HR practitioners 'need business savvy' | Human Resource Vetting

Stephen Wilkinson

Human resources professionals need to develop a better understanding of wider business issues, a new survey has suggested.

Three-fifths of HR practitioners interviewed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) agree that the profession needs to improve its appreciation of business issues.

However, respondents offered the view that developing ?business savvy? can be easier said than done.

CIPD is urging HR to use its unique insight into the interrelationship between people, the organisation and the wider context in which it operates in order to drive organisational performance.

In a new report, the body explores the key foundations required for HR professionals to pursue their stewardship role from a grounded business perspective.

Business savvy gives HR credibility and the courage to challenge the relentless pursuit of short term goals that can be detrimental to the long term success of the organisation, it stated.

According to CIPD, HR practitioners need to understand the business model at depth, appreciating where value is created and destroyed within their organisations.

They should be able to identify people-related improvement points which drive value and enhance organisational performance, it said.

HR staff should also be able to generate insight through evidence and data, CIPD claimed.

?The most effective HR professionals have the courage to ask questions and look for explanations even when the knowledge required seems masked in technical or professional jargon,? the report noted.

Next, they should demonstrate curiosity about why and how the business operates, with the purpose of identifying opportunities for improvement.

?HR professionals should not wait to be asked but should take a proactive approach to making connections across the business and collaborating at all levels,? CIPD suggested.

And finally, they should lead with integrity, consideration and challenge, serving stakeholders by retaining a strong stewardship role.

Stephanie Bird, director of HR capability and public policy at the CIPD, commented: ?We know that many HR practitioners find it hard to understand what business savvy really is, and how to develop it.

?This report is the first step in helping them to understand just that. It is also clear that without it their credibility as professionals is damaged, and their ability to challenge flawed pursuits is fatally undermined.??

John McGurk, learning and talent development adviser at the CIPD, added that business savvy practitioners at all levels are ?essential? if HR is to fulfil its potential to be central to organisational strategy.

Source: ashdowngroup

?It is encouraging to see that the majority of HR professionals get this and continually and instinctively step up to the challenge,? he noted.

Source: ashdowngroup

http://www.ashdowngroup.com/news/hr-practitioners-need-business-savvy?news-801320365

Source: http://hrvetting.com/2012/03/19/savvy/

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