Roadmap to Strategic HR: Turning a Great Idea into a Business Reality illustrated edition

Suitable for strengthening the link between people and value - for building a department that drives excellence throughout the organization, this book helps you: boil down the reams of research and concepts into a comprehensible plan you can successfully implement, and examine each of the five processes through a powerful strategic lens.

Roadmap to Strategic HR is a sorely needed prescription for achieving strategic focus in complex organizations. Drawn from the author's more than 25 years of experience and insights as an HR practitioner at Hallmark and other companies, the book outlines a 10-step, results-oriented plan for making the transition. It helps you integrate top-quality tactical work with innovative internal systems - talent systems, training systems, reward systems, or work processes - that will meet the strategic business demands of your organization.

Consultant Christensen presents a 10-step plan for transforming the HR department from an administrative function into a strategic business partner. Drawing upon decades of experience as a human resources executive at Hallmark and other companies, he explains how to build a real partnership between frontline business managers and HR staff and how to recognize and avoid political landmines. He also identifies the competencies required of HR professionals who wish to assume the role of organizational architect. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Foreword by Dave Ulrich "It is easier to conceptualize, conceive, and write about utopia than to actually make it happen. Thirty years ago, when some of us chose to go into academics and live more in the world of ideas, Ralph Christensen chose to go into the world of practice. To be honest, he was then and is now one of the best 'thinkers' in the profession - and he has shown repeatedly that he can turn ideas into action." (Dave Ulrich, from the Foreword). For decades now, human resources professionals have sounded the drumbeat of change: HR must transform itself from an administrative function into a strategic business partner. But it has been said so often, for so long, and with so little concrete, real-life information on how to actually achieve this new mission, that the message often sounds like a wouldn't-it-be-nice scenario. But it isn't. More and more traditional HR activities are being farmed out to service centers, external vendors, and line managers. The work of HR is changing, and more and more professionals realize that to succeed in the future they must be part of the team that makes important business decisions. "Roadmap to Strategic HR" is a sorely needed prescription for achieving strategic focus in complex organizations. Drawn from the author's more than 25 years of experience and insights as an HR practitioner at Hallmark and other companies, the book outlines a 10-step, results-oriented plan for making the transition. It helps you integrate top-quality tactical work with innovative internal systems - talent systems, training systems, reward systems, or work processes - that will meet the strategic business demands of your organization. Easy-to-read, thought-provoking, and packed with real-world examples of what worked and what didn't at Hallmark, "Roadmap to Strategic HR" helps you: boil down the reams of research and concepts into a comprehensible plan you can successfully implement; understand the business realities that are driving change, including employees afraid for their jobs, and demanding and scarce customers; compress the multitude of HR activities into five fundamental processes: workforce planning and staffing, learning and development, organization development, performance management, and employee relations; examine each of the five processes through a powerful strategic lens; resolve the tensions between HR specialists and HR generalists. Build a real partnership between the frontline managers and HR staff; identify the competencies required of HR professionals who assume the crucial role of "organizational architect"; and recognize the roadblocks and political landmines that might lurk along the way. The connection between people issues and business success is irrefutable. As the author so aptly puts it: "Talent is the engine behind the creation of all value." "Roadmap to Strategic HR" is the most succinct, most practical book available for strengthening the link between people and value - for building a department that drives excellence throughout the organization - and for honing your department's focus so that it stays locked on the marketplace and the business strategy."

Canadian HR Reporter: "This accessible, down-to-earth book offers a prescription for achieving strategic focus in complex organizations."

"Foreword Preface The Complexity of the Challenge From Rigid Administrators to Strategic Contributors Assess the Organization's Readiness for Change Develop a Framework and Language for HR Understand the Senior HR Leader's Role as Organizational Architect Clarify Line Management's Role in Creating and Owning Human Resources Strategy Create a Human and Organizational Strategy Understand the Five Human Resources Processes Through a Strategic Lens Understand Workforce Planning and Staffing Through a Strategic Lens Understand Performance Management Through a Strategic Lens Understand Organization Development Through a Strategic Lens Understand Learning and Development Through a Strategic Lens Understand Employee Relations Through a Strategic Lens Clarify the Roles of Generalist and Specialist Design the Structure of Your New HR Organization Assess and Upgrade Your HR Talent Managing the Roadblocks in Making the Transition to Strategic HR Managing Your Career in the Field of Strategic Human Resources The Future of Human Resources Index"

Ralph Christensen was Senior Vice President at Hallmark and vice president of HR at Wyatt Company and Digital Equipment Corp. He is now a consultant, with clients in the United States, Asia and Germany.