The profession has the chance to soar above its humble beginnings
For the most part, HR professionals are still perceived as second-class corporate citizens, despite efforts to accompany their proposals with the all important return-on-investment calculations. But there’s an opportunity looming for HR to rise above its humble beginnings.
That’s because the way in which the HR function will evolve in Canada will be significantly influenced by trends in global trade, technology convergence and innovation.
Using the economic argument of comparative advantage, developed economies like Canada should specialize in capital-intensive products requiring high levels of skill and capability, whereas emerging economies with low-skilled workers should specialize in low-tech products so they both leverage their advantages.
The productivity gains from offshoring certain functions and importing products is greater than the costs associated with job losses offshoring creates. The opportunity for Canadian companies in the service and manufacturing industries is to focus their core business on market development and innovation at the front end while outsourcing non-core businesses at the back end. Here, innovation is the development of new products and services or different applications of existing products and services in response to market need or changes.
What does all this mean for HR? Well, it will have to look very different if it is to be seen to add value in an evolving global market of capital, labour and comparative advantage.
For starters, due to outsourcing and the automation of HR activities (employee self-service) staffing levels in the HR department will not be sustained, unless they’ve demonstrated a different kind of value.
Secondly, as organizations downsize and focus capital investments in market development and innovation, HR should be focusing less on transactional issues and focus more on the combination of people, technology and organizational systems that lead to innovation. Helping organizations through this transition is what HR should be doing. It is not that the transactional activities are not needed — everyone must still be paid to market and compensation and benefits will always be needed. The real question, however, is one of value-added contribution. As new businesses emerge as a result of innovation HR is in the position to proactively resource these new businesses and drive much of the innovation through capability development.
Third, half of the jobs and functions that exist today did not exist 10 years ago and many will likely not exist in future. Traditional HR tools like job descriptions, profiles, and career pathing that emerged in structured and predictable times are of no value in these times. High performing organizations continuously adapt to their market conditions, and people and organizational systems must be flexible to enable adaptation. HR professionals should therefore be proactive organizational design engineers enabling faster adaptation.
Fourth, converging technologies have also converged functions and disciplines. As a result, HR should avoid solidifying itself as a function through certifications. Instead, it should brand itself as a loose alliance of value-added support functions with the sole purpose of creating environments for innovation. The future of HR should move from human resource management to innovation and intellectual resources management (IIRM). The need for HR management inside organizations is built on the premise of sufficient head count. However, the need for IIRM inside organizations is built on the premise that all organizations need to focus on the combination of technology, process and people that drives innovation regardless of the size of its workforce. In practical terms, IIRM’s involvement would include scouting and developing strategic intellectual partnerships with other organizations, examine and improve the knowledge flow in the supply chain, patent development, compensation and rewards for innovation.
Fifth, the “being relevant” challenge facing HR professionals resembles the challenges facing finance and engineering professionals to be business professionals first and foremost, supported by a finance or intellectual resources background. Business and financial acumen combined with a strong understanding of marketing and market development should be the key ingredients of any IIRM professional if it is to enable the organization in the direction outlined above.
The emergence of the HR business partner model attempted to achieve precisely this transformation, but this model still operates in a conventional HR paradigm of someone else setting the strategy. IIRM is explicitly an integral and influential part of the strategy and execution process. It develops the capability for innovation and entrepreneurship and creates the environment that inspires innovation and a market-focused culture.
HR has an opportunity to position itself for the future. To date, none of the other functions own innovation and intellectual resources management. Knowledge management has attempted to capture this arena by combining strategy, people, and technology, but was dismissed mostly as a fad or an IT space for selling more collaborative software tools. Knowledge management was perhaps ahead of its time. This space is still wide open and with some bold reflection and visioning, HR can evolve into something that is truly beyond HR.
Pierre Robitaille and Malcolm Gabriel are HR practitioners and can be contacted at (416) 735-0504.
That’s because the way in which the HR function will evolve in Canada will be significantly influenced by trends in global trade, technology convergence and innovation.
Using the economic argument of comparative advantage, developed economies like Canada should specialize in capital-intensive products requiring high levels of skill and capability, whereas emerging economies with low-skilled workers should specialize in low-tech products so they both leverage their advantages.
The productivity gains from offshoring certain functions and importing products is greater than the costs associated with job losses offshoring creates. The opportunity for Canadian companies in the service and manufacturing industries is to focus their core business on market development and innovation at the front end while outsourcing non-core businesses at the back end. Here, innovation is the development of new products and services or different applications of existing products and services in response to market need or changes.
What does all this mean for HR? Well, it will have to look very different if it is to be seen to add value in an evolving global market of capital, labour and comparative advantage.
For starters, due to outsourcing and the automation of HR activities (employee self-service) staffing levels in the HR department will not be sustained, unless they’ve demonstrated a different kind of value.
Secondly, as organizations downsize and focus capital investments in market development and innovation, HR should be focusing less on transactional issues and focus more on the combination of people, technology and organizational systems that lead to innovation. Helping organizations through this transition is what HR should be doing. It is not that the transactional activities are not needed — everyone must still be paid to market and compensation and benefits will always be needed. The real question, however, is one of value-added contribution. As new businesses emerge as a result of innovation HR is in the position to proactively resource these new businesses and drive much of the innovation through capability development.
Third, half of the jobs and functions that exist today did not exist 10 years ago and many will likely not exist in future. Traditional HR tools like job descriptions, profiles, and career pathing that emerged in structured and predictable times are of no value in these times. High performing organizations continuously adapt to their market conditions, and people and organizational systems must be flexible to enable adaptation. HR professionals should therefore be proactive organizational design engineers enabling faster adaptation.
Fourth, converging technologies have also converged functions and disciplines. As a result, HR should avoid solidifying itself as a function through certifications. Instead, it should brand itself as a loose alliance of value-added support functions with the sole purpose of creating environments for innovation. The future of HR should move from human resource management to innovation and intellectual resources management (IIRM). The need for HR management inside organizations is built on the premise of sufficient head count. However, the need for IIRM inside organizations is built on the premise that all organizations need to focus on the combination of technology, process and people that drives innovation regardless of the size of its workforce. In practical terms, IIRM’s involvement would include scouting and developing strategic intellectual partnerships with other organizations, examine and improve the knowledge flow in the supply chain, patent development, compensation and rewards for innovation.
Fifth, the “being relevant” challenge facing HR professionals resembles the challenges facing finance and engineering professionals to be business professionals first and foremost, supported by a finance or intellectual resources background. Business and financial acumen combined with a strong understanding of marketing and market development should be the key ingredients of any IIRM professional if it is to enable the organization in the direction outlined above.
The emergence of the HR business partner model attempted to achieve precisely this transformation, but this model still operates in a conventional HR paradigm of someone else setting the strategy. IIRM is explicitly an integral and influential part of the strategy and execution process. It develops the capability for innovation and entrepreneurship and creates the environment that inspires innovation and a market-focused culture.
HR has an opportunity to position itself for the future. To date, none of the other functions own innovation and intellectual resources management. Knowledge management has attempted to capture this arena by combining strategy, people, and technology, but was dismissed mostly as a fad or an IT space for selling more collaborative software tools. Knowledge management was perhaps ahead of its time. This space is still wide open and with some bold reflection and visioning, HR can evolve into something that is truly beyond HR.
Pierre Robitaille and Malcolm Gabriel are HR practitioners and can be contacted at (416) 735-0504.
