HR DEPARTMENT---DEVELOPING LEADERS

Thought for the Day
Leadership is not just for people at the top. Everyone can lead by acquiring the power to make a difference and to be prepared when the call to lead comes

HR Departments to focus on developing leaders:
Now that detail-driven tasks are being handled by Human Resources (HR) outsourcing services or through Web-based applications (that allow for employee self-service), HR department management has the time and energy to become strategic.

Advising corporate leadership on how to best develop and leverage its human capital can be important in getting the most out of an organization's talent. Dr. Edward E. Lawler III, professor of business and director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, says that HR professionals could play a key role in three functional roles:

Improving Leadership: The HR department can help managers at all levels become better leaders by teaching them how to improve their communication skills, set expectations for their staffs and motivate people.

Informing the Board: A second important role for HR management is to become the corporate board's expert resource on the condition and utilization of the workforce. Directors can use this type of knowledge to evaluate senior management and do succession planning, assess organizational design and effectiveness, and make strategy decisions such as whether the organization has the people with the right skills to start a new line of business.

Assessing the Workforce: A third potential role for human resources is to spearhead efforts to develop a human capital information system to measure things like the skills and competencies of the workforce, its performance in critical areas and its cost to the organization.

In an organization that wants talent to be its source of competitive advantage, the HR department simply can't be the stepchild it usually is today.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 2008

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