As you return to your desks and your emails the short-term pressures may seem overwhelming. But somehow time has to be found for strategic thinking. Can you imagine what your profession will be like in 10 years? What will be the most lasting and important HR policies? Of course, no one can predict the future. But we can at least try to visualise what the pressure-points are going to be, and where the profession has to go to contribute most effectively to an organisation.

In this issue we make our predictions, and our first HR challenge concerns professional credibility. You will have heard this many times but it is still an issue for many HR departments and nothing can be achieved without it. Indeed, Nikki Rolfe, a fiery new HR star at LOral UK, believes too few HR directors have proved that they are board material. Is this true or just a sign of HRs lack of confidence?

In another interview, Steve Harvey, director for people, profit and loyalty at Microsoft (UK), shows that sometimes it takes an accountant to knock an HR department into shape. It is damning to hear him say that the HR functions poor performance of old had not affected the bottom line. However, after taking over and re-styling it personally, Harvey measures its current success in simple terms: in the past one and a half years, he says, Microsoft (UK) has not lost any of its A-players.

Credibility, therefore, has to be the starting point. We predict also that HR will have to take a far greater interest in corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and technological and demographic change. Two features look more closely at the way HR can use technology. One focuses on three companies ScottishPower, Pfizer UK and the Royal Bank of Scotland which have used technology to improve their learning strategies. The second one, in our e-HR portfolio, looks more broadly at HR and technology.

The future of Marks & Spencer continues to spark debate. Peter Oborne compares the fortunes of this national institution to the Conservative Party and Chris Goscombe, head of people and organisational development at easyJet, reviews The Rise and Fall of Marks & Spencer by journalist Judi Bevan.

We are calling for entries to the HR Excellence Awards 2002 now in its seventh year. The deadline is 15 February. There is no better way to measure your HR performance against the best. Details can be found on our website, www.humanresourcesmagazine.com, or by contacting Anne Currie (020 8267 4017).

Morice Mendoza

Editor