HR Manager, We Need You

In today’s post, David Claramunt, the professor of Global MBA in Digital Business and an HR expert, gives 5 tips that each HR manager should try to live by. Read on to learn more about the everyday hero who will shape the future success of the companies. During the last crisis, the companies' management committees looked at the financial director and the financial controller in search of solutions and guidance on how to act. In a world where the revenues dropped drastically, the forecasts of when the crisis would end failed, and the decisions on how to use economic resources had to be taken to ensure the survival of the business - they were the stars. In any workshop, meeting or committee they where in the critical path of the company. Nowadays, the company's finances continue to be as important as ever, but now the glances are looking for a new star. Someone who has always been there, someone who has always been important, but now must become the hero who draws the destiny of the company. Never before, at least in what I remember since the world of work in the '80s, have we had so much uncertainty about what skills are needed, what type of provisioning of these skills is optimal for the company, and, above all, we have never had such a big gap between what we know today and what we must do the day after tomorrow.Sounds like science fiction, when in fact it's not: the incursion of robots into work beyond the industrial world, artificial intelligence, cognitive systems, the disappearance of hundreds of jobs and the emergence of new skills needed for jobs that do not exist yet, are our new reality. In many sectors, new business models will completely reconfigure our organizations. All that constitutes a challenge for our organization, but especially for our brand new hero: the HR manager. Hereunder you can consult my high-level-top-5 tips for this new hero of the organization: 1. You should define an objective and carry out a diagnosis of the company, but without hiding any risk. You should polish a faithful mirror where the company recognizes itself, distinguishes the lights and shadows. You must share it with the management committee and with the rest of the company in a transparent way. This must be the first step, but don’t let it take up too much of your time as you are in a hurry. 2. Do not accept any Status Quo. Everything can be questioned and redesigned if it is really important for the future of the company. The legacy must be respected and it is, surely, essential in many cases, but where it is not, it must be changed. 3. Design a vision, a plan and persevere. It will not be easy to execute and there will be constant inhibitors. Not everybody will understand the plan and it may seem not to be aligned with some of the other initiatives. What you should ensure is that it is aligned with the core values of the organization Persevere and always keep the employee in mind. 4. Look outside your organization! There are many successful initiatives already invented from large companies to SMEs through start-ups. Many of them with a low economic cost and easy to implement into a work plan. It is also true that none of them will be worth as-it-is to apply in your company; you must always adapt it to your reality. 5. Days, months and years go by quickly. You must turn the HR team into a team of agile project management with constant deliveries of products, experiences and actions. If it's not important for people, don't deliver it. Have a clear agenda, do not lose heart and you will see how you will obtain results. Be transparent, be fair, and always explain to everyone what you are doing. Trust people, believe in your team. The organization needs your inspiration for its survival...

Good Luck, Digital HR!

David Claramunt Professor of the Global MBA in Digital Business Head of People & Communications at Grup Banc Sabadell