Role of HR Executive is Undergoing Big Changes
Human-resource management is undergoing a massive transformation that will change career paths in as-yet uncertain ways. Employers are placing greater emphasis on business acumen and are automating and outsourcing many administrative functions, which will force many HR professionals to demonstrate new skills and compete for new, sometimes unfamiliar roles.
Job titles and functions will likely remain in flux for some time, say business leaders, academics, HR consultants and HR professionals. But they say that some of the standard niches -- such as HR generalist and benefits specialist -- will become less common and less important, giving way over time to new ones such as HR financial analyst.
Those who aspire to leadership roles within the profession will have to become more strategic, more proactive and more involved in the overall business of their employer, say the experts.
But there is an upside to this upheaval: HR people who develop business competencies and embrace the new roles -- in the process redefining themselves and their profession -- can aspire to greater and much more rewarding careers than were possible for HR people a generation ago.
More and more HR professionals are emphasizing that expertise in transactions and paperwork is dying in a sense. Future HR departments will be much smaller, some of HR will go away, some of HR should go away.
The most successful HR people will be those who "think from the outside in”. "When we talk about being strategic, we mean thinking from the customer back to the organization."
In this new HR, professionals are expected to know the business well enough to align human capital with business needs, either developing the needed talent or going outside the organization to get it. HR is proactive. HR goes looking for problems to solve. HR doesn't just have a seat at the table; HR helps set the agenda.
What exactly will be the