Emerging HRM skillsin Australia

Robin Kramar and Peter SteaneFaculty of Business, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a study which explores trends in the role (what isdone) of human resources (HR) in general and the role of line managers in managing people. The studydeveloped from claims for the transformation of the HR role. It aims to explore trends in the role andnew competencies which are being developed.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors carried out qualitative, semi-structured interviewsof 53 HR professionals across a range of industries and organisational sizes.

Findings – The findings indicate that managers expect HR will increasingly encompassresponsibilities for developing human capital as a strategic imperative of business, as well as thetraditional operational executor/functional expert roles.

Research limitations/implications – While the paper identifies competencies expected in the HRrole at present, as well as emerging competencies required by both HR and line managers, it invites amore generalizable study in the future.

Practical implications – The findings suggest a greater shift in strategic importance for HRM.Emergent competencies in other areas are identified, such as advocacy, conflict management, andsuccession and leadership development.

Originality/value – The paper shows that both HR and line managers will continue to be functionalspecialists, with a trend for role-segmentation in the profession, as well as showing a need for adifferent mix of competencies, depending on career path and time.

Keywords Australia, Human resource management, Skills, Competencies, Roles, Career development,Managers

Paper type Research paper

For more than a two decades it has been argued human resource management (HRM)needs to change. Models of HRM emphasize the importance of HRM activitiescontributing to business outcomes and the ability to demonstrate that these activitiesadd value to financial outcomes (Jackson and Schuler, 1995; Pfeffer, 1998). During thesame period, legislative changes facilitated the adoption of a more strategic approachto employee relations. Survey research (Kramar, 2006; Sheehan et al., 2006) indicatesHR is more actively involved in strategic decisions and that HR assists line managersmanage their employees. In spite of these developments claims for the furthertransformation of HR and the development of new competencies continue to be made(Caldwell, 2010; Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005; Cohen, 2005).

This article reports on a study which explores trends in the role (what is done) of HRin general and the role of line managers in managing people. The first part of the articlebriefly explores the concepts of HRM, strategic human resource management (SHRM)and the roles of HRM. It also identifies the competencies (how the role is done) necessaryto perform this role. Managers’ expectations about the future role and competenciesrequired by HR and line managers are also explored. The implications of these findingsfor understanding HRM are briefly discussed.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1757-4323.htm

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Asia-Pacific Journal of BusinessAdministration

Vol. 4 No. 2, 2012pp. 139-157

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1757-4323

DOI 10.1108/17574321211269289

Concepts: HRM, SHRM and HRM rolesThere are semantic difficulties associated with the terms HRM and SHRM. Onedistinction that can be drawn is that, SHRM explicitly refers to the development andlinking of people management policies to the achievement of strategy, while HRM issometimes used more vaguely to refer to the achievement of positive organizationaloutcomes. However, this distinction is not clear cut, so for the purposes of this article theterm HRM will be used to refer to SHRM and HRM.

HRM or the HRM function, defined as both the department itself and the domain ofactivities that we call HRM (Roehling et al., 2005, p. 207), views the processes of peopleand work management as essential for organizational success and the achievement ofstrategy. Organizational success is expressed in terms of contributing to competitiveadvantage (Brockbank, 1999; Ulrich, 1997), creating value (Wright and Snell, 2005;Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005) and contributing to organizational performance measuressuch as return on assets, customer satisfaction and financial market indicators (Wrightand Gardner, 2000). HR processes can contribute to organizational success in a numberof ways, for instance, by improving employee performance (Huselid, 1995), elicitingand reinforcing the behaviours necessary for the achievement of strategy (Schuler,1993; Capelli and Crocker-Hefter, 1995; Wright et al., 2001), engendering employeeloyalty and commitment (Storey, 2001; Pfeffer, 1998; Ulrich, 1997) and building adistinctive culture through “bundles” of HR practices (Delery and Doty, 1996; Schulerand Jackson, 1987; MacDuffie, 1995).

Although HRM writers share a common belief in the importance of HRM fororganizational success, writers differ in the way in which they view people and theinfluences of stakeholders. For instance “hard” models of HRM view people as acommodity (Storey, 1989; Legge, 2005), while “soft” or high commitment models assumepeople have thoughts, feelings and values that need to be acknowledged so that they canbe motivated and engaged in the organization (Wright et al., 2001; O’Reilly and Pfeffer,2000). The dichotomy between “hard”/soft models fails to capture the dynamic betweenthe two approaches and the possibility of accommodating both approaches at the sametime (Watson, 2004).

Writers also differ in the way in which various stakeholder interests are reflected inHRM policies. For instance, the Harvard framework (Beer et al., 1985) and the integrativeframework developed by Jackson and Schuler (1995) adopt a “pluralist” perspective andacknowledge that a number of stakeholders influence HR policy. Other models adopt aunitarist perspective and assume HR policies are able to reflect the requirements ofachieving the organization’s objectives (Ulrich, 1997; Brockbank and Ulrich, 2005; Milesand Snow, 1984). According to these models there is little room for strategic choice(Bratton and Gold, 2003, p. 19).

Various models have been developed to describe the role of HR managers and theHR function in contributing to organizational success. These models identify a numberof HR roles, with particular emphasis given to the role of HR professionals in achievingbusiness outcomes. HR performs these roles in partnership with other managers,external providers, governments and trade unions.

The way in which HR roles have been conceptualized has changed over time. At first,four roles were delineated in a comprehensive survey by Ulrich (1997). These four roleswere strategic partner, administrative expert, employee champion and change agent inhis model. This model was further developed to reflect developments and thinking in the

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late 1990s and early 2000s, and identified four other roles required of an HR leader.These are the employee advocate, human capital developer, strategic partner andfunctional expert (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005). The human capital developer rolerecognizes the importance of building a workforce for the future, while the employeeadvocate role seeks to make the employment relationship mutually beneficial. Thefunctional expert refers to HR practices delivered in a number of ways, such as throughtechnology, policies, menus and interventions. The strategic partner role involves multipledimensions such as business expert, change agent, knowledge manager and being aconsultant and adviser. One advantage of the two models – from Ulrich (1997) and Ulrichand Brockbank (2005) – is that they acknowledge that HRM involves administrativeactivities, management of legal and employee relations issues and at the same timeundertakes business oriented, strategic activities. A later survey in 2007 which includedAustralian HR professionals identified HR roles or competency categories of credibleactivist, business ally, operational executor, talent manager/organization designer, cultureand change steward and strategy architect (Ulrich et al., 2008). These three models aremore sophisticated than the earlier theoretical frameworks of Tyson and Fell (1986), Guest(1987) and Storey (1992) which appear to present the adoption of either an administrativeapproach in the form of “personnel management”/“clerk of works”/contracts manager or“human resource management”/architect.

The role of strategic partner, business partner, business ally and strategy architecthas influenced the vocabularies of HRM and approach to HRM for more than a decade(Francis and Keegan, 2006, pp. 231-2). In the UK, the Chartered Institute of Personneland Development (CIPD) developed the term “thinking performer” as a basis for theCIPD professional standards. The CIPD definition of “thinking performer” is:

Someone who “makes the move” to becoming “a business partner” and is an HR professionalwho applies a critically thoughtful approach to their own job so as to make a contributionto organizational survival, profitability and to meeting its vision and strategic goals(CIPD, 2004, 2011).

The term “thinking performer” has been superseded by the term “Insights, strategyand solutions” which is central to the ten professional competency areas required byHR professionals. Once again, the focus is on strategy and solutions to business issues.

Similarly in Australia, the perspective of the Australian Human Resources Institutehas broadened its vision from “people leading business” – which acknowledges thecontinuing opportunity for the HR profession to actively contribute specialistknowledge for the delivery of people management solutions to business – to “HR withimpact”. The AHRI (2006) University Accreditation Handbook explicitly emphasizesthese HR descriptors for the future. One of the objectives of the AHRI (2011) Model ofExcellence is designed to “contribute to a profitable and sustainable organization”.Two of the six HR capabilities – “strategic architect” and “culture and change agent” –recognize the changing capabilities of HR practitioners and suggest these roles play anessential role in the success of change and the achievement of strategic objectives.

The broader concept of partnership is an integral component of HRM. Partnershipsbetween the HR manager and the senior management team are part of the strategyformulation process (Storey, 1992; Guest, 1987) and the roles associated with furthering thebusiness (Ulrich, 1997; Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005; Ulrich et al., 2008). In Australia, thispartnership and the involvement of HR instrategy formulation is reported inapproximatelyhalf the organizations included in two surveys (Kramar, 2006; Sheehan et al., 2006).

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A second partnership involves that between line managers and HR. Line managers areresponsible for a work group and report to higher levels of management. They are seen toshare responsibility for managing people (Guest, 1987; Storey, 1992) and the execution andimplementation of HR policies (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005, p. 72; Hutchinson and Purcell,2003). During 1996-2008/2009, line managers shared responsibility with HR for decisions inrecruitment and selection, training and development, workforce expansion/reduction andto a lesser extent pay and benefits and industrial relations (Kramar, 2012, 2000, 2006;Kramar and Lake, 1997).

HR work is not only shared with line and senior managers, it is also shared withexternal consultants (Kramar, 2000, 2006) and outsource providers. In addition, theuse of technology, for basic administrative functions, policy manuals, personneldata and e-learning is increasingly being used. Trade unions and governments arealso involved in HR work. Although the role and influence of trade unions isdeclining, unions still play an active role in industries, such as the electricity, gas,water and waste services, education and training, public administration and safety,and transport, postal and warehousing (ABS, 2010). Governments are involved inestablishing minimum standards in areas such as occupational health and safety,equal employment opportunity and benefits and leave entitlements. Governmentsalso establish the broad parameters in which HR operates through legislation,training policies and education.

CompetenciesThe roles undertaken by HR require a range of skills. In Australia, almost 85 per centof HR professionals claimed the transition to HR demanded that they develop a new setof skills (Sheehan et al., 2006, p. 141). These include skills associated with increased HRresponsibility for employee and industrial relations matters associated with changes inindustrial relations legislations (Sheehan et al., 2006, p. 143).

The most recent comprehensive, international HR Competency Project involvingmore than 10,000 managers, including managers in Australia, revealed six competencydomains/roles were required by HR professionals. The competency categories ofcredible activist, business ally, operational executor, talent manager/organizationdesigner, culture and change steward and strategy architect were identified in thestudy. These competency domains included a number of the following subsets:

(1) Credible activist involves delivering results with integrity, sharing information,building relationships of trust and doing HR with attitude.

(2) Business ally involves contributing to the success of the business by knowingthe social context or setting in which their companies operate. They need tohave knowledge about the customers, the business and a basic understandingof the functions of various corporate departments such as finance andmarketing.

(3) Talent manager/organization designer involves managing talent today andtomorrow, developing talent, shaping the organization, fostering communicationand designing reward systems.

(4) Culture and change steward is required to recognize, articulate, and help shapea company’s culture. It requires the HR professional being clear about theexpectations of external stakeholders such as customers, and being able to

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translate these expectations into internal employee and organizational behaviours.It also involves managing change so that the desired culture is driven through theorganization.

(5) Strategy architect. HR professionals need to have a vision for how theorganization can in the future, and play an active part in the establishment of theoverall strategy to deliver this vision. This requires recognizing business trendsand their impact on the business, being able to forecast potential obstacles tosuccess, and facilitating the process of gaining strategic clarity.

(6) Operational executor. HR professionals are requires to develop, adopt, andexecute policies which efficiently provide for meeting employees’ basic needs,including being paid, relocated, hired, and trained. HR professionals should beable to efficiently deliver these policies through a variety of mechanismsincluding technology, shared services, and/or outsourcing (Ulrich et al., 2008).

The HR Competency Project indicates HR professionals require knowledge of the business,the business drivers, detailed knowledge of HR tools, labour markets, industrial relationsissues and legislation, and a knowledge of technology and its potential applications.They need the skills to develop relationships with a variety of stakeholders, communicateeffectively, advocate, persuade, and appear credible. They also need to demonstrate anability to achieve results, collaborate, make change happen, foster learning, generate andshare ideas and build enduring relationships with targeted customers.

The role undertaken by line managers typically involve people management, providingtechnical expertise, managing operational costs, organizing and monitoring work processes,checking quality, dealing with customers and measuring operational performance. Thecompetencies involved in the people management aspect of the line managers role involvethe delivery of HR policies such as recruitment and selection, performance appraisal,grievance and conflict management, training, coaching and guidance, involvement andcommunication, work-life balance and recognition (Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003; IndustryTaskforce on Leadership and Management Skills, 1995). Significant core competenciesassociated with line manager work involve identifying competencies and appraisingperformance. These have been found to influence well-being, satisfaction and retention ofthe best people and so have a major influence on organizational performance (AIM, 2003).Line managers therefore require knowledge about the organizations policies such asrecruitment and selection, work-life balance, performance appraisal and training. Theyrequire skills such as managing conflict, effective communication and selection, providingfeedback, listening, working in teams and planning.

Insights into additional competenciesCritiques of HRM provide additional insights into the competencies required ofHRM professionals. Three interrelated criticisms provide useful insights into thecomplexities of HRM work and additional competencies not explicitly identified inthe HR Competency Project, but necessary to conduct HR work. First, HRM involvesdealing with competing stakeholder interests and values (Brown, 2005) and it is not clearthat employee well-being and organizational goals can be aligned through highperformance work systems (Peccei, 2004, p. 12; Harter et al., 2003, p. 208). The abovecompetency framework fails to adequately address the competencies associated with theduality of HR work – that is the need to accommodate “hard” business oriented and

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“soft” people-centred employment practices (Watson, 2002). In addition, there is anassumption that employee advocacy requires HR professionals to “form a bridgebetween management and employees so that mutual understanding makes the bestof whatever the company faces” (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005, p. 85). However, themodel described above does not identify the competencies associated with building the“bridge” or dealing with situations where the “bridge” cannot be built because ofvalue-role conflict (Tyson, 1995; Purcell et al., 2003).

A second insight involves the emphasis on strategic contribution and businessperformance and the assumption HR initiatives should be framed in terms of a businesscase (Grant and Shields, 2002). This emphasis puts financial values at the centre of valuecreation and HR outcomes. It prevents consideration of the range of economic, social andtechnological forces that drive competition and the long-term sustainability of anorganization. Considerations of employee well-being and ethics can be contentious(Winstanley and Woodall, 2000, p. 6), particularly when emphasis is given to short termbusiness performance and financial outcomes. However, HR faces the challenge ofbalancing four competing values:

(1) Strategic value. Building an organization capable of delivering customeroutcomes.

(2) Ethical values. Doing what it morally right and includes social responsibility,organizational values and individual integrity.

(3) Legal values. Compliance with legislation and avoiding litigation.

(4) Financial values. Building shareholder wealth, with emphasis on buildingshareholder wealth, cost control and return on investment (Wright and Snell,2005, p. 180).

One of the challenges faced by HR and line managers is to integrate these competingvalues (Wright and Snell, 2005, p. 181), manage the tensions when integration is notpossible and accommodate the tensions between short- and long-term outcomes. Thecompetencies involved in dealing with these challenges are not adequately addressedin the above competency model.

As indicated above, many HR activities have been devolved to line managers,however there is doubt about competence of line managers to undertake these activities(Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003; Renwick, 2003). Employees are having less contact withHR and more contact with their line managers and with service centres as a source ofadministrative expertise. Line managers/direct managers have been found to be criticalin driving employee engagement, performance, commitment to their job, the teamand the organization (Corporate Leadership Council, 2004, pp. 55, 57). In additiondemonstration of commitment to employees by the senior executive team (CorporateLeadership Council, 2004, pp. 65-7) is also critical. HR professionals therefore requirecompetencies that facilitate line/direct managers and senior executives to demonstratethe skills necessary to drive employee engagement.

These three insights heighten awareness about HR and management being a social,political and economic process (Kramar, 1992; Clegg et al., 2005). They demonstrate thatHR professionals and line managers need to have competencies associated with dealingwith contradiction, ambiguity, differences in power, conflict, systems and both short-and long-term time frames. They also suggest that HR has the responsibility to reconcile

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competing values through their initiatives and behaviour. HR requires competenciesthat create a “unique and powerful perspective” in which customers, shareholders,managers and employees “see aspects of the business environment that go beyondwhat other disciplines bring and that add substantially to business success” (Ulrich andBrockbank, 2005, p. 8).

Future of HRM and the human resource managerHR exists as a profession with a body of knowledge based on research and empiricalevidence. Professional associations with explicit education and experience standardsrequired for membership represent the interests of their HR members. They do thisthrough activities such as knowledge sharing, education credentials and researchactivities. As mentioned previously, HRM is more than the work done by HR professional,it also involves activities undertaken by line managers, external consultants, IT, servicecentres, senior managers and employees themselves.

This section is based on the assumption that HR will continue to evolve and that it isgoing to continue as a profession. However, it also assumes the nature of the concepts,activities and competencies required by the profession could change and the activitiesassociated with HRM could be redistributed across the various partners doing HRMwork. For instance it is predicted there will be more human resource outsourcing (HRO)as part of greater business transformation outsourcing (BTO) (Sako and Tierney, 2005;Barclay and Thivierge, 2005) and line managers will become more accountable for HRactivities (Losey et al., 2005).

Although writers differ in their predictions about the way HR will evolve, they agreethat the HR role will be a generalist role focusing on increasing employee abilities andorganizational capabilities (Losey et al., 2005, pp. 408-14; Crouse et al., 2011). This willrequire a focus on the importance of people and talent management systems, providingintegrated solutions, strategic alignment and execution, enabling capacity for changeand collaboration, shaping culture and enabling ethical behaviour, applying newtechnology and rethinking organizations as capabilities rather than structures(Crouse et al., 2011; Ruona and Gibson, 2005; Losey et al., 2005; Gratton, 2005; Cascio,2005; Dyer and Erikson, 2005; Brockbank and Ulrich, 2003; Rothwell, 1999; Grieves andRedman, 1999; Sammut, 2001).

The evolution of HR could see the emergence of new roles and possible titles forHRM (Losey et al., 2005, p. 412). These include:

. Chief integrative officer. Responsible for connecting disparate parts within acompany.

. Deliverer of business success. Participant in the success of the enterprise.

. Diversity manager. Responsible for helping manage all types of employeediversity.

. Employee champion. Responsible for human capital.

. Productivity czar. Responsible for doing more with less.

. Chief effectiveness officer or expert. Responsible for making the organization, notjust the people, effective.

These roles will be just as important in small and medium organizations as they are inlarge organizations and HR will need to learn to undertake these new roles (Lawler, 2005).

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It is claimed additional competencies will be required for performing these roles.These include:

. Understanding mental models, mindsets as a way of understanding foundationsof organizational success. Understand and help senior executives understandtheir mental models and where necessary change mindsets, change how peoplethink about a situation, then change behaviour and as a consequence influenceresults (Pfeffer, 2005, pp. 123-8).

. Knowledge of talentship decision science which is a process that enablesidentification of “pivotal talent pools” and the implications of talent segmentationfor HRM and organizational outcomes. A framework such as the HC BridgeDecision Framework identify a number of linking elements, including talent poolsand structures, human capability and policies and practices and three anchorpoints. These anchor points are efficiency, effectiveness and impact (Bourdreauand Ramstad, 2005, pp. 129-36).

. Knowledge and skill to design policies, practices and structures that enable teamsto manage across horizontal boundaries, between functions, businesses andbetween geographies (Gratton, 2005, p. 152). In order to do this HR will need to beable to facilitate proximity (who meets who), ensure people have the time to worktogether, craft a motivation for people doing shared tasks and create a culture oftrust and respect.

. An ability to collaborate with a other experts such as financial, marketing,manufacturing, public relations experts so that their areas can improve theiroutcomes. These outcomes could include market value, market share, improvedproductivity and shaping a brand (Losey et al., pp. 202-3).

. An ability to recast definitions of organizational success from financial tosustainability. Sustainability is a concept that includes values, governance,transparency, ethics, diversity, social responsibility, employee and human rights,supporting the community and protecting the environment. Unlike traditionalapproaches to sustainability which connect it to HR service delivery within anorganization, rather than connecting human capital to the achievement of today’sgoals without compromising the needs of the future (Bourdreau and Ramstad,2005, pp. 293-303).

MethodThe study relied upon qualitative semi-structured interviews of 52 HR professionals –some in executive roles, line managers and leadership development roles. The sampleof interviewees came from across a range of industries and organizational sizes. Thedata captures the perception of these practitioners who collectively oversaw the careersof over 400,000 employees. Table I provides a summative outline of the industries andorganizations of the interviewees.

The interview method involves “[. . .] an interpretive, naturalistic approach [. . .]attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of meanings people bringto them” (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994, p. 4). Hence, the findings are not predictive, butrather, draw on the HR management practice perceived as important in the past,present and future. The study is multi-dimensional in ascertaining what practitionersperceive as important knowledge to have, skills to exhibit and attributes to possess in

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their professional role. We examine the competencies used today (present) andenvisaged tomorrow (future).

The focal questions of the project concerned the role and competencies required ofboth HRM directors and line managers roles in managing people. An initial list ofquestions was prepared and remained as the base list of questions. Allowance wasmade for new ideas and comments, especially at the end of interviews when furthercomments were invited from those practitioners interviewed. About one-half of theinterviews were tape recorded to ensure accuracy and the remainder of interviewsrelied upon detailed note-taking. The authors met regularly to share data and ensure afocussed and accurate consistent approach to interviewing was being maintained.

All 52 interviews were individual and of at least 45 minutes duration. About80 per cent were face-to-face, and the remainder carried out over the telephone, simplydue to cancellations and postponements and the time constraints involved in securingtime in the diary of many senior managers. About one-half of the sample were women,which is consistent with managerial positions in the HR profession in Australia. Thissample comprises the data collected for this study.

Qualitative research is open to multiple methodologies (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994)and in general tends to be more inductive than deductive. This study demonstratescharacteristics of qualitative enquiry in that it includes subjective information, gatheredfrom interviewing and clarification of meaning by the authors. Data from interviewsinvolves clarifying meaning of interviewee perceptions and opinion, and in this way isreliant upon the skill of interpretation (Lamond, 2006; Kakabadse and Steane, 2010).The reliability and validity of qualitative studies are often contested on the groundsthat the collection of data from perception lacks explicitness. To address this concernthe study adopted a processual analysis as outlined by Pettigrew (1997) as a guidingframework. Construct validity concerns appropriateness of measures or questions.This was assisted by the review of the current state of the HR profession andInternational HR Competency Project outlined in this paper. Internal validity is usually

IndustryNumber of

organizationsHR

executivesLine

managersLeadership/development

Total number ofemployees in

organizations in thisindustry group

Manufacturing 5 4 3 4,500Construction andbuilding 1 1 1 16,100Transport and storage 7 3 4 25,100Health and community 4 2 3 21,500Accommodation, etc. 1 100Education 1 1 200Retail trade 2 1 1 140,000Finance and insurance 7 6 1 57,500Property and businessservices 16 5 3 10 115,200Governmentadministration anddefence 2 2 400Total 45 26 16 10 437,800

Table I.Industry and number of

organizations in ampleorganizations

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stronger in qualitative research (Miles and Huberman, 1994) due to the flexibility initeratively probing for clarity to reflect and report a better understanding of theinterviewee’s perception. The authors were able to build greater accuracy of data bythis iterative process of questioning. Also, the authors were able to establish clearprotocols of the research goals which were explained to HR professionals prior to theinterview, that is, the research focus was on knowledge, skill and attitude shifts, past andgoing forward, experienced at director and line management levels. The researchersstrengthened validation of data by verifying interviews via transcription or executivenote-taking of all interviews. External validity indicates the degree of comparativevalue of a study. This project among senior HR executives is more likely to delivera value insight into key people in the profession, and hence provide probablegeneralizability in broad terms. Reliability is about finding the same results in repeatedexercises. Qualitative studies involving interviews cannot generally claim reliability.However, the study maintained a clear audit trail from aim, questions, process, data,probes, and reporting that were sufficient to provide accurate findings. Initial findingsand impressions were checked by the authors via three focus groups comprised ofHR professionals of a more senior level. This enabled the authors to verify thetrustworthiness of the individual interview process and the validity of the data collected.Data analysis was iterative arising from emergent conclusions, the reduction of probingin the questions as well as some preliminary theoretical frameworks. This is consistentwith both Miles and Huberman (1994) and Glaser and Strauss (1967).

The Pettigrew (1997) processual model uses guiding statements that explain tointerviewees how the researchers came to study the topic; it also interactive in the processof the interview, which aligns with its semi-structured nature. This approach viewsprocess as a valid means of contextualizing the interview and empowering the intervieweeas a legitimate actor in the research exercise. The method views “social processes [as]deeply embedded in the contexts that produce and are produced by them” (Pettigrew,1997, p. 340). The process in the study used a common proforma for in each interview,which provided regularity but enabled the emergence of patterns, together with thedocument management framework of Miles and Huberman (1994) of note-taking,transcribing, recording as outlined above. This consistent framework reinforced patternemergence and confirmation of data integrity, via an acceptable audit trail and chain ofevidence for the study (Yin, 1989).

The analysis included Miles and Huberman’s (1994) checklist matrix as a detailedformat to categorise verbatim comments under a range of sub-headings. This checklistmatrix comprises the substantive analytical frame of the study and allows the authors tooutline the trends evident in the HR profession as perceived by director and line managerlevels.

Results and discussionIn almost all organizations, both HR and line managers report that the HR departmentprovides consulting services to line management, including advice about recruitment,occupational health and safety and equal employment opportunity. It also develops HRpolicies, draws up contracts for employment and engagement of consultants andmanages redundancies and terminations. In addition, members of the HR departmentwere identified as providing training in areas such as performance management andselection. Only one manager did not indicate that HR was involved in providing

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consulting services to line managers. This organization is a scientific organization inwhich HR described its role in terms of an organizational development role.

The HR department is therefore seen as the source of expert knowledge aboutprocesses associated with managing people and about legal compliance issues. Theseactivities are consistent with the roles outlined by Ulrich et al. (2008) asadministrative/functional/operational expert and the roles of “contracts manager” and“clerk of works” identified by Tyson and Fell (1986). HR professionals are also seen asmanaging the process of workforce reduction and engaging consultants and providersof services from outside the organization. These activities are also an indication of theabove roles. An integral part of this role is also providing advice to line managersthrough consultation about how “best to manage” their people.

Similarly, the HR department was described as developing policies and undertaking anoperational role in all the organizations except in the scientific organization. Once again,this reflects an administrative/functional/operational expert role and it also includes astrategic partner/business ally role. It was clear that the policies developed were based onthe strategic requirements of the organization. Occupational health and safety matters andindustrial relations issues were particularly important in organizations in thetransport, logistics and manufacturing industries. For instance, health and safety wasmentioned as an issue that needed to be managed in a proactive way in two of the transportorganizations, while a number of the organizations in transport and manufacturingidentified the need to proactively manage industrial relations issues, agreements and tradeunions. Less than half of all the organizations indicated that HR was involved in payroll.

There was a general expectation among these managers that HR would be providingmore consulting services to line managers, be responsible for developing and retainingtalent, become more strategic and assist the business to drive change and fosterengagement. Interviewees indicated that they would be involved in less processing workin the future. Comments were made about employees being able to do the processingwork themselves through the intranet.

The shortage of skilled people, particularly people described as “talent” emerged as aconcern for all the organizations. Managers in all the organizations indicated thatattracting talented people, developing and retaining them would be a critical issue in thefuture. The scientific organization expressed this concern in terms of “capabilitymanagement” and the need “to abolish silos, build innovation and physical and virtualspace”. Almost all of the HR managers and a number of the line managers indicated thatsuccession planning and workforce planning would become an important part ofmanaging talent and the shortage. This was a clear indication of the prediction that thehuman capital developer/talent manager role would become more important.

Strategic roles such as driving strategic change, developing leadership capabilities,planning and executing off shoring/outsourcing were identified by many HR and linemanagers. More than half of the managers indicated that HR professionals would becomemore involved in driving change. A distinction was made between managing changeand driving change. Many of the managers indicated that driving change was seen asdesigning strategic initiatives that enable people in organizations to work in new waysand with new skills. These initiatives were seen as contributing to the development of newcultures. Similarly, a number of HR managers commented on developing leadershipcapabilities, including developing the ability to take a strategic view of the business,“think outside the square” and think tactically.

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Many of the line managers remarked that in the future they would like HR to be ableto assist them more effectively in thinking in a strategic way about issues associatedwith their staff. Line managers wanted HR to provide them with information aboutsources for the skills they needed, ways of securing these skills including building upthe skills of existing staff, models for thinking about organizational architecture andassisting them with implementing change. In addition, line managers also wantedadvice about how to manage diversity among their employees. This suggests supportfor bundle of competencies in the field (Wright et al., 2001).

Three of the interviewees, one HR executive and two leadership and developmentspecialists, indicated that although HR wanted to become more strategic, this was morelikely if the legislative tussles between political parties (Work choices, FairWork, etc.)reconciles to a view that people are more a capital resource than component. Theyalso predicted the numbers of HR staff would decrease as many CEOs did not seethe value of HR.

Many of the HR executives and the leadership and development specialistsindicated that it would be important for HR professionals to demonstrate their value tothe business through metrics and measures that indicated how they added value to thebusiness. One development and leadership professional and one HR executive indicatedthat HRM would assist senior management to understand triple-bottom line measuresand assist them to apply these measures. They gave the example of how occupationalhealth and safety measures associated with triple-bottom-line metrics influencesengagement, which is an indicator of social well-being.

Two of the development and leadership professionals believed the increasing interestin transparency and governance matters provided HR with the opportunity to simplifyinternal processes around HRM. This would enable HR to present credible informationto the boards. They believed HR would be able to do this because they were able toidentify “risk” to the business.

There was considerable agreement about the competencies that HR would require inthe future. These competencies included knowledge, skills and personal abilities in thefollowing areas:

. Knowledge – of the business in which they work and a range of other businesses,business acumen, budgeting skills, drivers of the business, laws and legal issues,IT capability, superior knowledge of HR processes, work structures, talentmanagement, statistical knowledge.

. Skills – interpersonal skills, persuading, conflict management, counseling,providing feedback, managing differences between people, negotiation,influencing, problem solving, coaching, work with line managers, visioning,strategic thinking, “thinking outside the square”, ability to engage employees,build strong relationships with business leaders, emotional intelligence skills,ability to evaluate research, analytical skills, communication, project managementand research skills.

. Abilities – make change happen, get results, understand how HR can contributeto the business and communicate this to other people, self-knowledge, personalcredibility, awareness of how behaviour impacts other people and the reasonsthis occurs.

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Although there was agreement about the patterns of current and future HRM roles,some differences between organizations emerged. 11 organizations already possessedwell-developed strategic HR processes and cultures. As part of these cultures,HR had strong partnerships with the line, served as business partners and wasactively involved in leadership development. These were all large internationalorganizations in a range of industries including shipping, logistics and transport,technology, engineering, construction and finance and banking. The managers in theseorganizations considered there would be a continuation and strengthening of theexisting role of HR, while organizations in other industries believed they woulddevelop further along this line.

Line managersIn most organizations managers reported that line managers were responsible formanaging people and delivering outcomes, undertaking salary reviews, performanceappraisals and were involved in recruitment and conflict resolution. A number ofmanagers reported that line managers were responsible for developing staff and induction.

These managers expected line managers would become even more responsible andaccountable for managing and developing people and their performance, and that theywould be undertaking more HR activities. Most of the managers considered thisresponsibility would involve line managers managing performance from “start tofinish”, managing poor performance, nurturing and developing their staff, retainingtalent and making more HR decisions.

In addition to these activities, many line managers interviewed thought that linemanagers would become more involved in contract negotiation and in driving teamperformance. The line managers in organizations in the finance and banking, transportand logistics, engineering, construction and technology industries predicted line managerswould be even more involved in workforce planning and succession planning activities.

The competencies required to undertake this future role included the ability tomanage personal differences, such as age, ethnicity and gender, a basic knowledgeof HR processes such as recruitment and selection, rewards and appraisal. Otherfrequently cited competencies were persuading and influencing skills, managingconflict, foster learning, team building, interviewing and planning skills.

Four of the development and leadership professionals indicated there would be fewerline managers and that line managers would therefore need to stop micromanaging.They would need to be able to foster collaboration, set goals and outcomes, facilitatediversity between members of a team and coach. Two of these professionals predictedthat the role of technology would facilitate the work of line managers.

ConclusionThe views about HR roles and competencies in the future indicate that managers expectHR will increasingly undertake the talent manager/organization designer role, thebusiness ally role, strategy architect and operational executor roles. The talentmanager/organization designer role would be undertaken through succession planning,leadership development and talent management initiatives. The business ally,culture and change steward and strategy architect role would involve developing HRinitiatives to assist the business, driving change, building culture and engagement.

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Operational executor role involved knowledge of functional and legal HR processes andassisting line managers in their use.

The comments did not indicate a broadening of the roles suggested by Losey et al.(2005). They did indicate an emphasis on the strategic architect and business ally roles.This probably reflects the fact that the managers were asked for predictions aboutdevelopments in five years time, while the literature reviewed does not specify a timeframe. The predicted shortage of people in the workforce and particularly talent wasseen as a key driver for the growing importance of the human capital developer role.The findings indicated that there could be increasing segmentation between HRprofessionals as they moved through their careers.

It appeared that line managers would take on more activities associated with directlymanaging employees. HR would rely increasingly on line managers to understand theneeds of employees as a means of managing their performance. This understandingwould also provide information for talent management, succession and leadershipdevelopment. Not one person interviewed indicated HR would undertake a role whichhad previously been labelled an employee advocate role. With the decline in therepresentation of trade unions in the workplace, line managers will become particularlyimportant in managing conflict, grievances and the implementation of benefits in manyorganizations.

Both HR and line managers would need to be functional specialists. Line managerswill require knowledge of HR policies, be able to implement them in the spirit intendedand provide feedback to HR about the policies effectiveness. HR will be responsible fordeveloping the policies in terms of strategic requirements. They will also be responsiblefor developing measures to assess the policies impact on the business. There was noindication among the managers in the study that HR would develop a decision scienceapproach to HR.

Although there were definite trends, the role of HR and line managers varied acrossorganizations. A number of multinational organizations had sophisticated approachesto HRM and they indicated that the existing trend of devolution to the line managers formanaging people responsibilities would strengthen a little. Other organizationsindicated this trend would be much stronger as would the involvement of HR instrategic decisions.

The study indicated HRM will continue to evolve and that HR professionals willcontinue to work in partnership with senior managers, external providers and especiallywith line managers. It also revealed that in order to understand the future role of HRM itis necessary to take into account the context of the organization. Characteristics such asthe nature of the industry, extent of unionization, sophistication of the existing approachto HR, local/multinational structures emerged as important influences. In addition, itindicates that in order to understand the work of HR professionals it is necessary toidentify the areas of segmentation within HR and the stages of HR careers. In largeorganizations the expert knowledge of HR and the provision of this advice to linemanagers is most likely to be undertaken by generalist, more junior staff, whileinvolvement as a strategic partner and involvement in decisions about organizationalstrategy and direction would be undertaken by senior executives. People doing the workin different segments of HR represent different stages of HR careers and at each stagethey require a different mix of competencies.

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About the authorsRobin Kramar (PhD) is a Professor of Human Resource Management and Head of the HRMDiscipline at Australian Catholic University (ACU). She has continuing interest in developmentsin human resource management in Australia and in the relationship between human resourcemanagement and sustainability. She is part of the Cranet network which conducts longitudinal,comparative research in 40 countries and was part of the research team conducting researchon sustainability sponsored by the Department of Environment and Heritage. She has published,in international journals and book chapters, in areas such as diversity management, equalemployment opportunity, strategic human resource management, the future of human resourcemanagement and corporate social responsibility and has also authored, co-authored or editoredeight books on human resource management.

Peter Steane (PhD) is a Professor and Associate Dean (International) at ACU. His researchinterest covers public management reform, partnerships, strategy and governance. Hisimmediate focus is on human capacity issues in the health sector. He has published researchon joint ventures, intellectual capital, public sector reform and ethical strategy and has publishedin various journals (Health Care Management Review, Journal of Strategic Change, CorporateGovernance, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Public Management Review, Journal of KnowledgeManagement) and has authored/edited books on strategic management, public managementreform, and management research. Peter Steane is the corresponding author and can becontacted at: peter.steane@acu.edu.au

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