There was a time when human resources professionals were expected to function quietly behind the scenes, to discretely deal with the paperwork of hirings and the delicacy of dismissals.
A growing trend, however, is seeing more and more organizations embracing the HR manager as an active partner and contributor to key business strategies and positions. This is interesting to note as women in HR are outnumbering men. According to Forbes, 71% of HR managers were comprised of women in 2011. In the 2014 statistics from the US Department of Labor, 76% of human resources managers were women.
Evidence of the trend came to light this year when a CareerBuilder survey showed that 65% of high revenue companies (earning at least $50 million) incorporated their HR leader into their business strategy. 73% of these companies said they counted on their HR professionals to provide information that they used to build their growth strategy.
Why is This Partnership Role Emerging?
One reason is that human resources professionals bring to the table information that nobody else in the organization has. They know the strengths and weaknesses of every individual employee as well as the productivity of the workplace overall and things that will undoubtedly cause huge problems if untreated.
As companies grow, they need to be able to identify skill shortages, candidates, strategies that will be crucial in succession planning, and levels of employee performance and production. These are all areas in which the HR department has up-to-date data.
Another reason for HR’s new partnership role is the advent of effective human resources software. In 2015 alone, 53% of companies having more than 1,000 employees reported that they are investing in new HR software to stay on top of the data that they have come to depend on. The figure was cited by The Starr Conspiracy Intelligence Unit.
In paradoxical development, using more technology is allowing HR professionals to invest more time in the ‘human’ part of their job.
As new software is brought into your organization, make sure to maximize it and identify which tasks can be automated effectively leaving you free to do more strategizing and securing top talent. Common tasks that can be regulated to software are on-boarding new employees and payroll functions.
Companies are realizing how crucial the HR managers role is, and finally, they are including them in important decision making strategies.
About the Author
Roz Bahrami is a blogger for SkyPrep, an online training software. Roz regularly contributes blogs related to corporate training, L&D, and marketing.
