What if there was a new way of approaching HR? An approach grounded in a different paradigm, with a focus on building sustainable organisations through their people?
The 20th Century model of HR is failing to support 21st Century employers. It's time to drop the patchwork offering developed over the last fifty years and create a new model built around 21st Century people issues.
It's time for HR 2.1
The new HR focuses on nurturing individual and organisational capital
It's about supporting wellbeing and balance; and it goes beyond simple stress management to positive physical and mental health - which in turn leads to employee engagement. It's about knowledge sharing across organisational and geographic boundaries. It's about effective communication and treating everyone with dignity. And it's underpinned by pragmatic, integrated and legally compliant HR policies that provide effective support for line managers in their people management tasks.
The new HR is about attracting, developing and retaining talent
Organisational success has never before been so reliant on having the right employees. The creative and service based economies of the 21st Century rely almost entirely on skilled people capable of adding value to a product, service or brand. Even in the midst of recession these essential organisational resources are becoming harder to attract and retain. What's more, talent is not always readily spotted. It doesn't come in a single, easily recognised, package but is as diverse as the people who work for you.
Talent cultivation strategies must acknowledge and accommodate these individual differences - whether that means offering flexible working as standard, recognising cultural expectations or adjusting for disability. It means rethinking attraction and recruitment strategies; and reviewing assumptions about how people create their careers.
The new HR is about enabling organisations to cope with rapid change, uncertainty and complexity
Traditional models of culture change with neatly phased steps and project plans are no longer enough. Competitive advantage increasingly lies in identifying and crating futures that are radically different from the past. The new HR is about harnessing emergent thinking in the social sciences - such as Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Psychology - to support individuals and organisations in creating a dynamic vision for their best future.
"The traditional 'prize' of financial returns is shifting toward sustainability: is HR ready?"
Professor John Boudreau (one of my favourite thought leaders)
Are you ready to redesign work for the 21st Century?
Download the HR 2.1 model. Browse around the ideas on these web pages. And get in touch if you think we can work together to build a new paradigm for 21st Century HR support.
Anna Allan
Page last updated 17 March 2009
