Todd Henneman recently wrote a great article detailing the pros and cons of the evolution of HR from a traditional role to options like breaking up the function across other departments or outsourcing the role altogether. HR continues to need to align itself with the overall business strategy of the firm and that involves some transformative changes at times. Henneman cites an example from Canadian firm G Adventures, who completely closed their HR department and created two new functions a “talent agency” responsible for talent acquisition and talent management and a “culture club” in charge of organizing fundraisers and award celebrations.
A few years back, HR strategy actually made the evening news, and not because of some corporate malfeasance or executive scandal. It was a new management philosophy catching the general public’s attention: a new idea called the results-oriented work environment (ROWE). Originally developed at retail giant Best Buy, it was adopted at a number of other workplaces and its creators, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, wrote a popular book, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It.
Organizations across industries are increasingly adopting team-based structures and linking organizational and managerial objectives to team goals. It is clear much of what makes teams successful is rooted in understanding the individual behaviors and motivating needs of the team members. Using assessments to obtain this data can impact a manager’s ability to predict performance and improve the effectiveness of the team.
A company’s workforce has always been its most valuable asset and normally its biggest expense. Attracting and retaining the right talent continues to be a foremost concern for managers.