The need to be more strategic and ‘add value’ has engulfed many HR departments across different businesses in the GCC and Middle East. But what does this really mean?
To answer this, we should first consider how value is defined or measured. It’s is not the design of a policy or a specific HR programme or initiative that matters, but what the employees gain which help to drive the business from these interventions that makes it value added. The HR value proposition means that HR practices, HR departments, and HR professionals must produce positive outcomes for businesses and all key stakeholders, which includes employees, managers, customers, and shareholders.
In order to add significant value to an organisation, HR departments and HR professionals must focus on how they can contribute to the execution of the corporate strategy. HR’s role in this endeavour is to build the capability of the organisation so that the strategic vision can be realised. This is not something that can be automated or outsourced and can only be delivered by having an intimate knowledge and understanding of the business, its strategy and its existing capabilities. Ultimately, strategy is delivered by people and because HR is all about people, it is HR’s role to deliver capable, suitably skilled and trained people. In addition HR will add value by ensuring there are robust policies, procedures and practices in place to make these things happen. The role of HR in delivering the bottom line should not be underestimated.
In today’s ever changing and highly competitive world, HR plays a key role in an organisation’s success or failure. Success, depends heavily on how effectively an organisation can attract, motivate, develop and retain its people. In today’s cost conscious environment, this means capitalizing on the organisational collective knowledge, skills and experience and working in tandem with managers to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.
The importance of attracting and retaining talent is a given, however, nowadays it is not enough for an organisation to attract potential employees and convince them that the company is a good place to work. HR professionals have to aim beyond this by demonstrating that ‘this is a great place to work’. Inspiring and motivating employees is a shared responsibility between leaders, managers and HR, however HR plays a critical role in helping engage employees and build trust and commitment with them. This is done by ensuring that the right HR policies and practices are in place that tie in employees for the long term.
In reality, HR does not always get the opportunity to add value in this way. HR is often seen as nothing more than an administrative function. This may be for a number of reasons. HR doesn’t get a seat at the leadership table, the role of HR is not understood and unfortunately the capability and skill level of some HR professionals. Because HR is seen as an administrative function, it often ends up as a place for people with the wrong skill set and this just adds to the vicious circle of not bring appreciated, not being able to make a difference, not being valued and most importantly not being involved by the business when it matters the most.
In today’s tough business environment, organisations should be looking to HR professionals to lead initiatives that improve workforce performance, productivity, and satisfaction. Organisations that align their HR practices with the most critical business issues will have the greatest impact on business results.
This is a huge shift from where many HR departments are today so the change won’t happen overnight. HR departments and HR professionals need to start look internally to identify the gaps between of where we are today and where we want to be in the future.