How to Create Value for Your Organization and Your People with HR from the Outside In
HR from the Outside In: A Review of the Book and Its Implications for HR Professionals
If you are an HR professional who wants to make a difference in your organization and advance your career, you need to read this book. HR from the Outside In is a groundbreaking book that reveals the six competencies that will help you become a more effective and influential HR leader in the 21st century. Written by David Ulrich, Jon Younger, Wayne Brockbank, and Mike Ulrich, this book is based on extensive research and practical experience with hundreds of organizations and thousands of HR professionals around the world. In this article, we will review the main ideas and insights from the book and show you how you can apply them to your own work.
HR From The Outside In Six Competencies For The Future Of Human Resources Business Books Ebook
What is HR from the Outside In?
HR from the Outside In is a book that challenges the traditional view of HR as an inward-focused function that deals with employee issues and administrative tasks. Instead, it proposes a new perspective that aligns HR with the external realities and expectations of customers, investors, communities, and other stakeholders. By doing so, HR can create more value for the organization and its people.
The six competencies for the future of human resources
The book identifies six competencies that define the new role and expectations of HR professionals in the modern business environment. These competencies are:
Strategic positioner: The ability to understand the business context and strategy, and to align HR practices with them.
Credible activist: The ability to build trust and influence with managers and employees, and to advocate for change and improvement.
Capability builder: The ability to create a culture and an organization that enable high performance and innovation.
Change champion: The ability to initiate and sustain change at individual, team, and organizational levels.
HR innovator and integrator: The ability to design and deliver integrated HR solutions that address business challenges and opportunities.
Technology proponent: The ability to leverage technology to enhance HR efficiency and effectiveness.
The book provides detailed descriptions, examples, and assessments for each competency, as well as tips and tools for developing them.
The research behind the book
The book is based on a rigorous research project called the Human Resource Competency Study (HRCS), which has been conducted every five years since 1987 by the authors and their colleagues at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and The RBL Group. The HRCS is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of its kind, involving surveys and interviews with more than 20,000 HR professionals, line managers, and non-HR executives from over 600 organizations across 60 countries. The HRCS provides empirical evidence and insights on the impact and evolution of HR competencies over time and across regions and industries.
The benefits of applying the outside-in perspective
The book shows that applying the outside-in perspective can lead to significant benefits for both HR professionals and their organizations. According to the HRCS data, HR professionals who demonstrate high levels of the six competencies are more likely to:
Be perceived as effective and credible by their managers and peers.
Have higher levels of personal satisfaction and career success.
Contribute to the business performance and outcomes of their organizations.
Enhance the reputation and brand of their HR function and profession.
The book also provides case studies and best practices from leading organizations that have adopted the outside-in perspective and achieved remarkable results. Some of these organizations include IBM, Lenovo, GE, Novartis, Accenture, Facebook, and Tata.
How to develop the six competencies for HR professionals
The book offers practical guidance and advice on how to develop the six competencies for HR professionals. Here are some of the key points for each competency:
Strategic positioner
To become a strategic positioner, you need to:
Understand the external business environment and trends that affect your organization and industry.
Know the strategy, goals, and priorities of your organization and how they create value for customers and stakeholders.
Align your HR practices and initiatives with the business strategy and goals, and measure their impact on business outcomes.
Build strategic partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, such as managers, employees, customers, investors, regulators, suppliers, competitors, etc.
Anticipate and respond to emerging opportunities and challenges in the market.
Credible activist
To become a credible activist, you need to:
Build trust and rapport with managers and employees by being reliable, respectful, honest, and supportive.
Influence managers and employees by using data, logic, stories, and emotions to persuade them to adopt new ideas or behaviors.
Advocate for change and improvement by challenging the status quo, proposing solutions, and taking action.
Demonstrate personal credibility by being competent, confident, curious, and courageous.
Model the values and behaviors that you expect from others.
Capability builder
To become a capability builder, you need to:
Create a culture that supports the vision, mission, values, and strategy of your organization.
Develop an organization that has the right structure, processes, systems, roles, and capabilities to execute the strategy.
Attract, retain, develop, and engage the talent that your organization needs to succeed.
Foster a learning environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, diversity, and continuous improvement.
Enable individual and team performance by providing feedback, coaching, recognition, and rewards.
Change champion
To become a change champion, you need to:
Initiate change by identifying the need for change, creating a vision for change, and communicating the case for change.
Sustain change by designing and implementing change plans, managing resistance to change, and monitoring and evaluating change results.
Facilitate change by involving stakeholders in the change process, providing support and resources for change agents, and celebrating change successes.
HR innovator and integrator
To become an HR innovator and integrator, you need to:
Design and deliver HR solutions that address the specific business challenges and opportunities that your organization faces.
Integrate HR solutions across different HR domains, such as staffing, training, compensation, performance management, etc.
Innovate HR solutions by applying creative thinking, best practices, and new technologies to improve HR effectiveness and efficiency.
Evaluate HR solutions by measuring their impact on business outcomes and stakeholder satisfaction.
Share HR solutions by documenting and disseminating them within and outside your organization.
Technology proponent
To become a technology proponent, you need to:
Leverage technology to enhance HR efficiency and effectiveness by automating, standardizing, and simplifying HR processes and systems.
Use technology to enable HR analytics and insights by collecting, storing, analyzing, and reporting HR data and metrics.
Use technology to facilitate HR communication and collaboration by using social media, mobile devices, webinars, podcasts, etc.
Use technology to support HR learning and development by using e-learning, gamification, simulation, etc.
Use technology to foster HR innovation and change by using cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, etc.
How to assess and improve your HR competencies
The book also provides practical guidance and advice on how to assess and improve your HR competencies. Here are some of the key points:
The HRCS competency self-assessment tool
The book includes a self-assessment tool that allows you to measure your current level of proficiency in each of the six competencies. The tool consists of 60 statements that describe different behaviors related to each competency. You can rate yourself on a scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always) on how often you demonstrate each behavior. The tool also provides feedback on your strengths and areas for improvement based on your scores.
The HR academy options for learning and development
The book also offers a variety of learning and development options that can help you enhance your HR competencies. These options include:
Formal education: You can enroll in degree programs or courses that cover the topics and skills related to the six competencies. For example, you can take courses on business strategy, organizational behavior, change management, HR analytics, etc.
Certification programs: You can obtain professional certifications that validate your knowledge and skills in the six competencies. For example, you can get certified by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), or other reputable organizations.
On-the-job learning: You can learn from your daily work experiences by taking on challenging assignments, seeking feedback, reflecting on your actions and outcomes, and applying new ideas and practices.
Mentoring and coaching: You can learn from others who have more experience or expertise in the six competencies by seeking their guidance, advice, support, and feedback.
Networking and collaboration: You can learn from others who have similar or complementary interests or goals in the six competencies by sharing information, insights, resources, and best practices.
etc., or taking online courses, MOOCs, etc.
The best practices and examples from leading organizations
The book also provides a wealth of best practices and examples from leading organizations that have successfully developed and applied the six competencies in their HR functions and professions. Some of these organizations include:
IBM: IBM has transformed its HR function from a transactional and administrative role to a strategic and innovative role by aligning its HR practices with its business strategy, building a culture of collaboration and innovation, leveraging technology and analytics to enhance HR effectiveness and efficiency, and developing HR professionals who are strategic positioners, credible activists, capability builders, change champions, HR innovators and integrators, and technology proponents.
Lenovo: Lenovo has leveraged its HR function to support its global expansion and integration by developing a global mindset and capabilities among its HR professionals, creating a diverse and inclusive culture that values different perspectives and backgrounds, designing and delivering integrated HR solutions that address the needs and expectations of different markets and regions, and using technology to facilitate communication and collaboration across boundaries.
GE: GE has fostered a culture of learning and development among its HR professionals by providing them with various opportunities and resources to enhance their HR competencies, such as formal education programs, certification programs, on-the-job learning assignments, mentoring and coaching relationships, networking and collaboration platforms, self-directed learning sources, etc.
Novartis: Novartis has created a high-performance culture and organization by aligning its HR practices with its business goals and values, developing and engaging its talent through feedback, coaching, recognition, and rewards, fostering a learning environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, diversity, and continuous improvement, and initiating and sustaining change at individual, team, and organizational levels.
etc.
Facebook: Facebook has enhanced its HR brand and reputation by delivering HR solutions that address the specific challenges and opportunities that its organization and industry face, such as creating a culture of openness and transparency, designing and implementing a unique performance management system, attracting and retaining top talent in a competitive market, and using technology to support HR learning and development.
Tata: Tata has aligned its HR function with its external stakeholders and social responsibility by creating a culture and an organization that reflect its vision, mission, values, and strategy, developing and engaging its talent through feedback, coaching, recognition, and rewards, fostering a learning environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, diversity, and continuous improvement, and initiating and sustaining change at individual, team, and organizational levels.
Conclusion and FAQs
HR from the Outside In is a book that provides a comprehensive and practical framework for HR professionals who want to become more effective and influential in their organizations and careers. The book reveals the six competencies that define the new role and expectations of HR professionals in the 21st century: strategic positioner, credible activist, capability builder, change champion, HR innovator and integrator, and technology proponent. The book also provides guidance and advice on how to develop these competencies through self-assessment, learning and development options, and best practices and examples from leading organizations. By applying the outside-in perspective, HR professionals can create more value for their organizations and their people.
Here are some FAQs about the book and its implications for HR professionals:
What is the main message of the book?
The main message of the book is that HR professionals need to adopt an outside-in perspective that aligns their HR practices with the external realities and expectations of customers, investors, communities, and other stakeholders. By doing so, they can create more value for their organizations and their people.
Why are the six competencies important for HR professionals?
The six competencies are important for HR professionals because they reflect the new role and expectations of HR professionals in the modern business environment. They also provide a framework for assessing and improving HR effectiveness and impact.
How can I develop the six competencies?
etc. You can also use the self-assessment tool and the best practices and examples from the book to guide your development.
How can I measure the impact of the six competencies on my organization and career?
You can measure the impact of the six competencies on your organization and career by using various indicators, such as business outcomes, stakeholder satisfaction, personal satisfaction, and career success. You can also use the feedback and recognition from your managers, peers, and employees to evaluate your performance and impact.
Where can I find more information and resources about the book and the six competencies?
You can find more information and resources about the book and the six competencies on the book's website: https://www.hrfromtheoutsidein.com/. You can also visit the authors' websites: https://www.daveulrich.com/, https://www.jonyounger.com/, https://www.waynebrockbank.com/, and https://www.mikeulrich.com/.
71b2f0854b