HR’s Focus on Service and Culture Transitions
My post on comparing HR and IT as service parts of the organization once again brought out the best in my readers. Miki at Leadership Turn gave her usual, and appreciated, “words-that-we-would-like-to-say-but-don’t” in regard to a McKinsey Quarterly’s quote “only HR can translate a business strategy into a detailed talent strategy…”:
“That has to be the stupidest statement that ever came out of McKinsey! I spent 25 years as a recruiter and another decade teaching line managers better hiring skills and in most instances HR has neither the knowledge nor the business acumen to detail staffing needs for any project, tech or not. HR’s preference for controlling staffing budgets has more to do with amassing organizational power than with its ability to translate strategic initiatives into action. Staffing needs and talent acquisition, motivation and retention is the province of line management at every level.”
As usual, she hit a home run that cleared the bases for Sensei at ActiveEngine to make an excellent point about how useful HR CAN be in the area of working with different cultures:
“Certainly HR has evolved away from the traditional approach of “helping employees fill out forms”. For companies going international HR is indispensable in regards to working with other cultures. Generally they become the focal point for training people how to communicate with new team members with not only different backgrounds but with different cultural frameworks.”
What is curious here is how an organization like McKinsey can move so far in one direction with it’s advice without considering the limitations inherent in the mission and capabilities of an area. Clearly the three of us have a pretty clear perception of HR’s role based directly on our experiences. Why is a major consulting firm so interested in pushing HR out of it’s box?
Does your HR department get involved in executing strateges? If so, which ones and what role do they play? Do you agree that HR should stay within the limits imposed in this post? I’d like to hear from some HR managers, directors and VPs!
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Bob, maybe McKinsey based its commes on the few really brilliant HR execs They’ve worked with who do understand strategy. Of course, the fact that the number is so small that they fit on the head of a pin with room for the angels to dance is beside the point. Besides, everybody screws up and says something stupid now and then—even Mckinsey:)
Miki- whether they are brilliant or not, there are still roles to be played. I think my experience, and yours, is with HR VPs that have overreached. Not everybody can be CEO. Thanks for commenting.