Human Resource Managers as Business Partners or Internal Consultants - Essay Example

Name: Professor: Institution: Course: The theme of the article to be precise describes in detailed the role of a human resource professional as an internal consultant and business partner. This is in relation to the dynamic changes that have gripped the Human Resource Professionals in the current competitive market and the restructuring of Organizations. ( Kanter, 2003). The author has argued on the role and importance of the Human Resource docket and how viable the department is to Organizations. There is an increase of majority of the Human Resource Managers changing their roles and purpose to become more of Managers to the entire Organisation and playing the part of being a consultant whose key main aim is to advice the Management in terms of strategic plans and objectives that the Company should concentrate on in order to stay afloat and competitive. The author has clearly described the term Business partner as a commercial entity in which a similar commercial entity has joined efforts and formed a group or alliance. The relationship formed by the partners is always so strong such that any other person trying to break the bond may find it hard to interfere with the alliance. There is a tendency of making such observations in political alliances where partners are so co-joined together for a main purpose and objective to achieve. This is clearly discussed by the author on how Human Resource Professionals are currently playing a major role representing the Companies that they are working for. Royalty of the professionals is otherwise the key aspect in the administration of their duties. Alternatively the negative factors have also been discussed in relation to how this new role is affecting the Organization management. In relation to earlier years the position of Human Resource was hardly recognized as a key position but within the 20th Century Human Resource management is very important just as the financial position of a Company is important. The Business partner position has become more ideal while representing employees within the organisation and in my opinion this has become the major driver of businesses turning to external Hr Business Partners to solve their HR issues or disputes. The author further discusses the reason behind the formation of the business partner relationship in the Organisation as being the fact that technological change has made Organization management turn around as the Company’s fight back to cut on costs. In my opinion the position is currently being threatened by the private consultants who are hired to conduct recruitment, training and performance appraisal. The position might even become distinct within the Company Organization structure because recruitment agencies have adopted the most recent and current methods of recruiting experts in terms of skills and attributes. They use the latest technology to recruit employees who add the greatest value to Organizations. The article demonstrates that for the Human Resource Professionals to survive as a useful tool they need to prove their viability and how they are adding value to the Organization including the stakeholders. ( Ulrich & Brockbank 2005). The article focuses on how researchers have made efforts to lay down strategies aimed at improving the Human Resource Profession. ( Ulrich & Brockbank 2005). There normally exist rival departments in each and every Company who are threats towards the achievement of success of the HR department. I understand that competition is on the rise and employees are motivated to become the best leaders in order to be rewarded but the question that is yet to be discussed or considered is how it affects the overall morale of the other employees who are not recognized and how it affects the production efficiency and effectiveness of the Organization output. The identity of Hr practitioners themselves has been questioned and I understand that the best approach is for the Internal Consultant position to be referred heavily for conceptualization of Human Resource Management plans. The article also highlights how the Human Resource Professionals have encountered problems while trying to enact this role of a Business partner. I am left wondering why there is so much attention regarding addressing of this position which in my opinion plays a key role in the success of any blue print Company. In contrast, my argument is why other key positions or departments are not challenged and yet they play minor roles in the Organizations success. It is however quite difficult to evaluate and demonstrate personnel contribution to an Organization but in my experience I have seen Organizations that were on the verge of being liquidated making a turnaround and comeback following the definition of roles, recruitment of skilled employees, training of existing and new employees and formation of team groups within the firm. In my experience and opinion would be that such key factors should be considered as the indicators of measuring performance. Thus it the Business partner relationship has come to help the role of Human Resource Professionals to achieve many of the requirements of the Human Resource Managers. Support functions such as Finance, Marketing, I.T and procurement are currently being outsourced by medium organizations whose operations are limited and where competition is a looming factor. The functions have thus to increase their output and performance so that they render quality service delivery and management. It is under this role that the HR function finds it hard to identify their brand as reflected from in the journal. It is under this influence that I am left wondering why in today’s environment the question on value adding has to be discussed in relation to Human Resource while yet the other functions continue to play at most the same role and they are not challenged. The empirical data of the case study of the article went on further to demonstrate the education background of the Human Resource Professional on whether they were just generalist or career professionals. The interviews carried out on experienced professionals revealed that majority of the respondents did not recognize credentials for the positions and those who had them they were from other disciplinary backgrounds such as marketing, engineering, science, business, law and operations Management. Yet some of the most successful HR professionals have gained their reputation through career and practical experience. In my experience I highly support this contribution because the passion of an individual to perform is not derived by the credentials or the knowledge that is acquired but at other times it’s the inner feelings and aspirations that the individual possesses. Good examples are business men who have excelled in their businesses without any credentials like Microsoft founder and owner. New entrants from emerging occupations are also fighting for the same role which is to many only involves effort in terms of understanding the behavioral changes of an individual or employee. The author of the article has concluded by discussing the negative factors of Human Resource Management as an activity and how this affects the managerial position. The author’s opinion is that there are tough times ahead for the Human resource Managers regarding their positions and functions to the overall Organization. But the fact remains that the opening of the role of HR Managers as internal consultant has opened an avenue for reinventing the position as a corporate role in advising the management in terms of organisation change, and strategic business choices have added value to the HR activities in general. In my experience Organizations need to be alert in terms of innovation and professionalism such that any changes that may threaten the performance of the firm can e handled promptly by the distinguished professionals. The internal consultancy role is also playing a key role in acting as a threat to the Organisation HR position because from my experience the competitors and rivals come from other disciplinary scholars who are only interested in doing business by making quick money hence diluting the HR profession reliability. Such threats should be treated as opportunities in creating other forms of fragmentation of the Human Resource Profession. ( Caldwell & Storey, 2007). Moreover, Human resource management appears to be very important to the economy in general and therefore internal consultants are very productive for improving the professional situation in any firm. References ( Kanter, 2003). In M. Effron, R. Gandossy & M. Goldsmith (Eds), Human resources in the 21st Century. Koboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003,pp. vii-xi ( Ulrich & Brockbank 2005). The HR value proposition. Harvard, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2005. ( Caldwell & Storey, 2007) . The HR function: Integration or fragmentation? In J. Storey (Ed.), Human resource management: A critical text, 3rd edn. London: Thomson, 2007, pp. 21–38. Jeannie Moravits Smith, Principal Consultant, President/CEO: HR - Rx, Inc. Available at: April 2008: Article Source: Retrieved on 25th August 2011 from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeannie_Moravits_Smith “Human Resource as a Business Partner” Available at: < http://casestudy.co.in/hr-as-a-business-partner/2010/11/30/> 2011 CaseStudy.co.in. Powered by WordPress Read More