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HR skills gap bred by shared services puts future of profession in doubt
20 February 2009:
Two-thirds of HR professionals and chief executives surveyed by employee relations consultancy Marshall-James thought shared services reduced the skills of HR staff. More than half (56%) of the 200 respondents were concerned there would be a severe lack of talented professionals ready to feed the next generation of HR chiefs.
Marshall-James's managing director, and author of the report, Andy Cook told Personnel Today that shared services only primed HR people to learn about business partnering or transactional skills. He challenged the function to "throw out" the strict business partnering and shared-services model proposed by HR guru Dave Ulrich in 1997, and replace it with a more flexible version that allowed professionals to build a variety of skills.
"HR directors are in a position to influence careers and development they need to be braver and throw out the [strict] shared-services model and look at the other issues. Sometimes they can be guilty of following the latest fad," Cook said.
He said that an increasing number of job adverts for senior HR roles asked for a range of skills, but added: "Where does someone who has only done business partnering point to to say they have that experience?"
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Source: Personnel Today
