HR as a Strategic Partner
SHRM in China (BICIS 2010)
Strategic HR Management
If HR is to be a strategic partner of the organisation and sit on the executive team then the HR Manager must be a senior strategic manager, not just a line manager who is taking an opportunity for progression without any real desire or strategic purpose for the role.
Human Resource Management focus is strategically integrating the HR principals of the business and helping to decide the strategic purpose of the organisation. HRM is a contributor to the success of any company and needs to be focussed on extracting the maximum out of people within the organisation. This cannot necessarily be achieved by a non-specialise who lacks the knowledge and maybe the strategic skills that the role requires.
To integrate HRM across an organisation it is key that the HR Manager trains and gets involvement from Front Line and other Managers in the HR strategy and processes. This involvement may develop a culture within these managers and the company that is linked to the overall strategic outcomes. However, due to the potential silo focus of line managers they can adopt the skills required but this does not necessarily mean that they could become HR Managers in the future.
In my article research the best practice companies have HR Managers that are a strategic partner in the business and that these HR Managers are specialists, not line managers who are ‘parked’ in HR for some period of time.