Press Release

Roffey Park, the executive education and research specialist, has published a practical guide, highlighting how organisations can successfully transform their human resources function, enabling HR professionals to move up the value chain.

The new guide is called Delivering Value From HR Transformation. It shows how to manage the technology, the processes and the people capability when designing and implementing HR transformation programmes underpinned by e-HR.

Using tried and tested organisational development tools - as well as practical models and action lists - the guide details the benefits of HR transformation, the obstacles that must be overcome and the consequent impact on the HR function. It also explains how to develop a business case for e-HR, how to evaluate effectiveness and how to sustain the benefits after implementation.

Authors Martin Reddington, Mark Williamson and Mark Withers draw on their experience of supporting HR transformation in a range of organisations.

"By e-enabling HR processes, an organisation can improve data and information management, enhance process efficiency and provide better decision support," said Martin Reddington, a Research Associate at Roffey Park. "This should be viewed as an all-embracing business change programme, not simply a technical system installation, as it involves fundamental changes to the way that people are managed and a complete re-positioning of the HR function."

The guide explains how to review current HR activities, how to create a new vision for the HR function and how to assess the impact of e-HR. It shows how to identify and build a coalition of key stakeholders - particularly in global or multinational organisations - including those who are advocates of the change, those who are ambivalent and those who are actively against the transformation.

With advice on issues such as cost-benefit calculations and risk assessment, the guide shows how to develop a compelling business case for e-HR transformation, which articulates and considers the challenges as well as the rewards. It illustrates how to link HR transformation to the organisations critical drivers, including issues such as revenue growth, cost efficiency and brand identity.

The guide explains how to engage the hearts and minds of the various stakeholder groups, so they understand and commit to the business case. It provides practical tips on involving sponsors (who provide internal support) and change leaders (who help implement change in their areas), as well as how to overcome resistance to change.

"To secure support, the business benefits from the main HR processes should be broken down into detailed elements for each stakeholder group," said Martin Reddington.

The guide explains the outsourcing debate and provides an organisational checklist for evaluating the suitability of outsourcing. It offers practical advice on how to find an appropriate outsource provider, including considerations such as the contract and service levels.

The guide explains how to drive through benefit delivery and how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the e-HR implementation. It provides a master checklist for business management, project control and ongoing evaluation.

"As well as the impact on HR people, you have to consider how the system will be used within the business," said Martin Reddington. "That way, when you switch it on, the organisation will soon derive the benefits and it will more quickly be adopted as part of the organisational culture."

The guide details the impact of e-HR on the HR function, including the new roles, skills and capabilities required and how to define performance levels.

"The adoption of e-HR will transform the HR function from a basic administrative and transaction processing utility to a true consultative business partner," said Martin Reddington. "The new system will be able to perform many of the administrative and light consulting tasks that HR had done previously. HR practitioners can then move up the value chain, becoming business partners who provide high level support to help line managers achieve the business objectives."

The research report Delivering Value From HR Transformation is available from Roffey Park, priced 35, and it can also be purchased online and downloaded from Roffey Parks Website. For more details, please call Pauline Hinds at Roffey Park on +44 (0)1293 854065 or e-mail: melissa.green@roffeypark.com

Editors notes - Based in Horsham, West Sussex, Roffey Park provides consultancy and bespoke services, research, qualification programmes (MSc in People and Organisational Development), executive development programmes, conferences, seminars and workshops. Further details can be found at www.roffeypark.com.

Journalists who would like more information, or a review copy of Delivering Value From HR Transformation, should call Michael Dawson on 020-8953 8863 or e-mail him at michael@daws.com.