HR's Roles: Beyond the Functional Expert

The roles of HR professionals have significantly evolved and become more well defined over the last four years, suggests a recent survey conducted by the Human Resource Institute (HRI). No longer is the primary role of all HR professionals expected to be that of "functional expert," as was reported in the 1998 version of HRI's "The Role and Structure of Human Resources" survey. The 2002 version shows that being a "business partner" and a "strategic thinker" is even more important than functional expertise in some areas of the organization. In short, HR professionals seem to be making progress in assuming organizational roles that add more organizational value than does their historical role as an expert administrator.
In 1998, HRI asked a group of high-level HR professionals at over 70 companies to gauge the importance of a variety of HR roles, such as business partner, functional expert, operational planner, and resource manager. HRI asked this question as it related to business units, shared service centers, and corporate headquarters. In each case, respondents said that HR professionals' most important role was that of functional expert.
In 2002, HRI asked the same question again, this time to a smaller (26) but more select group of organizations. While the 1998 survey participants included various medium-sized as well as large organizations, the 2002 version was limited to large companies, mainly Fortune 500 corporations along with a few governmental organizations. These differences between the 1998 and 2002 respondent groups make direct comparisons problematic, but the 2002 responses do indicate that – at least in large organizations – an HR professional's primary role now depends on where in the organization she or he is working.
When asked to rank the most important roles for HR professionals within business units, the respondents placed "business partner" at the top, followed by "change agent," "consultant," and "HR strategist/planner." In 2002, the role of "functional expert" was ranked in a relatively low position, as the eighth most important role in business units.
When asked to gauge the importance of roles for HR professionals within corporate headquarters, however, the responses were markedly different. The most important role was "strategic thinker," followed by "policy setting," "HR strategist/planner" and "business leader." The role of "functional expert" was the fifth most important role out of 15 listed roles.
Only for HR professionals working in shared service centers or centers of excellence was the role of "functional expert" seen to be of primary importance, just as it was in the 1998 survey. The next most important roles were, in order, "administration," "consultant," and "compliance." For this question, the 1998 and the 2002 responses were not markedly different, suggesting that roles of HR professionals working in shared services or centers of excellence have been relatively unchanged over time.
Another question asked in this survey was, "To what extent is each of the following human resource initiatives present in your organization?" The most highly rated response to this question was "being a business partner," followed by "being a strategic thinker," "facilitating change," and "measurement/HR metrics."
These findings jibe fairly well with other recent analyses of the HR function. A new study from the University of Michigan Business School, for example, finds that top-performing organizations tend to involve their HR professionals at a strategic level. That is, these HR pros not only identify factors that are critical to business strategy, they actually help establish strategy. One aspect of this strategic role is the facilitation of "fast change." The University of Michigan study finds that fully 43% of HR's impact on business performance is directly linked to its strategic contribution.
In a similar vein, a survey conducted by Deloitte & Touche consultancy and American University found that large organizations are elevating HR so that it can serve a more strategic rather than just a transactional role. Such studies support HRI's finding that it's extremely important for HR professionals to wear the mantle of strategic thinker, especially at the corporate level. This role is the source from which successful organizations derive a great deal of their HR value. This doesn't mean, however, that HR can ignore its roles as business partner or functional expert. In the business units and the shared service centers, these roles are still preeminently important.