Case Studies

$2.$ Read the attached Case and answer the following

A new operating model

The following situation may sound familiar: your organization faithfully follows the Ulrich model, with the HR $($Human Resources$)$ function represented at the leadership table with its responsibilities split among three pillars: business partners, shared services, and centres of excellence $($CoEs$).$ HR endeavours to listen to employees, be an agent of change, and reflect the broader business strategy.

Yet we also know theory does not always translate into practice. It has never been more important for HR to be a true strategic partner and a bridge between the workforce and the organization. $$We learned how to go significantly faster on the business side as a result of the pandemic,$$ said the CHRO $($Chief Human Resources Officer$)$ of a US$-$based pharmaceutical company. When it comes to creating a more dynamic talent and work model for the future $($exhibit$),$ CHROs $($Chief Human Resources Officer$)$ across Europe and the United States said the future operating model of HR will feature the following:

$$ Elevating HR through digitalization by automating processes, especially traditional administrative tasks; gathering, analyzing, and acting on employee data to make more informed decisions; and implementing mobile self$-$services to elevate the quality of delivery. $$Platforms$?$ Large$-$scale ERP$-$style $[$enterprise resource planning$$style$]$ systems? We still focus too much on that,$$ said the CHRO of a European chemical company. $$We have to start thinking of solutions, data, and employee experience when talking about digitalization in HR$.$

$$ Enabling agility and fluidity, not only throughout the company but also within the HR function itself. What does this mean in practice? Creating new operating models for HR$,$ breaking down the traditional three$-$pillar model in favour of a pool of professionals who can be quickly deployed to deal with critical issues and priorities, or introducing agile tribe and squad models such as those used within digital companies. $$We cannot preach agility without being agile within HR$,$ the CHRO of a European retailer said. $$We need to break up the silos and the Ulrich$-$style separations in our own organization to be much more flexible and faster.$$

$$ Refocusing business partners on advising top management rather than working on routine administrative tasks that can be automated, pushed to self$-$service platforms, or undertaken by a shared$-$service centre. This frees HR business partners to become true strategic partners.

$$ Creating HR practice groups to tackle specific, strategic, cross$-$functional HR priorities from end to end, dissolving the usual separation between strategic and transactional tasks. Need to hire digital talent at scale? Create a team to undertake that process in its entirety, rather than delegating it to recruit.

$$ Organizing around the employee experience by taking an approach like how retailers define customer journeys$$in this case, by identifying the employee moments that matter most and deploying resources accordingly. For example, critical moments for employees could include the recruitment process, onboarding, performance reviews, and promotions, and the roles and responsibilities of the HR function could be aligned around them.

$$ Virtualizing CoEs and centres of competence $($CoCs$)$ by giving HR business partners a dual role: supporting specific areas of the business and creating a functional specialization spanning HR and the organization $($such as compensation and benefits or organizational development$).$ This creates workflow practice groups, rather than keeping business partners separate from their $$corporate$$ HR colleagues. If successful, this approach may even make CoEs redundant.

$$ Putting the business in the driver$$s seat by shifting responsibility for traditional HR tasks to line managers. Giving line managers decision power and responsibility for processes such as recruiting, and performance appraisals makes sense operationally and frees the HR function to take more of a leadership role within the organization by being more strategic and undertaking work that adds greater value.