At the end of May, TLNT.com published an article by Carol Anderson who had been working for many years as a director of HR departments in a number of companies in the US. In this article, the author talks about the still yet unfulfilled potential of Human Recources. According to Anderson, it is HR that may play a key role in improving the performance of the whole company, as well as in maximizing the effects of various partial changes or restructuralizations on the departments' level. How to best use the know-how of HR professionals?
An important step forward is to trust HR – only when HR workers are given a free hand it is possible for them to prove themselves as irreplaceable partners in effectivity improvement. The author gives us a few examples from her own experience where HR would be much helpful, but where the operational leaders did not turn to it. These examples include introduction of a new software system by the IT department, a company's merging with a smaller firm whose product is culturally different from the previous production, or an attempt to improve the performance of a particular department.
To ensure the highest possible merit of their efforts, HR workers should, according to Anderson, follow several basic rules. For instance, they should keep in mind that each company has a specific culture of its organization and there is no point in trying to change this culture substantially; rather, it is advisable to intervene only in its parts. HR also has several helpful systems that diagnose the problem and analyze the results of the change (Six Sigma, Lean, Project Management). An important note is also that the effectivity of the still very popular seminars and courses is in fact a myth – modern studies in andragogy offer much more effective methods of coaching of employees.
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