Role of HR

Question 1

HR’s strategic role

Answer 1

Recognizes the potential for upside (opportunity) and downside (threat) aspects of risk, plans for threats and opportunities

Participation in creating the organization’s strategy
Aligning the HR strategy with the organization’s strategy.

Supporting other functions in their strategic roles.

Question 2

HR Administrative role

Answer 2

Recordkeeping and managing compliance, “Transactional activities”
Using technology to capture and analyze data
Using technology to reduce transactional time
Focusing on core capabilities

Question 3

HR Operational Role

Answer 3

Knowledge management
Targeted talent acquisition and development
Incentive systems
Employee engagement and development programs

Question 4

Developing an HR Service culture -

McKinsey 7S Framework

Answer 4

7 elements must be considered in order to have sustainable organizational change:

Strategy
Shared values - communicated during meaningful times
Structure - empowering HR professionals to make changes to meet customer needs and to correct mistakes quickly
Systems - supporting the way people do their jobs
Staff
Skills
Style of leadership

Question 5

How HR interacts with Exec Management

Answer 5

contributes to the development of organizational strategy,
advising on the human capital implications of strategic decisions.
advise on executive compensation and matters of governance and with other members of the C-suite

Question 6

What does finance do?

Answer 6

focuses on how the organization uses its financial assets to operate in the short and long term. Finance activities include:

Supporting operations and strategic initiatives through creating operating and capital expenditure budgets.

Providing financial analysis used in strategic planning.

Managing the organization’s “treasury” through short- and long-term investments and borrowing.

Question 7

What does accounting do?

Answer 7

Tracking financial transactions and reporting financial information to finance (to support its strategic planning and management decisions) and to external stakeholders (to support compliance and demonstrate governance).

Accounting activities include:

maintaining records of finances and arranging periodic audits.

Producing financial statements, such as the income or P&L statement,

Complying with financial requirements and reporting information to government agencies (e.g., for taxes), regulatory bodies overseeing publicly traded companies, and investors/stockholders.

Question 8

Marketing push strategy

Answer 8

getting products/services in front of customers. For example, companies may have showrooms or create a strong point-of-sales presence at the retail level.

Question 9

Marketing pull strategy

Answer 9

attracts customers to the product

Question 10

Research and Development function

Answer 10

also known as new product design and development

responsible for products and future revenue

Question 11

Operations function

Answer 11

develops, produces, and delivers products and services to customers.

The operations function is responsible for building the products and services that marketing and R&D define and that sales monetizes. It is therefore the source of the revenue for the enterprise.

Question 12

IT

Answer 12

manages the storage, access, exchange, and analysis, security of information across the enterprise through hardware and software systems

Integration of data in ERP (enterprise resource planning) system

Question 13

How HR can help IT

Answer 13

Providing a good pipeline of qualified employees.

Biggest concern: data security

develop and communicate technology policies, such as safeguarding the organization’s networks from unauthorized access.

Question 14

Role of marketing

Answer 14

Understanding customers and competitive threats and producing revenue

Question 15

4 Ps of marketing

Answer 15

Price, product, promotion, place

Question 16

HR Leader

Answer 16

Part of senior leadership in organization, report to CEO/COO

Bring information about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the organization’s strategy

Develop and direct the strategy, priorities, and focus for their HR team.

Titles: chief HR officer (CHRO), HR director, or vice president of HR

Question 17

HR Manager

Answer 17

Responsible for units within the HR function, such as employee relations, talent acquisition, and organizational development.

Plan, direct, and coordinate the activities for their unit and provide input to the leader for HR strategy.

Question 18

HR Specialist

Answer 18

Expertise in specific areas such as compensation and benefits design, talent management, metrics, IT, occupational health and safety, organizational development, and workforce relations.

Their role is to apply best practices in their discipline to advance the HR strategy.

Question 19

HR Generalist

Answer 19

May have expertise in one or more specialty areas of HR but are generally proficient enough in each area to provide sound advice and direction to employees and managers.

Work closely with their specialist coworkers to ensure that the information and programs they are providing to their employees are accurate and complete.

Generalists may also be embedded within countries or business units.

Also known as practitioners

Question 20

HR Business Partners

Answer 20

More experienced generalists who are assigned to represent HR services directly to other business functions.

Use a deeper understanding of the business—both the organization and the function—to find ways that HR can help functions achieve their goals.

These individuals can be key to demonstrating HR’s value throughout the organization.

Question 21

Centralized HR

Answer 21

All HR personnel located within HR department; delivers services to entire organization.

Advantages: Provides more control and consistency across organization.

Disadvantages: Can inhibit flexibility and responsiveness; can decrease effective communication.

Question 22

Decentralized HR

Answer 22

HR staff within each function, business unit, or location carrying out required activities.

Advantages: Allows for more direct contact between HR and other functions and facilitates communication and responsiveness.

Disadvantages: Lack of consistency among HR policies and standards.

Question 23

Functional HR

Answer 23

Headquarters HR is staffed with specialists who craft policies. HR generalists, who may be located within divisions or other locales, implement these policies, adapt them as needed, and interact with employees.

Advantages: Facilitates consistency between headquarters policy and practices and implementation in business units.

Disadvantages: Can isolate headquarters HR from business realities perceived by all staff and employees.

Question 24

Dedicated HR

Answer 24

“Corporate HR” at headquarters articulates basic values and tools to be used by the organization.

Each business unit’s HR uses corporate’s “basics” to develop their own policies and procedures based on their unit’s needs.

Advantages: Promotes strategic alignment between headquarters and units.

Disadvantages: isolation of dedicated HR units and loss of shared knowledge and experience; may lead to duplications and inefficiencies.

Question 25

Shared services HR

Answer 25

Each business unit can supplement its resources by selecting what it needs from a menu of shared HR services (usually transactional) that the units agree to share. Centers with specific areas of expertise develop HR policies in those areas and then deliver this service to all units

Common processes: payroll, procurement, accounts payable/receivable, travel expenses, health benefits enrollment, and pension administration.

Advantages: Offers expertise efficiently, reducing load of transactional activity in favor of value-creating activity.

Disadvantages: Risks underuse of service centers when their existence is not widely known.

Question 26

Centralized vs. Decentralized HR

Answer 26

Centralized: provides more control and consistency across the organization, but can also inhibit flexibility and decrease effective communication.

Decentralized: allows for more direct contact between HR and other functions, but downside can be a lack of consistency among HR policies and standards.

This is especially a challenge for global organizations that would like the economies and clarity of global HR policies and processes but are aware of the need to adapt to local cultures, laws, and business practices.

Question 27

Functional vs. Dedicated HR

Answer 27

Functional: HQ has HR specialists that craft policies. Generalists are on site at locations implementing and enforcing these policies, adapt them as needed, and interacting with employees

Dedicated: Corporate HR articulates basic HR values, develops tools to be used by the organizational-level HR functions, and creates programs aimed at enhancing global literacy and leadership skills. The business unit HR staff informs Corporate of changes, but develops local policies and practices and applies HR expertise to their unit’s specific needs.

Question 28

COE (center of excellence)

Answer 28

Aim at leveraging strategic expertise in the organization to foster growth and continuous improvement. COEs can be located in a certain facility but can also be “virtual.”

Take advantage of digital communications to create networks of experts who can reside anywhere in the organization.

COEs in HR might focus on talent acquisition, talent management, organization development, learning and development, compensation and benefits, and other areas of HR expertise.

Question 29

Absence rate

Answer 29

Ratio of lost days to number of employees

Use: To reflect benefits of a change in workplace conditions

Question 30

Compliance HR audit

Answer 30

Focuses on how well the organization is complying with current employment laws and regulations

Question 31

Best practice HR audit

Answer 31

Helps the organization maintain or improve a competitive advantage by comparing its practices to those of employers identified as having exceptional HR practices

Question 32

Strategic HR audit

Answer 32

Focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of systems and processes to determine whether they align with the HR departmental and/or the organizational strategic plan

Question 33

Function-specific HR audit

Answer 33

Focuses on a specific area in the HR function (e.g., payroll, performance management, records retention, etc.)

Question 34

Steps to conduct HR audit

Answer 34

Determine the scope and type of audit.

Develop the audit questionnaire.

Collect the data.

Benchmark the findings (findings are compared with agreed benchmarks, which may be policy or legal requirements or best practices)

Provide feedback about results.

Develop action plans.

Foster a climate of continuous improvement. Audits are a key part of a quality improvement process—a cyclical process of planning, acting, and checking.

Question 35

Cosourcing

Answer 35

usually person is coexisting within the company/location even though they are an outside vendor