Ulrich HR Model:

T he C hang ing R ole

of HR

Name the
famous
personalit
y.

There is not just one reason as to why he is called as

Father of modern HR
Employe
Leaders
e
hip
Advocat
Brand
e
HR
Change
Business
Agent
Partner

David Ulrich, the greatest HR Management

Guru, who has influenced the way, we do
Human Resources Management today. He has
a power to change HR!!!

T he C hang ing R ole of HR

HR is s hifting from foc us ing on

the org aniz ation of the bus ines s
to foc us ing on the bus ines sof
the org aniz ation

Y ou c an take my fac tories , burn up my

building s , but g ive me my people, and Ill bring
my bus ines s rig ht bac k ag ain.
- H e nry Fo rd -

T he C hang ing R ole of HR

R eality C hec k

A s urvey of 500 HR direc tors

ac ros s
E urope, the Middle E as
t and A s ia, found out that only
15% of the ac tivities c arried out
by HR departments are related to
" pure s trateg ic interventions " .
Wats on Wyatt S tu
dy

T he C hang ing R ole

T heHR
S hift in the B alanc e of HR R oles
of
HR needs to realign its service delivery model to add
more strategic value to the organization

Strategic
15%
S

T rans
ac tional/
Operationa
l 85%

t
r
a
t
e
T rans
g
ac tional/
i
O perationa
lc
40%

% of available res ources 6

0
%

Need to expand focus beyond its traditional & transactional role.

Ulrichs Four Role Model

Fu tu re /S trate gic Focus

S trategic Partner
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
E
S

A ligning HR & Busines s

Strategy
Active Role in setting strategic direction

A dminis trative E xpert

Managing The Firms HR
Infrastructure
Process Optimization & Efficiency

C hange A gent
Managing Trans formation &
C hange
Effecting Transformation & Change

E mployee C hampion
Managing
Employees
C ontribution
Motivated & Competent Personnel

David Ulrich HR Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value & Delivering Results, 1996

D ay-To -D ay/O pe rational

P
E
O
P
L
E

HR as
Strateg ic
P artner

HR as S trateg ic P artner

Participates in designing & defining organizations strategies

Contributes to management teams strategic decision-making

Focuses on aligning HR strategies & practices with

business strategy translate business strategy into HR
priorities

Strategically manage people & infrastructure to support the

execution of strategies & the creation of value

Strategically manages workforce development

Deliverable/outc ome: S trateg y exec ution

HR as S trateg ic P artner
C ore C ompetenc ies
HR as Strategic Partner should be able to:
S trate gic Partn e
r C o re C om pe
te ncie s
B us ines s
Mas tery
P ers onal C
redibility
HR Mas
tery

Facilitate strategy development

for business teams by using
different techniques
Plan and facilitate strategy
deployment to the whole
organization
Align the organization strategy
with the business strategy to
ensure it will be delivered
Redesign the organization to
support strategy

HR as S trateg ic P artner
Y ou are moving towards S trateg ic P artnering When

Y ou are involved in dis c us s ions ( by invitation!) on

the " people implic ations " of a c hang e or a new
initiative in the org aniz ation before thing s g o wrong
L ine Manag ers in c onfide in you about their
c onc erns and problems , even when you are not
providing a s olution then and there
Manag ers enc ourag e you to tac kle is s ues in their
areas and expres s c onfidenc e in your ability to do
thing s you may never have done before
Y ou eng ag e in g enuine dialog ue with line
manag ers
T he time frame of your work moves from pres
ent/pas t to future - es pec ially long er term
future
T he " why of what you is doing is very c lear in terms of org aniz ational need ( not " bec aus e

HR as
Administrative Expert

As an Administrative Expert

The administration expert is a transactional role of

Human Resources. Without being a trustful
administration expert HR cannot play its strategic roles.
HR has to demonstrate its deep knowledge of the labor
law, trade union bargaining, dealing with diffi cult
employees and keeping of personal data accurate.
HR implements all requirements evolving from the
changes in the legislation, regulation, work and safety
rules, etc.
Administration Expert introduces modern HRIS solutions
and eliminates the manual entry of data. The AE
identifies data sources about employees for the entire
organization and takes the full responsibility for the
development of the source.

HR asC hang e
A g ent

HR as C hang e A g ent
A S trateg ic R ole
P rovoke the pos itive c hang es in the org aniz ation s o it
c an s tay c ompetitive. B uild the org aniz ations c apac ity
to embrac e and c apitaliz e on c hang e.
C hampi
on/ S
pons or/
C atalys
t

F ac ilita
tor

HR
as C
hang
e
A g en
Demons
t

Des
ig ner

trator

Deliverable/outc ome: C reating a renewed

org aniz ation

HR as C hang e A g ent
Change Process
B uild the
org aniz ations
c apac ity to
embrac e and
manag e c hang e
g
sin

This is the way we do things

here

Internalisation
of new behaviour
OK, Im ready to do it
the new way

nt
e
itm
m
m
Co

a
re
c
In

I know how we need

to do our jobs
differently

Commitment
to personal change

Translation
to the work setting

I understand where we
need to go

Yeah, I saw the memo

Awareness
of desired change

Un
of der
change direction
sta
ndi
ng

Information with
some involvement
suficient here

Signific
ant
involvem
need
ent
ed

HR asE mployee
A dvoc ate

HR as E mployee A dvoc ate

Manag ing E mployee C ontribution
Voice of the Employee
Develop employee competence
Equip managers with skills to respond effectively to employees; equip the
employees with skills to overcome challenges
Create climate for action
Daily
E mploy
ee is s
ues
E
mployee
eng ag em
ent

P artne
r With
P eople
&
Mg nt
C onduc i
ve
c limate
&
c ulture

E
mployee
developm
ent

Employee
C ommitment
& C ompetence

Deliverable/outc ome: increasing employee commitment and

capability

F our-R ole of HR
P aradoxes Inherent in Multiple HR R oles

Strategic Partner vs. Employee Advocate

Success in multiple-role framework requires that HR professionals
balance the tension inherent in being a strategic partner on the one
hand and an employee advocate on the other.
HR professionals must demonstrate that they can both represent
employee needs and implement management agenda, be the voice of
the employee and the voice of management, act as partner to both
employees and managers.
HR professionals must strike a balance between the needs of these
potentially competing stakeholders.