Trendline
Death of HR Talent?

Global corporations are struggling
to find human-resources professionals with the skills to support business unit managers, according to McKinsey’s Study of HR directors from 20 global corporations. The study also found that core HR services such as employee data management and recruiting are often poorly executed.

“The troubling gulf between the needs of the business and the ability of HR to respond will force many companies to rethink their approach to recruitment, training and development of HR employees,” concluded the study.
While half the HR directors in the sample said they were well positioned to meet the goals of the company, more than onethird admitted they were not. The shortfall was attributed to lack of HR talent with the business savvy to support the efforts of the business unit leaders in managing people for high performance.

One HR executive reported “the company reduced the number of HR positions supporting the business unit by 35% because we just didn’t have the capability.”
The impact of such actions result in a lack of integration between HR and the business
agendas. “We know we’re not aligned. We’ve changed the business strategy significantly two times in the past five years, but out HR strategy is exactly the same,” reported another senior HR executive.

The second complaint was HR’s burden with tactical versus strategic activities. “HR personnel were too busy propping up poorly managed services and operations and navigating overengineered processes to add strategic value,” concluded the study. One HR director testified “our company’s processes are so complex that even our HR people don’t understand them.”

Some large companies are trying a new approach — hire skilled HR generalists that focus on tasks at the business unit level. Then, they retain specialist services providers who have the requisite expertise to design, run and improve HR processes. With these
two varied roles, the approaches to recruiting, training and career planning will need changes.

The study concluded, “Business unit managers and HR generalists will need to be supported by a distinct cadre of service providers — those who excel at flawless process execution and possess deep expertise in a particular service area.”

For the complete study, visit: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1618&L2=18&L3=31&srid=17&gp=0

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