Transforming HR, Second Edition: Creating value through people (The HR Series)

371 Pages·2009·3.72 MB·English

by  Martin Reddington, Mark Withers, Mark Williamson

Transforming HR
Second Edition
HR Series preface
The HR Series is edited by Julie Beardwell, Associate Dean, Leeds Business School, and
Linda Holbeche, Director of Research and Policy at CIPD, and is designed to plug the gap
between theory and implementation. The books draw on real-life examples of strategic HR
in practice and offer practical insights into how HR can add value to the business through
transforming individual and functional delivery. Intended for serious HR professionals
who aspire to make a real difference within their organisation, The HR Series provides
resources to inform, empower and inspire the HR leaders of the future.
Also available in The HR Series
Change, Conflict and Community:
Challenging Thought and Action
Kenton and Penn
ISBN: 9780750681940
HR - The Business Partner:
Shaping a New Direction
Kenton & Yarnall
ISBN: 9780750664547
The Changing World of the Trainer:
Emerging Good Practice
Sloman
ISBN: 9780750680530
Organization Design:
The Collaborative Approach
Stanford
ISBN: 9780750663670
Strategic Career Management:
Developing Your Talent
Yarnall
ISBN: 9780750683692
Transforming HR
Creating Value through People
Second Edition
Mark Withers, Mark Williamson
and Martin Reddington
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD
PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
30 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803
First Edition 2005
Second Edition 2010
Copyright © 2010 Mark Withers, Mark Williamson and Martin Reddington
Published by Elsevier Ltd.
The right of Mark Withers, Mark Williamson and Martin Reddington to be identified as the authors
of this work has been asserted in accordance with the copyright, Designs and Parents Act 1988
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Attributions
To Anna, Mireille and Amelia
To Cathy, Tom and Emma
To Colin, James and Edward
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
The Authors xiii
Introduction 1
Part 1 Context 7
1 A Transformational Mindset 9
2 HR Transformation – How Are We Doing? 27
3 What Is HR’s Value Proposition? 45
Part 2 The Case for Change 65
4 People and Technology 67
5 Envisioning the New World of HR 93
6 The Business Rationale 113
7 Stakeholder Engagement and Communication 141
Part 3 Planning and Implementation 171
8 Service Delivery Approaches 173
9 Programme Management 205
10 Implementation: Capability and Culture 233
11 Implementation: Process and Technology 267
12 Benefits Realisation 283
Part 4 Realising the Promise of HR Transformation 295
13 The Business of HR 297
Summary of Key Points and Actions 315
Contents
Appendix 1: Organisational Levers Output 321
Appendix 2: Illustrative Survey Statements 331
Appendix 3: Scope of HR 333
Appendix 4: Extract from an Accountabilities Workshop 335
Appendix 5: Return on Investment and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 343
References 345
Contributing Senior Practitioners 349
Index 351
viii
Foreword
It is hard to imagine a more important time for the HR function to be able to make
a strategic contribution to business. Today’s volatile competitive context is driv-
ing the need for organisational change and innovation. Underlying shifts towards
more knowledge and service-intensive economies place people centre stage as the
principal source of competitive advantage and wealth creation.
Yet people are no passive source of economic activity. The ‘right’ people can be
in short supply, they require the ‘right’ kinds of management and leadership and
the right kinds of HRM practice if they are to perform at their best and to ‘engage’
with the organisation. If not, they go elsewhere. And if HR’s primary responsibil-
ity is to devise and implement strategies to secure for organisations the talent they
need to succeed, HR teams are likely to find that recruiting, motivating and retain-
ing the right people are likely to be ongoing challenges in the years ahead.
But just having the ‘right people on the bus’ as Jim Collins would say, is of little
use unless those people are able and willing to effectively deploy their talents in
the interests of the organisation, even as their organisations change. Because even
if today’s challenging context makes transparent the need for organisational agil-
ity, many organisations have cultures which are not conducive to change or high
performance. Building corporate agility and its underlying cultural capabilities
makes special demands of both HR and line managers, and requires HR practi-
tioners to develop new skills even as they deliver an organisational transformation
agenda. So, HR transformation is far from being an end in itself: it is a means to
the end of competitive success and organisational effectiveness.
In the first edition of this book, authors Martin Reddington, Mark Williamson
and Mark Withers explored and illustrated the process of HR process transforma-
tion. They argued that by improving the way operational and transactional HR was
delivered, HR professionals could free themselves up to make a more strategic
contribution. And while the authors focused on the ‘how’ of HR transformation,
they also raised the question of what a transformed HR service could deliver.
This new edition takes the logic of HR transformation to the next level. The
authors focus not only on the ‘how’ but also on the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of HR
transformation. The authors show us what a strategic contribution by HR can look
Foreword
like. Success is about ‘creating organisations that compete effectively in their cho-
sen markets, delivering value to customers, superior performance and opportunity
to employees’. But to be able to deliver that agenda, HR needs to develop its own
delivery model and capabilities. The authors argue against a ‘one size fits all’
formula for HR delivery and instead provide helpful step-by-step approaches to
guide the reader through the choices facing HR practitioners who want to trans-
form their functions to produce higher value contributions.
The authors’ combined expertise in HR transformation, based on their back-
grounds in HR, research, management and consultancy, provides a powerful plat-
form for their thinking and recommendations. And as the authors point out, unless
HR can transform itself to the next level, the function’s value becomes question-
able. At this point of inflexion for the HR function I commend the authors for this
helpful, inspirational and strategic yet practical book. Any HR practitioners aim-
ing to move their function up the value chain will benefit from the wisdom, insight
and sensible recommendations it contains.
Linda Holbeche
Director of Research and Policy
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
May 2009
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