A New Mandate for Human Resources
This article aims to justify the existence of the HR function and to define the changes that it must undergo in order to survive. The common theme is that HR must deliver benefits to the business and that it should focus on outcomes rather than activities. Editor Dave Ulrich uses the contributors’ work to justify his theory that both commitment and competence will be needed in the business world of the future. Indeed, one is useless without the other. The link between factors such as HR management , business results, organisational strategy and the “softer” business issues is a constant thread throughout the article. It discusses HR’s role in defining strategy as well as factors that facilitate the implementation of strategy, such as managing change and knowledge management. The HR practitioner is also measured against other professionals, such as lawyers, doctors and airline pilots, to highlight the significance of the decisions they are faced with, and the import...