learn, move, and act faster than those of its competitors. To make the best use of these organizational capabilities, executives must see their human resource practices as source of competitive advantage...The successful leaders of the future must be able to create organizational capabilities. They must be able to identify the capabilities critical to business success and to design and deliver human resource management practices that can create those capabilities. To create value and deliver results, the leaders of the future must become human resource champions...So what do these competitive challenges mean for the continuing evolution of HR? On the one hand, HR refers to the organizational systems and processes within a firm that govern how work is done...On the other hand, HR refers to the HR function or department. The new competitive realities suggest a new agenda for HR, an agenda focused on championing competitiveness. As champions of competitiveness, HR professionals must focus more on the deliverables of their work than on doing their work better. They must articulate their role in terms of value created. They must create mechanisms to deliver HR so that business results quickly follow. They must learn to measure results in terms of business competitiveness rather than employee comfort and to lead cultural transformation rather than to consolidate, reengineer, or downsize when a company needs to turn around. To achieve these goals, HR must recognize and correct its past" (pp.16-17).In this context, in Chapter 1, Dave Ulrich outlines old myths and new realities of HR as following:I- Old Myths:1. People go into HR because they like people.2. Anyone can do HR.3. HR deals with the soft side of a business and is therefore not accountable.4. HR focuses on costs, which must be controlled.5. HR's job is to be policy police and the health-and-happiness patrol.6. HR is full of fads.7. HR is staffed by nice people.8. HR is HR's job.II- New Realities:1. HR departments are not designed to provide corporate therapy or as social or health-and-happiness retreats. HR professionals must create the practices that make employees more competitive, not more comfortable.2. HR activities are based on theory and research. HR professionals must master both theory and practice.3. The impact of HR practices on business results can and must be measured. HR professionals must learn how to translate their work into financial performance.4. HR practices must create value by increasing the intellectual capital within the firm. HR professionals must add value, not reduce costs.5. The HR function does not own compliance-managers do. HR practices d

Mr. Ulrich has written a true gem. Don't be fooled by the title, since I feel this book is appropriate for a wide range of business leaders, not just HR staff. Probably the best aspect of this book is that the ideas and concepts can be immediately applied. Mr. Ulrich provides lots of concrete examples, worksheets, and tables that can practically be used "as-is". Chapters 3 through 6 are the roadmaps for transforming an HR function from an administrative roadbloack into a key business partner. Read them carefully and you will be well prepared for your journey. Chapter 3 - Becoming a Strategic Partner - should be required reading not only for HR people, but for anyone in a leadership position. In this chapter Mr. Ulrich gives one of the most clear and concise explanations of "organizational diagnosis" that I have ever read. It's basically a blueprint for designing a high-performance organization. Like most people out there, I have read a lot of business books that were pure junk. But as the manager of organizational development for a telecommunications company, I would highly recommend this book to HR staff, OD specialists/consultants, and mid- to senior-level leaders. I think you will find a wealth of practical information between its covers.

Purchased the book after hearing Mr. Ulrich speak at the 1998 American Society of Healthcare Human Resources Association Convention in Phoenix. One of his initial comments at his talk was that he would be guilty of taking his ideas and making them practical realities. Although the talk was excellent, the book was better. A practical guide to taking HR to the next level. A challenge to practitioners to move beyond doing things to delivering quality activities to the organization. This book will become a classic.

Focuses on four HR outcomes: strategy execution, administrative efficiency, employee contribution, and capacity for change. Argues that HR work is patterned in bureaucratic ways and that major changes are needed. Shows how line managers and HR professionals together can champion the competitive organization of the future. An important contribution to the field of HR management.

This excellent book helps us to view HR not as a bunch of functional activities but the people dimension of our business. If you got the time to read just one general HR book - this is your natural choice. Whereever I go in our organization I strongly recommend our HR managers to read it and discuss it with their local management team.