A NEW MANDATE FOR HUMAN RESOURCES -by Dave Ulrich BRIEF OVERVIEW: The article describes how and

why a new role or agenda for the Human resource managers should be created in todays changing times in order for organizations to achieve organizational excellence. This new role would be a drastic change from the existing roles defined for the HR managers and will be defined on the outcomes and the enriching results rather than mere operation. The article also explains why the role of HR managers has increased significantly nowadays which is due to the competitive challenges like globalization, technology, intellectual capital and frequent change. For greater organizational capability, there should be new roles and mandates defined for HR managers, which are, becoming partners in strategy execution, administrative experts, employee champions and change agents. Lastly, the article explains that the senior operating managers should communicate to the organization the importance of soft stuff, set specific goals for HR managers, invest in innovative HR practices and upgrade HR professionals, to create an atmosphere in the organization in which HR is focused on outcomes instead of activities.

SUMMARY
The calls to abolish HR from organizations have risen to great levels in recent years because of its beleaguered reputation, but the truth is that HR is more necessary than ever to achieve organizational excellence. Instead of doing away with HR, the senior managers need to create a new mandate which depends on what HR delivers rather than what it does. The responsibility for transforming the role of HR belongs to the CEO and every line manager in the organization. The new agenda should not be imposed on the HR staff; rather a partnership must be formed for a gradual transformation. Why HR matters now More than ever Companies today face many critical business challenges and they require new capabilities to tackle them. It becomes the responsibility of HR to lead the organizations to meet these emerging challenges. With respect to Globalization, the global markets are expanding rapidly and managers have to think globally and act locally. The organizations also need to increase their ability to learn quickly and manage diversity, complexity and ambiguity. Considering profitability through growth, revenue growth will become more important now and this requires acquiring new customers and developing new products. Hence free flow of information to increase creativity and innovation is required, apart from integration of the companies work cultures. With respect to technology, there is constant movement of ideas and information making it a challenge for managers to make the best use of available technology, making it a productive and viable part of the work setting. Considering intellectual capital, from now on,

successful companies will be those who are able attract and retain individuals who are capable to drive the organization towards better responsiveness to customers and changing technology. But perhaps the greatest challenge the companies face is adjusting to constant change and hence they must learn rapidly and continuously, innovate on a regular basis and implement new strategies fast and comfortably. HRs new role The new challenges mean that the only differentiating factor that remains in companies is the organization and its capabilities like speed, responsiveness, agility and employee competence. Hence the four ways in which HR can deliver organizational excellence can be explained as below. Becoming a partner in strategy execution: HR executives cannot not be making strategy, but they should very well be guiding the discussion of how the company should be organized to carry out its strategy. Creating the conditions for this discussion involves four steps. Firstly, HR should identify the underlying model of the companys way of doing business. The HR staff must use one of the several frameworks to define the architecture and this architecture should be explained very clearly and explicitly. Next, HR must be accountable for conducting an organizational audit and must shepherd the dialogue about the companys blueprints. Third, HR should identify methods to renovate the relevant parts of the organizational architecture and take lead in implementing changes in cultural change programs. Finally, HR must set clear priorities for itself after careful assessment and importance of the various initiatives at hand. Ultimately, this new knowledge will allow HR to add value to the executive team. Becoming an administrative expert: HR will need to shed the traditional image of rule making policy police and will have to improve the efficiency of both their own function and the entire organization. This will also build HRs credibility apart from decreasing costs. HR executives can also prove their value by rethinking how the work is done throughout the organization and can also create centers of expertise of analysis of vital information. Becoming an employee champion: As employees are asked to perform more and more for lesser pay and companies withdraw the old employment contract, the employees lack true motivation and organizational commitment. HR professionals should be accountable for ensuring that employees are engaged and they contribute fully. HR must be responsible for orienting training line management about the importance of high employee morale and the causes of low morale. HR staff must also be an advocate for the employees, they must represent the employees to management and be their voice in management discussions, and this advocacy should not be invisible. Becoming a change agent: The primary difference between winning and losing firms will be the ability to respond to the constant changes. HR hence has the job of building the organizations capacity to embrace and capitalize on change. It must make sure the change initiatives are

defined, developed, and delivered in a timely way. Also, HRs role as a change agent is also to replace resistance and fear of change with excitement. To make this happen, HR must follow a four step process: defining and clarifying the concept of cultural change, articulating why change is necessary, defining a process for assessing the gap between existing and new cultures and lastly, identifying alternative methods to create the change. Four changes for the line It is very important that the senior executives change what they expect from HR and how they behave towards the HR staff. There are four ways senior operating managers can create an era in which HR is focused on outcomes. Firstly, they must communicate to the organization that soft stuff matters; for HR to be taken seriously, senior managers must demonstrate that they believe typical HR issues are critical to business success. Operating managers can signal this belief by talking about how this creates value for investors, customers and employees; by investing due time to make sure organizational changes are implemented; by including HR professionals in strategy discussions and by stating the importance of HR in strategy implementation. Secondly, the managers must define the deliverables from HR and hold HR accountable for their results. A company has much better chance of achieving its goals if senior managers state specific expectations from HR and then track, measure and reward their performance. Third, the managers should always be on the lookout for new technologies and practices in the field of HR and be ready invest in innovative HR practices. This is another way to signal the worthiness of HR to the companys money and attention. Managers should also be aware of the HR practices going on at other companies and practices being advocated by consultants. Lastly, the hardest but the most important thing senior managers can do is to improve the quality of the HR staff itself. This can be done through training of incumbent professionals, bringing in talent from other parts of the company or from hiring from outside. The HR staff must be made of people who have the requisite skills to effect real changes in the organization and earn respect. In order for HR professionals to meet the increased expectations, they must act professionally, focusing more on deliverables, articulating their role in terms of the value they create and creating and measuring mechanisms to ensure business results at a faster rate. Senior executives, who recognize the economic value of HR, need to invest in HR and destroy the stereotype of HR professionals being incompetent and value sapping support staff.

CRITICAL REVIEW:
The article A new mandate for human resources, by Dave Ulrich succinctly explains the authors view and provides a roadmap for the HR professionals to contribute to organizational excellence and improve the beleaguered reputation about HR. With a single minded approach to transform the role of HR under current business practices, it focuses on revitalizing the HR function and subsequently answers the question as to what organizations should do with its HR capabilities to survive in todays global environment. The article goes on to explain the various competitive challenges that are leading to the importance of HR and the four new roles that should be defined and executed by the HR. The article is concluded nicely by providing appropriate direction to the senior managers about how to make HR in their companies focus more on outcomes and make them an agent for positive change within the organization by describing four ways explicitly. In view of the fact that this has been included in the introductory sessions for the PGP course on HR, it makes great sense that the article that highlights the increased importance of HR in the present scenario before the students delve into the depths of the subject. The lack of interest among the students for a career in HR is a known fact and one of the driving factors for this is the beleaguered reputation of the HR professionals across industries, as rightly mentioned in the article. Hence, explaining the reasons for such a stereotype and introducing the new mandates and responsibilities which make HR more accountable is an apt and relevant way for introducing the course to PGP students. The language used by the author is lucid but the absence of quality anecdotal instances to corroborate the stated facts lead to boredom and development of disinterest after a while. Though it has some very important references to current HR practices in leading organizations, but having them more often could have justified the laid down principles and increased their clarity amongst the readers. Further, it seems to be a seminal article providing a guide for present day management to survive in the global and competitive environment leveraging the HR function. You might appreciate the pertinence of Why HR Matters Now More Than Ever but the roles and responsibilities defined for the new HR under the current purview presents more than an idealistic situation. The underlying mandate of making the HR an employee champion seems to be much more relevant than any other holistic idea such as enriching this support function with administrative expertise or for that matter becoming a strategic partner within the organization. The article seems to be shouldering the HR function with too many responsibilities across all business functions which in no way forms a part of many organizations operational today and who have established themselves as global leaders in their businesses. However, believing in these roles and making an effort to implement them cant do much harm if not good.

If you are a PGP student with little or no interest in HR, the article with succeed in making you understand the importance of HR in the current day scenario, that is, if it doesnt put you to sleep in the first place. But if you are a manager looking for some deep insights to leverage the HR function or a HR professional looking for ways to develop your career path further, then there possibly the article may be your one stop solution. Overall the article appears to be the work of an expert who has researched his thoughts and ideas well enough to be able to put them in a stream of words which give valuable addition to your knowledge.