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Mapping a strategic approach to HR leadership

Andrea Adams (Based at Triumpha, Manchester, UK)

Strategic HR Review

ISSN: 1475-4398

Article publication date: 1 January 2012

5260

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss the contribution that strategic human resourcing (HR) makes to organizational success and the crucial conversations that HR must orchestrate to truly fulfill its strategic role.

Design/methodology/approach

Strategic HR has the potential to modernize management practice, bringing it into line with the needs of the twenty‐first century organization. The paper acknowledges that while the role of strategic HR is understood, there is often a difference between this understanding and what happens in practice – the “knowing‐doing” gap. To show how this gap can be addressed it presents a case study of building strategic HR capability in a leading retailer. This case study defines strategic HR's role in the case organization and charts its evolution. The process of building strategic HR capability is described in detail, and components of the resulting strategic development plan demonstrate a staged process for embedding strategic capability in the HR team.

Findings

Strategic HR balances business demands with the needs of the organization and its workforce to adapt to change. Effective strategy builders facilitate conversations beyond the bounds of the HR team. They hold the organization's vision and work in the space between this and the organization's “current reality” to create a more sustainable future for all of the organization's stakeholders.

Practical implications

Building strategic HR capability is building HR business leadership. To lead their organizations, HR people must first lead themselves. The case study shows how HR people can build confidence and strategic leadership capability through a planned change process. It also shows how to build appetite and expectation for a strategic HR contribution among line colleagues.

Originality/value

The paper shows the critical importance of strategic HR leadership to today's organizations. It acknowledges that there is often a knowing‐doing gap for HR professionals and an “appetite” gap for line colleagues. Triumpha's strategic HR development framework shows how capability can be developed and put into practice to create a more sustainable future for all of an organization's stakeholders.

Keywords

Citation

Adams, A. (2012), "Mapping a strategic approach to HR leadership", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 31-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/14754391211186296

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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