Vice President, Office of Innovation
I work with the various business units of KellyOCG to help architect solutions for clients with global expansion plans. Translation: I help clients cut through the workforce challenges arising from rapid globalization. I also spend a good deal of time on thought leadership activities, whether that’s an opening keynote for a SHRM State Conference, a guest lecture at a university in Asia, or a workshop on globalisation for a roomful of Indians. I also author white papers on current issues affecting HR professionals. Previously based in Singapore, I now camp out at our World Headquarters in Detroit (Troy), Michigan, USA. Before this role, I was head of international HR for Kelly. I've spent the last 19 years of my career focused on cross-border HR.
You are in HR? Be a strategic priority
8/25/2011
For a long period, HR has largely occupied a position on the periphery of strategic decision making in the enterprise, primarily as just another functional department. However, for the most part it has not been fully enmeshed in a central strategic role of corporate life.
This is somewhat hard to follow when one considers the frequency of the refrain, “people are our most important asset.” If this were truly the case, HR would be closer to the corporate heart, not on its margin.
But now HR is moving through a process of transformation. HR practitioners are being charged to engage more in strategic business issues of central importance to core direction and strategy.
This transformation will be harder for some. Essentially it requires taking a bird’s-eye view of the strategic issues impacting the business, considering how different parts of the business link together, and what part people play from top to bottom.
It will entail putting aside the narrow metrics of HR and focusing instead on broader business outcomes. It will mean thinking how the ‘people element’ adds value at every stage of the organization, and the factors that both enhance and dilute value.
This strategic shift comes at a price: HR practitioners will need to develop a broader business understanding in areas such as corporate finance, marketing, and strategic management. They may need to spend time in areas outside HR to better appreciate how functional divisions interact as part of the big picture. HR must know business as well as it knows HR.