Transforming HR

Mark Withers, Mark Williamson, Martin Reddington

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781136433771
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Deliver greater value to your organisation through HR transformation.

Transforming HR, Second edition offers robust, practical advice on changing the way human resource management is undertaken, walking you through the transformational process from initial planning to the evaluation of outcomes.

Since the first edition of the book many organisations have restructured their HR functions and invested in better HR information systems but with new issues emerging all the time, the journey towards transformation must continue. To support this journey the authors draw on their own experience and insights in this new edition, which features:
*Practical tools and approaches to guide planning, implementation and evaluation of transformation strategies aimed at increasing the value of HR's contribution in organisations
*New chapters on HR's value proposition, Web 2.0 and benefits realisation to demonstrate their critical role in transformation
*Cutting edge research on topics such as the use of social media technology by HR, with views and experience from senior practitioners across a broad range of organisations
*Fresh thinking on the people agenda to be addressed by progressive HR functions

Intended as an inspiring, hands-on guide to planning, implementing and evaluating transformation strategies, Transforming HR, second edition is an essential companion as you work to increase the value of HR in your organisation.

Part 1

Context

Part 1 addresses the context for HR transformation.

Chapter 1: A Transformational Mindset presents the key change management tools that underpin the HR transformation journey. These tools and frameworks are practical and form an important backdrop to the remaining content. It is recommended that you take time to familiarise yourself with this material.

Chapter 2: How Are We Doing reviews the key challenges identified for successful HR transformation set out in the final chapter of our first edition and examines what has actually happened since 2005.

Chapter 3: What Is HR’S Value Proposition examines current thinking addressing how HR functions help organisations to create value through people.

1

A Transformational Mindset

We cannot talk about transforming HR unless we adopt a transformational mindset. This transformational mindset underpins any business transformation and has four significant characteristics:

1. Transformation must be relevant to your organisation. We may draw lessons from other organisations, but there is no one size fits all and no best practice. We will stress the importance of contingent thinking and leading (rather than best) practice.

2. Transformation must bring about significant change in the whole organisational system and therefore a systems mindset is needed.

3. Systemic change can only be achieved through active involvement and co-creation of solutions with key stakeholders and therefore a process consulting mindset is needed.

4. The organisational benefits of transformation will best be realised if change is managed in a structured way with clear governance and benefits tracking, which requires a project management mindset.

This chapter explores the characteristics of a transformational mindset and sets out our definition of the scope of HR and its relationship with organisational development (OD). We recommend that you take time to read this chapter as the key concepts are referenced throughout the book.

Key Themes

Effective business change benefits from the application of tried and tested OD tools and approaches.

HR professionals often fail to influence effectively because they are unfamiliar with OD tools and approaches.

To be more effective in shaping transformational change HR professionals need to focus on the development of a ‘systems mindset’, ‘process consulting mindset’ and ‘project mindset’.

Systems thinking places HR transformation within the context of the wider organisational (and extra-organisational) system and challenges us to integrate the different facets of HR transformation.

Process consulting is about being client-centred and focuses on the steps needed to effect change in ways that bring key stakeholders with you step by step. It also ensures that at each stage of the transformation journey there is learning and engagement with what is really happening in the organisation.

A project mindset uses programme and project management principles to ensure HR transformation is delivered in a coherent and timely way.

Context

This book is not a theoretical text. It is intended to be practical: a book that HR practitioners will actually find useful.

However, for this to happen, we want to start by making a case for theory. We know that HR folk are essentially ‘pragmatists’ and ‘doers’. They want to know about what works, and what they can use.

We agree with this bias for action, but only up to a point. We believe that to be an effective doer – to make interventions that work – you need to know why things done this way or that way work better. That is where theory comes in. Theory helps to explain why things happen. Good theory is the product of observable and generalised patterns. It is the product of shared knowledge and shared experience. Without theory, HR practices and interventions are little more than isolated acts. It is our contention that one of the reasons that HR has not been as influential in businesses as it should have been is the result of a real and lasting lack of engagement with our theoretical base.

It is not as if the theoretical base does not exist. HR professionals can draw from a strong theoretical hinterland: psychology, sociology, economics, business management, political science, law, statistics and so on. Each of these areas enables us to observe and analyse the role of people in organisations from different perspectives and make powerful contributions to complex business issues.

In this chapter, we will present a small number of theoretical models, frameworks and tools that will bring about more effective change and transformation. The remainder of the book focuses strongly on practical application. Having made a case for theory, this book does not attempt to give an exhaustive overview of prevailing theoretical models, but rather dwells on a few of the practices that have worked for us in supporting business change. We point you to other useful sources on change management tools and techniques in the ‘Further Reading’ section.

The change management approaches referenced in this chapter have been chosen because:

They are actually helpful – enabling us to shape HR transformation in a way that accelerates the pace of change, maximises buy-in and delivers anticipated benefits.

They are tried and tested – enabling us not only to learn from other organisations but to deploy these models and frameworks in a way that gives structure and focus to workshops and other interventions.

They form part of the HR professional’s tool kit – enabling HR professionals to take into their organisations a theoretical body of knowledge that will support their clients in bringing about effective organisational change.

HR and OD

What does the term ‘organisational development’, or OD, mean for you?

Although OD is a concept that has been around for more than 50 years it is a term that may mean nothing to you. Alternatively, it is currently used in many different ways – sometimes in its traditional sense, sometimes re-sprayed as OE (organisational effectiveness) or similar, and often used interchangeably with organisational design or talent management/leadership development – which can cause great confusion. As there is confusion (and even ignorance) amongst the HR profession concerning what is meant by OD, even basic OD principles and practices that could make a difference to organisational performance are not being deployed to best effect.

A CIPD briefing on OD (October 2007) sets out the history and typology of OD and an excellent article authored by Linda Holbeche and Mee-Yan Cheung-Judge in the CIPD’s IMPACT publication (issue 26) explains the importance of OD in sustaining high-performing organisations. We suggest you look up both these sources online. In this book, we use the term ‘OD’ in a very specific way. For us, OD is about the effective management of change – intervening in the organisational system in ways that will help it to adapt and thrive in response to changes in the external environment.

For HR there are some profound implications. Clearly, senior line management have a key role in executing business change, including the people and organisational aspects of change. However, if we accept that HR has a strong theoretical base in the domains of people and organisational capability, then HR professionals must bring a strong functional/professional contribution to the area of business change.

This means not only operating within the traditional HR skill areas – managing headcount reductions, appointing to new structures, skilling people to perform new roles, managing employee relations, etc. – but also being able to deploy broader OD skills with clients. What this means in practice is being able to:

understand your business and shape the business change agenda in the first place;

consider the specific circumstances faced by the organisation in order to develop relevant solutions (not blindly copy ‘best’ practices applied elsewhere);

construct and work through a change process;

facilitate workshops;

involve and engage people;

help members of the organisation innovate and solve their problems;

deploy change management tools and techniques throughout;

support individuals as they adjust psychologically to change;

work on organisational design;

design and deliver learning and development interventions;

improve the people management capability of line managers;

analyse and improve the overall health of the organisation.

OD is about making change happen effectively and if we are to have any illusions about making a strategic contribution in our organisations, we must be at the heart of shaping and delivering business change.

This book is about HR seizing the opportunities it now has and, enabled by technology, using OD to execute its own transformation. In Chapter 10, we discuss in more detail the role of the HR professional in a transformed function and the capabilities they need to acquire. At the heart of this transformed role is the contribution HR professionals must make to the creation and sustainability of healthy, high-performing organisations.

About a Transformational Mindset

Transformation suggests change that is intended to bring about a distinguishably different outcome from the current situation. It is more than tinkering with the current operating model – changing job titles, restructuring or implementing a new HRIS. It is broader in scope and more ambitious in outcomes. To be transformational means adopting a mindset with three...