Cambridge Business Association
HR Transformation
Book

HR Transformation

Building Human Resources From the Outside In

Dave Ulrich, Justin Allen, Wayne Brockbank, Jon Younger and Mark Nyman
McGraw-Hill, 2009
Buy book or audiobook

Read offline

Amazon Kindle

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Is your company’s human resources operation a true “business partner” that makes a major contribution to your bottom line? Or does it merely fulfill the daily tasks of hiring, firing and paying your employees? If the latter, don’t worry – that can change. So say the human resources experts who founded the RBL Group and the RBL Institute, a consultancy and an educational organization dedicated to helping HR leaders attain new levels of professionalism. Using the institute’s tools and tactics, you can “transform” your human resources department into a valued, knowledgeable and contributing member of your corporate team. While you don’t have to be a human resources professional to benefit from this book, its HR-speak presents a pretty dense thicket that might daunt a novice. Nevertheless, getAbstract suspects that dedicated professionals will find valuable strategic knowledge here that makes the effort worthwhile.

Summary

Not Good Enough

Your human resources department is not performing as an integral part of your business if all it accomplishes are “internal” tasks such as recruiting, orienting, evaluating and paying your employees. HR instead should look beyond those duties and become a major “strategic” contributor to your firm’s bottom line. It should support the business objectives of the larger organization. Accomplishing this requires an “HR transformation.” To institute this process at your organization, implement four, often concurrent, phases:

1. “Business Context”

To explain why your company needs a human resources transformation, you need to understand the firm’s overall business. This means going beyond your HR knowledge to ascertain and comprehend the interests of your stakeholders, who extend far beyond the organization’s employees and managers. Stakeholders include your customers and shareholders, as well as your competition, vendors, government regulators and the community in which you work. All these parties’ circumstances and needs should be a part of your HR transformation plan.

Start by making a business case for your HR transformation. For example...

About the Authors

The authors are affiliates of the RBL Group. Co-founder Dave Ulrich teaches at the University of Michigan, where Wayne Brockbank directs the Center for Strategic HR Leadership. Justin Allen is managing director at the RBL Institute. Jon Younger heads strategic HR at the RBL Group, where Mark Nyman is a principal.

Comment on this summary