Recently in Strategic HR Category

As global trade continues to increase sharply, general managers and HR professionals must understand what is required to do business in emerging economies. In this video, Wayne Brockbank talks about two key questions that global organizations must consider: First, what are the basic requirements of doing business in emerging markets? Second, how do we leverage these countries as sources of competitive advantage? (8 min)

Additional Publications

What knowledge and abilities distinguish successful HR professionals? Learn about the six competencies identified in the largest study of global HR competenices in HR Competencies by Dave Ulrich, Wayne Brockbank, Jon Younger, Kurt Sandholtz, and Dani Johnson.

We've uncovered a few Do's and Don'ts while watching HR departments go through the process of transformation. In Part 3 of our series on HR Transformation, Mark Nyman shares a few of his favorite tips that will help you make your HR Transformation a real success:

• Link HR Transformation efforts to the company's strategy and business model and to the needs of external customers
• Benchmark against organizations that share a similar business model
• Separate transactional HR work from transformational HR work
• Think about outputs not departments
• Remember that "Strategic Work" is not the same as "Level in the Organization"

Click the play button below to watch Mark Nyman explain each of these tips in detail.

Additional Resources

	Watch "HR Transformation (Part 2): Four Steps to HR Transformation" by Dave Ulrich.
	Watch "HR Transformation (Part 1): Making the case for HR Transformation" by Jon Younger.

We've worked with many HR departments as they go through the process of transformation. What we've discovered is a four-step model for really doing transformation well. Successful projects address these steps by answering four basic questions: Why - What - How - Who. In part two of our series on HR Transformation, Dave Ulrich discusses why each step is critical to the success of your HR Transformation project. (5 min)

Additional Resources

Watch "HR Transformation (Part 1):Making the case for HR Transformation" by Jon Younger.

On behalf of everyone here at The RBL Group, I would like to sincerely congratulate our colleague Dave Ulrich, along with the outstanding consulting associates and members of the RBL Institute who were recently named HR Magazine's "Most Influential People in HR".

I must say that I was not surprised to read about the various recognitions -- Dave Ulrich of RBL and David Fairhurst of McDonalds Europe were recognized as "The Most Influential People in HR." Additionally, RBL Institute members Neil Roden (Royal Bank of Scotland), Duncan Brown  (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Stephen Kelly (BBC), and Madalyn Brooks (Procter & Gamble) were each named to the "Top 25 Practitioners" list. Finally, our dear associates Nick Holley (Henley Business School / RBL Consulting Partner) and Tony McCarthy (BA & CIPD) were recognized in the "Ones to Watch" category.

Click on the icon above to see the complete list from HR Magazine. Congratulations to all!

Tim Kapp, Editor
tkapp@rbl.net

How do we move HR from a platform of administration and operational support to a platform of organizational change and credible activism? That is the question answered in our new four-part series on HR Transformation. In part one, Jon Younger makes the case for HR Transformation. (4 min)

"The the 21st Century HR Organization" - Part 2
By Dave Ulrich, Jon Younger, Wayne Brockbank

In Part 1 of this article "Are Your HR and Business Structures Aligned?", authors Dave Ulrich, Jon Younger, and Wayne Brockbank described how to structurally align the HR organization with the organization structure of the business.

This month the authors take an in-depth look at the dominant Diversified/Allied business model, laying out the five roles and responsibilities of HR that respond to this organization model: service centers, corporate, centers of expertise, embedded HR, and operational HR. This summary lays out the duties of each role, the relationship among these roles, and suggestions for implementing this new HR structure.

	Download Part 2 in our series "Building the 21st Century HR Organization" in .PDF format.
	Download Part 1 in our series "Building the 21st Century HR Organization" in .PDF format.

Additional Resources

	Many of the ideas in this article are discussed in How Leaders Build Value.

"Building the 21st Century HR Organization" - Part 1
by Dave Ulrich, Jon Younger, Wayne Brockbank

For HR to be a success it must start with a clear strategy that delivers value and a structure that reflects the organization of the company. To align HR with its business organizations, HR leaders must first understand the model of business they serve and implications for HR design.

In a recently published article we looked at companies along a grid of centralization - decentralization, which leads to three basic ways in which a company operates: holding company, functional organization, or allied/diversified organization (Lawler and Galbraith, 1995). We then look at the role of HR and appropriate HR structures for each of those organizational models.

Download Part 1 in our series "Building the 21st Century HR Organization" in .PDF format.

Additional Resources

	Many of the ideas in this article are discussed in How Leaders Build Value.

I would like to welcome you to The RBL Review, the online HR journal and community of The RBL Group. Our goal is to offer new ways of thinking about Strategic HR and Leadership in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. We aim to help HR people run their organizations more productively, more competitively, and more creatively.

Articles and short videos, provided by RBL Group consultants, offer practical ideas based on the Firm's experience with the world's largest companies and on proprietary research and close ties to academic institutions and research partners.

I hope you enjoy The RBL Review.


Dave Ulrich, Co-founder The RBL Group