The CIPD'S Next Generation HR report, released today, shows a greater focus among senior business leaders on sustainability and performance, but has warned HR directors that it is time ‘the rest of HR caught up with the best of HR'.
The report identifies opportunities for HR to put challenging insight at the heart of its work, so HR professionals can build business savvy into what they do, taking into account people, cultural and political factors in order to ‘build organisations that last'.
It urges HR to move away from the role of a ‘corporate policeman', but instead make informed decisions, based on deep insight and delivered in a confident, trusted and respected manner.
CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme said: "The world has changed and business is changing too. Those changes play to the strengths of the best of HR as our research has found. But if the rest of HR doesn't catch up with the best of HR, the profession will get left behind. We have seen glimpses of the future in our work. Our determination is to play a leading role in ensuring this emergent next generation practice continues to a swift evolution of HR from its performance-driven and process-owning heritage to the provider of relevant and timely insight that adds real future value to organisations.
"In publishing this first report and our ongoing work with the Next Generation HR project, we are building a movement for change in HR. We will be taking our findings on the road, reaching out to CEOs and HR leaders to stimulate debate.
"We want to work with HR functions to help them become truly insight-driven, and to support the development of the next generation of HR talent to be able to step up to the plate.
"The danger for HR is that if it does not step up with sufficient urgency or credibility, it will get left behind as CEOs turn elsewhere for the solutions to the challenges we have identified."
