…But Do You Respect Your HR Team?

Once viewed as a necessary evil to the organization, today’s effective HR Teams are no longer an organizational obstacle. Do you believe that? Before you answer, check out what employees have said at Google, SAS Southwest Airlines and, yes, even the govies at the Nuclear Regulatory Agency.

Today’s global network demands that successful Human Resources teams evolve from traditional administrative functions that once served executive agendas and from the gatekeepers for laws & regulations. Successful organizations are flourishing because they have strategically partnered their HR teams with senior management.

Organizations have become more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction, and customer-centered in order to survive and thrive. Work systems that allow people to succeed and contribute to their employers’ needs are the basic building blocks that facilitate this success. Strategic partnerships between HR and senior management yield effective workplace services such as the design of job assignments; methods of hiring and promoting; rewards & employee recognition; strategic pay incentives; performance development and appraisal systems; career and succession planning; and employee development.

Not all HR teams have wholly embraced this new role in the Federal workplace just yet but successful teams have learned to balance their understanding of employment rules, regulations and laws with the expectation that they contribute, in partnership, to the development and achievement of the organization’s mission, its business plan, and it’s operational objectives. They’re being invited to the boardroom, to sit next to their other cost-center counterparts, and are contributing their strategic, technical knoweldge and guidance to transform businesses into positive workplace experiences while also achieving the organizational goals laid out by senior management.

Does your HR team operate as a roadblock or a strategic partner & facilitator in your organization? Would you like to see changes within your organization? One of the best ways to initiate organizational change is to listen to others, share your thoughts, and learn from those who have been where you are now. Start by getting your management team onboard. This is crucial for real change to take hold. Then get answers to these questions:

· Does your organization have systems in place that encourage and recognize employees who effectively contribute to the organization; what other organizational systems need improvement and why?

· What do you like least about the human resource function and how would you change it for the better?

One of the keys is to recognize and accept the role you played in defining the culture you work in; then work with your colleagues to make change happen. Strategic partnerships involve everyone; HR is a partner, an advisor, and a mentor for change but it takes everyone in the organization to make it happen.