The HRM Professional As A Strategic Partner

Gone are the days when the primary role of HRM Professionals is to ‘hire and fire.’ Today, the corporate world and the work environments take a new shape and sound. Cultures and norms meet and mix in the shop floor, so much so that human resource, where it used to be viewed as a capital expense, is now considered as the a capital investment. Hence, HRM professionals have now a different set of roles.

The book entitled, “Personnel Management of the 21st Century” highlights some of the most crucial roles and responsibilities that a HRM Professional should carry on to become an effective strategic partner to business owners and decision makers, to wit:

1. Initiates and facilitates the strategic process of crafting the organization’s mission-vision and values;
2. Utilizes a planning process to arrive at clear performance indicators and targets aligned to business strategies;
3. Continuously acquires a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the business and its dynamics and environment, as well as identifies the implications of (HRM or) human resource actions as a result of these;
4. Exercises foresight, courage, and competence for longer-term (organizational) change;
5. Translates business strategies into priorities and programs for human resources (employees), thereby aligning them;
6. Communicates business plan impact on human resources practices (HRM), and gets others to support the plan and activities;
7. Leads the marketing and communication of human resource (HRM) philosophy, principles, and associated platforms with business partners, and the rest of the human resources community;
8. Provides ongoing feedback to and consultation with the business partner and the rest of the human resources community to keep human resources on track with effective programs and services.

What do these strategic roles and responsibilities imply? These things could only mean that HRM professionals should look beyond the comfort of their routines and customarily roles and align their efforts and programs with the organizations business processes and strategies. In the first place, human resources (employees) are the prime movers of these business processes and strategies.

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