Role of Human Resources
What is the role of HR in supporting the organization and its people to achieve its vision?
The Human Resources function has multiple responsibilities to pursue at the same time:
- Setting a Talent Agenda: Develop and drive a Talent Agenda with the goal of attracting, retaining and developing individuals that will drive Organizational performance.
- Serving as Trusted Advisor: Develop a role as a trusted advisor in order to influence all levels of the Organization to foster an inclusive organizational culture based on learning and development
- HR Systems Management: Design and execute efficient, agile and integrated Human Resources processes
- Strategic Planning: Anticipate future organizational needs and connect it with a current holistic diagnostic in areas like Organizational Structure, Succession Planning, Management & Leadership and Organizational Culture
How an organization manages these responsibilities will look very different depending on the its size, age, and lifestage. In many cases, this work is done without any single staff member that is dedicated to the human resources function. Regardless of capacity, it is critical that an organization determine how to fulfill these responsibilities.
Talent Management
INSIGHTS
Invest Managers in Talent Management
Create spaces for managers, especially those with less experience, to develop a vision for managing the talent on their team. You may want to share positive examples of talent management, provide training and development, and/or analyze data related to talent management (e.g. retention rates, staff engagement surveys)
Getting the Right People in the Right Role
Regularly discuss whether your talent matches the organization's current and future needs. The results of these discussions should inform key HR processes such as staff recruitment, professional development, and performance management.
TOP TIPS
- Regularly hold Talent conversations that trigger manager and employee actions.
Trusted Advisor
INSIGHTS
Human Resources is in a unique position to become a trusted advisor to both senior leaders, middle managers, and staff, which gives them great potential to influence the organization’s culture. To become a trusted advisor, consider the trust equation:
Focus on building the following:
- Credibility
- Display experience and expertise relevant to the other person’s needs
- Act with honesty and integrity
- Reliability
- Deliver work on time and to the quality needed by the other person
- Fulfill commitments
- Intimacy
- Practice discretion – know what to do with information that someone shares with you
- Empathize with others’ point of view and identify with his/her feelings
- Demonstrate care for others as human beings
- Show Vulnerability: Emotional exposure in the face of risk or uncertainty, such as asking for feedback, challenging assumptions, saying the unsaid, etc.
Focus on minimizing:
- Self-Orientation
- Focus on the other person rather than yourself
TOP TIPS
- Leverage 360 feedback to assess your capabilities as Trusted Adviser, and identify areas for further development.
HR Systems
INSIGHTS
Establish Basic HR Administrative Processes
It is critical to establish a set of basic HR Process that will meet the needs of both managers and staff, creating efficiencies and consistency, and fulfill your local legal obligations. Key processes include:
- Hiring
- Payroll
- Employee Record Management
- Terminations
Incorporate Talent Management Processes
Clear processes for talent management will create a consistent set of expectations and accountability over the Talent Agenda. These processes can be very basic or complex, depending on the needs of your organization, but typically include:
- Staff recruitment
- Performance Management
- Professional Development
- Compensation
Consider These Principles in Designing Processes & Services
- Lean: Processes are simple, easy to understand and minimize steps and bureaucracy
- Technology: Use Systems/Technology only if you can streamline the process and/or you handle significant volume of data
- User Centric: Incorporate staff and manager input in the design phase, both to strengthen processes, and create shared ownership & buy-in
- Feedback: Collect feedback after process are in place and make fast adjustments to new demands
TOP TIPS
- Administrative processes are designed and executed by HR, but talent management processes should be developed with the input of staff and managers, and have shared ownership.
- In smaller, launching organizations, it may make sense to use external services for some processes (payroll, employee records, etc.). Where possible, seek pro or low bono services to reduce costs.
- Be sure to consult with local legal advisors to ensure your human resources policies are in line with local ordinance.
HR Strategic Planning
INSIGHTS
Reflect on the Current State of Organizational Talent
Look across the various Human Resources functions to understand your strengths and areas for improvement. Consider relevant data such as:
- Hiring & Exit Interviews
- Staff Engagement Survey Results
- Retention Rate
Set HR Goals in Line with Your Organizational Vision
What talent will be needed to achieve organizational goals in the year ahead? What processes and systems will it take to recruit and retain that talent? What will you need to change about your current systems? What will you need to add?
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Teach For America
- Teach For America’s new Chief People Officer wanted to re-shape the role of HR in her organization. She realized that the team had significant technical expertise and had managed a lot of work through many years of change at Teach For America. And at the same time, she realized that in order for Teach For America to realize its full potential, they needed to embrace new approaches to their work.
- The team had been organized in terms of functional work – e.g. one team worked on staff recruitment, and another worked on staff development, and another worked on benefits administration. There were also HR generalists who helped with technical HR questions and HR business partners who helped with deeper needs. The challenge they were facing was that this work felt siloed, and sometimes competing frameworks and approaches emerged.
- The CPO declared the possibility that Teach For America would be the highest impact non-profit in the world and best place to work in their country. To do this, she and the team shifted both their orientation to their work and the way they organized their work.
- Instead of organizing around function, they decided to organize their work around “People Promises” – i.e. things that any staff member at Teach For America could expect from their experience. And then, they set up cross-functional working groups to deliver on those promises. Instead of building on what they had before, they decided to reimagine key pieces of their work that weren’t meeting staff members’ needs – from their approach to leadership development to their philosophy of compensation.
- And, they worked on re-orienting how the team was positioned in the organization – trying to move themselves from being a responsive and technical set of supports to a team that was driving forward the possibility they had created.
Collaborate