F. Luis Buentello
- Jul 31, 2018
- 2 min read

Human Resource Management and Development: Are we Leading the Way?

By Luis Buentello

Beacon Associates has had the opportunity to work with many different types of business leaders, in different industries, both domestically and globally. From these experiences we are observing the need for a new type of HR professional. A HR Professional who is more a business leader and capable of approaching HR challenges with a business perspective. With this in mind we have outlined the following areas in which HR professionals must begin to develop:

Analytic Transformation of Talent

Despite the enormous promise of increased data availability, analysis from HR remains weak and, at times, not trusted by business leaders. Consider HR proposals that lead with the impact on the bottom line and presented in the same style as in operations, finance, marketing and sales.

Predictive analytics must be on the horizon for HR and used in the following areas:

Turnover analysis
HR calling for a data-driven approach to identify high-potential employees (HIPOs)

The Collaborative Enterprise

Work has become increasingly horizontal, yet in some organizations HR technology, capabilities, and work are still designed to support vertical organizations. Consider organizational structure and culture first and support differences that support horizontal growth and less on vertical advancement.

Consider the following opportunities:

HR leaders proposing simplification to solve performance management woes
HR streamlining job titles to cut through complexity
More talent conversations planned to keep up with change

Workforce of the Future

The workforce is more diverse than ever, and traditional career paths and other employment offerings are not keeping up with the needs of top talent. Consider new methods of early detection of high potentials and modifying organizational structures to accommodate and retain them.

Expanding development opportunities for HIPOs
Expand adoption of trendy work–life balance policies

Next Generation Functional Effectiveness

Despite years of focus and investment in HR strategy and structure, some business leaders rate the HR function as ineffective. In particular, traditional HR models struggle with change. Consider

HR developing dedicated teams for quick change response
Heads of HR seek to increase personal business acumen

Remember Senior HR professionals are not Just HR leaders anymore. They must become Business Partners with strong business capabilities with abilities to lead the HR function with use of both data and creativity.