Shifting HR from transactional to transformational

The global pandemic has resulted in people having to work in radically new and different ways. To help people transform their ways of working and support them through the transition HR has been pushed to the front of organizational efforts to survive the crisis and consequently has increased its credibility and reputation. Now as organizations begin to emerge from the constraints imposed by the pandemic, HR has the opportunity to build upon its enhanced position to shift its role from being transitional to transformational. In our book ‘Reshaping HR: the role of HR in Organizational Change” * we call for the need to reposition HR so that it grasps the opportunities for making a strategic and value-adding contribution to organizations. This requires HR to: First, understand how the forces for change (such as the global pandemic and technological advances) are impacting on organizations across the globe and affecting the nature of work, the workforce, and all stakeholders and what this means for the role that HR can play; Second, appreciate the importance of engaging multiple stakeholders in the architecture and experience of the change process. Whenever feasible, stakeholders need to participate in identifying what needs to change and then to be involved in making change happen and ensuring it is embedded and sustained; Third, HR needs to be intentional about the way its role is shaped, becoming more stakeholder focused and with a stronger emphasis on creating change through people.

This means understanding how people (HR) practices can drive and sustain organizational change. This is not about reorganizing or restructuring the HR organization, although this is likely to be a required enabler. Nor is it about HR getting a “seat at the table” (it has had a seat at the senior table for a long time). Indeed, the “seat at the table” argument may distract HR from realising the real value that can be added to organizational changes. Instead what this means, in practice, is effective and value-adding HR support will engage with multiple stakeholders on strategic change themes such as: integrating new people practices and processes and ways of working; identifying how to attract, develop and utilize talent; creating higher levels of engagement with organizational change; identifying new individual and organizational capabilities; shaping and creating a high-performance culture; and helping managers to manage people more effectively through transitions.  This means HR extending its scope of influence beyond the traditional lines of the function to the organization and ecosystem as a whole, and broaden its focus from employees to the wider organization and all of its’ stakeholders. This will require some significant changes to maximize HR’s impact, including:

•  Thinking about stakeholders differently. Rather than considering stakeholders from an internal perspective only, they should also be considered from an external perspective. Applying a stakeholder lens will drive a critical shift in HR thinking and this shift is the foundation on which other transformational priorities can be built.
• Developing new capabilities. HR will need to adopt a new mindset and embrace new skills and behaviours that will allow the organization to thrive in the digital age.
• Increasing the efficiency through which HR transactional activities occur using automation. HR will have to widely deploy advanced technology in order to promote productivity and value and to simplify the employee experience.
• Capturing data that will facilitate the development of more data driven decision making.
• Elevating the focus of HR through driving tangible, measurable value across the organization, using value measures that are aligned to the strategies of the organization.
• Building cutting-edge, holistic, and organization relevant people practices that are stakeholder-centred, agile, and which focus on enabling the organization to succeed.

 With rapid change occurring within and beyond the organization, the decision about where to focus time and attention is a critical one. In our view, the areas outlined above should be at the forefront of the HR agenda in order to transform the function into a finely tuned and effective engine that is transformational, relevant, a value creator, and stakeholder-centric which helps to drive the organization forward. Transactional operations will always be important, and will always be there, so it is critical that they are done well, but they need to be provided by technology and implemented by managers rather than HR practitioners. By shifting to a transformational role, HR will be able to extend its influence and impact to help achieve organizational effectiveness and wellbeing.

*https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reshaping-HR-Role-Organizational-Change/dp/0367642131/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.routledge.com/Reshaping-HR-The-Role-of-HR-in-Organizational-Change/Hodges-Crabtree/p/book/9780367642136

 Authors

Julie Hodges, is a Professor of Organizational Change and Associate Dean at Durham University Business School. Julie has published in a number of international journals on change in organisations. She is the author of several books including ‘Consultancy, Organizational Development and Change’, ‘ Managing and Leading People through Change’ (Kogan Page); Sustaining Change in Organizations(Sage) and ‘Employee Engagement for Organizational Change’ (Routledge) and ‘Organization Development: how organizations change and develop effectively’ (Palgrave McMillan). Her latest book is ‘Reshaping the HR: the role of HR in organizational change’. 

 Mark Crabtree established his own consultancy business in 2019 after working in Higher Education in senior HR and HRD roles between 2002 and 2018. After studying Social Psychology and Social Science at Newcastle University and completing his Institute of Personnel qualification University of Northumbria, Mark moved into the field of training and organisation development. As a qualified coach, mediator and award-winning facilitator; Mark has over 30 years’ experience of leading the development, management, implementation and delivery/facilitation of engaging learning and organisation development strategies and initiatives.