As the lead strategist for human resources management, the Chief Human Resources Officer has a major part to play in ensuring the company’s long-term success – a success that must be founded on highly effective people development strategies, encompassing far more than just a competitive pay scale. The human resources function must finally move beyond defining HR processes to embrace strategic elements as well. Only then will HR be able to make a genuine contribution to the organization’s capabilities.

Recent Economic Developments have made it dramatically clear that it is not the invisible hand of the market that determines the success or failure of an enterprise, but the people who work there. It was the poor decisions made by many individuals and the criminal behavior of a few that touched off the downward spiral of the current crisis – providing the ultimate proof that human resources are a decisive factor in the fate of the economy. Given this background, it seems remarkable that the public debate and commentary on the situation ignores, or at best only touches on, any connection to fundamental flaws in corporate human resources (HR) policies, or – as is most likely – in their execution.

Why this blind spot? The answer lies in the way human resources management is perceived as a discipline. HR is still widely seen as an administrative function and, in many cases, has not yet been invited to bring its capabilities to the “strategic table.” Furthermore, it remains the case that in many organizations the head of HR does not sit on the board of management, but reports to it.

Read full article "The human touch" in the edition of THE FOCUS on Reward.